Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has received special wartime powers by the Constituent Assembly to deal with emergency tasks. Chávez has given the military a greater role in the disaster areas while working people in that country go through the deepest economic crisis in more than a decade.

In mid-December, massive mud and rock slides buried thousands of people and villages after 10 days of heavy rains. Only a few thousand bodies have been recovered and 23,000 homes were destroyed.

Chávez, a former colonel in the military, was elected less than a year ago under the banner of fighting corruption and addressing the country's deep-going social crisis. He has relied heavily upon popular resentment against the parties that dominated Venezuela's political scene for more than four decades. Despite the continuing economic crisis he has been widely popular.

Chávez has visited numerous sites dressed in camouflage fatigues and a paratrooper's red beret. He acts as a classic Bonapartist politician, who in times of sharp crisis presents himself as the "man of destiny" who can stand above social classes and the muck of traditional politics to rescue the nation and bring social peace.

The trademark of his presidency has been appeals for national unity regardless of class in the face of crisis. "The fisherman, the farmer, the rancher, the store owner - they are all working to rebuild the Venezuelan family," Chávez stated when the disaster first unfolded. "This is a moment of union; it is a moment of solidarity."

"We will emerge from below and from the mud!" Chávez declared in a speech delivered aboard a flatbed truck in the town of Macuto at the end of December.

Chávez has faced criticism that the government delayed warning people about the potential dangers of the rainstorms in order to push through a vote on a new constitution, which took place December 15. Government officials contend they did not issue warnings or urge evacuations because rains over the previous two weeks caused no safety hazards.

In a letter to the Miami Herald complaining about criticism of the government, Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, Alfredo Hardy, contended the problem wasn't the warnings of the rains but poverty. "Local governments should have reinforced their duties in controlling building-construction permits," contended Hardy. "This urban anarchy was inherited by the Chávez administration and is one of the challenges of his government."

Venezuela, a country with the largest oil reserves outside of the Middle East, is rife with massive poverty - nearly 80 percent of the 23 million people live below the poverty line. The country has an official unemployment rate of over 15 percent and reports of unemployment as high as 64 percent with 600,000 people losing their jobs this year. Venezuela currently owes more than $23 billion in debt to imperialist banks.

The present economic situation is worse than anytime since 1989 when during the administration of former President Carlos Perez the economy shrunk by 8.9 percent. Perez launched a "free market" austerity drive that led to antigovernment protests of tens of thousands of people. The Perez administration responded with a bloodbath, deploying cops and troops who slaughtered as many as several thousand people.

In the midst of this social turmoil, Col. Hugo Chávez led other lower echelon members of the officer corps in a coup against the Perez government in February 1992. The coup failed and Chávez and others were jailed.

Upon becoming president, Chávez pushed for the election of a National Constituent Assembly. Convened in July, its main task has been to write a new constitution for the country. Chávez also launched a campaign against corruption in the judiciary by firing and suspending 300 judges and court workers.

On December 15, Venezuelans ratified the new constitution by over 71 percent, with 54 percent of the population abstaining on the vote.

The new constitution increases Chávez's term of office from five years to six and allows him to be elected for consecutive terms. It also eliminates one of the chambers of Congress, reduces civilian control of the military, and expands government management of the economy.  
 

'Market economy with human face'

The Chávez administration has stated it is striving for a "market economy with a human face." Chávez's goal has been to cultivate an image of a savior and champion of the downtrodden while seeking to keep protests and anger among the working class at a minimum. As recently as late November, 4,000 workers at Venezuela's largest steelmaker went on strike demanding pay raises. Oil workers have carried out numerous strikes and protests over the past year.

As Venezuelans attempt to recover from the recent flooding disaster, dozens of countries have sent aid as working people around the world have responded. The tragedy has surpassed the destruction of Hurricane Mitch in Central America last year and the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City.

The minister of foreign affairs, José Rangel, reported that $30 million received in international aid will be allocated for housing construction. The governments of Canada and the Dominican Republic have been recent contributors to relief funds. Saudi Arabia has committed two planes in humanitarian aid. Spain Italy, Chile and Brazil have pledged to help in the construction of houses.

Rangel said it is uncertain if any grants are available and that it will be necessary to seek loans from the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union

On the other hand, the revolutionary government of Cuba has sent more than 400 medical staff, doctors, nurses, hospital workers, to help mainly in the state of Vargas. Doctor Raúl Pérez, vice minister of heath in Cuba, said that the Cuban medical personnel "will stay as long as the Venezuelan government considers it necessary."

The United States Defense Department sent water purification equipment and thousands of body bags to Venezuela.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home