Latin American Leaders Praise Chavez for 'Democratic Posture'
Mérida, December 4, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com) - Leaders from various countries and political parties around Latin America congratulated Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his "democratic posture" in accepting defeat in the referendum on Sunday. Meanwhile, Chavez assured yesterday that nothing had been lost and that it simply wasn't the right moment for the proposed changes.
"I made a mistake in selecting the strategic moment to make the proposal," said President Chavez during a telephone call to the state-owned TV channel yesterday. The Venezuelan leader explained that perhaps many of his supporters are still not ready for an "openly socialist project," but insisted that it was not a significant loss.
"We just lost a possibility, but the project of the government will continue," he said. "We did the right thing. We did everything for it to be approved, but we haven't lost anything. We have gained in knowledge and in culture."
Responses to the results of Sunday's referendum came from various countries around the region yesterday, many of them congratulating the Venezuelan president for recognizing and accepting the defeat of his proposal.
Argentinean President Nestor Kirchner called President Chavez a "great democrat" and said he wished politicians in Argentina could practice the same recognition of democratic results.
"If only that could happen in Argentina, where there is a candidate that lost by 23 points and now says that we cheated," said Kirchner on Monday.
Bolivian President Evo Morales praised Chavez "because he submits his thinking, his feelings, and his ideas to the decision of the people. And that is democracy."
President of Paraguay Nicanor Duarte also praised the Venezuelan president, stating that "his posture demonstrates that he is a great democrat and it puts to death the impression that he is authoritarian."
And while the Cuban leader Fidel Castro said Chavez' acceptance of the results was "dignified and ethical," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque reminded journalists that "the only thing that has been rejected, by a narrow margin, is a reform project. Chavez is president and has been elected until the year 2013."
Even the President of Peru, Alan Garcia, with whom Chavez has had previous disputes, said that President Chavez "shows that he is a leader that knows how to listen to his people, and knows how to accept the results."
From Brazil the response was a mixed one. While the Brazilian government praised Chavez for accepting the results in a "very calm and elegant way", the political opposition in Brazil celebrated the defeat of the president's proposal.
"The defeat of Chavez will make the clumsy ones that are pushing for the reelection of Lula think twice," said Brazilian opposition leader Onyz Lorenzoni.
The political opposition in both Bolivia and Nicaragua also viewed the defeat of Chavez' proposal as a political victory in their own countries. The Nicaraguan opposition to President Daniel Ortega took advantage of the defeat to ask the Nicaraguan leader to re-think his proposal for controversial neighborhood organizations.
"This is a lesson that President Ortega should study in detail," said former right-wing presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre.
But foreign policy advisor to Ortega, Miguel D'Escoto, denied that Chavez's loss on Sunday was a defeat.
"I would have loved to have won yesterday in Venezuela, but we keep moving forward, and it made me very happy when Chavez said he is not giving up and he is going to ask again (about the proposal)," he said.
There was no official response from President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe, who has had relations frozen with the Venezuelan government after the recent conflict regarding Chavez's mediation efforts with the FARC. Colombian Senator Lucia Ramirez, however, expressed concern over the fact that Chavez "reiterated that [the defeat] was only for now."
And although the government of Spain has been at odds with the Venezuelan president in recent weeks, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said that "the free expression of the people's will has been accepted by all sides, and that shows the good operation of a democratic system."
