The King and Hugo

Sometimes it takes a monarch to voice the frustration of a continent of republics. On Saturday, during the closing debate of the 17th Ibero-American summit, King Juan Carlos of Spain asked President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela to “shut up.” It was a legitimate question that struck a cord with the attendants, but also with many Venezuelans at home.



First of all because Chávez had repeatedly interrupted Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero, accusing his predecessor Aznar of supporting a coup against him in 2002. He called the short moustachioed former PM a “fascist.” Zapatero retorted that although “ I hardly share Aznar’s ideas, he was elected by the Spanish people and I demand that respect.” Chávez interrupted the Spaniard again, and it was then that the highest-ranking soldier in Ibero America demanded that the upstart ex-colonel turn it down a notch.

That was called for. It was the second time the Venezuelan had referred to Aznar in that way during the summit – a stupid insult not befitting any head of state, least of all one claiming the moral high ground. Add to that, during the opening ceremony Chávez had extended his remarks beyond four times the 5 minutes allotted to every speaker. That kind of behaaviour gets on people’s nerves, even if you are the self-appointed beacon on the path to 21st century socialism.

But it wasn’t just delegates at the summit who must have felt represented when Juan Carlos barked his rhetorical question at Hugo Chávez. Among them are the millions of Venezuelans who sit through hours and hours of agonizing Bolivarian soliloquy every Sunday, when the president addresses the nation in his one-man show.

Those Venezuelans, the ones who aren’t a fan of Aló Presidente, as the show is called, this week saw a surprising addition to their ranks. On Monday former defence minister General Raúl Isaías Baduel warned his countrymen that constitutional changes, to be submitted to a referendum on December 2, amount to a coup d’etat.

Coming from Baduel that means a lot. For years he was one of Chávez' closest confidants. Baduel formed part of a select group of brothers-in-arms who conspired to overthrow the government in 1992. That intent failed, with Chávez being carted of to jail, promising to refrain from his attempts seek power, “for now.” After his 1998 election victory, Baduel was at Chávez’ side again, remaining close to him during his first nine years in power. He retired as head of the defence ministry in July this year, the first sign that he and his cohort had grown apart.

His warnings on Monday were especially directed at the military, a key player in current Venezuela where officers have replaced career bureaucrats in many government institutions. General Baduel called on the soldiers as “guarantors of the peace, the independence and the sovereignty of the nation (to) profoundly analyze the text being proposed, ” in reference to the referendum which foresees in unlimited presidential terms and the curbing of private property, among others.

Reacting to the Baduel’s remarks in late night radio show, Hugo Chávez said he was a “traitor,” and added something about a “weak screw” coming undone as a “submarine dives ever deeper” – more Jules Verne than Simón Bolivar.
Back to the summit. Moments after King Juan Carlos’s outburst, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega took up where Chávez had left off, accusing Spanish energy giant Unión Fenosa of exploiting his country’s ailing electricity grid. The monarch had had enough and stormed out the conference. It was the hostess Chilean president Michelle Bachelet who chased after the fuming and convinced him to attend the closing ceremony.

The whole summit must have left something of a bitter taste in the mouth the man often credited for guiding Spain back to democracy after almost forty years of dictatorship. Not only was his country assailed by two of the regions most relentless leftists (although Ortega’s detractors claim that nowadays his vast holdings make him more of a magnate than a Maoist). The king’s mediating in the River Plate-pulp mill dispute also suffered a tremendous blow.

Uruguayan president Tabaré Vazquez okayed the ignition of the controversial Botnia cellulose plant on Friday, causing accusations of backstabbing and the like from the Argentina. President Kirchner plied the summit attendants with his injuries, saying he “felt hurt,” by Uruguay’s unilateral decision. Meanwhile Argentine protestors along the border continued to strangle the neighbouring country’s economy. (Paraguayan environmentalist Juan Periel reminded readers of ABC Color on Sunday that there are three pulp mills operating in Misiones province just this side of the river Paraná, polluting our northern neighbour’s water)

After being begged to mediate in the conflict, and having brought the parties together both in Spain and New York, King Juan Carlos must have wondered why he had bothered in the first place.

That’s a pity. Not just for the King’s ego, or even for the credibility of the Spanish monarchy, recently under fire. It’s a pity because of the natural role an institution such the Spanish royal family can play in Latin America. Both Juan Carlos and his son Crown prince Felipe are held in esteem across the continent. Both spend an unusual amount of time and effort in strengthening regional ties with Spain. Their role will only become more significant as we near the bicentenary of regional independence from the Spanish crown in 2010. Juan Carlos has already been tipped as the person to play a key role in the possible opening up of Cuba after Castro’s imminent demise. He may think twice about assuming that task, after Chávez en the pulp mill muck up.

First published in the Buenos Aires Herald on 13/11/2007

Colombia's new left hero

This weekend, as all eyes in Argentina were focussed on elections that would essentially change nothing, not even the president's surname, elsewhere on the continent voters were reshaping a country's future.

The victory of leftwinger Samuel Moreno in mayoral elections in the Colombian capital Bogotá on Sunday meant a slap in the face for President Álvaro Uribe, who openly opposed Moreno.

Moreno beat former mayor Enrique Peñalosa with 43.7 percent to 28.5, claiming a win for the Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA). Now that they have clinched the second most important job in the country, Colombia's leading opposition party is in an advantageous position in view of the 2010 presidential elections.

The triumph of the left is seen as a serious blow to an already troubled President Uribe. It's just a year since he had his popularity confirmed with a huge re-election victory, but since then scandals over links to the paramilitaries have damaged his image at home and abroad.

"A president supported by almost 40 congressmen now jailed and investigated for 'parapolítica' is not the best placed person to tell us which candidate, according to him, is being supported by an illegal group," wrote María Jimena Duzán, Bogotá resident and columnist for El Tiempo newspaper. She was referring to remarks made by Uribe after a website linked to a guerrilla group called for voters to support Moreno.

That deep-felt resentment for the president's handling of the elections didn't go unnoticed by a grateful PDA frontman Carlos Gaviria who also criticized Uribe for meddling. "He hoped to get ahead by placing all his eggs in one basket, but that plan backfired; now the PDA has obtained a massive victory and the president of the Republic has lost terribly."

The Colombian left, it seems, has a new hero. But who is Samuel Moreno and how did he get where he is?

Moreno owes his victory in part to a campaign which revolved around the promise to vastly improve public transport in Bogotá. Those plans include reducing the number of buses, introducing a one-ticket transport network and bold plans to build a subway, something postponed until now because of the enormous costs involved. Voters heeded those promises and they will be expecting Moreno to deliver.

Aside from grandiose plans for the city, Moreno's popularity is rooted in recent Colombian history. His grandfather was former president General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, who came to power in a coup in 1953. Popular for his social programmes directed at Colombia's poor but despised by the middle classes for his authoritarian style, he was forced to retire by the military in 1957.

General Rojas remained a powerful force in Colombian politics. He headed the Alianza Nacional Popular (ANAPO) movement that also included leftwing groups, some of which would later form the M-19 guerrilla. He ran for president in 1970 and was only just defeated, accusing the ruling party of fraud.

His daughter María Eugenia Rojas, Samuel Moreno's mother, always accompanied him during his presidency and later during the campaigning. Known in Colombia as "La Capitana," the captain, she played the part of Evita to her father's Perón and headed the generous Welfare Ministry, doling out subsidies to the poor. Loved by the working classes, even today many of Bogotá's elderly still cherish an effigy of "La Capitana" and her father in their wallet or handbag.

That background is a key component to the PDA victory in Colombia's capital of seven million inhabitants. Moreno himself acknowledged how much he relied on the family, when he unsuccessfully ran for Bogotá city council in 1986. "I thought that just by saying I was the grandson of Rojas and the son of María Eugenia I would win for sure," he admitted.

Added to the historical background, Moreno's own education was a mix of elite institutions and the family business of leftwing politics. He attended the Anglo-Colombian school in Bogotá and then studied law at the Universidad del Rosario. He then went on to gain a master's degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the US. At the same time he was involved in politics, running the youth wing of his grandfather's ANAPO party. After his failed attempt at the Bogotá city council he ran for the senate and was elected to four consecutive terms between 1991 and 2006. So enamoured of politics is Moreno that he even took his wife to a political rally on their first date.

After Sunday's elections, Moreno holds his first executive office. The job of Bogotá mayor implies he has gained a foothold on the national scene. Next to Gaviria, Moreno is now the main reference of the Colombian left. Taking into account that the white-haired Gaviria is already 70, we shouldn't be surprised to see this grandson of a former dictator aiming to succeed his ancestor in 2010. Via the ballot box, of course.

(First published in the Buenos Aires Herald 30/10/2007)