Op-Ed
Commentary
VenEconomy:
Laying waste to everything
Today, Venezuela has to “celebrate” its entry, once
and for all, into the totalitarianism of the 21st century summed
up in the announcements made by President Reelect Hugo Chávez
Frías this Monday, January 8.
While it is true that President Chávez had announced that,
in this new term of office, he was going to radicalize the socialist
process under his command, very few expected he would do it so
swiftly, so radically or make such a broad sweep.
Here are some of the most outstanding “pearls” he
announced:
Nationalization (read control by the State or, what is the same
in these times, total control by Chávez) of everything
that had previously been privatized. He made special mention of
taking control of CANTV and all companies having to do with sovereignty,
security and the defense of the nation (Sidor, for example). If
one recalls the administrative chaos that reigned in CANTV before
privatization or simply looks at the inefficiency that has always
prevailed at Cadafe, there can be no doubt that the performance
of these companies will decline drastically once they pass into
the hands of the present administration; a situation that will
be exacerbated if, as is its wont, it fires qualified employees,
technicians and managers who do not sympathize with the regime
and replaces them with people selected arbitrarily because they
are “family” or party members.
The request for an Enabling Law (or a “mother law”
as he called it) that would give the President special powers
for passing revolutionary laws at his whim, nationalizing the
electricity sector, putting all international companies, such
as the PDVSA crude upgraders, under the control of the state,
and implementing reforms in order to complete the task of transforming
Venezuelan society into one of totalitarian communism after the
style of Mao Tse Tung or Stalin. And if anyone, like the Venezuelan
Synod, still had any doubts as to what his “socialism”
means, he recommended reading Karl Marx and Lenin.
Chávez defined the four engines that he will be driving
forward: a) Socialist Constitutional Reform; b) education of the
people to “rout the old values of capitalism and individualism”;
c) the new geometry of power over the people’s map to achieve
a “symmetrical relationship throughout the nation’s
territory (goodbye to decentralization and the autonomy of regional
and municipal governments); and d) “the revolutionary explosion
of community power” (read another way of getting each and
every citizen to toe the autocrat’s line).
And lastly, he confirmed the closure of RCTV and any other communication
medium that opposes him. Nor did he miss the opportunity to insult
the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza,
who he called a “jerk,” saying that he would call
for his resignation and that he would confront him in any international
forum where he finds him. Insulza’s “sin” was
to ask the government to reconsider the closure of RCTV.
What VenEconomy gives most cause for concern in this attack on
democracy, freedom and the market economy is the apathy and passivity
of the opposition to this confiscation of the traditional values
of the Venezuelan people. Where are the leaders who will help
to give voice to the opposition and organize decisive, coherent
action to confront the outrages of this dictatorial regime? Tomorrow
will be too late.
VenEconomy
is a Venezuela's leading specialized publisher in the economic
and financial area. VenEconomy's Points of View on the issues
of the day, as seen by VenEconomy during the last week. Petroleumworld
does not necessarily share these views.
Editor's
Note: This commentary was originally published by VenEconomy,
on 01/09/2007. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest
of our readers.
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News 01/10/07
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