Hugo Chavez and Venezuela

Is Hugo Chavez turning into a dictator?

The current issue of Adbusters seems to think so. While I am not well versed enough in Latin American politics to comment, but I have been checking out the headlines to check out what is happening in Venezula.

I came across this piece in the BBC news feed (title linked) that seems to confirm some of the dictator worries:

Venezuela's parliament, dominated by supporters of President Hugo Chavez, has begun its final debate on proposed changes to the constitution.
The changes would remove term limits for the presidency, and extend the term of office from six years to seven.

Mr Chavez on Tuesday added 25 amendments to a previous 33 passed by Congress, including proposals to detain citizens without charge in emergencies.

If passed, all the measures will be put to a popular referendum in December.

If Venezulean voting is free and democratic, then extending the term of the presidency should not be a problem. (Then again, does any country currently have free and democratic voting? I know the USA lost that title a while ago...)

The article continues:

There are no opposition politicians in the Venezuelan National Assembly, since most of the anti-Chavez parties boycotted the last election in 2005.

However, several members of parliament have questioned the way these late changes have been introduced, calling it constitutional fraud.

And what does Chavez want? According to the article:

Among the other changes to the constitution proposed by Mr Chavez are:


*Bringing in a maximum six-hour working day

*Cutting the voting age from 18 to 16

*Increasing presidential control over the central bank

*Strengthening state economic powers, allowing the government to control assets of private companies before a court grants an expropriation order.