Venezuela's Chavez mocks foes' Egypt comparisons

Venezuela's Chavez mocks foes' Egypt comparisons
Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:14pm GMT

By Andrew Cawthorne and Marianna Parraga

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez scoffed on Sunday at commentary by critics that his 12-year rule was at risk of a people's uprising like that which toppled Egypt's Hosni Mubarak after three decades in power.

"I laugh when some clever analysts from the Venezuelan opposition try to compare my government with that of ex-president Hosni Mubarak in Egypt," Chavez said during his regular weekly "Hello, President!" program.

"They're crazy, they're wrong, they have no sense."

Supporters of the 56-year-old former soldier, who has won all but one of about a dozen national votes in Venezuela starting with a presidential poll in 1998, say he has put power in the hands of the people after decades of rule by an elite.

But his all-dominant personality, micro-management of domestic affairs, interminable speeches and tough treatment of the opponents lead to frequent criticism of authoritarianism.

Mubarak's fall has encouraged grassroots opponents of authoritarian governments around the Arab world and beyond.

"There, yes, there was a real dictatorship, and more than half of the population living in poverty, in extreme poverty, that's the fundamental cause," Chavez said of Egypt.

NO 'TWITTER REVOLUTION'

The Venezuelan rejected depictions of the explosion of social network use as a main reason for Mubarak's overthrow.

"Some of them want to call it the 'Twitter Revolution.' No! If there are no real conditions, no revolution can be planned via mobile phone or Twitter or whatever."

Chavez, who has taken Fidel Castro's mantle as Washington's most prominent critic in Latin America, has largely stayed neutral on the unfolding events in Egypt beyond rapping the United States for alleged meddling.

Venezuela's opposition has frequently used mass street protests as a tactic against Chavez, most notably in 2002 when a huge march on his Miraflores palace was the catalyst for a brief coup that saw him lose power for 24 hours.

The drama in Egypt has revived debate over tactics ahead of Venezuela's next presidential election in 2012.

"It's become the opposition's favourite parlour game: Could Chavez get Mubaraked next year?" asked one blogger on "Caracas Chronicles" (www.caracaschronicles.com) on Sunday.

Ahead of the 2012 vote where Chavez intends to seek re-election, opinion polls and a recent parliamentary election show the South American OPEC member nation split down the middle between supporters and opponents of the government.

"If they don't kill me and no catastrophe happens, there'll be work to do but I'm sure I will be re-elected for six more years," Chavez said in an earlier interview with TV station Televen.

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE71C1WC20110213
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/jat
Knowledge shall make you free
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