The debate about whether Venezuela’s Chávista regime is democratic is now settled, writes Javier Corrales. Over recent months, the “Narcissist-Leninist” government of Hugo Chávez has “launched an autocratic blitzkrieg of a sort not seen in Latin America since the era of military juntas ended a generation ago.”
After winning February’s referendum to eliminate term limits, Chávez and his allies “have set about dispensing with every potential political challenge of consequence”:
- after opposition forces made gains in recent local and provincial elections, Chávez appointed regional “vice presidents“ to oversee elected provincial governors;
- victorious opposition figures have been denied central funding or, like Manuel Rosales, forced into self-exile;
- the military has been deployed to arbitrarily nationalize the assets of oil service companies;
- Chávez already controls most of the media and is now trying to close Globovisión, one of the few remaining critical news outlets;
- the Chavista-dominated parliament is currently considering legislation on NGOs which will channel foreign funds through the Venezuelan treasury.
Chávez has not only “managed to convert a frail but nonetheless pluralistic democracy into an authoritarian regime,” Corrales writes. He has gone beyond the standard repertoire of repressive techniques to adopt “a strategy seen only in a small subset of authoritarian states: the promotion of disorder.”
The article is adapted from an in-depth essay in “Undermining Democracy: 21st Century Authoritarians,” a special report from Freedom House, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The report will be launched and discussed at a meeting on Capitol Hill tomorrow.
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