Town in arms implies “to put full stop” to the democratic order

It is not the first time, in his 11 years of government, who president Hugo Chavez summons the “town in arms”. In 2005 it remembered “three fundamental lines: fortification of the military power, deepening of the civic-military union and fortification of the great body of reserve, that is not another thing that the town in arms”.

Before another context of country, that happens through a “radicalization in march of the revolution”, purchase of military arms, “institutionalization” of the Militia and in addition the proximity to an electoral process, this Sunday Head of State insisted on which “we must prepare us for the war” and as “we have a factory of guns, then guns for all the town”.

In these circumstances, the political expert Ricardo Sucre Heredia and the ex- minister of the Defense Fernando Ochoa Antich, notice that the political consequences of the “town in arms” are “extremely serious”.

“This speech is an indicator of a government who assumes his dictatorial project more and more. The message that wants to transmit is “controls the force, has the political power and dominates the firepower. I have my particular Army”. The objective is to dissuade to the population so that it accepts, without protesting, the restoration of a dictatorship”, explained professor Sucre Heredia.

In his opinion, the Government, “conscious of the electoral dynamics of the 26 of September and the negative results that he will obtain”, is being prepared to remain in the power. He notices, like Ochoa Antich, that the message also goes directed to the active military. “The problem to give arms to them to those who do not belong to the regular Armed Forces is one double threat: one against the citizen security and another one against the own FAN. Chávez has said that material military and the Militia is in case a coup d'etat exists. Who give the coup d'etats? Then the FAN. Then the Militia is a counterbalance to the FAN. If they try a coup d'etat, Chávez hopes to defeat them with the town in arms”.

For the parade of the 19 of April, the agent chief executive advanced that “the girls of the militias will be with RPG-7, good cañoncitos good for the urban combat. Na'guará! Imagínate to the farmers with the RPG-7”.

Ochoa Antich doubt that the Militia is trained for it, “is not possible and that is even more dangerous”, inasmuch as “Chávez is in process to transform the FAN into Revolutionary Armed Forces to the Colombian style”.

“The essential foundation of democratic pluralism is the professionalism and the non-political nature of the FAN. If you burst in against it, at the same time you are putting to him full stop to the democratic regime”, sentenced the general in retirement.

Yesterday, the undersecretary of Defense of the USA, Frank Blackberry, in interview with time said that Venezuela must explain to the countries of the region the objectives that it has in mind for the bought arms.

mdespinoza@eluniversal.com