Former Allies Ask Chavez to Renounce Presidency

A group of Chavez’s former allies, former politicians ans soldeirs, publicly asked him to renounce the presidency.
Former Allies Ask Chavez to Renounce Presidency
Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rally to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the overthrowing of dictator general Marcos Perez Jimenez, in Caracas, January 23, 2010. (Juan Camacho/AFP/Getty Images)
By seth
2/3/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/novchavzz96059245.jpg" alt="Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rally to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the overthrowing of dictator general Marcos Perez Jimenez, in Caracas, January 23, 2010. (Juan Camacho/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rally to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the overthrowing of dictator general Marcos Perez Jimenez, in Caracas, January 23, 2010. (Juan Camacho/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1823427"/></a>
Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rally to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the overthrowing of dictator general Marcos Perez Jimenez, in Caracas, January 23, 2010. (Juan Camacho/AFP/Getty Images)
CARACAS, Venezuela—Earlier this week, a group of Chavez’s former allies, including former ministers, military personnel, and congressmen publicly asked him to renounce the presidency. Chavez “has no moral or substantial authority to rule, since he does not answer to the demands of the people,” said the statement, which was published in several newspapers across the nation.

Chavez has responded to the opposition, saying, “Now they are saying that Chavez has to quit; then make a revocatory referendum—I dare you. Are you afraid? Call a revocatory referendum. ... I dare all the parties that say Chavez is good for nothing and that say he is on the ground. Do it. Go gather signatures and get me out of here.”

The popularity of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has slid significantly amid student protests. His popularity was not high previously, typically ranging between 50 and 60 percent, but Chavez’s popularity has now dropped below the 50 percent mark for the first time in five years, according to recent polls.

The number is “far away from his zone of comfort,” said Luis Vicente León, spokesman for polltaker Datanálisis.

Among the signatories calling for Chavez’s renouncement are former military chief and Minister of Defense Raul Baduel, and former High Commander of Military Forces Yoel Acosta, who were a part of Chavez’s army in 1992, when he attempted a failed military coup against the Venezuelan government.

Things were already starting to look down for Chavez during the first two weeks of January when polls by surveyor Hinterlaces’s Director Oscar Schemel assured that disbelief in Chavez among the Venezuelan population reached 62 percent, which would place his credibility factor at a meager 38 percent.

January has been a bad month for the Venezuelan president. With the constant increase of unrest, the ongoing energy and water rationing, and with the upcoming social impact generated by the recent devaluation of the country’s currency, the bolivar, Venezuelans are starting to find themselves in a very tough situation, and their patience seems to be growing thin.

Chavez’s international presence has also worn down significantly, and many NGOs and governments have begun to openly criticize his actions.

The situation seems to be the beginning of a backward cycle for Chavez’s popularity, one which might make him lose a majority of votes at the National Assembly this September.

Chavez is aware of this and has made public broadcasts to dissuade any possible attempts to push him out of office. “If they were to win the majority at the National Assembly this year, not only would they try to block some of my upcoming policies, they would even draw back some others,” said Chavez in one of his latest live-broadcast speeches.

The regime’s response to the current situation has been unrelenting. “Fascists,” “rioters,” “criminals” are just a few of the words used by Chavez to describe his opposition. He has also referred to the opposition as “marionettes of the empire,” alluding to his belief that the United States is behind the protests.

An extremely low number of protests have ended without being dispersed by the metropolitan police with non-lethal ammunition and tear gas. The most notable aspect of this situation is that the opposing leaders, since the beginning, have advocated for peaceful protests and nonviolence—something that Chavez seems to be intentionally ignoring in order to silence their voices.

The opposition seems to be waiting for the situation to deteriorate further, in order to accumulate more votes for the upcoming National Assembly elections. Their actions show that right now they see the National Assembly elections as the coup de grace to Chavez’s revolution, something more important than the revocatory referendum.

If they win a majority in September, President Chavez would find his ability to act to be very restricted, and perhaps his “Bolivarian Revolution” would start to wither.