Venezuelans Tell Hugo Chavez, "Why Don't You Shut Up?"

The AP reports that Venezuelans have voted down, by a narrow margin, president Hugo Chavez's referendum that would have allowed him to continue to run for re-election for life, declare states of emergency for unlimited periods, and increase governmental control of the economy.

From the New York Times:

CARACAS, Venezuela, Monday, Dec. 3 — Voters in this country narrowly defeated a proposed overhaul to the constitution in a contentious referendum over granting President Hugo Chávez sweeping new powers, the Election Commission announced early Monday.

It was the first major electoral defeat in the nine years of his presidency. Voters rejected the 69 proposed amendments 51 to 49 percent.

The political opposition erupted into celebration, shooting fireworks into the air and honking car horns, when electoral officials announced the results at 1:20 a.m. The nation had remained on edge since polls closed Sunday afternoon and the wait for results began.

The outcome is a stunning development in a country where Mr. Chávez and his supporters control nearly all of the levers of power.

I give partial credit to Spain's King Juan Carlos for helping to tip the margin of victory to the opposition.  While it probably was not his intent to rally opposition to Chavez, when King Juan Carlos said "Why don't you shut up?" to Hugo Chavez, he was heard around the world. 

His remark hit such a responsive chord that it became a popular ringtone, and helped to crystallize and rally the opposition to Chavez in Venezuela:

An estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words "Why don't you shut up?", generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2m).

King Juan Carlos asked Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit in Chile last week after the president said Spain's ex-PM Jose Maria Aznar was a "fascist".

Branded mugs, t-shirts and websites featuring the row are also profitable.

In Venezuela, a group of students who oppose Mr Chavez's government have also been downloading the ringtone, a US newspaper reported.

"It's a form of protest," a 21-year-old student in Caracas told the Miami Herald. "It's something that a lot of people would like to tell the president."

As further evidence that the remark hit home in Venezuela, as recently as Friday, Chavez was threatening to cut ties with Spain if King Juan Carlos does not apologize for the remark:

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Friday to cut diplomatic ties with Spain if the former colonial power's king does not apologize for telling him earlier this month to "shut up" at a summit meeting.

Speaking at a rally for a referendum on Sunday on expanding his powers, Chavez also warned he could start to consider acting against Spanish companies in the OPEC nation if King Juan Carlos fails to meet his demand.

Chavez's threats were an escalation of the spat with Spain and came as he intensified disputes with Colombia and the United States.

He has already frozen diplomatic ties with Spain over the king's rebuke and threatened to take over some of the multi-billion dollar investments of Spanish companies that operate in the banking, telecommunications and oil sectors.

"If this does not happen (that the king apologizes), then I won't have anything to do with Spain," Chavez said.

Sometimes just the right words at just the right moment are world-changing.  "Why don't you shut up?" was not remotely as eloquent as "I have a dream" or "Give me liberty or give me death!," but at least it was spontaneous and heartfelt.  And it may just have helped Venezuelans avoid the terrible mistake of handing Chavez the power to entrench himself as Venezuela's dictator for life.

Linked at Realclearpolitics and Memeorandum, where you'll find more news and commentary related to this story

Comments

[Georg Felis]

We need to celebrate the victory of the ballot box now, because Hugo has until 2012 to rig an election so dramatically as to get 99.97 percent of votes for an even more slanted “constitution” unless the people can get him forced from office before then.

[Trevor]

51%-49% is a relatively slim margin. It could easily have gone the other way. It is important that Venezuelans be able to decide their own fate. Hopefully this is the first step towards removing this buffoon from office

[RevJim]

Sadly, if Chavez is serious about following the footsteps of Castro, there will be a bloodbath, or at least, mass inprisonment of the opposition leaders. Chavez seems to be the kind of guy who would take power that isn't given him by the voters