The Devil's Excrement

David Graullera’s mother sent these pictures of what the National guard did to his son, Saturday night. David was not even particpating in the protest, he was driving up the Panamerican highway when he found the way blocked by the protest. A Guardasked him to get out of the car and sht at him with plastic bullets twice. The first shot was on his back (left), the second three inches away from his leg right) He says the whole in his leg is about half an inch.

David Graullera’s mother sent these pictures of what the National guard did to his son, Saturday night. David was not even particpating in the protest, he was driving up the Panamerican highway when he found the way blocked by the protest. A Guardasked him to get out of the car and sht at him with plastic bullets twice. The first shot was on his back (left), the second three inches away from his leg right) He says the whole in his leg is about half an inch.

Simply put, why the opposition objects the CNE’s decision, which is wht Sobella Mejias argued today:

1)      It was not illegal, according to the regulations written by this CNE to fill out the data for the person signing the petition. In fact, it explicitly says the signature is the only part that has to be filled by the person signing.

2)      It changes the law; the procedure proposed by the CNE, puts the burden of proof on the person that already signed to demonstrate that it did. That was the objective of the petition drive. People were asked for their ID cards, there were CNE observers and opposition witnesses. The forms were tightly controlled by the CNE.

3)      The regulations contemplate that people will be able to participate in the correction process only if one of two possibilities occur: 1) If the CNE made a material error. 2) If the person appears signing the petition but did not. The forms with the same calligraphy do not fall in any of these two categories.

Simply put, why the opposition objects the CNE’s decision, which is wht Sobella Mejias argued today:

1)      It was not illegal, according to the regulations written by this CNE to fill out the data for the person signing the petition. In fact, it explicitly says the signature is the only part that has to be filled by the person signing.

2)      It changes the law; the procedure proposed by the CNE, puts the burden of proof on the person that already signed to demonstrate that it did. That was the objective of the petition drive. People were asked for their ID cards, there were CNE observers and opposition witnesses. The forms were tightly controlled by the CNE.

3)      The regulations contemplate that people will be able to participate in the correction process only if one of two possibilities occur: 1) If the CNE made a material error. 2) If the person appears signing the petition but did not. The forms with the same calligraphy do not fall in any of these two categories.

It has been a long and dissapointing day. There are protests in many cities of the country and they seem to be increasing at this time.

The President of the Electoral Board (CNE) came on TV sometime around noon and said that the Carter Center had decided to leave the country because of the attitude of CNE Director Sobella Mejias. Accusing Ms. Mejias of being partisan, and saying that he is not (!), Carrasquero called for her removal from the CNE. It sounded strange to me that the Carter Center would say soemthing so undiplomatic, even if true. Minutes later, Jennifer McCoy and Francisco Diez from the Carter Center, held a press Conference to clear up the “confusion” and said that they were not leaving the country that Ms. McCoy was leaving in her regular trips since there was no process to “facilitate” since there were no negotiations going on. Minutes later the President of the CNE came down again and visibly upset said that Francisco Diez from the Carter Center had not told the truth and that he had indeed told him that.

Ms. Mejias essentially said that she was not going to negotiate the process for confirmation or ratification of the signatures. Ms. Mejias said that the CNE was changing the rules and she would only accept that the law be respected. (see next post)

Reportedly, the OAS agrees with the opposition’s position to not accept the process, while the Carter Center thinks the opposition should go to this process, even if it is not what the law says. The opposition has been cautious about refusing to go to a confirmation or ratifiation process, saying nothing about it.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Defense was on TV saying that the protests were restricted to areas where people lived “comfortably”, but no more than hour later the Mayor of the Libertador District which encompasses the West of Caracas, said there were eleven focuses of violence in his municipality, which is mostly inhabitated but those who don’t enjoy a “comfortable” standard of living to exprss it in the Minister’s terms.

Many streets in Caracas are closed. I am going to try to get to work right now. In the worst case, I will walk, it is not that far away. Francisco has a good article in Caracas Chronicles as to how we got here and where we are. Straight to the point. Hopefully, the CNE Directors will consider a LEGAL mechanism tonight for checking the signatures. When statistical sampling is called “unfair” by the Vice-President you know this is just tricks and cheating. Those that defend what is going on in the comments below have never seen their basic rights as threatened as ours are today. The repression last Friday was uncalled for. So was the military deployment all weekend. the attacks on motorcycles agaisnt protesters are extremely offensive and repressive and the use of tear gas is agaisnt the Constitution.

Chavez got to power promising respect for human rights, among one thousand unfullfilled promises. Riots and demonstrations in Caracas in the ten years before Chavez got to power were met with a water truck. Incredible to think about it. Two years ago in Quebec at the Summit of the Americas, Chavez said that they should have let some demonstrators forward, to talk to them, see what their protest is about. On Friday, he did xcatly the opposite against his own people. That is what Hugo Chavez is all about, empty words. He only cares about the survival of Hugo Chavez. In the same summit he refused to sign the final document because it talked about representative democracy and not participatory democracy. Millions of Venezuelans are asking for that, now he is blind, we are outlaws. We know who the oulaws are and where they are.

Things seemed to have quieted down some here, so it must be time to turn in. Enrique Mendoza said the opposition will keep the pressure so that the signatures are not discarded on technicalities. Tomorrow promises to be another long and stressful day. I suspect I may have troubles even getting to work in the morning. Hopefully, by the evening the country will be set back in the path of legality, respect for all and democracy. It might be naive, but I can always be an optimist and hope for the best. I can’t post from work, remote updates take too long and I don’t know why. Unless I am trapped at home, the only communication will be through the comments on this post.