Som det er de fleste bekendt udsatte man i sidste uge den præsidentiale indsættelseesceromoni i Venezuela, efter godkendelse fra højsteret. Det var ingen overraskelse, idet magtens tredeling er ikke-eksisterende og Chavez tilhængere bestemmer hvad højesteret skal mene.
The Economist tager dette op i en leder i denne weekend (Venezuela: In Limbo) og skriver bl.a.:
In any normal democracy one of those two things would now happen [når den valgte præsident ikke kan xx sit hverv]. Indeed, Mr Chávez seemed to prepare for this before his operation when he anointed Nicolás Maduro, his appointed vice-president, as his chosen successor. The National Assembly met this week and re-elected Diosdado Cabello, an army chum of Mr Chávez, as its head.
But Venezuela is not a normal democracy. Although Mr Chávez’s legitimacy derives from the ballot box, he is a former army officer who has ruled as an autocrat since 1999. He claims to head a revolutionary regime in which the exercise of power is personal. On January 8th Mr Maduro sent a letter to the assembly admitting that Mr Chávez was not fit to appear before the assembly, but saying that he would be sworn in at an unspecified later date. Since he is already in post as president, this is a technicality, officials insist.
Cubas rolle er ikke uinteressant. Cuba har længe ikke kun “solgt” læger for olie, men er også involveret i Venezuelas sikkerheds- og efterretningstjeneste. En del tyder også på, at Castro-brødrene har faciliteret en aftale mellem vicepræsidenten Maduro og lederen af parlamentet, Cabelo, som sikrer ro (indtil videre). Som Economist bemærker:
Just imagine the fuss that most Latin Americans would make about foreign interference were the United States playing the part that Cuba has taken in Venezuela’s internal affairs.
For yderligere information om situationen i Venezuela, vil jeg for øvrigt gerne anbefale Radio 24syv’s “Globus” fra i torsdags, hvor jeg deltog sammen med antropolog Simon Lex fra Københavns Universitet (indslaget om Venezuela starter ca. 14:30 inde i udsendelsen).
