Chavez at it once again...

Venezuela has headed quicker in a direction that will result in utter ruin for generations by allowing Hugu Chávez to rule by decree – without consultation of the new Congress – until mid-2012. This was rushed through because in a few weeks congressmen who were elected recently, were about to be sworn in providing the opposition with more votes against Chavez. Giving any leader this sort of power is outrageous and especially scary when given to a man who has a sinister agenda like Chavez does. This means that any policy that Chavez dreams up can become law, no matter the opposition from others. Chavez has already seen the economy have inflation of 27 per cent currently the highest in Latin America.

He taunted the incoming opposition congressmen in a television address.."You won't be able to make a single law, little Yankees," he said, deploying one of his favourite insults, which depicts his opponents as American stooges.

"We're going to see how you make laws now."

The 18-month period means the opposition will be blocked from any significant role in Venezuelan politics until just months before the 2012 presidential election.

He has realised that even with 2 years to go until the next presidential elections he does not have complete control of the country. He has also used these powers to establish 10 military districts — many of them in three western states bordering Colombia, two of which are led by opposition governors. Chavez did not elaborate on how the districts will be administered, but they could be under the equivalent of martial law.

In a single week, he has used an outgoing National Assembly packed with loyalists to gain new abilities to crack down on critics — over the air, on the Internet, in universities and from independent organizations that get foreign funding. He also has obtained broad powers to bypass Venezuela's legislature and enact laws by decree for the next year and a half.

Chavez is likely to use the new powers to try to strengthen his political footing as he prepares for the next presidential election in less than two years.

Furthermore, he is cracking down hard on any opposition to his rule - banning foreign donations going to NGOs, penalises organisations or political parties that invite foreigners to the country who publicly give "opinions that offend institutions of the state, its high officials" or that are contrary to Venezuela's sovereignty. Groups can be fined for such statements, and political parties can be barred from elections for five to eight years. He also passed a law that would allow for the suspension of any lawmakers who defect from a party during their term. That aims to counter defections in the current legislature, where about a dozen lawmakers have broken with Chavez.

He is also busting up student protests with far more gusto than anything seen by police in London lately. This is in response to moves by Chavez to eliminate universities independence and instead to enforce that a university must promote Chavez's socialist ideology. As one can imagine, students are pissed about it. He was equally as brutal with the media pushing RCTV, a critical television network, off the airwaves and revoked the licenses of 34 radio stations across the country. Mr. Chávez has also forced broadcasters to transmit live his speeches and televised appearances, which last hours.

In essence he is hellbent on speeding up the reforms that I have been blogging about for years

I fear for the good people of Venezuela who are part of this mad experiment.

Update

Kiwiblog earlier has shown concern for the internet interference from Chavez and has many remarkably stupid commets that follow. I guess some people are ignoring history.

But wait, comedy gold follows at the Labour/Union funded Standard... they largely back the measures of Chavez and of course blame the US. How quaint.