Jim McIlroy & Coral Wynter, Caracas
A major row has been created after moves by Greater Caracas's mayor, Juan Barreto, to expropriate two golf courses, frequented solely by the very wealthy, in order to build houses in the capital, which faces a serious housing crisis. The expropriations sparked a dispute within the main party supporting socialist President Hugo Chavez, the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR).
Barreto announced the plan to expropriate the Valle Arriba and Caracas Country Club golf courses during a fiery speech on August 22, at the launch of the Metropolitan Public Planning Councils in the Teresa Carreno Auditorium.
Barreto condemned the right-wing mayors of the well-off districts of Chacao and Baruta — Leopoldo Lopez and Henrique Capriles Radonski — accusing them of practicing "fascism in their municipality" by evicting people and changing ordinances.
On August 24, Barreto decreed the "forced acquisition" of the golf courses, for the "Endowment of housing for the inhabitants of the Metropolitan district of Caracas". Barreto stated that just one golf course's land could house 5000 individuals, and that the expropriations could benefit 25,000 people. According to Barreto, 500,000 people in the Greater Caracas region live in "precarious situations".
"We are respectful of private property, but here you have a dispute", said Barreto, because of irregularities in the golf courses' titles. Barreto said the exporporiations were aimed at reclaiming public space and "democratising housing". "The deeper discussion that we are proposing is the use of urban space. In some, you can construct housing, in others parks, in others, spaces of recreation for multiple use", he said.
However, in a public statement on August 30, Venezuelan Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel announced that the national government did not "share the decision adopted by the mayor of the Metropolitan District of Caracas ... in which the forced acquisition is declared of the [golf course] land ... considering that the same could affect the constitutional and legal norms of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela".
Venezuelanalysis.com reported that the statement said the "national government respects and must respect the current legal order and condemns [any] attempt aimed at suffocating, regardless of where it may come from, the structure of the rule of law. In this way, under no circumstances, will it accept that the right to property, [as] it is conceived in the current constitution, becomes vulnerable in any way."
Barreto responded by stating that he understood the position of the government and that responsibility for the decisions regarding the golf courses was assumed by himself alone. He said he had asked the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) to rule in favour of his position.
Barreto said he believed "the observations and preoccupations of the National Executive are formal and not in-depth" and that "a careful reading of the communication put out by the vice-president, the text does not reproach or disapprove of the measure, but recommends it be revised and adjusted".
The National Tactical Command (CTN) of the MVR established an internal investigation into actions of the mayor, who is an MVR member. At a tense meeting that reportedly lasted for more than five hours on September 1, the MVR leadership body could not agree on any sanctions against Barreto.
The September 4 Ultimas Noticias reported, "In the meeting emerged the most grave ideological differences that exist in the party".
Diosdado Cabello, governor of Miranda state and a member of the CTN, denied the existence of deep divisions inside the MVR, the September 5 UN reported. He accused outside forces of trying to whip up dissension in the MVR over this issue and said that the Barreto case was still being discussed by the CTN.
Full-page statements have been published in several newspapers from journalists, architects and engineers, and a large number of mass organisations, supporting Barreto's position on the golf courses and the expropriation of buildings owned by profiteering landlords.
An editorial in the September 1 Diario Vea argued that the move to expropriate the golf courses was premature, as it gave the right-wing opposition an opportunity to launch a diversionary attack against Chavez in the lead-up to December's presidential election. Any such action would require more consultation with the national government, and discussion with, and education of, the public, to gain broad support, the paper argued.