Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

I'm keeping track of Hugoland formally known as Venezuela. Please LINK any stories or add what you wish to this thread. The above LINK takes you to past articles posted before the new FR format. Below I'll add what I've catalogued since that LINK no longer could take posts.

[Full Text] CARACAS, VENEZUELA - The man who won Venezuelan hearts three years ago as a strongman who could deliver a better life to the masses is now facing them in the streets.

More than 20,000 people turned out this week calling for the resignation of President Hugo Chávez, while some 2,000 supporters marched in a rival demonstration of support. The demonstrations come after months of building discontent with a president who has managed to alienate the labor class, the media, business groups, the church, political parties, and the military.

In November, Chávez introduced 49 "revolutionary" decrees. The package of laws - affecting everything from land rights and fisheries to the oil industry - unified virtually the whole of organized society in a nationwide business and labor stoppage that paralyzed the country on Dec. 10.

The protests this week have a note of irony, because they started out as a commemoration called by President Chávez. In his eyes, Feb. 27 is a milestone of his so-called revolution - "the date on which the people awoke" in 1989. That is when thousands of rioters and looters took to the streets in protest of an IMF-backed austerity plan, in which the government hiked gas prices.

In what became known as the caracazo, or noisy protest, thousands of rioters and looters were met by Venezuelan military forces, and hundreds were killed. Three years later, Chávez and his military co-conspirators failed in an attempt to overthrow the government responsible for the massacre, that of President Carlos Andres Perez. Chávez was jailed for two years.

"But the elements that brought about the caracazo are still present in Venezuela," says lawyer Liliana Ortega, who for 13 years has led the fight for justice on behalf of the victims' relatives. "Poverty, corruption, impunity ... some of them are perhaps even more deeply ingrained than before."

Chávez's supporters consist of an inchoate mass of street traders, the unemployed, and those whom the old system had marginalized. This, to Chávez, is el pueblo - the people.

"But we are 'the people' too," protests teacher Luis Leonet. "We're not oligarchs like he says. The oligarchs are people like Chávez, people with power."

On Wednesday, Leonet joined a march led by the main labor confederation, the CTV, to protest what unions say is a series of antilabor measures, including one of the 49 decrees dealing with public-sector workers.

Chávez won't talk to the CTV, whose leaders, he says, are corrupt and illegitimate. So he refuses to negotiate the annual renewal of collective contracts with the confederation, holding up deals on pay and conditions for hundreds of thousands of union members like Leonet.

Across town on Wednesday, a progovernment march sought to demonstrate that the president's popularity was as high as ever.

Pollster Luis Vicente Leon, of the Datanalisis organization, warns that marches are no measure of relative popularity. "There is a lot of discontent among ... the really poor," Leon says, adding that so far the protests are mainly among the middle class.

But the middle class can be a dangerous enemy. It includes the bulk of the armed forces, and the management of the state oil company, PDVSA.

This month, four uniformed officers, ranging from a National Guard captain to a rear-admiral and an Air Force general, called on the president to resign, while repudiating the idea of a military coup of Chávez, himself a former Army lieutenant-colonel.

But senior "institutionalist" officers "are under severe pressure from lower ranks frustrated at the lack of impact" that these acts have had, a source close to military dissidents says. In other words, a coup cannot be ruled out, although the United States publicly denounces the idea.

Meanwhile, the president's imposition of a new board of directors on PDVSA this week sparked a virtual uprising by the company's senior management. In an unprecedented public statement, managers said the government was pushing the company "to the verge of operational and financial collapse" by imposing political, rather than commercial, criteria.

The political opposition remains relatively weak and divided. But in the view of many analysts, a president who offends both the military and the oil industry is asking for trouble. In the bars and restaurants of Caracas, the debate is no longer over whether Chávez will finish his term, which has nearly five years to run. It is when and how he will go - and what comes next. [End]

Thanks, Hugo! President of Venezuela deserves free-market award***It's time to nominate Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chávez to the ''Milton Friedman Award'' for his indefatigable work to advance the cause of free-market policies and political harmony in the developing world.

I'm not kidding. No other head of state has done so much in such a short time to wreck his country's economy, and to discourage his neighbors from engaging in the kind of finger-waving populism that has brought about massive capital flight and record poverty levels in Venezuela.

If it weren't for the disastrous performance of Chávez's ''peaceful revolution,'' Brazil's new leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would have probably launched the anti-free market policies he had championed for the past three decades, several foreign diplomats and politicians told me during a recent trip to Brazil. And Ecuador and Argentina probably would have followed suit.***

Steve Forbes: Backyard Trouble [Full Text] There's another foreign policy problem brewing, this time in our own hemisphere--an attempt to make Venezuela a second Cuba. Strongman Hugo Chávez, who led an unsuccessful coup attempt in 1992, was elected president in 1998 in a popular vote of revulsion against the embedded corruption of the existing political elites. Since then, Chávez has been doing everything he can to turn his "presidency" into a dictatorship like Fidel Castro's. He used his initial popularity to gut constitutional checks on his power. Regime opponents now face arrest and even outright murder. Chávez is setting up vigilante committees in neighborhoods to inform on people. These committees also serve as an armed militia to back Chávez.

Venezuela has been a democracy since 1958, when a courageous leader, Rómulo Betancourt established representative government following a dictatorship. In the early 1960s Betancourt beat back Castro's efforts to overthrow Venezuela's democracy. Now Chávez wants to turn back the clock. He's cozied up to terrorist groups around the world, including those waging a murderous guerrilla war in neighboring Colombia.

Venezuelans of all classes and occupations have taken to the streets to protest Chávez's actions. He was thrown out briefly in a coup last year, but the coup collapsed when it became clear that the old corrupt elites were going to return to their money-grabbing ways and would take their time restoring democracy. Chávez's smile, however, was soon wiped off his face as spontaneous protests continued. There was a general strike a few months ago, the effects of which sharply reduced Venezuela's oil production. But Chávez has clung to power.

Whether Chávez's rule should continue is supposed to be the subject of a referendum in August, but this Castro wannabe has made it clear he won't leave office voluntarily. He will either try to postpone the election or use his armed thugs to rig the results.

The U.S. has reacted gingerly lest Chávez play the anti-U.S. card--always an option in Latin America--to shore up his sagging popularity. The U.S. should make clear that a clean August vote must take place--that Chávez must not be allowed to set up a virtual dictatorship, even if that means oil prices go up because we embargo Venezuela's oil exports. When Venezuelans see that we're serious about Chávez, perhaps their army will do what it should have done a long time ago--send Chávez to Havana on a permanent vacation--and then promptly return to the barracks. [End]

Chávez feeds the poor as economy starves - Cuba II is born***At the Mercal food store in Caricuao, a poor district on the dust-blown outskirts of Caracas, the range of goods is limited. Shelves are half-empty. An army sergeant loiters at the end of the checkout, ready to bag your ration of beans, flour and sugar.

Unpromising as it may seem, the government store in the capital is the model to be replicated across Venezuela under a plan fathered by populist President Hugo Chávez and overseen by the military. The plan's goal: to feed Venezuela's growing number of poor and to counter shortages from the private sector. "Prices are cheaper than elsewhere, and for those of us with low incomes, any difference is important," says Viviana Trillo, a Caricuao housewife. "I thank President Chávez for this."

Paradoxically, the food security programme is being prioritised just as the Chávez government is blocking dollar sales to businesses, including soft commodity importers and food processors, curtailing supplies.

Currency trading was suspended in January during the strike at Petróleos de Venezuela, the state oil company that is the government's main source of export revenue. Four months later, international reserves have recovered and oil exports have resumed.

But Cadivi, the foreign exchange control agency, has yet to disburse any dollars and business leaders are convinced that Mr Chávez intends to bring the business sector - which fiercely opposes his government - to its knees.

"This a specific retaliation against all those seen as not being in favour of the regime," says Rafael Alfonzo, president of Cavidea, the food industry chamber.

The non-functional currency controls are not only affecting domestic companies, many of which are closing and laying off employees. Multinationals with subsidiaries in Venezuela, such as Cargill, the US agricultural conglomerate, say they will be forced to shut down operations within the next few weeks unless hard currency is made available.

"A lot of US companies thought that this would be a temporary situation and they got money from their home offices to maintain market share," says Antonio Herrera, vice-president of the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce.

"But now they are being told: 'no longer', so they are exhausting inventories," Mr Herrera says. "This is an economic atrocity against the Venezuelan people."***

LulaWatch - Focusing on Latin America's new "axis of evil" - Brazil - Vol.1,No.8*** The ambiguous - not to say complicit - attitude of the Lula da Silva administration vis-a-vis the recent crackdown on Cuban dissidents by Fidel Castro's tyrannical government has had a profound impact in the United States. Castro imprisoned 75 opponents and had three men who tried to flee the island executed by firing squad.

The Workers' Party (PT) government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva once again displayed its duplicity and ideological compromise with leftist and dictatorial regimes. It also made clear its unstated but real desire to work for a politico-social destabilization of Latin America, which it sees as a means to counter American influence in the region - more specifically the influence of President Bush's conservative administration - and to foster the rise of socialist regimes.***

Venezuela Says U.S. Envoy Provoked Row - Don't Make Fun of Hugo***At the meeting, Shapiro expressed concern about "deteriorating press freedoms" in Venezuela, citing unpunished attacks on dozens of journalists last year. Also during the meeting, a humorist disguised as a prominent anti-Chavez journalist held up a puppet of Chavez and ridiculed the president.

"What is the purpose of putting on this show? Offend the government? Offend the president? I think it's the Venezuelan people who were offended," Rangel said.

Rangel said Venezuela would consider the event an act of "personal irresponsibility" on Shapiro's part. But he urged the United States to explain Shapiro's behavior, saying Venezuela couldn't dismiss the possibility that Washington was deliberately trying to provoke Chavez's government.

In a statement released Thursday, the U.S. embassy said it "regretted that some people felt offended" by the event.

The humorist's presentation "seemed to us in bad taste because of its political content," the statement said. "The embassy does not know in advance nor does it censure what its guests are going to say, whether it's an invited speaker or humorist." ***

Castro and Chavez compare goodluck necklaces

Anti-Chavez Puppeteer Doesn't Speak for Washington***WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A comedian who used a puppet to ridicule the Venezuelan president at the home of the U.S. ambassador in Caracas does not speak for Washington and his skit was "inappropriate," the State Department said on Monday.

The male comedian dressed up as a Venezuelan female media broadcaster and employed a large puppet wearing a red beret to represent Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the event on Tuesday at the home of U.S. ambassador Charles Shapiro. The State Department accused the comedian of "abusing" his hospitality at the event marking International Press Freedom Day. "The skit presented May 13 by a Venezuelan comedian during the international press freedom event at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Caracas caught everyone by surprise," said State Department spokeswoman Lynn Cassel. "It was inappropriate. "All should understand that this Venezuelan comedian does not represent the U.S. government. He abused Ambassador Shapiro's hospitality," she added. ***

Silencing Venezuela: Hugo Chavez's proposed media law ( Radio - Television - Newpapers)***Arelis Lopez holds a sign reading 'Yes to information' and wears a bandanna over her mouth and hand cuffs as she protests with other members of 'Women for Freedom' against a media law proposed in Congress that will restrict graphic violence on television and reduce subjective censoring by radio and television channels, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, May 20, 2003. Opponents believe that if passed, the law could prohibit television and radio stations from criticizing the government. The sign at right reads 'We will go to jail in defense of freedom' and their shirts read 'Guards of freedom."***

Chávez is creating a political abyss - The Venezuelan nightmare *** Under Chávez, Venezuela is a powerful reminder that elections are necessary but not sufficient for democracy, and that even longstanding democracies can unravel overnight. A government's legitimacy flows not only from the ballot box but also from the way it conducts itself. Accountability and institutional restraints and balances are needed.

The international community became adept at monitoring elections and ensuring their legitimacy in the 1990s. The Venezuelan experience illustrates the urgency of setting up equally effective mechanisms to validate a government's practices.

The often stealthy transgressions of Chávez have unleashed a powerful expression of what is perhaps the only trend of the 1990s still visible in Venezuela: civil society. In today's Venezuela millions of once politically indifferent citizens stage almost daily marches and rallies.

This is not a traditional opposition movement. It is an inchoate network of people from all social classes and walks of life, who are organized in loosely coordinated units and who do not have any other ambition than to stop a president who has made their country unlivable.

For too many years they have been mere inhabitants of their own country. Now they demand to be citizens, and feel they have the right to oust through democratic means a president who has wrought havoc on their country.

Even though the constitution allows for early elections, and even though Chávez has promised that he will abide by this provision, the great majority of Venezuelans don't believe him. They are convinced that in August, when the constitution contemplates a referendum on the president, the government will resort to delaying tactics and dirty tricks. With international attention elsewhere, Chávez will use his power to forestall an election and ignore the constitution.

Venezuela's citizens have been heroically peaceful and civil in their quest. All they ask is that they be given a chance to vote. The world should do its best to ensure that they have that opportunity. ***

Chavez takes cue from Castro - Venezuela Says Colombia Exporters To Be Paid, But Not Yet [Full Text] BOGOTA -(Dow Jones)- Venezuelan government officials said Thursday they plan to allow their importers to pay the $200 million to $300 million that Colombian exporters are owed for goods already sent to and received in Venezuela

But Venezuela Production and Trade Minister Ramon Rosales, speaking in Bogota at a meeting with Colombian exporters, added that it will be another two weeks before further details of the payment process will be avaialable.

Up to 800 Colombian exporters and other business leaders who deal with Venezuela are awaiting payments from Venezuela. The exporters are becoming impatient due to four-month-old currency restrictions in Venezuela that have tightened dollar flows, saddling importers there with dollar-debts they are unable to pay.

Also speaking at the meeting was Juan Emilio Posada, president of Colombia's largest airline, Alianza Summa. He said the carrier is owed $3.8 million in Venezuela and that this figure increases $1 million each month.

"What's the purpose of selling in a country that can't pay," Posada told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting. "The moment will soon arrive in which this type of business is unsustainable."

Summa flies to Caracas from Bogota three times a day.

Venezuela's Rosales responded, saying a special plan will be set up so airlines such as Alianza Summa can be paid.

During the first two months of the year, Colombian exports to Venezuela totaled $69 million, down from $233 million in the first two months of 2002. [End]

Venezuela's Government, Foes Agree Referendum Pact - Disarm civilian population*** In the 19-point accord, both sides agree to shun violence, respect democracy and hold referendums for the president and other elected officials as laid down in the constitution. The accord also endorses plans to disarm the civilian population. At least 50 people have been shot to death and several hundred injured in political violence over the last 18 months.

Both government and opposition negotiators hailed the political pact as a mechanism to reduce tensions. "This clears the path to a referendum as an electoral solution to the political crisis," opposition representative Alejandro Armas told reporters. Venezuela's constitution allows for a recall vote on the president's rule once he has completed half of his six-year mandate. In Chavez's case, this is Aug. 19. To trigger the referendum, the opposition must collect signatures from 20 percent of the electorate.

The government also insists that the National Assembly must first select a new National Electoral Commission. But the assembly, where pro-Chavez deputies hold a slim majority, is still haggling over candidates for the electoral authority which would verify the signatures for a referendum and set a date for the vote.

Put Politics Before Economy - Venezuela's Chavez Slams Pan-American Trade Pact *** Chavez proposed instead a social and political pact called the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, named after Simon Bolivar, the 19th century general who struggled in vain to politically unite South America. "We don't even need anything like Mercosur (a trade bloc grouping Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), because we can't put the economy first in terms of integration. Political unity needs to come first," he said.

Chavez's opponents, who have organized months of violent protests, accuse him of authoritarian, communist-style rule in the world's No. 5 oil exporting nation. One person was killed and 22 hurt on Saturday when shooting erupted at an anti-Chavez rally in Caracas. The Venezuelan leader declined to comment on the violence, which came a day after government and opposition negotiators agreed to a pact that could lead to a referendum on his rule.

"I don't know if there will be a recall referendum. It's a possibility if the opposition meets all the constitutional requirements," said Chavez, who has declared his willingness to submit to a referendum. "If there is, I will defeat (the opposition) again. The people will defeat them again." "The Rio Group countries...are sure that (the agreement) will strengthen the democratic process in our brother nation," the leaders at the summit said in a declaration.***

Latin leaders steer away from US in policy on Colombia's civil war, Cuba*** And Latin American leaders have been bolstered in their independence from US policy with the recent elections of several left-of-center leaders, among them Lula da Silva, Brazil's first elected leftist president. Venezuela's elected populist-leftist President Hugo Chavez took part, but Cuba, the region's only one-party communist system, as has been the tradition, did not. But Brazil's Lula said he was in favor of Cuba taking part in the next summit, which will be held in Brazil, and said he would handle necessary consultations with regional leaders.

US policy toward Cuba is aimed at isolating and squeezing Castro's government, but more than 43 years into his rule, it is often criticized as ineffective. And Lula's open arms come despite Cuba's recent crackdown on dissidents and execution of ferry hijackers seeking to flee to the United States, measures that brought an international outcry even from many longtime Castro supporters. Lula also told reporters the Rio Group would be sending a firm message to Group of Eight leaders meeting in Evian, France, next month rejecting farm subsidies, and in favor of better market access for exports from the region.

"We cannot accept multi-million-dollar farm subsidies, arbitrary trade measures, and protectionism . . . which take markets away from us and keep us from reaping the fruits of our labor," said Lula, who with Mexican President Vicente Fox will represent the Rio Group at the meeting in Evian June 1-3. Lula said he hoped the meeting with G8 leaders would mark "a sign that our voice may be heard, and that rich countries may be ready to change their behavior so that free trade is a two-way street."***

Argentina gets 6th president in 18 months [Full Text] BUENOS AIRES -- Nestor Kirchner took office on Sunday as Argentina's first elected president since the economy unravelled 18 months ago, pledging to protect jobs and industry to overcome the country's worst financial crisis in a century. A centre-left politician from a remote province in Patagonia, Mr Kirchner was sworn in as the country's 52nd president. Addressing a packed congressional chamber, he said he hoped his four-year term would signal a fresh start for the financially depressed country. 'We are leaving the past behind,' he told lawmakers and 12 Latin American leaders including Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. 'Today we have a new opportunity ... and change is the name of the future.'

His inauguration was loudly applauded by Dr Castro, Mr Chavez and Brazil's first elected leftist, Mr Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, all of whom have led an ideological shift to the left in a region where free market economic reforms have failed to curb widespread poverty. Mr Kirchner enters office with the weakest mandate in Argentine history after winning the election by default when former President Carlos Menem dropped out of a runoff race earlier this month. The 53-year-old president garnered 22 per cent of the vote in a late April ballot. Sunday's inauguration was seen as a new beginning for a country struggling to steady itself from five years of recession, a US$141 billion debt default and deep currency devaluation.[End]

THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT - On scale of stingy nations, U.S. may not be the worst***o POSTSCRIPT: On another issue, pay attention to Venezuela. Regardless of the outcome of a planned referendum on Venezuela's political future, well-placed U.S. officials suspect populist President Hugo Chávez will try to provoke a new coup against him to make a sweeping purge of the armed forces and complete Venezuela's transition to an authoritarian regime.

If that happens, there will be a toughening of the Bush administration's policy toward Venezuela, the sources say. U.S. sanctions against Venezuela are unlikely, but U.S. officials could release information that would be embarrassing for Chávez, such as reports about the alleged presence of nearly 1,000 Cuban officers in Venezuela. Stay tuned.***

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