CARACAS, Feb 11: President Hugo Chavez is considering barring Polish ex-president Lech Walesa from visiting Venezuela just days before a Sunday vote on amending the constitution to allow Chavez to seek re-election indefinitely.

Walesa, an anti-communist former labour leader and 1983 Nobel Peace prize winner, is scheduled to arrive on Friday to meet students and members of non-governmental organisations, according to an interview in the daily El Nacional.

Walesa has publicly described Chavez as a “demagogue” and a “populist”, and stated that government opposition must be allowed.

He tried to visit Venezuela in November, but local authorities talked him out of it for an unstated “security reason”. The Sunday referendum would amend Venezuela’s constitution and ban limits on re-election of public officials, including Chavez.

Chavez, a leftist former paratrooper and close ally of communist Cuba, said in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that he might stop Walesa from entering the country.

“We are obliged to make sure the dignity of Venezuela is respected,” Chavez told ministers.

Walesa can say “whatever he wants beyond Venezuela’s borders, but not here, in Venezuela,” Chavez said. —AFP