The Devil's Excrement

The Habeas Corpus right is common to a large number of legal systems and is at the bottom of the pyramid of civil rights that help protect huam rights. It is the ability to have a judge order somebody freed when this person argues that he is in detention illegally. On Dic. 28th., General Alfonzo Martinez was detained illegally according to our Constitution, two days later, a judge ruled favorably on his Habeas Corpus request. Nevertheless, the Chavez Government has refused to release him.

Two days ago the CIDH, the Interamerican Court for Human Rights of the OAS, ordered the Chavez Government to free General Alfonzo Martinez and gave them seven days to fulfill the order. So far, nothing doing, with four days left to fulfill the order. I understand from a lawyer friend, that this would activate automatically the Interamerican Democratic Cahrter, so I am sure something will happen before then.

According to a Brazilian newspaper (via El Nacional), Lula Da Silva said to reporters that he had to convince Chavez to allow the US to be part of the group of friends to resolve the Venezuelan crisis. The same article says that Colin Powell will be the US representative to the group. Separatly I read, but can’t find the link a report from an Ecuatorian newspaper that says that Chavez met with Lula and went in smiling, but left with a somber face, because Lula told him he had to hold elections. Brazil is the only country that has sided openly with Chavez in the conflict, up to the point of having the country’s Foreign Minsiter say that elections is not the solution, because is not in the Constitution. (False). The more Chavez plays the international card, the worse he looks.

As an example of the type of behavior that shows why Hugo Chavez is an illegitimate President, today at the UN in New York he said that “it is nearly impossible to have a referendum on Feb. 2nd.” Firts of all, as President Chavez has refused to give the funds required for the referendum. Second, while he has tried to block using a variety of legal maneuvers, today all rulings by the Supreme Court have been that it may proceed, even if there are rumors that they will use a technicality to stop it. Finally, our Constitution guarantees the principle of separation of powers and the Head of the Electoral Commisison said today that they are making the required adjustments to mantain the date. This shows Chavez will do the impossible to stop it. Separately his cynical Vice President said yesterday that “since the Government does not believe in the referendum” they will order the President’s supporters not to participate in it. How Democratic of him, no!

From Caracas Chronicles, two paragraphs that, to me, reflect the frustration of so many Venezuelans:

The proposed “consultative referendum” scheduled for Feb. 2nd is an experiment unprecedented in Venezuela’s contemporary history. For the first time ever, a referendum was called by popular initiative. More than 1.5 million voters signed a petition to demand the right to vote on whether the president should be asked to resign. That’s 300,000 more signatures than the 10% of voters required to call such a referendum under article 71 of the constitution. The signature gathering drive, conducted by thousands of unpaid volunteers, was a real first for this country: a real grassroots movement driven by citizens looking to solve the country’s problems directly, whether or not their political “leaders” like it. And the idea could not have better, more inclusive and democratic credentials. Voting is the only way to guarantee that EVERY Venezuelan – rich or poor, black or white, chavista or anti – gets a say on the overarching question facing the country today: should Hugo Chávez remain in power, or not?

Predictably, the government mobilized en masse to scuttle the vote. High ranking officials labeled us fascists and coupsters for the horrible crimes of hitting the streets, clipboards in hand, to collect signatures. This must be the only country on earth where citizens who demand the right to vote are vilified as fascists by those who, from their comfortable perches in the corridors of power, are doing everything they possibly can to keep them away from a ballot box. Then, on November 4th, Chávez supporters attacked us with stones, bottles, and even guns when about 50,000 of us marched to the National Elections Council to turn in our signatures. Several people were wounded, some seriously.

I don’t want to bore foreign readers, but I can’t find a link to the proposed referendum for a Constitutional amendment which Hugo Chavez supposedly said he would find acceptable, but I am sure Venezuelans abroad (and at home!) would like to see it. So here it is:

Article 1. The candidate that obtains the absolute majority of votes will be proclaimed as President. If no candidate obtains half plus one of the votes, a second round will take place within thirty days.

Article 2. The Presidential period is four years. There is immediate reelection only once for a new period.

Article 3. If the absolute absence of the President takes place during the first two years of the presidential period there wil be a new election that will have to take place within ninety days.

Article 4. The temporary effects of the amendment will apply to the current presidential period, to the effects of this amendment, they will end on the date that the President assumes his position and the previous period will be considered fullfilled to the effects of presidential reelection.

Article 5. There will be call for elections within thirty days following the approval of this amendment. This election will take place within the following ninety days.

The “Friends of Venezuela” group proposed originally by Brazil and later modified by the US was formed today in Ecuador during the inaguration of the new Ecuatorian President. The group is formed by Brazil, US, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. Will link to the news when I can find one! The idea is for the group to help the Secretary Genral of the OAS to find a solution to the Venezuelan crisis.

I have been reporting that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel based on events that have taken place. Today, former Presidential candidate for the Socialist party, Teodoro Petkoff, who is currently the Editor of Tal Cual, an afternoon daily, writes his impressions today from the meeting with Chavez on Saturday. The main thing he says is that Chavez would not object to a Constitutional amendment to have early elections. According to Venezuela’s new Constitution, if 15% of the registered voters asked for it, a referendum would have to be held 30 days after the signatures are handed in, and the electoral body can not “approve” or “dissaprove” whether the referendum will take place or not.

First of all, to me, it is not a matter of whether Chavez accepts or not, as in the Consultative referendum, it is also the law, so he has to accept it. But I really have to wonder, whether if the opposition had proposed such an amendment, the Government would not be playing the same game of not giving the Electoral Committe the funds or trying to have the Supreme Court rule that its members are not legal (Like it is rumored it will rule some time next week)

In fact, why doesn’t the Government simply go to the negotiations, declare a truce (things back to Nov. 30 in PDVSA and the like) and formally give the opposition until Feb. 27th. or any other date to gather (some of them already have been gathered) the 1.8 million or so signatures. Then we will have the referendum on  March 27th., if the opposition wins there are elections, if Chavez wins, he can do run PDVSA, promote his revolution etc.. This way we would get out of this perverse trap which is simply destroying the country. To me, what Chavez said is another improvisation, if not, why hasn’t he tried to solve the problem before all this wealth destruction continues to take place?

Good article about the Venzuelan situation by Thor Halvorssen in The American Enterprise online entitled “Is John Galt Venezuelan?”