Chavez Undertakes Dictatorial Powers
Reuters reports:
(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved on Tuesday to bypass parliament and rule by decree for a year in South America's biggest oil producer, prompting opposition accusations of behaving like a dictator.
The socialist leader has used such powers three times before during his 11 years in power, and says he needs them again to deal with a national emergency caused by floods that have killed about 40 people and left almost 140,000 homeless.
The head of parliament said the "Enabling Law" that would let Chavez govern by decree would be approved by Thursday. The text of the law allows him to issue decrees across a wide range of areas including housing, land, finances and security.
Private banks and property owners are bracing themselves for another wave of nationalizations by the former paratrooper, who has taken Venezuela down a steadily more radical route in an effort to entrench "21st century socialism."
"He is winning time with the tragedy to put limits on the new National Assembly," opposition politician Pastora Medina told Reuters. "He is consolidating himself as a dictator."
A freshly united opposition coalition won about half the popular vote at a parliamentary election in September to take 40 percent of seats in a new Assembly that will convene on January 5, when they had hoped to put a check on Chavez's power.
"It is a brutal attack, without anesthetics, against democratic life," said Teodoro Petkoff, editor of leading opposition newspaper Tal Cual. His paper denounced the decree move, along with a package of laws being rushed through, as a "totalitarian ambush ... a Christmas ambush" for Venezuelans.
