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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2010 Venezuelan legislature grants Chavez decree powers
President can rule until mid-2012 without input from legislators
BY JUAN FORERO
bogota, colombia—Venezue- la’s lame-duck, pro-government congress has given temporary one-man rule to President Hugo Chavez, less than three weeks before a newly elected National Assembly with enough govern- ment foes to hamper some of his socialist initiatives takes office. Congress approved laws that
give the state more control over the economy and granted Chavez decree powers that permit himto rule until mid-2012 without in- put fromlegislators. With those decree powers,
which lawmakers passed Friday, Venezuela enters a new stage in Chavez’s “Bolivarian Revolu- tion,” in which analysts say an increasingly erratic but powerful
president consolidates control over a country in deep recession. Chavez’s actions,which under-
mine the new legislature elected in September, have been strongly condemned by government ad- versaries. “This castrates the next Na-
tional Assembly,” Teodoro Pet- koff, a former guerrilla turned newspaper editor, said of the measures in a Saturday column. “Chavez has begun to take the path of dictatorship.” The president’s supporters
said the “enabling law” approved by the National Assembly allows Chavez to respond more quickly to heavy rains that have left tens of thousands of Venezuelans homeless. The 165-member National As-
sembly is overwhelmingly con- trolled by Chavez allies, but the new congress will include 67 lawmakers who oppose him. Speaking to supporters in a
televised address Friday, Chavez left little doubt that hewould use his powers to push through a
CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS Backers ofVenezuelan PresidentHugo Chavez and opposition supporters clashed last week in Caracas.
range of economic and political measures that would accelerate the oil-rich country’s transfor- mation into a socialist state. “Theywill not be able to create
even one law, the little Yankees,” said Chavez, who brands his opponents as stooges of an impe- rialist U.S. government. “Let’s see how they are going to make
laws now.” In a legislative offensive over
the past few days, the assembly has reinforced the pro-Chavez Supreme Court by appointing justices aligned with the govern- ment and approved a lawmaking it easier to nationalize banks. Lawmakers are also pressing
forward to approve laws that would control Web sites and place new restrictions on human rights groups and their ability to receive foreign funding. In a statement, the human
rights branch of the Organiza- tion of American States said the government’s proposals could prohibit the media from issuing reports that “foment anxiety” or “ignore the authorities.” That arm of the OAS, the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, said those mea- sures endanger freedom of ex- pression because they are so vague. “There’s a serious concern on
the part of the commission,” its director, Santiago Canton, said by phone from Washington, where the group is based. He said that the commission
has repeatedly warned about de- teriorating rights in Venezuela. “Here we are again facing
another legislation thatwill limit further the protection of human rights for all Venezuelans,” he said. The Obama administration
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has also voiced concern. Last week, State Department spokes- man P.J. Crowley said Chavez “seems to be finding new and
creative ways to justify autocrat- ic powers.” Activists opposed to the new
measures said the country is gripped by uncertainty and is increasingly polarized. Carlos Correa, who helps run
the rights group Public Space, said he had to go to the hospital lastweek after a pro-government protester threw a traffic cone that hit him on the head outside the National Assembly. “This is basically a small ex-
ample of what is happening in the country,” said Correa, who teaches at the Catholic Universi- ty in Caracas. “Look, what is happening is
the dissolution of the state, a blow to the constitution, a blow that’s affecting all institutional guarantees.” Chavez’s initiative comes at a
difficult time for his presidency, now in its 12th year. Unlike in the rest of South
America, where economies are booming because of high com- modity prices and internal con- sumption, Venezuela’s has been contracting for months despite high oil prices, which usually motor the country’s economy. The country has also faced food shortages, an energy crisis and Latin America’s highest inflation rate. Elections for a new assembly
in September, inwhich the oppo- sition received about the same number of votes as Chavez’s allies, appeared to send a signal to the president. His popularity has slipped in polls. Alfonso Marquina, 45, an ac-
countant who was elected to the new assembly, said the granting of decree powers signals weak- ness in the presidency. “Each time he losesmore pop-
ular support, hemoves to consol- idate his autocratic project,” he said. Speaking by phone fromCara-
cas, Marquina said he and other newly elected legislators are fearful of being confronted by pro-Chavez groups when they arrive to take their seats in January. “But you know what?” he said.
“What I am more afraid of is to go on being afraid all ofmy life.” So, Marquina said, he will not
be deterred. “We will be there,” he said,
“and the world will be a witness if something happens to us.”
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