The Chavez coup

International Herald Tribune:

In a sharp indictment of President Hugo Chávez's proposed changes to the Constitution, the former top army commander here described the proposed charter on as "in effect a coup d'état" intended to abolish checks on Chávez's expanding power.

The former commander, General Raúl Isaías Baduel, who was also defense minister until his retirement last July, had been one of Chávez's closest allies after helping to reinstall him in office during a brief coup in 2002. At a news conference here Monday, he called the president's proposals a "nondemocratic imposition that would put us into tragic retreat."

The criticism from Baduel, who said he saw little reason to replace the existing Constitution written in 1999, points to fissures among the president's supporters ahead of a referendum on the constitutional overhaul scheduled for Dec. 2.

The new charter would allow Chávez to be re-elected indefinitely and could centralize power in his hands by diminishing the influence of elected governors and mayors. The Constitution currently limits presidents to two six-year terms and would end Chávez's presidency in 2012.

Other important supporters of Chávez have recently broken with him, offering different views of the proposed charter. These include a high-profile lawmaker, Ismael García of the leftist Podemos party, who has taken to criticizing the president's ideas with a frankness once reserved for the more traditional political opposition.

Still, Chávez showed over the weekend that he was able to draw supporters with ease to a march in favor of the 69 amendments, which would also impose a six-hour workday and ease property expropriations.

Thoroughfares here were flooded with civil servants and pro-Chávez activists clad in red clothing.

In an address before his followers, Chávez lashed out at critics in universities and the Roman Catholic Church. Apparently alarmed by the intensity of student-led street protests in recent weeks, the president described student leaders as "rich bourgeois brats" and said authorities could restrict permits for future demonstrations.

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Maybe Musharraf needs to get a few fawning movie stars to visit and praise him. This is really bad news for Venezuela. And, a six hour work day? Who do these people think they are? French? Expect to see Zimbabwe style inflation eventually. One thing Chavez will not have to worry about much in the future is rich people. The smart ones will leave and take as much with them as they can.