Venezuela: no to socialism for the 21st century

On the issue of centralisation versus de-centralisation of State powers, Lander wrote:

Is the concept of a “decentralised federal State” and the relations between the attributions of the central and de-centralised entities not altered when the competencies of the National Government are greatly increased, thus weakening the attributions and autonomies of the municipalities and the States?

Quite importantly, Lander adds that much of the debate over the referendum in Venezuela took place in an unhealthy political climate:

Far from promoting an open debate over the society that is sought, or even over the different aspects of the proposed reform, a manichean dichotomy between chavismo and antichavismo is created, where those who express disagreement with some aspects of the reform proposal are disqualified as belonging to the opposition, or as “reformists”, “infiltrators”, “counterrevolutionaries”, who have “jumped ship”.

This is certainly a shame because many of the proposed changes in the Constitution were quite positive, such as extending the social safety net to the poorest section of Venezuelan society and guaranteeing access to free tertiary education.

None of which diminishes the actions of many in the Venezuelan Right - some of whom have engaged in violent student protests to create an image of instability - and the Bush Administration, which, as highlighted by long-time Latin American observer James Petras, has recently been exposed in a memo sent by a US embassy official to Michael Hayden - head of the CIA - entitled "Advancing to the Last Phase of Operation Pincer". According to Petras, the memo discusses plans to destabilise the recent referendum and "co-ordinate the civil military overthrow of the elected Chavez Government".

And yet, most credible observers say Chávez still enjoys firm support among the population and the military. Any future attempts to destabilise the political process in Venezuela should meet stiff resistance.

During Chávez's presidency, millions of poor Venezuelans have benefited from health, education and work programs, but corruption at all levels of government and a culture of cover still exists.

That political culture belongs to the "grey era" of the Soviet Union and may have been a contributing factor in Chávez losing the referendum.

As far as the 2013 presidential elections are concerned, Chavistas will now have to start thinking about who will lead the Bolivarian revolution into the future.