MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela: incident with Spain before crucial referendum

Spain said on Saturday it was preparing an official complaint against Venezuela's decision to deport a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for criticising the Venezuelan electoral commission.

Luis Herrero, MEP for Spain's conservative PP party, was deported on Friday after Venezuela's CNE electoral commission accused him of questioning its impartiality before a referendum to allow President Hugo Chavez to stand for his post indefinitely. Spain's government has requested a meeting with Venezuela's ambassador in Madrid to convey its disapproval of the expulsion of Herrero, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in Madrid. On Sunday Venezuelans will be voting on a referendum which opens the way for the indefinite re-election of elected officials and other controversial reforms. The proposal was already voted, but limited to the head of the Executive, in December 2007 and against all expectations (and fury of President Chavez) was rejected. Chavez has then forced the national Assembly to redraft the reforms which are now extensive to all elected officials, hoping on their grass root rallying support for his intention of remaining indefinitely in office to ensure the foundations of the Bolivarian revolution which the former paratrooper has described as the XXI Socialism. This year Chavez is also celebrating his ten years in office and his irruption in politics, twenty years ago as a young officer in a bloody military uprising against elected president Carlos Andres Perez which had him sent to jail for several years. The plan to take over the presidential palace in Caracas was aborted by loyal troops, but hundreds, mostly civilians were killed in the frustrated attempt. Even if the referendum is rejected on Sunday, Chavez still has four more years in office following his 2006 re-election. Although the Venezuelan constitution limits specific reforms proposals to an only opportunity during a presidential mandate, the overwhelming majority in the Assembly and his dominance of the all branches of government allowed Mr. Chavez to redefine Sunday's vote not as a reform but as an amendment. A disorganized opposition that also lacks strong leaders has complained bitterly about the tactics employed by President Chavez and his followers, not only abusive use of government financing but also physical intimidation and limited access to the media. Some of Chavez followers dressed in red jackets and berets are organized into motor bike brigades, some of them armed, which swarm to action wherever they feel that the "Bolivarian revolution" is threatened by "traitors" or conspirators. President Chavez in the work up to Sunday's vote also claimed his intelligence services had detected a coup attempt, which unable to blame it on "Mr. Danger President Bush", has said it was organized by dissident military officers. But in spite of the careful planning of his reform objective, Chavez's second attempt to perpetuate himself in power could still be a surprise. Public opinion polls indicate it's going to be a tight vote, and the percentage of undecided is high. The opposition and foreign observers also fear that the electronic voting system, and its tightly guarded software, could be manipulated, a claim which was filed before in other elections but so far has proven to have insufficient evidence. The Spanish MP and member of the European Parliament precisely criticized that the Venezuelan Electoral Commission is not impartial but rather full of President Chavez cronies. Venezuela's relations with Spain have been strained in the past and hit a low point in 2007 when Chavez threatened to review diplomatic and business ties after being told to "shut up" by Spain's King Juan Carlos when he interrupted the Spanish prime minister during a summit. The rift was officially repaired in 2008 on Chavez' official visit to Spain, where he shook hands with the King and discussed a multi-million dollar oil-for-investment deal with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Spanish businesses, including banks BBVA and Santander and oil company Repsol have an estimated 2.4 billion US dollars invested in the country.