Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Discontent about corruption broke to the surface in the corridors of the National Assembly (AN), where all but a handful of legislators are seen as fully committed supporters of President Hugo Chavez' government.
AN Deputy Luis Diaz said that "more than 60 parliamentarians will go out to combat corruption." He said he'd spoken to that number of fellow deputies about misuse of state funds -- and he claimed they'd all walk out of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) if things got worse. Diaz said he and his colleagues would take that "personal decision" because "we've reached the end" and all had crashed, in some cases, into fascism. He claimed many of the legislators he'd spoken with shared his thoughts about leaving the PSUV.
Recrimination was in the air in the wake of Wednesday's student march to the Assembly to hand in a list of demands.
AN first vice president Saul Ortega, who'd had formally to receive the document, complained there were deputies who'd promised student leaders to take up their points in the legislature. They would claim time for debate which would have to be met at all levels, starting with universities, he warned. "These deputies should bring these demands," he declared, "so that you know who they are."
The quite obvious target of this attack was deputy Ismael Garcia, head of Podemos, the social democratic party that's now in opposition. He had made a point of greeting the students and accompanied them as they left.
Out on the sidelines, Lina Ron, who tends to see herself as the very soul of chavismo - to the point of forming her own little party, Unidad Popular Venezolano, because she thought mainstream parties were letting the revolution down -- predicted lots of infighting in the contest to pick pro-Chavez candidates for the state and municipal elections scheduled for November 23. "Losers always shriek," she said with characteristic pith.
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