CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT SEEKING BROAD LEGISLATIVE POWERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000109

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ECON VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT SEEKING BROAD LEGISLATIVE POWERS

REF: CARACAS 00062

CARACAS 00000109 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT DOWNES,
REASON 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary. Per President Chavez' request at his January
10 inauguration (Reftel),the National Assembly is already
preparing an enabling law that would give Chavez legal
authority to issue executive decrees in ten substantive areas
over the next 18 months. Chavez would assume broad powers to
issue decrees without previous consultation related to the
redistribution of wealth, participation in government,
financial reform, military reform, and the redistricting of
local governments, among other areas. These decrees would
have the force of law. While opposition parties are voicing
their concerns about the enabling law, they have no votes in
the National Assembly and are largely resigned to Chavez'
concentrating even more power in the executive. Former
presidential candidate Manuel Rosales told the media that he
intends to oppose Chavez' "despotic" redistricting plans,
which could eliminate state and local public offices
currently held by the opposition. The final version of the
enabling law is on a fast track and may pass in the National
Assembly as early as the week of January 22-26. End Summary.

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"Accentuating the Process of Transformation"
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2. (SBU) The National Assembly's January 16 draft of an
omnibus enabling law promises to "transform" government
institutions to construct a state of "law and justice which
guarantees the full participation of the Venezuelan people"
and promotes "ethics" in public administration. The
executive branch reportedly produced the NA document. The
ten areas specifically mentioned in the bill are:
institutional transformation, "popular participation" in
government, anti-corruption measures, transforming the
"hegemonic, capitalist economic paradigm," financial and tax
reform, public security, science and technology,
redistricting local governments, defense reform, and public
infrastructure. The ideologically-loaded preambular language
is more detailed than the vaguely worded operative paragraphs
of the bill, which concede broad authorities to the executive.


3. (SBU) The National Assembly last passed an enabling law on
November 13, 2000 for a period of one year. Unlike the
vaguely-worded draft that the National Assembly is currently
considering, the original omnibus enabling law was very
detailed and made specific references to elements of existing
legislation that could be changed. Moreover, the original
enabling law required the executive to issue an accompanying
"Exposition of Purpose" for each decree and to inform a
multi-party commission of the contents of each decree ten
days before promulgation. The current draft enabling law
imposes no such conditions on the executive branch, so
presumably Chavez will simply issue his decree-laws without
consultation or notice. Chavez still passed 49 wide-ranging
laws (primarily economic in nature) affecting Venezuela's
government, economic system, and infrastructure under the
2000-2001 enabling law. Public reaction to some of these
laws led to a general strike in late 2001 and may have
contributed to the April 2002 coup.

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Opposition With No Legislative Voice
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4. (C) The 1999 Venezuelan Constitution requires three-fifths
of the National Assembly to approve an enabling law. The
opposition's boycott of the 2005 parliamentary elections has
left them with no votes in the unicameral legislature, so
fast-track approval of the enabling law is assured. Our
opposition and civil society contacts tell us that they are
neither surprised by Chavez' efforts to assume legislative
powers nor do they feel they are in a position to prevent the
re-elected Venezuelan president from moving forward. The
National Assembly's current timetable calls for moving the
enabling bill through the legislature by January 23 for
executive branch approval, without normal reviews at the
committee level.


5. (SBU) Former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales
announced on January 16 that he plans to develop a
"mobilization strategy" starting on January 23 to oppose
Chavez' intention to redistrict local governments. The
opposition still holds a small number of elected offices at

CARACAS 00000109 002.2 OF 002


the state level (Rosales is one of two opposition governors)
and municipal level, but Chavez' redistricting plan could
potentially eliminate existing political space for the
opposition. State and local elections are next slated in
Venezuela in November 2008, absent changes from Chavez'
upcoming decrees or constitutional amendment.

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Comment
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6. (C) President Chavez is poised to assume what will be
unprecedented, broad legislative authority -- even for him --
to issue decree-laws across a wide range of key areas of the
Venezuelan government and economy. The vagueness of the
National Assembly's draft enabling law is designed to give
Chavez the maximum room for maneuver, but also probably
reveals that Chavez' efforts to enact the "socialist" phase
of his "Bolivarian revolution" is still very much a work in
progress. By essentially by-passing a legislature that is
100 percent pro-Chavez, the Venezuelan president seems to be
loudly proclaiming his intention to move forward with his
"socialist" agenda as quickly as he can. He also appears to
be reinforcing an unwillingness to engage in even a minimum
of dialogue with other political actors, even with his own
legislative ranks. As one commentator here noted recently,
it seems that Chavez is annoyed by even having to explain
himself to the convinced at this point.

BROWNFIELD