12-04-07, 10:11 am

It's never been difficult to differentiate between the allies of the US and those who prefer the support of working people to the backing of big business and the military.

But the contrast has rarely been more marked and the division seldom clearer than that shown by the referendum on Venezuelan constitutional reform as opposed to the election in Russia and the electoral morass that is all that now exists of Pakistani democracy.

Perhaps it is fitting that the friends of the US in Pakistan are backed by a US President whose election was marred by malpractice.

President George W Bush was the first foreign leader to congratulate General Pervez Musharraf after he had himself sworn in for a further five-year term as Pakistan's president.

Musharraf seized power in a 1999 military coup and imposed de facto martial law on November 3 because he feared that the country's Supreme Court was about to rule that his re-election violated the constitution.

Under the state of emergency, the judiciary has been purged of those deemed by the military as unreliable, thousands of opposition political activists, trade unionists and lawyers have been taken into detention, private broadcasters forced off the air and government opponents made subject to military trials.

And in Russia, which, despite constant spats with the US, remains a bulwark of capitalism and is developing into a standard-bearer for the super-rich, President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party stands accused by both international observers and the Russian Communist Party of cynical manipulation of the electoral process and a crass abuse of power.

Even after discounting some of the gripes of the international observers and the attacks from the US as inter-capitalist rivalries, the arguments by the Russian communists cannot be set aside so lightly.

The US may resent Mr. Putin's version of Russian nationalism, but he remains their preferred option to the communists and an ardent advocate of world capitalism.

But contrast the behaviour of these pillars of imperialism and capitalism with the behaviour of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, the man that the CIA attempted to topple in an abortive coup and who the US has labelled a dictator, a totalitarian and an enemy of democracy.

Faced with a narrow referendum defeat, Mr. Chavez called for calm in the country, stated that he would not have welcomed a 'Pyrrhic victory' by a narrow majority and declared with dignity that he would fully respect the decision of the electorate.

There were no suggestions that there had been any attempts to manipulate the referendum result and Mr. Chavez's first action was to caution against street violence.

His opponents had argued for a No vote in the referendum on the basis that the new constitution would give Mr. Chavez the opportunity to establish a presidency for life.

What they didn't focus on and what was more important were the enormous economic reforms on behalf of the poor which were contained in the proposals.

Mr. Chavez will remain in office until 2012, during which time he will undoubtedly continue with his radical programme of reforms, albeit with a little more difficulty than under the proposed constitution. And his term of office will serve as a reminder to the capitalists and the imperialists that the grubby world that they are building has a real alternative which is both dignified and morally superior.

From Morning Star