Chavez seeks power to rule by decree for 1 year

Original Post: Yahoo

By FABIOLA SANCHEZ, Associated Press Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press – Tue Dec 14, 10:16 pm ET

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez asked congress Tuesday to grant him special powers to enact laws by decree for one year, just before a new legislature takes office with a larger contingent of opposition lawmakers.

The measure, which quickly received initial approval from the overwhelming majority of pro-Chavez lawmakers, would give the president the authority to bypass the National Assembly for the fourth time since he was first elected almost 12 years ago.

Vice President Elias Jaua made the request on Chavez's behalf, saying the president will use the authorization to ensure fast-track approval of laws aimed at helping the nation recover from severe flooding and mudslides that left thousands homeless and in government shelters.

"The measures we have to take are deep. Almost 40 percent of the country was affected" by the heavy rains, Jaua said.

Only five of the assembly's 165 lawmakers voted against the proposal Tuesday. I'm sure that was a totally legit vote with no coercion involved. The legislature, which is dominated by Chavez allies, is expected to give final approval to the measure before the end of the week.

Chavez's opponents accuse him of using the natural disaster to impose socialist-inspired measures and undermine the power of newly elected opposition lawmakers.

Hundreds of Chavez opponents protested outside the legislature Tuesday, saying Chavez is violating democratic principles and objecting to other planned laws that could impose regulations on the Internet and endanger Globovision, the country's last stridently anti-Chavez television channel.This sounds familiar doesn't it?

Decrees planned in the next two weeks include laws to speed construction of housing and roads and increase the value-added tax, Jaua said.

"The situation continues to be critical, and we need to tend to it with a set of laws," Chavez said while visiting a Caracas military base along with President Rafael Correa of Ecuador.

Chavez said he has yet to determine how much to raise the value-added tax, which is now 12 percent. He said the government estimates damage from the heavy rains at about $10 billion.

A draft of the law says Chavez is also seeking powers to issue decrees in areas including the country's "socio-economic system," telecommunications, the banking system, information technology, the military, rural and urban land use, and a "new geographical regionalization of the country."

"All of these laws will be within the framework of the constitution," Chavez said on state television.

Newly elected opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said the measures being taken up by the National Assembly in its final days go against the will of the voters.

"As elected deputies, we're asking for a meeting between the new assembly and the old one, so that people are respected — the voters and the constitution," Borges told reporters.

Chavez announced the plan to seek decree powers Friday, and some critics suggested he intended to push through controversial measures during the holidays while many Venezuelans are focusing on their families.

Opposition newspaper editor Teodoro Petkoff called it a "Christmas ambush," writing in his daily Tal Cual that Chavez is preparing totalitarian measures that amount to "a brutal attack ... against democratic life."

In his nearly 12 years in office, the leftist Chavez has been granted temporary decree powers three times by lawmakers, in 1999, 2001 and 2007.

The last time, he enjoyed special legislative powers for 18 months and used them to seize control of privately run oil fields, impose new taxes and nationalize telecommunications, electricity and cement companies.

Chavez supporters have dominated the National Assembly since the opposition boycotted 2005 elections, but the opposition gained ground in September elections.

Starting Jan. 5, Chavez will face 66 opponents among the 165 lawmakers, a group large enough to challenge some government measures and prevent him from holding a two-thirds majority — the threshold needed to approve some laws, such as granting the president decree powers.

For some reason Venezuala is allowed to nationalize American companies

Original Post: Reuters

By Deisy Buitrago

CARACAS | Thu Mar 5, 2009 6:04pm EST

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela on Thursday said it has no plans to take over any additional holdings of U.S. food giant Cargill after leftist President Hugo Chavez ordered the seizure of the rice plant, renewing his nationalization drive.

Chavez's clash with the food companies, demanding they produce cheaper rice, came less than three weeks after he won a referendum on allowing him to run for reelection and marked his first nationalization in seven months.

The move shows he is likely to continue his combative style as the OPEC nation, faced with tumbling oil revenues that form the backbone of its economy, slowly begins to feel the effects of the global economic crisis.

"The measure only includes the rice plant," said Agriculture Minister Elias Jaua, adding the government has taken control of the mill and would seek an amicable agreement in its nationalization.

But he admonished Cargill, which has 2,000 employees and 13 manufacturing plants around the country, for failing to comply with government regulations that foreign investors have often found onerous.

"The state will not accept a violation of the law, it will now accept disobedience," he told reporters. "We did what the law requires us to do."

The government this week temporarily occupied rice mills owned by Venezuela's top food company Empresas Polar, which on Thursday called for dialogue and increased cooperation after Chavez said he could nationalize the entire company.

"We have maintained that the best way to increase Venezuela's food (production) is through dialogue and close collaboration between the government, agricultural producers ... and consumers," Polar said on Thursday in response to Chavez's threat.

Chavez has often followed through on his nationalization threats, taking over oil, electricity, steel, cement and telecommunications companies. Sometimes, however, threatened companies have averted seizures by bowing to Chavez's demands.

The anti-U.S. president is popular among the poor for pressuring companies to produce cheap goods and for government programs that provide subsidized food in city slums.

But Polar, the producer of Venezuela's top beer brand and key staple products such as corn flour, is also highly regarded among the OPEC nation's poor.

Chavez, an ally of Communist Cuba, said the seizure of rice mills belonging to Polar this week was temporary but warned he could take over the whole company permanently if it kept defying him.

He accuses the food industry of skirting price controls and failing to produce enough cheap rice.

The recent moves to tighten the government's grip over food supplies are criticized by the private sector and many economists who say it could contribute to food shortages.

One of the United States' largest privately-owned companies, Cargill employs 2,000 people at a dozen plants in Venezuela. It was not clear if Chavez intends to expropriate Cargill's local operations or just its one rice plant.

Cargill said on Wednesday night it was "respectful" of Venezuela's decision but seeks talks to resolve the situation.

(Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Kieran Murray)

At least eight student protestors shot after anti-Chavez march

Original Post: monstersandcritics

Caracas - At least eight people were shot when gunmen opened fire on students peacefully demonstrating against President Hugo Chavez's plan to amend the constitution, media reports said.

The identities of the gunmen who shot Wednesday night at the protestors at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas were not known, but the opposition accused Chavez's government of being responsible for the attack.

Tens of thousands of students marched to the Supreme Court building Wednesday, calling for a delay of a December 2 referendum on the proposed constitutional changes. The gunfire came after the protest as the students returned to campus, the media reports said, citing emergency services.

The constitutional amendments sought by Chavez and passed by the legislature include abolishing presidential term limits and the autonomy of the central bank, reducing the power of state governments and declaring socialism as Venezuela's official ideology.

A strong police presence at the Supreme Court presented clashes between the students and Chavez supporters.

Interior Minister Pedro Carreno accused the students of violence and seeking 'the destabilization of democracy.'

Wednesday's protest followed a November 1 demonstration by thousands of students that was violently broken up by police. Ten people were injured.

Chavez said the constitutional amendments would anchor reforms through '21st-century socialism' in the constitution and improve the fight against corruption. The opposition accused Chavez of governing like a dictator.

Currently, Venezuela's president can be re-elected once, which would end Chavez's tenure in 2012.

Chavez Jokes He Is More Right-Wing Than 'Comrade' Obama

Original Post: foxnews

AP

May 28: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gestures during his radio and television show 'Hello President' in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

May 28: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gestures during his radio and television show 'Hello President' in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

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President Hugo Chavez claimed this week that he and his Cuban ally Fidel Castro are more conservative than left-wing U.S. President Barack Obama, referring to the American government bailout and takeover of General Motors, Reuters reported.

The Venezuelan leader was giving a speech on the "curse" of capitalism on Tuesday as GM was filing for bankruptcy and preparing for Washington to take control of 60 percent of the 100-year-old symbol of American capitalism.

"Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right," Reuters quotes Chavez joking on a national TV broadcast.

Socialist Chavez has nationalized most of Venezuela's economic sectors, including many oil projects that include joint ventures with private companies that give his government a 60 percent stake.

Obama says he will quickly sell off GM, but for now the government controls the automaker and has injected $30 billion of taxpayer money into the company.

Chavez also on Tuesday accused the CIA of plotting to kill him.

Chavez has previously accused the U.S. of plotting to overthrow him or invade Venezuela, but Tuesday was the first time he has made such accusations since warmly greeting President Barack Obama at an April summit in Trinidad and Tobago.