Posted on 11/02/2006 11:45:09 PM PST by MadIvan
EDGAR Fajardo is a proud member of Venezuela's new military reserve. He does not know much about handling guns, but he knows who he will vote for in December's elections: the president, Hugo Chavez.
The United States and neighbours have accused Mr Chavez of using his oil windfall to spark an arms race in the region, buying Russian rifles, fighter jets and helicopters. But the invigorated military is more about political control than national defence.
"We are creating national resistance and awareness," said General Alberto Muller Rojas, a military adviser to the president. "Should anyone think of invading us they will find a united people under the president."
Mr Chavez, a former paratrooper colonel who led a failed coup in 1992, has drafted acting and retired officers into his government in unprecedented numbers and they are now present in most ministries.
Domingo Irwin, a Glasgow-educated defence analyst in Caracas, said: "Never before have so many army officers held civilian posts in government."
Yet Mr Chavez, who has made his red paratrooper beret the symbol of his "Bolivarian Revolution" was himself the victim of a short-lived coup in 2002, backed, he insists, by the CIA. He has since purged the armed forces and ensured that the new reserve answers only to him.
"I was unemployed until El Comandante [Mr Chavez] gave me this chance to serve my country," said Mr Fajardo, 54, who irons his uniform every morning before acting as an unarmed sentry at government installations in the poor neighbourhood of Catia in Caracas. "Now I am ready to shed my blood for him and the Bolivarian Revolution."
Alberto Garrido, an analyst in Caracas, said the president was building up and arming his support base in case he loses an election or is removed from power by other means.
"He believes in the revolutionary principle of a people in arms, and he believes that he can never be beaten should his people be armed," said Mr Garrido.
Whilst the US has made much of Mr Chavez's arms spending, experts see it as being in keeping with the doctrine of "defensive asymmetric warfare", with Venezuela in no position to challenge its powerful neighbours Brazil and Colombia.
"Venezuela's arms purchases to date are defensive and correspond to replacing of outdated equipment," Anna Gilmore, a security analyst, said.
Elections are a month away, with Mr Chavez hoping to win another six years in post. The opposition fears even if it wins it will not be able to take power.
"Chavez will rule until I am long dead and buried," said Mr Fajardo, swinging a salute. "Nothing can stop the Bolivarian Revolution."
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Guns don't elect presidents, people do. ;^)
Our Dems are looking into this form of election real hard...
Ping. "Chavez arms backers as election nears".
Nonetheless, yes -- I concur with you; it is worrisome.
No need to search for it Alia, I have seen the same thing. It's just a guess on my part, but I would put it at a 60%-40% Chavez split, but with 10-15% overall ready to jump Chavez's ship if they become convinced that he stole the election.
Okay - This makes sense. It was military loyalists who assisted in preventing Chavez' earlier coup in '92 from what I read.
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