Chavez surrounded by enemies

Venezuelan President argues with neighbors, journalists and diplomats

On Sunday, a referendum on changing the constitution will be held in Venezuela. It was initiated by President Hugo Chavez. The main amendment he proposed gives the current president the right to be re-elected an unlimited number of times. On the eve of the plebiscite, Caracas was rocked by high-profile international scandals. Yesterday Chavez announced a severance of relations with the president and government of Colombia. The day before, he accused CNN of inciting his murder. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro yesterday announced the possible expulsion of a US embassy employee based on a document allegedly indicating US plans to interfere with the vote.

A quarrel with the president of neighboring Colombia broke out on November 21, when Alvaro Uribe forbade Chavez from mediating negotiations with representatives of the hostage-holding FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) movement. According to Chavez, the formal reason for the ban was his telephone conversation with the Colombian commander-in-chief, which was not coordinated with Uribe, while the real reason was an “order” from Washington. Yesterday, Chavez announced the severance of relations between the governments and made an accusatory speech: “I will not have any relations with President Uribe, who is capable of brazenly lying and disrespecting other presidents. Neither with him nor with the Colombian government." The Venezuelan leader said that he had already taken the first successful step in negotiations with militants, and a group of 45 hostages could be released before the end of the year. But Uribe succumbed to US pressure as a “pathetic pawn of the empire.” The President of Colombia answered briefly: “Heads of state need to think not about vanity, but about respect for their people.”

This is not the first time Hugo Chavez has made accusations against CNN. In May of this year, Caracas sued the television company for simultaneously showing photographs of Chavez and Osama Bin Laden and suggesting ties between the Venezuelan president and al-Qaeda. On Tuesday, a photo of the Venezuelan president appeared for a few seconds on CNN with the caption “Who killed him?” Chavez called it "a psychological bomb and a call for murder." He has already demanded that a criminal case be opened against CNN for “inciting the murder of a person holding an important public position.” The television company apologized, citing an error - the caption was intended for a story about the death of a famous football player.

Leading researcher at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences Emil Dabaghyan told Vremya Novostey that there is no direct connection between the scandals and Chavez’s desire to win the referendum. However, one of the “real reasons for the conflict with the President of Colombia is Uribe’s negative attitude towards changing the Venezuelan constitution.” VN’s interlocutor explained Uribe’s decision to ban Chavez from participating in negotiations with militants by saying that Chavez “has long maintained friendly relations with the FARC. It's no secret. It’s surprising that Uribe allowed this at all.”

Nikolay GOLYGIN