The Devil's Excrement

This is the letter by the dissident military officers to Rep. Henry Hyde (courtesy of Antonio Guzman Blanco)

The Honorable Henry J. Hyde

Congress of the United States of America

House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515-1306

Dear Mr. Hyde,

At a time of extreme political conflict and anxiety for the future of our nation we, the undersigned, want to express our gratitude regarding the accurate and thorough briefing you have given the President of the United States, Mr. George W. Bush, as per your letter dated October 24^th, 2002.

We avail ourselves of this opportunity to voice our profound concern about what seems to be the perception of the Secretary General of the OAS, Cesar Gaviria, regarding the current political situation in Venezuela where the opposition has carried out a three year campaign to prevent the President from destroying our complete system of democratic institutions and at this time a group of high ranking, active members of the armed forces have acted in support of the civic society in “civil disobedience” under the protection of Art. 350 of the constitution which specifically gives us that right.  For your information we include the text.

In no uncertain terms, Mr. Gaviria has warned these democratically oriented opposition groups confronting the government of President Hugo Chavez, to abide by constitutionally sound methods and measures, in a struggle to achieve the changes we are demanding, thus misrepresenting the very essence of that struggle.  Its objective is, precisely, to find a constitutionally valid mechanism or alternative, for returning to the path of peace, democracy and the rule of law, lost in the hands of Hugo Chavez, a President democratically elected and turned autocrat well on his way to imposing a totalitarian project rejected by a society bred in representative democracy, pluralism, human rights, and all the benefits that such a system guarantees.

The democratically oriented Venezuelan opposition is also acutely concerned about the negative image that has taken root in the international opinion.  According to that trend, any opposition movement, regardless of the soundness of the reasons for the actions undertaken and the legitimate means and instruments being used, is being labeled as actions of coupsters and plotters.  Such a self-defeating notion makes more difficult the task of retuning the country to a truly democratic form of government far it gives the inherent autocracy of Mr. Hugo Chavez.

In view of his many blunders and outright abuses, well known by the international community, as a sweetener for the US in the face of uncertainties of fundamental oil supplies due to the mounting crisis with Iraq and most probably with other Arab countries, Mr. Chavez is supposed to have guaranteed President Bush, reliable oil shipments to the United States for the next twenty years.  Should that be the only concern of the United States government concerning the instability of the region, and the current conflicts within our borders, that concern is being used, by the ever present and active enemies of the American dream, against the very principles which define, worldwide, the democratic essence of the American nation as opposed to pure and simple business interests and greed.  But please be advised that, Venezuela, whoever may be acting as its president, cannot and will not of its own accord, suspend shipments to its most reliable and traditional customer, the United States.  Venezuela’s development and well being have depended and will depend in the future, precisely, in the continued sale of petroleum to the US.  Furthermore, CITGO, perhaps one of the biggest and most profitable retailers of gasoline and lubricants in the United States, belongs one hundred percent to the state owned Petroleos de Venezuela, and CITGO depends very heavily on oil imports from Venezuela.  As you can very well understand, Mr. Hyde, Chavez guarantee has no specific weight.  It is only a decoy, and a very obvious one at that!

Once again, all of us, firmly engaged in opposing the autocratic government of Hugo Chavez, appreciate deeply and very sincerely, your letter to President George W. Bush and, your accurate and precise perceptions reflected in the text.  And…should you investigate further into the matter of this regime and its ties with forces attached to the extreme and very radical leftist movements within our borders and abroad, you’ll find the connection with Castro’s revolution and his most dedicated and desperate efforts to consolidate it in the subcontinent as a whole before his death.

Mr. Representative, expressing our gratitude, we avail ourselves of the opportunity to reiterate our esteem and consideration.

Sincerely,

G/D Enrique Medina Gómez                                       V/A Héctor Ramírez Pérez

G/B Pedro Pereira Olivares                                         G/B Carlos Alfonso Martínez

                                               G/B Néstor González González

Rep. Henry Hyde sent the following letter to Georgr Bush, asking the President of the US to support to the democratic opposition

The Honorable George W. Bush

President of the United  States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C.  20500

Dear President Bush:

            At the present time in Venezuela the leadership of all the pro-democracy elements of the society including the genuinely democratic political parties, the labor unions, business associations, and religious institutions have been gathered for two days in coalition with a group of active duty military officers of flag rank demanding that President Hugo Chavez resign and that new, free and open elections be held.  Most of the Venezuelan media is overwhelmingly supportive of this endeavor, even though it has received little attention here. 

            This broad prodemocratic coalition seeks to rescue Venezuela from the grip of a president who, though democratically elected in December 1998, has since his inauguration done three things that have gravely harmed Venezuelan political democracy and which have threatened the well-being and security of people in neighboring democratic countries as well as to the United States.

            The public record is clear that President Chavez has done the following:

1.      Violated the constitution of Venezuela in force 1999, his first year in office, in two fundamental ways: by having the Constituent Assembly, which had the sole legal function of writing a new constitution, usurp the powers of both the elected National Congress and the existing Supreme Court; further Chavez packed the Constituent Assembly with his supporters who, though winning only 42% of the votes, were mysteriously allocated 93% of the seats.  The Clinton Administration remained silent about this. 

2.      Forged public alliances with state sponsors of terrorism including Cuba, Iraq, and Iran, and provided since October 2000 subsidized oil to Cuba, enabling the Castro regime to obtain more than US $2 billion which it could use to support terrorism. 

3.      Supported terrorist organizations attacking nearby fragile democracies including the FARC in Colombia and radical anti-democratic groups seeking to destabilize Bolivia and Ecuador.  This included clandestine support for Colonel Gutierrez and pro-Castro radicals who briefly overthrew the democratic government of Ecuador in January 2000.   Colonel Gutierrez is now a leading candidate for the presidency in Ecuador and would likely follow in the pro-Castro path of Chavez. 

The Clinton Administration remained unconscionably silent about the antidemocratic actions of President Chavez.  This is the time for the Bush administration to set the factual and historical record straight: the current regime of President Chavez is illegitimate because it is based upon the systematic violation of the Venezuelan constitution in force in 1999.  The Bush administration should also declare itself in sympathy with the pro-democratic civil-military coalition in Venezuela which seeks to restore democracy and should do so at once. 

It is noteworthy that the prodemocratic civil-military coalition in Venezuela has made the case that under Article 305 of the current Chavez constitution, the military actions of “legitimate disobedience” and the political association and assembly of parties, labor unions, business associations and other groups of Venezuelan civil society calling for the immediate resignation of Chavez is totally constitutional and proper. 

In neighboring Brazil, there is a presidential runoff election that will be held on Sunday, October 27, 2002.  At present, the leading candidate is Mr. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who is a pro-Castro radical who for electoral purposes has posed as a moderate.  Recently, many of my colleagues in the Congress wrote you a letter in which they expressed their concerns about the ten-year long association of Mr. Lula da Silva with Latin American, European, and Middle Eastern terrorist organizations in a forum which he convened and organized in silent partnership with Castro.  They also expressed their concern about Mr. Lula da Silva’s recent statements indicating an interest in reviving Brazil’s nuclear weapons program which from 1965-1994 not only wasted enormous resources that could have helped the poor, but also succeeded in designing a 30 kiloton nuclear bomb which could be quickly tested if the program were revived.

There is a real prospect that Castro, Chavez, and Lula da Siva could constitute an axis of evil in the Americas which might soon have nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles (which Brazil had developed ended in 1990).  This is the time to support the prodemocratic coalition in Venezuela and to help the people of Brazil understand the truth about Chavez so that they do not make a similar mistake and elect another pro-Castro radical who will neither help the poor, nor help their economy, nor live at peace with democratic neighbors. 

 Very truly yours

 Henry J. Hyde

An article in the Miami Herald describes well what has happened to the Government’s intelligence police under Chavez. While it may seem funny at first glance, it becomes tragic when one realizes that this is just one example of what Chavez has done to the Government structure in Venezuela.

Up to now, the Chavez Government has been careful in controlling violent outbursts while OAS Secretary General and mediator Cesar Gaviria has been here. This has been part of the two-faced strategy of promoting the Chavez administration as a good citizen of the international community. Well, the strategy lasted until today when very violent demonstrations took place in downtown Caracas which resulted in one person dead and ten injured. This is an indication of the deterioration of general conditions as well as the apparent loss of control by the Government over the Bolivarian circles.

It all began in the morning, when cops from the metropolitan police who are striking blocked the main access to the city council building. A group of 25 people took over the building where the Mayor of the Metropolitan area, the Governor of Miranda state Enrique Mendoza and other members of the democratic coordinating committee were meeting. According to former Governor of Merida state William Davila, all was well while tear gas was being used but suddenly shots were fired from outside the building forcing the police and the National Guard to act. Demonstrators moved their protest to other areas of Caracas where violence continued until sunset. The Government was quick to blame the Mayor of the Metropolitan area in another attempt to blame violence on the opposition, but it was clear that shots were fired by the violent demonstrators and not the police or the National Guard. The Mayor said that when he went to the local hospital where many of the injured were taken, he was almost lynched by a crowd led by opposition deputy Iris Varela. As usual the Government said it would investigate fully the violent acts of today.

Gaviria was forceful today in condemning the violence while being diplomatic about it. Said Gaviria: “a certain level of impunity is being planted in Venezuela with respect to some violent events and a custom that such events sometimes are never clarified”. Clearly, he was putting the Government on the spot. The Government accused the opposition of playing a double game while appearing to be doing the same when it wrote a letter to the UN General Secretary criticing the opposition. Such a strategy takes away from the dialogue being promoted in Caracas by Gaviria and may represent a strategy of eventually disqualifying Gavirai as a mediator if talks fail or if Gaviria begins criticizing the Government’s negotiating position.

Meanwhile the negotiations seemed to be stalled somewhat today as the Government continued to make accusations against the opposition while the opposition mantains its stance that the only negotiations are about the elections as the Nov. 4th. request for a referendum is a process based on the Constitution and can not be stopped. Apparently the Government has even questioned the Declaration of Principles signed by Vice-President Rangel in October which set the stage for the negotiations.

I received today a link to this web site “La corrupcion en tiempos de Chavez” (Corruption in Chavez’ time) which contains a very complete and well documented set of most of the accusations of corruption against Chavez’ Government. The site is written by Agustin Beroes who used to write for El Nacional and wrote a book about the exchange control office Recadi, one of the biggest corruption cases in the history of Venezuela. The site contains a lot of information and apperas to be very complete and the compilation alone is fantastic. Anybody who ever believed in Chavez’ revolution can only be convinced that it is a “robolucion” (robo means steal in Spanish). It is sufficient to say that nobody has been jailed on corruption charges during the Chavez administration and that many of the principals in these stories still occupy important positions in the Chavez administration.

While it is difficult to reach conclusions based on a few conversations and observations after being back for a full day, here are my most relevant first impressions:

• While I was gone for only a week, there seems to be a clear change in atmosphere. The Government appears to be more incoherent than ever., having suffered a considearble loss of face after last Monday’s march. Clearly there is a considerable amount of bickering within the Government as to how to proceed from here.
  
• Monday Nov. 4th. did not become another April11th. for a number of reasons. First of all, people were better prepared, as demonstrated by the fact that the AP reporter hGovernment continued to attempt to show that it was a good citizen of the world. This time, it was hard to fool everyone all the time. Finally, the fact that some of the leadership of Chavez’ MVR tried to stop the violent attempt to block the march, limited the violence to the group already there since the morning and the presence of teh police and National Guard definitely helped. 
  
• That Venezuela is clearly headed for an election is clear now. The opposition now has the upperhand after handing in the 2 million plus signatures last week (even if only 1,5 million are validated). Reprtedly Chavez may call for a general election, which would imply he does not want to particvipate in any procvess which he may lose. (If he called for elections, he could not run), while Vice-President Rangel denies this, the strategy is to try to field a candidate less identified with MVR (El Universal suggests today it may be Claudio Fermin).
  
• The opposition seems to be focusing its strategy on the referendum leaving details aside such as who the Government’s representatives are and whether Chavez formally named them or not.
  
• To complicate matter further Chavez vetoed the electoral bill which was approved with the votes of only his MVR majority in the National Assembly. This has not set well with some of his supporters who see it for what it is: another maneuver to delay the possibility of an election.
  
• PDVSA may now be back into the picture as there were protests there today and some are scheduled for tomorrow. The issue was an MVR event held in PDVSA over the weekend which went against company policy of not involving the corporation with politics. To make matters even worse, the President of PDVSA reacted badly initially when he was welcomed by pot-bangers, he later apologized but a protest against him will take place tomorrow.  
  
• The protest in Altamira continues, diminished, but very much alive. This is in itself a problem for the Government as everyday there are events that take place there that are widely covered by the media, contributing to wearing down the Government.

Thus, a lot has happened, time is compressing fast. Chavez appears to be running out of options, but somehow, he still holds on……

Hugo Chavez created the so-called Bolivarian circles two years ago, claiming they would be civil organizations that would do social and community work. With time, the opposition has accused these Bolivarian circles as being paramilitary groups who would be used to violently defend the Chavez presidency if necessary. In the past, they have taken over the surroundings of the presidential palace, Puente el Llaguno (a bridge in downtown Caracas from which the shots that killed most of the people that died on April 11th. were fired) and attempted to take over a university. Bolivarian circles have also attacked a number of opposition politicians and have rioted, for example, when the Supreme Court made its decison on the Generals that refused to obey orders on April 11th. Despite this, Chavez and his collaborators defend them as peaceful organizations.

That these circles are low life’s was demonstrated tonight. Mohamed Merhi, the father one a high school student shot to death on April 11th. declared himslef in hunger strike two days ago in front of the Supreme Court. His protest was over the fact that it is the Court that has to investigate the charges of Crimes agaisnt humanity agaisntt President Chavez for the deaths on Aoril 11th. However, the  Court has delayed the case and the Attorney General has made many manuevers that have delayed the case, so no investigation has been made.

Mr. Merhi, a small framed quiet guy, has been staying for two days in front of the Supreme Court with freinds and sympathizers of his cause. Well, today the Bolivarian Circles arrived in front of the court. They began by insulting Mr. Merhi, but the situation turned violent and the National Guard had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd Mr. Merhi tried to seek refuge in the Supreme Court building but the National Guard did not allow him to do it. As he was rejected, he was gassed and injured by stones thrown by the despicable members of the bolivarian circles, there have been shots fired but no injuries from handguns. At this time the police have surrounded the building and Mr. Merhi says he will not be intimidated by the circles and his hunger strike will continue.

What the Bolivarian Circles have done tonight is a despicable and cowardly act that shows what low lifes they are. Tomorrow that other low life called Hugo Chavez and his Vice President will appear on TV condenming the attack, but they are the fathers of this monster called the Bolivarian Circles. The international press or human rights organizations will say little about this hedious act. To me Mr. Merhi is the embodiment of the tragedy of this country and the hypocrisy of the Chavez Government.

When things like this happen, I want someone to come up to me and justify that Chavez should stay because he was democratically elected. As I always say: So was Hitler!

(In another despicable subject, the second in command of the office of the People’s Defender, who defends only the Government, criticized Mr. Merhi for pressuring the Supreme Court. There are no words to qualify this statement)