Chavez’s New Election Strategy: Threaten Opponents with Jail
Venezuela's aspiring dictator panics as he faces a potential drubbing in regional elections.
Venezuela is facing local and regional elections on November 23, and increasingly negative polls are troubling sitting president Hugo Chavez. Indeed, the triumphant Chavez of December 2006, reelected with 63% on a wave of unprecedented populist measures fueled by constantly increasing oil prices, believed he had it all. In two years he has been told otherwise.
First, his wish to change the constitution so as to be reelected as needed was voted down in the referendum of 2007. Not only will he now have to leave office in January 2013, but a series of special powers he obtained to implement a socialist state has been rejected, justly perceived by the people as an authoritarian power grab. His internal image has also been tarnished by major errors such as closing the RCTV television station, whose soap operas were a favorite among the Chavista voters.
When the intrigues over the FARC hostage release went to the forefront with the capture of the Reyes laptops in the Ecuador jungle, it became clear that Chavez was not an honest broker but a party in the Colombian conflict. This became too much for international public opinion and now Venezuela and Chavez are considered pariah states, to the point that in their third debate Obama and McCain agreed at least on one thing: no more Chavez oil for the U.S.! We can guess that the halving of oil prices since the global economic crisis hit us has not improved the mood at Miraflores Palace, where more than ever the paranoia associated with leftist revolutions can now exert itself freely.
Of the 24 regional districts at stake, Chavismo holds 22. The opposition holds only the tourist mecca of Margarita and the biggest and wealthiest state of Venezuela, Zulia, of which Manuel Rosales is sitting governor since the year 2000. In any normal democracy such a historical but accidental majority is bound to diminish after four years, no matter how good the economic and administrative situation of the country is. But that is not the view with the Bolivarian Revolution of Chavez, who as it ages ungracefully tolerates dissent less and less.
The crop of Chavistas elected in 2000 and 2004 has proven to be a failure, with some honorable exceptions. The love story of Chavez with the masses seems to have started fraying as people get tired of Venezuela having become one of the countries with the highest crime rate. Public services and utilities are slowly but surely collapsing: we have had three — three — national power outages this year lasting several hours each. In some states power outages are almost a daily occurrence. These failures accompany others, such as the deficient official heath system in spite of the Cuban-inspired Barrio Adentro. Garbage has also become a major issue and mostly in Chavista-held cities such as Caracas, which is literally buried by tons of garbage while the free space left is occupied by informal street vendors. This does not help the people that must spend hours in the hopelessly congested streets of Venezuela’s main cities.
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Daniel Duquenal is a Pajamas correspondent in Venezuela and writes his blog Venezuela News and Views.
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32 Comments
1. Marc Malone:Maybe we should be calling for international supevision of Venezuelan elections. Obviously, they cannot run their own elections without coercion, hyperpartisanship, voter fraud, improper determination of eligibility, lack of proper intervention by governmental authorities (i.e., the courts), and corruption. What a typical third-world-country election.
Oh, wait….
Oct 29, 2008 - 1:31 am 2. vivo:The problem with Venezuela is that the poor are uneducated and lack skills, the middle class want to live like millionaires but don’t have the income, and the upper class do not invest in their country and their millions are spent abroad. Meanwhile, oil revenues cloud all the myriad internal problems and nobody knows how to fix them.
Oct 29, 2008 - 4:02 am 3. Chavez’s New Election Strategy: Threaten Opponents with Jail | Citizen-Right:[...] Read More.. [...]
Oct 29, 2008 - 4:16 am 4. njcommuter:If the economy could bring him down, how have Cuba and North Korea remained under Communist control for so long?
Oct 29, 2008 - 5:16 am 5. Magic:If Mr. Obama wins this race, you are looking at the same kind of action in America in 2012 with the media blessing. Mr. Chavez is a socialist, Mr Obams is a socialist the policies and dictums are the same. 2012 we will be the Socialist Republic of America.
Oct 29, 2008 - 5:20 am 6. Douglas Bogle:Never fear Obama is here.
Jimmy Carter supervised the election in which Chavez was elected. None of the votes from my wife’s family counted. Why? The did not register as a supporter of Chavez.
How does this apply to the current situation in the US? Hmmm.
Chavez also ran on the same platform as th”O”, redistribution of wealth through socialistic programs. Take from the wealthy and give to the poor.
With the nationalization of private business, Vzla saw a flight of foreign capital and industry.
How does this apply to the current situation in the US? Hmmm.
10 years of damage to Vzla with Chavez will be like 2 years of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid with a super majority.
Never fear Obama is here.
Oct 29, 2008 - 5:30 am 7. bill-tb:So isn’t this what Obama and the Socialist Democrats do as well?
Socialism doesn’t fail, it just runs out of other people’s money to give away. Why work when the pies are free. But when the pies run out, because the baker in now in line with all the rest of the people — And that’s when the bayonets come out, gulags are filled and assignations begin.
In Zimbabwe they redistributed the white folks farms, but forgot one thing. Having the farm did not mean you knew how to farm. And now they starve together.
Oct 29, 2008 - 5:38 am 8. schnargley:This piece is pure McCarthyism. Exagerrating and overreporting few glitches on the glorious road to proletarian paradise is a typical pattern of the capitalist-imperialist powers you represent. Chavez is truth is a very open-minded, cultured, who is good friends with some of our best and brightest minds. Naomi Campbell is advising him on women’s issues,
Bill Ayers on education reform, and his good friend, famous movie star Sean Penn, watch hours of movies from Hollywood about conspiracy theories in the US government.
Obviously Sean Penn is advising him on how to make democarcy safe in Venzuela against the conspirators and anti=people powers.
Oct 29, 2008 - 7:04 am 9. rvastar:And thus the leopard – I mean, Leftist – shows his spots.
Probably two years ago now, I had an argument about Chavez with a Leftist a-hat at the now defunct Captain Quarters. Chavez had just nationalized Venezuela’s oil industry, and I was arguing that the move – along with his recent moves against certain critical news media – indicated that he was just another Leftist totalitarian in waiting. The a-hat kept blathering on about how Chavez wasn’t a dictator and that he had a 70% approval rating, much better than “Chimpy McBushitler”. To which I responded (paraphrasing) with the following:
Hmmmm…don’t just love the smell of fresh-baked crow?
Oct 29, 2008 - 8:24 am 10. rvastar:Oh…and guess who is a member of the directorate of the Miranda International Center, a communist think-tank funded by Chavez?
Bill “A Guy Who Lives in My Neighborhood” Ayers
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you! Always remember the following when you’re dealing with Obama:
There…don’t you feel better already?
Oct 29, 2008 - 8:35 am 11. An Utter Failure : The New Nixon: News and Commentary about the President, his Times, and his Legacy:[...] Chavez is getting paranoid about his political prospects, but its his country that should concern him: The crop of Chavistas elected in 2000 and 2004 has proven to be a failure, with some honorable [...]
Oct 29, 2008 - 8:45 am 12. Kevin:njcommuter,
Chavez failed twice to obtain the level of control exerted by the leaders of Cuba and North Korea. First he tried to take over by military coup, he lost. Then, as stated in the article, he tried to have dictatorship voted in for him with the Constitutional election of 2007. So, because he doesn’t have that level of total control, the failures of socialism cannot be hidden. Both governments of Cuba and North Korea have the unwavering support of the military as well. Chavez doesn’t have that. In short, he never achieved the level of power needed to hide the economic failures his policies have brought.
Oct 29, 2008 - 8:55 am 13. Douglas Bogle:Never fear Obama is here.
Do you think the “O” will acheive the power that Chavez could not? Pelosi, Reid, the media and a super majority. Who needs the military.
How much funding will the”O” route to the Miranda International Ctre.
Remember Chavez is a McCain guy.
Never Fear Obama is here.
Oct 29, 2008 - 9:37 am 14. AnonymousPatriot:This makes me wonder how BHO, if elected, is going to handle waning popularity or any negative stories about him, his cabinet members, etc., while in office.
What if, during his administration, charges of corruption, intimidation, malfeasance, etc., come up against him? How is he going to react to Congressional hearings, grand jury inquiries and possible impeachment proceedings?
The Politburo-MSM would be on his side as well as the Hollywood Leftist elites. In their world, any charges against BHO would be considered racist and discriminatory. US Americans just need to stand down and shut up.
The words “corruption” “intimidation” and “malfeasance” would be redefined to mean something far less egregious like “dishonest” “assertive” and “misconduct.”
George Orwell isn’t turning over in his grave; he’s wagging his finger at us and saying, “I tried to warn you!”
Oct 29, 2008 - 10:34 am 15. What an Obamanation has to look forward to. « Scatterin’ O’ the Thoughts:[...] What an Obamanation has to look forward to. Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 by clevergael If you’re wondering what might happen in America if B.O. is elected, look no further than Venezuela. Seems Hugo is having a problem with not being as popular as he wants to be, so he’s throwing his opponents in jail. [...]
Oct 29, 2008 - 10:35 am 16. Marc Malone:Lots of irony and sarcasm on this thread. it’s hard to keep track of who’s reallY serious. I kinda like it.
Oct 29, 2008 - 1:08 pm 17. locomotivebreath1901:“Threaten Opponents with Jail”
“Thats, Chavez.”
“Spelled O.B.A.M.A.”
Oct 29, 2008 - 1:52 pm 18. Angry White Dude:The wealthy long ago left Venezuela. Atlas has shrugged in that country. Hugo’s only chance of keeping power is shower $$ at the military and imprison anyone who is a threat. Standard commie operating procedures.
Oct 29, 2008 - 3:06 pm 19. hp:some version of that occurring here now during the election. speak up against a chavez-esque candidate and find yourself locked out by his hacker tech team.
Oct 29, 2008 - 4:02 pm 20. Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda:[...] Daniel Duquenal – Chavez’s New Election Strategy: Threaten Opponents with Jail; Venezuela’s aspiring dictator panics as he faces a potential drubbing in regional elections. [...]
Oct 29, 2008 - 10:51 pm 21. vivo:Why Americans care about Venezuela? OIL.
Oct 30, 2008 - 2:45 am 22. Will Obama “Support and Defend” the Constitution? Yeah, right! « Mark Epstein:[...] judicially-supporting the silencing of those who oppose One-Party Rule ala Hugo Chavez, i.e., threatening opponents with jail. Secondly, the Bill of Rights will be shredded when these same jurists trash the Second Amendment, [...]
Oct 30, 2008 - 4:28 am 23. johnjack:dig here, dig now, and save !! screw chavez!
Oct 30, 2008 - 9:14 am 24. view from afar:Vivo are you discussing the United States or Venezuela in your comment N°2? Funny how all of these Obama comments have come out, would that be because of things like Biden’s are yo joking comment, or the inability of either Democratic candidate, vp or pres, to exactly qualify and quantify what wealth is…250,or200or150…I think many middle class disaffected voters who vote Obama are voting for the free pies…however back to the article, Chavez needs to continue losing his power, and to have people get rid of him…let’s hope Obama doesn’t make it in, that will encourage Chavez to grab even more power and then Obama can justify his power grab the same way…
Oct 30, 2008 - 10:11 am 25. rvastar:Why do Leftists “care” about Iraq? To win elections.
Why do Leftists “care” about American soldiers? To win elections.
Why do Leftists “care” about illegal immigrants? To win elections.
Why do Leftists “care” about blacks? To win elections.
Why do Leftists “care” about gays? To win elections.
Oct 30, 2008 - 11:47 am 26. atheta:From an American who lives Venezuela…It is going to be fun to watch the little republicans lose. It will be more fun to read their trite excuses.
Oct 30, 2008 - 3:57 pm 27. vivo:Venezuela sooner or later will be rid of Chavez…just as America is about rid of Bush and the repubs for a few years
24. view from afar:
“Vivo are you discussing the United States or Venezuela in your comment N°2?”
What’s so complicated about “Why Americans care about Venezuela? OIL.”?
Oct 30, 2008 - 8:40 pm 28. vivo:25. rvastar:
You sound like part of the ignorant and cynical FRINGE. This is what the bad Reps do to smear their own Party. Nobody rational votes for idiots like these.
Oct 30, 2008 - 8:46 pm 29. Rubicon:Ain’t the whole idea of socialism great. Just give “me” what you have & shut up, or I will send in my attack dogs like I did when radio WGN aired a report about the Chicago Annenberg Challenge failure of Obama-Ayers, or the multiple lawsuits I filed to stop any discussion on birth certificates or commercials I disagree with, etc. Oops, that’s Obama not Chavez.
Nov 1, 2008 - 1:43 pm 30. Dems unite:Oh well, like minded socialists are they!
Chavez’s time in Venezuela is about up, and Obama’s will be once his policies start to fail us like Chavez’s have failed Venezuela.
It took the German people years to realize what their National Socialist party one really was, just as it will take years for some of Obama’s followers to realize what he really is!
Now that Obama has won , will Chavez blame all his woes on him ?
will Obama ever sit down with a thug ?
will Obama even think of visiting Venezuela ?
I don’t think so
being a pariah state , with high levels of crime , high levels of murder , with an underclass full of hate and vitriol does not fit into Obama’s future agenda
Nov 5, 2008 - 5:17 am 31. Dems unite:“atheta ”
people like you , who profess their hatred for their country , are of no use to anyone
quit blaming everyone for the failures , do something about it for a change
it’s easy to be a critic , come up with a solution instead
Nov 5, 2008 - 5:20 am 32. JC:Finally two countries in south America have shown us what democracy is. Morales and Chavez were both poor, not rich. Their policies help the poor, not the rich. Now, post Chavez, Venezuelans has free public heath care, and free education. Envious? They trade oil to Cuba in exchange for skilled workers, like surgeons. The blind can now see, the ignorant can now read, all thanks the Chavez. Of course the rich hate him, which is why the CIA, with Bush backing, sponsored them in a failed Coup in April 2002 to over-through the democratically elected leader. It didn’t work. The ‘people’ reinstated him.
Nov 8, 2008 - 1:20 am