Venezuelan lawmakers plan to punish any Chavez-allied legislator who jumps to opposition

Pro-Chavez lawmakers plan to punish dissidents

CARACAS, Venezuela — Legislators allied with President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday they plan to adopt rules that will punish any lawmaker who abandons the socialist leader.

The announcement came after Chavez urged members of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela to pick candidates for congressional elections in September who “aren’t going to jump ship” after the voting.

Carlos Escarra, a governing party lawmaker, said it was unclear what sort of sanctions could be applied.

“We are going to discuss that,” he said.

Government opponents say the initiative is aimed at intimidating lawmakers elected to the unicameral National Assembly on pro-Chavez platforms so they won’t shift to the opposition.

Chavez’s allies counter that legislators who leave the party that helped them get elected commit an immoral act because they are subverting the will of the voters who cast ballots in their favor.

“If somebody gets into the assembly through a party, whose supporters backed him, and later jumps ship, he’s committing treason against his constituency, and that treason against his constituency must be punished,” Escarra said.

Pro-Chavez parties won all 167 assembly seats in 2005 after major opposition parties boycotted the election. But 11 of those lawmakers have since broken with Chavez and his left-leaning coalition, citing what they call his authoritarian tendencies.

Wilmer Azuaje, one of the dissident legislators, said Chavez is using the new rules to warn potential congressional candidates because he fears more lawmakers could shift loyalty — especially if domestic problems like electricity rationing and double-digit inflation worsen.

“It’s intimidation,” Azuaje said. “I see it as a message for his allies, to say to them: ‘If you jump, you’ll be punished.’”

Opposition parties hope to make a strong showing in September’s vote by holding Chavez responsible for the country’s struggles with power shortages, rampant crime and a currency devaluation widely expected to push inflation above last year’s 25 percent.