Hugo Chavez at the levers

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday instituted new currency-exchange controls that will severely hurt many Venezuelan businessmen, and could paralyze the whole country economically. Under a new fixed exchange rate, the dollar - which on the black market is worth about 2,500 Venezuelan bolivars - will sell for 1,596 bolivars and be bought for 1,600 bolivars. Mr. Chavez appointed Capt. Edgar Hernandez Behrens, who helped him stage a bloody but failed coup in 1992, head of the exchange agency. Mr. Chavez said the agency's "orders will be: not one dollar to coup mongers." He cloaked his financial retaliation against his opposition in a populist tone: "Bolivars are for the people."

To members of the International Media [Full Text] Dear Sirs:

I have become very disappointed with the poor amount and sometimes unjust coverage given to the TRUE current Venezuelan political and economic crisis, as well as the slanted view presented in the American media regarding this extremely important matter. In the next few paragraphs, I will present some facts that I hope will give a different view of what is generally presented in American newspapers and broadcasts. I dearly hope that this will give a clearer sense of what is truly happening in Venezuela and shed some light on the indescribable damage that President Hugo Chavez has caused on the country's people and institutions. Please verify all these facts with the U.S. Embassy in Caracas and with your colleagues so that the truth will come to light and the American and Western countries will be informed of the intense repression and extreme fear currently lived by most Venezuelans. It is of the utmost importance that people know of this and take action, so that repressive, authoritarian regimes do not continue to spread in Latin America. This is a particularly pressing issue given the desperation currently lived by most Venezuelans for the fear that they will fall hostage to a repressive, communist, and authoritarian regime for which they did not vote and the indescribable cost to the country resulting from the current month-old strike, which is estimated at more than $50 million per day in foregone oil sales alone. The people are holding this strike, sacrificing short term sales at an incredible personal cost, in hopes that the current regime does not take away their long term dreams of raising their children in a free, democratic country with ample opportunities for all.

Note: In order to simply present the facts and let your respected, serious media draw insightful analysis and logical conclusions, I will use brief bullet points (albeit each one could easily fill an entire chapter of a book.)

1) Establishment of the so-called "Bolivarian Circles" by the government with the sole purpose of causing terror in the cities to lower the morale of the opposition and incite them to emigrate. These groups are being funded with government money and are also provided with arms purchased by the state. Moreover, these terrorist groups allegedly receive training from Cuba. This is all being organized by Freddy Bernal, a close Chavez ally and mayor of Caracas's Libertador District.

2) Lack of free speech and persecution of prominent businessmen, politicians, and reporters as evidenced by the fact that their telephone lines are intervened and they are followed by the Military Police. Also, many of these people were subject to house raids by the Government (specific examples include a former Minister of the Exterior, a former high ranking Army General (Gen. Manuel Rosendo), and many other officers who recently defected from the army.) Moreover, these people constantly receive threats of kidnapping and murder not only for themselves but also for their families.

3) Strong links by Chavez to several regimes considered by Western States to promote terrorism and/or deny citizens of basic human rights. The most notorious of these people include:

a) Fidel Castro: He is Chavez's strongest advocate and closest advisor, and a large beneficiary of Venezuelan oil. In a deal that strongly favours Cuba, Chavez is exchanging oil for services provided by Cuba. These include military strategic and tactical advice, sport coaching, and medical training. In addition, many people claim that as many as 4,000 Cubans are infiltrated in Venezuela - even in the military - to provide the Venezuelan government with Soviet-style intelligentsia and advice. In addition, even Castro himself admitted that "the Cuban revolution cannot survive if Chavez's 'Bolivarian Revolution' fails." Chavez's admiration for Castro is indisputable. The danger lies in the fact that Chavez is pushing his own personal agenda to establish a communist regime in Venezuela so that the country that he is representing can live like Cuba in a "Sea of Happiness" (the way Chavez described Cuba during one of his speeches at a university on that Island) even though the vast majority of Venezuelans don't support that type of system.

b) FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia): Venezuelan General Gonzalez Gonzalez, who recently defected from the Venezuelan Army, challenged Chavez on April 10th to deny that these groups, which are considered by the Bush Administration to be terrorists, do not operate in Venezuelan territory. There is strong evidence, including videos released by Venezuelan TV station Globovision, to support these claims. Moreover, Chavez has admitted dealing with FARC and ELN (Colombia's second largest guerrilla group) behind that country's back. The alleged link between the Chavez's Administration and the Colombian guerrillas is General Rodriguez Chacin, Chavez's former Interior and Justice Minister (Secretary) and a citizen who is currently holding multiple identities to carry on with his corruption deals.

c) Saddam Hussein: Chavez was the first head of state to pay an official visit to the leader of a country belonging to what Bush called "the axis of evil." In addition, Freddy Bernal was spotted in Iraq in April. Moreover, the pilot of the presidential plane, who recently defected from the army and is seeking asylum in the U.S., presented evidence of intelligence exchanges between the two leaders.

d) Vladimiro Montesinos: Alberto Fujimori's right hand was found hiding in Venezuela after Peru's government mounted a covert operation to find him and bring him to justice for committing very serious crimes, including crimes against humanity. Many people believe that Chavez provided Montesinos with logistical support to enter Venezuela and remain there illegally.

4) Constant threats to the public made through his weekly "Alo Presidente" radio broadcast. These programs, officially intended to inform Venezuelans of new policies, is actually used by Chavez to intimidate and harass. In them, Chavez tells people that those who revolt against him will see the full force of the Military's arms, face a myriad of problems, and be subject to intense pressure from the (people's) government. It was in one of these programs, for instance, that he removed several PDVSA's top executives after they threatened to organize a national strike in April 2002 (which they did and eventually lead to the April 11 events.) In addition, Chavez constantly says in these programs that he will rule Venezuela until 2021. More importantly, though, he gives explicit approval to his followers to literally fight the street battle -with their lives if necessary - against the "oligarchs" (the term he uses for people against his "Bolivarian Revolution") by using terror.

5) Diplomatic clashes with the U.S. This has been building up since Chavez first came to power, given his radical, left-wing and authoritarian ideals. However, two events heavily strained their relationship even further. The first occurred in December of 1999 when Chavez returned an American ship full of supplies and humanitarian aid to help in the State of Vargas, which had just experienced mudslides that left more than 20,000 dead and scores more homeless. The second diplomatic impasse occurred after Chavez heavily criticized the U.S. in one of his "Alo Presidente" programs for America's response in Afghanistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The U.S. has been very quiet about the turmoil in Venezuela. However, if the U.S. does go to war with Iraq, wouldn't it want to have a steady, close supplier of oil? Without a doubt, the managers at PDVSA have a Western mindset. This is precisely the reason why they are holding the oil strike: to preserve the meritocracy and efficiency of the company. It is Chavez, with his own political agenda, that is trying to distance PDVSA from the U.S. (There are reports alleging that he is trying to sell U.S.-based and PDVSA-owned CITGO to Nigeria).

6) Lack of check and balances in the government: this is a result of most of the public powers and institutions being elected by Chavez at his will. These include the Supreme Court judges (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia), the Secretary of Justice (Fiscal General), People's Defense Attorney (Defensor del Pueblo), and members of Congress (Asamblea Nacional). Moreover, when government officials speak out against the Administration for reporting undeniably unethical, patently wrong, or lavishly corrupt behaviour, they are quickly replaced and are subject to a national campaign to tarnish their reputations. Specific examples of the lack of sovereign institutions include:

a) The nonexistent investigations by the Fiscalia General regarding the deaths of more than 15 people that were peacefully protesting on April 11, 2002 against the Government. This is appalling considering that there is clear footage of the deaths and the gunmen, who were shooting indiscriminately upon the unarmed crowd from a bridge called "Puente Llaguno" near the Presidential Palace. After the gunmen were identified, they were detained but soon released for "lack of evidence." As if this injustice were not enough, members of the "Bolivarian Circles" recently attacked (physically!) Mr. Mohamed Merhi, the father of one of the victims, for holding a hunger strike in front of the Supreme Court to protest the tardiness of the investigations.

b) A similar event occurred on December 6, 2002 at Plaza Altamira, which has become the meeting point for the opposition. During a peaceful protest to show support for more than 140 members of the military who have been at this square for more than two months in "civil disobedience", an identified Portuguese citizen (whose first name is Joao) and follower of Chavez shot at point-blank upon the unarmed crowd. Even though this happened in front of thousands of people, the investigations by the Fiscalia General are stalled.

c) The double standard by Chavez in the way in which he treats the Supreme Court Justices. The members of the Judicial Power were chosen by the current Government, but some of them have upset the Government recently for voting against Chavez. In particular, the Supreme Court found late last year that, in fact, no coup had occurred in April. After issuing their finding, Chavez started a national campaign to investigate the credentials of the Justices that had voted in this way. In a democracy, it would be clear if a Justice possessed the necessary education and certificates to hold such an important job. It would be unthinkable to have people with forged documents holding these posts. Moreover, shouldn't it be necessary to investigate the credentials of ALL the Justices, not just the ones of those who voted against Chavez?

d) The Government's unconstitutional takeover of the Policia Metropolitana from Alfredo Peña, who is the Mayor of a large section of Caracas called "Alcaldia Mayor". This police force constitutionally falls under the jurisdiction of the Mayor but because they protect opposition marches, Chavez took them over with the military. It's as if Clinton had taken over the New York Police Department from Giuliani for belonging to a different political party. As unimaginable as this sounds, exactly this happened in Venezuela. After the Supreme Court held this takeover to be unconstitutional, Chavez slowly returned the police force to Peña but without the high-caliber arms! Legally, Chavez is accepting the independence of powers, but in reality he is not.

7) Unclear elections after his initial sweeping victory. The many elections since December 1999 have used the services of INDRA, a Spanish company. Moreover, the CNE (Centro Nacional Electoral), the organization that oversees elections, was appointed by Chavez himself. In addition, Luis Miquilena, who until recently was the Minister of the Interior and is Chavez's former political mentor, admitted receiving illegal funds from a large Spanish bank to finance Chavez's elections.

8) Corruption, irresponsible spending, and lack of managerial capabilities of many government officials. While Chavez heavily emphasized the rooting out of corruption in his campaigns and the increase of efficiency in government, his administration has done the exact opposite, perhaps to a degree never experienced before in Venezuela. There are two noteworthy cases.

a) Plan Bolivar 2000, a social plan that utilized military personnel to run markets, paint schools, and build roads. However, it is widely known that top military brass took vast sums of money to their personal accounts and never faced a trial because the Secretary of Justice is aligned with the government.

(b) Purchase of a new, unnecessary presidential airplane that cost the nation more than U.S. $65 million while 80% of the population lives in poverty. The pilot of this plane who recently defected from the Army has told of many instances where the country's planes and other assets are used for personal trips by the Government's friends and family. In addition, many security breaches occur during such trips (e.g. people with loaded guns are allowed to board the plane and unqualified personnel are allowed to operate it).

9) Dubious approval of the new Constitution. Some people claim that the new Constitution, which was written during 1999 by the Chavez government and subject to a national referendum, was modified after the people cast their votes to approve it. In other words, the Constitution that is currently in place was not the one that was approved by popular vote. Regardless of that, the current constitution contains Article 350, which allows citizens to stage civil disobedience against the Government for issues of national importance. It is precisely this article, which was drafted by Chavez to justify his coup in 1992, that the members of the opposition are invoking. Now that his own constitution is being used against him, he is rallying to amend it in order to "perfect it."

10) Unprofessional leadership and corruption of the armed forces. This has been Chavez's action that has probably taken the highest toll on society because in Latin America, it is necessary for a President to have the support of the Armed Forces; else she or he runs the risk of a coup d'etat. During Chavez's tenure, he has promoted an unjustifiably high number of his former Military Academy classmates to posts, regardless of their possession of managerial or technical skills for the job. Some of these institutions include PDVSA, SENIAT (the tax-collection agency), and others. Moreover, constant salary increases for the military and accelerated promotions are commonplace nowadays. Responsible, traditional officers have been forced out for voicing their opposition to Chavez's promotion policies and close links to the Colombian guerrilla (while knowing that doing so would alienate their military careers forever). At the moment, many institutional officers, who strongly believe in the force as a disciplined, apolitical body whose purpose is to protect the country and its citizens, have defected to show their disapproval of the Army's decaying institutionalism and increasing political involvement.

11) Persecution and harassment of media reporters and staff. This is done through the "Bolivarian Circles" by order of Freddy Bernal. These groups go in motorcycles and loot, burn, and physically attack anything or anyone associated with the media groups, which have continually showed concern for the government's increasingly autocratic behavior. This repression was clear on the night of April 12, when Chavez came back to power, and the media was cornered in a storm of bullets and flying bottles.

12) Signs of the use of indiscriminate force against the opposition. During the April 11 civilian opposition march, which drew more than 500,000 people in Caracas alone, a reporter caught footage of armed men (who were members of Bernal's "Bolivarian Circles") firing their semi-automatic handguns upon protesting civilians. This resulted in the confirmed death of 15 people and a hundred of injured more. In addition, the National Guard recently physically and psychologically tortured crew members of the Ship "Pilin Leon", a gasoline cargo vessel that joined the oil strike.

13) Use of state funds to draw support to Chavez's cause. Chavez's core followers, who are generally members of the poor class, are given hundreds of thousands of bolivares (approx. 1500 Bs/US dollar), food, drinks, and clothing to show up at government-sponsored marches and speeches. The opposition, on the other hand, shows up spontaneously and is constantly physically attacked by these followers. Moreover, the government frequently categorizes opposition-sponsored marches as illegal for lacking the necessary permits. It is important to note that opposition marches have drawn in many occasions more than one million people in Caracas alone even while the Government has implemented all possible tactics to sabotage them (e.g. blocking main highways with sixteen-wheeler trucks, hiring taxicabs to drive empty around Caracas to show "busy" streets, declaring several areas in Caracas as "Security Zones" effectively blocking free access to them, etc.)

I hope that the aforementioned reasons will be persuasive enough to draw your attention to investigate these pressing matters immediately. The people of Venezuela deserve a fair coverage of this crisis as they are living in constant terror and intolerable oppression. If left untouched, I fear that Chavez's regime would consolidate itself even further, and perhaps form a stronger alliance with Cuba and Iraq, which would destabilize the region even further. This would wreck havoc the previous conciliatory efforts by Western civilized states to promote long-term sustainable economic development, social equity, justice under the law, the respect of human rights for all, and the establishment of democratic systems in the region.

"When they came for the Jews, I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak out because I was not a Catholic. When they came for the Protestants, there was no one left to speak out for me." - (Words of a Protestant minister who lived in Germany during the days of the Third Reich. Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C.)

Sincerely,

Rafael Echeverría G. Practicing Attorney
Professor of International Private Law
Universidad Rafael Urdaneta
reglaw@netuno.net.ve [End]

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