By Estrella Gutiérrez
CARACAS, Feb 23 1995 (IPS)

The Venezuelan government’s increasing use of the armed forces to resolve conflicts is seen by the opposition as a sign of dangerous authoritarianism masked by the allegedly legitemate exercise of authority.

While President Rafael Caldera’s forceful measures are applauded by most of the population, political analyst Diego Urbaneja warned Thursday that the nation could be witnessing a coup being imposed “drop by drop.”

Caldera placed 20 Venezuelan airports under military control Sunday after a two-week labour conflict with civilian air traffic controllers who began following all regulations to the letter, delaying flights in order to draw attention to their demands.

Social Democratic Senator Antonio Ledezma warned that “the militarisation of the airports is a dangerous precedent. One day they may militarise Miraflores,” the seat of government.

Influential columnist Jose Vicente Rangel – who supported Caldera in the campaign that returned the veteran Christian Democratic leader to power a year ago – denied that “desperation in the face of conflict leads to the policy of militarisation.”

Before the airport strike, the government placed prisons and the immigration and documentation registry under military control and deployed troops in the leading Venezuelan cities – a measure that failed to achieve the expected reduction in crime.

The government has openly threatened to militarise the Caracas subway system if a labour conflict is not resolved, and the army took over the distribution of school supplies last year.

When Caldera visited the military air traffic control centre Wednesday, he said that by replacing civilians who conflict with the government, “Operation Kangaroo” would show that the state does not tolerate disruption of essential public services.

Military sources told the press Thursday that the army “has specific plans ready to attack any internal contingent.”

Nelson Chitty, leader of the social Christian Copei party, expressed his concern that the government “gives the military responsibility for more civilian tasks every day.”

“The country is crying out for authority, and the government is exercising it,” said Minister of the Interior Ramon Escovar, who added that Caldera had inherited a national situation that demanded authority in a country unused to order.

Justice Minister Ruben Creixems added that the armed forces need not remain “waiting in the barracks for a war that is not going to come…freedom is not permissiveness.”

However, columnist Rangel said it was not the soldiers’ job to “go around putting out ‘fires’.” He warned that the weakness of civilian institutions could convince military officers that they should take over the country.

Political analyst Urbaneja said Caldera had displayed signs of authoritarianism since his return to power.

He recalled that the president threatened to hold a referendum that would have dissolved Parliament when deputies sought to reinstate civil and economic rights suspended under an economic emergency policy in June.

Radical Civil Union Secretary-General Pablo Medina called the militarisation “a dangerous display of dictatorship.”

Urbaneja added that, so far, Caldera has been willing to obey the Constitution, but that this could change given the “popular success (of his) authoritarian displays.”

Venezuela is currently undergoing a difficult institutional reorganisation after two violent coup attempts in 1992 and the impeachment of President Carlos Andres Perez on corruption charges the following year.

The different opposition leaders agreed that authoritarian measures could recur in response to the growing economic difficulties and predicted labour conflicts in 1995.

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