Chavez
could seek green light for multiple reelection bids
By Perrine Faye
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com
02 21 06
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, branded a destabilizing force
in the region by the United States, warned Sunday he might seek
constitutional change to be allowed to seek reelection several
times.
Chavez, a leftist closely allied with communist Cuban President
Fidel Castro, is seeking the one reelection allowed by the constitution,
in polls scheduled for December 3.
"If there is no opposition candidate ... I would consider
signing a decree to hold a referendum asking 'Do you agree Chavez
should be allowed to seek a new term in 2013?' and let's let the
people decide," Chavez said on his weekly radio and TV program.
Venezuela approved a new constitution in 1999 under which Chavez
is able to stand for another six-year term.
Political opponents long have accused him of plotting to extend
his government in the manner of his ally Castro.
"Maybe I won't be leaving the presidency in 2013, but in
2019, and then six more years would be 2025; six more would be
2031," Chavez said.
The thought, he said, "is just an idea that I am working
on."
Chavez, 51, argues that opposition parties have not made their
candidates known and campaigns clear in order to give the impression
that he is running alone, in a non-democratic fashion, to undercut
the legitimacy of his win and get the United States involved in
removing him.
"I got this idea ... to give (the opposition) a lesson,"
Chavez said. "If they don't have candidates in 2006, they
won't have them in 2012, or 2018, or 2024."
"They are going to pretend Chavez is out there all alone
as a candidate, and that at least half of the population did not
turn out, seeking condemnation from the United States and the
international community, to get people out in the streets, so
there is violence, death, bloodshed and good-bye Chavez,"
he said.
So far two candidates have made their runs official: Julio Borges
of the conservative Justice First and independent former cabinet
official Roberto Smith.
The latest Datanalisis poll gives Chavez 45 percent of voters'
intentions and three percent to Borges, his closest rival.
Some pro-Chavez lawmakers have called for a constitutional amendment
to allow immediate reelection. The president in the past had said
he was opposed to the idea.
But Sunday he echoed many a Castro speech, saying that while "deep
down" he often longed for "a normal life", he would
agree to remain president if necessary to reverse what he called
"imperialist (US) pretensions" aimed at derailing his
quasi-socialist revolution.
To those who would accuse him of authoritarianism and trying to
impose a dictatorship, Chavez said his response would be the consistent:
"elections, and more elections."
A former paratrooper who led a failed coup attemp in 1992, Chavez
rose to power in elections in December 1998. He first took office
in February 1999.
Chavez won the presidency again in August 2000 and had a new constitution
approved. Since it was his first election under the new constitution,
the new charter was interpreted as enabling him still to seek
reelection once.
US-Venezuelan relations have deteriorated since Chavez took power.
He frequently accuses Washington of plotting against him, and
has charged it backed an aborted coup in 2002.
Chavez launched a new verbal attack against US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice on Sunday, bluntly warning her: "Don't mess
with me, girl." He has taken pot shots at Rice since she
called last week for an international "united front"
against Venezuela and described the leftist leader as a "challenge
to democracy" in Latin America.
Relations hit a new low earlier this month when Caracas expelled
a US naval attache on espionage charges, prompting Washington
to retaliate by kicking a Venezuelan diplomat out of the United
States.
While Washington often dismisses Chavez for excessive and provocative
rhetoric, the Americans have kept up their end of the war of words.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier this month likened Chavez's
rise to power to that of Germany's Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Chavez vowed Sunday that Washington would fail in its bid to rouse
international opinion against Caracas, and again accused the Bush
administration of financing Venezuelan opposition groups.
AFP 02 20 06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
