Tapping Voter Anger in Venezuela

...At first glance, this might seem unfair, since the sharp reduction of oil prices this year, coupled with the Asian crisis that spilled over to Latin America, were not things they could control...

...It had required "courage," she said, to agree "for the first time in its 52-year history...

...If that is not nepotism, I do not know what that word means...

...COPEI's willingness to put its resources to work for her was contingent upon her supporting party members running for office at the state and national levels...

...It dropped Irene and urged its members to vote for Salas Römer...

...Democratic Action, picked its secretary general, 76-yearoldLuis Alfaro Ucero, as its standardbearer...

...But when OPEC oil prices reached $36 a barrel in the 1970s, the nation's rulers did waste a golden opportunity to diversify the economy and break once and for all dependence on a single commodity...

...El Commandante," as he is commonly known, speaks of far-reaching change...

...Unlike his rivals, he is critical of widespread privatization and advocates a "negotiated" moratorium on the foreign debt...

...Indeed, when asked whether he would follow in Fujimori's footsteps should he face a hostile Congress as president, he ominously responded "I will do what I have to do...

...Its oil riches, though, have mostly benefited the top fifth of the population...

...Irene dismissed him...

...Correspondingly, it revealed deep discontent with the 40-year dominance of the Democratic Action (AD) and Social Christian (COPEI) parties...

...Salas, she said, could not count on allies in Congress, and with only one govemership—his son's— controlled by his cobbled together outfit, would not be able to lead...

...He has further said that due to the proliferation of political organizations in Venezuela (for many years politics here was largely limited to AD and COPEI), a President need not succumb to the pressure from parties with Congressional power, since he could play one against another...

...Instead, it threw its support behind Salas Römer, the two-time former Governor of Carabobo State, in the hope that he would have a better chance of heading off Chávez...

...Finally, the magazine Primicia headlined a cover story "COPEI Traps Irene...

...For decades political leaders here have pledged themselves to "sow the petroleum"—that is, use oil revenue to promote industry and agriculture...

...Andrés Pérez still occupied the Presidential Palace when the Supreme Court indicted him, prompting the Senate to impeach him...

...Furthermore, there is a distinct aloofness about him...

...To a question asking whether there was "too much power in too few hands," 67 per cent of the respondents answered affirmatively...

...Actually, Chávez has toned down his rhetoric in the final stretch of the campaign...

...But his election would constitute a humbling experience for them, and would almost certainly force a re-examination of their practices as well as a revamping of their leadership...

...Political commentator Mark Falcoff of the American Enterprise Institute noted that Chavez' positions have served to animate his followers: "Chávez exhilarates his audience by threatening to jail corrupt politicians and bankers, dissolve Congress, re-establish price controls, and decree a general salary increase...

...Constitutional Assembly must be created...

...Her makeshift electoral organization, "Integration, Renovation and New Hope" (IRENE), launched her candidacy at a convention where the song "Barbie Doll" was played in clear reference to her blond hair, blue eyes and light complexion...

...She entered the Presidential contest with a concerted effort to project her own image as an unconventional politician...

...Salas Römer's reputation among certain sectors for threatening Congress, lashing out at the traditional political parties and harboring authoritarian designs is, however, a pale shadow of Hugo Chavez' pronouncements...

...When COPEI was looking for a presidential candidate, he refused to meet its demands and was therefore vetoed by its national leadership...

...Thus when price decreases sent the Venezuelan economy into a tailspin, the emptiness of all the political rhetoric about diversification was magnified...

...hat the last-minute acts of desperation by the major parties will enable the wealthy, Yaleeducated, 62-year-old Salas Römer to outdistance the 44-year-old former paratrooper is highly doubtful...

...A newspaper ad by one of Salas Feo's opponents, showing father and son together with their respective wives, had a caption that read: "These people dine alone...

...He personifies machine politics, his claim to fame being that he has been on the winning side inali major internal party disputes...

...Several top figures in her own organization complained that it had been converted into a "liaison" between Sâez and COPEI and quit...

...The nation's second largest political formation, COPEI, ultimately committed itself to Sâez, whose attributes include having been Miss Universe in 1981...

...At the conclusion of its convention in May, Sáez congratulated COPEI...

...The last two Presidents elected by substantial majorities, Jaime Lusinchi in 1983 and Andrés Pérez five years later, were members of Democratic Action, the country's largest party...

...These remarks have raised the fear that Salas has an authoritarian streak and would govern in the style of Peru's President Alberto K. Fujimori, who dissolved Congress and other institutions he considered troublesome...

...Nevertheless, in late November COPEI shifted gears, too...

...So they started out courting one or another independent: seeking an endorsement of their candidates in the gubernatorial and congressional races in exchange for a seal of approval and more tangible backing...

...Like AD, it saw this as the best way to counter Chavez...

...To be sure, the old political parties would not fade from the scene...

...This would mean downplaying IRENE, which was intent on fielding its own group of candidates, and identifying herself with a major party...

...When he was Governor he created an organizational structure that paralleled COPEI, to which he supposedly belonged at the time...

...Shortly afterward he assumed a similar "couldn't-care-less" attitude when MAS raised the possibility of his running under its banner...

...Her support in the opinion polls began to plummet...

...From the beginning, this year's election looked like an outsider's to win, even to the established parties...

...Recently he attempted to assure businessmen that as president he will be flexible on economic policy but will move relentlessly against corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, to the advantage of the private sector...

...The once armed and dangerous América Silva Guerrilla Front of the Red Flag withdrew its endorsement of Chávez on grounds that his promise to negotiate new terms with foreign interests, instead of imposing them, represents a cop-out...

...The radical thrust of his campaign, as well as his status as a retired military officer, is symbolized by the red berets his followers wear...

...He is out for himself and his family...

...The second, Radical Cause, opted to name its own man...

...One member of the national legislature who supports Chávez, Carlos Melo, told me: "Congressmen have sold the nation short...

...The extent of the disenchantment with conventional politics was reflected in a survey of political attitudes published in the September issue of the Jesuit magazine Sic...

...Irene Sâez, a former Mayor, and Henrique Salas Römer, a former Governor, stressed their successfully diminishing the role of the central government in their realms while in office...

...She chose to take that route...

...This moderation angered some of his supporters on the far Left...

...Steve Ellner, a previous New Leader contributor, teaches economic history at the University of Oriente in Venezuela...

...By June, Salas Römer edged past her with an estimated 20 per cent of the vote, as opposed to her 17 per cent...

...Both were eventually brought to trial on charges of corruption...

...After serving as Carabobo's Governor for two consecutive terms (the maximum allowed), he was succeeded by his son, Henrique Salas Feo, who has himself just been re-elected...

...as his adversaries remind everyone by calling him an "aristocrat...

...But the issue that has attracted the greatest attention is Chavez' proposal to hold a Constitutional Assembly in order to institute basic reforms...

...Venezuela first became a democracy in 1958, following 150 years of dictatorship...

...Once COPEI offered to embrace her, Sâez had to make a tough decision...

...They have spent 10 years discussing a major constitutional reform and creating great expectations, without approving anything...

...He has said that the process "implies" the dissolution of the existing Congress...

...Yet the appeal of Chávez' promise reflects an unhappiness among Venezuelans that goes beyond recent corruption scandals...

...As the campaign progressed and he failed to make a dent in the polls, AD dumped him barely a week before the balloting...

...to such a major change as the selection of a woman as presidential candidate, and an independent woman at that...

...These views are not surprising in the light of the nation's recent history...

...The front-runner and probable victor on December 6, Hugo Chávez Frias, an exLieutenant Colonel who staged two failed coups against President Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992, went so far as to call for a Constitutional Assembly that would give more power to the people by revising the Constitution...

...But Irene (as most Venezuelans call her) paid a heavy price...

...He now pledges to refrain from reviewing the oil contracts the nationalized oil industry signed with foreign companies, and from unilaterally revoking existing agreements with private capital...

...According to Chávez' plan, many of the delegates would be nominated by nonpolitical organizations (such as professional and neighborhood groups), and party-sponsored slates would be excluded...

...ANTI-PARTY POLITICS Tapping Voter Anger in Venezuela By steve ellner Caracas The official six-month presidential campaign period now drawing to a close here demonstrated a widespread desire for expanding Venezuela's democracy to permit greater local involvement in decision making...

...The sole exception...

...Lacking the political forces necessary to stage large rallies, he has done little campaigning in the poor barrios, where a large part of the population is concentrated...

...Otherwise, they warn, the body will be illegitimate...

...Salas has warned that as president he would not tolerate obstructionism from the party-dominated National Congress...

...His presidential rivals adamantly contend that the existing Constitution's lengthy procedures for having Congress call a Constitutional Assembly must be followed...

...All three leading contenders initially threw their hats into the ring early this year as independents...

...The achievement of this goal had even become a point of honor for traditional politicians...

...Fadel Muci, who took out the ad, told me: "Salas Römer's fame as champion of decentralization is unearned because he failed to transfer power to the municipalities and in fact clashed with all the Mayors of the state...

...In the case of another study, sponsored by the US.-based International Republican Institute, 8 8 per cent of those who participated said they had "little or no confidence" in the existing political parties...

...His wife, two sons andnephew are all running for office...

...That was not enough...

...The remaining four-fifths live in poverty, with the bottom two-fifths suffering malnutrition...

...At the same time, Chávez has attempted to calm fears regarding the suppression of institutional functions by leaving open the possibility that Congress could continue to legislate on certain matters while the Constitutional Assembly is at work—as was the case in Colombia at the beginning of the decade...

...In addition, the leaders of two smaller parties that had been in her corner pulled away...

...The parties are commonly blamed for the nation's economic woes...

...Chávez has a seemingly irreversible lead as I write because he speaks of a more caring form of capitalism and of renovating the country's democratic system...

...One, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), switched to Chávez, reasoning that he would best draw votes for their own candidates...

...Be that as it may, Salas has cleverly kept the established political parties at arm's length...