Gen. Garcia Carneiro the Chiefs of Staff of the Venezuelan military gave today statements that go beyond his responsibilities and duties and should not be allowed of a high ranking General. Garcia Carneiro, who is a strong Chávez loyalist, said today that the referendum will not take place this year because the signatures collected by the opposition are not valid, there is no CNE, the electoral registry has to be audited and people have to be trained and the electoral material printed. The General’s statements are first of all unbecoming of someone that is not supposed to get involved in politics, second, he does not represent the powers that are supposed to rule on matters such as whether the electoral registry is adequate or not or whether the question in the opposition’s question is valid or not. Finally, Gen. Garcia Carneiro should be reminded that the Constitution says that the recall referendum has to be submitted and if it meets the requirements has to e held within 90 days. There are not whether, ifs or ors, it has to be held. Moreover, there is a functioning Electoral Board in Venezuela which can process the opposition request for the recall referendum and do everything except hold the referendum because the Electoral Hall said in January that it could not hold an election until a new one was elected. However, it is not clear, at least to me whether the opposition can not submit an injunction to the Constitutional Hall of Supreme Court asking that the rights of the people are above the technicalities invoked by the Electoral Hall to stop the current CNE from holding an election. Finally, Garcia Carneiro seems to forget that the Supreme Court has already ruled on the petition gathered by the opposition, saying that those signatures were valid. The only question at this point is whether the question itself is valid or not. It would also appear that the General’s statements violate the agreement signed by the opposition and the Government under the supervision of the OAS and the Carter Center on finding a solution to the Venezuelan political crisis.
The Devil's Excrement 
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