Los Tres Chiflados of Socialism

Hugo Chavez suffered a humiliating defeat Sunday in Venezuela when he lost his bid to rewrite the Constitution in his favor – but it ain’t over, yet. Chavez has promised to return time and again and he got moral support from his Tio Fidel;

“Don’t feel sad,” he told his supporters, pointing out the razor-thin margin by which they were defeated.

He said he recognized his plans to enshrine his vision of a socialist economy in Venezuela’s charter had been thwarted “for now” — but stressed he would not give up.

The opposition had won a “Pyrrhic victory,” he claimed, adding that he would not “change one comma” of his plan.

The result was disappointing for ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his regime, which views Chavez as a close ally and relies heavily on Venezuelan oil shipments.

But Castro praised Chavez for how he faced up to defeat.

“Dear Hugo: I send you revolutionary congratulations for your speech today, which was a ‘Veni, vidi, vici’ of dignity and ethics,” Castro said in a message relayed by state television, referring to the Latin phrase uttered by a victorious Julius Ceasar — “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Bloomberg reports that privately Chavez blames the Legislature for the failure of his proposals;

Chavez, who met government advisors and military commanders outside Caracas to wait for the results, said congress hindered the plan’s passage by splitting it into two blocks, the Caracas- based daily reported, citing the unidentified witnesses. Chavez also said his Venezuelan Unified Socialist Party lacked leadership, Nacional reported.  

Wall Street Journal’s John Lyons and Jose de Cordoba write that Chavez’ defeat will have far-reaching consequences;

Mr. Chávez’s defeat will ripple across Latin America, hurting allies in countries like Bolivia and Ecuador and boosting moderates in Brazil and Chile. For the U.S. and Europe, a weaker Mr. Chávez is welcome news. The former military officer has been increasingly hostile to Western interests in the past few years, nationalizing key areas of the economy like the oil industry, telecommunications and utilities.

Bolivia’s Evo Morales has mandated that the Assembly write a new constitution for Bolivia (New America Media);

Evo Morales, the first Indian president of the country, is forcing a showdown with the oligarchy and the right wing political parties that have stymied efforts to draft a new constitution to transform the nation. He declares, “Dead or alive I will have a new constitution for the country by December 14,” the mandated date for the specially elected Constituent Assembly to present a constitution for the country to vote on by popular referendum.

Morales’ opposition in Boliva hopes that Chavez’ defeat portends the defeat of socialist Morales’ own plans;

The opposition to the left-wing populist government in Bolivia on Monday celebrated the rejection of a referendum on constitutional reform in Venezuela. Several leaders, including Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, appear to be following some of the steps that Chavez took since gaining power. Efforts to draft new constitutions are in place in both Bolivia and Ecuador.

“The defeat of Hugo Chavez is a sign in the sense that authoritarianism will not prevail in Venezuela, and neither will it prevail in Bolivia,” said opposition Senator Fernando Rodriguez.

Spanish Pundit writes that some Bolivians are staging a hunger strike against Morales’ constitutional proposals;

Prefects and political leaders of Civic Commitees who are against President Evo Morales, began yesterday their announced hunger strike to reject the law which was passed by the oficialist supporters, cutting off their revenues and against the Constitution project, irregularly passed by the Constituent Assembly.

In an atmosphere of growing tension, the prefects (gobernators) and civic leaders of the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Tarija and Pando ratified their measure of civil resistence announced the past week against the Government. 

The third stooge, Rafael Correa, in Equador, has turned over control of the state-run oil company to his Navy (Bloomberg);

Ecuador appointed Navy officers to lead the state-owned oil company’s three biggest divisions, deepening the armed forces’ control of PetroEcuador.

Patricio Goyes will run the production unit, Carlos Albuja will head refining, and Marco Salinas will oversee sales of oil and other fuels, the company said today in an e-mailed statement.

The personnel moves come after President Rafael Correa last week named a Navy admiral to run the company, which produces about half of the Andean country’s roughly 500,000 barrels in daily output. He handed control to the military after a week of protests in the Amazon region shut some output.

Pretty smart – it makes the military more loyal to Correa and makes Correa less dependant on popular will.

Chavez’ defeat Sunday may be the beginning of the end of the socialist movement in South America – but its a long row to hoe. 

Category: Foreign Policy, Hugo Chavez, Politics