The Devil's Excrement

The “Group of Friends” that  is trying to help in the mediation between the Government and the opposition will meet in Brazil tomorrow. Each side, the Government and the opposition will have a chance to present their point of view in a forty minute presentation. This is what they indicate they will say:

–The Government: The Ambassador to the OAS Jorge Valero says he will emphasize that the political and economic life of the country is going back to normal; that the oil industry is back to normal and political confrontation has been minimized.

–The Opposition: The representative of the opposition will emphasize the escalation of violence and the persecution of the opposition. He also said that the Government has tried to prolong negotiations. (he also said that obviously Valero does not live in Caracas)

Now, it is obvious which side I am on, but I would definitely refuse to call “normal” the following: Excahnge controls have been imposed and not a single dollar has been sold by the Central Bank since January 23d. in a country that relies on imports for foods and technology, the oil industry is producing less than half its usual production, the country is importing gasoline, inflation was up 5.5% in February, 17,000 people have been fired from PDVSA, the US has called Venezuela an unreliable oil supplier, people have dissapeared and turned up tortured and dead, there have been three terrorist attempts in two weeks of a magnitude not seen in the country in decades, a truck carrying over a ton in explosives was captured by the Army, the Government has failed to attend meetings of the negotiation table, there can be no elections in the country and one leader of the opposition has been arrested and warrants for the arrest of seven orders have been issued. They call this “normal”?

In an energy seminar in New York Undesecretary of State Larson explicitly stated the US position on Venezuela. Some excerpts:

Traditionally, we had considered Venezuela to be one of our most reliable oil partners, and we still very much want this to be the case. Venezuelan oil policy, until recently, has been built upon a reputation of reliability to international markets, which was of great mutual benefit. Through World Wars, politically inspired embargoes, and global dislocations, Venezuela found that its national interest was best advanced through maintaining a reputation of reliability.

Unfortunately, through a collective failure to come to consensus within the boundaries of their political system, it has been clearly demonstrated that Venezuela’s democratic institutions and its reputation in the United States as a reliable supplier appear no longer matters of primary importance to President Chavez, PDVSA or the political opposition. Venezuela’s turmoil has come at a difficult period for the world economy.

The United States will continue to work to help Venezuelans resolve their political differences. The key to reverse the severe economic and political decline in Venezuela is a renewed dedication to find a constitutional, democratic, peaceful and electoral solution to the crisis. Democracy and the rule of law are essential elements of a sound investment climate. We are disturbed by measures taken by President Chavez and the Government of Venezuela that can only be seen as polarizing the conflict and eroding Venezuela’s democratic institutions.

We hope that Venezuelans, both in the Government and those involved in the strike, will take the necessary additional steps to restore confidence, stability and rule of law.

There will be protests worldwide tomorrow against Hugo Chavez, this link has the protest closest to you. Please attend!

The opposition held its first rally today, since a judge issued a warrant for the arrest of some of its most important leaders two weeks ago. The rally started slow but it got better with time, climaxing when Juan Fernandez, one of the leaders of the PDVSA workers who have gone into hiding, showed up and spoke to the crowd in a clear challenge to the Government. More than half an hour later, intelligence police patrols showed up, a little late to catch Mr. Fernandez. But the crowd was outraged by the presence of the patrol cars and began throwing stones and surrounding them, blocking their way out. The intelligence police threw tear gas at the crowd when they started stoning them, interestingly enough and as we have been accustomed to, the leading stone throwers were female. What a way to celebrate Women’s day! The Governor of Miranda State, one of the speakers during the rally, had to intervene to allow the cars to leave, even if some windows were broken. This is certainly going to upset the Dictator!!!

And then there is the request by the workers of the Venezuelan National Assembly for the Supreme Court to allow charging former President of the Assembly William Lara with corruption. Lara, a member of Chavez’ MVR party was President of the Assembly until December. He is accused of using funds earmarked for salaries and violating workers rights by refusing to discuss the union contract. I agree with Chavez, such a pretty revolution!

The Chavez Government uses power and money to buy people routinely, but sometimes it is just incredible. The latest effort is that of buying the unconditional support of the largest  union of oil workers, Fedepetrol, by appointing the Head of that union to the Board of PDVSA. If this is not a conflict of interest, then I don’t know what is. Of course, the Government will argue that it is good to have him on the Board to respresent the workers. Then I ask, why didn’t they name the previous President of Fedepetrol, Carlos Ortega, who is currently being persecuted by the Government and in hiding after a judge ordered his detention? Now, of course, Mr. Rosales could care less about the oil workers, after all, PDVSA has fired 17,000 workers so far and we have yet to hear a complaint from him. I guess he will now preside over the new firings and truly show his union workers that he doesn’t care for them. As a member of the Board Mr. Rosales will receive at least $150,000 a year in compensation.

I was somewhat surprised by the letter sent to Hugo Chavez by seven US Congressmen. In it, the Representatives urge Hugo Chavez to find out who the murderers of some opposition individuals are and to end the violence against the opposition. The Congressmen also express their concern over the actions against some opposition figures. What surprised me the most about this is that the letter is signed by Massachusetts Representative Barnmey Frank who as recently as Dec. 13th. 2002 wrote to President Bush defending the Chavez Governemnt and attacking the opposition in a letter that left most freedom loving Venezuelans wondering who was advising (badly!) Rep. Frank. That letter was sent to President Bush in the days when the Chavez administration was routinely repressing peaceful opposition marches. I guess that now that Chavez is jailing opposition leaders and people are being killed and disappearing, that they are realizing who stands for democracy and human rights in Venezuela. And it ain’t Chavez.