The Different Communists

In the five months since Rear Admiral Wolfgang Larrazabal's junta took over Venezuela, Larrazabal has gone perplexingly out of his way to be kind to Communists. Last week, as the Provisional President held his first regular weekly press conference at Caracas' White Palace, his reasoning seemed to come a little clearer. Seven times during the 45-minute session the crisply khakied admiral was asked if he would be candidate for President when regular elections are held next November. Seven times he hemmed, hawed and refused to push his khaki cap out of the campaign ring.

Larrazabal appeared to be developing a strategy of enthusiastic reticence. He was not actively seeking the nomination. But he was ready if the nation drafted him. The best way to nurture a draft was to hold the popularity of the masses. And at the moment the best way to be popular is to stay on good terms with Venezuela Communists, who claim 26,000 members and are riding the crest of the post-dictatorship leftward swing. Larrazabal, it seemed, intended to do just that. Said the admiral at his press conference: "Maybe I am naive. But I feel our Communism is a different Communism. Because of his rich patriotic heritage, no Venezuelan would accept orders from abroad." Such full-gushing benediction of Venezuela's bumptious Communists did indeed show an ideological naivete. But it showed also a practical shrewdness that any man who hoped to become President of Venezuela should certainly possess.

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