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Hugo Chavez Swears 'Socialism or Death'
President Hugo Chavez was sworn in for a new six-year term Wednesday, beginning what he has called a stronger push to remake Venezuela as a socialist state. Chavez took the oath of office at the National Assembly five weeks after a sweeping re-election victory he has said will allow him to pursue more radical changes, including plans to nationalize "strategic" power and telecommunications companies Raising his right hand, Chavez said: "Fatherland. Socialism or death - I swear it." With oil profits booming, his popularity high and a crushing re-election under his belt, Chavez appears to be in step with a majority of Venezuelans even as spooked investors dumped shares in the affected companies.
"Everything the man is doing is good," said Orlando Vera, a 63-year-old window washer, on Tuesday, adding that his economic situation has improved under Chavez. As for the nationalization project announced Monday, Vera said it makes sense for companies that serve the public interest.
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Chavez, an admirer of Fidel Castro, has said he is crafting a new sort of "21st Century Socialism." Critics say it is starting to look like old-fashioned totalitarianism by a leader obsessed with power. "They want to nationalize everything. This is the beginning," said Marisela Leon, a 47-year-old engineer who said she might consider leaving the country because she sees difficult times ahead. In Washington, White House press secretary Tony Snow suggested Venezuela was making a mistake. "Nationalization has a long and inglorious history of failure around the world. We support the Venezuelan people, and think this is an unhappy day for them." But optimism reigns among Chavez supporters like Miguel Angel Martinez, a 52-year-old street vendor, who says the president "has dedicated himself to studying communist, socialist and democratic models and has taken the best of those models." Chavez, whose third term in office runs until 2013, also said he will ask the National Assembly for special powers allowing him to enact a series of laws by decree. "We're heading toward socialism, and nothing and no one can prevent it," he said Monday.
First elected in 1998, Chavez has cemented his popularity by using a bonanza in oil profits to set up state-funded cooperatives and fund social programs from subsidized grocery stores to free universities. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted three weeks before Chavez was re-elected on Dec. 3 found 62 percent of those asked supported nationalizing companies when in the national interest - a result that paralleled Chavez's victory with nearly 63 percent of the votes. But that support also has its limits. The poll found 84 percent said they oppose adopting a political system like Cuba's, despite Chavez's reverence for Castro. The nationalization moves seem to be a throwback to past efforts that were complete failures, opposition politician Teodoro Petkoff said. What is really on display, he said, is the "autocratic power" of a president who can act without checks and balances. During the election campaign, Chavez said he would seek constitutional reforms including scrapping presidential term limits, which bar him from running again in 2012.
© 2007 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
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