TalCual: The Venezuelan Supreme Court Blew it

TalCual: The Venezuelan Supreme Court Blew It!

The Supreme Court's actions may increase the already painful numbers this crisis is costing us: besides making the already awful economic data look more abhorrent each day, the Court's decisions will likely encourage more protests and repression and therefore, the toll of victims will rise. The TSJ blew it, no doubt about it. 

By TalCual

CARACAS -- As has already been expressed by a lot of people who know Constitutional Law, the Supreme Court (TSJ) blew it regarding its decision curtailing the right to protest peacefully. We would also like to lay stress on how brutally inappropriate it was to give Hermann Escarrá the last word regarding this matter, especially in times of delicate peace talks when things needed to cool off in Venezuela.

We already know how and what the Supreme Court (TSJ) blew -- just remember that famous expression of the late Hugo Chávez when the same court ruled that the April 11, 2002 coup d'état was no such thing but a power vacuum, because of that mysterious resignation of the president that never took place in the end.

What we cannot stop saying is that the TSJ -- in cutthroat competition for the position -- has proved to be the most submissive of all public powers to the orders coming from the Miraflores presidential palace – the Ombudsman's Office doesn't count because it is body of questionable existence. The Court even went so far with Justice Luisa Estella Morales, assisted by constitutionalist lawyer Carlos Escarrá, "theorizing" that Montesquieu and his separation of powers were a "bourgeois waste," while speaking about a new endogenous conception of justice.

Many of the exploits of these two could be listed here, but it would be impossible in only a few characters. Let's just evoke them publically chanting their slogans in unison -- "Ooh, aah, Chavez no se va! (Ooh, aah, Chavez doesn't leave!) -- to show their passionate devotion to the Government in the meantime.

Or recall the heroes of their own such as former TSJ Justices Luis Velásquez Alvaray or the ineffable Eladio Aponte Aponte (who, seeking asylum in the US, has admitted judging cases as directed by Chavez the regime or for taking bribes and drug money to decide cases in the absence of official direction), among others. And lastly, the Court's latest affronts where they do or endorsing quick trials without having the slightest respect for due process, in which a parliamentarian and two mayors from the opposition coalition have been unfairly removed from office.

As has already been expressed by a lot of people who know of case law on the violation of the Constitution as to curtailing the citizens' right to protest peacefully along with, by the way, the distortion of the nature and functions of municipal police forces, we won't insist on this issue; instead, we recommend in this regard the comprehensive analysis made by Provea, or the Venezuelan Program of Education and Action on Human Rights.

But what we are going to lay stress on is how wrong it was to have given Escarrá the last word regarding this matter in times of delicate peace talks when things need to cool off in Venezuela, to the extent that the brave students protesting out in the streets were asked to become part of the negotiating table. And they were asked nicely, not by the repressive ways used by the Government over the past few months.

It must be stressed that being called a "murderer of students" is not very flattering for any government; what is more, this sounds like its own funeral if one takes a small look back at the history of our country. And what the TSJ just ruled does nothing but challenge and encourage protesters to remain in the streets.

Some of the backers of this ruling are, for instance, Jorge Rodríguez, a mayor who considers the Libertador municipality of Caracas his own private property, where only followers of chavismo are allowed in.

Last Friday, by the way, a small peaceful demonstration of bioanalysts, professionals that just wanted to be heard on the almost total lack of inputs for their work and what might entail serious consequences for the health and lives of thirty million Venezuelans, curiously coincided with the launch of this new legislation in that municipality. And it's worth mentioning that kind of petition is more than justified.

Lastly, there are even some reasons to believe the TSJ may pull the plug on the ongoing peace talks. And that way increase those already painful numbers this crisis is costing us: besides making the already awful economic data look more abhorrent each day, it will likely encourage more protests and repression and therefore, the toll of victims will rise. The TSJ blew it, no doubt about it.

Ros-Lehtinen on the Unjust Removal of Maria Corina from the Venezuelan Lider

Venezuelan official: Ex-judge 'sold his soul' to the DEA

(CNN) -- An ex-judge who accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of manipulating court rulings is a fugitive who "sold his soul to the devil" when he agreed to talk with U.S. investigators, the nation's foreign minister said Thursday.
"People like him will keep being defeated and his lies will be unveiled," Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said.
Eladio Aponte Aponte, who was a Supreme Court justice until the Venezuelan government accused him of connections with an alleged drug trafficker last month, told SOiTV that he made rulings in cases based on requests from Chavez and other top officials.
"They just asked for favors that I complied with. And woe be the judge that refused to cooperate. ... They were dismissed," Aponte Aponte said
Top Venezuelan authorities were aware of at least one instance in which a military lieutenant was caught transporting cocaine to an army camp -- and made personal phone calls asking the judge to look the other way, Aponte Aponte told the Miami-based TV network.
CNN has not independently confirmed the former justice's accusations.
In recent years, the U.S. Treasury Department has placed several Venezuelan officials, including the nation's current defense minister, on its drug kingpin list.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration flew Aponte Aponte to the United States from Costa Rica early Monday morning, according to the head of the Central American country's intelligence agency.
Mauricio Boraschi said U.S. Embassy officials contacted the Costa Rican government after the former judge -- who had been in Costa Rica for about two weeks -- reached out to officials in Washington.
The U.S. State Department told CNN it could not comment on what it called "this law enforcement matter."
Venezuela's foreign minister criticized the United States for attempting to destabilize his country's government.
"It is easy to understand how a fugitive from justice processed for his connections with drug trafficking mafias and removed from his job has sold his soul to the DEA," Maduro said. "The DEA has appeared again as a political actor in Venezuela against Venezuela."
The DEA has not commented on Aponte Aponte. An agency official who watched portions of the interview that aired on CNN en Español said it was "very interesting."
The former justice told SOiTV that high-ranking Venezuelan officials were involved in drug trafficking, but declined to say who or offer evidence.
In one instance, Aponte Aponte said, Chavez's office called and asked for the former judge's help after a military lieutenant was caught with cocaine. So did the nation's defense minister and other top officials, Aponte Aponte said.
They said "he was a good guy, that it was the president's order, that the president was very interested in the case," Aponte Aponte said.
The former judge also described weekly meetings in the Venezuelan vice president's office with the president of the Supreme Court, the attorney general and other top officials.
"That is where the directives of the justice system come from. ... They decide what guidelines to follow depending on the political climate," he said.
Several of his remarks contradicted previous statements by top Venezuelan officials -- including Chavez.
When asked whether there were political prisoners in Venezuela -- something Chavez has previously denied -- Aponte Aponte said yes.
"There are people they ordered not to be released. ... In a nutshell, we had to accept the fact that they were not to be released, so the justice system turned its back on them," he said.
Asked whether he felt that the Venezuelan government had turned against him, Aponte Aponte said, "I think they did that a long time ago. I just didn't realize it."
Venezuelan officials removed Aponte Aponte from his post last month, accusing him of providing a government credential to a man authorities allege was one of the world's top drug lords.
Aponte Aponte, who has not confirmed or denied that accusation, left Venezuela the day he was supposed to face questioning in the Venezuelan National Assembly.
A government ethics commission said the judge had committed "serious misconduct" and a "breach of public ethics" when he allegedly provided a credential to suspected drug trafficker Walid Makled.
Makled is currently on trial in Venezuela, where he is accused of drug trafficking and killing a journalist who was investigating his family. He was extradited to Venezuela from Colombia last year.
The United States designated Makled as one of the world's most significant drug kingpins in May 2009 and had also requested his extradition.
Makled, who denies U.S. accusations of drug trafficking, said in an October interview with Venezuela's El Nacional newspaper that he paid millions of dollars to government officials and top military brass so his family's shipping business could operate at some of the nation's largest ports.
"If I am a narcotrafficker, the whole Chavez government is a narcotrafficker," he told the newspaper.
Chavez has strongly denied those accusations and stood up for his government officials.
Maduro said Thursday that Aponte Aponte's removal from office showed that "in Venezuela the laws work. No one is privileged or protected."
Aponte Aponte told SOiTV that his daughter had invited Makled to her wedding, "but we didn't have any idea of the activities of this gentleman. We only knew him as a reputable businessman."
The former judge claimed Venezuelan officials had unfairly used the Makled case to destroy his reputation.
"I am not going to pay for a crime I never committed," Aponte Aponte told SOiTV, but he said he wants to make up for the harm his rulings have caused.
Aponte Aponte told SOiTV he left Venezuela disillusioned, but has since changed his perspective.
"When I finished packing all my stuff in my office, all my books, I told myself I'd never touch another law book. Justice is nothing, justice is a ball of putty. I say putty because it can be molded, for or against. I didn't want to have anything to do with the law anymore. I said I'd rather have a hotdog stand," he said. "But then, after all my reflection, and I had time to think it over, and after I saw that, that my friends have offered to help me, I now think you need to fight for justice. And that blindfolded lady has to be shown the way."
Saying he felt afraid for his life and betrayed by his colleagues, the former judge said he would go back to Venezuela to face the accusations against him only if officials respect his rights.
"Knowing the system from the inside, and how it works, and how it's handled, I don't think I'd have any rights at all. Not in my case at least," he said.

CNN's Fernando del Rincon, Ana Maria Luengo-Romero, Jamie Crawford and Terry Frieden contributed to this report.

Venezuela rated the worst performer in accountability - World Justice Project

According to the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index - Venezuela rated the worst performer in accountability

The Rule of Law Index was prepared by the World Justice Project -an organization partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (created by computer entrepreneur Bill Gates) that regularly reviews compliance with the rule of law and access to independent justice in the world Transparency
Venezuela is viewed as the worst government in the world in accountability and effective checks by its citizens, according to the Rule of Law Index -an annual survey on rule of law around the world released on Monday by the World Justice Project, a US institution.
Venezuela is "the worst performer in the world in accountability and effective checks on the executive power," said the report entitled Rule of Law Index around the World prepared by the World Justice Project, AFP reported.
In Venezuela "corruption is widespread (ranking 54 out of 61 countries), crime and violence are common (ranking 64), government institutions are not transparent and the judiciary system is ineffective and subject to political influence (ranks last, 66.)".
"Venezuela ranks relatively well in terms of religious freedom (ranking 15th), accessibility of the civil courts (ranking 21st), and protection of labor rights (ranking 27th).
"The country also displays serious flaws in guaranteeing respect for fundamental rights, in particular, freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to privacy," the text added.

Venezuelan judge is jailed after ruling angers President Hugo Chávez

Venezuelan judge is jailed after ruling angers President Hugo Chávez
By Juan Forero
Sunday, April 25, 2010

LOS TEQUES, VENEZUELA -- Sitting in the tiny jail cell that has been her home for months, Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni said she knew a ruling she handed down in December might incense Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

But she was astonished when intelligence agents arrested her and the entire courtroom staff 15 minutes after she freed a prisoner the government wanted in jail.

"I never thought -- never -- that the violations would get to this point," said Afiuni, 46, who is being held here in a cellblock filled with women charged with drug trafficking and murder, some of whom she sentenced.

The jailing of a tenured judge who angered the president has brought into sharp focus the increasingly tight control Chávez exerts over the judiciary, a situation condemned by legal watchdog groups and constitutional experts across the Americas.

Advocates for an independent judiciary in Venezuela also say the judge's plight, along with the arrests of dozens of government opponents in recent months, demonstrates how far the Chávez administration will go to quell dissent.

"The message from the Afiuni case is very clear: If a judge doesn't do what we want, you go to jail," said Carlos Ayala, a constitutional lawyer and former president of the Andean Commission of Jurists. "Judges are scared out of their wits. Before, they got fired for these decisions. Now they go to jail."

Afiuni was charged with corruption and abuse of authority after she conditionally freed Eligio Cedeño, a banker who had run afoul of the government and was accused of evading currency controls. Cedeño waited in jail nearly three years for his first court hearing, which exceeded legal limits, Afiuni said in a recent interview. He fled the country and is seeking political asylum in Miami.

The Venezuelan attorney general's office said it could not comment on Afiuni's case. But in an interview, Carlos Escarra, a pro-Chávez congressman and legal expert, said "there's a series of actions that show a bribe was paid" to Afiuni, a charge she denies. In a speech the day after Afiuni was arrested, Chávez accused her of crimes "more serious than an assassination."

"I call for 30 years in prison in the name of the dignity of the country," he said.

More than any other case, Afiuni's arrest has alarmed independent justices and those who track Venezuela's judiciary. Bar associations from New York to Madrid have demanded her release, and thousands follow her through Twitter feeds. Her first court hearing has been postponed repeatedly by "suspicious delays," said one of her attorneys, Juan Ernesto Garanton.

"What has been really hard is knowing my fate is in Chávez's hands," Afiuni said. "Just as my detention was a result of the whim of the president, my release will also be a whim of his."

Chávez and ministers in his government frequently declared the judicial system in place before his election in 1998 a vestige of a corrupt system that needed to be jettisoned. In its place, the government in 2004 created a Supreme Court overwhelmingly sympathetic to the president, according to a recent report by the human rights arm of the Organization of American States, of which Venezuela is a member.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also found that Venezuelan judges have been dismissed after issuing rulings that antagonize the government, and that hundreds more are named to posts through an opaque system. Legal experts in Venezuela estimate that about half of the judges are provisional, which they say leaves them more susceptible to pressure.

Many of the remaining judges have demonstrated their allegiance to Chávez and expressed support for the government's efforts to create a system that blurs the separation of powers.

Escarra, the pro-government lawmaker, said judges who were replaced had issued rulings that favored people who wanted to destabilize Chávez. He said accusations that the president interferes in the judiciary were exaggerated.

Some judges have wound up like Juan Carlos Apitz.

In 2003, Apitz was on a five-judge court that ruled that doctors from Cuba, Venezuela's closest ally, could not work in Venezuela unless they revalidated their qualifications. At the time, Cuba was deploying thousands of doctors to Venezuela in exchange for cut-rate oil.

Chávez called the decision "unconstitutional." Then 46 intelligence agents raided the court and searched through paperwork for more than 10 hours. Apitz and two other judges who had ruled with him were banished from the judiciary; the two dissenters were promoted to the Supreme Court.

Apitz said the dismissal of independent judges means that opponents have no real legal recourse if they want to challenge a government investigation or an arrest. That is particularly troubling these days, he said, because the intelligence service has arrested dozens of anti-government student protesters and opposition leaders in recent months.

"In Venezuela, there is a grotesque inequality in applying the law," he said. "Those who do not share the national government's politics are at a disadvantage."

Deterioration in Venezuela

Gustavo Coronel: Venezuela :hot spot in the Caribbean

The process of deterioration in Venezuela has accelerated significantly during the last six months. Venezuelans have shown great patience, often bordering on apathy, but conditions in the country are fast approaching significant turmoil and possible violence. This is happening before the eyes of our hemispheric political leaders.
Although significantly authoritarian from the beginning of his presidency, the performance of President Hugo Chavez during the last months has become one of a dictator: no checks and balances, decisions concentrated in his hands, dissenters persecuted, national assets utilized without accountability and his pretensions of turning Venezuela into another Cuba no longer disguised. He has become a political bulldozer, running over all dissent. Items:
• General Raul Baduel, one of his former Ministers of Defense and now a political dissenter, has been imprisoned on charges of corruption;
• Twelve Caracas police officers accused by the government of shooting against Caracas marchers in April 11, 2002, were given sentences of up to 30 years in prison when, in fact, the shooting was done by snipers under the orders of the Chavez regime, none of whom have ever been charged;
• Mr. Manuel Rosales, Mayor of the city of Maracaibo and one of the most prominent leaders of the opposition, is now in exile in Peru after served an order of arrest on charges of corruption;
• Prominent members of the opposition such as former Mayor of the Chacao District of Caracas, Leopoldo Lopez, have been prevented from running for public office, on vague accusations of corruption;
• Globovision, the last truly independent TV station left in the country after the confiscation of assets and the closing down of Radio Caracas TV, has been served with a notice of suspension. The reason? Informing the Venezuelan public about the earthquake that took place some days ago before the government “officially” aired the information.
• The Mayors and Governors of the opposition, who won their offices through elections, are being openly harassed and their work being made extremely difficult. Mr. Antonio Ledezma, the Mayor of Greater Caracas, was expelled from his headquarters, which were immediately occupied by a puppet “governor” directly named by Chavez. The money that should be sent to these states and mayoralties by the central government is being cut-off. This represents an open violation of the constitution and of the will of the people and has recently been the object of condemnation by the European Parliament.
• The Ateneo de Caracas, one of the oldest cultural centers of the country and a center of perceived opposition to Chavez, has been ordered by the government to evacuate peremptorily the premises they have occupied for long decades. As they have no other place to go this probably means their disappearance.
• The Caracas home of former president and novelist Romulo Gallegos, where the beloved novelist lived for many years, is now partly used as a government food market. A bust of Gallegos has been removed from the presidential palace and replaced with one of mediocre, early XX century dictator Cipriano Castro. Gallego's books have been burned by the thousands by the regime, in a barbaric action copied from Bradbury's “Fahrenheit 451”.
• Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-owned company, has stopped paying many of its contractors. The size of the debt to Tulsa's Williams Companies, Tulsa's Helmerich and Payne, Schlumberger, Halliburton and other companies already amounts to $8-12 billion. While these debts keep mounting, the Chavez regime has simply taken over the assets of some of these companies. Such a move will add about 8,000 new workers to the already adipose payroll of Petroleos de Venezuela, the state- owned Petroleum Company,while leaving about 22,000 others without jobs.
• The May 1st Caracas march against the government was met with tear gas and strong repression by the Chavez-controlled armed forces. In a cynical display Chavez went on TV to accuse the unarmed citizens of “an act of aggression against our armed forces”.
• A new law is now being passed by the Chavez-controlled National Assembly that will make it illegitimate for NGO's to receive foreign financing. Most of these not-for-profit organizations, especially those in the field of human rights, receive help from USA or Europe. The law is clearly targeted against this type of organizations, as Chavez feels that they are strong centers of political opposition.
• In his obsession to break away from all things made in America Chavez bought 53 Russian, Mi, helicopters but forgot that pilots have to be trained before they can fly them. During the last year four have crashed, causing 18 deaths.
The armed forces, an institution that should be the guarantor of democracy seems is under Chavez's political control due to the lavish monetary handouts and privileges received by the military elite. They now salute in Cuban style: “Fatherland, Socialism or Death”.
Chavez's message has become disdainful of legality. Drunk with power he currently leads an offensive against democracy in several of his socialist satellites, mostly Bolivia. He is threatening with leaving the Organization of American States, OAS, although this organization, led by weak-kneed Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, has been criminally tolerant of his undemocratic transgressions.
In shaking his hand U.S. President Obama allowed Chavez to use this gesture to convince his followers that Obama is “his friend” and will let him do as he pleases. The democrats of Venezuela and all Latin America are frustrated by the apparent U.S. lack of will to live up to its democratic values.


Gustavo Coronel is a 28 years oil industry veteran, a member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), author of several books. At the present Coronel is Petroleumworld associate editor and advisor on the opinion and editorial content of the site.

Witness say he was paid in Venezuela

Isaias Rodriguez is behind this case, he knew about the payment to Vasquez. He is guilty, and he has been using on his favor, the Venezuela Justice System.

vdebate reporter

The Boston Globe 10/04/2008

Witness says he was paid in Venezuela
By Ian James
Associated Press Writer / April 9, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela—A man once considered the star witness in the case of an assassinated prosecutor has recanted testimony that helped convict three men and implicated opponents of President Hugo Chavez.
Giovanny Vasquez said in an interview televised Wednesday that he believes the former attorney general, Isaias Rodriguez, was fooled by prosecutors working under him. Vasquez's lawyer, Morly Uzcategui, said Tuesday night that his client knows nothing about the case but testified against suspects after receiving $500,000 from a government official.
In Vasquez's interview, which was taped Tuesday and shown on the opposition-leaning channel Globovision, he said the former attorney general was apparently unaware. "I have good faith he didn't have anything to do with it," Vasquez was quoted as saying on Globovision's Web site.
Chavez responded Wednesday night, calling the allegations an attack on legal authorities "by the same ones who ordered the brave prosecutor Danilo Anderson killed."
"They attack the institutions," Chavez said, "taking up the investigation into the terrible murder again in a perverse way."
Rodriguez once called Vasquez his key witness in the 2004 murder. Anderson, who was killed in a car bombing, had been investigating the roles of government opponents in a failed 2002 coup against Chavez.
The former attorney general -- now an alternate judge for the Supreme Court -- said the case is being manipulated as part of a U.S.-backed media campaign against Chavez. According to the state-run Bolivarian News Agency, Rodriguez said he expects disinformation about the case will be part of a "script" with political aims.
Based in part on Vasquez's testimony, a judge convicted three former police officers in 2005 and sent them to prison. The men denied involvement.
Vasquez's testimony also was originally cited in cases against other suspects, including banker Nelson Mezerhane, retired Gen. Eugenio Anez Nunez, ex-police officer Fernando Jesus Moreno Palmar, Cuban-born Salvador Romani and journalist Patricia Poleo, a prominent Chavez critic.
In late 2006, authorities froze criminal proceedings against most of those suspects, citing a lack of evidence.
Vasquez presented his new testimony to prosecutors Tuesday. Uzcategui, his lawyer, was quoted by the newspaper El Universal as saying his client "provided evidence showing the (first) investigation... was a montage."
The Colombian-born witness went along with it "due to money issues and later due to pressures against him, his relatives and his life," Uzcategui said, according to El Universal. "They delivered $500,000 in cash to Vasquez for having lent his help for this."
The source of the alleged payment was unclear, though the lawyer said it came from a Justice Ministry official.
Vasquez said he has received threats, and his face was blurred to prevent easy identification in the interview, which Globovision said was taped by Somos, a smaller regional station.
In an earlier interview taped in 2006 and released this week, Vasquez mentioned the $500,000 payment, saying he later handed over $200,000 under an agreement with a prosecutor who was taken off the case.
He also said he was once flown to the Venezuela's La Orchila island by the military intelligence agency. His lawyer said Vasquez was there a month "to prepare him" for testifying.
Uzcategui said the 2006 interview was among evidence presented to prosecutors. It is unclear why it was not made public previously.
Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda and Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report

Gunfire Erupts at Venezuela University

I am from Venezuela and this is true. The masked gunmen were sent by Chavez's political party. Our venezuelans students are heroes.Can you believe the "Justice Minister" blamed the marching students?
This article says: "the Supreme Court is unlikely to act on the students' demands, given that pro-Chavez lawmakers appointed all 32 of its justices".
vdebate

Gunfire Erupts at Venezuela University
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov 08, 2007 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Masked gunmen opened fire on students returning from a march in which tens of thousands of Venezuelans denounced President Hugo Chavez's attempts to expand his power through constitutional changes.
Officials said at least eight people were injured Wednesday, including one by gunfire, at the Central University of Venezuela, or UCV - the country's largest university.
Students protested in at least six other cities, and several turned violent with rock-throwing youths clashing with police shooting plastic bullets at demonstrators.
Photographers for The Associated Press saw at least four gunmen - their faces covered by ski masks or T-shirts - firing handguns at the anti-Chavez crowd at the UCV. Terrified students ran through the campus as ambulances arrived.
Antonio Rivero, director of Venezuela's Civil Defense agency, told Union Radio that at least eight people were injured, including one by gunfire, and that no one had been killed. Earlier, Rivero said he had been informed that one person had died in the violence.
The violence broke out after an estimated 80,000 anti-Chavez demonstrators - led by university students - marched peacefully to the Supreme Court to protest constitutional changes that would greatly expand Chavez's power if voters agree to the changes in December. Unrest, if it continues, could mar a Dec. 2 referendum on the controversial reforms.
Dozens of angry students surrounded a building where the gunmen were hiding, set fire to benches outside and knocked out windows with rocks. Later, armed men riding motorcycles arrived, scaring off students and standing at the doorway - one of them firing a handgun in the air - as people fled the building.
Justice Minister Pedro Carreno blamed students, university authorities, opposition parties and the media for the violence.
"We want to urge the media to reflect, to stop broadcasting biased news through media manipulation, filling a part of the population with hate," Carreno said in a televised address.
He did not provide details about the number of injured or if any suspects were arrested.
University students also staged demonstrations in the cities of Merida, Maracaibo, Puerto La Cruz, San Cristobal, Barquisimeto and Valencia on Wednesday.
The amendments being protested would abolish presidential term limits, give the president control over the Central Bank and let him create new provinces governed by handpicked officials.
The protesters demand the referendum be suspended, saying the amendments would weaken civil liberties and give Chavez unprecedented power to declare states of emergency.
"Don't allow Venezuela to go down a path that nobody wants to cross," student leader Freddy Guevara told Globovision during the march to the Supreme Court.
Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, denies the reforms threaten freedom. He says they would instead move Venezuela toward what he calls "21st century socialism."
In televised comments prior to the unrest, Chavez urged Venezuelans to turn out en masse to vote for the reforms. In reference to the opposition, he said: "Don't go crazy."
The Supreme Court is unlikely to act on the students' demands, given that pro-Chavez lawmakers appointed all 32 of its justices.
Copyright (C) 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

There is no hiding the obvious

It is nothing new for the Chávez administration to attack and try to discredit nongovernment organizations. It knows that these spokesmen of civil society are independent and do not lend themselves to manipulation, particularly those that work to defend human rights.

In order to discredit these representatives of civil society and prevent them from taking action, they have resorted to every trick in the book, including arbitrary and unconstitutional interpretations of the law.

One such was the decision handed down by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice in 2000 in which Justice Jesús Eduardo Cabrera Infante determined that organizations that received financing from abroad did not form part of civil society. The purpose behind this decision was to restrict the participation of civil society in any sphere of national life. What is more, during these past seven years, this same decision has been used at the discretion of the powers that be and when it suits them to silence complaints about what is happening in Venezuela raised by different NGOs that work to defend citizens’ rights.

The NGO to come under attack today is Transparencia Venezuela, the Venezuelan chapter of Transparency International, a nonprofit organization of renown that seeks to prevent and reduce corruption in all parts of the world. Transparencia Venezuela had planned to submit a follow-up report to the OAS this week on compliance with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC), under which it represents Venezuelan society.

At that meeting, at which the Venezuelan government would also be represented, the countries (government and civil society) are under the obligation to submit their respective reports on progress made in the fight against corruption.

However, the Venezuelan government, availing itself of the infamous decision of the TSJ mentioned earlier, is, once again, trying to prevent Transparencia Venezuela from submitting its report on corruption in the country. It fears, and quite rightly so, that the rampant corruption that is undermining the Bolivarian government will be exposed, yet again, for the world to see.

So, in a letter from Venezuela’s official representatives, signed by the General Accountability Office of the Republic and addressed to the Follow-up Mechanism of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (AICAC) follow-up mechanism, they claim that Transparencia Venezuela is not an organization of Venezuelan civil society because it receives funds from abroad.

The Head of the Accountability Office even chose to forget the fact that the AICAC follow-up mechanism had earlier recommended that this decision be eliminated, while requesting that steps be taken to ensure that there were no provisions in current legislation that restricted the participation of civil organizations in efforts to prevent corruption.

It may well be that the government will, once again, manage to prevent Transparencia Venezuela from submitting its report, thus violating the NGO’s right to take part in the AICAC follow-up mechanism and setting a worrisome precedent so that, in the future, the government and government agencies will have the power to select who may and who may not monitor them.

With all that, the Chávez administration will not be able to prevent the AICAC follow-up mechanism from receiving the different reports from Transparencia Venezuela or the findings from being made public.

In other words, however hard it tries, the government will not be able to hide the obvious, particularly the widespread corruption plaguing its revolution.

www.veneconomia.org.ve