Where are all the socialists that have been supporting this guy and his policies. I'd like to know their opinions on the inevitable turn from socialism to totalitarianism. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070119/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_chavez Chavez gets OK to approve laws by decree By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 19, 4:17 AM ET CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill granting President Hugo Chavez the power to rule by decree for 18 months so that he can impose sweeping economic, social and political change. Emboldened by his landslide re-election last month, the leftist leader has called for "revolutionary laws" to accelerate the country's transformation into a full socialist state. "This process is unstoppable," lawmaker Juan Montenegro Nunez told the National Assembly Thursday. "This process is a historic necessity." The vote was unanimous as the National Assembly has been entirely filled with Chavez's allies since opposition parties boycotted 2005 elections. Chavez began his third term last week by announcing his intent to nationalize key sectors of the economy, rewrite the country's constitution to eliminate presidential term limits, and strip the Central Bank of its autonomy. He also called for an end to foreign ownership of lucrative crude oil refineries. Venezuela is the world's fifth oil producer and the fourth supplier to the United States, its top customer. "What is becoming evident is that all the powers are one single power in Venezuela — Hugo Chavez," said opposition politician Gerardo Blyde. Chavez has angered Washington with his relentless anti-U.S. rhetoric, his support for Iran's nuclear ambitions and his warm relations with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. And yet with oil profits booming and his popularity high, Chavez seems to be in step with many Venezuelans. At the apex of a resurgent Latin American left, he urged South American leaders meeting in Brazil Thursday to abandon the U.S.-supported free market policies and privatization of state industries that formed the pillars of their main trade bloc, Mercosur. "We came to approve accords, create space (for the disenfranchised), projects to strengthen the real integration of South America and contribute with something we consider absolutely necessary: the reformulation of Mercosur," Chavez said. The Venezuelan bill provides a broad "mother law" that would enable Chavez to enact laws by decree. The measure is expected to easily win final approval on its second reading in the assembly. National Assembly President Cilia Flores said that vote would probably be next week, though she did not specify a day. "The president has asked for a year and a half, and he will have a year and a half to adapt all of these laws to the new political model," Flores said as the debate opened Thursday. The discussion lasted four hours, though there was no real opposition. Chavez has not spelled out what other changes he intends to make, but Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro suggested nationalization also was on the horizon for the mining sector. "The basic industries of minerals should be in the hands of the national state," he said at the Mercosur summit in Brazil. It was unclear whether that would mean a total state takeover or majority stakes for the government in mining operations now held by private companies. Already state conglomerates have for decades dominated the mining of iron and bauxite to produce steel and aluminum. Chavez last week designated Venezuela's main telecommunications company and the country's electricity and natural gas sectors as targets for nationalization. Chavez has formed a commission to rewrite the constitution in keeping with his socialist vision and expects to hold a referendum on the changes by the end of the year. Chavez has already revised the constitution once since he took office in 1999. Among the changes, Chavez is seeking an end to presidential term limits, which would allow him to run again for the presidency in December 2012. Chavez has been emboldened to make more radical changes at home after winning re-election with 63 percent of the vote, his widest margin ever. Chavez says he is crafting a new sort of "21st century socialism" for Venezuela. Critics say it is starting to look like old-fashioned totalitarianism by a leader obsessed with power.
Khan, I don't agree with you on a lot of things, but Chavez is well on his way to being just another tinpot Latin American dictator. At some point the common people, who have benefited by his rule, so far, will realize what they've lost. I expected the guy to take actions similar to this. It won't end here. D&D. Now it's just Wet.
Congrats, Mr. Chavez. You are becoming the man you've always wanted to be. Mr. Castro would be proud.
I think the country will really feel the hurt when they realized that they've mismanaged their petroleum gains over the last few years and scared away business and entrepreneurism that spawns growth. The reason Exxon's profits have shot through the roof as well as most of the oil companies is the price of oil has skyrocketed until recently and now is leveling off. As prices stabilize, Chavez will not be able to sustain many of these programs, will have raided the country's reserves and scared of nations willing to invest. By doing this he will doom his country's future and have it end up like another failed petroleum rich state, Nigeria. (Last line taken from the Economist!) I do think many latin american nations are run by oligarchs of the rich that use their situations to create moats around their own business. If they are the government they must create an infrastructure that is conducive to future success and education. The people will then go the other way down the path of totalitarian socialism (communism).
While I am 100% opposed to these measures by Chavez, I have to wonder what folks like Giddy who believe that it is ok to change the laws for just the head of the nation if there is a special set of circumstance facing the nation and can show that people in the nation are doing well. Chavez has shown that by doing what he does, he makes the nation as a whole better off. He has especially helped the poor in his nation improve their standard of living. Too bad he has resorted to these tactics.
At the expense of the middle class. Don't fool yourself. Chavez was blessed with a great oil market and was able to employ large numbers of workers in government jobs while private investment was leaving left and right. Combine that with the fact that he fired all of PDVSA's workforce and replaced them with less-experienced, lower-payed workers, and he has hurt nearly as many people as he has helped.
Chavez has always been bipolar. There were many warning signs from the beginning, which is why I never trusted him (despite people like glynch just pretending that I didn't understand the situation). It remains to be seen what he will ultimately do but he has never shied away from letting his actions prove his words to be lies.
I'm not fooling myself. The oil actually was there before he left, and it was never used to help the poor of the nation. The guy is popular, but he has shown his authoritarian tendencies with this one, and progresses toward dictatorship with this move. I have also been critical of his lack of planning to find ways to keep the most educated and top quality professionals involved in the nation. However, even given that it wasn't near as bad as under the previous oligarchy.
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of well educated folks of academia who worship letftist socialists peopel like Chavez and always conveniently forget that in every Communism gov't (which has so far coincided with totalirianism) the well educated are those who are always first persecuted. lol!
Woohoo. Latin America gets its very own modern version of Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga. Wake me up in 20 years when they become the poorest nation on earth and their currency is exchanging for a couple million to the dollar.
Yeah well George Bush has ties to the Saudi Royal Family. So there. Oh, sorry from the replies I thought this was a thread about George Bush.
Chavez didn't persecute the well educated. He just didn't make it worth their while to say and use their education to the benefit of the country. Even with this move Chavez is not as bad as those who came before, and his programs do help the country's neediest. None of the good done by the programs that Chavez runs excuses him acting a dictator and exerting this kind of undemocratic and unchecked power. The people in the country should vote him out next election.
