CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez’s fervent followers still assemble in the capital’s main public square, decked in the bright red of their leader’s movement, to chant revolutionary songs that envisage the president leading the country far into the future.
But Chavez, who has dominated public life here since the late 1990s, is nowhere to be seen. He no longer gives his trademark bombastic speeches, nor does he hold forth on television like a game-show host. On Sunday, he remained in Cuba, where he has been for nearly a month, presumably convalescing after undergoing surgery to remove what he called “some malignant cells” in his pelvic region, from which doctors have struggled to extricate a cancerous tumor.
To Venezuelans, it is becoming clear that Chavez may well not return by Thursday, a key day in the political calendar. The 58-year-old former paratrooper is supposed to be inaugurated that day for a fourth term that would extend his presidency until 2019.
Opposition leaders say that would leave a power vacuum that by law should shift authority to an interim leader of the leftist government and trigger fresh elections, a scenario that could end the socialist government that has transformed one of the world’s great oil powers. That is unlikely to happen, however, with the president’s top aides sending strong signals over the weekend that they were scrambling to postpone the inauguration.
“I am clear that the president may not be able to take the oath in five days because of his condition, but what’s the problem?” said Javier Ramirez, 54, who works on ideological training in Chavez’s Socialist party and joined the crowds over the weekend at Bolivar Plaza. “If El Comandante cannot be here, we will be the commander. We will be Chavez.”...........
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2975635/posts
CARACAS, Venezuela — As perishable foodstuffs rotted on cargo ships that had waited three weeks to unload at Venezuela’s largest port, unsettled consumers this week found shelves at Caracas’ main downtown market devoid of rice, cooking oil, sugar and other items.
Widespread scarcities and chaos at the nation’s main ports, including Puerto Cabello, are just some of the problems Vice President Nicolas Maduro will face as he takes the reins of power in the absence of President Hugo Chavez..........
....Alejandro Grisanti, head of Latin America research at Barclays in New York, said sharp spending cuts were necessary after an “unsustainable” 2012 budget deficit inflated by Chavez’s election year giveaways, including apartments and appliances, that helped him to a resounding reelection victory in October......
Maduro may also have to reconsider Chavez’s imposition of price controls, which won the socialist regime the support of poor voters by artificially depressing the prices of basic food items — if consumers can find them.
Price controls have also caused the shriveling of Venezuela’s domestic industries because local producers can’t afford to sell goods at the mandated low prices, according to Ismael Perez, director of the Conindustria, the nation’s leading business association of manufacturers.
Venezuela’s manufacturing sector has lost 150,000 jobs over the last decade, and the country must now import products such as sugar, rice, coffee, milk and beef, all of which Venezuela was self-sufficient in before Chavez took power.
With domestic production shrinking, the country has had to step up imports just to feed its population. ......
......In Chavez’s absence, the government continues to blame manufacturers for the shortages. Just this week, it seized products and facilities owned by PepsiCo Inc. and food conglomerate Polar, accusing the latter of hoarding........
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2977345/posts