Courtesy of: Reuters
On the night of his reelection, Hugo Chávez said in his acceptance speech that he planned to advance his vision of “21st century socialism” in the next term of his presidency. Now, just one month later, it has become clear that the plan involves the massive expansion of the “commune” system, which experts say is a plot to diminish the power of the opposition.
Communes are a standard feature of the socialist model of government. Chávez touts them as essential to his agenda, as he claims they will give people the power to manage their own resources. But many believe that his renewed interest in them – following an election in which he was victorious by a narrower margin than ever before – is not as ideological as he claims. Instead, many characterize the push for communes as motivated by a desire to reclaim power for his own party on the state and local levels.
To date, Chávez has attempted to weaken the power of state and municipal authorities merely by withholding the share of the national budget they are guaranteed by the constitution. He’s effectively accomplished this by significantly underreporting oil revenue, which limits the amount paid to municipal leaders, many of which are his political foes. But the commune proposal now on the table has been criticized as an offensive to further destabilize the country’s pluralist constitution and decimate any remaining shreds of capitalism.
The implementation of communes could prove disastrous for the opposition by absorbing and ultimately diminishing much of the power of mayors and governors. Already, as part of its most recent budget proposal, Chávez’s party proposed a far greater increase (37 percent) in the amount of funding going to the communes than to either the state or municipal governments (22 and 23 percent, respectively). A logical next step could potentially involve the assignment of the few remaining political responsibilities from local authorities to the communes.
In 2007, the people of Venezuela rejected an amendment to the constitution that would have provided for the legal establishment of the communes. However, in December of 2010 the National Assembly passed the Enabling Law, which granted the president broad authority to mandate by decree following the flooding that left approximately 100,000 Venezuelans homeless. The law gave Chávez unchecked power for eighteen months, through which he created a ministry charged with setting up the communes. However, creation of communes had stalled until October 20 – just 13 days after his reelection – when he urged the National Assembly to implement of the Communes Law.
But implementation has been slow because the act is unconstitutional. It illegally changes the very nature of Venezuela’s government by shifting responsibilities from democratically-elected local officials to a central authority. According to the constitution, the deadline has passed for making such dramatic changes this year.
If realized, millions of Venezuelans would be affected by these changes. By the numbers, Chávez is looking to grow the communes at a record-breaking pace: 3,000 between 2013 and 2019 at the rate of 450 per year. Ultimately this will incorporate more than 21 million citizens – nearly 68 percent of the country’s population. By consolidating local power into the communes, the president is ensuring that these Venezuelans are largely controlled by the central government – not their locally elected officials.
