Chavez' Insatiable Quest for Power

The Gathering Storm, May 15, 2009

May 15, 2009

Sobering analysis from this week's Miami Herald reveals the further consolidation of powerpursued byour favorite "Narcisist-Leninist" president in the southern hemisphere. "Fresh off winning a referendum that could allow him to remain president until 2018 and perhaps for life, Chávez is sidelining enemies, stifling criticism, and concentrating power in ways that critics and independent analysts say is creating an autocratic state with democratic trappings," says Tyler Bridges.

Hugo Chávez' most recent power grab can beexplicated as follows:

(1) Manuel Rosales, a former presidential candidate and political rival, has been chased out of Venezuela on charges of stealing public funds.
(2) Antonio Ledezma, the anti-Chávez mayor of Caracas, has been stripped of almost all of his spending powers by a compliant Congress.
(3) With the help of government troops, PDVSA (Venezuea's state-owned oil company) has seized the assets of some sixty oil service companies, the first implementation of a law approved last week that will pave the way for the state to take increasing control over its oil industry.
(4) 60,000 books have been eliminated from dozens of public libraries across Venezuela -books that are under the suspicion of sabotaging Chávez' ideological position.
(5) The Congress is preparing to allow Chávez to appoint regional "vice presidents" that will oversee the governors in local provinces throughout the country.
(6) Pending legislation onNGOs will force the money given by foreign entities to pass through a preliminary inspection by the Venezuelan treasury (thus keeping funds away from those organizations critical of Chávez).
(7) After refusing last year to renew the license of RCTV (which regularly criticized him in its news coverage), Chávez now controls almost all media.
(8)On April 3, Chávez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated "The Iran-Venezuela Joint Bank," which, among other things, facilitates the organizing and fundraising for Hezbollah.

While there is no doubt that Hugo Chávez repeatedly resorts to antics that only a buffoon would attempt, thus far there has been no oppositional movement strong enough toweaken his bullying.Some labor unions, university student leaders, and Roman Catholic bishops continue to vocalize their concerns, but to little avail (and much duress). We need to think seriously about how we can help them...before Chávez and his ambitious followers ruin a nation.