The Venezuelan people and their elected National Assembly have declared, "Ya Basta!" (Enough!) to the Venezuelan opposition's attempts to exploit President Chávez' illness and brief absence as a means of creating chaos for the purpose of destabilization.

Chavismo retains control of National Assembly (AN) for 2013 – 2014. Hard line in reaction to opposition manipulation confirmed by AN President

As was expected President Chávez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) retained total control of the Venezuelan parliament, or National Assembly (AN) Saturday afternoon. 1st Vice President of the PSUV, Diosdado Cabello, was re-elected as President; long standing party member and committed revolutionary, Dario Vivas, was chosen as First Vice President; Blanca Eekhout, former president of Catia TV, Vive TV and Public Television (VTV), was re-elected as Second Vice President; Ivan Zerpa as Secretary and Victor Clark as Assistant-Secretary.

The Newly Elected National Assembly (AN)

The day started with thousands of government supporters surrounding the AN building in downtown Caracas early on as Chavistas gathered to support their Deputies of the AN. Inside, the proceedings were observed by Vice President Nicolas Maduro and the ministers of government. The aim was to make it clear to the right-wing opposition that the crushing election defeats they suffered at the polls were no fluke. On October 7th President Chávez was re-elected with a 12% victory margin for a fourth six year term until 2019; in the December 16th regional elections the opposition only won outright control in Amazonas state out of the 23 states contested.

Attempts to Exploit President Chávez’ Illness

Aside from the importance of retaining control of the AN, perhaps the most important focus of the proceedings was on the behavior of the opposition spokespeople concerning Chávez’s health and the wave of rumors and insults propagated on Twitter and Facebook since December 11th when Chávez underwent surgery in Havana. Both campaigns have been utterly repugnant and they climaxed on Friday when a mentally unbalanced individual threatened to kill Chávez’s daughters who are accompanying him at the hospital in Havana. This “Tweeter” has been identified and should soon be in custody as photos of him were shown on Public Television.

The other incident (i.e. planned strategy) by opposition’s United Democratic Table (MUD) was the discovery that their Secretary General, Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, had written to all the local foreign ambassadors based in Caracas in an effort to discredit the government, using a twisted interpretation of Article 231 of the Constitution and implying that the government intended to act unconstitutionally on January 10th when Chávez is due to be sworn in before the AN. This line has been amplified on Globovision and throughout the western media suggesting that the Venezuelan government is in turmoil, facing a constitutional crisis and the move is aimed at destabilization.

Cabello and Maduro Respond

Vice President Nicolas Maduro and AN President Diosdado Cabello greet the people in front of the National Assembly.

On these two issues, AN President Diosdado Cabello took a hard line stating that there would not be any dialogue or negotiations with the opposition - only dialogue with the people who gave the chavistas majority control of the AN. He based his position on Article 5 of the Constitution which states that power in Venezuela rests in the Venezuelan people – in a participatory democracy rather than bourgeois representative democracy. Cabello warned: “We are prepared for any contingency. Here there is nothing to negotiate. We are carrying out the orders of the people.”

When interviewed on VTV at 8 p.m., Friday, Vice President Nicolas Maduro was visibly irritated with these underhanded tactics. He said this is a time when the whole country should be pulling together to maintain order and normal government operations. The opposition objective is an institutional coup by having President Chávez declared “absolutely absent,” forcing new presidential elections to be held. This will not be allowed to happen.

The result has been that in the face of this media and diplomatic onslaught by the opposition both Vice President Maduro aided by AN President Cabello have decided that enough is enough, making it abundantly clear that the foreign-spawned opposition tactics will not be tolerated - defending the will of the people who re-elected President Chávez and giving him time to recover from his last surgery in Havana.

The Badgering Blitz Befuddled

It’s important to remember that President Chávez had offered dialogue with the opposition on October 7th, immediately after his election victory but the opposition squandered that opportunity choosing rather to employ the strategies and tactics of advisors and funding sources of foreigners.The opposition’s hapless strategy has been to create doubt and exploit any hint of weakness they could find in central government since the president left for surgery on December 11. They have mounted a media blitz, badgering the elected leadership and the Venezuelan people, hair-splitting and word-parsing the constitution hoping to create the impression of a chaotic government – an impression to be handed off to the capitalist media in the US and Europe. Over the past 3 weeks they have been pushing for a reaction by the chavistas and on Saturday, they got an unexpected response and they got it in spades.

In his discourse on Saturday, Cabello also recalled how Chávez offered to have dialogue in 2002 after the coup d’état and how the opposition responded by setting up a protest of rogue military officers in a major square in Caracas demanding the overthrow of the democratically elected government. He noted that this took place at the same time of the planned sabotage of the oil industry which almost destroyed the economy and cost the nation some US$18 billion in lost oil production and sales. Cabello made it clear that the government would not allow anything like this to happen again.

Hence in 2013 there is no dialogue and no negotiations for quotas of power as that was characteristic of the IV Republic but is no longer applicable in the V Republic. There will only be dialogue with the Venezuelan people and not with the leaders of political parties who have sacrificed trust for their mess of foreign pottage.

It’s also interesting that the opposition did not “act out” during the AN meeting on Saturday because the proceedings were transparent, broadcast nationally and witnessed by the people on all radio and television channels. They could hardly show their proverbial ass again in the face of this legal and democratic process. As television cameras panned the visible reactions of AN members, those of the opposition reflected defeat, bitterness and anger, frustrated by a democratic process which has confounded them for 14 years.

The Opposition Neutered

Currently the opposition is a political eunuch and will not recover for years, possibly for decades, unless they begin to take their responsibilities seriously. In all the elections covering the last 14 years, their political parties and candidates have not proposed a single comprehensive plan or program for running the country. Capriles Radonski didn’t do it as a presidential candidate in the 2012 election, nor did Manuel Rosales in the presidential election before him, nor has any opposition member of the National Assembly. The people will never give them any credibility unless they begin to work together with the elected government, present coherent policies for the good of the country, dropping their only message – their futile anti-Chávez rhetoric and bile.

Chavismo Radicalized

The western media has been trying to create an impression that a rift exists between Nicolas Maduro and Diosdado Cabello. The two men have erased such doubts with declarations and expressions of solidarity and unity, standing behind their president.

In President Chávez’ short absence chavismo has been radicalized, is much more unified and is now taking a hard line against the media onslaught of the opposition internally and the imperialist media abroad. Two things have awakened the people to higher levels of awareness and commitment:

One is President Chávez’ illness and absence in their daily lives. This has brought about a renewed sense of personal responsibility among the majority of Venezuelans. They have been re-awakened to the realization that the revolution falls directly upon their shoulders and that their leaders alone, effective as they are, cannot do everything for them.

The other is related to the immense value that the people place on family, the heart and soul of Venezuelan society. The people have been aroused with indignation by the opposition’s complete lack of humanity, respect and sensitivity for the president they so love and their disregard for his family as he lies in the hospital, fighting for his life.

Summary and Conclusion

In Venezuela’s 2012 elections, the people have left the opposition with no institutional power. All they have left is more media noise and after January 10, the date set for the president’s inauguration, the volume will peak as the AN rules in favor of leaving Chávez as President and the Supreme Court (TSJ) upholds that ruling, completely within the legal framework of the Constitution.

The opposition’s attempt to exploit President Chávez’ illness has been thwarted and the people simply won’t stand for it. There is nothing that strikes fear in the right wing anywhere like a people united around their leadership. And the strength and unity of leaders like Maduro, Cabello, PSUV members in the National Assembly and newly-elected chavista state governors and legislators negate any suggestion of a “power vacuum” by Washington’s synchophants during the absence of President Chávez.

Viva Chávez! Viva Bolivar! Viva la Revolucion!

READ MORE ANALYSIS AND ESSAYS BY
AXIS OF LOGIC COLUMNIST, ARTURO ROSALES

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