President Chávez Announced Decision to Cut Short Enabling Law During Speech to National Assembly
During his annual state of the nation speech to Venezuela’s National Assembly last Saturday, President Hugo Chávez announced that he will cut short the 18-month period of the Enabling Law, which had been granted to him by the National Assembly last December.
The Enabling Law, as it is known in Venezuela, was granted so President Chávez could deal more quickly and efficiently with the emergencies caused by the historic heavy rains throughout the country that left over 130,000 Venezuelans without homes. But despite the need and constitutionality of the law, President Chávez stated in his speech to the National Assembly that he will do away with it on May 2011 – more than a year ahead of its expiration date.
On Tuesday Vice President Elías Jaua stated in a TV Interview that with this decision the president sought to dissipate political doubts about the objectives of the Enabling Law.
Bloomberg quoted Chávez saying, “I’ll return the Enabling Law. I’ll give it back. I don’t have any problem. I’ll work harder and faster.” Chávez added: “In five months, we can carry out all the laws that we need to confront the emergency.”
Sends a Message of Friendship to the U.S.
Chávez also expressed his regret over the absence of some foreign ambassadors, including the U.S. diplomatic envoy. “We would like to have a U.S. ambassador here, and from all over the world,” he said.
Venezuela’s president said that when he met the U.S. Secretary of State in Brazil on January 1st of this year, she asked, “Would you allow me to directly address the issue of our ambassador?” Chávez said he replied in the affirmative.
Reuters reported the statement noting that President Chávez sent a message of friendship to President Barack Obama, recounting to the Assembly his recent handshake and chat with Secretary Clinton. According to the News Agency, Chávez said, "I said to her, 'Tell Obama that this hand I am giving you now, I offer to him too.”
Reaches Out to Opposition
President Chávez also used his speech to reach out to new opposition members in the National Assembly, including shaking hands with opposition leader María Corina Machado. During the speech, Chávez said to opposition members, “I’m happy to see you here.” CNN reported that he also urged the opposition to “sow seeds of harmony and dialogue.”
After the 2010 parliamentary elections, the Venezuelan political opposition has around 40 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. During the period of 2006-2010 they had little representation in the legislative due to their decision to boycott the 2005 legislative elections despite calls from the Organization of American State and the Carter Center.
Addressed Pressing Issues
President Chávez also addressed the economy, acknowledging the obstacles in the recovery of the country after the global financial crisis, such as the fall of oil prices, the severe drought that caused electricity shortages and serious cases of financial fraud. Theses crises were properly handled by the government, he stated.
According to the news website Venezuelanalysis, the president remembered that the bank fraud “obliged” the state to intervene in four private banks and led to the creation by the state of the Bicentenary bank. Chávez also remembered that the priority of the government has been paying back funds lost by Venezuelan account holders. As an example, he said that 98% of the account holders of Banco Federal had been already paid. Banco Federal was owned by the Venezuelan citizen Nelson Mezerhane, who fled from the country after the fraud.
The president stated that the Venezuelan government expects that the economy will grow two percent in 2011. He also noted that the country’s external debt was reduced, and now stands at 20 percent of GDP, a substantial drop from the 80 percent it reached in 1988.
He also spoke of two pressing issues for all Venezuelans – crime and housing. Regarding crime, the president explained the efforts that are being made to address this complex problem. He highlighted that some of these efforts are already showing results. For example, the National Bolivarian Police have managed a reduction of 44 percent of murders in the districts where it is starting to work. “The Bolivarian National Police is a new, serious and human policing model”, he added.
On the issue of housing, he said “I accept that we’ve been held back by the historical problem of housing in Venezuela, so we’re going to take measures, because housing isn’t merchandise but rather a right of all Venezuelans,” said Chávez. “We’re far from the goal but we’re heading towards it... in Fuerte Tiuna we’re going to create a big city with at least 40,000 apartments, and in the centre of Caracas we’re constructing another 20,000 apartments.”
Chávez also announced a food plan to increase national production. He cited successes in increasing Internet access for all Venezuelans – from three percent before he was elected to 33 percent of the population in 2010.
