As Cuba’s Fidel Castro lies dying and journalists — and diplomats — wonder what will come next, one thing is becoming clear:
As the 1950s-1960s self-styled “revolutionary” passes from the scene, it seems likely that in journalistic, political and some diplomatic circles he will perceived to have been replaced by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who has used his whopping election victory to gobble up more power. The BBC:
Venezuela’s National Assembly has given initial approval to a bill granting the president the power to bypass congress and rule by decree for 18 months.
President Hugo Chavez says he wants “revolutionary laws” to enact sweeping political, economic and social changes.
He has said he wants to nationalise key sectors of the economy and scrap limits on the terms a president can serve.
Mr Chavez began his third term in office last week after a landslide election victory in December.
The bill allowing him to enact laws by decree is expected to win final approval easily in the assembly on its second reading on Tuesday.
Venezuela’s political opposition has no representation in the National Assembly since it boycotted elections in 2005.
Chavez is insisting his country is still democratic – that assertion is not (to be charitable) shared by all. The site VCRISIS:
No more pretenses, no more posturing, none of that. The all-chavista assembly approved yesterday in first ‘discussion’ -as if they discussed orders from the dictator- an all-encompasing enabling law, which in practical terms means that Hugo Chavez will govern by decree, ruling on nearly all aspects of the country for the next 18 months. The good thing about this is that from now on, in the literal sense, without hesitation or remorse, we can indulge in calling coupster Chavez as many times as we want a “democratically elected dictator”â„¢, as he always wanted to be. It’s official now. Also great to be able to describe Venezuela in its appropriate context as a non democratic country, ruled -by decree- by a militaristic dictator as some of us have maintained for years now.
Edward Ellis, Summer Reality Tour coordinator for the NGO Global Exchange www.globalexchange.org in Merida, Venezuela, writing in the Buffalo News sees it differently:
It is obvious to anyone watching closely that Chavez is not a dictator. He is, however, bombastic and his recent announcement that the government plans to nationalize private companies must be understood within this context. Despite the bluster, history and common sense show there will be no expropriation of private companies in Venezuela without fair remuneration.
For those who fear Chavez’s rhetoric indicates a hostility to private enterprise, I recommend a slow drive down any Caracas thoroughfare. Screaming billboards advertising everything from Smirnoff Ice to private banks will set free enterprise hearts at ease.
Proponents of the authoritarian thesis also point to the government’s refusal to renew the license of a Caracas-based TV station because of its critical stance toward the president. This proposition, quite honestly, is laughable.
The vast majority of media outlets in Venezuela deride the president and his administration daily. The reality is that the station in question was implicated in the planning and execution of a coup attempt against the government in April 2002 that left 19 innocent civilians dead.
But part of what’s happening is the passing of a key ACTOR from the world stage — and a new one seamlessly assuming his old role.
Castro was larger than life. He constantly thumbed his nose at the United States and a succession of American presidents (and his Cuban exile enemies in Florida). Chavez seems to be quickly filling the void (Castro is alive but now effectively gone from the world political stage).
It’s sort of like watching the old TV show “Bewitched,” as another actor assumed the part of Darrin.
Chavez does not intend to quietly stick to running his government. He’s making his feelings known, not just in his policies and use of his electoral clout but in his peppery statements. For instance yesterday he lectured Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of President Bush, focused Friday on a new American target: newly named U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Chavez took issue with comments Reid made just hours earlier to the National Press Club in Washington, citing the Venezuelan leader as among the threats facing the United States in 2007 because “Chavez and (Cuba’s Fidel) Castro want to put their leftist marks on young democracies.”
Chavez, in Brazil attending a summit of 10 South American leaders, said the Nevada Democrat got it wrong.
Instead, Chavez declared he wants to “put the leftist stamp on the people, those who the imperialist gringos don’t want or can’t understand because of fear or ignorance.”
“I think this leftist stamp in Latin America is going to spread throughout the world because the only the left can provide the transformation we need,” Chavez said.
Will Chavez be the early 21st-Century’s new Latin American “Castro?” A key difference is that due to its oil, the U.S. needs Venezuela far more than it needed Castro’s tiny, Soviet-client-state Cuba — and the oil gives Venezuela significant clout.
So it may be too early to tell. But if Chavez starts puffing cigars in front of reporters, it might mean something…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.