'Presidente' by Intimidation

Only one year after the Venezuelan people rejected Hugo Chavez's bid to become their dictator, the socialist/narcissistic "presidente" wants another referendum that would enable him to stay in power indefinitely.

Last December, when Venezuelan voters rejected a package of constitutional amendments, which included unlimited re-election for "el presidente," some naive observers proclaimed that Chavez's days in power were numbered. When his current six-year term expires in 2012, he will have to relinquish power to another democratically elected president, they said.

They actually expected him to leave office vertically, on his own two feet, although it had become very clear that Chavez has no intention of leaving the presidency until he is carried out horizontally.

Like his idol — Cuba's Fidel Castro — Chavez wants to be president for life. And like Castro, he doesn't seem to care about the will of the majority of his people.

He already has declared himself a "presidential pre-candidate" for the 2012 election, in which he is constitutionally banned from running. Venezuela's constitution allows a maximum of two six-year terms for presidents.

But who cares about such minor impediments? Not Chavez!

He already has submitted a bill to the Venezuelan National Assembly seeking a new referendum, which would ask voters to eliminate presidential term limits. And because more than two-thirds of the legislature is controlled by pro-Chavez lawmakers, it looks as if Venezuelans will be voting again in late February or early March 2009.

Although Chavez's facade began with him giving his followers "permission" to seek the referendum, he rapidly switched to his highly offensive and intimidating campaign mode. ''The opposition will not stop our revolution!'' he reportedly told hundreds of red-shirted followers at a rally last week.

To Chavez, political opponents are enemies who must be silenced or destroyed. He censors critical media and sends government prosecutors after his political rivals and threatens to throw the rivals in jail. Anyone who doesn't agree with his "socialism of the 21st century" is considered a "fascist" agent of U.S. imperialism who probably is betraying the motherland by conspiring with the CIA. In fact, the way Chavez insults his opponents, he often sounds as if he intentionally is inciting his followers to commit acts of violence against his opponents. And they have, quite often!

This new referendum campaign will be no different. Chavinista prosecutors already are accusing opposition leaders of corruption. Chavez has called for an investigation of Globovision, a TV network that has dared to be critical of his government.

After the opposition won some important posts in recent municipal elections, his government took the control of public schools and hospitals away from recently elected opposition mayors and governors. Caracas' city council, under a new opposition mayor, was prevented from meeting by Chavez's National Guard.

So why is Chavez back on the warpath so soon after last year's referendum rejection? Some analysts say he is motivated by the results of those local elections last month. Although the opposition won Venezuela's three most populous states — as well as the two biggest cities, Caracas and Maracaibo — Chavez's candidates won 17 of the 22 gubernatorial races and 279 of the 335 mayoral races.

To Chavez, this could mean that the Venezuelan people are ready to make him a democratically elected dictator. But this would be an illusion not supported by the polls. According to Ecoanalítica Opinión Pública, a Venezuelan market research company that carried out a recent poll, two-thirds of the Venezuelan people are opposed to letting Chavez run for office indefinitely. The poll showed that while 31 percent would support the constitutional reform, 66 percent would oppose it.

Although Chavez's massive welfare programs and foreign aid projects have made him very popular among the poor in Venezuela and the leftists all over Latin America, most Venezuelans don't seem to be crazy about the thought of listening to Chavez ramble indefinitely.

"At the end of February, I think we should be ready for the referendum," Chavez said during one of his long-winded television speeches. ''We have to do it soon,'' he told cheering supporters in another speech. "We have to do it well. We have to win."

So why is he in such a hurry to amend the constitution? He has until 2012; why not wait to make this move until the odds are more in his favor? Because he knows that for the foreseeable future, the odds are against him!

The world financial crisis and the drop in oil prices mean that Chavez no longer will be able to use Venezuela's oil wealth to buy voters in his country; to finance leftist leaders and guerrillas throughout the Americas; or to promote anti-American propaganda.

About 95 percent of the Venezuelan government's income comes from oil sales, and Chavez's budget used to be based on oil prices of $60 per barrel, so Chavez was doing great when the price of a barrel went to $147 earlier this year. But now that it is less than $40 per barrel, Chavez is facing a financial crisis. According to Venezuela's El Universal newspaper, while the government projected it would be making $174 million per day in oil revenues, it is down to $115 million.

Because it's possible he no longer will be able to buy the loyalty of his followers in the future, Chavez needs that referendum ASAP. It's not confidence in victory that drives Chavez back to the polls; it's desperation!

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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