By David Adams. © St.
Petersburg Times, published June 12, 2001
MIAMI -- His opponents have been predicting it for some time. Others didn't
think he would go this far.
After two controversial years at the helm of oil-rich Venezuela, President
Hugo Chavez appears to have finally taken the leap into what some are calling
the Cubanization of his country.
During a speech Sunday, Chavez called on his supporters to form Cuban-style
neighborhood watchdog groups -- "on every corner, on every block" --
in a move to insulate his leftist Bolivarian Revolution from criticism.
The nationwide creation of the so-called "Bolivarian Circles" is
the surest sign yet of the slippery authoritarian slope down which the former
paratrooper and coup plotter is taking his country.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro's infamous Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution are the dreaded "eyes and ears" of the one-party system.
Members are encouraged to spy on neighbors and report suspicious activity to the
Cuban Communist Party.
At least Castro can claim some justification for his totalitarian system by
arguing that his country is under political and economic threat from the United
States.
In Chavez's case there is no external threat to his Bolivarian project,
named after Simon Bolivar, the 19th century independence hero. He simply doesn't
like what he's hearing from his democratic critics.
Chavez has grown increasingly frustrated by a shrill opposition that he
claims is dedicated to undermining his rule. Since his election, Chavez has
failed to meet popular hopes that he would tackle poverty and corruption, the
two main ills of this South American nation.
On his weekly Sunday TV and radio address, Hello President, Chavez described
the circles as "the people united like a fist . . . (dedicated) to the the
defense and support of the revolution."
Composed of up to 11 members, the circles would operate under the
president's personal direction.
By now used to his rambling speeches, the Venezuelan media doesn't appear to
have taken the president's latest threats too seriously.
Even so, analysts say Chavez's recent tone shows alarming signs of a marked
ideological shift. On Sunday he also told a business seminar that foreigners who
insulted his country or his government would be expelled.
Chavez insists he remains committed to the country's parliamentary
democracy, "but everything has its limits."
In two years Chavez has racked up a distinctly unimpressive list of
political follies. After a recent state visit by the Chinese president, Jiang
Zemin, he described himself a "Maoist." He has also expressed
admiration for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
But his chief model is Castro. Chavez's long and fiery speeches, laced with
anti-imperialist rhetoric, sound daily more like his Caribbean comrade.
In October Chavez signed a generous deal with Cuba to provide 53,000 barrels
of oil to the energy-starved island. Cuba has 15 years to pay the first quarter
of the price at only 2 percent interest.
Washington has so far adopted a wait and see policy toward Chavez. But that
may be changing. The Miami Herald reported Sunday that the Bush administration
has quietly curtailed its cooperation with the main Venezuelan intelligence
agency, the DISIP, because of Chavez's relationship with Cuba.
There may be worse to come.
The creation of the circles is just one of a series of "revolutionary
laws" Chavez has in mind. Earlier, on Saturday, he told a crowd of cheering
communist militants that he was preparing a property law that would target
owners of vast unproductive estates.
He also blasted Venezuela's business elite, blaming them for non-payment of
taxes, campaigns against him and conspiracies to destabilize his government.
Chavez has good reason to rail against corruption, but all the evidence
suggests the private sector is no worse than the rot within his own government.
Seeking to put all the blame in one basket is unlikely to do much good.
Despite recent high oil prices, the Venezuelan economy continues to stumble.
Venezuelans worried by Chavez's totalitarian tendencies have been rapidly moving
money out of the country. Commercebank, a Venezuelan affiliate in Miami,
recently reported that its deposits have risen by about $100-million a month in
the last six months. Economists calculate that more than $10-billion has left
the country in the last year.
Chavez can huff and puff as much as he likes, but it won't bring that money
back.
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