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WORLD NEWS A11
Head of Venezuela’s new opposition congress ready to fight
HANNAH DREIER
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela
(AP) — Leaning back in
the mahogany chair that
belonged to his impos-
ing socialist predecessor,
new congress boss Henry
Ramos doesn’t seem wor-
ried about being branded
an out-of-touch conserva-
tive intent on burying the
memory of late President
Hugo Chavez and ousting
his successor.
On the contrary, he’s ready
for a fight.
“If you call me a dinosaur,
you’re saying a dinosaur is
what voters want. I didn’t
get here falling from a
parachute,” said Ramos,
72, who last week became
president of the first op-
position congress Venezu-
ela has seen since Chavez
launched his socialist revo-
lution nearly two decades
ago.
“We’re not seeking con-
frontation, but if they in-
sist....” he added with an
arch of his eyebrow.
A veteran politician, Ra-
mos was sworn in on Jan. 5
to replace outgoing legis-
lative leader Diosdado Ca-
bello, a former army officer
widely seen as the revolu-
tion’s enforcer.
Now second in the line of
succession after President
Nicolas Maduro’s vice
president, he promises to
be just as much of a polar-
izing figure as Cabello.
During his first tumultuous
days on the job, Ramos
swore in three opposition
lawmakers despite a Su-
preme Court order barring
them from taking office.
On Wednesday, those law-
makers were expected to
leave their seats after the
court said their presence
made all congressional
acts null.
Ramos was also recorded
on videotape telling work-
ers to remove all portraits
Thursday 14 January 2016
of Chavez from the neo-
classical capitol and take
them to presidential pal-
ace “or the trash.”
Ramos came under fire for
the video, distributed by
his own press chief, which
infuriated the socialist gov-
ernment.
The move also rankled
some allies who want the
opposition to keep the fo-
cus on an economic crisis
marked by triple-digit infla-
tion and widespread short-
ages.
He makes no secret of his
swanky tastes.
While top socialist officials
dance to salsa music on
live TV and proclaim their
devotion to Venezuela’s
rice, beans and shred-
ded beef dish, Ramos ex-
pounded on his love for
expensive whisky, classical
music and haute cuisine as
smoke from his assistants’
cigarettes curled toward
the chandeliers in his office
during an interview with
The Associated Press.
The always-factious oppo-
sition coalition was widely
expected to pick a moder-
ate from the new genera-
tion to head congress after
sweeping Dec. 6 legislative
elections.
But Ramos, trained as a
lawyer, claimed the lead-
ership gavel by doing what
even his detractors say
President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Henry Ramos Allup, center, leaves the floor after a
suspended session, in Caracas, Venezuela. The National Assembly of Venezuela suspended the
third session due to lack of quorum.
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
he does best: negotiat- as “crude, abrasive, arro- Chavez from the congres-
ing behind closed doors, gant, and thin-skinned.” In sional compound by vow-
in this case aligning with the same memo, he com- ing to plaster every corner
opposition hardliners who pares Ramos’ style to that of Caracas with posters of
have adopted a six-month of Chavez. the late leader.
deadline to recall Maduro Like the late populist lead- Maduro has also doubled
from office. er, Ramos excels at playing down on hardline policies
He’s never been known for to his base and driving his in recent days.
his personal grace. opponents to act in anger. He left moderates splutter-
In a 2006 diplomatic ca- Members of the ruling Unit- ing last week when he ap-
ble, then-U.S. Ambassador ed Socialist Party of Ven- pointed a new economic
William Brownfield called ezuela responded to his czar who says inflation does
Ramos “repellent” as well removing of all images of not exist in real life. q
Venezuela’s first lady: DEA kidnapped nephews
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) cialists from power in the smuggle cocaine into the addressing the case. But
— Venezuela’s first lady this South American country. U.S. that’s been increasingly
week broke her silence on She said the government “The DEA committed the hard to do after the oppo-
the arrest of her two neph- had proof that the DEA crime of kidnapping,” sition won control of con-
ews on drug trafficking had conducted an illegal Flores said. gress and allowed report-
charges, saying they were operation on Venezuelan U.S prosecutors have inves- ers to enter the congres-
kidnapped by the U.S. Drug soil and “violated our sov- tigated several top Ven- sional chamber for the first
Enforcement Administra- ereignty.” ezuelan officials for drug time in years.
tion. Two of Flores’ nephews charges, but November’s Last week, Flores was
Cilia Flores, who serves in were arrested in November arrests marked the first time filmed ignoring direct ques-
congress, told Venezuelan in Haiti and transferred to President Nicolas Maduro’s tions from reporters on the
weekly Tal Cual that the New York. inner circle was directly im- topic, which local press has
U.S. was seeking revenge plicated. dubbed the “narconeph-
and trying to force the so- They are being held on Flores had refrained from ews” scandal.q
charges of conspiring to