Chavez Next Step To Quash Venezuela Strikers & Opposition

New law makes it a crime to march in protest against Chavez, or even write about it. Prison terms range from 5 to 10 years per protester.

Desperate and with only one in ten Venezuelans supporting it, the Chavez regime has unleashed a new "Ley de Seguridad de la Nacion" on the democratic opposition in Venezuela.

This "National Security Law" basically makes it a crime to be against Chavez: With dissidents being sent to prison camps for a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 10 years.

Among the "crimes" punishable by harsh sentences of five-to-ten can be found such simple acts as as participating in a protest march near a security zone, and inviting others to such protest marches (the law's article 56).

Security zones can be any area that the Chavez regime says. Currently, there are 8 such security zones in Caracas alone, and 107 in the country. They cover airports, military bases, government buildings, even state-owned radio and TV stations.

And if a Venezuelan ever wanted to march on Miraflores, the presidential palace and also designated a "security zone", he better be a Chavez-supporter. Otherwise he is facing up to 10 years in jail.

Journalist covering protests would be deemed "instigators" and would also face stiff prison terms, a Chavez insider reported. This is a way to effectively silence critical opposition press coverage while still in theory allowing freedom of expression in Venezuela.

The same law, in its article 32, also allows the government to militarize companies, be it state-owned or private. In the case of private companies, such a militarization means that the basic human rights of the owners and the workers no longer apply. Owners are subject to what the local military boss says. And workers can not strike. If they are absent from the workplace, they will be termed military deserters and can be punished in a military tribunal for treason.

The democratic future of Venezuela and the hemisphere has moved to a whole new level. With a new oil-dictatorship right in Caribbean, the stability of the Americas is at stake now. And time is running out.

We should not be surprised Chavez is capable of such... on the night of December 9th he unleashed a coordinated, clearly illegal, nationwide attack on all the media (TV, Radio, Newspapers) which have been telling the truth of his regime. That left out few, except for the state controlled TV station. They were all subjected to rock throwing, window breaking, graffitti, and harrassement of employees, all coordinated and directed by Chavez MVR party officials simultaneously nationwide, often with megaphones telling the 'spontaneous' arriving Chavez supporters what to do next. Some of the TV stations even had these violent Chavez supporters breaking into and destoying their offices, cameras, computers, etc..

Being a news reporter in Venezuela, since Chavez came onto the scene, is the most dangerous profession down here with a dozen shot and six killed. All newscrews on the street are wearing body armor down here, it's like Beirut now in that regard.

In Caracas Dec 16, 17:35 GMT: During his weekly TV program Alo Presidente ("Hello President"), Chavez told the country's troops to ignore all orders except those given by him. In an heavyhanded attitude, Chavez told the military to ignore all laws and court orders that go against his personal wishes. Chavez has called the strike a "sabotage" against his self-styled revolution, and has threatened to arrest opposition leaders. The first raids on the offices of opposition parties have already begun this week with night-time swat team type raids trashing and taking computers from Opposition Party offices.

This is all in light of one of the favorite phrases of Hugo Chavez that "I am a servant of the people, and when the people does not want me anymore, I will leave office."

So why won't Chavez agree to free and democratic elections today in Venezuela?

On November 4 2002, members of the opposition delivered boxes to the National Electorate Council containing 1.5 million signatures. The signatures all requested a referendum, just like the Constitution sets out. On their way to the Council, they were attacked by mobs of violent Chavez supporters armed with bricks, metal bars and even guns. Many ended up in hospital, but the signatures got delivered.

Cornered, Chavez then fought back in his weekly TV-show Alo Presidente ("Hello President"). Here are some of his comments:

" - Referendum to remove Chávez? That is not possible, don't waste time. I will not go in a referendum, I say that to the country and the world. It's like this: I won't go."
" - Referendum to remove Chávez? Look, that won't happen, forget about it. It won't happen."
" - Ah, no, no, forget about fairytales."
" - Not even if we suppose that they hold that referendum and get 90% of the votes, I will not leave. Forget it. I will not leave."

Is this a democrat speaking? Or a de-facto dictator?

(Source: Official transcript 'Aló Presidente' N°128, Petare, 24/NOV/2002 04:59 PM)

It's clear Chavez plans to stay and employ all of the above on his road to fully implemmenting the Cuban style of dissident control, see Chavez bio-weapons lab in Venezuela for Saddam and Castro for more connecting of the dots here.

-Shane

Or better yet, pass some sort of law that requires Citgo to privatize. Believe me, the employees at Citgo would like nothing better. And it would really chap Hugo. Maybe the ramifications would be too costly -- Chavez could turn around and confiscate all of the E&P investment and activity of American companies in Venezuela -- but one can dream, can't they?

Chavez is probably very close to nationalizing other industries and businesses anyway. Right after Chavez was elected, he had a plan to promote foreign investment in several industries in Venezuela, one of which was petrochemicals. I and several of my co-workers were attending a petrochemicals conference on Margerita Island and we met with the head of Pequiven, which is the petrochemical branch of state-owned PDVSA. He laid out the "enticements and rules" that would apply should we decide to construct a petrochemical facility there, and they all sounded good and reasonable until he came to the final point: "If we decide to nationalize the business, we will pay you a fair price." As far as we were concerned, that one sentance made the entire proposal a non-starter. We invested money, but not in Venezuela. And as far as I know, no other company invested in Petrochemical facilities in Venezuela under that plan, either.

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