The Devil's Excrement

Miltary and National Guard units gassed a peaceful crowd three times this afternoon/evening in another act of repression by the facist Chavez Government. I took the pictures below right before the third attack, I really did not believe that they would do it again. The act was another cowardly act by the Chavez administration. The protesters were demonstrating against the unconstitutional takeover of the Metropolitan police of Caracas by the military and the Chavez Government., This violates the autonomy of municipalities and is not only illegal, but the Chavez Governmenmt had already asked the Supreme Court to interpret this part of the Constitution. As you can see from the fourth picture it is a peaceful crowd. Curious how the violent Bolivarian Circles have only been gassed twice while for the opposition it is becoming routine. The TV just showed how after the gassing the lady who is head of the bolivarian circles in the East of Caracas hugged the Head of the National Guard unit, smiling in joy. My friends, this is facism and Venezuela is slowly melting into a dictatorship under the eyes of the stupid people like the Carter Center, the OAS and Human Rights Watch who have played right into the hands of the cynicism of the Chavez Government.

Units of the Venezuelan Army have now taken over all command centers of the Metropolitan police. Civilians are surrounding the army units and pot-banging and protesting agasint them. This  is absolutely illegal and in some sense it is equivalent to a coup or state of emergency. Things are very tense.

Cofavic, the best regarded human rights organization in Venezuela condenmed the intervention of the Metropolitan police today. Cofavic says the measure violates the autonomous nature of municipalities in our Constitution, that it increases teh militarization of Venezuela and that it interferes with the diualogue process taking place in Caracas. I wonder what the Human Rights Watch (HRW) people are thinking? How to condemn Cofavic? How to praise Chavez? How to accuse the opposition?Of  what? They will find something, I am sure……

In a turn that could be part of a keystone cops movies, the Head of the Metropolitan police named by the Government today to intervene the force, said he made a mistake and recognized Henry Vivas as the true leader of the police. Amidst hugs, cheers and even tears, Vivas and Delgado hugged on national TV and said the police should not be divided by politics. Another day of magic realism in Venezuela.

To further complicate matters with the intervention of the Metropolitan police, neither the Governors of Miranda State or the Mayors of three of the largest municipalities of the city are recognizing the new Head of the Metropolitan police. Moreover, the Head of the police Henry Vivas says he has not been removed by the Mayor so he continues to be in charge. I also saw on TV other police officials saying they only recognize Vivas. Opposition groups are meeting at this time to consider their response to the Government’s action.

The Chavez administration has decreed the intervention of the Caracas Metropolitan police. The police is part of the office of the Metropolitan Mayor. Some police officers had been on strike for over a month to protest salary and working conditions, which the Mayor had said was politically motivated. On Tuesday protesting officers took over City Hall temporarily kidnapping the Mayor. Shots were fired and two peopel died and as mant as 23 were injured by gunshots. While the Government blamed the police for the violence, videos show that the shots were fired by protesters. The Government gave no justification for the intervention and place the National Guard in charge of the police. The Mayor of Caracas said he will seek an injunction today as the Government does not have the power to do what it did. For the opposition, this represents a severe blow as it has been the metropolitan police that has defended opposition marches from the agression of Chavez’ Bolivarian circles. The action may simply end the dialogue being promoted by Cesar Gaviria between the Goverment and the opposition and will make people wonder if it is a prelude to taking over Altamira Square where dissenting military officers continue their protest. The action also makes you wonder whether Chavez simply wants to provoke a coup at this time, given that he does not want to participate in any form of election.

The city of Caracas was tense tonight as the General which commands Caracas sent an “urgent” call to all municipal police forces to jointly patrol the city. As of right now, municipal authorities are refusing to obey the order.

The cynicism of Chavez and his supporters can be shown by the events of today. Last night the Mayor of the Metropolitan area, Alfredo Peña, was threatened by a mob led by Deputy Iris Varela who was heard clearly saying “Kill him, kill him” on a TV tape broadcast this morning. While I dont have a copy of the tape, here is a picture of Ms. Varela while this was happening, the bald man in the bottom right is Mayor Peña.

Well, despite this Ms. Varela denies having threatened the Mayor saying “I have never used those terms, I am not an assasin like him”. Meanwhile, the President of the National Assembly William Lara said “I do not know about it..I refuse to believe that such a thing may have happened…”. To top it all off, a group of MVR Deputies, which includes Ms. Varela asked the Gaviria commission to condemn the violence of Mayor Peña. This is the cyniscism that Venezuelans have witnessed for the last three and a half years and which now international observers, such as Cesar Gaviria, are beginning to understand and experience firsthand.

In an extremely important victory for the opposition, the Comision Nacional Electoral (CNE) approved the question posed in the referendum requested by more tha two million Venezuelans on Nov. 4th. The CNE considered that the question is clear and can be answered simply by a Yes or No vote as required. According to the CNE the question is not a recall question as it asks the President to voluntarily resign and thus is not binding.

The decision places the ball on the Government’s court, pressuring the Chavez administration to go along with the referendum or reveal its true undemocratic character. Its reaction will decide the dynamics in Venezuelan politics for weeks to come. Up to now, the Governmnet had always said that the referendum was not Constitutional, refusing to accept the possibility of having it take place.

(For those that like legalese here is the link to the legal opinion of the CNE’s lawyer)