New law will make Venezuela a dictatorship, warns archbishop

[steven johnson]

Comandante chavez ahora es el payaso de verdad mal.

Archbishop Roberto Luckert of Coro, Venezuela said President Hugo Chavez's new law will turn the country into a “constitutional democratic dictatorship.”

On Dec. 17, Venezuela's National Assembly approved President Chavez's request to rule by decree for 18 months. The additional power, the president argued, would help him address the damaging floods within the country.

During the elections on Sept. 26, Chavez’s ruling party only won 95 of the 165 seats in the Assembly, which is not enough to maintain a majority. Although three Assembly members from other parties are expected to vote with the ruling party, with just 98 votes, Chavez would still fall short of a two-thirds majority needed to get his measures passed.

The new law gives Chavez the power to enact laws on land use, the military and police forces, transportation and public services. He will also have greater control over the treasury and the tax code, urban and rural development, international relations and the emergency response to the flooding.

The new law has turned the National Assembly into “a congress of political eunuchs who will not be able to do what they are supposed to do . . .The tasks of lawmakers are “to pass laws, to legislate - not to sit on their hands and act like useless fools or mute dogs in a congress in which they won’t be able to do anything,”

New law will make Venezuela a dictatorship, warns archbishop