By Staff
He didn't even need to burn the Reichstag.
On Wednesday, Hugo Chavez, the firebrand president of Venezuela, cowed the Latin American country's congress into granting him sweeping powers in order to create a socialist society.
Few may have completely recognized the significance of these actions, but make no mistake about it – a democracy just died.
Chavez's ascension to dictator was met with thundering applause in Caracas, the nation's capitol, with his supporters proclaiming "socialism or death!" and "Long live President Hugo Chavez!"
Ostensibly, Chavez aims to use his new powers to nationalize major industries and reorganize regional governments by means of "Communal Councils," supposedly allowing average citizens to help make decisions.
His new powers are also intended to be limited, only applying to 11 specific areas and designed to sunset in 18 months, but considering the broad discretion Chavez now has to make decisions on societal and even military matters, it's unlikely he'll relinquish his newfound authority once Aug. 1, 2008, rolls around.
These developments aren't bad for a man who, not even five years ago, was almost pushed from power by a popular uprising and a general strike, or a man who served two years in prison for a failed military coup d'etat in 1992.
Part of Chavez's reversal of fortune can be attributed to his use of "social responsibility" laws to shut down television stations that allegedly supported the 2002 coup attempt against him. While Chavez supporters eagerly point to other opposition stations and newspapers in the country, after Wednesday, it is questionable how long they will last.
Many of these facts are eerily similar to another national socialist leader who, as part of his quest for domination, sought emergency powers in order to recreate his society as well as to respond to imagined threats.
Chavez's imagined threat just happens to be us – the United States. He claims we are planning and invasion, promising a "hundred-year war" if we did. He also echoed the paranoid conspiracy theories surrounding the 9/11 terror attacks, telling the U.S. Congress in a letter the Bush administration deliberately dynamited the Twin Towers in order to allow President Bush to assume emergency powers of his own – a theory that likely gives Chavez a few points in his favor in the eyes of rabid Bush-haters.
What is even more frustrating about this situation is that we are enabling Chavez. The United States is Venezuela's biggest customer of crude oil. With the number of Citgo gas stations seen around the country, it is not hard to imagine just how much money that country makes off of us.
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. If we ever needed a reason to end our oil addiction, this is a good one.
The last time I made mention of Chavez in my column following his disgraceful rant before the United Nations General Assembly, I received messages from around the world objecting to my criticism of Venezuela's dictator.
In and of itself, this is not unexpected, considering that I usually receive a few love letters following some of my more critical columns. However, some of the messages were from respondents who said they were glad to see someone challenging the United States because they were unhappy with our efforts to fight terrorism and bring true democracy to the world.
While it's not surprising that some may take issue with our efforts, siding with an emerging dictator simply to spite the United States is not only foolhardy, it's downright dangerous. Chavez may be comparatively weak in the grand scheme of things, but heralding his actions will serve as inspiration to other would-be dictators who mask themselves in good deeds and insult the United States while consolidating power and tightening their grip on their own people.
With left-wing governments on the rise in South America, Chavez represents a growing threat that cannot – and must not – be ignored.