Chavez Wins Powers to Rule By Decree But Critics Cry 'heil, Hugo'

Venezuela's congress extended the authority of the president, Hugo Chávez, yesterday when it passed a measure allowing him to rule by decree.

The legislation gives Mr Chávez powers to transform 11 "strategic areas" by decree over the coming 18 months to pave the way for "21st-century socialism". Mr Chávez says the move, which comes as he begins a second six-year term as president, will usher in an era of "maximum revolution". But critics say it is a move towards authoritarianism.

The move was laden with symbolism, with congress convening outdoors in the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas a day after Mr Chávez was pictured alongside the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. A crowd of supporters holding placards reading "Socialism is democracy" gathered in the square as legislators, all loyal to Mr Chávez following an opposition boycott of elections in 2005, read out the proposal.

Under the new powers, Mr Chávez has said he will seek to nationalise the country's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector, and to impose greater control over the oil and natural gas industries. The legislation also gives the president increased powers over the economy and defence.

Cilia Flores, president of the National Assembly, said the powers "will benefit the people, those who were excluded their whole lives. They are laws for inclusion and social justice."

But Teodoro Petkoff, a former Chávez ally turned opposition politician and newspaper editor, compared the move to Hitler's Germany. Under the front page headline "Heil, Hugo", and a photomontage of Mr Chávez with a Hitler moustache, Petkoff wrote that the law "transforms Chávez into an emperor".

The move by Mr Chávez to accelerate his "Bolivarian revolution" comes as tensions between Venezuela and the US are again rising.

John Negroponte, the incoming US deputy secretary of state with responsibility for Latin America, told a senate confirmation hearing this week that Mr Chávez's "behaviour threatens democracy" in the region.

"I do not think he has been a constructive force in the hemisphere," Mr Negroponte said.