Posted on 04/14/2002 4:01:40 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
LINKS to Hugo Chavez's "government" June 2001 - March 2002
I'm keeping track of Hugoland formally known as Venezuela. Please LINK any stories or add what you wish to this thread. The above LINK takes you to past articles posted before the new FR format. Below I'll add what I've catalogued since that LINK no longer could take posts.
(March 1, 2002)-- Venezuela's strongman faces widespread calls to step down
By Phil Gunson | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
[Full Text] CARACAS, VENEZUELA - The man who won Venezuelan hearts three years ago as a strongman who could deliver a better life to the masses is now facing them in the streets.
More than 20,000 people turned out this week calling for the resignation of President Hugo Chávez, while some 2,000 supporters marched in a rival demonstration of support. The demonstrations come after months of building discontent with a president who has managed to alienate the labor class, the media, business groups, the church, political parties, and the military.
Four military leaders have publicly called for his resignation.
In November, Chávez introduced 49 "revolutionary" decrees. The package of laws - affecting everything from land rights and fisheries to the oil industry - unified virtually the whole of organized society in a nationwide business and labor stoppage that paralyzed the country on Dec. 10.
The protests this week have a note of irony, because they started out as a commemoration called by President Chávez. In his eyes, Feb. 27 is a milestone of his so-called revolution - "the date on which the people awoke" in 1989. That is when thousands of rioters and looters took to the streets in protest of an IMF-backed austerity plan, in which the government hiked gas prices.
In what became known as the caracazo, or noisy protest, thousands of rioters and looters were met by Venezuelan military forces, and hundreds were killed. Three years later, Chávez and his military co-conspirators failed in an attempt to overthrow the government responsible for the massacre, that of President Carlos Andres Perez. Chávez was jailed for two years.
"But the elements that brought about the caracazo are still present in Venezuela," says lawyer Liliana Ortega, who for 13 years has led the fight for justice on behalf of the victims' relatives. "Poverty, corruption, impunity ... some of them are perhaps even more deeply ingrained than before."
Chávez's supporters consist of an inchoate mass of street traders, the unemployed, and those whom the old system had marginalized. This, to Chávez, is el pueblo - the people.
"But we are 'the people' too," protests teacher Luis Leonet. "We're not oligarchs like he says. The oligarchs are people like Chávez, people with power."
On Wednesday, Leonet joined a march led by the main labor confederation, the CTV, to protest what unions say is a series of antilabor measures, including one of the 49 decrees dealing with public-sector workers.
Chávez won't talk to the CTV, whose leaders, he says, are corrupt and illegitimate. So he refuses to negotiate the annual renewal of collective contracts with the confederation, holding up deals on pay and conditions for hundreds of thousands of union members like Leonet.
Across town on Wednesday, a progovernment march sought to demonstrate that the president's popularity was as high as ever.
"For the popular classes, Chávez is an idol," says marcher Pedro Gutierrez.
Pollster Luis Vicente Leon, of the Datanalisis organization, warns that marches are no measure of relative popularity. "There is a lot of discontent among ... the really poor," Leon says, adding that so far the protests are mainly among the middle class.
But the middle class can be a dangerous enemy. It includes the bulk of the armed forces, and the management of the state oil company, PDVSA.
This month, four uniformed officers, ranging from a National Guard captain to a rear-admiral and an Air Force general, called on the president to resign, while repudiating the idea of a military coup of Chávez, himself a former Army lieutenant-colonel.
But senior "institutionalist" officers "are under severe pressure from lower ranks frustrated at the lack of impact" that these acts have had, a source close to military dissidents says. In other words, a coup cannot be ruled out, although the United States publicly denounces the idea.
Meanwhile, the president's imposition of a new board of directors on PDVSA this week sparked a virtual uprising by the company's senior management. In an unprecedented public statement, managers said the government was pushing the company "to the verge of operational and financial collapse" by imposing political, rather than commercial, criteria.
The political opposition remains relatively weak and divided. But in the view of many analysts, a president who offends both the military and the oil industry is asking for trouble. In the bars and restaurants of Caracas, the debate is no longer over whether Chávez will finish his term, which has nearly five years to run. It is when and how he will go - and what comes next. [End]
"We aren't neutral," concedes Radio Perola manager Carlos Carles. "We have a position. It just so happens that most people here in this district support the president." Chavez, a former paratroop commander who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, frequently accuses Venezuela's news media of conspiring to overthrow him. Many private broadcasters promoted a recent two-month general strike to demand Chavez quit. Now Congress, dominated by Chavez's ruling party, is considering legislation to strictly regulate broadcast content.
"It's no secret that the private media is against Chavez. That's why the government turns a blind eye to the abuses by pro-Chavez community radio," said opposition lawmaker Alberto Jordan, a member of Congress' media committee. "Many are operating in a clandestine form, moving from place to place so they can't be located." Dominated by ruling party members, the media committee has shelved complaints, said Jordan.
At Radio Perola, disc jockeys spin tunes by the late folk singer Ali Primera, a social activist. Guests announce workshops for single mothers or meetings on neighborhood problems. "Most of our programming focuses on community issues," Carles said in a room sporting photos of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Chavez and pro-government graffiti.
Licensed private stations complain there are too many loopholes in legislation regulating community radio, and that the government permits abuses. Alvin Lezama, an executive at the state-run communications watchdog, says new rules will allow citizens, rather than the government, to regulate noncommercial stations. "What is the best way to control this? That the communities take possession of these stations," Lezama said. "We have to open channels so consumers control their media outlets because we are never going to have the technology or human resources to do it," added Lezama. "It's a truly revolutionary idea."
The rules put the same limits on signal strength for both commercial and community broadcasters. But community stations routinely exceed those limits. "They are a threat. Our signal has been affected in some cities ... including Caracas and Maracaibo by these community stations," said Antonio Serfati, executive vice president of Union Radio, which broadcasts nationwide. ***
In Brazil, the FARC reportedly has formed strategic partnerships with the country's largest organized crime gangs, Brazilian daily O Globo reported recently. In exchange for weapons and munitions, FARC instructors reportedly are teaching Red Command gang members in Rio de Janeiro how to operate automatic weapons, manufacture bombs and organize mass prison escapes. Brazilian security services detained Chilean national Carlos Orlando Messina Vidal on March 29, and charged him with being a FARC trainer working with organized crime gangs in Rio de Janeiro. Another six suspects sought by Brazilian authorities appear to have escaped. Against this backdrop, political aides are planning a meeting between Venezuelan leader Chavez and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, though an exact date has not been announced. Officials said recently that the meeting would concern bilateral economic and investment issues.***
President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia has ordered an inquiry into the allegations by border residents that Venezuelan military helicopters and planes crossed into Colombian airspace on March 21 and bombed a border hamlet at La Gabarra, in North Santander Province, killing and wounding several people. The residents said the aircraft acted in support of left-wing Colombian guerrillas who were under attack from rightist paramilitary groups. (Reuters) [End]
The constitution allows for such a referendum halfway through his current mandate, which is due to last until early 2007. The opposition must collect the signatures of at least 20 percent of the electorate to trigger such a recall poll. "Let them collect the signatures, one by one. If I lose the referendum, I'll go, but they have to beat me fair and square," Chavez told a news conference.
The formal agreement to hold a recall referendum after Aug. 19 was due to be signed by the two sides after Easter. Chavez said that before a referendum could be held, the National Assembly needed to appoint a new National Electoral Council, which would have responsibility for organizing the poll and setting a date. The country's electoral register would also have to be revised because it contained many errors, Chavez said, including false identities and foreign nationals and even dead people listed as voters. Opponents have said they fear the government might use delaying tactics to try to stall or sabotage the referendum. ***
The explosion destroyed the first three floors of the Teleport building in central Caracas, shattering windows, destroying the entrance and twisting steel gates. Elevator cables hung from the facade and broken glass, roof tiles and light fixtures littered the ground. ***
U.S. officials consider the foreign data a thread in a security blanket that lets law enforcers and the travel industry peer into the backgrounds of people flowing into the United States. The information can also be used with other data-mining tools to identify potential terrorists, or simply unmask fake identity documents, company and government officials say. "Our whole purpose in life is to sell data to make the world a safer place," said ChoicePoint's chief marketing officer, James Lee. "There is physical danger in not knowing who someone is. What risks do people coming into our country represent? You may accept that risk, but you want to know about it." Privacy experts in Latin America question whether the sales of national citizen registries have been legal. They say government data are often sold clandestinely by individual government employees. ***
No one was injured in the pre-dawn blast but it renewed tensions in Venezuela just as rival groups appeared to be close to resolving some political differences. Chavez addressed tens of thousands of his supporters gathered on a central Caracas avenue after presiding over the closing ceremony of an international forum in support of his so-called "Bolivarian Revolution."
"Nobody is leaving! We will stay for ever, fighting battles," Chavez said to the cheering crowd. He promised to remain in power until 2021. Chavez railed against global imperialism and "savage neoliberalism," and claimed the coup against him had been promoted by foreign interests and carried out by "the fascist oligarchy" within Venezuela. "God bless April 13," Chavez said. "A miraculous day, the miracle of the start of the century. The first great victory of the people this century in the whole world." ***
Maria and a dozen frightened neighbors said hundreds of guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked their town from Venezuela, crossing the river to engage an anti-guerrilla paramilitary force occupying several riverside villages. Within an hour, Maria saw Venezuelan military aircraft swoop over her village to bomb paramilitary positions inside Colombia supporting the rebel advance.***
After PDVSA workers walked off the job last December in a bid to force Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez from office, the fiery populist hitched his social revolution to the $110 billion business: He purged the company's ranks and installed his own people. What was widely regarded as a world-class energy company before the strike has a new philosophy: to help the poor. And a new corporate culture is gradually taking shape, injected with the president's particular brand of leftist ideology.***
The Freedom House organization released a report last week entitled "The World's Most Repressive Regimes, 2003" (www.freedomhouse.org). Dubbed the "worst of the worst" are Burma, Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan. Ironically, Freedom House points out, five of the 16 most repressive countries -- China, Cuba, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria -- are all members of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. ***
. In December, Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered the government to return police control to Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena, a Chavez opponent. The government has yet to do so. On Wednesday, a court ordered the arrests of eight police officers accused of killing two people and wounding 35 at the march. The same court had dismissed murder charges against four Chavez supporters who allegedly were videotaped shooting into the crowd. It upheld lesser charges of improper use of firearms. ***
Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage riled foes of Chavez over the weekend when he criticized Venezuelan opposition leaders during a conference in Caracas. Friday's small demonstration came a day after Venezuela voted against a United Nations resolution urging Cuba to accept a visit by a human rights commission following the arrest of scores of Cuban dissidents. ***
By calling for the armed forces and armed civilians to unite, Chavez has created a personal military, not unlike Hussein's Republican Guard, Carpio said. The former colonel accused Chavez of turning his political enemies into common criminals and wanting to bring the country to economic ruin so that he could establish a regime of hunger that he controls, such as Saddam did in Iraq.
Chavez has long enjoyed a friendly relationship with Saddam. In 2000, Chavez became the first Western head of state to visit Saddam since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Both are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Venezuela, the world's third-largest oil supplier, provides 13 percent of U.S. oil needs. Chavez has been a vocal opponent of the U.S. war against Iraq, citing civilian casualties, but has promised to honor oil contracts with the United States.***
President Hugo Chavez and his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe are due to meet on Wednesday in eastern Venezuela to try to defuse the controversy over the frontier and shore up ties battered by economic and political problems in both countries. Relations between the two Andean neighbors, who share a rugged 1,400-mile border, have been strained by accusations from Colombia -- denied in Caracas -- that Chavez's government is allowing Colombian Marxist rebels to operate from Venezuelan territory. ***
The more you know about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and his list of friends, the less surprising this all seems. Footage shows Hugo hugging Iranian President Khatami. More footage shows Hugo hugging Libya's Moammar Gaddafy. By the way, you won't find any video of Hugo meeting, much less, hugging George W. Bush.
But Chavez has met with Saddam Hussein. In fact, he was the first foreign leader to visit Baghdad after the first Gulf War, and he expressed his admiration for Saddam. He has offered support to convicted terrorist Carlos "The Jackal." He considers Fidel Castro his mentor. He gives sanctuary to Colombia's FARC rebels, a group that is trying to overthrow the Colombian government and has also killed Americans.
Hugo Chavez came to power by tapping into frustration over Venezuela's corrupt political system. He was elected in 1998 by a landslide. Since then, Chavez has been engaged in what has been called a "slow-motion constitutional coup." He has abolished the senate, brought in Cubans as strike-breakers against the oil industry, and organized gangs to beat up opponents.***
Allegations by a top U.S. military chief that Margarita is a base for radical Islamic groups posing a potential terrorist threat have angered both the 12,000-strong Arab community and the government of Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez. "We have nothing to do with terrorism here. Pure business, that's what we do," Naim Awada, who emigrated from Lebanon 20 years ago, told Reuters in his clothing store in Porlamar. All around him, shop names like Nabil Import, El Laden Mustafa and Flower of Palestine attest to the strong Arab presence on Margarita, an island of tourist hotels, arid hills and abundant beaches off Venezuela's eastern Caribbean coast.
Arab community leaders and Venezuela's government say the allegations by the Pentagon's top soldier for Latin America, Gen. James Hill, are really part of a wider campaign by foes of Chavez to try to discredit the populist president abroad. They say Chavez' opponents, who have failed to topple him over the last year despite a short-lived coup and a crippling two-month anti-government strike, are seeking to paint him as a dangerous anti-U.S. maverick collaborating with terrorism. The debate is more than just academic for Washington because Chavez, a former paratrooper and coup plotter elected in 1998, rules over the world's No. 5 oil exporter that is also one of the top suppliers of crude oil to the United States.***
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