Wilmer Azuaje joined Mr Chávez's revolution a decade ago and worked with the president's family to turn their home state of Barinas into a hotbed of political change. He is now the Chávez family's most outspoken foe. "They turned out to be the most corrupt ever. They betrayed us," he told the Guardian. Mr Azuaje claims that in Barinas farms, businesses, banks and government contracts have been taken over by the president's parents and five brothers. The Chavez dynasty certainly has a tight hold over the region. Mr Chávez's father ruled as governor of Barinas, a showcase of the revolution, for a decade until handing over to the president's brother, Adán, in an election marred by fraud allegations. Other brothers are also doing well. One is mayor of nearby Sabaneta; one is a senior banker, one is planning his own election campaign. Meanwhile the family travel in convoys of 4x4s and president's once-matronly mother, Elena, has undergone plastic surgery and now sports designer clothes and expensive jewellery. The allegations of nepotism and corruption come amid growing concern that the revolutionary socialist movement has been hijacked by money-driven opportunists inside, or close to, the government, the paper reports. Nationalisations, new state enterprises and new price and currency controls have generated a host of well-connected millionaires. Venezuela is now 162nd, alongside Angola and Congo, out of 180 countries in Transparency International's corruption perceptions index. Mr Chávez seems to have acknowledged that his popularity has suffered as a result of the corruption claims. "This party has to tighten the moral belt," he said in December last year.Former allies of Hugo Chavez blow
the whistle on 'corrupt' dynasty
A former ally of Hugo Chávez has turned on the Venezuelan president,
claiming that his administration is more corrupt that the ruling class that it usurped.
Monday, 19 April 2010
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