Chavez throws down gauntlet to Venezuela opposition

[ChangoLoa]

President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela's newly empowered opposition would not be able to block his socialist legislative program and challenged them to go to the voters immediately if they wanted to unseat him.

Having boycotted parliamentary elections in 2005, opposition parties in the recently-united Democratic Unity bloc won 65 seats, or more than a third, of the National Assembly in the South American nation's weekend election, against 98 seats for the ruling Socialist Party.

Given they also obtained half the popular vote, Democratic Unity hailed the result as a triumph and set their sights on defeating Chavez at the next presidential election in 2012.

But the 56-year-old Chavez -- who has been in power since 1999 and remains Venezuela's most popular politician -- ridiculed their celebrations and threw down a gauntlet.

"I challenge them. As they say they are the majority ... call a referendum. Why wait another two years to get rid of Chavez?" he told a news conference late on Monday.

"Come for me! Here I am ... If not, see you in 2012."

Venezuela's constitution would allow a so-called "recall referendum" on the president if the opposition obtained about 3.5 million signatures requesting it. But Chavez comfortably won one in 2004, and the opposition is wary of trying again.

Opposition leader Antonio Ledezma responded to Chavez's challenge by saying he should be focused on other things.

"Get to work! Stop the shanty-towns in the hills around Caracas from falling down," Ledemza, who is also Caracas city mayor, told a news conference.
"Don't invite us to another battle, more confrontation. Invite us to work together against crime, poverty, the electricity shortage, the crisis in hospitals ... This is not a war. We are not going to fix these problems with insults."

The opposition want to exploit their new profile in parliament and increased acceptance among Venezuela's nearly 29 million people to mount a serious challenge in two years.

For that, they need to maintain unity among the more than 30 parties and groups that make up Democratic Unity, and present a program that goes beyond just opposition to Chavez.

"The opposition still lacks real cohesion, a credible message and attractive candidates, so voters were really voting for, or against, Chavez," said Daniel Kerner, an analyst with Eurasia Group, following Sunday's legislative vote.

"Chavez remains powerful and, most importantly, his continuity was not at stake here. Any view that Chavez will lose those elections (in 2012) will be premature."

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100928/ts_nm/us_venezuela_election_31

[bherrera]

1. Depends on oil prices and the economy

if the opposition can join as a block, then the main topics will be the oil prices, and the conduct of the economy. And these are areas where Chavez has no control, or is not doing very well. If I were President Chavez, I would change the people who are in charge of the economy, and stop the corruption. The guy gives socialism a bad name when he surrounds himself with such incompetents.

[ChangoLoa]

2. Unfortunately, he wants loyalty, not competence

We'll probably see the most radical phase of his government in the next two years. Militias, debt-funded expropriations and unsustainable current spending while the debt service explodes.

[bherrera]

3. If they continue to change towards communism, things will be bad

The economy can not do well with oil only. And the oil production is not making increases. This is one reason why the government of India refused to issue a loan to Venezuela, as requested by Chavez, they think Venezuela is a high risk.

Evidently the nationalized enterprises will not perform, this is what is seen in most places. The Chavez government is characterized by incompetence in management skills, therefore the economy is not going to perform.

If I were the government of Spain, I would do a change to policy, and work hard to block illegal immigration, and then create a method for legal immigration from nations which suffer as they fall into communism and despotic fascist regimes. Then the refugees, which can be selected to be healthy and educated, can come to Spain and help create a more sophisticated economy.