The editors of Veneconomy explain that Chavez' push to rapidly retry getting an amendment for unlimited rule and his attacks on Opposition leaders show that the emperor has no clothes.
Those who thought that, after November 23, Hugo Chávez and all the new governors would get down to work to dig the country out of the economic and social hole it finds itself in can come back down to earth.
Venezuelans will be on the election campaign trail for the fourth consecutive year because that is the will of Hugo Chávez and so he has decided. This time, the President is not only turning the regional governments won by the opposition into battle fields, he is also calling for an illegal constitutional amendment that would allow him to remain in power indefinitely. This amendment would finally turn Venezuela into the totalitarian socialist State decreed by Chávez in the 26 laws he enacted under his special powers in August 2008.
While the precepts established in these laws were rejected outright by a majority on December 2, 2007, in a country where democracy is a vaudeville act and where a good disciple of the dictator Fidel governs, it seems that the wishes of the people count for nothing. Chávez’s arrogance has not allowed him to digest the fact that the "NO" to the reform of the Constitution and, therefore, to presidential reelection means just that, "NO!"
Apart from that, he is ignoring the rule according to which the amendment he has peremptorily ordered the PSUV, the National Assembly, and the National Electoral Council to undertake is unconstitutional. This order is totally immoral, regardless of any indulgent interpretation handed down by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of the rules established in the Constitution that deny the possibility of indefinite reelection and establish that Venezuela will always have an “alternative government.” Moreover, the Constitution is very clear when it orders that proposals that have been rejected by referendum may not be submitted to another referendum within a same presidential term.
Chávez’s reaction is that of a cornered, injured wild animal who considers attack to be the best form of defense. That is why he has started a war to the death against the recently elected democratic alliance mayors and governors, is harassing opposition leaders and dissidents from his revolutionary ranks, and has stepped up his attacks on the private sector.
To top it all, an outstanding feature of this merciless attack is the discouragement and sensation of being under siege that he is instilling in the population with his abusive, marathon nationwide mandatory networked broadcasts. Using this mechanism, he barges into the homes of Venezuelans whenever he wants and on any pretext, so letting the people know that he is their omnipresent master.
Chávez’s frenzy is more than evident and it will continue to escalate because, among other things, inflation is around 40%, the price of oil has already dropped to $40/barrel, there is no way to meet the huge demand for public spending, even skimping on the funds that should go to the state governments in the hands of the opposition, and the country now has a depleted industrial park without production capacity and a growing cemetery of state-owned companies.
For a regime without ideology that is based on distributing handouts at home and abroad, it is clear that the countdown has already started, with or without amendment. Hence Chávez’s desperation…
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