President Hugo Chávez today backed his new defense minister, rejecting allegations that he assisted drug traffickers and Colombian guerrillas as a smear campaign against Venezuela’s military.
In 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department described Gen. Henry Rangel Silva (far right) as a ”drug kingpin” for the narco-trafficking operations of Colombia’s leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Rangel’s confirmation comes days after Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper and Semana magazine published emails which details the relationship between Rangel and FARC’s new leader Rodrigo Londono.
Addressing troops during Rangel’s swearing-in ceremony at a Caracas military base, Chávez urged the military to defend Silva.
“They hate the armed forces,” he said, referring to his political critics.
After 13 years in office, Chávez expects a “year of tests” as he seeks another six-year term in October’s presidential election. In his recent annual address to the National Assembly, he told opposition deputies that if he loses, he “would be the first in recognizing it.”
But his new defense minister has hinted that the military would not be willing to tolerate an opposition electoral victory and Chávez also appeared to backtrack on his commitment to step down peacefully.
“It is easier for a thousand buffalos to pass through the eye of a needle than for an opposition candidate to win the election,” he said this week.
Opposition activists believe Rangel’s appointment was intended to convey a political message.
“Rangel Silva is connected to that image, the military officer that won’t allow another leader being in office,” said Carlos Blanco, an adviser to opposition candidate, María Corina Machado. “That’s the symbol that he represents, and I think that’s what Chávez is bringing into his cabinet.”
But other observers view the recent shuffling of Chávez’s top team as an indication of an internal power struggle.
“The scorpions are out,” said Teodoro Petkoff, a former leftist guerrilla and government minister. “There is a silent but sordid frenzy over the succession issue opened up by the president’s illness.”
Venezuela’s democratic opposition has its best chance in a generation to unseat Chávez, observers suggest. Having apparently overcome previous personality- and politically-based divisions, the opposition is due to hold a series of primaries before unifying behind a joint candidate.
As analyst Francisco Toro observes:
In the context of Venezuela’s growing authoritarianism, the very notion of holding an open primary to pick a challenger to Hugo Chávez is radical. This is, after all, a country where the harassment of opposition activists by the state remains the norm. The clean and forward-looking primary campaign, held in the face of constant surveillance and judicial harassment, has vividly illustrated the contrast between the two competing visions of the future at stake.
