Weekly Report - 8 February 2007

President Hugo Chávez is no stranger to courting controversy but, even by his standards, the decision to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his failed coup attempt against the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez on 4 February will take some beating. On the new Day of Dignity Chávez issued a decree, under the enabling law, creating the "Order of the 4 February" for those who "fought with gallantry against the old paradigm of corrupt bipartisan democracy". His detractors, unsurprisingly, seized on his actions to accuse him of legitimising a coup, but even a prominent participant in the coup was uneasy enough to criticise him for setting a dangerous precedent.