Courtesy of vcrisis and Alek, here is the protest carried out in London yesterday against the Chavez Government
Electoral Commission approves referendum four to one
December 3, 2002The Comision Nacional Electoral (CNE) which makes all electoral decisions voted today by four to one to hold a referendum on Feb. 2nd. to ask the people if they want President Hugo Chavez to voluntarily resign. Earlier the vote had been three to one, which the Supreme Court in a very convoluted argument had said was not legal as four of the five possible votes were needed.
Blow by blow account of repression against demonstrators and reporters
December 3, 2002(Read this post from top to bottom)
2:51 PM The National Guard is now gassing the reporters who were complaining to the officers of the Guard, one reporter is now injured. Way to go Hugo!
2:54 PM Reporters are now putting on bulletproof vests. Shit! Pictures of facism by the National Guard all over the place. Hope the world can finally see Hugo Chavez for what he is. Look at the crying lady below to the right. Shame!Shame! Shame!
3:48 PM Dissident Generals of Plaza Altamira are now trying to talk to the
National Guard that are actually gassing them right now.
5:14 PM People have begun protesting in the East of Caracas in many places, National Guard using gas in most of them. Government says it is all the opposition/coupsters/terrorists that attacked the National Guard (How come they are not injured?). Main highway through Caracas is blocked by protesters, PDVSA building is just empty, nobody there. Nationbal Guard General approached by dissident General said that the gathering had no permit, while the permit has been shown on TV. Moreover, as reported here this morning, the Court said the military had to withdraw from Miranda State. Meanwhile General Garcia Carneiro said that the highest civilian authority in Caracas is Hugo Chavez in clear challenge to the Court’s decision. Opposition is calling on Cesar Gaviria to invoke the Democratic letter of the OAS. People in Maracaibo also protesting. Reporters injured by the National Guard.
5:28 PM Weird action right now, apparently the Court has reiterated that the military have to leave Miranda State as decided yesterday and General Garcia Carneiro has been informed of this. Thus, the National Guardsmen are leaving followed by cheering people, Kafka and Macondo are alive and well in Caracas, Venezuela.
5:34 PM Now the National Guard as it was leaving, started shooting tear gas towards the cheering demonstartors. Go figure!
5:44 PM Things are confusing, supposedly the last tear gas was to clear the way (nice people!!!) as they departed. Meanwhile, Air Force planes are flying in Maracay, south of Caracas as people cheer in the same place they were gassed……..Stay tuned.
6:09 PM Festive atmosphere where less than an hour ago there was tear gas and repression. The final scenes on TV when the military left, showed military sharpshooters on the roof of the CCCT shopping center (????). No word from the Coordinating committee of the opposition, the area of the early protest is now being flooded with people from all sides (Including myself, I will now join them!!)
6:15 PM Now I am lost, the National Guard is now shooting tear gas at the demosntrators who were happily celebrating. Now the Guard is shooting from the inside of the military airport in Caracas, right next to where everything took place all afternoon. TV says that some demonstrators tried to go in the base. In the picture below to the right is the military base, you can see the tear gas in the middle and the people below and above running.
Have to ask: Is a coup on? Nothing makes sense.
6:33 PM General strike to continue tomorrow.
Government represses peaceful gathering with tear gas
December 3, 2002The National Guard just dispersed a peaceful gathering of PDVSA oil workers who were gathering to support one of the Mangers of the comnpany whose house was assaulted last night. There were kids, women and people listening to speeches when the attack took place. The strike will now continue and the stupid action by the Government might simply be the catalyst that was needed. Where is Jimmy Carter, Cesar Gaviria, Human Rights Watch? Fools!!!
Court grants injunction against militarization of Caracas
December 3, 2002The First Circuit Court granted the Governor of Miranda State Enrique Mendoza the injunction he requested against the militarizaton of Caracas on the grounds that the Governor,as it highest cicvilian authority, had not approved the militarization. The decision implies that all military pesonnel has to abanndon the streets of Miranda state immediately after General Garcia Carneiro, who ordered the measure is notified or the decision published. This may be a first step in restoring civilian authority to most of Caracas.
What’s going on at Human Rights Watch?
December 2, 2002Previously I wrote a couple of articles on Human Rights Watch, a human rights organization based in Washington and New York, which in my opinion has been extremely soft on the Chavez administration and really tough on the opposition to the point of being simply too biased. On October ninth and tenth of this year I wrote articles about this peculiar behavior, given that in its last statement on Venezuela on October 9th., HRW was criticizing the opposition for things that it could criticize the Chavez administration almost weekly. Remarkably, HRW has been silent since then, when the Chavez administration has committed what I believe are the most important violations to human and civil rights since the April massacre. While I sent copies of my writings to HRW, I have not heard from then since.
Key to understanding the strange behavior of HRW appears to be the person in charge of the Andean region, Jose Miguel Vivanco. Mr. Vivanco, who I understand is originally from Chile, appears to be suffering from the syndrome of his own past catching up to him, since he was close to the Allende regime by way of his father. Thus we appear to be suffering from the biased nightmares of a person who is clearly incompetent and unqualified to be a Director of a reputable Human Rights organization.
That Mr. Vivanco is key to understanding this absurd behavior on the part of HRW, can be confirmed by a protest published on Nov. 21st. in Bogota’s daily El Tiempo by the Colombian group Tradicion y Accion, parts of which I translate here:
Colombia: Human Rights Watch accused of unprecedented tolerance.
Mr. Jose Miguel Vivanco, Director for Human Rights Watch, an organization which claims to defend human rights, exhibits unprecedented tolerance with the guerrillas and promotes a strange persecution against those that fight against them, said the non-government organization Tradicion y Accion in a document published in Bogota’s El Tiempo.
The eloquence of Mr. Vivanco can not be heard to denounce guerrilla-terrorists, but it is used repeatedly and unjustly to accuse the military and policemen who bravely defend the country and specially those that have been most effective against in the task of battling subversion, guerrilla and drug traffickers, the main origin of most of our problems.
Tradicion y Accion reminds HRW that Colombian justice has investigated these charges presented previously by Mr. Vivanco and that when it really proved the crimes of police or Army members, including the links to paramilitary groups which operate outside the law, they have been severely punished, but in the majority of cases it was proven that the accusations were badly intentioned lies launched by the friends and collaborators of the subversion to whom Mr. Vivanco appears to give more credit than the sentences of Colombian justice.
Tradicion y Accion is sorry about the silence of Human Rights Watch before and after the kidnapping of the President of CELAM and the Bishop of Zipaquira by the FARC guerrillas:”Mr. Vivanco did not say one word to condemn it” and after the Bishop was rescued by the Armed Forces :”once again Mr. Vivanco kept his silence, despite the fact that it was a moment to praise the soldiers, not only for rescuing the victims, but also for preventing that their captivity allow extortive pressures on the church and the country.
Finally Tradicion y Accion mentions that every year more than three thousand people are kidnapped in Colombia, most of them by the guerrillas, almost 100 towns, almost one every three days are destroyed by rockets and bombs of the FARC and ELN: dozens of polivcemn and soldiers have been savagedly assasinated by these terrorist groups and some of them, terribly mutilated and the conflict has induced the migration of two million people.
The statement closes by saying that HRW said that all its statements on the subject are on its webiste, where little can be found on the topic.
Government says strike a failure………what else is new?
December 2, 2002
The Government continues to say that everything is “normal” and the general strike was only succesful in 20%. The pictures above are from Avenida Francisco de Miranda , one of the main avenues of Caracas at midday. Typically, it would be bumper to bumper. There were a few incidents, but except for the use of tear gas to stop a demonstration by oil workers, nothing too violent. The strike will continue tomorrow. The Minisiter of Labor said the Government will not return to the negotiation table as long as the strike is on, so this may be a test of wills in the end.
Perhaps one of the stupidest things the Government did was to organize a “Megamarket” on a Monday morning in one of the main avenues of Caracas, Avenida Bolivar, to concentrate people there as a way of showing the failure of the strike. The question was how could they close down that avenue on a Monday, and why weren’t the people there working, if everything was so “normal”.
Strike begins, seems even better than the one in October
December 2, 2002While I am sure the Government by now is saying the strike is a failure, from my house I can see Cota Mill and only once in a while does a car go by. (For those that may not know what Cota Mil is is a heavily trafficked highway north of Caracas). Globovision also has a picture of Cota Mil, comparing a normal day and today, it is not terribly clear, but it will have do for now:
General Strike Tomorrow
December 1, 2002Barring any unlikely last minute change, Venezuela will go on a general strike tomorrow. Internationally many people find this action surprising, given that the opposition is negotiating with the Government at this time. Without going into the details of the abuses of power and violations of the Constitution in the last three and a half years by Chavez and his Government, I find it very simple to explain based on only recent events:
On Nov. 4th. 2002, 2 million signatures were presented to the National Electoral Council asking for a referendum asking Venezuelans if they think that Hugo Chavez should voluntarily resign. This is a procedure included in the new Constitution written by Chavez and his supporters in 1999 (They held 96% of the seats in the Constituent Assembly that wrote the new Constitution). Only 1.2 million signatures are required and within 30 days the referendum has to be approved or denied.
On Nov. 8th. the opposition and the Government sat down to hold talks on possible ways out of the current political crisis. The talks are being mediated by OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria.
Since Nov. 8th., the Government intervened the Metropolitan Police of Caracas, in violation of the separation of powers established by the Constitution, which explicitly establishes that Municipal police forces are the responsability of the Mayors. Moreover, the Government has since and before Nov. 8th. attempted to block by whatever means was necessary the approval of the referendum. These attempts included:
-Chavez’ supporters attacking the convoy with the signatures on Nov. 4th.
-Chavez sending back the Electoral Power bill to the National Assembly with 42 modifications, which the Supreme Court ruled invalid.
– The Head of the Electoral Council, a Chavez supporter, resigning to make it difficult to have valid decisions made by the Council.
-A former member of the Council, a Chavez supporter who has held two Government positions since her resignation, attempting to rejoin the Council.
-The National Assembly attempting to name a member to the Council, an act which has no legal foundation as the Assembly has to name all members at once, with a two-thirds majority and only after a accepting names from citiznes for a specified period of time.
-The Chavez Government asking the Supreme Court to declare the question proposed illegal.
-Finally, last Wednesday, of the five members of the Electoral Council, three voted in favor of holding the referendum, one abstained, the other voted against it. The Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled (only 24 hours later) that even if a new Electoral Law had been approved, decisions had to be made by four members, as they were elected under the previous Law. This is a disgraceful interpretation, nowhere in the world does a Law prevail once it has been replaced.
That’s it. We followed the law and the Chavez administration used its power, trickery and influence to stop us from exercising our rights. At this point, nobody defends our rights, so unfortunately, we will go on strike. Where this will lead, nobody knows.
Another Venezuelan blog, this on a blow by blow account of Chavez and his actions
December 1, 2002Well, blogging is extending fast to Venezuela, I just discovered another Venezuelan blog called Caracas Chronicles, “A blow-by-blow account of the twists and turns of Chávez Era Venezuela” so readers will be able to have diferent views although so far, much like most Venezuelans in the opposition, we are in total synch. Welcome Francisco Toro, very well written and informative blog! I think I will add you to Resistance Links rather than Venezuelan blogs.
I particularly like this paragraph from a recent entry in Caracas Chronicles::
“Electoral coup.
Swirl it around your head a few times. What, exactly, does it mean? Rangel is really starting to sound like a parody of himself – his P.R. strategy of labeling anything and everything the opposition does as a coupsterie coup-plotting coupetie coup coup coup has driven him right up to a reductio ad absurdum cliff-edge, and he’s just kept on driving, Thelma & Louise style, into the logical chasm”
The Devil's Excrement 