WORLD / America
Chavez gets powers to rule by decree
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-02-01 08:59
CARACAS - Venezuela's Congress on Wednesday granted President Hugo Chavez
powers to rule by decree for 18 months as he tries to force through
nationalizations key to his self-styled leftist revolution.
The vote allows anti-U.S. leader Chavez, who has been in power since
1999, to deepen state control of the economy and other sectors of public
life such as defense and security.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez addresses the media during a news
conference at Carondelet Palace in Quito, Ecuador, January 16, 2007.
[Reuters]
Chavez's increasing centralization of power in the No. 4 oil exporter to
the United States prompted rare public comments from President Bush.
"I'm concerned about the Venezuelan people, and I'm worried about the
diminution of democratic institution(s)," he said in an interview with
Fox News to be broadcast later on Wednesday, after being asked about
Chavez's nationalizations.
Afternoon headlines in the anti-Chavez press were more scathing. Tal Cual
splashed with "Heil Hugo" and equated the enabling law with powers
granted to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. El Mundo had the
headline "Superchavez enabled."
The lawmakers, all loyal to Chavez after opposition parties boycotted the
2005 congressional elections, flaunted their populist credentials by
taking the unusual step of holding their vote in public in a square in
downtown Caracas.
"We in the National Assembly will not waver in granting President Chavez
an enabling law so he can quickly and urgently set up the framework for
resolving the grave problems we have," said congressional Vice President
Roberto Hernandez.
The economic reforms are set to work in tandem with increased political
centralization. Chavez is forging a single party to lead his radical
reforms, stripping the central bank of autonomy and seeking indefinite
re-election.
The vote was applauded by hundreds of Chavez supporters in red T-shirts,
carrying placards such as "With Chavez, the people rule" and "Venezuela
toward socialism."
Chavez has targeted the oil industry, power utilities and the country's
biggest telecommunications firm for takeover, affecting many foreign
owners and shareholders.
Washington's direct response to the law itself was muted, saying the
United States would wait to see what Chavez does with his new powers.
"We, along with the rest of the hemisphere, will be keeping a close eye
on how the enabling law is used. But at the end of the day, this is not
so much a question for the United States and other nations as for the
Venezuelan people," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon told
reporters in Bogota.
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