The End of Indifference in Venezuela

...a former executive at the state-run oil company, and several prominent regional politicians...

...the men had been gagged, tortured and murdered...

...The Supreme Court eventually suspended the referendum indefinitely, based on a technicality...

...Some 4.4 million people signed, according to the firm hired to execute the undertaking...

...Chavez, to his credit, recognized that any resolution of Venezuela's problems had to focus on the poor and the shrinking middle class...

...These gangs have official license to terrorize anyone opposed to his regime...

...They continue to gather in huge peaceful protests, hoping that civic pressure and foreign monitoring will make it impossible for Chávez to avoid a democratic reckoning...

...One day later, a Chavez backer was shot in a gunfight outside a Caracas hospital...

...The strong negative response to this concentration of power brought about the first successful national strike on December 10, 2001...

...Even after two failed coup attempts against President Carlos Andres Perez in 1992, the major parties turned a blind eye to the country's worsening plight...

...He ran for the presidency in 1998 under the banner of his newly created party, the Fifth Republic Movement...

...There is widespread concern that mounting tensions could evolve into a fullscale battle between Châvistas and antiChâvistas...

...Enrique Mendoza, a state governor who is well-liked by all economic classes, and Manuel Cova, a popular union leader, have emerged as potential presidential nominees...

...In November of that year Chavez provoked further controversy when he enacted 49 laws by decree, using special powers granted to him in a so-called "enabling law" passed by the National Assembly...

...But citizens haven't given up...

...They represented diverse, and in some cases antagonistic, political and social factions...

...But his inflammatory rhetoric and incoherent macroeconomic policies have created a climate of uncertainty for investors...

...Venezuelans are registering to vote in unprecedented numbers, however, according to the CNE...

...The established political parties, the media, the Catholic Church, industry representatives, labor unions—all have experienced his wrath...

...Promoting himself as a man of the poor, he says he will empower them and improve their lives...

...But in June 2002 the anti-Châvez forces finally formed a broad coalition called the Democratic Coordinator (CD...

...Over the 20 years prior to Chavez' ascension, Caracas sought to placate public discontent by sporadically providing new social welfare programs, and by advancing reforms like the direct election of governors and mayors...

...They saw a threat to their children's free thinking...

...Marches, public meetings and other civil mobilizations eventually led to suspension of the order...

...He has initiated administrative proceedings against five television networks, threatening to suspend their licenses, and has ordered the arrests of key CD leaders...

...In the transitional period after Congress was dissolved, Chavez was able to assume nearly complete authority...

...Although demonstrations against Chavez continued and gathered strength, it soon became apparent that his opponents lacked a unifying strategy for unseating him...

...Pardoned after two years in jail by President Rafael Caldera, who was trying to curry favor with the military, Chavez styled himself a revolutionary and came to represent the hope for better government management and a more equitable distribution of resources...

...One of these measures gave the government the right to appropriate private property and confiscate private land...

...Carmona, in an unexpected and unlawful decree, dissolved the National Assembly the next day and suspended the 1999 Constitution...

...Two months later the walkout began to end, and Chavez was still in office...

...The second entails acceptance of a binding recall referendum on Chavez' rule, which legally can be held following the midpoint of his term, August 19...

...Top military officers attributed responsibility to Chavez and broke with him publicly the same night...

...A sizable movement emerged under the slogan Con mis hijos no te metas ("Do not mess with my children...

...What moved over 70 per cent of the populace to seek his ouster, though, is the grave threat he poses to fundamental democratic values...

...One calls for a constitutional amendment that would cut the presidential term from six years to four, opening the way for new elections this year...

...He could, for instance, stall the appointment of a new elections board and rulings surrounding the collection of signatures...

...But within two days he returned to his customary aggressive rhetoric, labeling all his adversaries "coup plotters" and "conspirators...

...Foreign capital has dried up and non-oil business was practically paralyzed even before the December strike...

...Carlos Fernandez, the current head of Fedecâmaras, was detained in February on treason and other charges related to his involvement in the strike...

...Over half the working population now toils in the so-called "informal" sector, while crime and corruption levels are unprecedented...

...The outside scrutiny forced Chavez to the negotiating table, where Carter presented him with two proposals...

...Or that future regimes will face the challenge of being accountable to a society that has rediscovered the power of its actions...

...Apathy came in a very close second: The abstention rate was 35 per cent...

...Members of the Bolivarian Circles opened fire on the crowd of protesters...

...On the international stage, Chavez charges that "savage neoliberalism" and the "perverse dynamics of globalization" are the cause of the world's inequalities...

...Men, women and children form marches miles long, blowing whistles, carrying signs, and covering themselves with the national flag...

...even among the poorest segments of the population, that figure was 65 per cent...

...He denied he had ever quit, referring to Carmona's brief rule as a coup d'etat...

...A general antiparty feeling set in, and abstaining from voting became a growing phenomenon...

...Because AD and COPEI nevertheless offered up the same old discredited candidates, Venezuelans grew disenchanted with politics...

...Responding to domestic and international outcries, the military deposed Carmona and brought Chavez back to power...

...He has raised alarms by being the first Western head of state to visit Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Gulf War, and by meeting regularly with Fidel Castro...

...Both the legislative and judiciary branches are now set up to respond to the President's demands...

...But then the President started encroaching on the basic values of his society as he attempted to advance his "Bolivarian revolution...

...Oscar Stefani, a graduate of the Yale School of Management, and Alexandra Beech, the CEO often investor...

...Most disturbing was its appointing government officials to closely monitor primary education...

...In that one-day action, 85 per cent of the nation's businesses were shut down...

...Not surprisingly, most of his backing has come from the needy...

...Jose Maria Barrionuevo, who covers Latin America for Barclays Capital, writes that "the only branch of government left in Venezuela's republic is the executive...

...In January 2001 his administration issued Decree 1011...

...In addition to constitutional reform, Chavez promised he would end corruption, improve education, and remake the social security and health care systems...

...As Chavez steadily lost popular approval, he resorted to forcibly imposing his views on the people...

...com, are native Venezuelans and new contributors...

...A former lieutenant colonel and paratrooper, he had gained prominence as a leader of one of the 1992 coups...

...But following the huge cash inflows during the 1970s oil boom, the country went into steep debt as a result of shortsighted oil income forecasts and a failure to develop other economic sectors...

...From the outset Chavez has exhibited an extremely confrontational style...

...The government also fired more than half of the nation's oil workers, and Chavez has ruled out rehiring them...

...Steady fiscal decline in the 1980s and '90s had a woeful impact on the middle and lower classes...

...Government and opposition representatives seem further than ever from a negotiated solution...

...This was filmed by television cameras and that evening the world saw 19 unarmed people killed in the street...

...Reaction from parents was swift...

...Keeping the Pressure on Hugo Chavez The End of Indifference in Venezuela By Oscar Stefani and Alexandra Beech Interest in Venezuela, Latin America's oldest democracy, was aroused last December 2 when opponents of President Hugo Chavez' rule launched a massive general strike in an attempt to lawfully bring about his departure...

...The bicameral Congress was scrapped for a unicameral National Assembly with more limited powers...

...Riding the tide of his popularity among participating voters, Chavez pushed through a series of referendums authorizing a new Constitution, and with the opposition atomized his adherents dominated the Constituent Assembly that drafted it...

...A climate of violence and hostility has takenhold of the country...

...Its leaders include key figures from both the Venezuelan Workers Confederation and the giant industry group Fedecâmaras...

...The percentage of households living below the poverty line rose from 60.1 to 70 in 2002, according to Juan Nagel of the University of Michigan...

...I believe that the answer is in our active presence on the street," says Sol Maria Castro, a retired professor from Caracas...

...the boli var lost half its value relative to the dollar in only eight months, as Venezuela registered its worst economic year in decades...

...The opposition fears he will manage to impede it by manipulating upcoming Supreme Court and National Assembly decisions...

...On the other hand, no administration entertained undermining the basic elements of a free society— freedom of speech, human rights, and a balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government...

...Chavez dismisses the idea of early elections...

...Venezuelans re-elected Chavez in July 2000 and remained largely indifferent to his actions until 2001, in part because lower- and middle-class conditions had been worsening long before he arrived...

...In a clear abuse of authority, he created armed groups of civilian backers, the Bolivarian Circles, providing them with weapons and money to defend his ideological mission...

...Fully 54 per cent of the electorate sat out the December 1999 popular vote that approved the charter—which significantly strengthened the presidency while weakening the legislature...

...Meanwhile, the walkout spiked world oil prices and brought international attention to bear on the country's crisis...

...He refers to Cuba as "a sea of happiness" and says he will end poverty in Venezuela by adopting its pattern...

...Another limited the autonomy of the Central Bank in setting monetary policy...

...That political awakening is cause for optimism...

...In these circumstances Chavez can, and does, go on pursuing his dictatorial tactics...

...The range of interests encompassed in the CD is an indication of how thoroughly Chavez has alienated his people...

...But the battle is hardly over...

...In a confusing chain of events, Lucas Rincon, Chief General of the Armed Forces, announced that Chavez had resigned...

...A few hours later Pedro Carmona Estanga, head of the country's foremost business organization, Fedecâmaras, was named Venezuela's interim President...

...In January the United States and five other nations— Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, and Spain—formed the Group of Friends, whose aim is to bolster mediation efforts by César Gavina of the Organization of American States (CAS...

...Under a constitutional provision, the group collected over 2 million signatures—far more than the 1.2 million required—requesting a nonbinding referendum on whether Chavez should remain in office...

...Thus despite AD and COPEI linking arms behind a single candidate, Chavez took 56 per cent of the ballots cast—or 36 per cent of the eligible voters...

...The president's term, by contrast, was extended from five years to six, and immediate re-election was permitted where previously the law mandated a 10-year hiatus...

...Indeed, it is not unreasonable to predict that the next referendum or election will see the highest rate of voter participation in Venezuela in decades...

...He opposes the recall referendum, too, but hints that if it were held he would abide by it...

...In a recent nationwide independent poll by Datanalisis, over 70 per cent said they would vote for Chavez' resignation...

...Since Chavez took the reins, despite an oil revenue bonanza, unemployment has doubled...

...He handpicked the attorney general, the ombudsman, and a whole new slate of Supreme Court and National Electoral Council (CNE) members—with the Constituent Assembly applying the rubber stamp...

...After Venezuelan democracy took hold in 1958, political power concentrated in the hands of the two dominant formations that periodically replaced each other at the helm, the Left-leaning Democratic Action Party (AD) and the moderately conservative Social Christian Party (COPEI...

...After artificially supporting the currency for three years, the Central Bank stopped intervening early in 2002...

...Last fall the Democratic Coordinator agreed on a lawful method of forcing Chavez out...

...The early elected governments, thanks to the judicious use of oil revenues, set the tone for progress...

...It made military instruction obligatory in public and private elementary schools, and mandated curricular material on Chavez' "revolution...

...He fosters class division by pitting the "poor" and the "workers" against the "rich" and the "oligarchs," holding the last responsible for the faltering economy...

...He idolizes the father of South American independence, Simon Bolivar...

...As we chant during the marches, 'Elections now and we won't bother you anymore.'" It remains unclear when an electoral process will kick in...

...OnFebruary 19, the same day the administration and the CD announced a pact to end all bloodshed, the bodies of three dissident soldiers and an anti-Châvez activist were found...

...Former President Jimmy Carter entered the picture as well...

...When his administration signaled that it would file suit to block the vote, a general strike was called...

...At first Chavez acknowledged the need for conciliation, offering to take account of dissenting opinion...

...And its director, Leonardo Pizani, claims 90 per cent of those waiting in line to sign up are young people...

...The exchange and price controls the President implemented in the wake of the strike have contributed to the chaos Venezuela is immersed in today...

...The United Nations Development Program reported in December that 23 per cent of the citizenry is subsisting on less than $ 1 per day, and 47 per cent on less than $2 per day...

...There was some disparaging talk during the campaign about his being pro-Communist, but his vows to clean house helped him win backing at every social level...

...Carter's proposals were subsequently included in a massive opposition petition drive that asked Venezuelans for their approval of a variety of initiatives...

...Since Chavez took office in February 1999, the country has suffered growing economic deterioration, rising unemployment and corruption, plus expanding poverty and crime...

...Unrest came to a head on April 11, 2002, when over 1 million people participated in a Caracas anti-Chavez march in conjunction with an oil sector strike...