Word: chavez
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...Chavez controls the hemisphere's largest oil reserves, but an equally valuable commodity - the one that shields him from U.S. accusations that he's a dictator in the mold of Cuba's Fidel Castro - is his democratic legitimacy. Despite his authoritarian bent, Chavez has been fairly elected three times, and he can't afford to forfeit that cachet. That's why he surprised his critics by respecting the will of the electorate when he lost last year's referendum. The need to maintain his democratic credentials is also the reason why, in the face of howls from civil rights groups...
When Hugo Chavez took power and the world was first taking stock of the new leader in Venezuela, U.S. diplomats there counseled that the firebrand's bark was worse than his bite. "Pay attention to what Chavez does, not what he says," was the message to Washington from its people in the field. But after Chavez last weekend withdrew a controversial intelligence law in Venezuela, and told Colombia's FARC rebels that the age of Marxist guerrilla warfare in Latin America is over, many may be wondering if even the bark of the hemisphere's most prominent anti...
...reason may well be that Chavez "realizes his long-term political survival is at stake," says Larry Birns, head of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs. "Right now, being a radical is not where the votes are" in a country that, despite its vast oil wealth, is wrestling with high inflation and even higher rates of violent crime. Chavez suffered a rare but stinging defeat last year in a referendum on constitutional amendments that would have broadened his socialist agenda and eliminated presidential term limits. Now, he appears determined to prevent his once feckless opposition from dealing...
...another crisis, when Colombian authorities announced the arrest of a Venezuelan army sergeant ferrying 40,000 cartridges for AK-47 rifles to FARC guerrillas. Venezuela insists the soldier was corrupt and acting on his own. Conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a key U.S. ally, has for months accused Chavez, a staunch FARC supporter, of funneling aid to the rebels. The charge, he claims, is supported by alleged evidence from laptop computers belonging to a top FARC commander killed in a commando raid last March. Chavez vehemently denies it and insists the laptop files are phony. But the case...
...Rather than dig in his heels and call the whole thing a yanqui-led conspiracy, however, Chavez on Sunday urged the FARC to end its 44-year-old guerrilla campaign, even declaring that the kind of Marxist insurgency he once championed has become a thing of the past. The FARC's armed movement, he said, is "out of place" in today's Latin America...