The Devil's Excrement

According to Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner, Hugo Chavez’ popularity is down to 36%, mostly due to his efforts to block the possibility of a recall referendum. The poll says that 64% of those polled want the referendum to take place. Similarly, only 40% of Venezuelans now approve of the job being done by the Electoral Board.

Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner is one of the main pollsters used by the US Democratic party. They have been polling in Venezuela for about a year, financed by private groups.  

This is the good news, the good news/bad news is that next week is Easter week or Holy week here in Caracas. Everybody, including polticians from both sides will go on vacation and this time around I will go on vacation too. I have an Amazon care package of books ready as well as a chair reserved on a solitary beach. I will have Internet access, if something happens I will post remotely. Hope it is very quiet here.

According to Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner, Hugo Chavez’ popularity is down to 36%, mostly due to his efforts to block the possibility of a recall referendum. The poll says that 64% of those polled want the referendum to take place. Similarly, only 40% of Venezuelans now approve of the job being done by the Electoral Board.

Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner is one of the main pollsters used by the US Democratic party. They have been polling in Venezuela for about a year, financed by private groups.  

This is the good news, the good news/bad news is that next week is Easter week or Holy week here in Caracas. Everybody, including polticians from both sides will go on vacation and this time around I will go on vacation too. I have an Amazon care package of books ready as well as a chair reserved on a solitary beach. I will have Internet access, if something happens I will post remotely. Hope it is very quiet here.

Imagine this:

Some soldiers are in a cellblock, apparently via a cigarette butt; a mattress catches fire, and in the ensuing fire four soldiers suffer severe burns.

That is the official version…now; here is what the accusations are from family members, lawyers and human rights groups:

The soldiers had been punished with jail time because their sergeant discovered that they had actually signed the petition against President Hugo Chávez. The sergeant is being accused of spraying some sort of flammable liquid in the cell.

A Congressman from the Zulia legislature claims a forensic doctor that saw the soldiers told him it was impossible for the soldiers to be burned so badly accidentally. However General Wilfredo Silva (the same one that says Juan Carlos Zambrano was not tortured) said the soldiers were in the cell for an unspecified disciplinary sanction and they were smoking.

However the father of one of the soldiers, who is a fireman, says that the cell was burned on purpose, His wife says his son was the victim of constant psychological pressures.

Meanwhile, nobody knows where all the soldiers are… and the Vice-President says they did not sign.…but their lawyer says they did.

Today local daily El Universal had its Anniversary edition. Its main topic is the control that the Government has over institutions and how they came about. I recommend it, as it has many interviews with lawyers, economists and politicians some of which are quite enlightening.

Some highlights:

Former Comptroller Eduardo Roche Lander on corruption and the Comptroller’s office:

“Employees of the Comptroller’s Office are rotated each month, so that none of them can complete their work”

“In the whole period of the current comptroller, not once has he presented the reports required by law to the National Assembly”

“In that report he (The comptroller) exonerated all the Government workers who falsified bills, endorsed checks and managed in discretionary fashion public funds”

“The President violated the law in the case of the Macroeconomic stabilization fund (FIEM)”

“More than twelve military facilities were immersed in corruption in the Plan Bolivar 2000 project”

“The extraction of Bs. 2.2 trillion from the FIEM led a group of Venezuelans to sue against the president. Later an additional credit of Bs. 3 trillion to increase the fund was requested, the funds never arrived”

“Venezuela hands over 80 thousand barrels of oil a day to Cuba and the island does not pay a cent fro it”

“The discretionary policy applied at Banco Industrial de Venezuela, the People’s Bank and the women’s bank show the lack of control which weakens the credibility of institutions”

Former Head of the Electoral Council Carlos Delgado Chapellin:

On being part of the advisory council to the CNE: “We recommended that the CNE do not make up those absurd regulations for the recall petition”

“Once I realized that that the CNE was not impartial, that it was building all sorts of obstacles to the will of the electors, I withdrew from the Board”

“The CNE I presided had the peculiar characteristic that the Government would always lose the elections”

Former Head of the Economic Office of the National Assembly Francisco Rodriguez:

“The participation of the private sector gets worse, when the State, besides being a great importer, places products at prices even below production costs, forcing producers or distributors, or commerce to work without earnings, or at a loss. The intention of selling items cheaply should be praised, especially when they are essential items and low income people, but that takes out the space of sector which help to dynamize the economy.”

“What the Government wants is for international reserves to be handed over to it”

Lawyer Roman Duque Corredor:

“There are obvious cases of violations of human rights, not fulfilling public services, no security for citizens, and the People’s Ombudsman has not shown up suggesting possible solutions or denouncing responsibilities”

“During the events of February 27^th. and days afterwards, when there were evident violations of human rights, the Peoples’ Ombudsman disappeared”

On public services and the People’s Ombudsman:” He has not proposed the improvement of a single one. Has he been to the identification office? What does he do when a citizen is denied a passport or ID card because he signed the petition? Have they visited any jail, any hospital to see how they work?”

“He has done nothing when Deputy Luis Tazcon has a web page with the data of the petition. He has done nothing when the CNE says that citizens acted with bad faith when they signed the petition.”

Economist Gustavo Garcia:

“The Government is attacking the symptoms and not the causes, the structural reasons that generated capital outflows, like political instability, economic uncertainty and fiscal deficits financed via monetary means haven’t been solved at all”

“In the middle of a great recession inflation was 27%, but if you look at wholesale sale prices, inflation in them reflects 48%”

“The Government traps deposits with a tourniquet, devalues, generates inflation and then issues debt. What it is de facto doing, is expropriating the savings of depositors, you have an inflation rate of 30 to 40% and saving rates don’t reach 10%, you can’t buy dollars and the black market dollar increases in price.”

There is much more in this edition, quite interesting.

Today local daily El Universal had its Anniversary edition. Its main topic is the control that the Government has over institutions and how they came about. I recommend it, as it has many interviews with lawyers, economists and politicians some of which are quite enlightening.

Some highlights:

Former Comptroller Eduardo Roche Lander on corruption and the Comptroller’s office:

“Employees of the Comptroller’s Office are rotated each month, so that none of them can complete their work”

“In the whole period of the current comptroller, not once has he presented the reports required by law to the National Assembly”

“In that report he (The comptroller) exonerated all the Government workers who falsified bills, endorsed checks and managed in discretionary fashion public funds”

“The President violated the law in the case of the Macroeconomic stabilization fund (FIEM)”

“More than twelve military facilities were immersed in corruption in the Plan Bolivar 2000 project”

“The extraction of Bs. 2.2 trillion from the FIEM led a group of Venezuelans to sue against the president. Later an additional credit of Bs. 3 trillion to increase the fund was requested, the funds never arrived”

“Venezuela hands over 80 thousand barrels of oil a day to Cuba and the island does not pay a cent fro it”

“The discretionary policy applied at Banco Industrial de Venezuela, the People’s Bank and the women’s bank show the lack of control which weakens the credibility of institutions”

Former Head of the Electoral Council Carlos Delgado Chapellin:

On being part of the advisory council to the CNE: “We recommended that the CNE do not make up those absurd regulations for the recall petition”

“Once I realized that that the CNE was not impartial, that it was building all sorts of obstacles to the will of the electors, I withdrew from the Board”

“The CNE I presided had the peculiar characteristic that the Government would always lose the elections”

Former Head of the Economic Office of the National Assembly Francisco Rodriguez:

“The participation of the private sector gets worse, when the State, besides being a great importer, places products at prices even below production costs, forcing producers or distributors, or commerce to work without earnings, or at a loss. The intention of selling items cheaply should be praised, especially when they are essential items and low income people, but that takes out the space of sector which help to dynamize the economy.”

“What the Government wants is for international reserves to be handed over to it”

Lawyer Roman Duque Corredor:

“There are obvious cases of violations of human rights, not fulfilling public services, no security for citizens, and the People’s Ombudsman has not shown up suggesting possible solutions or denouncing responsibilities”

“During the events of February 27^th. and days afterwards, when there were evident violations of human rights, the Peoples’ Ombudsman disappeared”

On public services and the People’s Ombudsman:” He has not proposed the improvement of a single one. Has he been to the identification office? What does he do when a citizen is denied a passport or ID card because he signed the petition? Have they visited any jail, any hospital to see how they work?”

“He has done nothing when Deputy Luis Tazcon has a web page with the data of the petition. He has done nothing when the CNE says that citizens acted with bad faith when they signed the petition.”

Economist Gustavo Garcia:

“The Government is attacking the symptoms and not the causes, the structural reasons that generated capital outflows, like political instability, economic uncertainty and fiscal deficits financed via monetary means haven’t been solved at all”

“In the middle of a great recession inflation was 27%, but if you look at wholesale sale prices, inflation in them reflects 48%”

“The Government traps deposits with a tourniquet, devalues, generates inflation and then issues debt. What it is de facto doing, is expropriating the savings of depositors, you have an inflation rate of 30 to 40% and saving rates don’t reach 10%, you can’t buy dollars and the black market dollar increases in price.”

There is much more in this edition, quite interesting.

Venezuela is now so polarized that not even our poor judicial system has been immune to politics. Case in point is that of Baruta Mayor Henrique Capriles. The events of the last few weeks have gone something like this:

-Prosecutor Danilo Anderson the star prosecutor for all political cases in the Attorney General’s office, despite the fact that he is an environmental prosecutor, calls Baruta Mayor to testify, as a witness, about the events at the Cuban Embassy in April 2002 when Chavez was briefly overthrown. The prosecutor claims Capriles was later summoned twice as a suspect, but never showed up.

-The prosecutor, via the control Court #40, which is also the once that has been used for political cases, issues an arrest warrant for Capriles.

-Capriles goes into hiding, while his lawyers attempt to get a hold of the file to study the charges against Capriles, they are refused the case file repeatedly. Capriles never turns himself in.

-Two leaders from Primero Justicia, Capriles’ party, are kidnapped and tortured by unknown individuals. They say that during the three days of captivity, they were repeatedly asked to reveal Capriles’ whereabouts.

-Capriles’ lawyers go to the Penal Hall of the Venezuelan Supreme Court. The case is assigned to Justice Alejandro Angulo. Angulo writes a decision reassigning the case to a different control Court but ratifying the arrest order. The decision is turned down by the other two judges of the Hall. The case is reassigned to Justice Blanca Marmol de Leon

-Judge Marmol de Leon, rules today, reassigning the case and suspending the arrest order. The Justice says Capriles had responded to all summons and states the arrest decision should not have proceeded. Moreover, says the Judge, Capriles could have been tried while free since, given his position as Mayor of Baruta, there was no flight risk as claimed by the court and the prosecutor.

-The Attorney General/Prosecutor Isaias Rodriguez, who is sometimes extremely slow to speak out, defend the law or a give opinions, very quickly issues a press release saying that the procedure followed by the Penal Hall of the Supreme Court should not have been followed, because there were no irregularities to correct. He adds that the decision is based on false facts and there was no denial of due process by his Office.

Now, I am definitely not a lawyer to say whether on side is right or not on the detailed legal aspects of the procedures. However, there is something very sinister, in my opinion, about arguing that the Mayor is a flight risk, the fact that it is prosecutor Anderson that is doing the accusations, the fact that the Attorney General is so quick to criticize the Supreme Court on the case and the fact that Capriles’ lawyers have had no access to his case file. This is simply another case in which the opposition thinks Capriles arrest order is politically motivated, but the Government would argue it simply involves a guilty politician.

Neither the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) nor government representatives went today to the conciliation meeting called by the Electoral hall of the Supreme Court to attempt to resolve the problem with the signatures declared under observation by the CNE, but declared valid by the Electoral Hall.

The CNE legal counsel and former President of the national assembly both argued that the decision by the Electoral hall has no validity and that they will only obey whatever the Constitutional Hall says.

The opposition did attend the meeting and said that this shows the Government does not want any form of dialogue or negotiating. Ramon Jose Medina who requested the injunction from the Electoral Hall said that the latest decision by the Constitutional hall has no legal validity as it has yet to be published and the dissenting opinion is not known.

OAS and Carter Center representatives were not present due apparently to the fact that they are not in the country at this time.

This is my list of incongruous things going in Venezuela, I welcome new additions:

–            The Government that wants to block an election at all costs is democratic; the opposition that wants to have an election at all costs is accused of plotting against the Government.

–            The poor are with Chavez, 80% of Venezuelans are poor, but Chavez only has 40% support.

–            Chavez won an election with close to 90% of the popularity, but never got more than 60% of the vote.

–            We want everyone to respect our sovereignty, but ask for Chile to give Bolivia access to the sea.

–            We want to be independent and self-sufficient, but are destroying PDVSA

–            We hate capitalists, but love American oil companies.

–            We are poor, but give away to Cuba 2% of our income every day.

–            We want rural land reform, but 80% of the population is urban.

–            This nationalistic Government gives foreign investors and banks free money.

–            Chavez is so popular he would easily win any election, but he refuses to have one.

–            We are socialists, but our social services don’t work.

–            Gasoline in Venezuela is cheaper by volume than water.

–            Inflation is 30%-plus per year, but you can borrow money at 24% interest per year. Despite this, there is no credit demand.

–            One can get dollars at the official rate to import stuff, which one can then export at the parallel rate.

–            Government imported food at the official rate is sold at the same prices than private imports at the parallel rate.

–            This is a militaristic Government, which reduces the military budget.

–            The man who said Chavez had resigned in April 2002 is today his Minister of Interior and Justice.

–            The People’s Bank has no deposits.

–           The People’s Ombudsman does not defend the people.

This is my list of incongruous things going in Venezuela, I welcome new additions:

–            The Government that wants to block an election at all costs is democratic; the opposition that wants to have an election at all costs is accused of plotting against the Government.

–            The poor are with Chavez, 80% of Venezuelans are poor, but Chavez only has 40% support.

–            Chavez won an election with close to 90% of the popularity, but never got more than 60% of the vote.

–            We want everyone to respect our sovereignty, but ask for Chile to give Bolivia access to the sea.

–            We want to be independent and self-sufficient, but are destroying PDVSA

–            We hate capitalists, but love American oil companies.

–            We are poor, but give away to Cuba 2% of our income every day.

–            We want rural land reform, but 80% of the population is urban.

–            This nationalistic Government gives foreign investors and banks free money.

–            Chavez is so popular he would easily win any election, but he refuses to have one.

–            We are socialists, but our social services don’t work.

–            Gasoline in Venezuela is cheaper by volume than water.

–            Inflation is 30%-plus per year, but you can borrow money at 24% interest per year. Despite this, there is no credit demand.

–            One can get dollars at the official rate to import stuff, which one can then export at the parallel rate.

–            Government imported food at the official rate is sold at the same prices than private imports at the parallel rate.

–            This is a militaristic Government, which reduces the military budget.

–            The man who said Chavez had resigned in April 2002 is today his Minister of Interior and Justice.

–            The People’s Bank has no deposits.

–           The People’s Ombudsman does not defend the people.

This is a variation of something that has circulated in Spanish for a while, I have never been happy with the translation I made, but here it is. Read down and you will read the promises of this Government:

In our political party

We fulfill our promises

Only the stupid can believe that

We will not fight corruption

Because if there is something true for us it is that

Honesty and transparency are fundamental

To reach our ideals

We will show that it is very stupid to believe that

The mafias will continue being part of our Government like in past times

We assure you without any doubt that

Social justice will be the main goal of our mandate

Despite this, there are still stupid people that think that

It’s possible to govern with the ruses of the past

Since taking over power, we have done the impossible so that

Privileged situations and influences ended

We will not allow

Our kids die of hunger

We will fulfill our goals even if

Economic resources are exhausted

We will exercise power until

It’s understood that from now on

We are MVR, we are the revolution.

NOW READ BACKWARDS FROM BOTTOM TO TOP AND YOU WILL FIND REALITY