Venezuelan developments
At present, it looks as though the loathsome former putschist and jailbird Chavez is on course for a win in the presidential election in December, but I've given the infamous Mystic Croydonian hat a dusting off and wonder if 'Little Venice' might be on course for a Katanga-style secession.
Firstly, opinion is strongly polarised between Chavez and opposition leader Manuel Rosales. Add to that a strong tradition of separatism in his power base of the western Zulia province, with it having declared independence on three occasions in the past, in each case before oil was struck. Further it borders Colombia, and Bogota and Caracas are not the best of friends, with Chavez claimed to be backing the FARC guerrillas. The military might not be keen on a secession, but judging from the number of military coups Venezuela has had, the loyalty of the military is at least open to question. We shall see.
Firstly, opinion is strongly polarised between Chavez and opposition leader Manuel Rosales. Add to that a strong tradition of separatism in his power base of the western Zulia province, with it having declared independence on three occasions in the past, in each case before oil was struck. Further it borders Colombia, and Bogota and Caracas are not the best of friends, with Chavez claimed to be backing the FARC guerrillas. The military might not be keen on a secession, but judging from the number of military coups Venezuela has had, the loyalty of the military is at least open to question. We shall see.
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on Sunday, November 26, 2006 at 1:36 pm.
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Call me cynical, but I expect the Chavez-haters like Pat Robinson wdn't have a problem with any dictator so long as he was pro-Gringo and willing to do business.
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