Accusations of Corruption hit Chavez clan

By TYLER BRIDGES
Mcclatchy-tribune
May 3, 2008

BARINAS, VENEZUELA — Group after group — seven in all — climbed onto the modest stage, each one bearing a plaque honoring a man known throughout this western plains state as "El Maestro."

Hugo de los Reyes Chavez, father of Venezuela's president, is winding down a 10-year tenure as Barinas' governor.

But by the time the two-hour ceremony had ended in a sweaty gymnasium here, half of the party loyalists in red T-shirts had departed.

It was a symbol of the trouble the Chavez family is facing outside the gymnasium. One of President Hugo Chavez's brothers is no longer assured of winning the election in November to succeed their father, a home-turf defeat that would badly wound the president and his socialist revolution.

Besides the governor, four of President Chavez's five other brothers play a key role in the state.

Argenis Chavez is secretary of state and the real power in Barinas since a stroke enfeebled El Maestro, analysts say.

Anibal Chavez is the mayor of Sabaneta, the town where the president and his brothers were born.

Adelis Chavez works for Banco Sofitasa, which handles the banking needs of the state government, and he was responsible for building a soccer stadium.

Narciso Chavez is politically active behind the scenes in Barinas.

Adan Chavez is the one brother who doesn't live in Barinas, but he is the president's minister of education and is seen as the one most likely to run for governor, given the corruption accusations tainting the other brothers.

From traffic to budgets

Barinas residents have become fed up with what they see as the heavy-handed and arrogant ways of the Chavez family, analysts and average citizens alike say.
One example that rankles widely: The governor and his wife travel in a caravan of SUVs with a police escort that halts all traffic to let them pass.

The governor spent millions of dollars to build a sugar refinery that has yet to open, and millions more for a new soccer stadium that remains unfinished, a year after it was inaugurated for the America's Cup tournament, analysts said.

Gehard Cartay, who was Barinas' governor 1993-96, said the state government spends its money in secret and no longer seeks public bids for big projects. Even the governor's salary is hidden, he added.

"They are not the same poor family as before," Cartay said. "It's hard to hide wealth in a small state like Barinas."

An ambitious congressman from Barinas has broken with President Chavez's political party by trying to capitalize on the disenchantment, at a time when the president has lost public support nationally as well as his aura of invincibility after suffering his first electoral defeat when voters in December rejected expanding his power.

The congressman, Wilmer Azuaje, has launched his campaign for governor by accusing the elder Chavez and two of the president's brothers of using public funds to buy ranches in Barinas and using straw men to hide the purchases.

"Everybody knows this has been going on," said Angel Diaz, whose brother Frenchy, a mayor, is also a candidate for governor. "That the accusations came from someone within the Chavez camp has been a bombshell."

A version of West Texas

No one disputes that El Maestro — a nickname dating to his days as a schoolteacher — and his children wield enormous power in Barinas, which is both a state and a city.

Barinas could be an underdeveloped version of West Texas, with its cattle ranches, country music and stifling heat. Open-air thatched roof restaurants serve meat carved from beef cooked slowly on poles around a campfire.

Barinas is one of Venezuela's poorest states.

Hugo Chavez was born in a shack with a dirt floor in Sabaneta. The family's home in the city of Barinas, where they moved when the future president was a teenager, was a modest upgrade. Residents remember him dreaming more about pitching for the San Francisco Giants than trying to turn his country into a Socialist paradise.

Hugo de los Reyes Chavez was a state leader with Copei, Venezuela's center-right political party.

About 30 years ago, he bought a ranch called La Chavera and raised pigs and chickens. "It was a very simple place," recalled Antonio Bastidas, a neighbor and now a political foe. "

La Chavera has doubled in size to 150 acres, now has milk cows and is a state-of-the-art ranch, said Bastidas. Asked how the elder Chavez paid for this, Bastidas replied, "Well, he didn't win the lottery."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5751019.html

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still waiting Adolf

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Supreme Executive for the I.S.S.F

Yeah americas gonna find were you live boy!

It's not illegal and we had plenty of provocation.

Stop spreading lies.

Twice as popular as the democrat controlled Congress.

well we know where you live and I am not too far from you - so it woulnt be difficult

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Supreme Executive for the I.S.S.F

you're an analyst are you?

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Supreme Executive for the I.S.S.F

beleserti,

was that your best shot?

Gee I expected at least some honesty from you

What is it with you guys?

Dont you have mirrors in the United States?

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Supreme Executive for the I.S.S.F

They invented mirrors.. fantastic mirrors filled with patriotism and freedom..

It is illegal and there was no provocation

Stop spreading lies

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Have you ever stood toe to toe with someone that was intent on kicking your arse? C-D-P