Chávez: "Communes frighten the opposition"

"Communes are an issue that frightens opposition leaders and oligarchs," said on Thursday Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, adding that dissenters are spooked by the idea of communes as if they saw a terrifying specter or a bogeyman.

His comments came in response to strong criticism against the incorporation of the so-called communes to set up the Communal State.

In his view, the opposition discredits and underestimates this type of social organization because of "ignorance or wickedness (...) They say all kind of stuff; they are trying to instill fear into citizens. The bourgeois and oligarchs' efforts are focused on that," Chávez said.

The Venezuelan president also explained that a commune is all but a production unit and warned that their incorporation will not be stopped. "There is legislation and further laws will be enacted across the country."