The Devil's Excrement

Chávez’ father in page A-14 of El Nacional today:

Q: In last Sunday’s march, protesters were asking for the expropriation of the land you and your sons own in Barinas State.

A: No, because the lands I have are owned by the State.

Ahhh, I see!

It seems like yesterday when I was blasting Human Rights Watch in 2002 for criticizing the opposition for things that Chavez did routinely, right after the aftermath of Chavez departure in 2002. I really thought that Vivancos’ reports at the time were bad, except for their support of human rights organizations PROVEA and COFAVIC. The Chavez Government on the other hand paraded Vivancos and his report both locally and abroad to show what the bad guys in the opposition were doing. My own personal opinion is that Vivancos was watching things from afar at the time. He was naïve, but thankfully he came and stayed a while and got the true picture of what was going on.

In fact, turn the clock back five more years and the same happened at that time with PROVEA and COFAVIC. Chavez used to quote these NGO’s reports, hail them for their work, and say that these were the true patriots. Until they began criticizing him…In fact, the only moment I ever doubted my non-support for Chavez was precisely when he praised these organizations that I admired so much.

Well, today HRW is the same for the Chávez administration, Vivancos is a CIA operative, paid by who knows who, a representative somehow of the US, as if he had no track record in defending human rights. The Chávez administration wants nothing to do with him, as Vivancos dared to come to Caracas and call the Venezuelan judicial system “so weak” that it justifies for the OAS to invoke the Interamerican Charter over the issue.

Vivancos in his speech yesterday cited not only the lack of judicial responsibility, but also pointed out the threats to freedom of speech via legislative measures like the Content law, the reform of the Penal code that has led to actions without precedent, the persecution of human rights fighters as well as the disregard by the Venezuelan State for the precautionary measures of the Interamerican human rights commission.

But to my amazement, I wonder where all those people that called for better treatment of those that staged the 1992 coup in Venezuelan jails are today? They were not only well treated, but they were pardoned, paid their military pensions and many were even hired by the Caldera Government to run social programs. Where are these fighters for human rights today when the Venezuelan judicial system is a travesty? When ONG’s are persecuted for the simple fact that they try to defend voter rights? When women are trampled on the streets by Robocop looking fascist National Guards? When the number of people killed in confrontations with police is up five fold? When homicides are p three fold? When innocent civilians are shot death in the streets while they are protesting against the Government? When Chavista groups armed to their teeth kidnap and intimidate international reporters? When TV stations and radio stations are intimidated by Government officials or supporters? Where are you people? Do you simply have a double standard?

I will never forget my visit to Argentina many years ago, right after the last military dictatorship. I met a bunch of what were then to me kids, that were going to attend a course I gave at the time. They told me about their university class. How they were all persecuted for being academics. I asked how many there were, fourteen was the answer. And only five had actually survived. I asked them how this could be. They said nobody cared, whether in Argentina or abroad, they were just abstract numbers. Life simply went on And things did not happen overnight there. This was at the end. We can not let the same happen here. Hopefully Vivancos, PROVEA and COFAVIC will continue fighting and letting the word out. But will you?

Do not let Venezuela follow the path of Argentina or Cuba, do something!

This is a picture of opposition Deputy Pastor Heydra after he was attacked by his friendly neighbor at the National Assembly, MVR Deputy Ibrahim Velasquez yesterday. Velasquez took Heydra by surprise and hit him drawing blood. Said Velasquez: “I wanted to teach him to be a man, he keeps accusing me of being corrupt, humilliating me”. I guess it is simply a Chavista style, the Law of the Jungle, use force whenever you feel like it, no civilized form of interaction allowed. Way to go Ibrahim!.

The Chavez Government is so cynical and false that it can agree on something one week and turn around and change its mind the week after. It just did this today, going back on everything that it had agreed on with the owners of the Polar plant (Remavenca) on Barinas state.

The whole story began on August 31st., when a plant owned by the Polar group was “intervened”by a military force led by the Minister of Agriculture himself. Of course, the concept of “intervention” simply does not exist in Venezuela’s jurisprudence, but the Chavez administration does not even care about the form, what it can not get legally it can get by force. And it can be very scary to have a military battalion take over your property in a country where one no longer knows where the Government begins and the military ends.

The Polar group protested the interventions and went to the Supreme Court asking for an injunction on the matter. The Court has yet to reply, in clear violation of the law. The group also went to the National Assembly and also met with the Vice-President to show that the plant was operational and had been certified as such by the Government itself. The Minister of Agriculture himself announced on September 16^th. that the impasse “had been overcome” and while there were delays in having the military leave the facilities as agreed, they were returned to their rightful owners.

Well, today, the Governor of Barinas state signed a decree expropriating the same plant, arguing social interest and public usefulness. The cynicism went even further than that as the Minister of Agriculture, who was present during the reading of the decree, later said that the act by the Governor of Barinas state and its legislature was “an independent decision”. Yes, we are supposed to believe in pur naviety and stupidty that, when the Governor of Barinas state is none other than Chavez’ own father Hugo de Los Reyes Chavez, who does nothing but what the autocrat himself tells him. Yeah, right!

As I said when I first reported in this case, the Law of The Jungle is now the prevailing system of Justice in Venezuela these days. The Government has been trying to intimidate everyone using the military to intervene farms and plants and attempt to get some form of agreement out of the owners. This does not always work, so it resorts then to others mechanisms. In this case, this is what the law says except the law states, except that there has to be compensation first.

But we are beyond that. By now Chavez is out of control and doing whatever he pleases in the name of social justice. But there is no such thing in Venezuela. All we have is an autocrat who is completely out of control, abusing his powers and reneging on agreements in the name of a non-existent independence between the executive power and regional Governments, which Chavez has never respected anyway. But the goal has been achieved; take away the plant form Polar. You can be sure it will be dismantled and there will be nothing there in a couple of years. This revolution only destroys, it does not know how to build or even use the most basic infrastructure.

For some reason Chavez is accelerating the process of taking over private property and he could care less about the law. This is not a random event; it is clearly a planned strategy in the face of a lower popularity and widespread protests. The only question may be who is next, or maybe better, are you next and are you doing anyhing about it?

You have to admire Carlos Azpurua. The military has surrounded his farm
La Marqueseña. Chavez himself went there today to hold his program and
almost announced some form of agreement with Azpurua. But nothing
doing according
to Azpurua late today, who is sticking to his guns and remianing in his
farm. Azpurua thanked Chavez for his words, but reiterated that his
farm is private property. He said he would study the President’s
proposal and sort of sent Chavez a challenge when he said that he
believed the President when he said that he would no run over anyone.
He also said any agreement would need to pay him and his partners, of
which there are six, to receive compensation first.

Venezuela needs more fighting men of principles like Carlos Azpurua.
Others would shut up, hide or run (In fact, many do everyday, preferring to make a buck quietly!). He is
standing by his principles and ethics and his own well being is at
stake. I hope, but doubt, that Chavez will stick to his words. I fear
there will be blood in La Marqueseña.

Typically Teodoro Petkoff does not write his Editorial on
Fridays unless something important requires it. This Friday he did, here it is.

Hugo sows fears
by Teodoro Petkoff in Tal Cual

“To those that we expropriate the land from, maybe I will
give them a paper: In 2030 collect from Chávez”. Perhaps the President intended
to make a (bad) joke with this idea, but there is no doubt that his subconscious
gave him away letting out a repressed wish. Deep inside, one may believe he
wants to confiscate and not expropriate. In fact, when he refers to the payment
for the properties to be expropriated he let out, almost inadvertently, that they
will be paid when they can and as they can. Chavez has no clue of the wasp’s nest
that he is stirring. Among the strongest feelings that move human beings is that
of ownership.

It is as much or even more powerful than love. That is why
everything that has to with it has to be handled with extreme care, in
particular by Governments. When Chavez leaves doubts as to whether there will be
or not indemnization for the owners of lands or factories, that is, that
they can be confiscated, snatched from their owners, and in second place he is
clearly violating the Constitution and the laws, where confiscation is expressly
prohibited. Thus the fears that today permeate down to the most humble of the inhabitants
of the popular barrios, to say nothing of the middle class.

The application of the Land Bill, with the unnecessary
military deployment and with prepotent and aggressive language, given the impression
that they are acting outside of the law itself, has done nothing but generate
in the country and atmosphere of fear about the future of property in general. To
make matters worse, the last statements by the President about the “empty lots”
in the cities, of which they “have to be watchful” in order to “expropriate them”
supposedly to build housing, are increasing the sense of anxiety in all sector of
society. Chávez, with that ultraleftist infantilism, is promoting even more uncertainty
that, among other things, conspires openly against job creation and the fight against
poverty. In a country where nobody knows what to expect in the future and where
even coop members are asked to forget about making money, it is impossible to create
new jobs because nobody is going to invest a cent if they don’t know what may
happen to their investment.

The result will be more poverty.

What there is pertinent in the elimination of large farm estates
or the creation of new form of economic and social organization, advanced however,
setting aside the search for possible agreements, produces a trauma which is more
psychological than political and will stumble with resistance from those
that have little, who only owning a small home property, may feel however, that
“the Government” may take it away from them.

Some may think that he is just putting the rich in their rightful
place, but others may believe that things will just not stop there and you start
by militarily intervening Polar and you may end confiscating and nationalizing kiosks
where newspaper are sold. In social and political life, reality matters much less
than what people perceive of it. That is why so many revolutionary intentions have utterly failed.

Chavez’ attack on the La Marqueseña farm is not simply a
coincidence. Whenyou compare that farm to
many of the larger properties, it is a fairly active farm which does not reach the
10,000 hectares that the Government had targeted for expropriation and had all
of the certifications required as an active farm.

But you
see, Chavez is emotionally linked to the La Marqueseña farm through his great
grandfather Pedro Perez Delgado “Maisanta”. I was going to write about it today
and some of the details were published by Agustin
Blanco Muñoz in today’s El Universal and I will add others.

Maisanta
was a farm hand at La Marqueseña and became the second in command of guerilla
leader Jose de Jesus Gonzalez “El Agachado”, who was one of the followers of
Ezequiel Zamora, another Chavez idol. The other well known follower of El
Agachado was Joaquin Crespo, who helps open the way for Cipriano Castro’s
election as President. It is Castro who names Maisanta as Military and Civil
Chief of Chavez’ home town of Sabaneta
and gives him right to the farm where he used to work, La Marqueseña. Thus,
Chavez great grandfather was the supposed owner of that farm early in this century.

When
Cipriano Castro is overthrown by Gomez, Maisanta quickly changes sides and
becomes part of Gomez’ military. But in 1914 Maisanta joins a coup attempt
against Gomez and joins the guerrilla. Gomez expropriated La Marqueseña from
Maisanta at that time. Maisanta spent years in the guerrillas until he was
captured and died in jail. Supposedly he was one of those that died because
they were unwittingly fed ground glass daily in their food.

According
to Chavez long time girlfriend Herma Marksman, who was with Chavez until a year
and a half after the 1992 coup attempt, Chávez always talked about getting back
the La Marqueseña farm, “because those lands belonged to his great grandfather”.
Chavez also talked about “rescuing” the image of his grandfather who appears in
the history books as a cattle robber, bloody guerrilla leader who would change sides
whenever necessary. Marksman says that Chavez believed that Maisanta was a
fighter for the weak and not the mean and bloody character that historians says
he was.

Now, the
owners of La Marqueseña claim they purchased the farm from the Government after
that date and Chavez has suggested that his great grandfather owned the land. But
the truth is that since 1821, when all lands were expropriated by the
Venezuelan Government, there is no transfer of the land until the Azpurua family
bought it from the Government. Maisanta’s ownership was characteristic of the
time, Castro just “gave” it to him without any transfer of property.

Thus,
I
write this as Chavez is broadcasting his Sunday program from la
Marqueseña telling
people not to allow hate to be brought into their lives, when the only
one that
is full of hate and hang ups is the President himself, who clings to a
past for
this country and himself that will never return. Venezuela is no longer
the rural country of Maisanta or Chavez’ childhood and few of the
87% of its inhabitants who live in cities have no interest in
returning to the land.

Well, Chavez the XIVth., the Pluto King of Little Venice was legislating again (by susbcription) yesterday when he gave us this new piece of his wisdom:

“All land is the property of the state..those that have title have “some rights”…”

Whatever happened to Article 115 of the Constitution which clearly states:
“The right to porperty is guaranteed. All persons have the right to
use, enjoy, make the most of and dipose of their property. Property
would be subject to the conditions, restrictions and obligations that
the law establishes with the public good or general interest as its
end. Only for reasons of public interest or social use by a firm
sentence and opportune payment of compensentation can the expropriation
of any type of property be declared.”

To me it sounds like it is the other way around, you own the land and the state may have the right to expropriate under certain conditions.. But hey, he is the law!

I must say it gives me a sense of satisfaction when the press in the US
blasts Jimmy Carter, more so if they remind him of his system failure
in the Venezuelan recall vote, as well as his flirting with
totalitarian leaders over the years. An excerpt from the Editorial in Investor’s Business Daily:

“But then we’ve known that. Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize
winner, has traveled abroad for years as an official observer,
habitually legitimizing the elections of dictators and other unsavory
characters, most recently Hugo Chavez last year in Venezuela.”

I just love it!