A law student named David Forestell wrote this post at a Venezuela forum. David is Canadian, studying law in London right now, he lived in Caracas for nine months in 2002 and 2003, teaching English. I thought his post was quite good and asked him for permission to reproduce it here, as the view of an outsider:
If the CNE wishes to find out why forms were filled out with the same
handwriting they should interview their observers that signed the form
to approve the process.
In every society retroactive law is, effectively, not law at all. That
people were asked by the CNE to follow a certain procedure, and are now
being forced to account for their signatures because they CNE no longer
likes the process they approved is absurd.
The important thing to remember, Javier, is that this is not the actual
vote. It is an attempt to determine whether there exists sufficient
desire to activate a recall. Clearly there is. To suggest that a fraud
so massive that for every two signatures the third was a fraud is
absurd. How was this pulled off? How did no one notice? How can the
OAS, CNE, Carter Centre, MVR observers and VTV all have been so blind?
Does this continual delay seem credible to anyone, including chavistas?
To me it seems as though the only possible way in which someone could
continue to defend the government would be to turn a blind eye and
accept any abuse in the name of cheating because the means must justify
the ends. Whatever they may be.
dtf
The Devil's Excrement 
Leave a comment