LEGAL TROUBLE: Maria Corina Machado (l.) met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last month during a meeting of the Organization of American States in Florida. CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS
Posted on 07/08/2005 12:31:04 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS - A Venezuelan judge Thursday ordered a trial for four leaders of Súmate, the volunteer group that helped organize a failed vote to recall President Hugo Chávez last year. The judge accused them of ''conspiracy to destroy the country's republican system'' because they received U.S. funds.
The defendants include María Corina Machado, who in May was invited to the White House for talks with President Bush and in June met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during an Organization of American States General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale.
The case against Machado, Alejandro Plaz, Ricardo Estévez and Luis Enrique Palacios hinges on a $53,000 grant that Súmate received from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, a congressionally funded body accused by the Venezuelan government of being a front for the Central Intelligence Agency.
In a separate case, Machado is accused of ''civil rebellion'' for allegedly signing a decree to dissolve the country's independent branches of government during the 2002 coup attempt that briefly toppled Chávez, the leftist-populist leader.
Founded in 2002, Súmate played a major role in the campaign to force a midterm recall referendum against Chávez in August 2004 by gathering more than two million signatures. The president won 60 percent of the votes and survived the recall.
VOTE FRAUD
Súmate tried hard but ultimately failed to prove that pro-Chávez electoral authorities committed fraud in the election. The group is currently campaigning for greater transparency in local and parliamentary elections later this year.
Thursday, Súmate launched the second phase of a campaign designed to show that the current electoral register does not comply with legal requirements designed to ensure its accuracy.
The present legal case against the Súmate four -- the latest in a series initiated by authorities in 2003 -- was sparked by Chávez. He used his TV program, Hello President, to accuse the organization of U.S.-financed activities to destabilize the government.
Machado said Thursday that the Venezuelan government's aim was ``precisely to generate intimidation and paralyze [our] campaigns of education, mobilization, organization and citizen participation.''
SUMATE'S SIDE
Súmate argues that the U.S. endowment grant was used exclusively for nonpartisan democracy workshops, and that part of the money was returned in order to avoid further problems. The Venezuelan government says the grant was closely tied to the signature-collection drive and, hence, to alleged U.S. plans to oust Chávez.
If convicted, the two principal defendants, Machado and Plaz, could face eight and 16 years in prison, respectively.
Estévez and Palacios were also charged with conspiracy, but of a different degree with less clearly defined punishments.
Judge Norma Sandoval ruled the four suspects should not be jailed while pending trial, as prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz had requested.
LEGAL TROUBLE: Maria Corina Machado (l.) met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last month during a meeting of the Organization of American States in Florida. CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS
All such politicians have big egos but Chavez has double the pure conceit. Now he is out to jail opponents to his majesty.
There has not been a coup d'etat in Latin America in many years but expect a bit of nostalgia and retro-style politics before too long.
Chris Dodd's hero.
"All such politicians have big egos but Chavez has double the pure conceit. Now he is out to jail opponents to his majesty."
He is just following a long established tradition for dictators everywhere. This being 2005 I am sure he getting ideas from the Robert Mugabe playbook as well. And when he has questions, he can just hit "Fidel" on his speed dial
"Venezuela: Four who led recall vs. Chávez face trial"
Sounds like the days of the Clinton administration. (Remeber the Mendoza's?)
Chavez has criminalized political opposition.
His opponents are charged, and then must either go underground, take the family and move to Miami, or face trial in a court with a judge Chavez appoints, under laws that Chavez has put in place, under a constitution that Chavez wrote, which Chavez has given himself permission to violate at will.
The Supreme Court was personally appointed by Chavez himself, and as they have grown insufficiently servile over the years, he has now decided to add another dozen or so judges to the Court, again appointed by him, in order to assure the Court rules as it should.
After personally controlling the writing of the Constitution, he got his Congress to grant him Rule by Decree, so that he isn't hindered even by his completely servile Congress.
Machado has no hope at a fair trial. Her only hope to avoid prison is the mere fact that she will make a very charismatic martyr in a prison cell. That was Chavez' key to victory, after his original coup attempt, and he may not want to risk giving her that same key.
Who can blame Chavez when the US has already tried to oust him in a coup. I can imagine the jackals are loose in Caracas now. waiting for the chance to kill him. More likely, his plane will fall out of the sky. The money openly given the recall organizers by the US pales in comparison to the other millions we spend trying to cause trouble for Chavez.
I damn hope so...the quicker this greasy little Castro-wannabe becomes worm chow the better for the world!
No need to have evidence to back your allegations, the ramblings of a paranoid despot will suffice.
He knows its true because Chavez told him its true.
Yeah, that's worked swimmingly for Zimbabwe.
My thoughts too.
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