Wise advice to Hugo Chavez: Shut up

By JOHN C. BERSIA

MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Creeping authoritarianism in Venezuela may not be sparking the kind of global outcry that has accompanied President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s naked grab for control in Pakistan, but it should.

Pro-democracy critics have a responsibility to discard double standards, raise their voices and join the Venezuelan opposition in protest. What is bad for Pakistan is bad for Venezuela.

The country’s recalcitrant ruler, President Hugo Chavez, under the guise of reform, has engineered a number of constitutional changes that voters will consider next month. I would describe many of those proposals more bluntly as an attempt to excise freedoms that are guaranteed to the people of one of the region’s longest-enduring democracies.

And that is a travesty.

Chavez, in a transparent effort to redirect blame, accuses protesters of “fascist violence.” In truth, he should look no further than a mirror to locate the source of his country’s troubles. If people were not taking to the streets in major cities across Venezuela, I would be concerned.

Consider that Chavez’s so-called reforms, among other things, would allow him to run for re-election indefinitely; dismiss civil liberties during periods of emergency rule; censor the news media; and extend his control over the nation’s central bank.

If those modifications would not open the door to dictatorship, what would? Those are tools that only a tyrant would favor in the interest of expanding his power. Chavez is orchestrating what some leading Venezuelans have aptly described as a virtual coup. I would like to see them take a step further and challenge him at the ballot box.

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In the meantime, there will likely be more of the violence that unfolded last week, when masked gunmen opened fire on Central University of Venezuela students as they returned from a peaceful march. I side with those who suspect that Chavez’s government was behind the turmoil, despite its offer to dispatch troops for protection. University authorities know better than to fall for such shameful shenanigans. Once on campus, the troops would strip the institution of its autonomy.

Instead, the students and others who believe in democracy should repeatedly return to public protests in greater numbers than ever, pushing the government to delay or — even better — abolish the referendum in its current form.

Global leaders should do their part, as well, and let Chavez know that they understand his self-serving, attempted manipulation of the Venezuelan constitution. They should not restrain their criticism.

In that vein, I rather enjoyed King Juan Carlos of Spain’s rebuke of Chavez at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile, a few days ago. A matter other than Chavez’s domestic misdeeds was on the table, but the Venezuelan bully was running his mouth as usual, calling a former Spanish prime minister a fascist. “Why do you not shut up?” the king asked.

Indeed. The world has tired of hearing Chavez’s blather and witnessing his poorly disguised wicked ambitions. The sooner Venezuelans sweep him into political obscurity and shut him up for good, the better.

X John C. Bersia, who won a Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing at the Orlando Sentinel in 2000, is the special assistant to the president for global perspectives at the University of Central Florida.