Much of his ire was aimed at shopping malls because, he said, they foment capitalist values. ``They're going to have to buy their own generators,'' he threatened, ``or I'll cut off their electricity.''

Ordinary Venezuelans have been urged to use less water and turn off the lights. ``Some people sing in the bath for half an hour,'' Chávez told a recent cabinet session, broadcast live. ``What kind of communism is that? Three minutes is more than enough!''

Formal water rationing has now been introduced, government departments have been told to reduce their electricity consumption by a fifth, and the president has created a new Electricity Ministry in a tacit admission that the state has failed to manage the power industry correctly.

That, say critics, is an understatement. When Chávez came to power in 1999, he inherited a long-term plan to increase electricity generation to keep pace with rising demand.

LITTLE DONE

According to Víctor Poleo, who was deputy minister for electricity at the beginning of the Chávez era, despite huge sums of money allocated, little has actually been done.

``My guess is that of every $100 pumped into [electricity] generation and transmission since 2003, $75 has been stolen by the politicians,'' Poleo said.

Estimates vary, but daily consumption exceeds supply by at least 1.5 gigawatts, and the problem is compounded by poor maintenance of generators and transmission lines.

Angry consumers have mounted hundreds of protests, to little effect. Earlier this month, residents of the southwestern border state of Táchira dumped damaged household appliances outside the offices of the Venezuelan Electrical Corp. (CORPOELEC), demanding compensation.

``Levels of social conflict in this country are extremely high,'' said political commentator Manuel Felipe Sierra. ``But the fact is, the protests are not linked to any political leadership.''

Venezuela's united opposition front, whose acronym is MUD, is composed of a large number of political parties, none of which polls as much as 5 percent. The combined weight of all potential challengers to Chávez is less than 12 percent, according to Datanálisis.

The parties are embroiled in a discussion about how to pick joint candidates for the legislative elections next year, and even the politicians admit they have failed to galvanise public opinion.

``There has been no effective, short-term response on the part of the opposition,'' to the current crisis, Sierra said.

If anti-Chávez sentiment were to translate directly into seats in the single-chamber parliament -- known as the National Assembly -- the opposition would easily win a majority. But the government controls the electoral authority (known as the CNE) and also recently revoked the principle of proportional representation.

CONFIDENCE

Luis Tascón, the pro-Chávez legislator, is confident that, despite recent setbacks, the government has a good chance of retaining the crucial two-thirds majority, which allows it to legislate without negotiating with the opposition.

``There are 17 [out of 24] states in which chavismo is virtually the only alternative,'' the legislator said. When it comes to recovering popularity, ``the government has a much better chance than the opposition.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@