Two important pieces from Venezuelanalysis.com. One is on the state of the commercial deals between Colombia and Venezuela signed during the bizarre July 2004 meeting (discussed in this blog at the time). The other about Chavez’s attempts at diplomacy in the wake of the kidnapping.
Category: Venezuela Coups
What they’re saying about the Granda kidnapping
In an editorial in El Espectador, important Colombian writer Alfredo Molano pointed out that Colombia’s use of bounty hunters and kidnappings has unleashed forces beyond its control. I thought that myself about the extradition of Simon Trinidad. Even the most vicious wars are based on certain understandings – usually these understandings don’t provide protection to the most vulnerable civilians, but instead to the more powerful combatants – that contain a conflict. Each new line that is crossed invites reprisal. Of course the Bush administration is all about crossing lines and demonstrating impunity. They know they won’t pay the price. They know they can spread the price around so that everyone but themselves pay.
Other analysts, like Antonio Guillermo García Danglades, who I don’t know and whose name I don’t recognize, point out that this was more than a deliberate provocation and a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty: it was yet another attempt at destabilizing Venezuela and creating conditions for a conflict with Colombia or simply undermining Venezuela’s ‘Bolivarian Revolution’.
Participants of the ‘2nd Bolivarian Congress of Peoples’, the meeting in December in Caracas at which Granda was kidnapped, wrote a communique repudiating the kidnapping but also clarifying that Granda was not an accredited participant at the Congress and neither was FARC. They also stated their support for whatever Chavez chooses to do to defend “national dignity, truth, and justice, mocked by this grave violation of the national sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which effects the relations between the neighbouring countries and corresponds to the imperialist strategy of the US in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The list of signers (the statement is below) suggests that this is the position of most of the ‘official’ left in Latin America.
This is a serious escalation against Venezuela, and a brilliant political move on behalf of the US and Uribe: very cleverly designed to split Chavez’s political base, internationally and, much more importantly, domestically. It is the more effective precisely because, unfortunately, kidnapping is so important a FARC tactic that to argue against Granda’s kidnapping is to invite the reply from Uribe people: “Well, then are you against all the FARC’s kidnappings?” If you are, then you can no longer be an unquestioning supporter of the FARC’s – hence the split. Worse, by committing these kinds of abuses, deliberately designed to provoke, the US/Uribe are inviting the FARC to commit reprisals that will reduce its popularity and force still others to distance themselves from them.
COMUNICADO DEL CONGRESO BOLIVARIANO DE LOS PUEBLOS
Ante los hechos registrados a partir del caso del secuestro de Rodrigo Granda en territorio venezolano.
Considerando la situación generada por la deplorable participación del gobierno de Colombia, al reconocer el pago de soborno para realizar el secuestro de Granda en territorio de Venezuela. Ante la irresponsable afirmación del gobierno del Presidente Uribe al sostener que “la política de recompensas es un instrumento legítimo de los Estados”, poniéndose al margen de todas las normas jurídicas del derecho internacional. Entendiendo que esta acción es un hecho que lesiona gravemente la soberanía de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, y por lo tanto corresponde una disculpa pública y rectificación por parte del Gobierno de Colombia ante pueblo venezolano
y la opinión pública internacional.
Los asistentes internacionales al II Congreso Bolivariano de los Pueblos declaran:
1. Repudiamos el secuestro de Rodrigo Granda, realizado en Caracas el día 13 de diciembre.
2. Ante el comunicado emitido por el gobierno de Colombia en el que se afirma que “El señor Granda participó en un Congreso Bolivariano realizado en Caracas los días 8 y 9 de diciembre de 2004, en representación de la FARC”.
a) Ratificamos que no fueron invitados ni acreditados en el Segundo Congreso Bolivariano de los Pueblos, Rodrigo Granda, ni la organización que representa, las FARC.
b) Informamos que el Segundo Congreso Bolivariano de los Pueblos se llevó a cabo del día 6 al 9 de diciembre, contando con una gran cantidad de actividades de libre acceso al público en general.
3. En consonancia con las resoluciones emanadas de nuestro Segundo Congreso, hacemos votos por la solución política negociada al conflicto social y armado que desangra la hermana República de Colombia.
4. Respaldamos en todos sus términos la posición y medidas tomadas por el Presidente Hugo Chávez y el Gobierno de Venezuela en defensa de la dignidad nacional, la verdad y la justicia, mancilladas por este secuestro en territorio venezolano, hecho que constituye una grave violación a la soberanía de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, que afecta las relaciones entre dos países hermanos y responde a la estrategia imperialista de los Estados Unidos en América
Latina y el Caribe.
Por los asistentes al Segundo Congreso Bolivariano de los Pueblos:
• Jorge Ceballos, Coordinador Nacional del Movimiento Barrios de Pie, Argentina.
• Marcia Campos, Presidenta de la Federación Democrática Internacional de Mujeres,
FDIM, Brasil.
• Alexis Ponce, Coordinador de la Asamblea Permanente de los Derechos Humanos del
Ecuador, APDH, Ecuador.
• Jacinto Suárez, miembro de la dirección nacional del Frente Sandinista de
Liberación Nacional, FSLN, Nicaragua.
• Osvaldo Peredo, miembro de la dirección del Movimiento al Socialismo, MAS,
Bolivia.
• Marlene da Rocha, Secretaria Nacional de Acompañamiento del Proyecto Hambre Cero
por la Ejecutiva del Partido de los Trabajadores PT, Brasil.
• Jorge Schafik Handal, jefe fracción legislativa del FMLN, El Salvador.
• Rodrigo Ruiz, Secretario General de La Surda, Chile.
• Edgar Sánchez Aguirre, miembro de la dirección de la Federación Campesina de
Oruro, Bolivia.
• Isaac Rudnik, miembro dirección nacional de la Corriente Patria Libre, CPL,
Argentina.
• Leónidas Iza, ex presidente de la Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del
Ecuador, CONAIE, Ecuador.
• Héctor Pio Fleitas Flecha, miembro de la mesa ejecutiva, Sindicato de
Trabajadores de Petroleros Paraguayos, Paraguay.
• José Adán Rivera, Secretario General de la Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo,
ATC, Nicaragua.
• Rubén García, miembro de la dirección nacional del Movimiento de Liberación
Nacional Tupamaros, MLN, Frente Amplio, Uruguay.
• Nidia Díaz, miembro de la Secretaría de Relaciones Internacionales del Frente
Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN, El Salvador.
• Edgar Ponce, Secretario General de la Red de Trabajadores de la Energía
Eléctrica, Enlace, Ecuador.
• Doris Gutiérrez, miembro de la Dirección Nacional de la Coordinadora de
Organizaciones Campesinas de Honduras, COCOH, Honduras.
• Carolina Toranza, delegada de la Federación de Estudiantes Universitarios del
Uruguay, FEUU, Uruguay.
• Raul Marín, Coordinador del Movimiento Sin Techo, MST, Paraguay.
• Héctor Santarén, miembro de la Mesa Ejecutiva del Partido Comunista Congreso
Extraordinario, PCCE, Argentina.
• Gilberto Talahua, Secretario General del Movimiento Plurinacional Pachakutik
Nuevo País, Ecuador.
• Darío López Desvars, Coordinador de la Casa de la Juventud, Paraguay.
• Arnaldo Assis Mourthe, Secretario de Relaciones Internacionales del Partido
Democrático Laborista, PDT, Brasil.
• Federico Tomás Gomensoro, Secretario de Relaciones Internacionales del Partido
Socialista del Uruguay, PSU, Frente Amplio, Uruguay.
• Padre Rogelio Cruz, Presidente del Grupo Sacerdotal Helder Cámara, República
Dominicana.
• Humberto Cholango, Presidente de la Confederación Kichua Ecuarrunari, Ecuador.
• Mercedes Fleitas, miembro de la dirección nacional del Mesa Coordinadora
Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas, Paraguay.
• José Espinal Marcelo, miembro de la dirección nacional del Partido Nueva
Alternativa y de la Unidad del Pueblo, República Dominicana.
• Reverendo Ricardo Cornejo, Presidente de la Comunidad Fe y Vida, El Salvador.
• Ramatis Jacino, vicepresidente de la municipalidad de San Pablo del Partido de
los Trabajadores, Brasil.
• Ignacio López, Secretario General de la Central Unitaria de Trabajadores
Auténtica, CUT-A, Paraguay.
• Carlos Aznárez, Coordinador de las Cátedras Bolivarianas de la Universidad de
Madres de Plaza de Mayo y director de Resumen Latinoamericano.
• Marcelo Koening, miembro de la Dirección Nacional del Movimiento Patriótico 20
de Diciembre, Argentina.
• Manuel Zárate, miembro de la dirección nacional del Partido del Pueblo, Panamá.
• Juan Barahona, miembro de la dirección del Bloque Popular, Honduras.
• Nelson Chaves, Secretario de Relaciones Internacionales del Movimiento
Revolucionario 8 de Octubre, MR8, Brasil.
• Angel Adolfo Borello, miembro de la Dirección Nacional de la Federación de
Tierra y Vivienda, FTV, Coordinador del Comedor Los Pibes, Argentina.
• Gloria Ribas, miembro de la Asociación de Comunidades Afectadas por el Anillo
Perisférico, El Salvador.
• Silvia Ferreira, miembro de la dirección nacional de la Agrupación Juvenil
Venceremos, Argentina.
• Cuauhtemoc Amecua Dromundo, Secretario General del Partido Popular Socialista,
PPS, México.
• Rodrigo Acosta, Comisión Directiva del Sindicato de Trabajadores de Teléfonos,
SINTRATELEFONOS, Colombia.
• Rafael González, miembro de la dirección nacional del Comité de Unidad
Campesina, CUC, Guatemala.
• Jorge Coronado, miembro de la dirección de Encuentro Popular, EP, Costa Rica.
• Maria do Socorro Gomes, miembro de la dirección de Centro Brasileño por la Paz y
la Solidaridad de los Pueblos, CEBRAPAZ, y del Partido Comunista do Brasil, PC do
B, Brasil.
• Marcelo Fondizi, miembro de la dirección de la Asociación de Trabajadores del
Estado, ATE, Argentina.
• Ricardo Robleto, Secretario General de la Central de Trabajadores de Nicaragua,
CTN, Nicaragua.
• Mónica Saiz. Proyecto Emancipación, Argentina.
• Eva Carazo, representante de la Red de Coordinación en Biodiversidad, Costa
Rica.
• María del Rosario Cañada, delegada de Jóvenes por el Socialismo, México.
• Rubén Varone, delegado del Partido Comunista, Argentina.
• Carlos Wong, Presidente de la Fundación Casa Azul, Panamá.
• Sergio Herrera, miembro de la dirección nacional de la Unión Nacional de
Estudiantes de Nicaragua, Nicaragua.
• Neburuby Chamarra, representante de los Cabildos Mayores del Movimiento
Indígena, Colombia.
• Yuliana Valencia, delegada de Disidencia Estudiantil, Perú.
• Elizabeth Rivera Cruz, miembro del Bloque Popular Social, El Salvador.
• Daniel Rico Serpa, miembro de la dirección del Unión Sindical de Obreros de la
Industria Petrolera, USO, Colombia.
• Fernando Ramón Bossi, Secretario General del Proyecto Emancipación, PE,
Argentina.
• Mauricio Rubiano Bello, miembro de la dirección nacional de la Asociación
Iniciativa Juvenil, Colombia.
• Leonardo Severo Wexell, representante del Canal Comunitario de San pablo,
Brasil.
• Eberto Díaz Montes, miembro de la dirección nacional de la Federación Nacional
Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria, FENSUAGRO, Colombia.
• Pablo Ceto, miembro del Ejecutivo Nacional de la Unidad Nacional revolucionaria
Guatemalteca, URNG, Guatemala.
• Agustín Contreras, Presidente de la Casa Bolívar de Anfictionía, Colombia.
• Silvia Ayala Figueroa, miembro de la dirección del Partido Unificación
Democrática, PUD, Honduras.
• Alex Munguía Salazar, delegado del Movimiento Mexicano Juarista Bolivariano,
México.
• Demetrio Hernández, Secretario General del Movimiento de Izquierda
Revolucionario, MIR, Chile.
• Antonio García, Presidente CUT, subseccional Atlántico, Colombia.
• Israel Barreiro, Secretario General CUT, Subseccional Atlántico, Colombia.
• Guillermo Rivera, Directivo Nacional de la UNEB Unión Nacional de Empleados
Bancarios, Colombia.
• Luis Jiménez, Directivo Nacional de Empleados Bancarios UNEB. , Colombia.
• Astrid Coronado, Coordinadora Polo Democrático, Colombia.
• Edith González Caballero, miembro de dirección del Comité de Solidaridad con
Cuba, Panamá.
• Ivonett Tapia Gómez, coordinadora de las Cátedras Bolivarianas de Colombia,
Colombia.
• Camilo Soares, Coordinador General del Centro de Estudios y Educación Popular
Germinal, Paraguay.
• Marinda Reyes Vázquez, delegada de Proyecto Revolución Cultural, República
Dominicana.
• Norberto Aristides Cintrón Fiallo, Coordinadora para la Confraternidad Caribeña
y Latinoamericana de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.
• Reinaldo Federico Ortiz, delegado de Estudiantes Universitarios Kunas, Panamá.
• Milagros Rivera, dirigente del Comité de Solidaridad con Cuba, Puerto Rico.
Siguen firmas.
Some Colombia stuff
Readers of this blog are probably following the Colombia-Venezuela situation with interest. A development late last week: apparently Colombian authorities arrested an apparent FARC member, Rodrigo Granda, in Venezuela on January 13. If that’s true, it was an abduction – Chavez called it a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty. Colombia claims it arrested Granda on the border, in Colombian territory. But now Venezuela has been distancing itself publicly from FARC.
Maybe Colombia and Venezuela need some American help to resolve their problems, huh?
Assassination in Venezuela
The state prosecutor for Venezuela, Danilo Anderson, was assassinated by a car bomb in Caracas around midnight last night.
Quoting the report by VHeadline:
At this time, the indications are that the driver’s body is indeed Anderson and already government officials are describing the incident as a further act of terrorism by radical opposition groups who are determined not to accept electoral defeat.
The Venezuelan Referendum Ends: Chavez Wins and the Balancing Act Continues
Z magazine, October 2004
Continue reading “The Venezuelan Referendum Ends: Chavez Wins and the Balancing Act Continues”
Consolidating the Paramilitaries
Friends in Colombia will be helping me blog from time to time. This friend is Enzo, and he is reporting on something happening in the Colombian press. The following are his interpretations of what is going on. Here goes:
Something orchestrated and intentional is happening as of sunday (Sept 26). It is a mediatic action regarding the paramilitaries. The three largest written media were totally dedicated to this issue on sunday. El Tiempo, El Espectador and Semana. The issue was the paramilitarization of the country. It was presented in a well planned way. Showing evidence of a phenomenon that everyone knows to be a fact as a sudden concern that was just unveiled. The paramilitary strategy is visibilized beyond the paramilitaries.
At the same time, during recent weeks, the different factions are being cleansed and unified. The groups that have oposed Castanio and Mancuso are being massacred or beheaded. Of course, all this began with the “disappearance” of Carlos Castanio (who was said to be sent to Istrael through Panama with the assistance of US intelligence -his brother Fidel, a Drug lord and founder of paramilitarism in Colombia, was seen in Tel-Aviv not that long ago-). Just last week, Arroyave, the commander of the Bloque Centauros, in direct oposition to the AUC, controlled by the President himself and by Mancuso, was killed by his own men. In other words, The paramilitaries are being unified by Uribe and his supporters (always US forces and the CIA) to be placed under his control.
These death squads are a component of a comprehensive National Strategy for Transnational Capital, which uses terror as its main weapon, articulated to political infiltration of the country, control of public budgets and programs, propaganda and drug production and trade (arms trade included).
The paramilitary strategy is a weapon of the globalized right to take over the resources of a country (and its neighbours) and transfer these to the government, which is already under US military and corporate control. This explains the weekend propaganda blitz. Uribe is known to be a paramilitary and wants to rid himself of this image. A perfect action: attack the other paramilitaries and unify the troops of assasins and present these actions as a government’s battle against paramilitarism. Expose the corruption that allows government funds to flow into paramilitarism as a threat that the government is fighting, but which is difficult to defeat and include here the para-narco connection. Present yourself as a victim of this machinery and call for foreign (US) help to fight this huge enemy, while in fact, you (Uribe and his allies) have created these enterprises with the paras to take public funds and invest them into funding paramilitarism, while becoming involved in drug trade.
Uribe himself has been shown to be a drug lord and a paramilitary (see Joseph Contrera’s book, La Biografia No Autorizada de Alvaro Uribe Velez). In fact, paramilitary factions have funded themselves through extorsion, government funds and drug trade for years. What changes now is that someone, somewhere has ordered a unification of these groups within the government, in it and under the President himself. They will keep funding themselves in the same way, but become the government and a single group.
Present this unification as a war between the Government and the paras and in the end the public will be convinced that when the Government becomes the paras, the paras will have been defeated. Colombia is being delivered to death squads, drug lords, corrupt thieves, linked to US and corporate interests. In the meantime a ‘peace process’ advances in San Jose de Ralito, Cordoba between government and paras. This site for negotiations gathers wealthy Colombians, members of Congress and other personalities. The site borders by two haciendas. One is owned by one of the largest landlords in Colombia: Alvaro Uribe Velez. The other one by his longstanding neighbour: Mancuso, the commander of the paramilitaries.
Two final notes:
1. None of this is limited to Colombia. It is being extended into Venezuela and Ecuador, and arguably the globe, wherever multinational interests are at stake.
2. The Government has become a criminal machinery on behalf of private national and multinational interests and its job is to persecute and punish those who opose the para-narco-corporate-US interests. This explains why, for example many health institutions for the poor that exist in the country are under the control of paramilitaries and do not fund health programs, but transfer these funds for the death squads to buy weapons and recruit new troops. This also explains why the Government under paramilitary rule, uses public services, such as the entire judicial system, to criminalize those who opoese its interests. There are many examples, but the most recent one involves Alcibiades Escue, probably the most important and respected indigenous leader in Colombia. Alcibiades is CEO of an Indigenous Health Institution owned by the communities in Cauca, South West Colombia. The paras attempted extorsion on him and the leaders refused to pay. As a result, Alcibiades was jailed and the media quickly condemned him and his communities as a paramilitary terrorist supporter who transferred funds for the health of the poor into the hands of death squads. In other words, the only one who refused to join the paras, was punished for this. Alcibiades is now out of jail, but the President announced that he would personally deal with this case.
Imagine this: the President of your country is a commander of a unified Death Squad that rules the nation through fear. The Government serves this machinery of fear for profit for the sake of transnational interests under US guidance. Most of the funding comes from drug trade. The rest is taken away through taxes from the people to be used against them. All this, leads to a regime that delivers wealth to corporate interests. The victims who refuse to tolerate this, are then either murdered or disappeared by death squads (indistinguishable) or accused of crimes committed by the regime. The Victims are chased after by the Criminals on behalf of Justice.
In the midst of the consolidation of this death squad corporate nation, indigenous people stand up peacefully and march to establish a new popular government, weaving popular autonomies for Life, Justice, Happiness and Freedom. Now, back to where we began. Why this media strategy? Who is behind it? Official terror uses propaganda, but official today in Colombia means global, multinational and US. If the Colombian State is being consolidated as a corporate-narco-terrorist machine, it is only emulating the largest corporate-terrorist-narco government in the world. And resistance comes from indigenous-popular coalitions now weaving a new project that calls for the concioussness and action of the world.
This unbelievable reality is truth. It is so unbeleivably true that most choose to ignore it, while the assasins take over the wealth and the life of the planet.
The RESCUED MAYOR!
A truly heartfelt thank you to everyone who wrote letters and otherwise helped with the kidnapping of the indigenous commission in Cauca, including my friend Arquimedes Vitonas, the mayor of Toribio. The indigenous community mobilized massively to send 400 people to the area to search for the commission. And they succeeded in Arquimedes and all five of the others!!! Spanish communique below.
http://www.nasaacin.net/noticias.htm?x=90&conds[1][category……..]=’Noticias ACIN’
LAS COMUNIDADES,LOS CABILDOS Y LA GUARDIA INDIGENA RESCATAN AL ALCALDE DE TORIBIO
San Vicente del Caguan, Caqueta-Colombia, 09/08/2004, ONIC-CRIC- ACIN Autor: ONIC-CRIC-ACIN
La Organizadón Nacional Indígena de Colombia(ONIC), el Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauta (CRIC) Y la Asociadón de Cabildos indígenas de Norte del Cauca (ACN) comunican a la opinión Pública:
1. Que en el día de ayer 7 de septiembre de 2004 fueron rescatados Sanos y salvos los Señores, Arquimedes Vitonás Noscué, Alcalde de Toribio, Gilberto Muñoz Coronado, exalcalde del mismo municipio, quienes han sido secuestrados por Míembros de la columna Teófilo Forero de las FARC, desde el 23 de agosto de 2004, mientras cumplían una labor de intercambio de experiencia con la comunidad indígena del resguardo de Altamira.
2. Igualmente informamos que en la acción de rescate fueron encontrados en el resguardo de Altamira los señores Plinio Trochez gobernador del Resguardo indígena de Toribío, Ruben Darío Escué, gobernador suplente del resguardo de san Francisco, Ermilson Velásco Yatacué, quienes pese a no ser secuestrados, no salieron de del resguardo por temor al peligró que corrían sus vidas y la de el alcalde y Ex alcalde.
3. Esta labor de rescate fue desarrollada por las comunidades, Los cabildos y la guardia indígena del Cauca quienes se desplazaron hasta la selvas del municipio de San Vicente del Caguán, en cumplimiento del mandato emanado por sus autoridades.
4. El movimiento indígena de Colombia agradece las manifestaciones de apoyo y solidaridad recibidas.
5. Invitamos a todos los pueblos y organizaciones del país a fortalecer nuestros procesos de resistencia, autonomía, unidad y a movilizamos por nuestra dignidad, la defensa de la vida y nuestros derechos frente a todos los actores.
Por el respeto a la vida, la dignidad y la libertad, resistencia siempre.
San Vicente del Caguán, 8 de septiembre de 2004
Carter and Gaviria find find “NO EVIDENCE OF FRAUD”
Now it seems that it really is all over, save for some possibly tragic and desperate acts by the opposition. At a 1:30pm press conference at the Gran Melia hotel, Carter and Gaviria both affirmed that their analysis and results confirmed the preliminary results of the National Electoral Council.
No Evidence, No Evidence, No Evidence
Specifically, Carter said: “After a long process of analysis, we conclude that our results are in agreement with the preliminary results of the Electoral Council.” Gaviria, who very obviously wanted there to be evidence of fraud, seemed full of regret when he said: “We have not encountered any evidence of fraud. If there are any specific claims, we are ready to investigate them… that is why we are here… we are ready to work with the opposition if there is any concrete information. But until now, we have no evidence of any specific cases of fraud.”
Both tried to clear up the difference between fraud and protest. Carter said: “I know that the Coordinadora Democratica is calling for demonstrations, and that is their right in a free society.” Gaviria said: “It is one thing to give your opinion or express doubts, but fraud is another thing.”
It actually gets worse for the opposition. Recall that at 5:30am this morning (the 16th), the opposition announced their own “results” of the referendum: 59% SI, 40% NO, and 8 million votes. Well, it turns out that BEFORE that announcement, according to Carter, and after Carter and Gaviria had seen the preliminary CNE results, Carter, Gaviria, and all five directors of the CNE—including the two, Zamora and Mejia, whose statements the opposition has been using to claim fraud. Everyone agreed that there had been no fraud. Everyone there agreed that the CNE results agreed with their own, including Sumate´s (the opposition electoral organ, whose mission was setting up the referendum) own information which stated that 55% had voted NO. So, after agreeing in a meeting as to the results, they came out publicly to dispute what they had already agreed to. Carter expressed confusion about it all.
This announcement is much more unequivocal than could have been expected. I thought there would be more “doubts” expressed, more talk of “possibilities” of “irregularities”, that kind of thing. But, no. The words “no evidence” came up over and over, not least because of the technical aspects of the system itself. Gaviria said “the system is designed in such a way that it is almost impossible to fake final results.”
Outside the Melia hotel, a small group of a few dozen very unhappy opposition people were demonstrating. I asked them what they thought of Carter`s declaration. They said “Carter has never defended us”, “it was a fraud, they keep saying it was not a fraud but they have to show us the proof that it was not a fraud”, and other arguments of equal quality.
So, now that two has-been presidents, one a repressive war criminal president of Colombia (see 1990-1994), and the other a war criminal president of the US (see East Timor, Afghanistan, etc.) have made their declarations, Venezuelans now know that they can keep their president. It is not that bad, actually—Chavez made it clear that the CNE was the final arbiter all along. But it is equally clear that Carter and the OAS have played a role out of all proportion to the role they should have played. The very fact that we were all waiting for their declaration before relaxing shows that.
Notes on the Final Results, from Jorge Rodriguez of the CNE
And now, the final results are coming in as well, from the CNE. A press conference given by the CNE, shown on VTV, at 3:40pm. Jorge Rodriguez of the CNE mentioned various aspects, with some good quotes. First, the registered voters grew to some 14 million, and more voting stations are clearly needed, and closer to the people, to avoid lineups. The fingerprinting machines did cause delays: but for the most part, yesterday, congestion was similar in parts with fingerprinting machines as those without.
“Never before in Venezuelan history have so many voted. Never before. And certainly not with absolute peace, without any violence.” There were some “dangerous periods”. First, in the morning, the media mentioned that the machines were giving wrong results. “We believe this was a deliberate attempt to delegitimate the process. When we investigated, we found nothing—every time. It is technically impossible.”
Also, it is very dangerous to create matrices of opinion outside of the CNE. Websites started publishing results before Venezuelans had voted. The partisan sites started to declare their triumph – “this is not just dangerous, it is disrespectful to those still voting. Politicians have much to learn from the Venezuelans who voted. We never heard of any NOs attacking YESes in line. Not one.”
“If laws exist, they have to be respected. If not, can create a very dangerous situation. CNE ready to do whatever CD or Maisanta wanted. But only if it is going to calm the country. Not for another excuse.”
The best criticism of the opposition was this: “To say that there was fraud is to say that the CD was complicit in the fraud—it approved of the machines and was present through every part of the process. It is to say that CANTV was complicit in the software….”
“Carter has spoken. OAS has spoken. All have spoken to the transparency of the process. It is barbaric to ask for a recount after their prenouncements. How many meters do we have to go to please opposition, to get the same results?” Answering the claim that the CNE should not have published preliminary results: “how many times did the opposition complain that they wanted rapid results, threatening that they would publish their own results if we did not?”
NO seems to have won in every single state, with some states incredibly close. Even Zulia, the stronghold of the opposition, had NO winning by a slight margin.
The Venezuelan Referendum Ends
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-venezuelan-referendum-ends-by-justin-podur
Venezuela: Chavez wins, the opposition doesn´t respect the victory
President Carraquero of the National Electoral Council announced the preliminary result as of 3:47 am just now (4:10am) with between 94-96% of the results in. The result: 58% NO (4 991 483 million votes) and 42% SI (3 576 517 million votes). In other words, it´s all over, right?
It should be. The Electoral Council, which was perfectly good for everyone involved until now, is no longer good enough for the opposition. They announced just before the preliminary results that they would not accept the results. And now, as folks have said before, all depends on the Carter Center and the OAS. These groups are in frantic negotiations with the Coordinadora Democratica (opposition) right now. Rumour (I´ll confirm as soon as possible) is that Carter and Gaviria of the OAS are fighting. Carter apparently thinks that the vote ought to be accepted. Gaviria believes that some kind of “solution” should be sought in spite of the clear vote. I am having trouble believing in Carter´s insistence on democracy, but for argument´s sake let´s accept that that´s what´s going on. If that is what´s going on, and if Gaviria and the opposition have their way, it will be an abhorrent message from the world to Venezuelans, that they are on their own in trying to defend their democracy and that international bodies have no credibility to tell them anything. This could end up to be the case. But since we waited so many hours for the people to speak, we ought to give these groups a chance to save a minimum of credibility for themselves as well.
UPDATE (5:35am). In case anyone was worried that the opposition was going to do the right thing and respect the Venezuelan vote, Henry Ramos Allup dispelled that notion dramatically this morning in a televised press conference. According to the Coordinadora Democratica´s own figures (not really sure how they were collected, but some way far more reliable than the double-system of the machines), of 8 million votes counted, SI had 59% and NO 40.6%. Ramos said they would be spending today (Monday) gathering evidence to present to the international community.
This claim, without evidence like virtually every other claim of the opposition, gives the Carter Center, OAS, and international press a real choice. Will they respect the vote of the Venezuelans and their electoral authorities, which they have been praising all day, or will they opt for sleazy, evidence-free claims that are designed to sow chaos and undermine progress?
I wish I wasn´t so sure of the answer. (UPDATE: I was wrong! Not for the first time, about Venezuela. Carter and Gaviria stated clearly at a press conference at 1:30pm that they found NO EVIDENCE of fraud (and it was pretty clear Gaviria wanted to find evidence). So, there you have it. Much clearer than I thought.)