Venezuela's Chavez celebrates 10 years in power
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| Published on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 |
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By Saul Hudson
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters): President Hugo Chavez marked 10 years in power on Monday and declared a national holiday to celebrate as he seeks to win a referendum vote this month that could help him stay in power for another decade or more.
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| Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. AFP PHOTO |
Chavez, an ex-paratrooper who once led a failed coup before winning power at the ballot box, hosted Latin American leftist leaders at anniversary ceremonies, burnishing his credentials as a regional leader.
Presidents of poor countries that have received cheap oil from Chavez such as Nicaragua, Bolivia and Honduras joined the Venezuelan leader at the tomb of Simon Bolivar, his 19th century hero who ejected Spain from the region.
"Ten years ago, Bolivar -- embodied in the will of the people -- came back to life," Chavez said.
Crowds of supporters dressed in signature red shirts thronged outside the event taking advantage of the day off that Chavez declared just hours before the anniversary.
Businesses and schools were closed after scrambling to tell their employees and students to stay at home. Chavez's decree, and threats to fine companies failing to comply, showed his sometimes arbitrary leadership, although it was also popular with many Venezuelan workers.
Chavez has repeatedly won elections in his 10 years in office and has overcome a coup, a national strike and a recall referendum. He remains popular among the OPEC nation's majority poor for spending oil wealth on clinics and schools and typically draws cheers at rallies for his speeches condemning the "evil empire" of the United States.
But the Caribbean country has also become polarized in the last decade, with many Venezuelans complaining that Chavez has amassed so much power he is a dictator-in-the-making.
That sentiment has helped erode some of Chavez's appeal. After an overwhelming re-election victory in 2006, he narrowly lost a referendum in 2007 to change the constitution and allow his re-election. In November, he also lost some influential posts in regional elections to the opposition.
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| Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cheer during a rally in Caracas to celebrate the leaders' first decade as president. AFP PHOTO |
Pollsters say public opinion is divided over his attempt in this month's referendum to win the right to stay in power as long as he keeps winning elections.
If he loses the referendum, he should leave office in 2013 at the end of his six-year term.
Whether or not Chavez wins, 2009 will be a challenging year. Used to lavishing oil wealth from one of the world's top exporters on the poor, his income has fallen in recent months.
The state oil company -- the financial engine for Chavez's social programs -- has piled up debts with contractors, raising doubts about how long Chavez can sustain his programs of food handouts and free doctor visits.
"Chavez has promised Venezuelans paradise but that paradise, which he calls socialism, depends on oil above $120," Alberto Barrera, who has written a Chavez biography, said.
World oil prices were at around $40 a barrel on Monday, more than a $100 below their peak in July.
Chavez says his revolution will survive the global economic crisis, which he blames on U.S.-prescribed capitalism.
The opposition says his tirades against perceived foreign foes are meant to distract voters from problems such as violent crime.
Chavez insists he does not need to persuade any opposition voters to switch sides for this month's referendum because he believes he has enough support among the poor.
Political analysts say one of Chavez's most lasting marks on Venezuela has been to make the poor feel politicians should champion them. The opposition has focused with some success in recent years on winning over voters in shantytowns, where for most of Chavez's presidency he had seemed unassailable.
But a former, long-serving vice president Jose Vicente Rangel lauded Chavez for his connection with poor voters.
"Perhaps the most important achievement in Chavez's 10 years of government is how he has rescued millions of citizens from anonymity," he said in a speech at Bolivar's tomb. | | | | Reads : 650 | | | |
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