The Rose That Is a Thorn in Chávez's Side

The Saturday profile by the NYT

Originally published here by Juan Forero.

Sumate blasts the Electoral Board: Is anybody listening?

Originally published here by Miguel Octavio


For the past few days Sumate has been blasting the Electoral Board, but it appears as if the whole country has been anesthetized into a stupor as nobody seems to care, either within the political parties or the voters. Essentially, Sumate has found numerous violations of the Electoral Laws of Venezuela, none of which can be explained as simple mistakes, omissions or misinterpretations. In fact, most of them suggest to anyone with any ability to reason, a concerted effort to deceive, manipulate and control the election. While there was some progress yesterday, as the OAS met with the CNE and attempted to convince the Electoral Board to a) count more of the ballots and b) allow political parties to have access to the Electoral Registry, conditions are still iffy as best as Sumate has shown.

Sumate’s criticism is centered on the following issues:

Counting the Ballots: Article 172 of Venezuela’s Suffrage law says that even if electronic means are used in the voting process, all ballots have to be counted manually and their number compared to the total number indicated by the voting machines. According to this all ballot boxes should be opened, their number counted and totals compared. According to the same law, if this total is not in agreement, the votes from that machine are simply not valid. None of these steps were followed in the 2004 recall vote, regional elections in October 2004, and regional elections in August 2005 or is being planned for the upcoming Assembly elections in December. Do I hear Rule of Law from any of my readers?

Now, the law is obviously screwy, but it is the law. This is part of the problem with the autocratic style of this Government, just because the law says you have to count the ballots without reading them, which is non-sensical; it does not mean it should not be done. In fact, do it and once you are there, read the pieces of papers and give the whole process more transparency to do it! Instead, international observers are negotiating to increase the ballots that would be “audited” (not tallied, audited) and the Electoral Board in a magnanimous offer is willing to consider increasing the “audit” from 32% to 47% of all boxes. And we are expected to be grateful!

The Audit: On top of the above, the “audit” that is being planned has been suddenly changed. In the August regional elections, ballot boxes were opened and on the same tally sheet printed by the electronic machines, the manual count was inserted. This time around, the regulations which were approved last week, instead of the six months established by law, say that the tally sheet printed by the machine will be put in an envelope before the manual count begins. The manual count will then proceed and will be written on a separate sheet, put in a different envelope and sent to the CNE, which will have five weeks to compare the results! Yeah, sure, the CNE itself will do the audit and tell us what happened. That looks more like a secret audit and certainly makes no sense.

Electoral Registry: No Electoral Registry was handed over to the political parties as required by law six months before the election. Then, it was handed over a month ago and it has many errors. I already reported on the amazing Gonzalez family of Zulia state, which had 2002 people with that last name born on the same day in 1974. Moreover, many of them only had one last name, illegal according to the law. The President of the CNE dismissed this as “errors” common in all electoral registries in the world which typically have 5% of errors. And we are supposed to believe it

But Sumate has expressed other concerns. There are for example, the “immortals”, those Venezuelans who are one hundred years of older and are still in the electoral registry. They happen to be over 0.1% of the population, outside of actuarial ranges as shown below



Besides this remarkable number of very old people, which should call for a team of experts from the WHO to come and study them, there is the peculiar person born in the XVIII th. Century which should be the subject of investigation on his/her own.

Besides this, there is the growth in the number of people registered to vote as well as migrated from one municipality to the other as seen in the table below:



The number of new voters increased between August 03 and October 05 by 18.3% (and has reached 20% at the time of this writing). The Government explains this by saying that this is the result of a program to include people in the electoral process, however, the “inclusion” is highly non-uniform concentrating in the border states and Caracas. At the same time 21.8% of the voters have moved since August 2003, 13.9% since the recall vote which is quite surprising more so when you find out that an inordinate proportion compared to historical patterns is to a different state (20%) or a different electoral circuit (10%).

Court revokes the prohibition of leaving the country for the Sumate directive

Originally published here

Sumate leaders charged and prohibited from leaving the country

Originally published here


Continuing in its attempt to intimidate and block the opposition just prior to the upcoming elections for the National Assembly, a Judge decided tonight to charge four of the Directors of Sumate for conspiracy against the Government. The charge comes form receiving funds from the National Endowment for Democracy for electoral education. Sumate has been a thorn in the Government's shoe as it activities allowed the opposition to gather the signatures to be able to call for the recall of Hugo Chavez. Sumate has unveiled all of the problems with the electoral process in Venezuela and its leaders have been going around the world presenting this document (in English here) about the State of Democracy in Venezuela. In contrast to the Government that uses State funds for party activities without accountability, Sumate has provided all of its financial information on the web, including contracts with funding agencies, as well as its financials.

This is simply another fascist act by the Government: find a way to criminalize the opposition activities in order to stop them and intimidate them. The Prosecutor handling the case is Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who has taken over most of the responsibilities that Danilo Anderson used to have of handling political cases. Meanwhile, all accusations against the Government, including murders, abuse of power and corruption are simply shelved or "decided" by a Judiciary that is totally controlled by the Government.

Did I forget to say some people claim this is still a democracy?

Sumate presents report on impact of illegalities on Venezuelan regional elections

Originally published here

Sumate presented today its analysis of the impact of the CNE illegally allowing Chavez' MVR to field "unrelated" parties for the slate and nominal candidates in August's regional elections, the so called "morochas" or twins The full report can be found here.
As a remainder, Venezuelan legislation allows parties to field both nominal and slate candidates, but in order to preserve the rights of minority representation, guaranteed by the Constitution; the number of candidates elected under their own name is subtracted from the number of candidates elected under the slate. In the last election, Chavez' MVR registered an unknown new political party (UVE) to field nominal candidates, using MVR to field the slate, this was used to bypass the law, under the consenting approval of the Electoral Board. Opposition Governor Manuel Rosales of Zulia state did the same sneaky trick. This only works if you have a majority, as it allows you to grab more positions than the law would assign you.


What Sumate did was to assume that MVR and UVE were the same party and recalculate the number of candidates elected. The results are astonishing, not only did Chavez' party rip off the opposition, but it also fraudulently took a large number of positions from the minority parties that support Chavez himself!

Basically, Chavez' party MVR obtained 35.1% of the total vote, which according to the rules would have given them 42.8% of the seats up for grabs. However, the illegal use of the "morochas" or twins allowed Chavez' party to grab a total of 58% of all positions!

According to Sumate's analysis, minority parties that support Chavez obtained 19.4% of the votes, which entitled them to 14.4% of the seats, but because of the illegal and unfair advantage of Chavez' party they only got 9.3% of the total number of seats. The opposition on the other hand got 18.8% of the vote, which should have given them 21.6% of the seats, but because of the "morochas" was reduced to only 14.9%. Finally, local regional parties received 22.2% of the vote, which should have given them 18.6% of the positions, but only gave them 15.2% of the seats.

What is most remarkable about this analysis is that it was actually those that backed Chavez that were affected the most by the treachery. Minority parties that support Chavez saw their votes (19.4%) reduced to half the positions, despite the Constitutional guarantee for proportional representation. Some loyalty, no? In contrast opposition parties had their representation reduced by roughly 30% close to that of small local parties.

The details are remarkable. Basically, the Chavista trick gained them 363 additional positions, out of 584 total positions obtained by this unholy alliance called the "morochas" or twins. The same was true in Zulia state where Governor Rosales' "morochas" gave him 27 additional seats out of only 56 obtained. Shame on him too!

Some parties were absolutely ripped off by the trick. The infamous "Tupamaros" that have supported Chavez unequivocally during the last seven years, lost nine of the twelve seats they should have received, a staggering 75% of the total they would have obtained. With friends like Chavez, who needs enemies?

The analysis goes on in detail to show the level of abuse and illegalities committed by Chavez' majority with the unconditional and biased backing and help of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), which should not have only stopped the "morochas", but even allowed UVE to register past the deadline for registration of new parties and certified the signatures backing that party only six days before the regional elections took place. These guys are professional crooks!

These are the type of abuses that Chavez and his cronies are committing under the eyes of the world, that later allows them to claim this is a democracy. By eliminating the necessary checks and balances of any functional democracy, Chavez can not only use all of the resources of the State for the benefit of his own party, but can turn the rules and the law to his advantage without anyone saying or being capable of doing anything about it or even defending the rights of the "people" that are being violated by his actions as well as those of his party.

El estado de la Democracia en Venezuela

Originally published here and here

18.08.05 | Este documento presenta los hechos más relevantes relacionados con la evolución de la democracia en Venezuela durante la Presidencia de Hugo Chávez Frías, que comenzó en enero de 1999.

Los hechos están organizados alrededor de las dimensiones que definen una democracia:

1-. Independencia de los Poderes Públicos

2-. Respeto al Estado de Derecho

3-. Transparencia Electoral

4-. Respeto a la Libertad de Expresión

5-. Respeto a los DDHH y otras Libertades Fundamentales

6-. Estado de las Instituciones

Para acceder a la documentación de soporte, solo haga click en el tema de su interés y siga las instrucciones, las cuales en algunos casos lo llevarán a leyes, resoluciones, artículos de prensa, videos u otros documentos relevantes.

Chile: Senate's President meets with Sumate's director

Originally published here

The President of Chile's Senate Sergio Romero held a protocolar meeting with Alejandro Plaz founder of Sumate, NGO which promotes participatory democracy and defends political rights in Venezuela.

In the meeting, that lasted for about 20 minutes, Romero and Plaz shared impressions vis-a-vis the political situation of their respective countries.

Sumate: No Transparency in Venezuelan Electoral Registry

Originally published here by Miguel Octavio


Yesterday, Sumate introduced in the Electoral Board (CNE) a request that the Electoral Registry be published as established in the Law of Suffrage and Political Participation. This is one of those subtle points that need to be explained in detail, because it is part of the bag of tricks used by the Government to cheat and manipulate elections.


The law says the Registry has to be made public, In fact, the law says the Electoral Board will give a copy to all political parties "whenever they request it" (Article 95), as well as saying that every month it will have to notify and post publicly any additions or removals to the Registry. (Article 106). Last year, before the recall vote, Sumate also tried to get the registry published, to no avail. You see the registry not only contains the name and ID number of each voter, but also his/her address. Last year and this year, using personnel outside of the Office of Identification, the Government gave out ID cards and registered to vote over a million new voters. This supposedly "democratic" registration drive took place only after the opposition managed to get the required signatures to vote on a possible recall of Hugo Chavez as President.

Incredibly enough, in some municipalities there are now more voters than inhabitants a subject that I have discussed before in this blog more than one time. These type of anomalies and many more have led Sumate to make a number of request to the CNE and even to ask the Supreme Court for an injunction, which was rejected. If you have the patience you can read the decision here. Well, the Court used the old trick of using a critique of formal steps in order to not decide on the substance of the case. What is clear is that the law says the registry has to be published. It hasn't. Why?

The reason is obvious. Now more than ever those people registered last year are needed in the upcoming election. Last year Chavez needed sheer numbers, now his party needs the votes where it matters. We will be electing this Sunday, members for the City Councils of all of Venezuela. Chavistas need the votes where they don't have the Mayors to make the life of opposition Mayors really difficult. And they need to win handily where they have the Mayors to do as they please with municipal Treasuries.

Sumate, once again, is trying to use the law, asking the CNE directly to provide the Registry. This is called an administrative recourse. The CNE will obviously not hand it over, it would reveal what a farse elections are now in Venezuela. Thus, much like last year the CNE did not do the audit that had been agreed on the night of the recall vote, and refused to open all of the ballot boxes to count the votes manually, it will refuse to hand over the registry.

That is why Venezuela is no longer a real democracy. In a real democracy you need to have transparency. In a real democracy you have to follow the laws. There is no transparency in Venezuela with regards to the Electoral Board and its actions. The law was and is being violated on electoral matters. A few simple actions by the CNE would have revealed last year and this year whether there was something funny going on with the votes. The CNE refused, with the support of the Electoral Hall of the Supreme Court, to follow these simple steps. Even the most naive individual could not help but ask: Why? What do they have to hide?

Senator McCain and Madelaine Albright write to Chavez to voice their concern about Sumate case

Originally published here

Prosecution of Sumate leaders in Venezuela: ABA's observer preliminary report

Originally published here

The complete report can be found here

By Douglass Cassel | Center for International Human Rights

Editor's note: At the request of Mr. Robert D. Evans, Director of Governmental Affairs of the American Bar Association, I include this disclaimer: "The attached report was prepared by Professor Douglas Cassel for the American Bar Association following his observation of preliminary proceedings in the Sumate case. It has not been approved for release by the American Bar Association and therefore does not represent the views of the Association or any of its entities but only the personal views of Professor Cassel."

This preliminary report is presented by American Bar Association observer Douglass Cassel, following a visit to Venezuela during pretrial proceedings held on July 6 and 7, 2005, in case no. 41-C-4077-04 before the Fourth Court of Control of First Instance in the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas.

Introduction

Venezuelan prosecutors have charged two leaders of a civic group for soliciting funds from the National Endowment for Democracy (“NED”) in Washington to educate voters about their right to participate in a referendum to recall Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías. Two trainers who led voter education workshops are charged as accomplices. The recall referendum, held in August 2004, was unsuccessful.

The case is brought in a context of political polarization between Venezuela’s government and the opposition, and amid disputes between its government and the government of the United States and NED, a private, non-profit organization with an independent board of directors, but which by law receives annual funding from the US State Department.

As an independent professional organization dedicated to the rule of law, the American Bar Association takes no position on Venezuela’s internal political affairs. Nor does the ABA take a position on policy differences between the governments of Venezuela and the US, or on whether the NED grant in question was advisable as a matter of policy. The ABA’s sole concern is whether the proceedings in this case comport with international standards governing criminal prosecutions and rights of political participation, and the implications of this case for the rule of law and the exercise of internationally protected rights in Venezuela.

The civic group that solicited the NED grant is called Súmate (“Join up”). Venezuelan prosecutors appear to concede that, except for the solicitation of NED funds, Súmate’s educational and promotional activities relating to the referendum were lawful. However, they accuse Súmate’s President, Alejandro Plaz, and Vice President, María Corina Machado, of violating a law that imposes prison terms of 8 to 16 years on any Venezuelan who “solicits foreign intervention in the internal political affairs of Venezuela.”

In the opinion of this observer, both that law as applied in this case and the criminal proceedings to date fail to meet international standards.

First, as applied in a novel way in this case, the law is impermissibly vague. Although it dates from early in the last century, it apparently has never previously been used to prosecute foreign funding of otherwise lawful activity in Venezuela. Its meaning in this context is so unclear as to violate international standards requiring fair notice to defendants of what conduct is deemed criminal. How are Venezuelan citizens to know whether a civic group’s seeking foreign funding for lawful activities equates to soliciting “foreign intervention”?

Second, the ambiguities in the law should be resolved in a manner consistent with Venezuela’s international legal obligations. So interpreted, the law would not criminalize Súmate’s solicitation of NED funds. International law protects both the right to solicit funds to educate citizens about the exercise of fundamental rights, and the right to make effective the exercise of the vote in a referendum.

Third, the case is brought before a Venezuelan judiciary that fails to meet international standards of judicial independence. More than 80% of Venezuelan judges, including the pretrial judge in this case, are “provisional” judges. They have no tenure and can be removed by the Supreme Court at any time without explanation.

The Supreme Court likewise lacks structural independence. During 2004 it was expanded from 20 to 32 justices, and other justices were replaced, so that the overwhelming majority of justices are now considered pro-Chávez. And their appointments may be suspended or annulled based on such subjective standards as omitting “true facts” from their opinions or bringing the judiciary into “disrespect.”

The vulnerability of the judiciary to outside influence is of particular concern in the politicized context of this case. Not only did Súmate promote a referendum to recall the President, but the President publicly accused Súmate leaders of committing crimes by soliciting NED funds. The prosecution began soon thereafter and has continued during public, mutual recriminations between Venezuelan authorities and NED.

Fourth, certain aspects of the pretrial proceedings to date violate due process of law. For example, even though Súmate leaders were the targets of the preliminary criminal inquiry, the prosecutor initially accorded them rights only as witnesses rather than as suspects. However, it is not yet clear whether these violations will ultimately be prejudicial at trial.

On the other hand, Venezuelan courts have protected the rights of the accused to remain at liberty pending trial. The Supreme Court ruled in November 2004 that they should not be incarcerated pending trial. In July 2005 the pretrial judge again refused the prosecutor’s request that they be jailed pending trial.

Despite these laudable rulings, the proceedings overall fail to meet international standards of the rule of law. Súmate leaders are being prosecuted in a highly charged political atmosphere under an impermissibly vague law, interpreted in a manner inconsistent with their internationally protected rights, before a judiciary that lacks independence and has already violated certain of their due process rights.

Moreover, during a pretrial hearing on July 6, 2005, the prosecutor warned that additional persons may be charged, and that further charges may be brought against Súmate leaders. Internationally respected human rights lawyers in Venezuela expressed concern to the observer that the prosecution of Súmate could have a chilling effect on the exercise of political rights, and that it is part of a broader pattern of persecution of groups opposed to President Chávez.

At the conclusion of that hearing on July 7, 2005, the pretrial judge overruled defense motions to dismiss and ordered that the case against all four defendants proceed to trial. Although the timing is uncertain, the trial could begin as early as August 2005.

The European Union has reportedly decided to send an observer if the case is taken to trial. For the reasons discussed in part 10 below, the ABA should likewise send an observer to the trial. An ABA decision on further action, if any, can and should await the observer’s final report.

No more "secret" voting in Venezuela?

Original for this site

One of the criticism made by the Venezuelan electoral board, CNE, is that additional "electronic automatization" is directly endangering the secret of the vote at the polling station. Indeed, now the CNE pretends us to check in first through a lap top that contains the voter registry. That is, from now on the voter will be electronically registered for name AND ARRIVAL TIME. Since the voter will stand in line right then, in the same sequence as s/he arrived at the polling station, it will be very easy to "arrange" the internal registry of the electronic machines to figure out who voted for who. Sumate has made an active web page which shows clearly how the system would work.


This page is in Spanish but with the explanations given above, the non Spanish reader will figure out clearly how the system functions to detect who casts what vote.

There has been enough of an outcry from the part of Sumate that the CNE has announced that the system will be "tested" in only two states for the coming August 7 election. But it is EXTREMELY clear that the Venezuelan system could be rigged for more important elections, such as the parliamentarian of December 2005 or the presidential of December 2006, the ones that Chavez really cares about.

However what is even worse than any eventual cheating by the CNE is that people will be scared. Afraid of losing any social benefit, afraid of receiving any unjust sanction (see the infamous Tascon list with the names of all those who signed against Chavez in August 2004), many opponents of the regime will prefer either to abstain from voting, or feel forced to vote for Chavez. Even if eventually the system is ditched there will be a significant amount of people that will be dubious for quite a while. But then again this is the intention of the regime, isn´t it?

Thus the much vaunted 1999 constitution, allegedlychockfulll of civil rights, is seeing all these rights taken away one by one. The right to call for a recall election has disappeared when people saw that their name was taken by the government and used against them. The right of secret voting seems on the way out. The right to justice has been taken away last year by packing the High Court by Chavez hacks. Etc, etc...

Delenda Sumate!

Originally published here

Rome had already won two devastating wars against Carthage and had reached a compromised peace that lasted many years when senator Marcus Cato started a pro-war campaign with one persisting idea:

“Delenda Carthago!”.

It meant, that, no matter what, Rome would never be safe unless the rival phoenician city of Carthage was totally destroyed. For years, with a stubbornness that was noted even after centuries of history, Cato repeated over and over that Carthage had to disappear. He actually finished every intervention about any topic with the famous sentence.

Publicity is always effective. In the end, Cato’s message was heard and Rome decided to go for what was called the third Punic war. Once Carthage had finished paying all the old tributes to Rome, the latest imposed new and tougher conditions to provoke a new conflictive situation. As expected, Carthage’s inhabitants were mad of rage when they knew the new absurd conditions imposed by Rome and the war restarted again.

It was a tough and dirty war, even for those times, Carthage inhabitants resisted as much as they could but the Romans kept the fight. They had just one objective in mind: thoroughly destroy Carthage.

After three bloody years of continuous fights, Rome reached its objective in such an effective way, that there was nobody left from Carthage to formally surrender. Some say that they even throw salt to the defeated city so that it would never be born again. For the first time in their history, the Romans had failed to incorporate the culture of the conquered city, as there was no culture, history or customs left. To this day, we do not know more about Carthage and its inhabitants because of the unusual Roman will to destroy it..

Ironically, Carthage’s destruction did not prevent the decline of Rome, but rather accelerated it. Some historians claim that this was because it gave the Romans a false sense of security. Others say that the destruction of Rome had already started from within, with the decline of the traditional Roman values that were being heavily influenced by the greek ways of life. Some even say that Cato used Carthage as a diversion, consciously knowing that the real menace to the Roman way of life came from Greece.

After reading this fascinating story, I thought of the similarities between the Sumate persecution by the Chavez government and the insistence of Cato to destroy Carthage.

Chavez was a military man and it is still today a military man. In his quest towards absolute power, he has been treating Venezuelan institutions as if they were “the enemy”. An enemy that had to be controlled and beaten.

He has been extremely successful.

His success is due in part to the clumsy and inefficient opposition, in part because nobody believed that he could go that far and still pretend that he was a democratic ruler. Finally and foremost, because Venezuela had weak institutions to start with.

No matter the reason of Chavez’s success, there was a new type of enemy in town that Chavez was not used to fight: Sumate.

The origin of Sumate is, to say the least, unusual. In a country where the civil society was not used to have its voice heard, suddenly there was a civil group that organized itself to literally prevent a civil war in Venezuela. They found the democratic exit to the terrible polarization crisis that was lived in Venezuela.

It was an exit that any democratic leader would have welcome: a recall Referendum, guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution; let the people decide.

But Chavez government was not happy at all about it and did all the possible tricks to avoid going to a Referendum. Sumate organized a signature collection, not once, but three times! (see Daniel’s excellent summary here). They were systematic and efficient and used Chavez’s own weapon: the 1999 Chavista Constitution to lead the fight.

A few months before the Referendum took place, Sumate persecution started. It was Chavez itself who, like Cato in the Senate, initiated it by talking in his Sunday TV program about the NED funding. But the Chavista government is, in matters of political persecution, much more effective than the Roman government. It did not take years to initiate the “Delenda Sumate” campaign. The very next day, the Sumate directive was charged by the government attorneys.

I do not think that the funding was illegal. The money was a small grant to organize courses to promote democratic awareness. However, if the money had indeed been illegal, then the government should have fined Sumate and asked them to reimburse it. End of it.

But, according to Chavez, Sumate delenda est! The government had to put all its weight and influence to discredit Sumate and to take its directive to court for …no less than treason!

They dusted a very old article of the very archaic Venezuelan penal code to state that Sumate was destroying “the Republican form” of the government. Thanks to a convoluted interpretation that nobody in his right mind would accept, receiving the small grant from the NED resulted in being charged for treason and risking up to 16 years in jail.

And, by the way, we are talking about Venezuelan prisons.

The attack was not directed towards the institution. It was personally aimed at the four highest members of Sumate: Maria Corina Machado, Alejandro Plaz, Ricardo Estevez and Luis Enrique Palacios. The four young engineers that had dared to create a new form of resistance in Venezuela. Chavez idea must have been to kill two birds with one stroke: eliminate the head of the enemy and intimidate anyone that would ever attempt to carry out the type of dissension that Sumate was leading.

Delenda Sumate!

Meanwhile, since the Referendum, the mighty Chavez government has been taking over whatever was left of the democratic institutions of the country. In particular, the judiciary system, that has never been a model of independence, has been revamped to have only judges blindly committed to Chavez. I hope that Sumate is cleared, but the hope is closer to wishful thinking.

So, there is a high probability that, in the end, Sumate will be destroyed, and that the Chavez goverment will have thrown salt to the Sumate office created by a small group of unlikely democratic heroes.

Maybe, like some historians suspected, Chavez, like Cato, is using Sumate as a diversion. Maybe he is really committed to attack this new type of enemy that resists his controlling expansion or maybe he just do not know how to govern without having an enemy in front of him. In any case, it is clear that Chavez has not learned the lessons from Rome.The Romans flourished while they incorporated the good features of the foreign cultures into their own. The anhilation of Carthage was the beginning of the end. Conversely, Chavez has not understood that he needs the culture of Sumate to be integrated to the democratic values of his government. He does not understand either that it is good for his government to have a democratic watchdog like Sumate in his backyard.

Chavez has not realized that his enemy is not Sumate. His enemy, like in Rome, comes from within: his own inefficiency and his own message of hatred and division that have transformed the country and led it to the brink of civil war.

He can ask his followers to “Delenda Sumate” as much as he wants and like the Romans, he might win the last Punic war.

Sumate: the CNE has not fulfilled audit of the electoral registry, nor has it cleaned up electoral rolls

From Union Radio.

María Corina Machado, integrante de la organización civil Súmate, reiteró que continúan los esfuerzos que adelantan con la campaña para impugnar el Registro Electoral venezolano. Asimismo recordó que el Consejo Nacional Electoral se habría comprometido a realizar una auditoría pública para depurar el REP y no ha cumplido.

"Los casos de Rodrigo Granda y El Chigüiro (ambos ciudadanos colombianos) fueron los más emblemáticos, pero hay miles de denuncias. Estas son personas de otra nacionalidad pero que están inscritas en el REP y votaron en el referéndum. Esto hizo tanta presión que el CNE se comprometió públicamente hacer una auditoría pública externa y la depuración del mismo (...) y en vez de cumplir su palabra de una auditoría pública pues contrata a Capel para una asistencia técnica al propio CNE".

Según Machado, entre los puntos de acuerdo llegados por el Consejo Nacional Electoral y la empresa Capel, ésta tendría prohibido entregar los resultados de las elecciones a ninguna otra organización que no sea el CNE, "ni siquiera en los términos de referencia está autorizado a dárselos a otro ente, nosotros hemos tenido reuniones y ellos han sido receptivos pero no tenemos idea de lo que efectivamente Capel va a hacer".

Respecto a la decisión del Poder Electoral de utilizar los cuadernos electrónicos sólo en los estados Nueva Esparta y Cojedes, Machado manifestó que es inaceptable, pues en su criterio ello será una excusa para obligar el uso de los mismos en las elecciones de diputados fijadas para el venidero mes de diciembre.

Expresó que durante el encuentro con la delegación de la Organización de Estados Americanos OEA que visita nuestro país, Súmate entregó sus últimos sobre el estado del Registro Electoral así como las violaciones a la ley del sufragio cometidas por parte del CNE.

The SUMATE summary

Originally published here


The trial of Sumate has started. It is important to summarize why this trial is a travesty of justice, a political vendetta under any angle that one might look at it. And, even if Sumate had committed an electoral crime, that supposed crime would pale in comparison to all the electoral crimes committed by the Chavez administration since the year 2000.

Now that I have given an early conclusion to this post, I can go into the details. First a brief history of Sumate and then a comparative table of the charges brought against Sumate and the government own electoral misdeeds. The reader will be able to decide on its own which one of the two should sit on the accused bench.

Brief Historical

SUMATE is a civil society organization, an NGO, which started as a group of young professionals seeking to help citizens demand their right to clean and fair elections. Already the Carter Center itself declared the 2000 elections flawed (though it seems to have forgotten its own words of 2000 in August 2004). The nature of the political process in Venezuela where the chavista legal steam roller started crushing any opposition attempt at obtaining redress through the ballot box made Sumate associated with the opposition parties, though some of its services could have been used by both sides.

Sumate was established sometime mid 2002 as the organization to manage the first signature gathering petition to take place. This one was the Consultative Referendum who gathered with a speed that surprised both opposition and government more than the 10% necessary for a consultative referendum as to whether Chavez should resign from office. That initiative which was received by the Electoral Board of Venezuela, CNE, under a rain of tear gas in November 2002, never prospered since by a legal trick it was declared non acceptable. However we shall see that the people who signed that supposedly illegal drive would suffer its consequences anyway.

The success of Sumate then made it the one coordinating the effort for the firmazo, that February 2003 signature drive that collected without any problem the 20% needed to ask for a Recall Election on Chavez. Again, thanks to legal tricks and the complacency of the Carter Center and OAS (and myopia of the opposition leadership) that collection was annulled. And again those who signed would still be punished for that exercise of their civil right to petition.

Once the agreement of June 2003 where signed, Sumate was again called to service to coordinate the December final petition drive to call for a Recall Election. But then things had become more complicated as the government had shown its true undemocratic color as it threatened to make good use of the fact that the names of the people that would sign would be known, made public. For example the Significant Other of this blogger, a public employee in a ministry, and fervent anti Chavez, decided not to sign that petition, with the agreement of this blogger who did sign as less subject to prosecution. Thus the beginning of the rendering of families and friends who many times could not understand why some did or did not sign.

But the Chavez administration came up with even more tricks (in spite of the now infamous "no tricks" of ex-president Carter). A large amount of signatures were declared void on shaky grounds and Sumate again had to show its efficiency by organizing a "repair" process that was successful in spite of now an outright frontal attack from the government. By then the people knew that the Chavez administration had established a list of people who had signed in all the previous signature collection. That list, embodied in one of its incarnations as the Tascon list from assemblyman Luis Tascon web page where one could check out anyone's ID number to see if that person had signed "against Chavez" was used to fire public employees and deny services from the state such as passports and ID card emission, or filter who would get a contract or a job for governmental work. Truly, a new apartheid that is still in application today as I write, and which is well documented for the fascist list it is and that is been decried overseas more and more.

But now Sumate was itself under attack as the government claimed that it had illegally received funds from the National Endowment for Democracy, NED. First the accusation is shaky even on Venezuelan legal grounds. Second the NED finances all sorts of NGO, even in Venezuela (curiously Sumate is the only one prosecuted...). And third it does not make any mystery of it, being a congressional organization which is controlled in a bipartisan manner by the US Congress. Sumate has on one of its web page the copy of the NED agreement if anyone cares to read it. As early as November 4th, The Economist was writing that under the manipulated Venezuelan judicial system, a Sumate trial could only be seen as a political prosecution. The Economist is only one of the many folks making the easy connection.

The trial that is opening against 4 of Sumate's directors has been maturing for over a year as it has been difficult for the government to make a case. First, on a public relations front, the hoped for departure to exile of Sumate's leaders has not happened as they have courageously not only stayed in Venezuela, but even left for short trips and came back each time. Second Maria Corina Machado has been received at the White House by President Bush, the only Venezuelan figure that has been received at the White House since Chavez came to office in 1998.

Summary of the charges

What Sumate is, does, represents...	What chavismo is, does, represent...
Is an NGO who organizes efficiently some of the electoral needs of the opposition parties	All rely on chavismo hold on the government levers, such as the CNE and the effect of the executive power to manage any electoral campaign
Has accepted a 51 000 USD grant from the NED	Has accepted millions from foreign companies such as the yet unsolved Bilbao Viscaya Bank 1998 campaign contribution
Has accepted a small grant which was used on voter education as to the agreement with the NED	Since 2000, uses all the power of the state and its monies to finance its electoral campaigns, without any check from any Venezuelan institution
Is efficient	Is a mess, success based slowly on Chavez charisma and the grants he spreads around to buy votes when needed
Stands trial as of last week	Walks freely as all the accusations of electoral fraud are blocked from even the most elemental investigation
Has accepted foreign money	Has accepted so much help from Cuba as to electoral tactics and organization that it is a joke
Maria Corina Machado has been received by George Bush	Chavez is not only received constantly by Castro, who he supports financially, but has been received by Saddam, Qaddafy and the Iranian Mullas (1)
Sumate wants a clear electoral register	The Chavez subservient CNE has Colombian guerillas voting in Venezuelan elections
Sumate wants a clear electoral register	The electoral registry is not only a mess but the CNE does not want to give it to the political parties for them to be able to organize their electoral targets (which chavismo does, by the way)
And much more I could keep writing along these lines, but I am sure the reader is getting the point already

(1) It is fair to note that as an OPEC member Venezuela requires to have relations with Iran, Iraq and Libya. What is also fair to say is that the effusiveness of Chavez when he visited those countries and leaders was excessive, totally uncalled for and unnecessary, in particular the Baghdad junket where the car ride with Saddam driving was just too much.

But even if the charges were valid, let's not forget that the NED money was a drop in the bucket of all what the opposition received for its electoral campaigns, and even less of a drop when it is compared to the floods of public monies used by chavismo to secure the the vote for its leader. Hypocrisy!

Conclusion

There should be no doubt in the reader's mind that the only reason why Sumate is prosecuted is that it is at the heart of any opposition electoral organization. Its efficiency, its unquestionable message of free and fair election in front of the pathetic and shifty figure of the CNE through its most discredited president, Rodriguez, is something that chavismo and Chavez cannot forgive, nor forget. Sumate, in fact, is by contrast the constant reminder of all that is wrong with the Chavez administration, its inefficiency, the lackadaisical attitude of nearly all of its members, its moral corruption.

The reactions to the trial have already been numerous. The Sate Department condemned the prosecution in unambiguous terms. Human Rights Watch writes: “The court has given the government a green light to persecute its opponents,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Prosecuting people for treason when they engage in legitimate electoral activities is utterly absurd.”

There is no need to add anything by this blogger as he is sure that international condemnation will keep coming from all quarters as chavismo takes a gamble on Sumate, a gamble that it will probably pay dearly.

Sumate goes to trial

Originally published here

The judge reached a decision: SUMATE directive will go to trial (see also here), but they will not be in jail during the trial. According to Alejandro Plaz, the judge accepted all the evidence presented by the goverment and rejected almost all the evidence presented by SUMATE. In particular, some of the recommendations made by the Supreme Court in their November decision were not taken into account. Maria Corina Machado said that this is a form of intimidation to prevent SUMATE from keeping their campaign of education to have clean elections in Venezuela.

I agree with her. The goverment will do whatever it can to intimidate SUMATE, which is currently the only effective opposition movement in Venezuela.

SUMATE, BTW is just asking what in any democratic country is taken for granted. It can be enumerated in five points:

1.- A reliable electoral registry
2.- Overall audits
3.- Secret vote
4.- Manual counting
5.- Effective observers

So, if you are in Venezuela, show that you care about your five fingers.

Sumate preliminary hearing takes place

Originally published here

After being postponed five times since September, the preliminary hearing to decide whether there will be a trial or not against the Sumate directive took place today. The judge will decide tomorrow if the trial will take place and in which conditions.

Note that despite that the Supreme Court indicated that in the event of a trial, the accused should be free, the Fiscal in charge of the case is asking that the Sumate directive be put in jail during the trial....

Yeah, right, they are such DANGEROUS criminals that the society is in REAL danger having Maria Corina and Alejandro Plaz walking the streets of Caracas!

27 military masked police officers wandering around with machine guns are OK...but Maria Corina! that's a no-no, she is a real threat!

I'll keep you posted.

Anti-Chavez leader under fire

Originally published in the Christian Science Monitor

Anti-Chávez leader under fire

Maria Corina Machado is due in court Wednesday on treason charges.

By Mike Ceaser | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Maria Corina Machado doesn't hesitate when asked her feelings about the possibility of going to prison for up to 28 years for "treason to the nation" and conspiracy.

"I'm scared, I'm very scared; I have three kids," the political activist says softly, sitting in her small office in the Caracas headquarters of Sumate, the organization that led last year's unsuccessful bid to recall President Hugo Chávez from office.

Mr. Chávez's landslide victory in that vote only added to the troubles of Ms. Machado, Sumate's vice president and the woman who has come to symbolize the anti-Chávez opposition. Machado is facing criminal charges for allegedly endorsing the April 2002 coup which unseated Chávez for 48 hours, and for Sumate's having accepted US government funds. She is due in court Wednesday for a hearing.

Machado has become a cause célèbre for Chávez's opponents and a demon for his supporters. So when Machado met with President Bush in the White House May 31, it raised a firestorm of government criticism back in Caracas. Venezuela's foreign minister called the meeting "a provocation," and the interior minister charged that Machado was a puppet of the CIA, continuing the heated rhetoric that has characterized the relationship between the Bush administration and Venezuela's leftist leader.

The anti-Machado sentiments have even infused rank-and-file Chávez supporters. "She's sold out her country," says Milagros Medina, who sells pro-Chávez books on a central Caracas plaza. Machado "should be in prison."

It's a lot to handle for someone who says she got into the politics by happenstance and that her goal is not to oppose Chávez but to strengthen Venezuela's democracy. The daughter of an affluent Caracas family, Machado worked after college as an industrial engineer before leaving to raise her family. She also founded an organization to help orphans. In 2002, a friend invited her to create a pro-democracy group. "I decided to drop everything else," she recalls.

Soon, Sumate had a list of 40,000 vol- unteers across the country, Machado says.

But Sumate's pro-democracy pretensions are no more than a front for its anti-Chávez goals, say observers. Sumate is "a thoroughly anti-Chávez group," says Larry Birns, director of the liberal Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington. During the anti-Chávez recall effort, Sumate "did everything required of a political campaign. They played a coordinated role."

Machado does not hide her disdain for the populist president, who she says has profoundly damaged Venezuela's democratic institutions. Chávez's critics say his government has packed the Supreme Court, used government institutions to retaliate against political opponents, and passed laws restricting media freedoms and the right to protest.

On this particular day, Machado has just returned to Caracas from a trip visiting regional Sumate organizers, and struggles to stave off discouragement. Many volunteers are afraid of government retaliation, she says, and Sumate's warnings that Venezuela's electoral system is being compromised, including the addition of foreigners to voter rolls, have fallen on deaf ears.

"In many other countries where the rule of law is respected, this would have been a real big issue," notes Machado, who says her responsibilities as Sumate's second in command and as a single mother leave her time for only three hours of sleep a night. "We expected a big reaction" to the warning. "But you know what happened? Nothing!"

Her frustration reflects the mood of the opposition, which is still trying to pick itself up from Chávez's victory in last August's referendum. The charismatic and controversial president enjoys 70 percent support in polls and has a campaign chest filled by record world petroleum prices. The disparate opposition, meanwhile, lacks a single candidate or message to rally around. Some say that Machado, articulate and passionate about her ideas, could be the candidate to unite and motivate the opposition. She denies interest.

But that discussion will become moot if Machado goes to prison. She faces a charge of treason for allegedly signing the manifesto which dissolved the nation's democratic institutions during the ephemeral 2002 coup. Machado says she had simply visited the presidential palace and wrote her name on what she believed to be a sign-in sheet. The conspiracy charge against Machado and other Sumate directors stems from $53,000 the organization received from the US Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy. Machado makes no apologies.

"It is legal, it is our right," she says of the foreign funds. "We have to do it, because if we concede, then the government has achieved what it wanted; they have intimidated us." But, Machado says, 95 percent of Sumate's funding comes from Venezuelans.

Machado vows she will see the trial through. Meanwhile, she is trying to continue her work. "If you're going to fight for democracy, this is something which you have to do every day, all day long," she says.

Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links

The Bolivarian foreign policy of Venezuela

Excerpt of an article originally published here

Slap at the OAS

The last OAS meeting was overall a defeat for Venezuela. It avoided the worst which was a clumsy attempt by the US to modify the OAS charter to "monitor" democracy. Venezuela's communication minister Izarra claims this to be a great success for Venezuela's diplomacy when in fact this initiative failed more by the error of the US, its ill timing (1) and the desire of grown up countries like Brazil not to be exposed to such type of observation. Venezuela in fact had nothing to do with that US failure and should not take credit for it(2); in fact, Venezuela should realize that it is doing Brazil (and other) dirty work.
Actually, one could say that the only country to lose as much or even more than the US in Fort Lauderdale was Venezuela who failed to satisfy its real obsession, to stop NGO like SUMATE from attending the meeting and expose Venezuelan civil rights problems. In fact, the foreign ministry probably helped set up ad hoc NGO out of nothing to send them and counter SUMATE arguments. Seasoned politicians certainly saw through that decoy, in particular when they heard the envoys to Fort Lauderdale use in the same paragraph "democracia participativa y protagonica" twice, as seen on TV. And all of them using that slogan whenever possible, as seen on TV too. This is not obscure diplomatese, this is just garbage, and an insulting one to the intelligence of attendees. Will these "NGOers" get an appointment at the Foreign Office once the new law passes?

Who is afraid of Sumate?

Originally published here

In a previous post, I wrote that one of the first milestones that took me out of my political lethargy was the persecution of the Sumate directive. It made no sense to me then and it makes no sense to me now that the government would spend precious time and resources persecuting Sumate for receiving a small foreign grant. It makes no sense either that they dusted an old Juan Vicente Gomez article of the Penal Code and kept it there so that the Sumate directive could be put in jail for 8 to 16 years if found guilty. And, finally, it makes no sense that they react in such a visceral manner every time Sumate makes the news and that top government officials, and even the President, get out of their way to publicly voice vicious verbal attacks against the Sumate directive.

The question is why? Why do they pay so much attention to Sumate? Why are they so afraid of Sumate?

The answer is that the people of Sumate are efficient and effective, and the government is not. They are quite different from the old opposition political entities that can be as incompetent as the government. Sumate delivers and the government knows it. Sumate is Chavez’s real threat.

Sumate is composed of a particular generation of people; a generation of prepared, intelligent, dynamic Venezuelans. They represent what did not go wrong in the old Venezuela. It was a class of highly educated people that were quite aware of the social problems created by the previous generations but who had optimism and a drive to make things change. And good change can come only with a very strict respect of rights and freedoms.

When Chavez stepped in, he had all the popularity, all the powers to make use of that wonderful resource that was left from the old Venezuela. The tragic reality is that he has not even realized it yet. In what is probably the worse mistake made by any ruler in the history of Venezuela, he disposed of that class of people as non-entities and has always rejected their skills and their knowledge. His revolution has been only capable of divisions and destruction; it has been incapable to build up from what were the good elements of the old Venezuela.

First, a subtle apartheid system, never before experienced in Venezuela, was slowly put in place. Those against the revolutionary process started to feel that their views made a difference in the workplace. Before long, Chavez divisive style of government induced a head on confrontation with the most important Venezuelan industry. 20000 people were fired from it: not ten, not a hundred, not a thousand. There were twenty thousand people that were not only fired, but also denied their basic labor rights, and who are still today blacklisted from working ever again in their field. From the human side, many lives were shattered while the government managed, overnight, to get rid of millions of man-years of education, training and Venezuelan know-how.

So, a large part of the population realized that the subtle apartheid was not so subtle anymore. That Chavez meant business, and that he would not stop at anything to retain power by any means. The division of the country and the risk of a civil war were not enough reasons for him to step down. Quite the opposite, he kept and still keeps, his divisive inflammatory discourse to put Venezuelans against Venezuelans.

But Venezuelans are fighters. One must not forget that South American independence from the mighty kingdom of Spain started and came from Venezuela. And this new generation of well prepared Venezuelans found their way to fight for their rights and freedoms; they used the law, their organizational skills and their signatures. Sumate was thus born to find a constitutional solution to the political crisis.

It was not easy. The government can claim in the web page of their US propaganda office VIO that the referendum was going to be a wonderful demonstration of democracy at work, but the reality is that they fought every step of the way, by all means, the holding of that referendum. Moreover, they have blacklisted all those that signed the referendum petition and created a de-facto state of Political Apartheid in Venezuela (see What did Chavez know and when did he know it?).

That, of course, does not appear in the cheerful VIO webpage.

But I digress.

So who is afraid of Sumate? Chavez is. Because he knows that they are a mightier enemy than the good old boys of AD or Copei. He knows that Sumate has the potential to expose to the world the undemocratic face of his revolution.

Quick round up: Machado and inflation in Venezuela

Originally published here

Today hot air kept inflating the news, though there are already encouraging signs that we will come back soon to real topics of discussion.

Maria Corina Machado, super star?

Yes, she kept holding the news. After yesterday stupid declarations from chavista minister-S- that MCM was the presidential candidate that Bush wanted for 2006, MCM had to hit the air waves to deny it. The silliness of the officials claims can only be explained by how distraught is chavismo by the audience granted by Bush to MCM when not even Clinton did receive Chavez (though he would have probably received MCM).

Meanwhile, after having been supported publicly by Wolf at the Venezuelan national assembly yesterday, MCM will be able to pick up yet another award from Cass Ballenger. Republicans seem to love MCM, indeed.

But all was not roses for MCM. Milagros Socorro wrote a very strong criticism of MCM, though so far she is the only one in the opposition raising such criticism. This while MCM is touted as a role model in the fight against machismo, as a likely explanation of chavismo anger (Alo Ciudadano visitors tonight). I must discuss Ms. Socorro article as I am a long time admirer and this time I think she did not get it quite right.

Milagros Socorro premise is that George Bush is such an unsavory character that MCM visit is actually a big mistake. Maybe. But I will ask her who else could she go to? Chirac? Rodriguez Zapatero? Castro? Ms. Socorro says that any intellectual/artist of any significance has taken distance from Bush. True up to a point.

But this is a false debate. It would actually be good that all intellectuals of any significance separate from politics. Politics always end up corrupting genuine intellectuals who play the game close. It is irrelevant, in a sick way, what Bush does as a war lord: he is still the most powerful man on earth and an unavoidable stopover for anyone wanting to play the game. Did Ms. Socorro watch the very same day OAS brand new secretary Insulza visiting the White House and shaking hands with Bush, all smiles? Can ANYONE think for a second that socialist Insulza, sent into exile by Pinochet, would ever vote for Bush if he had the possibility? Would even befriend him?

In the world of politics many concessions must be made, many terrorists end up shaking hands with the powers that be and there are still many hands that even Bush will have to shake against his will. It is in this perspective that the MCM visit must be judged, not on ideals: MCM is no intellectual or artist, she is a politician, she plays the game outside of her likes or dislikes. And on her politics the criticism of Milagros Socorro as to whether her visit was a good move on the long run are more interesting.

At the very least, the final prediction of Socorro seems to be already happening. In a not surprising move the Venezuelan pseudo judiciary moved to rekindle MCM trial for high treason. While of course we are still waiting for the result of Danilo Anderson's murder. More psychotic chavista reaction.

Back to what really matters

Inflation jumped by 2.5% in May! Making it more difficult for the government to fulfill its already high goal of around 15% for 2005. But this is only half the story. That inflation takes place while we are still in a price control scheme of staple food stuff which seem to have driven this month increase! Items that the middle class buys are not controlled, and many are not measured in the inflationary scheme. For example the price of apartments in Caracas has jumped by 30% since the beginning of the year, already trashing any prediction for the year. In other words, if inflation was calculated as it should be, we would be expecting a 30-35 % overall buy the end of the year, trashing the pseudo 26% increase of the minimum wage. The workers keep getting poorer in the bolibanana republic while the rich importers benefit from yet again a overpriced currency scheme to try to control inflation by blocking job creation. They already did the mistake in 2000-2001 and obviously did not learn anything.

PDVSA hearings continue. Chavez won one round when he postponed discussions of his current problems by blaming older agreements. But of course, in a couple of weeks some new scandal will erupt in PDVSA and things again will look somber. With MCM and Posada Carriles gone, what will Chavez will come up this time to distract attention?

The SUMATE/Bush interview: the day after

Originally published here

In fact, it is too early to still have a complete analysis of the significance of yesterday's meeting which has held public attention today. Besides, I was on the road and still, with all the driving time to think about the events, I could not pull together all the threads. However there is one thing that we can consider tonight, the reactions of folks today as a revealer of our present national psyche.

The opposition: warmly basking in the glow

For the Venezuelan opposition, today was a day of general exhilaration, the first positive day we have had since August 16, 2004. Simply put, the bully has been faced down and the main power in the Americas has recognized that there is something rotten in the Venezuelan electoral system. No solution is offered, no UN coming to hold our elections, no marines landing (not that we want them), but at least our problem is acknowledged (1). If anything the doldrums of the coming elections will be shaken in still unforeseen ways, but shaken they will be. It will take a few weeks to see how this all play out, but it is possible to say without speculation that the political parties will hurriedly be reviewing their strategies.

There are some dissenting voices, though. For example Tal Cual had a discrete coverage and had even its catch line of the day rather negative. Sure enough, Maria Corina Machado, MCM, is not the best representative of the Venezuelan opposition. But, then again, she is not running for office and she is not pretending to speak for all: she is just stating what is obvious for any independent and critical observer of the Venezuelan scene. The real problem with Tal Cual is that it dislikes Bush deeply (which by the way happens with many other folks in the opposition). Now, there are many reasons to hate Bush, but he is still the president of the US, elected this time with a convincing margin. One must be able to separate Bush war role from the –institutional- move of Bush receiving all sorts of people in the interests of HIS country (Insulza, the new OAS secretary was received the same day as Maria Corina Machado and that does not make Insulza the slave of Bush in the news). Certainly being seen with Bush could be counterproductive for MCM on the long run, but where else can SUMATE go to make its case? Havana?

The ruling chavismo: psychotic dissociation

Today's news really comes from that side. In a sentence, all the seams of the chavista ill tailored ideological suit became visible.

The highlight was the reception at the National Assembly of Frank Wolf, congressman from Virginia in a courtesy visit. He had the misfortune (or the direct intention?) to say that if the government keeps pressuring SUMATE on trumped up charges, that would be an incentive for Congress to give even more money to the NED, and through this one to SUMATE. The message was to defend SUMATE; but of course in Venezuela where everything has become so personal the chavista assemblymen went up in hysteria to attack MCM, not getting the advice of Wolf: if you want to get rid of MCM, do not make her a martyr. When Iris Varela rudely interrupted the session to start a long, rude, vulgar, obnoxious and abusive rant (not to mention that she should have been arrested by the Fashion Police lead by Miss Manners) we reached climax. To say that Varela was undone at the hinges is to be charitable. To say that she ridiculed herself and the parliament for letting her say the idiotic things she said is mild. To say that she did not impress Wolf and that she gave him even more reasons to stand by his words is an understatement.

But this was seen everywhere in the chavistas that spoke today, in more or less varying degrees, be it the foreign minister or Varela, through Tascon. And that was very revealing of the frame mind of chavismo. I will not go into the obvious immorality and double standards of chavismo, who frowns that the NED gave 54 000 USD to SUMATE when Chavez spent billions of dollars buying votes (see the running PDVSA stories). No, what is more interesting to observe is that chavismo has repeated to itself the mantra that even after 5 full years in office they were still newcomers, still the victims, still the target of everybody's envy, that we realize today they actually believe all that crap. They actually believe that MCM is a CIA agent receiving millions personally. They have been repeating to themselves so many lies for so long that they have started believing them!!!

Astounding!

There is another much more worrisome thing. We thought that they used character assassination of people like MCM as a strategy to bring down their organizations, the "shoot the messenger" attack. But today we also see that they are unable, UNABLE, to actually differentiate MCM from SUMATE. They have become so obsequious to Chavez, so imbued by him, so servile, that they cannot imagine that everyone at SUMATE is to MCM just as they are to Chavez.

Now, this is very troubling! For example, the Posada Carriles thing is scary as I realize that even deputies to the National Assembly of Venezuela do believe that Bush just needs to say the word to have him sent to Venezuela! They do thing that things overseas are just like at home where Chavez decides on all matters..........

The US ambassador, William Brownfield, was at the meeting where Wolf was all but physically aggressed (and Wolf seemed unflappable through the whole thing, to his credit). I am sure that Brownfield is quite aware on how things work out on Venezuela. But I think I sensed on his diplomatic face that he did not realize how far this had gone, as surprised as I was myself to see chavismo in blatant psychotic collapse!

Justice missing in action

To close this I would like to point out something to any chavista reader that this blog might have left. Let's assume that indeed MCM is a coup monger and that she should be in jail. Why is she not at least on trial by now? How come that if her alleged crimes were made in April 2002 she is still running around 3 years and one month later? Don't you see that in a country where justice sorts of work like in the US, when you only keep accusing people for that long simply makes you lose your credibility?

The slap that Bush sent you yesterday, you have only your inefficiency to blame. You served it to Bush in a silver platter. How many such platters are left in Bush's pantry?

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1) I have translated the first paragraph of the article of Charito Rojas in Notitarde, just to get the reader a feel for the opposition elation:

María Corina Machado does have an US visa! Yes! I must confess that I was prey of a great joy when I saw the director of SUMATE installed in the Oval Office with Gerge W. Bush himself. Bravo for Sumate! They have been steadfast and they have been able to sit down wher eit matters, with the president of the first country in the World, no matter how disgusting one might find this. But what did you expect? Alter calling the president an alcoholic, in need of a man to the secretary of state, coup monger and terrorist to any bureacrat, sh...y capitalists to all of USA, then they start screaming like a truck full of pigs when they get their US visa revoked. Only then do they remember the "majesty" of their positions and they demand respect.

Maria Corina Machado of SUMATE received by President Bush

Originally published here

The stunning news of the week, if not the quarter, is the reception today at the White House of Maria Corina Machado, the leader of SUMATE (1).


Poise, class and dignity at the White House
(interview of MCM with audio here)


I learned it on the radio on my way to a dinner engagement. If I could not write about it earlier, I can assure you that the meal was even more delicious than it probably was. This is a stunning coup for SUMATE and some of Venezuela's opposition, and yet another stinging hit for Chavez who is not having a good time at all these recent days.

Analysis of this spectacular move by the State Department will require days. So tonight this humble blogger, just arriving from a delicious meal will be brief in his speculations and analysis.

The message is clear at several levels:

• By receiving the leader of SUMATE the US declares that in Venezuela there is a problem with free and fair elections (to Hell with the Carter Center who somehow managed to convince Colin Powell that all was fine and dandy down here).
• By receiving SUMATE, the most organized and efficient and democratic component of the Venezuelan opposition, the State Department sends a clear message to the opposition: be democratic, be organized, work hard, and we will help you if needed to make sure that elections are fair.
• By receiving Maria Corina Machado, the US looks at the new class of Venezuelan politicians, modern folks, not encumbered by the weight of the corrupted past AND present.
  
• And perhaps most important, by receiving Maria Corina Machado, likely political prisoner of Chavez, Bush goes beyond extending protection: he tells Chavez that all his B.S. of recent weeks is having no effect on the US administration who will chose its friends as it pleases. He also tells that he is really far from receiving chavistas at the White House where we suspect that more than one would love to be seen. Indeed, a few days ago the US suspended its visa to the High Court chief Omar Mora who was greatly upset about it. Today's visitor must be compared to the non-visitor who wanted to go himself to the White House to demand the skin of Posada. In other words, bluntly, the US tells that Chavez better watch out his foul mouth or further humiliations are in stock for him.
  

And it hurts really bad in the chavista camp as a totally decomposed and hysterical Cilia Flores, a factor in the National Assembly, went out to say that Maria Corina Machado had better stay in the US, that she should be sent to trial for betrayal to the fatherland. The poor and deranged woman did not realize how idiotic, and revealing, her declarations were. And how they could easily be used against her cause in the US. For example such declarations could be used as an excuse not to extradite Posada Cariles since in a country with such deranged legislators justice is clearly impossible (2). Or it could be used to send Eva Golinger to jail under the Patriot Act as Ms. Golinger dealings are certainly not any less guilt free as the alleged ones of SUMATE that she so eagerly denounces. But we know that diplomacy is an alien concept to Chavez and even more to chavismo.

Well, at least there is something good for Chavez there: tomorrow Venezuela will talk less about PDVSA and its corrupt and inefficient management. See Hugo, always a silver lining.

__________________

1) Story speedily translated by El Universal.

2) At a moment, by the way, where Venezuela seems to have the greatest of difficulties to put together a dossier to ask for Posada's extradition. Indeed, the confusion in the Chavez camp is spectacular as some declare that the US is refusing to extradite Posada while the dossier has not even be sent complete to the US.... But rabble rousers seem to be in surnumerary these days.

_________________

Update: for some colorful local rejoicing, and to stress how important is the news of that visit for Venezuela, check the comment section of the Noticiero Digital thread. Venezuela's wit in display, to be compared to witless Cilia Flores and Iris Varela :-)

A new diplomatic set back for Chavez

Originally published here

In spite of efforts from Venezuela at the OAS to block the invitation of the SUMATE ONG to an OAS meeting, the council went ahead and ratified that SUMATE was invited along a few other Venezuelan ONG. The excuse presented by Venezuela's ambassador to block the invitation of SUMATE because this one was involved in events of 2002 was rather lame as SUMATE in those days barely existed. But of course the real reason is that chavismo cannot forgive that SUMATE organized the successful Recall Election drive in spite of ALL THE ABUSES committed by chavismo to derail the effort (and their own failure at raising a credible recall election for opposition assemblymen).

I think that Valero sensed the exasperation of his colleagues as he decided at the last minute to back down to avoid a full frontal vote second vote that would have established the growing isolation of Venezuela in the OAS.

The good news there is that the problems of the electoral system in Venezuela are now been noticed outside and SUMATE is considered as one of the best defender of the right to vote, and certainly technically the most informed one. Let's hope that this well deserved recognition of Maria Corina Machado and SUMATE's work will boost the growing movement inside Venezuela to put due pressure on the obscenely partial CNE.

Chavez 's milestones

Originally published here

Up to August 2004, I had followed Chavez revolution from afar. I had not voted for Chavez and I could not understand why anybody would vote for him. I have a very deep social conscience and I believed that something had to be done in Venezuela to improve the standard of living of everybody, but Chavez? A caudillo? A putchist? A populist? A man with no clear vision of how to run a country? At the time, I had just accepted with resignation that the countries deserved the rulers that they elect. Every time I read the newspapers I would get mad about the situation and I decided to just try to forget about it.

Among all the many events that have taken place during Chavez term, there were three that took me out of my political lethargy. They are critical points in my political assessment of Chavez government and, in my view, constitute the three most dangerous milestones in the Venezuela path leading away from democracy. They are:

1. - the persecution of the Sumate directive,

2. - the refusal of the CNE to open the boxes after the Revocatory Referendum,

3. - the changing of the law to pack the Supreme Court and, consequently, the use of the single majority in the National Assembly to elect the judges.

The first event, persecuting the directive of Sumate, showed me the intimidation face of the Chavistas. The government really worked hard to find an obscure article, dating from the time of Dictator Juan Vicente Gomez that could be applied to the only effective opposition organization that was in place in Venezuela. The article (article 132 of the Penal Code) is so archaic that any democratic government would have removed it from its law. Chavez government not only did not remove it, but gave them a convoluted interpretation that could put in prison for 8 to 16 years the directors of Sumate. Their crime? Accepting a small grant from the National Endowment for Democracy. Even if the grant had been illegal, in any democratic country the penalty would be to pay a fine, but not 8 to 16 years in jail!

The second event of importance was the refusal of the CNE to open the boxes after the claims of fraud made by the opposition and after the publication of numerous studies showing inconsistencies in the results. Even though the Carter Center carried out the audit of 1% of the ballot boxes, that audit was considered inadequate and many Venezuelans still believed that there had been a widespread fraud in the Referendum. Under such circumstances, the obligation of any democratic government is to do whatever is necessary to replace people’s confidence in their system. Venezuela CNE refused to take any further steps. This brings two possibilities to my mind: either the government really had something to hide and, therefore, refused to open the boxes or Chavez had won as claimed but was determined to show everybody in Venezuela who was really the boss. Neither possibility is reassuring from the democratic standpoint. One indicates that the results of the RR may not be correct and the other shows an arrogance of power that cannot be accepted in a modern democratic society.

The last event is the latest strike to Venezuela’s fragile democracy. In a country where everything is regulated by law and where there is an abundance of laws to be interpreted, those that have the power to control the interpretation of the laws have, the facto, the absolute power. To get to that control, Chavez strategy was a proposal to increase the number of judges of the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia. The so-called ``Court Packing”, condemned by Human Rights Watch, was followed by a swift election of new chavista judges by a single majority vote in the National Assembly instead of the 2/3 of the votes usually stipulated.

Sadly, we are quickly witnessing the results of the last milestone. The TSJ recently reconsidered its own ruling on the acquittal of the military involved in the events of April 11, 2002 opening a dangerous judicial Pandora Box (see Viaje a la Semilla).

To complete the dark portrait given by those three milestones, there is, of course, the infamous Tascon list according to which those that signed to ask for a referendum to revoke the president are blacklisted. There are also two new laws that have been recently added: the muzzle law, which controls the content in radio and television and the modification of the penal code that imposes tougher jail sentences that may restrict in some cases the freedom of expression. More recently, we have also witnessed the increasing militarization of the country, for instance, the government has proposed that 10% of the Venezuelan population be military reservists! (see here and here).

And, going back to the penal code, you may think that since the government had to change the code, they would have got rid of its anachronisms like the infamous Juan Vicente Gomez article, right? No such luck: article 132 is still there.

I really miss my days of political lethargy!