Monthly Archives: April 2011

Apr
8
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 4/8/11

In this week’s roundup… the similarities between Venezuela’s Chávez and Libya’s Gaddafi, a high-ranking U.S. military commander raises concerns about the Caracas–Tehran connection, Colombia confirms the extradition of alleged drug lord Walid Makled to Venezuelan authorities, and President Chávez signals that more nationalizations are on the way. To check out all of our musings find us on Twitter @whatsnextvz or on StumbleUpon.

A Caribbean Tripoli?, The Economist

IT IS a long way from Tripoli to Caracas. But although Hugo Chávez, unlike his friend and close ally Muammar Qaddafi, is an elected president, there are some striking similarities between the Libyan and Venezuelan regimes. Mr Chávez’s grassroots “communes” resemble Colonel Qaddafi’s “people’s committees”. And a new decree, published last month, speeds up the creation of a sectarian militia like that which opened fire against unarmed protesters in Libya.

US general voices concern over Iran-Venezuela ties, AFP

The United States is worried about increasingly close ties between Venezuela and Iran, a top US military official told lawmakers Tuesday. “My concern, as I look at it, is the fact that there are flights between Iran and Venezuela on a weekly basis, and visas are not required for entrance into Venezuela or Bolivia or Nicaragua,” said General Douglas Fraser, head of the US Southern Command.

Colombia Confirms Plan to Extradite Makled To Venezuela, The Wall Street Journal

Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos reiterated Wednesday that he plans to extradite to Venezuela and not to the U.S. a suspected drug trafficker who in his heyday was said to smuggle 10 tons of cocaine a month into the U.S.

Álvaro Uribe: Chavezism loses ground in Latin America, El Universal

Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said that chavezism is losing ground in Latin America, highlighting that some allies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez are moving away from Chávez’s government model.

President Chávez: More nationalizations are on the way, El Universal

The Venezuelan government will nationalize more means of production, but will also favor the coexistence of “social ownership” and partnerships with the private sector, said President Hugo Chávez, in an interview published by Uruguayan newspaper La República.

 
Apr
7
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Venezuela’s militia: A Caribbean Tripoli?

Hugo Chávez grooms a militia
The Economist
April 7, 2011

IT IS a long way from Tripoli to Caracas. But although Hugo Chávez, unlike his friend and close ally Muammar Qaddafi, is an elected president, there are some striking similarities between the Libyan and Venezuelan regimes. Mr Chávez’s grassroots “communes” resemble Colonel Qaddafi’s “people’s committees”, for example. And a new decree, published last month, speeds up the creation of a sectarian militia like that which opened fire against unarmed protesters in Libya.

A year ago Mr Chávez assembled more than 30,000 uniformed, gun-toting militiamen and women for a parade in the centre of Caracas. Unsheathing a sword that belonged to Simón Bolívar, Venezuela’s independence hero, he led them in an oath to work tirelessly to “consolidate…the socialist revolution”. Officials claim that the militias total 125,000, and that the goal is to reach 2m. Sceptics put the number trained so far at under 25,000.

Under the new law, the Bolivarian militia will now have its own officers and will be commanded directly by the president. That is something the army previously resisted. But General Carlos Mata Figueroa, the defence minister, insists that the militia is a “complementary”, not parallel, force. According to Carlos Escarrá, a chavista legislator, it is “disingenuous” of opponents to suggest that the militia “will be a sort of praetorian guard for the president”.

Mr Chávez’s own statements suggest otherwise. The president has always said that his leftist “revolution” is “peaceful, but armed”, and that violence would ensue if it were to be thwarted. In December 2012 he faces a presidential election which opinion polls suggest he might lose. But both he and his top general, Henry Rangel Silva, have said that the armed forces would resist the orders of a post-Chávez government. According to General Rangel, the high command is “wedded to the political project” of Mr Chávez.

The officer corps may not be. A recently retired military dissident says only 10% are unconditional chavistas, with 20% constitutionalists and the rest pragmatic. If so, Mr Chávez’s decision to strengthen his paramilitary force may make sense to him. But it bodes ill for peace in Venezuela.

Like Colonel Qaddafi, Mr Chávez also has foreign fighters he may be able to count on in a fix. Venezuela has an unknown number of Cuban military advisers. Some sources say the Cubans give orders and (with Russians) run the intelligence service. But tens of thousands of Cubans, all with military training, have been deployed across the country as medical staff, sports instructors and the like. Many have defected and fled abroad. But some might defend the revolution, guns in hand.

Such a scenario is an explicit part of the government’s planning. Mr Chávez claims, and may even believe, that “the empire” (ie, the United States) is seeking an excuse to topple him by force. Colonel Qaddafi, he declared, “is doing what he has to do, resisting imperialist aggression”. The doctrine of Venezuela’s armed forces now includes a version of what Cuba calls “the war of all the people”. In theory, all Venezuelans must train to resist an occupier.

Many Venezuelans fear that the militia is really aimed at Mr Chávez’s domestic opponents. The president accuses the opposition leadership, almost daily, of being a fifth column for foreign capitalists desperate to grab the country’s oil. From there, it is a short step to imagining the chavista militia, armed with Russian Dragunov sniper-rifles, taking aim at counter-revolutionaries. “It is not possible to stage an unarmed revolution against this bourgeoisie,” Mr Chávez told his militia rally last year. Mere bravado, perhaps, but many Venezuelans fear he may be serious.

 
Apr
7
2011
Posted by
editor
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In Case You Missed It… Venezuela’s militia: A Caribbean Tripoli?

Hugo Chávez grooms a militia
The Economist
April 7, 2011

IT IS a long way from Tripoli to Caracas. But although Hugo Chávez, unlike his friend and close ally Muammar Qaddafi, is an elected president, there are some striking similarities between the Libyan and Venezuelan regimes. Mr Chávez’s grassroots “communes” resemble Colonel Qaddafi’s “people’s committees”, for example. And a new decree, published last month, speeds up the creation of a sectarian militia like that which opened fire against unarmed protesters in Libya.

A year ago Mr Chávez assembled more than 30,000 uniformed, gun-toting militiamen and women for a parade in the centre of Caracas. Unsheathing a sword that belonged to Simón Bolívar, Venezuela’s independence hero, he led them in an oath to work tirelessly to “consolidate…the socialist revolution”. Officials claim that the militias total 125,000, and that the goal is to reach 2m. Sceptics put the number trained so far at under 25,000.

Under the new law, the Bolivarian militia will now have its own officers and will be commanded directly by the president. That is something the army previously resisted. But General Carlos Mata Figueroa, the defence minister, insists that the militia is a “complementary”, not parallel, force. According to Carlos Escarrá, a chavista legislator, it is “disingenuous” of opponents to suggest that the militia “will be a sort of praetorian guard for the president”.

Mr Chávez’s own statements suggest otherwise. The president has always said that his leftist “revolution” is “peaceful, but armed”, and that violence would ensue if it were to be thwarted. In December 2012 he faces a presidential election which opinion polls suggest he might lose. But both he and his top general, Henry Rangel Silva, have said that the armed forces would resist the orders of a post-Chávez government. According to General Rangel, the high command is “wedded to the political project” of Mr Chávez.

The officer corps may not be. A recently retired military dissident says only 10% are unconditional chavistas, with 20% constitutionalists and the rest pragmatic. If so, Mr Chávez’s decision to strengthen his paramilitary force may make sense to him. But it bodes ill for peace in Venezuela.

Like Colonel Qaddafi, Mr Chávez also has foreign fighters he may be able to count on in a fix. Venezuela has an unknown number of Cuban military advisers. Some sources say the Cubans give orders and (with Russians) run the intelligence service. But tens of thousands of Cubans, all with military training, have been deployed across the country as medical staff, sports instructors and the like. Many have defected and fled abroad. But some might defend the revolution, guns in hand.

Such a scenario is an explicit part of the government’s planning. Mr Chávez claims, and may even believe, that “the empire” (ie, the United States) is seeking an excuse to topple him by force. Colonel Qaddafi, he declared, “is doing what he has to do, resisting imperialist aggression”. The doctrine of Venezuela’s armed forces now includes a version of what Cuba calls “the war of all the people”. In theory, all Venezuelans must train to resist an occupier.

Many Venezuelans fear that the militia is really aimed at Mr Chávez’s domestic opponents. The president accuses the opposition leadership, almost daily, of being a fifth column for foreign capitalists desperate to grab the country’s oil. From there, it is a short step to imagining the chavista militia, armed with Russian Dragunov sniper-rifles, taking aim at counter-revolutionaries. “It is not possible to stage an unarmed revolution against this bourgeoisie,” Mr Chávez told his militia rally last year. Mere bravado, perhaps, but many Venezuelans fear he may be serious.