Venezuela: Siege Before Election

Violence has become a way of life in Venezuela. For more than a year, Communists and Castroites have been waging a well-organized campaign of terror to prevent a peaceful national election on Dec. 1. If it is held, Romulo Betancourt will be a long step closer to his proud goal: to be the first Venezuelan President in modern times to have completed his five-year term and turned over office to a freely elected successor.

Bombs & Bullets. At times last week, Caracas seemed a city besieged. Operating under the initials F.A.L.N., the Communists issued a call for a nationwide general strike. Carloads of terrorists raced through the capital's streets, strewing nails and tacks to halt traffic. Buildings were bombed; offices and a warehouse of U.S. companies were raided, banks were robbed, radio stations invaded. From rooftop hiding places, F.A.L.N. snipers fired indiscriminately on policemen, soldiers, civilians—anyone in the open. In the first volleys, a 27-year-old woman was killed, an eleven-year-old girl and a 17-month-old toddler wounded.

The Communists' desperate hope is to provoke Venezuela's powerful military into a coup, canceling the elections. So far, at least, the soldiers have kept both their temper and their loyalty to Betancourt. Acting on presidential orders, small squads of troops moved into the city to root out F.A.L.N. snipers; police details prodded merchants into raising their shutters, and security agents rounded up every leftist they could find. By week's end more than 200 were in prison; 25 people were dead, another 90 wounded.

Young Fanatics. The tragedy of the bloodshed is that the F.A.L.N. speaks for practically no one but itself—a band of youthful fanatics believed to number about 500, with possibly another few hundred fringe supporters. Despite their troublemaking, after 41 years of Betancourt democracy seems to be gaining strength in Venezuela. Land reform is under way, education and other social services expanding rapidly; foreign investment is returning and Venezuela's oil-rich economy rates as one of Latin America's brightest. Nearly 94% of the population over 18 has registered to vote in the elections; the likelihood is that Betancourt's Democratic Action and other moderate parties will win a solid vote of confidence.

Betancourt is constitutionally barred from succeeding himself, and Democratic Action's nomination has gone to his old friend and the party's president, Raul Leoni, 57, a somewhat aloof and colorless politician who nevertheless can be expected to follow Betancourt's programs. The race for second place could be close, with a slight edge given to the Social Christian Party (COPEI), led by Rafael Caldera, 47, an able and dynamic lawyer. The two parties already operate together as a coalition, are expected to win a controlling majority in Congress and a mandate to carry on.