Chavez won&#146;t go

last updated 8 January 2015

Caracas

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said this week he would push for a constitutional revision that would allow him to remain in office beyond his scheduled departure, in 2012. After the change’s near-certain approval by the parliament, it will face a national referendum. Critics said the reform would move Venezuela closer to a Cuban-style dictatorship. But Chavez, an outspoken socialist, insisted he merely wants to end term limits. “It will be the people who decide how long I stay,” he said. Chavez already has virtual control over the judiciary, and his supporters control all seats in the national legislature.