MEDIA REACTION - CHAVEZ'S FOREIGN POLICY

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000338 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL VE CI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - CHAVEZ'S FOREIGN POLICY On February 26, conservative, afternoon "La Segunda" (circ. 33,000) carried an editorial entitled "Always Chavez." Quote: "Chavez's active foreign policy, dominated by his animosity toward the United States, is acquiring a military element that entails great risk for the region. With the argument of a possible U.S. military invasion, similar to the one that Fidel Castro has announced for the last 40 years, the Venezuelan leader is set on strengthening his military capability.... All countries must look closely at the implications of Chavez's decision to buy weapons.... But what must awaken even more concern is the gradual militarization of the population through the creation of paramilitary groups and the rigorous ideological control of the armed forces by the Chavez's regime.... In fact, Venezuela's progress toward a totalitarian society, embedded with political controls that prevent disagreement and worst yet, its inclination to export the model with the subsequent consequences, is even more serious than the waste of resources that wealth from oil permits." KELLY