The Devil's Excrement

When Hugo Chavez was going around the country asking people to rebel against the Government, which later turned into his successful campaign for the Presidency, he would always talk about the “Caracazo” that tragic event in 1989, when riots which began with a fuel price increase turned into a carnage when the military was brought in too late to stop the riots. More than 200 people died those terrible days. Chavze repeatedly talked about those events, recalling Simon Bolivars phrase “Damn the soldier that aims at his own people” and citing and praising the work of COFAVIC and its leader Liliana Ortega.

For years after the Caracazo, only Liliana Ortega worried day after day about it. She single handedly and painstakingly brought the case against the Government to international Courts. COFAVIC, which stands for “Committee for the defense of the victims of the Caracazo” became the country’s most reputable human rights organization and extended its reach to human rights violations in Venezuela.

Today, Chavez is no longer praising either Liliana Ortega or COFAVIC. Nor is he reminding people of what Bolivar said about pointing their guns at their own people. In fact, Chavez has done nothing but attack COFAVIC, since it got involved in the investigation of the deaths of April 2002. Most recently, Chavez accused COFAVIC of receiving money from abroad, being a traitor to their country.

When I think of living Venezuelans I admire, I think curiously, of two people, Oscar D’Leon, “El Diablo de la Salsa”, because of his hard work and the universality of his music and fame and Liliana Ortega, because for 15 years she has pioneered the defense of human rights in Venezuela with passion and single-mindedness and has not allowed anything or anyone to distract her from her purpose or stand in her way. In fact, many times during the last fifteen years, she has been proposed for Government positions and has refused to even be considered for them, so that she can devote her time to her work. Additionally, she has always been against the use of praise for her work for political purposes.

Ms. Ortega’s most important victory took place about one year ago; when the Human Rights Commission of the OAS ruled that the Venezuelan Government had to indemnify the relatives of the victims for their abuses. Only in the last two months did the Government finally do it after ignoring it for almost a year.

I say this as a preamble to COFAVIC’s presentation yesterday of their preliminary report on human rights violations between Feb 27^th. and March 5^th.

The report is a wholesale condemnation of the Government’s actions during those days. First of all said Ms. Ortega, there is a pattern that Government security agencies and the military are following in the detentions they perform as well as the tortures. Ortega said that they were not isolated cases, since they had been able to corroborate the complaints filed by those affected that police and the military used the same techniques everywhere, throwing tear gas canisters in closed spaces, spraying water to make it itch, hitting detainees with helmets and shields, simulating firing squads and threatening relatives if they denounce what happened.

Ortega reminded authorities that torture crimes do not prescribe and it is a crime by the individual that commits it as well as by the officers that do nothing to correct or find those responsible for the aggression.

To COFAVIC it is truly alarming that high Government officials congratulate and back the behavior of National Guardsmen and other forces that participated in the repression those days.

COFAVIC also charged that the investigative police is not offering any assurances of impartiality or transparency in its investigations, since the Director of that body already issued his opinions which are clearly partial against the victims attempting to make them the criminals.

For COFAVIC, they can not understand how the Minister of the Interior and Justice calls for the victims to show up and denounce the abuses when he already denied that any had taken place. For them, the Government’s strategy is to make the accusations seem banal to hide the truth. No relative is going to show up and make an accusation after he is being called the criminal like it has been happening.

Turning the victims into criminals is a clear pattern established by the Government and the military in the last few days. Today, the General in charge of the Lagunillas fort, where people were raped, tortured and murdered, said that the woman raped was a prostitute, that the torture and death was caused by “mafias” these individuals were involved with.

In an episode reminiscent of totalitarian Governments elsewhere, the military simply disappeared the temporary fort in Lagunillas where rape, torture and death of the Zambrano family took place. In this way, there will be no way to find the evidence and the soldiers involved will be dispersed through other units.

When Hugo Chavez was going around the country asking people to rebel against the Government, which later turned into his successful campaign for the Presidency, he would always talk about the “Caracazo” that tragic event in 1989, when riots which began with a fuel price increase turned into a carnage when the military was brought in too late to stop the riots. More than 200 people died those terrible days. Chavze repeatedly talked about those events, recalling Simon Bolivars phrase “Damn the soldier that aims at his own people” and citing and praising the work of COFAVIC and its leader Liliana Ortega.

For years after the Caracazo, only Liliana Ortega worried day after day about it. She single handedly and painstakingly brought the case against the Government to international Courts. COFAVIC, which stands for “Committee for the defense of the victims of the Caracazo” became the country’s most reputable human rights organization and extended its reach to human rights violations in Venezuela.

Today, Chavez is no longer praising either Liliana Ortega or COFAVIC. Nor is he reminding people of what Bolivar said about pointing their guns at their own people. In fact, Chavez has done nothing but attack COFAVIC, since it got involved in the investigation of the deaths of April 2002. Most recently, Chavez accused COFAVIC of receiving money from abroad, being a traitor to their country.

When I think of living Venezuelans I admire, I think curiously, of two people, Oscar D’Leon, “El Diablo de la Salsa”, because of his hard work and the universality of his music and fame and Liliana Ortega, because for 15 years she has pioneered the defense of human rights in Venezuela with passion and single-mindedness and has not allowed anything or anyone to distract her from her purpose or stand in her way. In fact, many times during the last fifteen years, she has been proposed for Government positions and has refused to even be considered for them, so that she can devote her time to her work. Additionally, she has always been against the use of praise for her work for political purposes.

Ms. Ortega’s most important victory took place about one year ago; when the Human Rights Commission of the OAS ruled that the Venezuelan Government had to indemnify the relatives of the victims for their abuses. Only in the last two months did the Government finally do it after ignoring it for almost a year.

I say this as a preamble to COFAVIC’s presentation yesterday of their preliminary report on human rights violations between Feb 27^th. and March 5^th.

The report is a wholesale condemnation of the Government’s actions during those days. First of all said Ms. Ortega, there is a pattern that Government security agencies and the military are following in the detentions they perform as well as the tortures. Ortega said that they were not isolated cases, since they had been able to corroborate the complaints filed by those affected that police and the military used the same techniques everywhere, throwing tear gas canisters in closed spaces, spraying water to make it itch, hitting detainees with helmets and shields, simulating firing squads and threatening relatives if they denounce what happened.

Ortega reminded authorities that torture crimes do not prescribe and it is a crime by the individual that commits it as well as by the officers that do nothing to correct or find those responsible for the aggression.

To COFAVIC it is truly alarming that high Government officials congratulate and back the behavior of National Guardsmen and other forces that participated in the repression those days.

COFAVIC also charged that the investigative police is not offering any assurances of impartiality or transparency in its investigations, since the Director of that body already issued his opinions which are clearly partial against the victims attempting to make them the criminals.

For COFAVIC, they can not understand how the Minister of the Interior and Justice calls for the victims to show up and denounce the abuses when he already denied that any had taken place. For them, the Government’s strategy is to make the accusations seem banal to hide the truth. No relative is going to show up and make an accusation after he is being called the criminal like it has been happening.

Turning the victims into criminals is a clear pattern established by the Government and the military in the last few days. Today, the General in charge of the Lagunillas fort, where people were raped, tortured and murdered, said that the woman raped was a prostitute, that the torture and death was caused by “mafias” these individuals were involved with.

In an episode reminiscent of totalitarian Governments elsewhere, the military simply disappeared the temporary fort in Lagunillas where rape, torture and death of the Zambrano family took place. In this way, there will be no way to find the evidence and the soldiers involved will be dispersed through other units.

If there was a prize for manipulation and cynicism, Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel would win it more than once. After MAS founder Pompeyo Marquez reminded Rangel of their common friend Alberto Lovera killed in the 60’s by the Government, Rangel suggested that it was Marquez that had switched side and was now on the side of the killers.

But Marquez did not let the issue end there. He reminded Rangel of the many deaths of the ten days of repression in late February and early March and warned him that one day he would pay for it.

Well, yesterday Rangel held the most obnoxious, immoral and cynical event, when he invited some relatives of victims of torture and death of the forty years of of the IVth. Republic to “back them” in having world Courts know about their cases. Makes you wonder why it took him five years to make this “generous” offer or was he simply taking advantage of tehir evrlastin grief?.  Trying to become a hero of Human Rights, Rangel said people could not make such denunciations before (Oh Yeah! How did Rangel become famous? Except his denunciations were mostly lies and he never had proof) He even managed to involve the US  in his despicable show, by saying that the term “desaparecido” was born in Venezuela by military trained in the US.

But I don’t want you to think I am exaggerating, here is the translation of Petkoff’s note in today’s Tal Cual, about Rangel’s perverse show, in which Lovera’s widow Maria del Mar participated.  Remember that Petkoff was a founder of Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party which backed Rangel as a presidential candidate twice and was also part of the active guerilla movement against the Government in the 60’s, which Rangel was not:

To Maria del Mar Lovera, my old and dear friend by Teodoro Petkoff

What a coincidence! Just when he has deaths to cover up, Jose Vicente Rangel remembers the crimes of the sixties and, taking advantage of the understandable pain that never ceases, gathers some of their grieving relatives to stage a show.

We have seen few operations of manipulation than are more cynical, more indecent and with so few scruples than this one. But his mind played a trick on him. Another lapsus brutis (stupid slip). “You can not cover some deaths with others”, he said, or better, he confessed.

Sadly for him, that is what everyone understood, that Rangel is trying desperately to kill Alberto Lovera for the second time to erase the tracks of the crimes for which he himself has to respond. After five years in Government, Rangel announces that he will take these cases to the OAS. Why did he wait so long? Why now and not before? Who does Rangel think he can trick with this coarse manipulation? Only a con artist would attempt to cover up the death of Eva Carrizo in Machiques, or of Zambrano the teenager in Lagunillas, with those that took place in other eras. Is it that the relatives of today’s victims are responsible for the assassination of the past?

If there was a prize for manipulation and cynicism, Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel would win it more than once. After MAS founder Pompeyo Marquez reminded Rangel of their common friend Alberto Lovera killed in the 60’s by the Government, Rangel suggested that it was Marquez that had switched side and was now on the side of the killers.

But Marquez did not let the issue end there. He reminded Rangel of the many deaths of the ten days of repression in late February and early March and warned him that one day he would pay for it.

Well, yesterday Rangel held the most obnoxious, immoral and cynical event, when he invited some relatives of victims of torture and death of the forty years of of the IVth. Republic to “back them” in having world Courts know about their cases. Makes you wonder why it took him five years to make this “generous” offer or was he simply taking advantage of tehir evrlastin grief?.  Trying to become a hero of Human Rights, Rangel said people could not make such denunciations before (Oh Yeah! How did Rangel become famous? Except his denunciations were mostly lies and he never had proof) He even managed to involve the US  in his despicable show, by saying that the term “desaparecido” was born in Venezuela by military trained in the US.

But I don’t want you to think I am exaggerating, here is the translation of Petkoff’s note in today’s Tal Cual, about Rangel’s perverse show, in which Lovera’s widow Maria del Mar participated.  Remember that Petkoff was a founder of Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party which backed Rangel as a presidential candidate twice and was also part of the active guerilla movement against the Government in the 60’s, which Rangel was not:

To Maria del Mar Lovera, my old and dear friend by Teodoro Petkoff

What a coincidence! Just when he has deaths to cover up, Jose Vicente Rangel remembers the crimes of the sixties and, taking advantage of the understandable pain that never ceases, gathers some of their grieving relatives to stage a show.

We have seen few operations of manipulation than are more cynical, more indecent and with so few scruples than this one. But his mind played a trick on him. Another lapsus brutis (stupid slip). “You can not cover some deaths with others”, he said, or better, he confessed.

Sadly for him, that is what everyone understood, that Rangel is trying desperately to kill Alberto Lovera for the second time to erase the tracks of the crimes for which he himself has to respond. After five years in Government, Rangel announces that he will take these cases to the OAS. Why did he wait so long? Why now and not before? Who does Rangel think he can trick with this coarse manipulation? Only a con artist would attempt to cover up the death of Eva Carrizo in Machiques, or of Zambrano the teenager in Lagunillas, with those that took place in other eras. Is it that the relatives of today’s victims are responsible for the assassination of the past?

Primero Justicia Deputy Gerardo Blyde. who is a Constitutional expert, introduced today a brief in the Venezuelan Supreme Court. In it, Blyde accuses the three members of the constitutional hall of the Supreme Court of process fraud when they tried to interfere in a suit in which they had no jurisdiction so as to benefit one of the sides.

Blyde suggested that the Justices should go to jail and promised that he will introduce another brief accusing the directors of the CNE of disrespect for disobeying the order by the CNE to proceed with the ratification process and add the signatures with the same calligraphy to the totals.

The worst part was that Blyde described how surprised he was when he went to see the decision by the Constitutional Hall and discovered that it simply does not exist. Blyde said they were trying to bar him from looking at the file for the case, but when they finally gave it to him, the sentence that the President of the Supreme Court had said they had published is not there.

Blyde concludes that in the absence of a decision, it just does not exist. Thus, there is not even a conflict at this time before Halls and the CNE should obey the decision of the Electoral hall.

\Blyde concluding by saying: “Think maliciously and you will be right. We presumed that were unfortunately ready for the consummation of a fraud to the legal process, that they had a sentence signed by three justices and were not placing it in the file. They are preparing an additional sentence that will attempt to void the ruling by the Electoral hall and they will place in the file both at once, violating the law and the right to dues process”

Well, there may be another explanation, these Justices know how absurd and illegal it is that they are doing that they are too afraid to place it in the file and later be tried for it. Supreme Court decisions are actually sawn into the file of each case, so they will be very difficult to remove, particularly if new parts are added to the file itself in later dates.

Primero Justicia Deputy Gerardo Blyde. who is a Constitutional expert, introduced today a brief in the Venezuelan Supreme Court. In it, Blyde accuses the three members of the constitutional hall of the Supreme Court of process fraud when they tried to interfere in a suit in which they had no jurisdiction so as to benefit one of the sides.

Blyde suggested that the Justices should go to jail and promised that he will introduce another brief accusing the directors of the CNE of disrespect for disobeying the order by the CNE to proceed with the ratification process and add the signatures with the same calligraphy to the totals.

The worst part was that Blyde described how surprised he was when he went to see the decision by the Constitutional Hall and discovered that it simply does not exist. Blyde said they were trying to bar him from looking at the file for the case, but when they finally gave it to him, the sentence that the President of the Supreme Court had said they had published is not there.

Blyde concludes that in the absence of a decision, it just does not exist. Thus, there is not even a conflict at this time before Halls and the CNE should obey the decision of the Electoral hall.

\Blyde concluding by saying: “Think maliciously and you will be right. We presumed that were unfortunately ready for the consummation of a fraud to the legal process, that they had a sentence signed by three justices and were not placing it in the file. They are preparing an additional sentence that will attempt to void the ruling by the Electoral hall and they will place in the file both at once, violating the law and the right to dues process”

Well, there may be another explanation, these Justices know how absurd and illegal it is that they are doing that they are too afraid to place it in the file and later be tried for it. Supreme Court decisions are actually sawn into the file of each case, so they will be very difficult to remove, particularly if new parts are added to the file itself in later dates.

The OAS representative Fernando Jaramillo, left aside his usual diplomatic style and asked the President of the CNE Francisco Carrasquero “respectfully” to let him know what are these “proofs” he said he had last night about the representatives of the OAS and the Carter Center being partial towards the opposition.

Jaramillo explained, that usually do not respond to this type of accusations which are normal in these types of processes, however, since in this case the accusations come from the President of the Electoral board who happens to be a counterpart in the negotiations, he felt forced to make some comments given the public nature of Carrasquero’s remarks.

Among many things, Jaramillo reminds Carrasquero that in the agreement signed with the CNE it was established that the OAS mission could inform the CNE of all “irregularities, technical deficiencies and interferences that they may have identified as a result of their observation process”. Jaramillo closes by saying that it would be to the Secretary General of the OAS and its Permanent Council that corresponds to evaluate the role of the mission in Venezuela, which will be done at the appropriate moment.

And to me my friends, this is the key. Carrasquero is once again acting as a lackey of Hugo Chávez. They know that these missions are fairly careful of what they say or not in public, but when it comes time to present their final report to the OAS, whether there is a recall referendum or not, that report is going to be extremely critical of Carrasquero and his cronies. Thus, they are attempting to deflect that future criticism, by accusing them now of being partial.

The representative form the carter center was a little less blunt, but she did say that they had sent a letter to Carrasquero asking for clarification of his remarks.

Since I got the presentation from Sumate on their analysis of the CNE data, I have wanted to discuss it, but their graphs would have made it very heavy if I placed them in my home page. Instead, you can find the Sumate presentation right here, where you will learn how absurd the whole process has been. You can study and we can discuss it in the comments.

In the presentation, you will find, among many other things, the 35 characteristics ‘used” by the CNE to disqualify signatures, despite the fact that only five were typified in the regulations as causes for disqualification or questioning. This does not bother Carrasquero the “impartial” who claims to have a degree in law and respect the rights of the people. Does not bother the Attorney general, the Constitutional Hall or the Peoples’ Ombudsman. Weird, no?

But Mr. Carrasquero, who claims to be a lawyer and Mr. Rodriguez, who is a psychiatrist, authorized the Chavista-controlled “Technical Committee” of the CNE to manipulate the signatures at will, ending with a mess of numbers that could not pass or satisfy even the most superficial audit. They deserved to be renamed the “political” committee.

But one of the things that really caught my attention is shown in the following map of Caracas, in which dots have been placed, the size of which indicates what percentage of the forms at each polling center in the city were disqualified or placed under observation.

What I found fascinating about it is that it proves to me why the forms with the same calligraphy were necessary. For those of you who do not know Caracas, you can simplify the socioeconomic distribution of its population as being poor on the West side (mid-left to left on the image) and East side (extreme right of the image) with the band in the middle being where what is left of the middle class lives.

Well, it is remarkable that what this picture actually shows is that the rules were loaded against the very people that Chávez and his revolution are supposed to represent, love and rule for. It is very simple, the rules were quite strict (look in the presentation at the 35 types of errors), and you had to write clearly and carefully, within a restricted space and in a certain order. Well, the result was that those living in the poor areas had a much higher percentage of rejections or signatures sent for observation.

In fact, it had to be that way. It was precisely in the lower class areas of the cities where those at the poll booths helped those signing the petition the most in filling out their personal data. Therefore, it is those areas that generated more forms with the same calligraphy. In fact the map above can be used by someone that knows Caracas to identify barrios, even those entrenched within middle class neigborhoods, very simply. Even where there are few large size dots, look for the bigger ones. 

Ironic isn’t it? The revolution created rules that in the end violated the rights of those that are supposed to support it the most. Or was it simply revenge for opposing the revolution despite being poor?

The amount of bad faith involved can be shown in the following “live” form which the CNE disqualified. Look at it. Try to figure out how or why it was placed under observation. The answer below the image.

The above form represents one out of more than 8,500 that had one, only one signature placed under observation for the oxymoronic concept of having the same calligraphy. Yes, signature number three from the top was disqualified for having the same calligraphy. Against what? Nobody knows. You would think two would be placed under observation, no? Oh, but Mr. Carrasquero, Rodriguez and Battaglini (who apparently is deaf-mute) are experts in law, statistics and now on relative oxymoroonic calligraphy, a field in which they will have time to study and practice a lot once the Vth. Republic is but only a memory and they are guests of the prison system of the VIth. Republic.

Since I got the presentation from Sumate on their analysis of the CNE data, I have wanted to discuss it, but their graphs would have made it very heavy if I placed them in my home page. Instead, you can find the Sumate presentation right here, where you will learn how absurd the whole process has been. You can study and we can discuss it in the comments.

In the presentation, you will find, among many other things, the 35 characteristics ‘used” by the CNE to disqualify signatures, despite the fact that only five were typified in the regulations as causes for disqualification or questioning. This does not bother Carrasquero the “impartial” who claims to have a degree in law and respect the rights of the people. Does not bother the Attorney general, the Constitutional Hall or the Peoples’ Ombudsman. Weird, no?

But Mr. Carrasquero, who claims to be a lawyer and Mr. Rodriguez, who is a psychiatrist, authorized the Chavista-controlled “Technical Committee” of the CNE to manipulate the signatures at will, ending with a mess of numbers that could not pass or satisfy even the most superficial audit. They deserved to be renamed the “political” committee.

But one of the things that really caught my attention is shown in the following map of Caracas, in which dots have been placed, the size of which indicates what percentage of the forms at each polling center in the city were disqualified or placed under observation.

What I found fascinating about it is that it proves to me why the forms with the same calligraphy were necessary. For those of you who do not know Caracas, you can simplify the socioeconomic distribution of its population as being poor on the West side (mid-left to left on the image) and East side (extreme right of the image) with the band in the middle being where what is left of the middle class lives.

Well, it is remarkable that what this picture actually shows is that the rules were loaded against the very people that Chávez and his revolution are supposed to represent, love and rule for. It is very simple, the rules were quite strict (look in the presentation at the 35 types of errors), and you had to write clearly and carefully, within a restricted space and in a certain order. Well, the result was that those living in the poor areas had a much higher percentage of rejections or signatures sent for observation.

In fact, it had to be that way. It was precisely in the lower class areas of the cities where those at the poll booths helped those signing the petition the most in filling out their personal data. Therefore, it is those areas that generated more forms with the same calligraphy. In fact the map above can be used by someone that knows Caracas to identify barrios, even those entrenched within middle class neigborhoods, very simply. Even where there are few large size dots, look for the bigger ones. 

Ironic isn’t it? The revolution created rules that in the end violated the rights of those that are supposed to support it the most. Or was it simply revenge for opposing the revolution despite being poor?

The amount of bad faith involved can be shown in the following “live” form which the CNE disqualified. Look at it. Try to figure out how or why it was placed under observation. The answer below the image.

The above form represents one out of more than 8,500 that had one, only one signature placed under observation for the oxymoronic concept of having the same calligraphy. Yes, signature number three from the top was disqualified for having the same calligraphy. Against what? Nobody knows. You would think two would be placed under observation, no? Oh, but Mr. Carrasquero, Rodriguez and Battaglini (who apparently is deaf-mute) are experts in law, statistics and now on relative oxymoroonic calligraphy, a field in which they will have time to study and practice a lot once the Vth. Republic is but only a memory and they are guests of the prison system of the VIth. Republic.

Last night I was ranting about the limited freedom of speech that Venezuelans enjoy and I am sure than more than one reader, even among those that oppose Chávez, was thinking that I was exaggerating. Well, today my point was proven extensively by the fact that the tax office SENIAT showed up at the offices of Channel 2, Radio Caracas Television to present a tax fine for Bs. 2 billion.

The origin of the tax fine is the fact that the station donated to the opposition air time to broadcast its message against the government. How political can you get? The message is clear, the Government will use whichever and whatever means under its control to actually stop the opposition from speaking out, essentially limiting free speech and threatening the media this way. That a tax office can be manipulated to show up to argue that it is illegal to donate air time to the opposition is simply absurd and illegal. It also violates the right of free speech.

In fact, one wonders what type of ethics these guys have. The Government TV station VTV, broadcasts all day the message not only of the Government, but also of Chavez MVR party. This is simply a violation of corruption laws which do not allow Government funds to be spent on political acts of any party. Moreover, the Government TV stations, in contrast to the other media, gives absolutely NO space to the opposition, even reaching the point of faking images to “demonstrate” that opposition marches have small attendance. Finally, all TV stations are also forced to broadcast long speeches by Hugo Chávez where all he is doing is promoting himself, his so called revolution and those of is party. How fair is this?

While these are dangerous signs, it also shows a certain level of desperation on the part of Chavez and his cronies. Blocking the referendum at all costs, killing people, torturing them and even disappearing some and now attempting to silent the media are in the end simply a sign of weakness. Hopefully they are also acts of desperation.