Caracas Chronicles

Venezuela’s opposition has apparently found a new chink in the chavista armour.

The government has gone to great lengths in recent days to reassure the population that, no, Venezuela is not headed toward communism. This comes on the heels of Venezuela’s Roman Catholic Cardinal pointing out, in very matter-of-fact terms, that yes, it was.

So the government that long ago declared its love for Communist Cuba and has deliberately implemented steps that veer us in that direction; the President who frequently cites Marx and bemoans the fall of the Soviet Union; the legislature that has made the "Law of the Communes" the centerpiece for its economic policy – well, they’re just appalled that anyone would dare suggest they are communists.

In true Orwellian fashion, Chávez blasted the Cardinal for daring to suggest his government was "communist," affirming that it wasn’t, and reminding viewers that the Soviet Union is no longer. Today, we get the government’s close allies, the … ahem … Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), making it absolutely clear that communism is not on the table for the country.

Next thing you know, the PCV will state their absolute rejection of communism.

All this double-speak comes from the fact that a broad, crushing majority of Venezuelans … rejects communism.

As they say, when your enemy retreats, double down on your attacks. If I were an opposition politician, I wouldn’t let three words go by without saying the word "communism."