Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Hugo Chavez | Tyranny — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

In the wake of massive demonstrations against the proposed constitutional changes offered by Hugo Chavez and designed explicitly to ensure that he will be able to amass vast amounts of dictatorial power, pro-Chavez forces have themselves turned out in force to push for the changes to be approved in tomorrow's referendum. But all of the pro-government demonstrations in the world won't be able to cover up the following salient fact:

Human Rights Watch warned the reforms would threaten fundamental rights, citing one revision allowing the president to declare indefinite states of emergency during which the government could detain citizens without charge and censor the media.

"These amendments would enable President Chavez to suspend basic rights indefinitely by maintaining a perpetual state of emergency," said Jose Miguel Vivanco of the New York-based group.

Read on . . .

Meanwhile, Venezuela's dictator is back to his old tricks:

A threat by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop oil exports to the United States has raised the stakes over a Sunday referendum he has called in a bid to expand his powers.

Chavez told tens of thousands of supporters late Friday he was putting Venezuela's oil field and refineries under military "protection" and would halt the exports "if this (referendum) is used as a pretext to start violence in Venezuela."

He accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of preparing to spread unrest during the plebiscite in an effort to topple him, and said if its operation was activated "there won't be a drop of oil from Venezuela to the United States."

The menace was an escalation of anti-US rhetoric Chavez has long employed, and highlighted both Venezuela's pivotal role as South America's biggest oil producer, and the parlous relations between Washington and Caracas.

Par for the course. Chavez has threatened to nationalize Spanish banks in Venezuela because King Juan Carlos told him to "shut up," he has cut off trade relations with Colombia because President Uribe cut him out of mediation efforts and now this. Of course, the only people who end up paying a price for Chavez's antics are the Venezuelan people--who will be held hostage to his arbitrary and capricious whims and nature if the Chavez regime's referendum is approved tomorrow.