The only thing Hugo Chavez hadn't touched was the Venezuelan flag. But now even that has changed.
The flag, with its yellow, blue and red stripes, will now feature an arc of eight stars, not seven, with the additional one to honor Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar, just as Chavez wished. In addition to that, the white horse on the shield will now look to the left and ahead. Chavez and one of his daughters, Rosa Ines, didn't like the way the horse appeared "docile" and "defeated" and looking toward the right. Chavez and the 167 members that make up the National Assembly heeded the girl's wishes and now millions of passports and public documents will have to be changed. A whim that oil dollars will no doubt pay for.

          Once again, Chavez got his way. That's how it has been during the last seven years.

          Chavez's strategy has been clear. First, he has monopolized power. Nothing escapes his clutches. He wrote the new Constitution, organizes his own elections and his followers dominate the Assembly, the Supreme Court and the army. Few journalists dare to question him. And at times, the political opposition doesn't seem to have a head or a tail.

          Second, an enemy has been conjured up: the United States. "They are going to kidnap me, alive, and then put me in some jail," Chavez asserted a few days ago on his program, "Alo Presidente." Then, defiantly, he added: "No. They will have to walk over my dead body. My blood will flow to the last drop for the dignity of this land."
This last "Chavezian" version replaces the one where a supposed American invasion of Venezuela takes place. According to Chavez, the latest plan is to take him out of Venezuela the same way Manuel Antonio Noriega was removed from power in Panama. The problem with that theory is there is no evidence to support it.

          If Chavez were a journalist, he would have already lost his job for not using dependable and verifiable sources in his statements. Yes, it is true the United States kept an awkward silence during the 47-hour military coup against Chavez in 2002. However, there is a world of speculation from that point to actually planning an invasion or abduction.

          Why does Chavez do all this? What does he gain by crying wolf every week?

          Chavez, the provocateur, does it to help him consolidate power. Facing an enemy, real or imaginary, closes ranks behind him, justifies repressing political opposition, and intensifies press censorship.

          Following a text that seems to be taken from one of Fidel Castro's speeches, Chavez takes pleasure in trying to provoke American President George W. Bush. Interestingly in this case, Bush _ well known for being a man of action _ has never answered to any of Chavez's insults. That doesn't matter to Chavez, however. He keeps on charging.

          By inventing a conflict with the United States, Chavez can somehow distract attention from the poverty that has grown in Venezuela since he took office. He wants to arm a million Venezuelan citizens and has already ordered the purchase of 100,000 Russian rifles.

          Chavez's threats, however, are empty. If the United States is really his enemy, why is he still selling it oil? I have never met any other leader in the world who receives money from someone trying to kidnap him.
That is partly why Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes has dubbed Chavez a "tropical Mussolini," unable to support his words with facts. Every day, Venezuela sells the United States 1.5 million barrels of oil. And despite threats by Chavez that he could halt that supply to the "empire," he has never done so.

          Behind all that, we discover Chavez's real desire: to remain in power forever. Even though he has won several elections, Venezuela stopped being a representative democracy some time ago. One man, and only one _ Chavez _ controls the fate of that nation.

         "Maybe I won't leave in 2013, but in 2019, or six years after that, which would be the year 2025, or six more, in the year 2031," he has said, defiantly, in the face of a possibility the opposition doesn't come up with a presidential candidate for December's elections.

          Consecutive re-election would make out of Venezuela a "perfect dictatorship" _ a disgraceful title appropriated from the PRI, which succeeded itself for 71 years to govern Mexico.

          When Chavez won the election and took office in 1998, he told me in an interview in Caracas that he would step down in 2003. "Of course, I am willing to hand over power," he said. He lied. To me and to all Venezuelans. By the way, I have that interview on tape, in case he has forgotten.

          Chavez knows that by amassing power and provoking the United States, he will guarantee himself a place in history: as a martyr or a dictator. And nothing would please him more _ he who constantly compares himself to Bolivar and Jesus Christ. Unless, of course, he comes up with the idea of putting his own image on the Venezuelan flag, too.