Wall Street Journal
August 9, 2013
By José de Córdoba and Ezequiel Minaya

Courtesy of: Associated Press

CARACAS—Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, the political heir to late populist Hugo Chávez, is ratcheting up intimidation of his political foes as his government prepares for key municipal elections amid a deteriorating economy.

Oscar López, a senior aide to former opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, was in hiding Friday after a government legislator said a warrant had been issued for the aide’s arrest. Days earlier, the apartment of Mr. López, Mr. Capriles’s chief of staff, was searched by military-intelligence agents, according to opposition officials.

“He doesn’t know what this circus is all about so he is taking care of himself” by going into hiding, said Julio Borges, a legislator and national coordinator of Venezuela’s leading opposition party, Justice First.

Mr. Capriles himself faces possible arrest after the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected his challenge to Venezuela’s April presidential election, which Mr. Maduro won by a sliver but which was marred by allegations of fraud. The court went on to fine Mr. Capriles $1,700 for what it said was a “disrespectful” filing and said the opposition leader should be prosecuted for trying to undermine the election.

“It’s a way to attack Henrique and his movement,” Mr. Borges said.

A senior U.S. official said Washington is worried about developments in Venezuela. “The Venezuelan government is increasingly taking legal actions against the opposition, a development the United States finds profoundly worrying,” the official said. The wave of actions against opposition leaders like Mr. Capriles “raises legitimate and urgent concerns,” the official said.

Venezuela’s Attorney General’s Office declined to comment as did Venezuela’s Information Ministry.

Venezuelans go to the polls in December to contest some 335 mayors’ posts throughout the country, as well as hundreds of other local offices. The elections will be the first gauge of Mr. Maduro’s popularity since his win in April’s election.

In the run-up to the vote, Venezuela’s economy has shown signs of increasing stress after years of ramped-up public spending under Mr. Chávez, who died in March. The country’s inflation is north of 42%, common consumer goods like toilet paper are scarce, and despite high oil prices, Venezuela just defaulted on the payment of a $100 million bond of a nationalized steel company, spooking bond buyers. Divisions in the Chavista movement, nominally led by Mr. Maduro, are deep.

“This is clearly a wounded government as far as its mandate and its internal dynamics. And like any wounded animal, it can be dangerous. It is taking very severe steps to consolidate power,” said Christopher Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.

Also this week, authorities jailed and froze the assets of the editor of a small independent paper and website, Leocenis García of Sexto Poder, who has published detailed reports of alleged government corruption. On Thursday, a judge fined two opposition newspapers—including El Nacional, the country’s most influential daily—1% of their 2009 income for showing a photograph of deteriorated conditions in a morgue. The judge said showing the photo was harmful to the welfare of children.

In Caracas, Juan Carlos Zapata, an author and political analyst, said the escalating repression shows a clear government intention to frighten the opposition. “They want to dismantle the opposition, they want Capriles’s aides to flee the country, and for Capriles to throw in the towel before elections,” said Mr. Zapata. “It’s an orchestrated plan to scare off the opposition.”

The Maduro government has said that it is simply rooting out corruption, regardless of political affiliation. Soon after taking office, Mr. Maduro launched an antigraft initiative that has resulted in the arrest of a handful of mid-level state officials.

The latest government moves follow last week’s stripping of parliamentary immunity by government deputies of a popular opposition congressman, by less than the constitutionally required two-thirds majority. Richard Mardo, who has built up a large following in the Chavista state of Aragua, now must face charges of alleged corruption.

Legal moves by the government against its foes are common in Venezuela. A study by Human Rights Watch found that as of May 2012, Venezuela’s Comptroller General’s Office had temporarily disqualified some 800 people, most of them Chávez foes, from running for office due to accusations of corruption—even though charges hadn’t been filed against them. About 300 people are still barred from running for office.

During his time in office Mr. Chavez routinely brushed aside international criticism as attempts to meddle with domestic affairs and plots to topple his government.

Meanwhile, the opposition is struggling to get out its message to ordinary Venezuelans. Globovisión, once a feisty opposition TV channel—and the only one that gave Mr. Capriles significant airtime—was sold earlier this year, and its coverage of Mr. Capriles has fallen sharply. News about Mr. Capriles is now relegated to a recently opened Web channel dubbed “Capriles TV.” Mr. Borges said that the opposition would have to work hard to get its message out by taking a “grass-roots” approach.

Opposition figures as well as analysts say the repressive wave points to the deep divisions in Mr. Chávez’s movement following his death. “Chávez was a kind of crazy glue that was able to keep different elements together,” says Mr. Borges.

Mr. Borges sees different power groups within the government fighting for influence and control. Within these groups are groups of powerful businessmen and executives who control different sectors of the economy such as the state oil industry, food imports, and the country’s other basic industries. “There are no institutions anymore, just different clans balancing each other,” Mr. Borges said. “Maduro is not president of the country, he is the boss of one of these groups.”

Analysts foresee a difficult time ahead for Venezuela. “It’s a disaster in the making because nobody is in charge,” says Riordan Roett, the head of Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Many analysts believe the most powerful faction is led by Diosdado Cabello, the president of the National Assembly. Mr. Cabello, a burly and bull-necked former army lieutenant who took part in Mr. Chávez’s failed 1992 coup, has close ties to the country’s armed forces and has reportedly built up a considerable personal fortune.

In late April, Mr. Cabello presided over the congress as a number of opposition legislators were beaten in the congressional chamber. At the time, Mr. Cabello didn’t allow opposition deputies to take the floor to speak until they recognized Mr. Maduro’s victory. Mr. Cabello has ruled the chamber with an iron fist ever since.

Javier Corrales, an expert on Venezuelan politics at Amherst College says that while Mr. Maduro has shown some signs of moderation—such as meeting with top businessmen, Mr. Cabello is openly confrontational. “This crackdown seems to come from Diosdado,” he said. “His instinct appears to be brute force.”

Mr. Cabello couldn’t be reached to comment.

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