Archive for October, 2004

Some Venezuelan news from today and yesterday

October 19, 2004

My brain has recovered from the translation of the fraud report and I have to do justice to these stories some of which are at the borderline between being news and being stale news.


–So, at last Baruta Mayor Henrique Capriles Radonsky gets full freedom after his case was manipulated right and left by the Prosecutor’s hatchet man Danilo Anderson. Despite the  existence of videos showing that Capriles was actually trying to appease the crowd and was there in response to the Cuban’s Ambassador call, Anderson managed to find sufficient judges chosen with the randomness that characterizes this administration, to actually keep Capriles in jail fro months. The decisions against him were so outrageous that the Appeals Court sentenced that even the crime he was charged with were not of a penal nature. But nevertheless Capriles spent his time in jail to please the Cuban Ambassador and the testimony of the Norwegian Ambassador was not even admitted in Court.


 


–Meanwhile, the President of the CNE, who has never hidden his partiality to the Government comes out and says that the Supreme Court should investigate the statements by CNE Director Sobella Mejias because: “she strayed from her mission based on impartiality”. Interesting given that her accusation two days ago was basically a list of laws that have been violated by CNE Director Jorge Rodriguez. Mejias snapped back today saying she will not be intimidated and pointing out that the CNE Directors have violated all of the timetables established by the law. She noted that in contrast to the other CNE Directors, her acts as a CNE Directors have been directed at protecting the rights of all voters. She actually read the laws as she spoke to demonstrate what specific articles had been violated.


 


–Somewhere else, hatchetman/Prosecutor Anderson began charging people with rebellion fro going to the Presidential Palace on April 12th. 2002 and signing the Carmona decree, but has not even called to testify the General who appeared on TV that night saying that Chavez had resigned. This General could add some light on the issue of rebellion, after all, if he had not said Chavez had resigned nothing would have happened. In fact, after he said that, Chávez left the Presidential Palace. So, why hasn’t General Lucas Rincon been charged with rebellion also? Why was he rewarded with the Ministry of Interior and Justice after Chavez came back? Easy, this is another example of political persecution of the regime’s enemies.


 


–In the US, the President of the National Endowment for Democracy Carl Gersham defends the NED’s grant to Sumate saying (WSJ, by subscription): “We consider the idea that the NED is an instrument to achieve regime change against governments that the U.S. doesn’t like to be a scurrilous charge. For 20 years we have been making some 700 grants annually and we make small grants to groups like Súmate in some 80 countries.”


 


–On other news, President Hugo Chavez denounced for 57th. time  (or is it the 157th. time?) on Sunday that unknown, unidentified and phantom groups are ready to try to kill him. This has become a recurrent theme with Chavez and these incompetent groups have yet to even try anything. Today we are enlightened by Minister of the Interior Chacon who charges:”A group of Chavez’ opposers who are looking to kill him have sought refuge in Colombia” “There are some elements that we presume are here, others have left and are in Colombia”. The Minister has failed to indicate who these “gentlemen” as he calls them are, why they are going in the opposite direction or why if they know so much, they have not arrested them.

Puzzle for the readers from the fire

October 18, 2004

 



Chipilin sends in this picture wondering if anyone can explain how a window six floors below the fire pops and smoke comes out of it

Alvarez report, english version

October 18, 2004

We have placed my translation of the fraud report to English right here for those that may not read Spanish. Thanks Ed and MB for their help.  Still has typos but my days still only have 24 hours.

Will Chavez be an ecocidal president?

October 18, 2004

Alexander Luzardo is an Unviersity Professor and environmentalist that supported Chavez’ election in 1998 wholeheratedly and was even elected as a Senator for Chavez MVR in 1998. He later wrote the sections of the new Bolivarian Constitution relating to the environment. I had heard little from and about him recently and was truly shocked by his attack n Chávez’ environmental policy in this article published in yesterday’s el Universal.


An environmental balance of the last five years of the Government of President Chavez begins by recognizing the approval of the Chapter about Environmental Rights and other mandates established in the 1999 Constitution, characterized by Hermán Escarrá in his speech presenting the Constitutional project as the most beautiful and advanced with respect to human Rights and Guarantees. To that effect he says: “It is a right and a duty for each generation to protect and maintain the environment for its own benefit and that of the future world”. This phrase in itself, it’s a constitution.


 


Environmental management has been characterized by clear inefficiency and lack of leadership by the supervising organization: The minister of the Environment and of Natural Resources (MARN). Its operating units such as the national institute for Parks which administers approximately 15% of the national territory, composed of 43 national parks, does not have an adequate budget and has been spiraling down for the last ten years, the same as the MARN and its regional and state directorships.


 


The National parks are affected by invasion, an example of these are the mining invasion of the Yapacana National Park, in Amazonas; Henry Pittier, Aragua; Yacambu, Lara; El Avila, Caracas and Vargas, as well as the protective zones of Caracas and Miranda and the Cortada del Guayabo in the Pan-American Highway, in front of the insensible eyes of the authorities and the Environmental Guardship pf the National Guard, even in the noses of Fort Tiuna (Caracas’ military Fort) Damaging activities are registered in the fishing and animal refuge “Los Olivitos” near the Gulf of Venezuela in Zulia State and in the Paria peninsula, by the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil.


 


The preaching for the occupation of land does not take into account the indispensable protection of the soil and the areas Under Special regimen (ABRAE), which could translate into the loss of capacity of these soils, exhausting of the sources of water and liquidation of forests.


 


The electrical transmission lines over Canaima National park and the Gran Sabana generated a negative visual and scenic impact over the chain of Tepuys (unique in the world) and affected the Sierra de Lema.


 


The policy of cleaning oil and petrochemical moats in Zulia and the East and other areas has been halted.


 


The announced carbon mining opening by Corpozulia threatens to destroy the sierra de Perija, a biodiversity reserve, including the water that feeds the lake through rivers, which is the habitat of the Yucpa and Bari people.


Lake Maracaibo has a grave problem with eutrification, the causes of which are many, which has not been controlled by the organizations of environmental policy, national, regional or local.


 


The Orinoco Delta continues to be affected by environmental and sociocultural impacts of oil related origins.


 


The deterioration of the urban air is notable in violation of the right to enjoy the cities in parks, boulevards, public squares and avenues


 


A large part of the beaches of the central coast and other states are polluted. The hydro climatic network of information has not been installed since the Vargas state tragedy.


 


 


The tepuys, natural monuments protected by executive decree and expressly by the constitution (Article 127) are damaged by private tourism activities that penetrate the summits, which is prohibited given their extreme ecological fragility.


 


This space is not sufficient to continue enumerating this balance, but we can not forget to point out the environmental impact of the so called Socio economic development plan of the nation, which, if finalized in those terms, would be an ecological disaster, the same as with the integration with Brazil without any environmental precautions.


 


Hugo Chavez’ Government has not ratified the Kyoto protocol for the reduction of fossil fuel combustion, coinciding in this policy with the US President George w. Bush.


 


Meanwhile, the new decree 3110 of the Pan to regulate and organize the use of the forest reserve of Imataca, proposes to open tropical forests for miners. Worse than decree 1850.


 


A gigantic ecocide can be envisioned. Will Chavez go down in history as an ecocidal president?


 


We have placed my translation of the fraud report to English right here for those that may not read Spanish. Thanks Ed and MB for their help.  Still has typos but my days still only have 24 hours.


 



 


Alexander Luzardo is an Unviersity Professor and environmentalist that supported Chavez’ election in 1998 wholeheratedly and was even elected as a Senator for Chavez MVR in 1998. He later wrote the sections of the new Bolivarian Constitution relating to the environment. I had heard little from and about him recently and was truly shocked by his attack n Chávez’ environmental policy in this article published in yesterday’s el Universal.


 


An environmental balance of the last five years of the Government of President Chavez begins by recognizing the approval of the Chapter about Environmental Rights and other mandates established in the 1999 Constitution, characterized by Hermán Escarrá in his speech presenting the Constitutional project as the most beautiful and advanced with respect to human Rights and Guarantees. To that effect he says: “It is a right and a duty for each generation to protect and maintain the environment for its own benefit and that of the future world”. This phrase in itself, it’s a constitution.


 


Environmental management has been characterized by clear inefficiency and lack of leadership by the supervising organization: The minister of the Environment and of Natural Resources (MARN). Its operating units such as the national institute for Parks which administers approximately 15% of the national territory, composed of 43 national parks, does not have an adequate budget and has been spiraling down for the last ten years, the same as the MARN and its regional and state directorships.


 


The National parks are affected by invasion, an example of these are the mining invasion of the Yapacana National Park, in Amazonas; Henry Pittier, Aragua; Yacambu, Lara; El Avila, Caracas and Vargas, as well as the protective zones of Caracas and Miranda and the Cortada del Guayabo in the Pan-American Highway, in front of the insensible eyes of the authorities and the Environmental Guardship pf the National Guard, even in the noses of Fort Tiuna (Caracas’ military Fort) Damaging activities are registered in the fishing and animal refuge “Los Olivitos” near the Gulf of Venezuela in Zulia State and in the Paria peninsula, by the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil.


 


The preaching for the occupation of land does not take into account the indispensable protection of the soil and the areas Under Special regimen (ABRAE), which could translate into the loss of capacity of these soils, exhausting of the sources of water and liquidation of forests.


 


The electrical transmission lines over Canaima National park and the Gran Sabana generated a negative visual and scenic impact over the chain of Tepuys (unique in the world) and affected the Sierra de Lema.


 


The policy of cleaning oil and petrochemical moats in Zulia and the East and other areas has been halted.


 


The announced carbon mining opening by Corpozulia threatens to destroy the sierra de Perija, a biodiversity reserve, including the water that feeds the lake through rivers, which is the habitat of the Yucpa and Bari people.


Lake Maracaibo has a grave problem with eutrification, the causes of which are many, which has not been controlled by the organizations of environmental policy, national, regional or local.


 


The Orinoco Delta continues to be affected by environmental and sociocultural impacts of oil related origins.


 


The deterioration of the urban air is notable in violation of the right to enjoy the cities in parks, boulevards, public squares and avenues


 


A large part of the beaches of the central coast and other states are polluted. The hydro climatic network of information has not been installed since the Vargas state tragedy.


 


 


The tepuys, natural monuments protected by executive decree and expressly by the constitution (Article 127) are damaged by private tourism activities that penetrate the summits, which is prohibited given their extreme ecological fragility.


 


This space is not sufficient to continue enumerating this balance, but we can not forget to point out the environmental impact of the so called Socio economic development plan of the nation, which, if finalized in those terms, would be an ecological disaster, the same as with the integration with Brazil without any environmental precautions.


 


Hugo Chavez’ Government has not ratified the Kyoto protocol for the reduction of fossil fuel combustion, coinciding in this policy with the US President George w. Bush.


 


Meanwhile, the new decree 3110 of the Pan to regulate and organize the use of the forest reserve of Imataca, proposes to open tropical forests for miners. Worse than decree 1850.


 


A gigantic ecocide can be envisioned. Will Chavez go down in history as an ecocidal President?

Will Chavez be an ecocidal president?

October 18, 2004

Alexander Luzardo is an Unviersity Professor and environmentalist that supported Chavez’ election in 1998 wholeheratedly and was even elected as a Senator for Chavez MVR in 1998. He later wrote the sections of the new Bolivarian Constitution relating to the environment. I had heard little from and about him recently and was truly shocked by his attack n Chávez’ environmental policy in this article published in yesterday’s el Universal.


An environmental balance of the last five years of the Government of President Chavez begins by recognizing the approval of the Chapter about Environmental Rights and other mandates established in the 1999 Constitution, characterized by Hermán Escarrá in his speech presenting the Constitutional project as the most beautiful and advanced with respect to human Rights and Guarantees. To that effect he says: “It is a right and a duty for each generation to protect and maintain the environment for its own benefit and that of the future world”. This phrase in itself, it’s a constitution.


 


Environmental management has been characterized by clear inefficiency and lack of leadership by the supervising organization: The minister of the Environment and of Natural Resources (MARN). Its operating units such as the national institute for Parks which administers approximately 15% of the national territory, composed of 43 national parks, does not have an adequate budget and has been spiraling down for the last ten years, the same as the MARN and its regional and state directorships.


 


The National parks are affected by invasion, an example of these are the mining invasion of the Yapacana National Park, in Amazonas; Henry Pittier, Aragua; Yacambu, Lara; El Avila, Caracas and Vargas, as well as the protective zones of Caracas and Miranda and the Cortada del Guayabo in the Pan-American Highway, in front of the insensible eyes of the authorities and the Environmental Guardship pf the National Guard, even in the noses of Fort Tiuna (Caracas’ military Fort) Damaging activities are registered in the fishing and animal refuge “Los Olivitos” near the Gulf of Venezuela in Zulia State and in the Paria peninsula, by the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil.


 


The preaching for the occupation of land does not take into account the indispensable protection of the soil and the areas Under Special regimen (ABRAE), which could translate into the loss of capacity of these soils, exhausting of the sources of water and liquidation of forests.


 


The electrical transmission lines over Canaima National park and the Gran Sabana generated a negative visual and scenic impact over the chain of Tepuys (unique in the world) and affected the Sierra de Lema.


 


The policy of cleaning oil and petrochemical moats in Zulia and the East and other areas has been halted.


 


The announced carbon mining opening by Corpozulia threatens to destroy the sierra de Perija, a biodiversity reserve, including the water that feeds the lake through rivers, which is the habitat of the Yucpa and Bari people.


Lake Maracaibo has a grave problem with eutrification, the causes of which are many, which has not been controlled by the organizations of environmental policy, national, regional or local.


 


The Orinoco Delta continues to be affected by environmental and sociocultural impacts of oil related origins.


 


The deterioration of the urban air is notable in violation of the right to enjoy the cities in parks, boulevards, public squares and avenues


 


A large part of the beaches of the central coast and other states are polluted. The hydro climatic network of information has not been installed since the Vargas state tragedy.


 


 


The tepuys, natural monuments protected by executive decree and expressly by the constitution (Article 127) are damaged by private tourism activities that penetrate the summits, which is prohibited given their extreme ecological fragility.


 


This space is not sufficient to continue enumerating this balance, but we can not forget to point out the environmental impact of the so called Socio economic development plan of the nation, which, if finalized in those terms, would be an ecological disaster, the same as with the integration with Brazil without any environmental precautions.


 


Hugo Chavez’ Government has not ratified the Kyoto protocol for the reduction of fossil fuel combustion, coinciding in this policy with the US President George w. Bush.


 


Meanwhile, the new decree 3110 of the Pan to regulate and organize the use of the forest reserve of Imataca, proposes to open tropical forests for miners. Worse than decree 1850.


 


A gigantic ecocide can be envisioned. Will Chavez go down in history as an ecocidal president?


 


We have placed my translation of the fraud report to English right here for those that may not read Spanish. Thanks Ed and MB for their help.  Still has typos but my days still only have 24 hours.


 



 


Alexander Luzardo is an Unviersity Professor and environmentalist that supported Chavez’ election in 1998 wholeheratedly and was even elected as a Senator for Chavez MVR in 1998. He later wrote the sections of the new Bolivarian Constitution relating to the environment. I had heard little from and about him recently and was truly shocked by his attack n Chávez’ environmental policy in this article published in yesterday’s el Universal.


 


An environmental balance of the last five years of the Government of President Chavez begins by recognizing the approval of the Chapter about Environmental Rights and other mandates established in the 1999 Constitution, characterized by Hermán Escarrá in his speech presenting the Constitutional project as the most beautiful and advanced with respect to human Rights and Guarantees. To that effect he says: “It is a right and a duty for each generation to protect and maintain the environment for its own benefit and that of the future world”. This phrase in itself, it’s a constitution.


 


Environmental management has been characterized by clear inefficiency and lack of leadership by the supervising organization: The minister of the Environment and of Natural Resources (MARN). Its operating units such as the national institute for Parks which administers approximately 15% of the national territory, composed of 43 national parks, does not have an adequate budget and has been spiraling down for the last ten years, the same as the MARN and its regional and state directorships.


 


The National parks are affected by invasion, an example of these are the mining invasion of the Yapacana National Park, in Amazonas; Henry Pittier, Aragua; Yacambu, Lara; El Avila, Caracas and Vargas, as well as the protective zones of Caracas and Miranda and the Cortada del Guayabo in the Pan-American Highway, in front of the insensible eyes of the authorities and the Environmental Guardship pf the National Guard, even in the noses of Fort Tiuna (Caracas’ military Fort) Damaging activities are registered in the fishing and animal refuge “Los Olivitos” near the Gulf of Venezuela in Zulia State and in the Paria peninsula, by the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil.


 


The preaching for the occupation of land does not take into account the indispensable protection of the soil and the areas Under Special regimen (ABRAE), which could translate into the loss of capacity of these soils, exhausting of the sources of water and liquidation of forests.


 


The electrical transmission lines over Canaima National park and the Gran Sabana generated a negative visual and scenic impact over the chain of Tepuys (unique in the world) and affected the Sierra de Lema.


 


The policy of cleaning oil and petrochemical moats in Zulia and the East and other areas has been halted.


 


The announced carbon mining opening by Corpozulia threatens to destroy the sierra de Perija, a biodiversity reserve, including the water that feeds the lake through rivers, which is the habitat of the Yucpa and Bari people.


Lake Maracaibo has a grave problem with eutrification, the causes of which are many, which has not been controlled by the organizations of environmental policy, national, regional or local.


 


The Orinoco Delta continues to be affected by environmental and sociocultural impacts of oil related origins.


 


The deterioration of the urban air is notable in violation of the right to enjoy the cities in parks, boulevards, public squares and avenues


 


A large part of the beaches of the central coast and other states are polluted. The hydro climatic network of information has not been installed since the Vargas state tragedy.


 


 


The tepuys, natural monuments protected by executive decree and expressly by the constitution (Article 127) are damaged by private tourism activities that penetrate the summits, which is prohibited given their extreme ecological fragility.


 


This space is not sufficient to continue enumerating this balance, but we can not forget to point out the environmental impact of the so called Socio economic development plan of the nation, which, if finalized in those terms, would be an ecological disaster, the same as with the integration with Brazil without any environmental precautions.


 


Hugo Chavez’ Government has not ratified the Kyoto protocol for the reduction of fossil fuel combustion, coinciding in this policy with the US President George w. Bush.


 


Meanwhile, the new decree 3110 of the Pan to regulate and organize the use of the forest reserve of Imataca, proposes to open tropical forests for miners. Worse than decree 1850.


 


A gigantic ecocide can be envisioned. Will Chavez go down in history as an ecocidal President?

Will Chavez be an ecocidal president?

October 18, 2004

Alexander Luzardo is an Unviersity Professor and environmentalist that supported Chavez’ election in 1998 wholeheratedly and was even elected as a Senator for Chavez MVR in 1998. He later wrote the sections of the new Bolivarian Constitution relating to the environment. I had heard little from and about him recently and was truly shocked by his attack n Chávez’ environmental policy in this article published in yesterday’s el Universal.


An environmental balance of the last five years of the Government of President Chavez begins by recognizing the approval of the Chapter about Environmental Rights and other mandates established in the 1999 Constitution, characterized by Hermán Escarrá in his speech presenting the Constitutional project as the most beautiful and advanced with respect to human Rights and Guarantees. To that effect he says: “It is a right and a duty for each generation to protect and maintain the environment for its own benefit and that of the future world”. This phrase in itself, it’s a constitution.


 


Environmental management has been characterized by clear inefficiency and lack of leadership by the supervising organization: The minister of the Environment and of Natural Resources (MARN). Its operating units such as the national institute for Parks which administers approximately 15% of the national territory, composed of 43 national parks, does not have an adequate budget and has been spiraling down for the last ten years, the same as the MARN and its regional and state directorships.


 


The National parks are affected by invasion, an example of these are the mining invasion of the Yapacana National Park, in Amazonas; Henry Pittier, Aragua; Yacambu, Lara; El Avila, Caracas and Vargas, as well as the protective zones of Caracas and Miranda and the Cortada del Guayabo in the Pan-American Highway, in front of the insensible eyes of the authorities and the Environmental Guardship pf the National Guard, even in the noses of Fort Tiuna (Caracas’ military Fort) Damaging activities are registered in the fishing and animal refuge “Los Olivitos” near the Gulf of Venezuela in Zulia State and in the Paria peninsula, by the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil.


 


The preaching for the occupation of land does not take into account the indispensable protection of the soil and the areas Under Special regimen (ABRAE), which could translate into the loss of capacity of these soils, exhausting of the sources of water and liquidation of forests.


 


The electrical transmission lines over Canaima National park and the Gran Sabana generated a negative visual and scenic impact over the chain of Tepuys (unique in the world) and affected the Sierra de Lema.


 


The policy of cleaning oil and petrochemical moats in Zulia and the East and other areas has been halted.


 


The announced carbon mining opening by Corpozulia threatens to destroy the sierra de Perija, a biodiversity reserve, including the water that feeds the lake through rivers, which is the habitat of the Yucpa and Bari people.


Lake Maracaibo has a grave problem with eutrification, the causes of which are many, which has not been controlled by the organizations of environmental policy, national, regional or local.


 


The Orinoco Delta continues to be affected by environmental and sociocultural impacts of oil related origins.


 


The deterioration of the urban air is notable in violation of the right to enjoy the cities in parks, boulevards, public squares and avenues


 


A large part of the beaches of the central coast and other states are polluted. The hydro climatic network of information has not been installed since the Vargas state tragedy.


 


 


The tepuys, natural monuments protected by executive decree and expressly by the constitution (Article 127) are damaged by private tourism activities that penetrate the summits, which is prohibited given their extreme ecological fragility.


 


This space is not sufficient to continue enumerating this balance, but we can not forget to point out the environmental impact of the so called Socio economic development plan of the nation, which, if finalized in those terms, would be an ecological disaster, the same as with the integration with Brazil without any environmental precautions.


 


Hugo Chavez’ Government has not ratified the Kyoto protocol for the reduction of fossil fuel combustion, coinciding in this policy with the US President George w. Bush.


 


Meanwhile, the new decree 3110 of the Pan to regulate and organize the use of the forest reserve of Imataca, proposes to open tropical forests for miners. Worse than decree 1850.


 


A gigantic ecocide can be envisioned. Will Chavez go down in history as an ecocidal president?


 


We have placed my translation of the fraud report to English right here for those that may not read Spanish. Thanks Ed and MB for their help.  Still has typos but my days still only have 24 hours.


 



 


Alexander Luzardo is an Unviersity Professor and environmentalist that supported Chavez’ election in 1998 wholeheratedly and was even elected as a Senator for Chavez MVR in 1998. He later wrote the sections of the new Bolivarian Constitution relating to the environment. I had heard little from and about him recently and was truly shocked by his attack n Chávez’ environmental policy in this article published in yesterday’s el Universal.


 


An environmental balance of the last five years of the Government of President Chavez begins by recognizing the approval of the Chapter about Environmental Rights and other mandates established in the 1999 Constitution, characterized by Hermán Escarrá in his speech presenting the Constitutional project as the most beautiful and advanced with respect to human Rights and Guarantees. To that effect he says: “It is a right and a duty for each generation to protect and maintain the environment for its own benefit and that of the future world”. This phrase in itself, it’s a constitution.


 


Environmental management has been characterized by clear inefficiency and lack of leadership by the supervising organization: The minister of the Environment and of Natural Resources (MARN). Its operating units such as the national institute for Parks which administers approximately 15% of the national territory, composed of 43 national parks, does not have an adequate budget and has been spiraling down for the last ten years, the same as the MARN and its regional and state directorships.


 


The National parks are affected by invasion, an example of these are the mining invasion of the Yapacana National Park, in Amazonas; Henry Pittier, Aragua; Yacambu, Lara; El Avila, Caracas and Vargas, as well as the protective zones of Caracas and Miranda and the Cortada del Guayabo in the Pan-American Highway, in front of the insensible eyes of the authorities and the Environmental Guardship pf the National Guard, even in the noses of Fort Tiuna (Caracas’ military Fort) Damaging activities are registered in the fishing and animal refuge “Los Olivitos” near the Gulf of Venezuela in Zulia State and in the Paria peninsula, by the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil.


 


The preaching for the occupation of land does not take into account the indispensable protection of the soil and the areas Under Special regimen (ABRAE), which could translate into the loss of capacity of these soils, exhausting of the sources of water and liquidation of forests.


 


The electrical transmission lines over Canaima National park and the Gran Sabana generated a negative visual and scenic impact over the chain of Tepuys (unique in the world) and affected the Sierra de Lema.


 


The policy of cleaning oil and petrochemical moats in Zulia and the East and other areas has been halted.


 


The announced carbon mining opening by Corpozulia threatens to destroy the sierra de Perija, a biodiversity reserve, including the water that feeds the lake through rivers, which is the habitat of the Yucpa and Bari people.


Lake Maracaibo has a grave problem with eutrification, the causes of which are many, which has not been controlled by the organizations of environmental policy, national, regional or local.


 


The Orinoco Delta continues to be affected by environmental and sociocultural impacts of oil related origins.


 


The deterioration of the urban air is notable in violation of the right to enjoy the cities in parks, boulevards, public squares and avenues


 


A large part of the beaches of the central coast and other states are polluted. The hydro climatic network of information has not been installed since the Vargas state tragedy.


 


 


The tepuys, natural monuments protected by executive decree and expressly by the constitution (Article 127) are damaged by private tourism activities that penetrate the summits, which is prohibited given their extreme ecological fragility.


 


This space is not sufficient to continue enumerating this balance, but we can not forget to point out the environmental impact of the so called Socio economic development plan of the nation, which, if finalized in those terms, would be an ecological disaster, the same as with the integration with Brazil without any environmental precautions.


 


Hugo Chavez’ Government has not ratified the Kyoto protocol for the reduction of fossil fuel combustion, coinciding in this policy with the US President George w. Bush.


 


Meanwhile, the new decree 3110 of the Pan to regulate and organize the use of the forest reserve of Imataca, proposes to open tropical forests for miners. Worse than decree 1850.


 


A gigantic ecocide can be envisioned. Will Chavez go down in history as an ecocidal President?

A Government that can not even take care of itself

October 17, 2004

Flashbacks of Sept. 11th. as the East tower of Parque Central in downtown Caracas and many of its floors burned down. This is rare here, where buildings are made of concrete. According to the Head of the fire Department no money is being spent in fire prevention in the towers. This Government can not even take care of itself, since the towers are mostly used by Government Ministries.



Cattleya Percivaliana blooms

October 17, 2004



Two wonderful Cattleya Percivaliana, a Venezuelan species. I have zoomed in the lip so that you can see the wonderful oil painting like yellows of the lip. The flowers are actually stinky. The top one is Var. Graciela.

A summary of the Alvarez report on fraud

October 17, 2004

Tulio Alvarezrote trhe report on fraud based on dozens of individual reports on each topic. Here I do a summary of the findings, each one backed by facts, data and evidence:


 


I. – Abuse of power and the partiality of the Electoral Board


 


–Voting Machines and fingerprint machines were purchased directly, sidestepping the law


–The Electoral Board abused its power, allowing the use of private data for political extortion, without any public power defending the rights of the citizens.


–The Electoral board has sidestepped the laws and been partial to the Government’s position. –Not once was the vote three to two for a proposal made by the opposition.


 


II. – The Armed forces


 


–High ranking military officers publicly opposed even the petition for a recall referendum against the mandate of Hugo Chávez Frías.


–The Armed Forces were used as an arm of political activism.


–The Defense Ministry provided support to the interference and fraud activities on August 15th. The Committee has names and rank of military personnel that participated in them.


–Military equipment was used in the covert data communications room used to interfere with the recall vote. There is video evidence, including brand and serial number of the equipment used.


Reserve forces who are supposed to only protect electoral activities were ordered to actively participate and intervene in the voting activities.


 


III. – Fraud in the Electoral registry


 


–National ID cards were issued to two million people without fulfilling the technical requirements or security procedures required.


–The database of dead citizens was manipulated and thousands of living Venezuelans who signed the petition for the recall were excluded from the Electoral rolls.


–Thousands were migrated without them requesting it.


–Thousands of government supporters were migrated to small and rural centers in order to justify the final result of the automated election. As many as 29 parishes now have more voters than inhabitants, which ahs been recognized by a CNE Director.


 


IV. – The Failure of the Audits


 


–The CNE never presented the audit of the hardware and software its consultants supposedly were going to carry out.


–The only presentation on certification of the software showed that there were certification faults with the software


–Complaints about the lack of ability of doing any pre-audit were always answered by saying the ‘hot-audit’ on the day of the vote made it unnecessary.


–The CNE unilaterally restricted the possible locations of the ‘hot-audit’ on the afternoon of the vote, restricting it to twenty municipalities in fourteen states.


–Credentials for opposition members to participate in the “hot-audit” were handed out at a meeting at 3 PM on the day of the vote.


–Most observers for the opposition were not allowed into the voting centers. In fact, they were able to go in only 27 seven of the 78 centers audited. A total of 199 were slated to be audited. The Si option won in these 27 centers by a 62% to 38% margin, exactly the reverse of the official results.


–The program to randomly select audit centers provided by the Carter Center was not used for “technical reasons”, instead a program provided by the electoral Board and run on its won PC was used.


–Ballot Boxes were under the supervision of the military for 72 hours despite carter center claims that they never left the side of the ballot boxes.


–19% of the randomly selected ballot boxes could not be found or had been tampered with.


 


V. – The Smartmatic Machines


 


–They were not stand alone machines, but gaming machines made by Olivetti which by nature are part of a network.


–Its dimensions are inadequate for a multiple election.


–Despite claims to the contrary the machines are bi-directional capable of receiving more than just handshakes.


–Each machine had its own IP number and was connected to the network.


–The machines sent and received messages from as many as five data centers, the two official ones at the CNE and the back up one, and three covert centers, one at the national library, one at the Bolivarian University and one at the ministry of Science and Technology.


–A complete video exists of one of these centers including all of the data and communications equipment, with brand names and serial numbers.  The Committee also obtained the identifications of three Mexican citizens, one Chilean citizen and all of the members of the military that operated that center.


–All of the data transmitted left its traces in the farm servers of CANTV allowing for the reconstruction in detail of all of the data transmitted.


–The Smartmatic machines had a Smartcard. Where are they?


–The Smartmatic machines had a back door without authorization privileges.


–The Smartmatic machines could run external modules independent of the executable use for the election.


–The machine transmitted the totals before printing the results in violation of the law.


–The fingerprint machines were being monitored from the covert data centers, where the flow of voters could be controlled.


 


VI. – The Political map of the Fraud


 


–Statistical studies revealed that 48% of the voting centers were irregular.


–Scientific studies established those centers which had numerical anomalies


–Telecommunications studies revealed that some centers which received high or excessive amounts of data from the CNE servers.


–The overlap of the three cases above determined the centers tampered with in the automated vote which combined with the results of the manual centers yielded that the Si option, in favor of recalling the mandate of Hugo Chavez Frías won by a margin of 54.8% for the Si and 45.2% for the NO.


 


VII.-Scientific Studies


 


–The results for the NO option were found to strongly violate Benford’s Law


–Benford’s law studies coincide in that part of the Si vote was shifted over to the no option.


–Simulations of numerical coincidences indicate that those observed in centers with four and six machines are essentially impossible.


–The statistical similarity between the 2000 Presidential election and the 2004 recall vote is excessive, more so given that the recall had only two options but the 2000 election had two additional candidates even if marginal.


–The sample made in the “cold audit on August 18th. was determined not to be representative of the nationwide machines, including their social strata, the correlation with the petition and Benford’s law.


 


VIII. – Telecommunications


 


–The type of communications sessions established showed that there was both incoming and outgoing information flow; despite the claims to the contrary the machines were bidirectional beyond simple communication protocols.


–There were three types of termination of sessions, those ended by the server, those ended by the machine and those ended by loss of carrier.


–There were transmissions all day despite the fact that this is prohibited by law.


–There were three types of traffic between machines and servers. Low, high and excessive, with over 51% in the last two categories.


–Two different patterns of behavior were observed in the number of packets. Some machines had a low ratio of incoming to outgoing packets and others had a ratio of one.


–Those machines that had anomalous communications patterns were also found to be irregular statistically when one looked at each parish and when one looked at the statistical properties of machines as a function of the number of voters.

A summary of the Alvarez report on fraud

October 17, 2004

Tulio Alvarezrote trhe report on fraud based on dozens of individual reports on each topic. Here I do a summary of the findings, each one backed by facts, data and evidence:


 


I. – Abuse of power and the partiality of the Electoral Board


 


–Voting Machines and fingerprint machines were purchased directly, sidestepping the law


–The Electoral Board abused its power, allowing the use of private data for political extortion, without any public power defending the rights of the citizens.


–The Electoral board has sidestepped the laws and been partial to the Government’s position. –Not once was the vote three to two for a proposal made by the opposition.


 


II. – The Armed forces


 


–High ranking military officers publicly opposed even the petition for a recall referendum against the mandate of Hugo Chávez Frías.


–The Armed Forces were used as an arm of political activism.


–The Defense Ministry provided support to the interference and fraud activities on August 15th. The Committee has names and rank of military personnel that participated in them.


–Military equipment was used in the covert data communications room used to interfere with the recall vote. There is video evidence, including brand and serial number of the equipment used.


Reserve forces who are supposed to only protect electoral activities were ordered to actively participate and intervene in the voting activities.


 


III. – Fraud in the Electoral registry


 


–National ID cards were issued to two million people without fulfilling the technical requirements or security procedures required.


–The database of dead citizens was manipulated and thousands of living Venezuelans who signed the petition for the recall were excluded from the Electoral rolls.


–Thousands were migrated without them requesting it.


–Thousands of government supporters were migrated to small and rural centers in order to justify the final result of the automated election. As many as 29 parishes now have more voters than inhabitants, which ahs been recognized by a CNE Director.


 


IV. – The Failure of the Audits


 


–The CNE never presented the audit of the hardware and software its consultants supposedly were going to carry out.


–The only presentation on certification of the software showed that there were certification faults with the software


–Complaints about the lack of ability of doing any pre-audit were always answered by saying the ‘hot-audit’ on the day of the vote made it unnecessary.


–The CNE unilaterally restricted the possible locations of the ‘hot-audit’ on the afternoon of the vote, restricting it to twenty municipalities in fourteen states.


–Credentials for opposition members to participate in the “hot-audit” were handed out at a meeting at 3 PM on the day of the vote.


–Most observers for the opposition were not allowed into the voting centers. In fact, they were able to go in only 27 seven of the 78 centers audited. A total of 199 were slated to be audited. The Si option won in these 27 centers by a 62% to 38% margin, exactly the reverse of the official results.


–The program to randomly select audit centers provided by the Carter Center was not used for “technical reasons”, instead a program provided by the electoral Board and run on its won PC was used.


–Ballot Boxes were under the supervision of the military for 72 hours despite carter center claims that they never left the side of the ballot boxes.


–19% of the randomly selected ballot boxes could not be found or had been tampered with.


 


V. – The Smartmatic Machines


 


–They were not stand alone machines, but gaming machines made by Olivetti which by nature are part of a network.


–Its dimensions are inadequate for a multiple election.


–Despite claims to the contrary the machines are bi-directional capable of receiving more than just handshakes.


–Each machine had its own IP number and was connected to the network.


–The machines sent and received messages from as many as five data centers, the two official ones at the CNE and the back up one, and three covert centers, one at the national library, one at the Bolivarian University and one at the ministry of Science and Technology.


–A complete video exists of one of these centers including all of the data and communications equipment, with brand names and serial numbers.  The Committee also obtained the identifications of three Mexican citizens, one Chilean citizen and all of the members of the military that operated that center.


–All of the data transmitted left its traces in the farm servers of CANTV allowing for the reconstruction in detail of all of the data transmitted.


–The Smartmatic machines had a Smartcard. Where are they?


–The Smartmatic machines had a back door without authorization privileges.


–The Smartmatic machines could run external modules independent of the executable use for the election.


–The machine transmitted the totals before printing the results in violation of the law.


–The fingerprint machines were being monitored from the covert data centers, where the flow of voters could be controlled.


 


VI. – The Political map of the Fraud


 


–Statistical studies revealed that 48% of the voting centers were irregular.


–Scientific studies established those centers which had numerical anomalies


–Telecommunications studies revealed that some centers which received high or excessive amounts of data from the CNE servers.


–The overlap of the three cases above determined the centers tampered with in the automated vote which combined with the results of the manual centers yielded that the Si option, in favor of recalling the mandate of Hugo Chavez Frías won by a margin of 54.8% for the Si and 45.2% for the NO.


 


VII.-Scientific Studies


 


–The results for the NO option were found to strongly violate Benford’s Law


–Benford’s law studies coincide in that part of the Si vote was shifted over to the no option.


–Simulations of numerical coincidences indicate that those observed in centers with four and six machines are essentially impossible.


–The statistical similarity between the 2000 Presidential election and the 2004 recall vote is excessive, more so given that the recall had only two options but the 2000 election had two additional candidates even if marginal.


–The sample made in the “cold audit on August 18th. was determined not to be representative of the nationwide machines, including their social strata, the correlation with the petition and Benford’s law.


 


VIII. – Telecommunications


 


–The type of communications sessions established showed that there was both incoming and outgoing information flow; despite the claims to the contrary the machines were bidirectional beyond simple communication protocols.


–There were three types of termination of sessions, those ended by the server, those ended by the machine and those ended by loss of carrier.


–There were transmissions all day despite the fact that this is prohibited by law.


–There were three types of traffic between machines and servers. Low, high and excessive, with over 51% in the last two categories.


–Two different patterns of behavior were observed in the number of packets. Some machines had a low ratio of incoming to outgoing packets and others had a ratio of one.


–Those machines that had anomalous communications patterns were also found to be irregular statistically when one looked at each parish and when one looked at the statistical properties of machines as a function of the number of voters.