With Chávez Absent, Things Get Orwellian in Venezuela
With Chávez Absent, Things Get Orwellian in Venezuela
AS/COA’s Eric Farnsworth comments on Venezuela’s democratic standards and credibility to hold new elections amidst growing political uncertainty.
Imagine the following script: A wildly popular leader of a tropical country wins an election and then heads to a foreign country for cancer treatment. He fails to utter a word in public for over a month as he fights to recover from a surgical procedure, and misses the inauguration for his fourth consecutive term in office.
In the meantime, one of his most loyal aides takes over the country, ruling on behalf of the dear leader. He starts to make decisions for the leader, like cutting some social programs and devaluing the country's currency to pay for its bloated debt.
Day after day passes without anyone hearing from the leader, as his most loyal aid continues to make decisions in his name. Those who ask for proof that the leader is actually alive face threats and repression from the state. They are accused of inciting social discord and disrespecting the leader's right to medical privacy….
A scenario where Maduro rules in Chávez's name for months and even makes important decisions on his behalf, therefore, is not completely out of the question.
Eric Farnsworth from the Council of the Americas and Americas Society, a Washington D.C. think tank, believes that Venezuelan democracy loses out if its government is not clear about Chávez's health.
"If they don't tell the status of the president, it's awfully difficult for there to be a credible election, because no one can prepare for an election, if you don't know when it's going to be," Farnsworth said. "This is another way to game the system in Venezuela to overtly favor one side over the other, and that's completely what's going on here...."
