The Devil's Excrement

Hugo Chavez said in his next to last Sunday program that he wanted proof and names of the repression and torture. Since then, Tal Cual has been carrying a daily piece with the description of what someone went through. Some of them, I have seen elsewhere, but today they present the case of David Meneses, which I had not seen. What is remarkable is the similarity of the way people were terrorized and torture in the same fashion in various places around the country. Clearly, these techniques have been carefully been taught and implemented as suggested by Liliana Ortega of COFAVIC in her press conference last week. Here are some of the descriptions by Tal Cual:

When David Meneses observed the assault rifle that was pointing directly at him last March 1^st., he understood in practice that theory that talks about the division in our country. No matter how eloquent it may be, the mouth of a politician is not as explicit as an assault rifle.

The protest against Hugo Chávez had taken over the Perimeter Ave. of San Antonio de Los Altos (a city 20 Km. from Caracas). It was 5:30 PM and David was ready to go to the drugstore where he works. On the way, he met a friend and they began talking about the ills of the country. Minutes later, their talk was interrupted by the violent apparition of the National Guard.

“The military arrived shooting their rifles, while people threw themselves on the ground. I ran so they would not grab me, however they trapped me and about seven guards started hitting me, kicking, hitting me with their rifles and sticks”, he remembers

“They threw me on the floor, face down, pointed the rifle at me and threatened to assassinate me”

The soldier that did that to me went away, placed his knee on the floor and warned me” Close your eyes that I am going to kill you” With my chest on the asphalt and the arms extended, I heard how one of the guards mates that had the weapon recommended the other one that he not press the trigger to avoid problems.

“Later, he told me to put a helmet on me before shooting at me, and he did it. Another military lifted me and the one that had the rifle took out a pistol that shoots pellets and fired twice, hurting my legs”

Another military sprayed itching powder on him and hit him on the back of his neck, while lying on the street. He was moved. They put him in a National Guard truck with six others. ‘A soldier told me to get out and I told him to please not him me anymore, nevertheless, once I got out they started hitting me again”

The soldier hitting him only stops when another one approaches and tells him: Leave him alone”. That same Guard “told me to take my pants off and another Guard said: are you going to rape him right here? And he made it clear he just wanted to hit me directly. Then he grabbed a wooden stick and broke it on my back. “Damn you broke it, he told me” and he got out one made of iron. I asked him not to hit me, that he was going to kill me and the aggressor said” Turn around or I will brake your head with this’

The soldier was not true to his word. According to the doctors five millimeters to the side and David would have had his skull broken. “They insulted me, told me I was a squalid and swearing that nobody would ever overthrow Chavez”

Later they took us away.

“They threw us on the ground and hit us again. A soldier pointed the rifle and screamed” Don’t run that we are going to shoot you. They placed us against the wall and they hit us with their wooden sticks in the back of our legs”

‘The officer told us they  would let us go, but then a Guard arrived who supposedly had been hit by a marble on the chest and said ‘These damn assholes are going to pay” And they hit us again.

They stole his wallet, watch and cell phone.

Hugo Chavez said in his next to last Sunday program that he wanted proof and names of the repression and torture. Since then, Tal Cual has been carrying a daily piece with the description of what someone went through. Some of them, I have seen elsewhere, but today they present the case of David Meneses, which I had not seen. What is remarkable is the similarity of the way people were terrorized and torture in the same fashion in various places around the country. Clearly, these techniques have been carefully been taught and implemented as suggested by Liliana Ortega of COFAVIC in her press conference last week. Here are some of the descriptions by Tal Cual:

When David Meneses observed the assault rifle that was pointing directly at him last March 1^st., he understood in practice that theory that talks about the division in our country. No matter how eloquent it may be, the mouth of a politician is not as explicit as an assault rifle.

The protest against Hugo Chávez had taken over the Perimeter Ave. of San Antonio de Los Altos (a city 20 Km. from Caracas). It was 5:30 PM and David was ready to go to the drugstore where he works. On the way, he met a friend and they began talking about the ills of the country. Minutes later, their talk was interrupted by the violent apparition of the National Guard.

“The military arrived shooting their rifles, while people threw themselves on the ground. I ran so they would not grab me, however they trapped me and about seven guards started hitting me, kicking, hitting me with their rifles and sticks”, he remembers

“They threw me on the floor, face down, pointed the rifle at me and threatened to assassinate me”

The soldier that did that to me went away, placed his knee on the floor and warned me” Close your eyes that I am going to kill you” With my chest on the asphalt and the arms extended, I heard how one of the guards mates that had the weapon recommended the other one that he not press the trigger to avoid problems.

“Later, he told me to put a helmet on me before shooting at me, and he did it. Another military lifted me and the one that had the rifle took out a pistol that shoots pellets and fired twice, hurting my legs”

Another military sprayed itching powder on him and hit him on the back of his neck, while lying on the street. He was moved. They put him in a National Guard truck with six others. ‘A soldier told me to get out and I told him to please not him me anymore, nevertheless, once I got out they started hitting me again”

The soldier hitting him only stops when another one approaches and tells him: Leave him alone”. That same Guard “told me to take my pants off and another Guard said: are you going to rape him right here? And he made it clear he just wanted to hit me directly. Then he grabbed a wooden stick and broke it on my back. “Damn you broke it, he told me” and he got out one made of iron. I asked him not to hit me, that he was going to kill me and the aggressor said” Turn around or I will brake your head with this’

The soldier was not true to his word. According to the doctors five millimeters to the side and David would have had his skull broken. “They insulted me, told me I was a squalid and swearing that nobody would ever overthrow Chavez”

Later they took us away.

“They threw us on the ground and hit us again. A soldier pointed the rifle and screamed” Don’t run that we are going to shoot you. They placed us against the wall and they hit us with their wooden sticks in the back of our legs”

‘The officer told us they  would let us go, but then a Guard arrived who supposedly had been hit by a marble on the chest and said ‘These damn assholes are going to pay” And they hit us again.

They stole his wallet, watch and cell phone.

While the Ministers of Labor and Health get entangled in their own lies and contradictions, I get these lists of workers from the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research that did sign the petition to hold a recall referendum against Hugo Chávez. Now, these detailed lists are the result of organized crime, somebody with access to the Electoral database took the time to look up each and every employee to see if they had signed.  They even classified them by rank and whether they enjoy a pension or not. With what purpose? Well, it’s anybody’s guess, from intimidation, to extortion all the way to firing them. Those at IVIC that support Chavez should examine their own conscience and remember that there will be a day of reckoning and everyone will ask why they were not in these lists below.

Meanwhile, my good friend and one of Venezuela’s premier scientists, biophysicist Carlo Caputo wrote this letter to his colleagues around the world, which I have taken the trouble of translating:

There is a pro-government group that works at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), which no doubt has the authorization of the party leadership that supports the Chavez Government, which is circulating, in the anonymous fashion which is typical of cowards, a list of IVIC workers that signed the request to recall the mandate of Hugo Chávez Frias. Similar lists have been drawn up and are being circulated in many offices of the government, Ministries; institutes etc. and in some of them they have begun firing those that appear in the respective list. Last Saturday March 20^th. the Minister of Health, a certain Roger Capella, declared as terrorists all workers of the Ministry that signed asking for a referendum and thus can be removed from their positions. The Minister of Labor Maria Cristina Iglesias, cynically has said that in the files of those fired, it does not appear as the cause the fact that they had signed, attempting to cover up with hypocritical formalisms the abuse that has been committed.

Hugo Chavez has said that those that signed did not do it against Chávez, but they signed against the country, that is I, Chavez am the country (Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot etc, also said it). There are already complaints that some of those that signed are being denied citizen rights under the umbrella of the same Chavista Constitution, like the right to obtain a national identification card or passport issued.

These methods are common to all incipient dictatorships and belong to what Umberto Eco called Ur fascism or that is, fascism in its primitive state. The most incredible thing is that some pro-Chavez people or those that sympathize with him, especially abroad, still consider Chavismo to be a sort of idealized socialism. Can they be that blind?

In the opposition marches, Chavistas induce violence at the request and convenience of the boss and there are already dozens of deaths, assassinated by the Venezuelan “tonton macutes” (do your remember Papa Doc?). When there has been no violence, it has been used a deterrent, but with little success as demonstrated by the massive participation of people in these marches.

To circulate the list of those that signed is another one of the threatening and intimidating tactics of the Chavismo. Even before, there had been threats that they would excrete (sic!) those not addicted to the process.

But like everything this Government starts, these tactics are destined to fail. Those of us that have signed because we are against this corrupt and inefficient Government, authoritarian and criminally violent, consider it an honor to be on that list.

While the Ministers of Labor and Health get entangled in their own lies and contradictions, I get these lists of workers from the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research that did sign the petition to hold a recall referendum against Hugo Chávez. Now, these detailed lists are the result of organized crime, somebody with access to the Electoral database took the time to look up each and every employee to see if they had signed.  They even classified them by rank and whether they enjoy a pension or not. With what purpose? Well, it’s anybody’s guess, from intimidation, to extortion all the way to firing them. Those at IVIC that support Chavez should examine their own conscience and remember that there will be a day of reckoning and everyone will ask why they were not in these lists below.

Meanwhile, my good friend and one of Venezuela’s premier scientists, biophysicist Carlo Caputo wrote this letter to his colleagues around the world, which I have taken the trouble of translating:

There is a pro-government group that works at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), which no doubt has the authorization of the party leadership that supports the Chavez Government, which is circulating, in the anonymous fashion which is typical of cowards, a list of IVIC workers that signed the request to recall the mandate of Hugo Chávez Frias. Similar lists have been drawn up and are being circulated in many offices of the government, Ministries; institutes etc. and in some of them they have begun firing those that appear in the respective list. Last Saturday March 20^th. the Minister of Health, a certain Roger Capella, declared as terrorists all workers of the Ministry that signed asking for a referendum and thus can be removed from their positions. The Minister of Labor Maria Cristina Iglesias, cynically has said that in the files of those fired, it does not appear as the cause the fact that they had signed, attempting to cover up with hypocritical formalisms the abuse that has been committed.

Hugo Chavez has said that those that signed did not do it against Chávez, but they signed against the country, that is I, Chavez am the country (Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot etc, also said it). There are already complaints that some of those that signed are being denied citizen rights under the umbrella of the same Chavista Constitution, like the right to obtain a national identification card or passport issued.

These methods are common to all incipient dictatorships and belong to what Umberto Eco called Ur fascism or that is, fascism in its primitive state. The most incredible thing is that some pro-Chavez people or those that sympathize with him, especially abroad, still consider Chavismo to be a sort of idealized socialism. Can they be that blind?

In the opposition marches, Chavistas induce violence at the request and convenience of the boss and there are already dozens of deaths, assassinated by the Venezuelan “tonton macutes” (do your remember Papa Doc?). When there has been no violence, it has been used a deterrent, but with little success as demonstrated by the massive participation of people in these marches.

To circulate the list of those that signed is another one of the threatening and intimidating tactics of the Chavismo. Even before, there had been threats that they would excrete (sic!) those not addicted to the process.

But like everything this Government starts, these tactics are destined to fail. Those of us that have signed because we are against this corrupt and inefficient Government, authoritarian and criminally violent, consider it an honor to be on that list.

The Primero Justicia Party which holds a number of seats in the national assembly and has a number of important mayors in Caracas, announced this afternoon that their party will not change regional elections for the recall referendum and if there is no referendum, they will withdraw all of their candidacies to the regional elections.

The unanimous decision was announced when the leaders of that party registered the candidacy of fugitive Mayor Henrique Capriles. Capriles is in hiding since the Prosecutors have not allowed his lawyers to se what he is being charged with in his arrest warrant. Primero Justicia deputy Julio Borges said that the CNE and the Supreme Court were violating the rights of 3.4 million Venezuelans with technicalities and subterfuges which gave no guarantees that the law would be respected in the regional elections by either instance. First he said, people had to choose between impunity or justice, between fear and freedom and between chaos and peace.

Separately Primero Justicia deputy Gerardo Blyde said that the decision by the Constitutional hall of the Supreme Court is the first sentence in the country’s new dictatorships the Hall eliminated rights that people never thought they would lose. Blyde, a constitutional expert said that the decision by the highest Court modifies the Constitution with the only objective of avoiding the recall referendum. Blyde said that the principle of presumption of innocence was eliminated with this jurisprudence by the Constitutional hall; he said the electoral hall is there to resolve Electoral matters but the Court says it is not and acted on it. Finally Blyde said that there is also a principle that was violated, that when the law is clear, the interpreter can not go against the clarity of the law. He said the Government wants to reach August without a recall referendum.

There is a lot to blog about, but I really feel like I have no energy for it. The decision by the Constitutional Hall which is here, which voids that of the Electoral Hall on many grounds, some which I understand, some which I do not, seems to me to have been constructed for the occasion and to suit Chavez’ desires. Let me try to summarize the reasons why it was voided:

-It violated procedures.

-It did not give the CNE the right to defend itself.

-Says their decision (today’s) is not a threat to the right of citizens to express themselves (!)

-It says that changing no rules were changed, claiming that the criteria used were in place in September (!)

-Says the criteria applied by the Electoral Hall to validate the signatures does not apply in this case, because the CNE has to certify who signed. (What are signatures, witnesses and high security forms for?)

-It says the Electoral Hall could not rule the period for ratification was too short, since that period had not been established (False: CNE Director Jorge Rodríguez publicly announced it would be only two days on the same day that the decision on the signatures was announced)

-It says the Electoral power can draw up regulations on its own and the Electoral Hall violated its independence.

-Says that the Electoral hall decided on the issue not on the injunction.

Well, except for the first point and the last, for which I can not give an opinion because I am not a lawyer, the others seemed to me to be absurd: The decision does threaten my rights, the rules were changed on the way, the only valid identification is the signature and the fingerprint is there too just in case, if the Electoral Power is autonomous then what is the Electoral Hall for then?

What is clear to me is that the dice are loaded against the opposition with these guys. They will always be able to find a legal argument to stop the recall referendum or now that regional elections are in the works, to say that so many votes from here or there are invalid. That seems to be our future.

Now, the Electoral Hall will decide whether it challenges the decision by taking it to the Full Court or not. I understand that it will and that since Ivan Rincon was involved in the descion a different Justice will decided whether it goes to the full Court or not. But I also understand that they can stop it for a while, reject it temporarily and otherwise delay the whole process. Such is the law in a totalitarian state. Chavismo is the law in Venezuela, Chavez is the law, our very own Louis XIV.

God help us, we are in the hands of unethical and immoral Justices, leading the country into a tragic confrontation.

11:30 AM The Minister of Health and icon for freedom of speech reiterates that “people that participated in the signing of the petition can not be compatible with Government policies and thus can not work for public institutions”.

That’s fairly clear, no? Stalin is alive in Venezuela in the form of a mediocre and sad character named Roger Capella whose medical specialty is removing varicose veins.

12:18 AM The Minister reappears. He says: “what I said was an error, I should not have responded in those terms. I never thought my statements would become a public matter”. He states that unjustified firings should not take place because there should not be political retaliations on the part of the Government.

Ummm. You say something outrageous, you are the Minister of Health who just fired fourteen medical doctors and you don’t expect your statements to be a public matter. Stalin would have been very proud of you for coming up with this logic.

1:59 PM That icon of the truth and impartiality who encouraged people to go and signed falsely in the petition drive by the opposition, our own and dear Minister of Labor Maria Cristina Iglesias says :” Not one worker of the civil service has been the subject of pressure or fired for participating in the recall referendum”

As the laughs of the reporters turn into convulsions, Ms. Iglesias says she has not heard the statements by Roger the “Healthy Democrat” and proceeds to show all of the cases her Ministry has received denouncing that workers were pressured into signing. (The others she simply does not accept). We wonder is she has not heard them, why is she clarifying them?

2:16 PM The Executive Secretary of the Confederation of Unions says that so far “only” 7600 workers in the public sector have been fired. This includes the 14 Doctors denounced on Friday.

I am confused, you should be too. Maria Cristina told us minutes ago that not one person had been fired and now these guys say it is 7600. Is this a small statistical discrepancy like in the forms with the same calligraphy?

Just when I have tried digesting these news I read that the Press Secretary of the Supreme Court was fired with a vote of three to two. The reason? Justice Martini told the Press Secretary that he would not answer questions. The Press Secretary told the reporters this. Another Justice wondered why no questions were allowed, so he asked that the Press Secretary be fired.

Are you confused? So am I, and I am the one trying to explain to everyone what’s going in this bizarre country!

11:30 AM The Minister of Health and icon for freedom of speech reiterates that “people that participated in the signing of the petition can not be compatible with Government policies and thus can not work for public institutions”.

That’s fairly clear, no? Stalin is alive in Venezuela in the form of a mediocre and sad character named Roger Capella whose medical specialty is removing varicose veins.

12:18 AM The Minister reappears. He says: “what I said was an error, I should not have responded in those terms. I never thought my statements would become a public matter”. He states that unjustified firings should not take place because there should not be political retaliations on the part of the Government.

Ummm. You say something outrageous, you are the Minister of Health who just fired fourteen medical doctors and you don’t expect your statements to be a public matter. Stalin would have been very proud of you for coming up with this logic.

1:59 PM That icon of the truth and impartiality who encouraged people to go and signed falsely in the petition drive by the opposition, our own and dear Minister of Labor Maria Cristina Iglesias says :” Not one worker of the civil service has been the subject of pressure or fired for participating in the recall referendum”

As the laughs of the reporters turn into convulsions, Ms. Iglesias says she has not heard the statements by Roger the “Healthy Democrat” and proceeds to show all of the cases her Ministry has received denouncing that workers were pressured into signing. (The others she simply does not accept). We wonder is she has not heard them, why is she clarifying them?

2:16 PM The Executive Secretary of the Confederation of Unions says that so far “only” 7600 workers in the public sector have been fired. This includes the 14 Doctors denounced on Friday.

I am confused, you should be too. Maria Cristina told us minutes ago that not one person had been fired and now these guys say it is 7600. Is this a small statistical discrepancy like in the forms with the same calligraphy?

Just when I have tried digesting these news I read that the Press Secretary of the Supreme Court was fired with a vote of three to two. The reason? Justice Martini told the Press Secretary that he would not answer questions. The Press Secretary told the reporters this. Another Justice wondered why no questions were allowed, so he asked that the Press Secretary be fired.

Are you confused? So am I, and I am the one trying to explain to everyone what’s going in this bizarre country!

The man on the right is Jose Gregorio Garcia. Unknown and modest five years ago except in his party MAS, he has now become a favorite for big road construction projects. Recently he was awarded US$ 30 million in contracts in the effort by the Chavez administration to “distribute” the wealth. Some even say he was given dollars at the official rate with some of this money. Oh! I forgot! The man on the left is Ismael Garcia, his brother, Deputy of the National Assembly and Head of of Chavez “Comando Ayacucho”. The faces of the pretty revolution!

Powerful words by Alexandra Beech of Veninvestor describing the presentation by former Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN Milos Alcalay in her daily review of March 12^th. In particular she was offended by “these Stepford Children who share New York with me” referring to the pro-Chavez students, secretaries and activists that attempted to make Alcalay look bad by asking what he had done when previous human rights abuses had taken place. And she was shocked with the Consulate Secretary that calle a priest attending the event a “white collar thief”.

But the best part is when Alexandra gives this very brief, but poignant description about why the opposition rejects Chavez:

The opposition rejects Chavez because he represents everything that is wrong with the country, and nothing that is right. He feeds the poor with food and hope to maintain their support long enough to remain in power. He turns Venezuelans against their fellow Venezuelans. He keeps Venezuela split, instead of united. He distorts the concept of democracy so that his opponents are coup plotters instead of citizens who want to exercise their freedom to sign him out of power. In his paranoid state, every action is a coup, every opponent an enemy to be crushed. Steeped in narcissism, he thinks Venezuela is about him rather than of the millions of Venezuelans who are Venezuela.  He uses Castro to control his military and indoctrinate his followers, and allows himself to be used by Castro in support of his “revolution”. A revolution alright, but a revolution that has revolutionized how quickly a country can become extremely poor, desperate, and miserable.  His current hero is Mugabe, hardly an example of someone who values freedom and democracy. In fact, the truest racist of all.

The opposition rejects Chavez because he continues to impose himself on the country long after his appointment with history ended. But by blocking the referendum through manipulation and repression, he is finally acknowledging that he is a dictator with no need for a pluralistic, democratic, and free-thinking society. Venezuelans oppose him because they yearn for a free and democratic society, not the structures of the past, but not this volatile state either.