Americas News
Chavez to rule by decree, legislature says (Roundup)
Jan 31, 2007, 21:10 GMT
Caracas - Venezuela's National Assembly granted President Hugo Chavez the power to rule by decree on Wednesday, vastly increasing his authority to move forward on his leftist agenda.
Chavez was given the special powers for 18 months by a legislature fully controlled by his party and a handful of allies in a vote that took place under the open air and tropical blue skies of Caracas's main square, Plaza Bolivar.
Chavez will be capable of enacting sweeping changes to government institutions, local elections, finance and taxes, banking, national defence, and the energy field as he attempts to establish a socialist system.
The country's opposition boycotted the last legislative election in 2005. Opposition parties have criticized the latest move as a step toward totalitarianism in the fifth-largest oil exporter in the world.
The controversial left-wing populist Chavez - who also was given special powers in 2001 - earlier this month announced plans to nationalize the country's largest electricity and telecommunications firms and end the autonomy of the Central Bank.
He also wants to remove presidential term limits from the constitution, raising the spectre of a leader with the ambition to hold on to the reins of power as did his political idol, Cuba's Fidel Castro, who has reigned for 47 years.
Chavez's tenure has raised concerns in the United States that he has marginalized democracy. Relations between the two countries have grown increasingly sour in recent years. The US intelligence czar, John Negroponte, on Tuesday warned that Chavez was a threat to democratic governance in the region.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Wednesday the National Assembly decision raises 'some eyebrows' but that United States will withhold judgement until determining how Chavez employs his new authority.
'We'll see how he uses these powers during the next 18 months and see whether he uses them in the furtherance of Venezuelan democracy,' McCormack said.
'Our concern with President Chavez, all along, has been the manner in which he has governed and our concerns as to whether or not he has governed in a democratic manner,' he added.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Hey! Watch it! America was founded on an effective genocide. CHavez cant match that.
What? A Congress relinquishing its responsibility and power to a President ... never! Lets hope his son (if he has one) doesn't get elected too, otherwise it might be a dynasty.
Gee, the little darling of the left has seized complete control. So it turns out he's a dictator... Who could have seen this coming? LOL!
Isn't ironic when so called 'liberals' end up defending totalitarian dictatorships? Such rank hypocrisy and elitism, the only thing left is to blame the 'neo-cons' or 'Bush' for 'making' Chavez a little dictator.
No, what's ironic is that the US uses 'democracy' as the excuse to go to sovereign countries to exploit their natural resources and set up puppet rulers. It's happening in Iraq, it happened in Chile/Pinochet, Iran in '54 with the Shah, Guatemala, Nicaraqua, etc. These puppets where horrible dictators that tortured/murdered their citizens and kept their countries poor. That's why Castro you used to tell the US 'Cuba no es Guatemala'.
And where is it stated that the US has the authority to dictate to another country what type of government it should have and who should be its leader? I for one would not welcome another country running my country.
It is unfortunate when people will willingly give up their rights as our Congress did by passing war making powers to the president. Anytime, any leader, left or right, can rule by decree democracy takes a step backward.
We should certainly protect our interests insofar as what happens in another country and how their people choose to rule is their business as long as it isn't imposed on that country's neighbors or the world at large.
I have been traveling to Venezuela for 12 years now, and anybody who thinks that Chavez is a 'good guy' ought to have his head examined. The deterioration of Venezuela in recent years, under his rule, has been incredible. It is totally unsafe to walk on the streets. Trash is mounded everywhere. Armed soldiers are strutting about all over the place, and decent hard-working people must live in barred locked houses, afraid to come out, because crime is totally out of control and the police do NOTHING, except zoom around on motorbikes, often with their girlfriends on the back, and drink beer. Chavez was 'democratically elected' because he bought the votes of the poor and ignorant with hand-outs, and terrorized anyone who opposed him. He has a huge hotel in Vargas, formerly a Sheraton, now populated with Cuban Mercenaries, and people who oppose him are regularly murdered. His free 'public clinics' are nothing more than deathtraps operated by incompetent doctors. If you vote against him, or speak out against him, at the least you will lose your job. Drug-peddling is rife.
This is NOT an exaggeration. The last time I was there was 2 weeks ago. If you don't believe it, go see for yourself (Be VERY careful!!!!!!) I can't STAND phonies like Pat Robertson, but in this case I agree with him...somebody should waste this idiot!
FACT: 'The Venezuelan assembly [passed] a law that will give the executive branch greater leeway to establish norms on a certain range of issues. Most of these involve guidelines for the president's own cabinet-level agencies. In other words, the Venezuelan version of the IRS will map out the country's tax structure; the Transportation department will devise its own strategic plan for public transit nationwide, etc. This represents a shift of certain powers from the legislative branch to the executive, to be sure, but on paper they don't seem to stray too far from the powers that the executive branch in the United States already has.'
This enabling law is just like many other enabling laws passed in a slew of of Western countries, including the US and Britain! So convinced are incurious Americans of their cultural superiority, they prefer the simple lies of a lazy and ineffectual media than the complex truth (which can easily be found if only ye shall get off your arses and seek it)!!
'In 1974, the Venezuelan legislature gave Carlos Andres Perez the power to issue decrees on a range of economic policies; in 1984, Jaime Lusinchi was given the power to deal with Venezuela's debt crisis by decree and in 1993 President Ramon Jose Velasquez -- an interim president -- was given the power to issue executive orders reforming the Venezuelan financial system. None were accused of usurping power or undermining Venezuelan democracy because they were friendly towards the U.S. and represented Venezuela's elites.'
There are too many of my fellow Americans who are wholly ignorant of actual history in this country, let alone any country in South America, whose opinion will always be swayed by the latest headline, even when it has little or no basis in fact.
GWBush rules by decree!! The Patriot Act was an enabling law that allows him to do all sorts of skullduggery, but none of you are complaining about that! He's the SOLE decider on who is a terrorist or enemy combatant. None of you complain about that, either. *lol*
'President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html?_r=1&hp&ex=11 70133200&en=f7bdc9f4cbb28c31&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin
Go check that out and then come back. People who are condemning Chavez should 'worry a bit more about the fragility of our own democracy before sticking our noses into Venezuela's.'
--> Thanks to Joshua Holland of gadflyer.com for the quoted text.
Ahh now the leftie pantie wearing tree huggers have been left in the lurch, how can they blame anyone else for Chavez when he openly comes out as a dictator? I know why dont you all blame Bush cause he irritated Chavez with his brim stone smell thus causing the nice democratic Chavez to become the evil little tyrant. Or maybe you could somehow implicate Isreal as the problem, not sure how, but confident that some of you will find a way. In between times I would like to remind you all that you seldom get what you want, but you always get what you deserve.
page: 1
Pete Brower Durango, COJan 31st, 2007 - 21:56:55
Oh great another democratically elected dictator. He's got more in common with
Bush than he thought.
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