Leading candidate's camp denies emulating Cuba

             By TIM JOHNSON
             Herald Staff Writer

             CARACAS -- The movement supporting presidential front-runner Hugo Chavez
             plans to set up political committees on every block, in every factory, on every
             ranch and in every classroom across Venezuela.

             To the opponents of the populist former coup leader, the plan smacks of the
             neighborhood ``snoop'' committees that keep a lid on dissent in Cuba.

             A top aide to Chavez says not to fear: The committees won't serve as social
             monitors -- or worse, political police. They will only allow Venezuelans from all
             walks of life to contact the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) that Chavez founded,
             and perhaps channel observations about corruption to the proper authorities.

             ``They won't have any function like watching or controlling the citizenry that could
             be associated with what happens in Cuba. Absolutely not,'' said Hector Davila, the
             movement's national secretary for electoral matters.

             Opponents have used the issue to attack Chavez as he comes within striking
             distance of capturing the presidency in Dec. 6 elections. Polls say Chavez is the
             clear front-runner. Chavez expressed admiration for Cuban President Fidel Castro
             in a visit to Havana in late 1994, but has moved toward the political center to
             consolidate his support.

             Name is similar

             Some Venezuelans are uneasy, though, over the movement's explanation of the
             committees. For one thing, there is the name. According to the official charter of
             the Fifth Republic Movement, the political committees are called Networks of
             People's Power. People's Power also happens to be the name of a Cuban elected
             body.

             Asked about the similarity, Davila shrugged.

             ``The Cubans don't have a copyright on the word `people,' '' he said.

             The wording of the charter's Article 18 indicates that the committees will be
             ubiquitous: ``Two or more primary activists of the Movement . . . will establish the
             Networks of People's Power on every block, residential compound or building,
             classroom, factory, office, store, business, hamlet, ranch, plaza or wherever else
             there is a concentration of people.''

             In Cuba, citizens are obligated to take part in neighborhood groups, called
             Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, that are the eyes and ears of the
             Communist Party. The groups are known for meddling in the affairs of the
             citizenry, although their activity has lapsed somewhat in recent years.

             Similar watchdog groups were established by the Sandinistas in Nicaragua from
             1979 until 1990, and were widely loathed by Sandinista opponents.

             A lack of concern

             Some analysts think the Fifth Republic Movement's committees will never amount
             to much. They dismiss any concerns.

             ``Some of the leftists who surround Chavez and are accustomed to the Leninist
             way of forming parties went overboard on this,'' said Vladimir Gessen, a
             psychologist and political commentator.

             Gessen noted that many political parties in Venezuela have hierarchical structures
             and a broad grass-roots presence across the country.

             ``Democratic Action has a cell in every township,'' Gessen said, referring to the
             dominant center-left party. ``And if they could put one on every block, in every
             house, they'd do it, too.''

             A Chavez spokesman, Carlos Enrique Tinoco, offered the same comparison.

             ``The Democratic Action party that was formed by Romulo Betancourt, the father
             of Venezuelan democracy, also has neighborhood committees, committees in
             every housing development, union hall, etc.,'' he said. ``No one has ever asked
             them why they have committees everywhere.''

             Disparate elements

             The leadership of Chavez's movement comprises an array of radical leftists,
             nationalists and military hard-liners. The movement has surged on a wave of
             discontent among those who feel that the political system is unresponsive to the
             majority of Venezuela's 24 million people.

             Perhaps because Chavez has evoked deep mistrust among some Venezuelans,
             fears have not been assuaged over the role of the grass-roots committees.

             ``This seems dictatorial to me. . . . They can seek to retaliate against you. Those
             who sit on a committee can denounce their neighbors,'' said Mercedes Girona, an
             unemployed philosopher.

             ``It's evil,'' said Ladislao Iturriza, a sociology student. ``He wants the same thing as
             Castro in Cuba, to control all movement on the streets.''

             Chavez supporters dismiss suggestions that the committees might help an eventual
             Chavez government impose authoritarian controls.

             An eye on corruption

             ``Communism will never take root here. It has ended in Latin America forever,''
             said Bartolome Vasquez, a taxi driver and Chavez supporter.

             He said he favored the grass-roots political committees because they may help
             Chavez -- if he wins elections -- root out bureaucratic corruption that they say is
             eating away at the government.

             ``The idea is to get rid of corruption, to separate those who are stealing from those
             who are not,'' he said.

             Davila, the campaign official, said anti-corruption efforts may be only an incidental
             part of the committees' work.

             ``Their function will be political organizing,'' he said. ``Look, it's not much different
             from other parties in Venezuela.''