The Devil's Excrement

There will be a large march again in Carcas from various points in the city, as PDVSA workers meet at this time to have their lawyers explain to them the extent of the decision of the Supreme Court yesterday. The worker’s lawyers continue to interpret that the decision applies only to the actions of the decrees explicitly mentioned in the decision and is not an order to go back to work, as interpreted by the Government. Even in that case, the decision is only valid once it is published (Monday?) and it looks like the audience to make a final decision will be on Tuesday anyway. the deciosion says:” all authorities and private individuals will have to comply with all decrees issued by the Government to help start the PDVSA activities”. This, the lawyers say, means that they are valid as long as the Court says they are not illegal. The decrees are mentioned by number and most of the deal with the militarization of PDVSA, thus, the interpretation is that in no way it applies to the workers. The lawyers go even further saying that it is not the Association of oil workers that should go to the audience by the Court as the people, as individuials, have joined the strike, not as part of their association. Furtehrmore, the Court does not say their rights to strike, free expression, etc. are limited or suspended.

Separately, the Head of the workers union (CTV) Carlos Ortega said he had a copy of a decree the Government was considering issuing to force the banking system to go back to its regular schedule. According to Ortega, the penalty for not obeying the decree would be to intervene the bank and remove all of its Directors.  

There are indications that the negotiating table under the supervision of the Organization of American States is already working on the wording for an agreement that includes some form of electoral compromise. Media representatives that just came out of a meeting, say they were called to be asked if they would support an agreement of the negotiating table. They even mentioned that the agreement has article numbers and details.

Today there were two events that are, in my mind, very confusing:

-The Minister of Interior and Justice said that the intervention of the Metropolitan Police does not stop. He said that all that changed was that the naming of its Director is not legal and the previous Head of the Police will resume functions. I am not a lawyer, but this is not even close to what I understood.

-The Supreme Court accepted a request for an injunction asking oil workers to go back to work. By accepting the request, the Court orders oil workers to go back to work until it decides. The decision says that anyone that does not accept the decision is liable to be jailed for as long as eighteen months. I wonder where they will jail the 36,000 oil workers which are not going back to work……

A lawyer is just saying on TV that the decision by the Court only refers to the decrees issued this week by the Governemnt to try to jump start the oil Industry. Thus, he says, it is those that do not collaborate on implementing those decrees that are obligated, not all oil workers. Will keep updating as information comes along. Here are some opinions on this.

                                                   Era before marches                Era of marches   (T-shirt says: “He is leaving”)

Barely had the ink dried on the decision by the Supreme Court to stop the illegal intervention of the Metropolitan police by the Government, that the Chavez Administration issued another decree which we are sure will eventually be found to violate the right to private property established in the Venezuelan Constitution. Tonight, the Government issued a decree that allows Venezuelan authorities to confiscate any transportation medium to guarantee the supply of gasoline and staples. The decree even says they can do this “without any detriment to the right to private property”. Thus, the Chavez leftists try it again, tomorrow somebody will ask for an injunction, two weeks from now the Court will say it can’t be done. In the meantime, rights are violated, property is used and misused without compensation, but “the right to private property has been respected”. What’s next? Cancelling elections for the next ten years, without affecting the basic democratic rights of the Constitution?

(Now I ask myself, if the Government claims the strike is failure, why did it have to do this?)

In a severe blow to Chavez’ plans, the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled that the decree issued by the Chavez administration was void and that the Metropolitan Police and all of its facilities have to be returned to the Mayor of Caracas. Moreover, the Court took advantage of the decision to rule that the National Guard can not intervene in establishing order in civilian life unless the appropriate regioanl authorities agree with the measure because the regular police action has been overflowed. This was ruled earlier by a lower Court and was not the subject of the suit. This decision contains what every legal opinion had said all along, but the Constitutional Hall of the Highest Court is considered to be the most pro-Chavez of them all and thus there was no certainty as to the decision. The Chavez administration has defended the decree all the way. Even at noon today the Minsiter of the Interior and Justice (or is it Injustice?) had said the Government was ready to intervene other police forces, in reference to that of the Chacao municipality which yesterday was charged with having illegal weapons. . 

Shaking hands in peace                                     Peaceful protest (From reuters)

Only a couple of hours after I posted my brother’s comment about the error of believing the Venezuelan crisis is a one of rich versus poor that may end in Civil War, the events demonstrated exactly how wrong these people are. On Monday some people barricaded a highway in Caracas. From one of the barrios nearby some pro-Chavez people came down and it appeared there might be a confrontation. There was none, and the picture above shows Chavistas and opposition supporters shaking hands at the end (I can’t tell which side is which!). Well, today the opposition barricaded the same highway, the Chavistas showed up and guess what?. They ended playing an improvised game of soccer in the middle of the highway, which reportedly the Chavistas won 3-2. That is the Venezuela we all remember until Hugo Chavez showed up in his coup attempt in ’92. We want it back!

(Photo by Oscar Sabater, official Devil’s Excrement photographer)