VHeadline editor & publisher Roy S. Carson writes: It is not without reason that I am very, very concerned for Venezuela and its people's future. Increasingly, alarm signals are emanating from Caracas that all is not well in the 'kingdom' and Denmark has very little to do with the smell ... and it physically isn't helped by the deplorable state of garbage collection in Greater Caracas.Small wonder then that despite its provenance in Washington by way of Bogota and Brussels, a report by the International Crisis Group echoes the preoccupation I feel for the country I hold so dear.
The ICC claims that Chavez’ "radical course and increasingly autocratic Bolivarian revolution are under growing pressure from former supporters alienated by government mismanagement, food shortages, inflation, public insecurity and corruption." So very true! And with the President away until the weekend, the mice continue to play havoc with domestic political policies hell bent, it appears, on excluding anyone and everyone who dares to differ for any reason with central government edict.
It is perhaps one of the biggest mistakes in Hugo Chavez' initial political doctrine of attempting to unite the Venezuelan people under one all-encompassing umbrella. The concept was faulty from the start because it naturally and reasonably excluded the lost souls who have irrationally attempted for the last 10 years to invalidate Chavez' electoral victory in December 1998 which led to his accession to the Presidency of Venezuela in February 1999.
Yes, Chavez' political opponents, goaded by darker forces in the US administration, have put up a brick wall of dissidence that has threatened the security of the democratically elected government, but it has at the same time imbued the musical chairs in the Chavez administration with a sense of pole-vaulting from one crisis to another, neglecting the bases of the tenancy in attempts to gain foothold on the slippery slopes of that powerful defiance.
The latest folly has, of course, been the institution of the new United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), seeking to unite disparate factions of the Venezuelan left into a homogenous grouping to push for essential grassroots reform and to incentivize the Venezuelan population towards the bottom-up form of democratic government that Chavez wants to implement against all odds and the essential matrix of the party structure. The creation of power-brokering cliques within PSUV is, of course, nothing new to Venezuelan politics but it is an anathema to what Chavez originally set out to achieve and the grassroots has every appearance of being left by the wayside as party functionaries scream at each other, excluding those who dare to raise a voice of complaint over the pell-mell destruction of bottom-up representation and the implementation of the form of under-the-table political bartering that saw the previous governments' Punto Fijo "understanding" devolve into the malfeasance and corruption that brought Venezuela to its knees in three figure inflation and massive domestic and foreign debts in the Caldera presidential disaster and those that preceded it.
Now, as Chavez complains from Minsk and Moscow that Russia's Interfax has got it all wrong by reporting that Veenzuela is shortly to become a convenient staging post for the Russian Federation's fleets of long-range bombers, nuclear submarines and assorted long-range and inter-continental fire-power, the ICC highlights its USA-biased concern over Chavez' foreign policy (conducted by hapless former bus driver, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro) and what it describes as the "further concentration of power in the President’s hands," it notes that in a quasi-attempt to join "the big boy's club" of international politicking, Chavez' failure to compromise and "to govern more transparently and inclusively" can wreak immeasurable disaster in November's local and and regional elections, so much so that Chavez could suffer a dramatic political setback that would put paid to his better ambitions for the Venezuelan nation.
Quite correctly the International Crisis Center’s Andean region Senior Analyst, Mauricio Angel Morales says that "the pro-Chavez movement is losing momentum ... it has become bureaucratic, corruption is rampant, and the government’s capacity to manage the country is poor ... regional and local grassroots are increasingly disappointed by the top-down style of the new PSUV party, which also is under mounting pressure from the smaller Chavista groups.”
Yes, indeed. I can only agree that many Venezuelans are dissatisfied with Chavez’ foreign policy, by the massive arms deals, generous cooperation with left-of-left allies and what Washington sees as "intrusive diplomacy" into its own snooping purview in Latin America. Of course, the ICC comes up with the hoart accusation that Chavez is supporting the Colombian FARC ... and why not throw in Hezbollah for good measure if you're going to uncritically absorb Washington's anti-Chavez PR drive.
Yes, indeed. Since his landslide second re-election in December 2006, Chavez has sought to accelerate implementation of Ssocialism of the 21st century” and, yes, the pro-government majority in the National Assembly (AN) did indeed pass an “enabling law” granting him full legislative powers on urgent economic measures until the end this July (2008). Yes, indeed, he had unsuccessfully proposed update reforms to the 1999 constitution -- including removal time limitations on presidential re-election -- but a national referendum defeated Chavez also on other proposals to reform education out of the stranglehold of the Roman Catholic Church. Other proposals to politicize the military were give by the bye as well as a new territorial and political order of government to strengthen community councils in the administration of central government social welfare programs.
The Crisis Group’s Latin America program director, Markus Schultze-Kraft insists that it is time for Chavez to change his radical course, to regain the elementary trust of his electoral base and to compromise with the "democratic opposition" to govern more efficiently. He ventures that only then will Venezuela return to democratic stability.
Yes, indeed! But the overwhelming question remains: when, if ever, has Venezuela enjoyed "democratic stability"? Most certainly, those in the Chavez administration who have ears to hear should prick them up and listen awhile instead of turning deaf ears and blind eyes to the various abuses of democracy that are percolating from the boiler-room of discontent.
Yes, indeed! There are those in the "democratic opposition" who are not as evil as the diehards in PSUV would want to tar and feather them. There are those in the "democratic opposition" as well as within the PSUV's own ranks who could be called-upon to cooperate across the superficial barricades of the last ten years to get down to the nitty-gritty of getting Venezuela's social economy and 'real time' democracy back on the rails and to salvage what remains of Venezuela's aspirations for a very much better future.
Believe it or not, Chavez' central political thesis DOES have support from quite a few of the more moderate dissenters who are prohibited from appearing on state-owned Venezolana de Television (VTV) and, perhaps as a result, are given more air time on 24/7 news channel Globovision, further repudiating their points-of-view from being listened to by the alienating power brokers in Miraflores.
It's such a pity, a tragedy, and basically leads to the conclusion that essentially there is no course other than to give Chavez that resounding "smack in the face" he's scheduled to get come November...
Perhaps, in yet another defeat, it will be the cause, the impetus for reformation! Last time around, Chavez insisted that he wanted to implement his "Three Rs" to wards realistic rectification of his government's procedures and overall policies. Last time around it now appears the words were mere rhetoric! This November, the electoral defeat may bring the man (or more properly the ruffians in his administration) to their senses?
Small hope, perhaps! The glass is either half-full or half-empty ... we can only wait to see!
Roy S. Carson
vheadline@gmail.com
Venezuela is facing the most difficult period of its history with honest reporters crippled by sectarianism on top of rampant corruption within the administration and beyond, aided and abetted by criminal forces in the US and Spanish governments which cannot accept the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people to decide over their own future.
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