Ritual Gloating Postmortems - The Corporate Media v. Hugo Chavez - by Stephen Lendman
Dateline December 3, 2007 - the corporate media is euphoric after Venezuelans narrowly defeated Hugo Chavez's constitutional reform referendum the previous day. The outcome defied pre-election independent poll predictions and was a cliffhanger to the end. Near-final results weren't announced until 1:15AM December 3 with about 100,000 votes separating the two sides and a surprising 44% of eligible voters abstaining. On December 7, Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) released the final outcome based on 94% of ballots counted. A total of 69 amendment reforms were voted on in two blocks:
For Block A: No - 50.65%; Si (Yes) - 49.34%;
For Block B: No - 51.01%; Si (yes) - 48.99%.
Below is a sampling of corporate media gloating. They deserve a bit of slack as they've waited nine years for this moment, and they may not get another for some time. Venezuelans lost, they won, but Chavez may be right saying reform lost "por ahora (for now)." In a post-election comment on Venezuelan state TV channel VTV he added: Reform is slowed but alive, and "the Venezuelan people have the power and the right to present a request for constitutional reform before (my) term (in office) finishes, of which there is still five years."
Under Venezuelan law, the National Assembly (NA) can pass new socially beneficial or other legislation any time provided it doesn't conflict with constitutional law. The Constitution can only be changed by national referenda in one of three ways - if the President, NA or 15% of registered voters (by petition) request it. The Constitution, however, prevents the President from seeking the same amendments twice in the same term, but they can become law through popular initiatives or a constituent assembly.
In addition, Chavez can use his constitutionally allowed Enabling Law authority until next summer when it expires. Under it, he can pass laws by decree in 11 key areas that include the structure of state organs, election of local officials, the economy, finance and taxes, banking, transportation, the military and national defense, public safety, and policies related to energy.
Chavez had this authority two previous times and used it in 2001 to pass 49 legal changes to make them conform to the Constitution in areas of land and banking reform and for more equitable revenue-sharing arrangements with foreign oil companies in joint-state ventures. He wanted it this time to accelerate democratic change at the grassroots and be able to transfer power to the people through communal councils. He may also use it to advance his social and economic model based on equitably distributing more of the national wealth through investments in health care, education and social security. If these type reform measures are proposed, he'll get strong public support for them provided he keeps them simple and explains them properly and often.
In his post-election comments, Chavez stressed another reform proposal is coming "next year or in three years. It doesn't have to be exactly the same. It can be in the same direction, but in a different form, improved and simplified, because I have to accept that the reform that we presented was very complex."
The pre-election debate and propaganda assault made it more complex, and the opposition out-muscled reform supporters. With proper planning and implementation, that problem is correctable, and in the meantime, the NA can enact some reforms legislatively and Chavez can do it on his own by decree. Expect that to happen and for most Venezuelans to support it enthusiastically.
Already, members of Venezuela's National Indigenous Movement (MNIV) want constitutional reform reinitiated, intend to mobilize, and may begin collecting signatures for a petition drive for it. They met to strategize on December 7 after which MNIV coordinator Facundo Guanipa announced that Venezuela's small indigenous population near-unanimously supports Chavez's reforms according to referendum data results.
For now, however, the gloaters have center stage and aren't quoting OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza's comment that "Quite a few myths on the Venezuelan democracy are falling down. It works like all democracies....I hope the US government can acknowledge, as all of us, that it was a fair, clean process."
Don't count on it or from the dominant media, and start off with this writer's favorite press adversary - the Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady, this time on a Journal-produced three minute video available online. She warms up fast with comments like the referendum, if passed, would have given Chavez "dictatorial power to rule for life," and Venezuela has a "rigged electoral system." Outrageous and false on both counts, of course, but this is typical O'Grady ranting.
Further, she claimed near-final tallies were available around 8:15PM, but the National Electoral Council (CNE) waited until 1:15AM to report them. In fact, reporting was delayed because the election was too close to call, and it was agreed in advance not to do it until 90% of the votes were counted. At that point, the result was announced. One other O'Grady gem was Chavez came to power in 1999 by "removing" the "old elite" implying that defeating them decisively and democratically was improper - vintage O'Grady with more from her ahead assured.
The Journal wasn't through. An online op-ed read: "Venezuelans Rain on Hugo (and it's) more than a setback for Venezuela's messianic strongman. It is a victory for the ideal of liberty across Latin America....kudos....to the people of Venezuela (by preventing Chavez from) impos(ing) what amounted to a personal coup against that nation's democracy. He tried to bully Venezuelans into voting for one-man rule and a hard model of socialism. They said no (and CNE waited until 1:15AM) when it became clear that there was no way to fudge the results."
According to the Journal, Chavez's package "would have eviscerated Venezuela's civil liberties (and) end guarantees of private property." A final jab was in the form of a warning that Chavez still controls the country's political institutions and "remains a threat to (the) region. He's in a race against time (to advance his) expansionist agenda (that) has the potential to undermine Colombia's democracy, and has already destabilized Bolivia and Ecuador." Phew, and Rupert Murdoch hasn't yet taken over the paper he bought last summer when he finalized a deal for Dow Jones & Company.
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
My take on the outcome of the Venezuelan election was that it proved that elections in Venezuela have more credible outcomes than presidential elections in the United States. Perhaps some of this opinion is owed to the fact that I put no more trust in the main stream media here in the States than I do in a Rovian election.
It is clear, however, that the Venezuelan People have the government that they vote for. We have thin hope for such a thing in our country.
by
John Sanchez Jr. (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 897 comments)
on Monday, December 10, 2007 at 12:26:08 PM
