Upon winning a third term in office, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a sharp left turn in his policies. Pledging to "devote my days, nights and entire life to the construction of socialism in Venezuela," the fiery nationalist has called on the legislature to give him authority to rule by decree, legislation that appears certain to pass. There are worries that Mr. Chavez is the harbinger of a socialist revival in Latin and South America. Those fears are overblown. But his win, and those of other candidates elsewhere in the region who think like him, are proof of growing dissatisfaction with politics as usual.
Mr. Chavez first took elected office in 1999; he had launched a failed coup attempt in 1992 -- and has been twice re-elected. In the last ballot, held in December 2006, he was re-elected with 63 percent of the vote, his widest margin of victory in the three contests. In his inaugural address, Mr. Chavez vowed to accelerate Venezuela's transition to a socialist democracy. To impose the sweeping changes he seeks, he asked the legislature to confer on him the power to rule by decree. This is the second time he has asked for this authority: In 2000, after his first election win, the legislature gave him the power, which he used to pass 49 decrees.
The legislature is going to agree this time as well. The opposition boycotted the 2005 elections, leaving the National Assembly to Mr. Chavez and his allies. With that freedom, Mr. Chavez will be free to nationalize "strategic" sectors of the economy, to rewrite the constitution and eliminate the term limits that would require him to step down in 2012, and bring the Central Bank under his control. The initial candidates for nationalization are the main telecommunications company, the electricity and natural gas sectors, and mining companies. Oil refineries and associated operations may be next.
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