I don't think Chávez has the sense of honour as had Allende .... who made no threat on the democratic process, never mind the various lying justifications out of the apologists for Kissinger et al, he and his government would not have stood in the way of the next fair open elections, and they would have turned over power to whoever got voted in by the people ..... Allende was no close buddy of Castro, while Chávez is, and i've heard strong opinions from venezolanos that come 2006 there are not likely to be fair elections if C stays on his present course .... there are negotiations going on now as to whether there will be a referendum in August, somebody blew up the building yesterday, today is the anniversary of C getting back into power after the aborted coup last year [here i'll paste in an article below]
Also i question as to whether C really has the support of a majority .... yes it is a shamefully stratified society with the desperately poor as a majority of souls, but it doesn't necessarily follow that they will swallow whole everything out of the mouth of some ranting demagogue .... just thinking here of average mexicanos who would twenty years ago have been much more gullible in that respect than they are today .... certainly Carmona et al didn't do themselves any good by declaring invalid the constitucion last april, that was a clear anti-democratic move, but it is now recognised as a mistake among the opposition, i'm not so sure that a reasonably moderate contender couldn't take an election from Chávez now, or in august, and likely stands a lot more chance in 2006 ..... depending on how reasonable anybody could be in the situation, i guess eh .... here's that article -
' Venezuela's Chavez Marks Anniversary
1 hour, 3 minutes ago
By STEPHEN IXER, Associated Press Writer
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez looked beyond
Venezuela's simmering political crisis Sunday to celebrate the first
anniversary of his return to power following a brief military coup.
The festivities came one day after a bomb ripped
through the building where Venezuela's
government and opposition have been negotiating
a proposed referendum on Chavez's presidency.
No one was injured in the pre-dawn blast but it
renewed tensions in Venezuela just as rival
groups appeared to be close to resolving some
political differences.
Chavez presided over the closing ceremony of an international forum in
support of his so-called "Bolivarian Revolution," while thousands of his
supporters gathered on a central Caracas avenue.
"God bless April 13," Chavez said at the forum. "A miraculous day, the
miracle of the start of the century. The first great victory of the people this
century in the whole world."
Ricardo Perez, a 62-year old carpenter waiting to hear Chavez at the rally,
said he was glad Chavez's left-wing movement was not toppled for good.
"Those days (of the coup) were terrible for the country. Thank God the loyal
armed forces managed to restore democracy," Perez said, as Venezuelan
folk music blared out from huge loudspeakers and barbecue smoke drifted
over the crowd.
Chavez was ousted by dissident military generals after 19 people were killed
during an opposition demonstration on April 11, 2002. Pedro Carmona, a
businessman who swore himself in as president the next day, immediately
dissolved the National Assembly, the Supreme Court and the constitution.
A popular backlash against the coup began and thousands converged on
the presidential palace to demand Chavez's return to office. Carmona
resigned on April 13 and loyalist troops restored Chavez to power in the
early hours of the 14th.
Chavez promised to reconcile the deeply divided population but never
succeeded. The opposition began a two-month strike in December
demanding early elections or Chavez's resignation. The strike briefly crippled
Venezuela's crucial oil industry and cost the country $6 billion.
The Organization of American States announced Friday that the two sides
agreed to pave the way for a midterm referendum on Chavez's presidency.
The OAS has been sponsoring the peace talks since November.
OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria said Friday the agreement would be
signed after Easter, but Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said the deal
still awaits Chavez's approval.
In the document, both sides agree to play by the rules as the opposition
works toward a midterm referendum on Chavez's presidency while the chief
of state has pledged to leave office if he loses.
But tensions have heated up again since Saturday's bombing, with each
side blaming the other of being behind the attack that destroyed three floors
of the Caracas building.
An opposition negotiator said the blast was intended to intimidate his
delegation at the talks, while the government blamed "coup-plotting" sectors
of the opposition.
Chavez, elected to a six-year term in 2000, accuses Venezuela's traditional
elite of seeking his ouster and foiling his efforts to distribute Venezuela's oil
riches to the poor.
His opposition accuses the former army paratrooper of imposing an
authoritarian regime and ruining the economy. '
story.news.yahoo.com |
