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 News from Around the Americas | December 2006 
Chavez Reassures Venezuelans He Is Not Next Castro
 Christian Oliver - Reuters
| | A pedestrian walks past propaganda from the campaign for re-election of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as Venezuelans prepare for Sunday's election, in Caracas December 2, 3006. (Reuters/Jose Miguel Gomez) |
Caracas, Venezuela - Anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez on Friday denied he would turn Venezuela into another Cuba, countering his rival's charges before Sunday's election that his goal is a dictatorial one-party state.
Manuel Rosales, Chavez's opponent, accuses the president of seeking a militarized society and of ideological devotion to Cuba's communist leader Fidel Castro.
Chavez, who is favored in the polls to win re-election, calls Castro his mentor and typically salutes him in his long, daily speeches that are reminiscent of marathon public appearances by the Cuban president before he fell ill.
On Friday, Chavez defended his own self-styled socialist revolution against charges of closet communism.
"The Cuban model is Cuban and the Venezuelan model is Venezuelan," the president said in a television interview.
Rosales, governor of the western state of Zulia, has stepped up attacks on the former soldier's close ties to Castro, trying to tap into dislike of Cuban communism that polls show is high even among Chavez supporters.
"Fidel Castro himself would be the first person to recommend you not to copy the Cuban model," Chavez added, saying accusations of communism were attempts to demonize him.
Chavez's remarks were unusual because they marked some distance between himself and a man he usually only discusses in triumphalist terms.
Rosales has vowed to end discounted oil sales from OPEC heavyweight Venezuela to Cuba if he wins the presidency.
Chavez has overwhelming support among the majority poor. But Venezuela is a nation of consumers, where even people from the most downtrodden shantytowns like to spend weekends strolling through swanky malls.
"I have been in government eight years and there is a strengthened private sector," said Chavez, 52, who won his first presidential election in 1998.
Chavez has drawn increasing accusations of authoritarianism by insisting that all members of the army and the country's giant state oil company be loyal to his revolution.
Chavez has said he wants his revolutionary movement represented by a single party after Sunday's election but has also stressed that he would always tolerate an opposition.
He has also sparked comparisons to Castro by launching high-profile land confiscations, seizing private companies and taking control of oil projects previously run by foreign firms.
"December 3 is a chance to stop the advance toward Castro communism," Rosales said.
Chávez Gets Ready to Visit Cuba After the Election
ElUniversal.com
President Hugo Chávez will not attend a military parade to take place on Saturday in Havana, but will leave for Cuba after the election next Sunday, according to official sources.
"I am always alongside Fidel and will be always in Cuba," Chávez told the digital version of official Cuban newspaper Granma, Efe reported.
The events on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Cuban ruler Fidel Castro, hosted by Guayasamín Foundation, started on Tuesday and will close Saturday with a military parade.
According to the organizers, about 1,500 guests are taking part in the homage, including Bolivian President Evo Morales and Nicaraguan president-elect Daniel Ortega. Castro' attendance has not been confirmed officially. |
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