Chavez Threatens to Seize Banks, Media as Vote Nears

Via Bloomberg -

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, facing a close vote in a referendum tomorrow to change the constitution, stepped up attacks against the U.S., Spanish banks and the media in an offensive aimed at winning over voters.

Chavez told tens of thousands of supporters in Caracas he is prepared to stay in power until 2050 if voters pass his proposal, which includes eliminating presidential term limits. He vowed to seize Spanish banks and expel journalists from the country to defend his goal of turning Venezuela into a socialist state.

"I swear to God and to my mother that if I have to take up an assault rifle to defend my country, I will again,'' Chavez, 53, said to a cheering crowd at the referendum campaign's final rally last night. "Our victory this Sunday is a defeat to our enemy, the North American empire.''

By portraying Venezuela's economic independence and his so- called socialist revolution as being under siege, Chavez is seeking to motivate undecided supporters to approve the referendum, said David Scott Palmer, a professor of political science and international relations at Boston University.

"Chavez sees a tightening electoral situation for Sunday and this explains the invective and the increase in conspiracy theories involving various foreign actors,'' Palmer said in a telephone interview.

Today, Chavez said he would shut down oil exports to the U.S. if it interferes in tomorrow's vote. That would send the price of oil to $200 a barrel, he told foreign journalists at a Caracas press conference.

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That is one way to destroy freedom of the press....