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The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, says he wants to open up his socialist political project to the middle classes and private sector.Mr Chavez said his government had to convince Venezuela’s middle classes they were needed.Speaking by telephone on state television, he said he was entering a more reflective period of his life.Mr Chavez recently underwent cancer treatment in Cuba, but plans to stand for re-election next year.

The Venezuelan leader made his comments a day after he celebrated his 57th birthday, when – appearing in yellow rather than his characteristic red shirt – he told a rally of cheering supporters that he was in no mood to leave office in the near future.

In Friday’s telephone interview, Mr Chavez said the treatment to remove a tumour had led him to radically change his life towards a “more diverse, more reflective and multi-faceted” period.

He told his supporters to eliminate divisions and dogma, and end what he called the abuse of symbols such as the term “socialist”.

“Why do we have to always have to wear a red shirt?” said Mr Chavez. “And the same goes for the word ‘socialism’.”

The president cited the example of a mayor in the governing party who inaugurated a “Socialist Avenue”, which Mr Chavez described as “stupid”.

“We need to reflect and introduce changes in our discourse and in our actions.”

Cuban lessons
Mr Chavez, who came to power in 1999, said the private sector and the middle classes were “vital” to his political project.

He said it was a shame that attempts to be more inclusive of these groups in society had been criticised by some in official circles in Venezuela.

“Raul Castro is leading a process of self-criticism,” said Mr Chavez, hinting that Venezuela could learn from the reforms being undertaken by the president of Cuba, who has made some concessions to the private sector since taking over from Fidel Castro in 2006.

Mr Chavez said his government needed to correct the perception that small businesses would be taken over by the state.

“We have to make sure no-one believes that,” he said. “We have to convince them about our real project, that we need this sector and that we want to acknowledge their contribution.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14351508

Chavez reaches out to Venezuela middle class

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has made an abrupt political shift, urging his socialist movement to reach out to the middle class and small business owners.

Chavez, who is undergoing cancer treatment, appeared to be taking a more moderate stance to try to expand his support ahead of the presidential election in late 2012.

In a telephone call broadcast on state television on Friday he said his party should seek to recapture middle class support.

Such support has waned over the years amid the government’s expropriations of businesses, farmland and residential buildings, as well as expanding price controls viewed by many as a threat to the economy.

“We can’t give away the middle class to the bourgeoisie,” Chavez said, referring to the opposition.

The president also said his government has no plans to expropriate small businesses, adding: “We have to open ourselves up to those sectors, the private productive sector.”

Tense relations

Chavez has had tense relations with the country’s business leaders during his more than 12 years in office.

He has accused business leaders of defending capitalism, identifying them as obstacles to his socialist movement.

Meanwhile, he has nationalised or expropriated big businesses in industries ranging from telecommunications to construction.

“We have to reflect … and introduce changes in our stances and in our actions,” Chavez said, urging supporters to eradicate what he called political evils, “for example, sectarianism and dogmatism”.

The president, whose signature red shirts have long been a symbol of his socialist movement, also suggested his allies ought to be more moderate in their wardrobes.

“Why do we have to go around all the time wearing a red shirt?” he asked.

Chavez, who in the past has scolded some aides for not wearing the red often associated with leftist movements, chose a yellow shirt when he addressed supporters at his 57th birthday party on Thursday.

Offering a similar message to his broadcast on state television, he said: “We have to keep advancing toward other sectors, of the middle class. The undecided, let them come with us.”

Cancer treatment

A poll released last week said Chavez’s public approval rating remains at 50 per cent and has not significantly varied since his cancer diagnosis.

Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba on June 20 to remove a cancerous tumour.

He has not said what type of cancer he has been diagnosed with or specified where exactly it was located, saying only that it was in his pelvic region.

He underwent his first phase of chemotherapy in Cuba last week and said the treatment aims to ensure that no malignant cells reappear.

Chavez is pivoting to try to shore up support, Angel Alvarez, director of the Institute of Political Studies at the Central University of Venezuela, said.

“In this electoral context, the government needs to become more moderate because all the polls show the government no longer has the middle class,” Alvarez told the AP news agency in a phone interview.

Chavez’s support declined as the economy contracted during the past two years and has remained significantly lower than the 63 per cent of the votes he got in his re-election in 2006.

The economy has begun growing again, expanding at an annual rate of 4.5 per cent in the first quarter.

Alvarez said he doubted Chavez’s moderation will last because it goes against his “most important political asset, which is his fiery speech”.

“That’s his drama as a candidate,” Alvarez said. “It’s like an internal struggle between becoming more moderate and more radical.”

‘Examine ourselves’

Chavez said his movement should “examine ourselves, starting with the leadership … I myself, and the leadership of the party”.

He denied that being more open toward small businesses would represent giving in to the wealthy elite, citing the example of Cuba and the economic changes begun by President Raul Castro’s government.

“If Cuba after 60 years of revolution is making those revisions … I doubt it’s betraying socialism,” he said.

He urged his allies to read the Cuban state newspaper Granma every day to see how Fidel Castro and other leaders are engaged in self-criticism. “Fidel isn’t there frozen, no,” Chavez said.

His call for change extended to one of his main political slogans.

It used to be “Socialist fatherland or death,” and was repeated by soldiers in the military under Chavez.

But on Thursday night, he proposed to do away with “death” and instead say: “Socialist fatherland and victory”.

On Friday, he made another revision and suggested: “Independence and socialist fatherland”.

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/ameri…19360.html