www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 1:02:17 AM By: Dawn Gable

Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 02:45:28 +0000 From: Dawn Gable morning_ucsc@hotmail.com To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: Reply to Hector Dauphin-Gloire

Dear Editor: I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with Hector Dauphin-Gloire that the 'Revolucion' is what is important. Chavez has said it himself ... and it is definitely all of our responsibility to continue the 'Revolucion' with or without him.

However, I do not believe that Chavez is beaten. and I do think he can be the one to see the 'Revolucion' through to consolidation. He is a great figurehead ... he is bold, sincere, direct, personable, friendly and he has the vocal style of a minister ... he is the head. There may need to be changes in who is feeding him direction and advise ... he could also use a good PR and a better speechwriter to help him keep his foot out of his mouth.

But a kinder, gentler version of Chavez in the form of some puppet 'chavista' will get the 'Revolucion' nowhere. While I was traveling around Venezuela, and asking every person I happened to meet along the way, the most frequent response I got was that Chavez needed to "put on his pants" (which means "get tougher") ... not Chavez needs to be more willing to compromise.

I agree that he has achieved more than most leaders dream, just by bringing about the 'Revolucion' and awakening the spirit of the masses once again, helping to create a more welcoming atmosphere in LA for-like minded leaders.

I think that in the end ... if he is constitutionally forced to leave ... he may do something like what you have suggested. He may throw his support behind someone on the left while he takes a rest in Cuba. But, if we 'Revolucionaries' do our job, he will only be on a short vacation and will return to Venezuela, as the 'Revolucion' gains strength.

But Chavez can not just resign and walk away.  Never.

That would ... at least symbolically ... be an abandonment of the 'Revolucion' and it would be seen by his supporters as personal abandonment. Like I said before, they already think that he is not fighting hard enough for them ... and he has lost some support over allowing the media to run rampant etc.

If he were to walk out, the 'Revolucion' would die.

Happily, we are not at the point that these decisions need to be made ... Chavez is still alive and strong ... not only in Venezuela but in the whole world.

Hasta la victoria siempre!

Dawn Gable morning_ucsc@hotmail.com

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 1:22:38 PM By: Roy S. Carson

As if it were not enough for them to SPAM major media outlets in North America and around the world with a barrage of propagandistic distortions of what's really happening in Venezuela, opposition lunatics have turned their troubled minds on attacking VHeadline.com as the Internet's leading English-language source of independent news & views about Venezuela.

Responding to a reasonable request from VHeadline.com to stop peddling obvious untruths in a flurry of emails, we received an indignant response from self-styled "Venezuelan citizen and writer"  Marianella Febres-Cordero, using an appropriately illustrative handle lunaticaa@cantv.net expressing her venom over our use of the word 'bullshit' ... a fair and accurate description of the untruths that she and her cohorts are attempting top foist on the outside world.

Asserting (untruthfully) that we had blocked her "friend", Febres-Cordero says the original letter-writer had sent us a "cry of help for Venezuela:

"...her answer is that this bullshit has the color of the oil you consume. She is a very brave woman, who like many women in Venezuela, wants to live in a country that has the freedoms that you enjoy and has fought this 'regime' with fierce determination. This is a very tiring fight against a tyrant who poses as a democratic President but is no more than a hoodlum who has broken and raped every law in the democratic book. I certainly did not vote for him but millions of people that did have repented because he was a deception (for them, I always knew what he was). If he should happen in your country and believe: anything is possible! you would do anything to try to oust him like we are trying very hard to do. This cry for help is legitimate. It comes from the bottom of our hearts and souls because we are horrified of our future. We love our country, we want to live here with our children and the children of our children. I hope Sir or Ms. that you never have to go through what we are going through at the moment in Venezuela and I hope that if you cry out for help people out there don't call you a bullshitter."

Let's examine the background of what has happened:

VHeadline.com is bombarded on a daily if not hourly basis with a plethora of messages from all sides of Venezuela's political panorama ... and this on top of a constant flow of hackers' attempts to introduce computer viruses into our system to do untold damage.  Thankfully our firewall has prevented all sabotage attempts to date.  Behind the scenes this weekend, organizations such as Resistencia Miami (where else?) are exhorting their deluded fanatics to deluge us with more of their BS propaganda.

A fairly large percentage of the letters we receive can immediately be binned as coming from sorry souls whose capacity to string something meaningful into words devolves into hatred and bigotry worthy of a member of the Klu Klux Klan in the deep deep South or an Ulster Protestant hardliner on a visit to the Vatican.

• The delete button works overtime but we do get occasional pearls representing both sides, which invariably find their way into electronic print in our Letters section.

This last weekend, however, the opposition propagandists went into overdrive stringing their hype onto a very fragile thread of a municipal inspector who happened to pass by a building where suspicious activities were going on.  The fact that the lady official was a close relative to the Executive Vice President bears little or no relation to the subject but was the cherry on the cake for Globovision reporters bristling to get out of the starting gate on yet another opportunity to slam the government.

Imagine the same situation in downtown Parishville.  Let's say a St. Lawrence County dog catcher noticed something suspicious going on inside a building late at night when most folks would be safely tucked up in bed, or perhaps watching a late night TV show.  Let's say he sees a lot of luxury automobiles parked close by and hears the sounds of ribaldry from within ... an illegal gambling den, perhaps.  Who knows?  Perhaps with excessive zeal, he goes into the building and is met by a burly bouncer.  He shows his ID as the county dog catcher and asks what's going on.  The bouncer does his business and bounces the dog catcher right back out on the street, hurling voice words of abuse in an easily identifiable rejection of the proper inquiry.

Let's take it a stage further:  What would/should the county dog catcher do after he's picked himself up from the sidewalk and readjusted his collar and the seat of his pants?  My immediate thought is that he would get on his cellular phone to report the incident to law enforcement officers who would come to the rescue?  The cops would come, the bouncer might try the same 'attitude' with them, but he would swiftly find himself and any of his supporters behind bars waiting for an appearance before the night judge or an overnight in the cells with a court appearance and a fine to follow.

But that's where reality ends. 

We're not talking about Parishville in New York State.  The allusion was to Sucre County in Miranda State, Caracas - Venezuela.  Our 'dog catcher' translates as municipal officer Maria Francia Rojas and she suddenly finds herself in an opposition wheelspin worthy of a high-speed 4WD on a dirt track.  Talk about hype.  Calling for law enforcement back-up, Rojas set in motion an opposition propaganda dream-scenario with three car-loads of police officers arriving to "rescue the damsel in distress."

But woops, the incident scene was quickly identified as where the opposition was hiding voting papers collected last Sunday and since, purporting to be a democratic referendum on President Hugo Chavez Frias' continued rule.

Credit Globovision's rapid response ENG team with speed as they sped to the action-camera location with live video footage of an 'international incident' vying for the airwaves with headline importance of an already begun Iraq War bombardment.

And rightly so, the story fizzled out as it became patently clear that the bouncer should properly have told the municipal 'dog catcher' what was indeed going on.  It could have ended without a mention given such circumstances, but...

We have to remember that this is Caracas in the year 2003.  Little incidents can be blown out of all proportion ... and they were!

Within hours we were bombarded with email messages claiming that President Hugo Chavez Frias had himself ordered a raid on the opposition voting list HQ, that Chavez-controlled police had attempted to seize the documents and that they had only been saved through the prompt reaction of 'neighbors' ... a.k.a. opposition thugs.  The emails were peppered with obvious lies and distortions as though we at VHeadline.com had not been aware of what was going on, with our own reporters covering the breaking story and evaluating its newsworthiness.

The incident in itself was NOT newsworthy, but the opposition distortion of events that followed IS news.

It's the reality of what's happening in Venezuela each and every day as the opposition continues to follow the path of anti-constitutionalism in a complete and utter rejection of anything and everything that has to do with Democracy as it is known to the outside, civilized world.

Sad, sad, sad!

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 3:14:09 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

The government's decision to fix the bolivar's exchange rate at Bs.1,600.00 / Bs.1,596.00 could turn out to be a big gamble in the government's fight against the effects of the Coordinadora Democratica work stoppage, particularly if they drag on for several months. 

The government claims it had no choice but to impose trading restrictions, and this opinion has been supported by Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) directors, as capital flight was spiraling and international reserves were falling by around $60-70 million per day as the BCV fought in vain to support the plummeting currency. 

The value of the bolivar was also hit by rumors of an imminent devaluation as the government was allegedly looking at options to balance its budget after huge losses of revenue due to Petroleos de Venezuela's (PDVSA) low production levels since the work stoppage began on December 2. 

So few can argue that something needed to be done, but the question is will the new measures just mean the nation's economy falling out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Opposition leaders argue that the controls will lead to inflation, corruption, black market trading and possible shortages, and this seems at least partially true as the US dollar is now buying as much as Bs.2,500.00 on the black market.

However, faced with such serious economic problems, inflation and corruption are likely to be risks the government is prepared to take. 

• As for shortages, they already exist in most Venezuelan towns and cities, so will they get any worse?

It seems unlikely at this stage, but it is obviously too early to say. At least if the bolivar is kept at a lower level then Venezuelans will still be able to buy the imported goods that they can lay their hands on, as if the bolivar shot up to around Bs.2,000.00 to the dollar many wouldn't be able to afford even the most basic of supplies.

The imposition of fixed prices on food, fuel and medicines also seems a solid enough tactic for making sure the poorer Venezuelans can weather out the storm, providing it doesn't last too long.

So all in all the measures look to be stacking up pretty positively for the government, but the threat of restricting the supply of dollars to the supporters of the opposition strike remains troubling. As the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce (VenAmCham) pointed out this week, this could turn into a witch hunt. If this were to happen then the repercussions for the economy could be huge.

• Punishing the owners of businesses that supported the stoppage is also punishing their employees and their families. 

Many businesses are already on the brink of bankruptcy and such pressures could push tem over the edge, costing many their jobs. Hopefully this threat is just hot air and not something that the President will seriously be pursuing, if not the consequences could be grave.

Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 3:14:09 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

The government's decision to fix the bolivar's exchange rate at Bs.1,600.00 / Bs.1,596.00 could turn out to be a big gamble in the government's fight against the effects of the Coordinadora Democratica work stoppage, particularly if they drag on for several months. 

The government claims it had no choice but to impose trading restrictions, and this opinion has been supported by Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) directors, as capital flight was spiraling and international reserves were falling by around $60-70 million per day as the BCV fought in vain to support the plummeting currency. 

The value of the bolivar was also hit by rumors of an imminent devaluation as the government was allegedly looking at options to balance its budget after huge losses of revenue due to Petroleos de Venezuela's (PDVSA) low production levels since the work stoppage began on December 2. 

So few can argue that something needed to be done, but the question is will the new measures just mean the nation's economy falling out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Opposition leaders argue that the controls will lead to inflation, corruption, black market trading and possible shortages, and this seems at least partially true as the US dollar is now buying as much as Bs.2,500.00 on the black market.

However, faced with such serious economic problems, inflation and corruption are likely to be risks the government is prepared to take. 

• As for shortages, they already exist in most Venezuelan towns and cities, so will they get any worse?

It seems unlikely at this stage, but it is obviously too early to say. At least if the bolivar is kept at a lower level then Venezuelans will still be able to buy the imported goods that they can lay their hands on, as if the bolivar shot up to around Bs.2,000.00 to the dollar many wouldn't be able to afford even the most basic of supplies.

The imposition of fixed prices on food, fuel and medicines also seems a solid enough tactic for making sure the poorer Venezuelans can weather out the storm, providing it doesn't last too long.

So all in all the measures look to be stacking up pretty positively for the government, but the threat of restricting the supply of dollars to the supporters of the opposition strike remains troubling. As the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce (VenAmCham) pointed out this week, this could turn into a witch hunt. If this were to happen then the repercussions for the economy could be huge.

• Punishing the owners of businesses that supported the stoppage is also punishing their employees and their families. 

Many businesses are already on the brink of bankruptcy and such pressures could push tem over the edge, costing many their jobs. Hopefully this threat is just hot air and not something that the President will seriously be pursuing, if not the consequences could be grave.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 12:05:21 AM By: VHeadline.com Reporters

In an article entitled "Inside the Revolutions in South America" Eco Solidarity's Marcel Idels writes in favor of participatory economics and agrarian-based localization saying that in words and deeds, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias has been the strongest proponent of measures to counter corporate globalization.

"He supports import substitution, regional integration and an end to the militarized US drug war, Plan Colombia and Bush's Andean Initiative ... at the World Social Forum in Brazil he spoke in favor of (Brazilian President) Ignacio Lula da Silva's  program and called for a Latin American Monetary Fund to replace the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its failed policies ... he also announced that Venezuela would be the first country to adopt the Tobin tax on international financial transactions."

Idels continues "emboldened by the electoral victories in Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador and the heroic triumph of Chavez over the US-backed coup and sabotage in Venezuela, people all over the world have moved to the radical perspective ... the debt bomb, which the rich countries created in Latin America in order to extract profits has turned into a powerful device for forcing the rich to accede to the demands of the poor."

"The US knows that a unified leftist block of nations in Latin America could easily pursue a generalized default on public and private debt ... this requires the US to behave and to work hard to avoid a multi-nation default that would threaten the global banking system and takedown many large US corporations ... debt negotiations will test the vulnerability of the US and create a spectacularly suspenseful drama."

If orderly defaults are not possible due to US pressure, then Brazil and other countries should form a debt cartel and negotiate a general and full default. The negotiating position would be: Support this general default and behave or we will nationalize all your assets.

Banks would be nationalized with strict currency controls ... reserves and deposit withdrawals would be prioritized for key imports, the poor and the lower middle class ... and not for the wealthy ... the mistakes of Argentina are instructive. Commercial debt and foreign ownership deals would be abrogated in the name of social debt relief.

Writing about lessons from Venezuela, Idels says that in Venezuela, the word "democracy" has come to mean the overthrow of the elected President. "Bosses organize the strikes and corrupt union leaders complain about the government defending workers' legal rights. And the military, armed with cement mixers and bricks, invade the shantytowns to build houses, not to destroy them. In the midst of this struggle for the future of Venezuela, is an increasingly confident Hugo Chavez, who, having seen off a US-backed coup attempt last April, is now busy banging the last nails into the coffin of a collapsing two month old strike of managers in the state owned oil company, the PDVSA.

The strike is a showdown between the right wing opposition and the government over the control of the country's vast oil reserves, which provide Venezuela with two thirds of its export earnings.

Wresting control of the PDVSA from the old pro-American management, who had run it as a personal fiefdom and who favored privatization, is seen as pivotal to Chavez's ability to deliver on his promises of homes, health and education for the poor ... the slow defeat of the strike in the PDVSA, has provided Chavez with the opportunity to dismiss 5,000 anti-government executives and saboteurs, and press ahead with the long overdue reform of the company.

After his landslide election in 1999, Chavez had the luxury of a mandate to purge and restructure the judicial, military and administrative branches of the government. Even the right wing in the US applauded some of these efforts. Cleaning up the vastly larger bureaucracy of Brazil could take time or many resources (money, personnel, political favors).  Brazil's President Lula da Silva also needs to cut back the military budget and direct these public monies to social investments, but this is a large problem to tackle as well. He may follow Chavez' path of reorienting the military to social and ecological restoration programs as he eases some of the older and reactionary military leaders out of the armed forces.

Chavez has shown remarkable ingenuity and patience in his confrontations with the US-backed upper classes. Rather than confront them directly, he allows them to throw temper tantrums and expose themselves as the spoiled brats they are.

Hoping to wear down the downtrodden, the US plays the game of grinding attrition that it used against the people of Chile, Jamaica and the Sandinistas of Nicaragua in the 1980s.

A strange alliance of anti-Castro Cubans, Media-billionaires and the US White House prod the Venezuelan business class to extend the bosses-strike indefinitely. The US hopes to scare the people and wear down their resolve until they give up sovereignty. With the armed forces on their side the people of Venezuela have successfully weathered these terrorist tactics of the US.

Because the right wing opposition political parties are so detested and weak in Venezuela, the rich, the corrupt labor unions and the broadcast media have had to fill the vacuum and coordinate the strike. Chavez has allowed them to play out their hand and to break many laws so that now, he has every right to seize some of these seditious media organizations and other companies that they own.

One example is the Coca Cola bottling plant, Panamco ... part-owned by the billionaire coup plotter, Gustavo Cisneros, Panamco was shut down just before the strike and its output hoarded in warehouses to help add to shortages and the people's fears. After initially supporting the strike, the thirty-something billionaire, Lorenzo Mendoza, has kept his Polar beer factories humming ... he controls 75% of the beer produced in Venezuela! Cisneros controls most of the rest of the market for beer with his Regional Beer Co.

Like beer a few billionaires control most of the media in Venezuela. Unlike beer, information and news are a public good that benefit all people, just like clean water, clean air and schools. The airwaves are a limited resource and the right to complete information in a democracy is crucial. If broadcasts are to be private, then a large collective editorial board that is held responsible to present the unbiased news should run them. A diversity of programming and slots on all channels for unedited commentary and video presentations from all sectors of society is a common sense addition.

Miraculously, the poor of Venezuela don't need the media to tell them what they already know: "Never be fooled again by the old political parties ... only support the parties of the poor people." The main effect of the Venezuelan strike -- besides hurting the economy -- has been to mobilize poor neighborhoods and support for Chavez. Excitement over Chavez speaking at the World Social Forum threatened to overfill the auditorium and upstage the whole event. The strike has also forced Chavez to intervene more directly in the economy than he desired while in Brazil, Lula worries that the business class will soon challenge his economic program too.

The problems at the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, suggest actions that Lula must take at Brazil's state-owned mega-corporation, Petrobas -- the largest corporation in Latin America. He should split the company up into smaller management units, sell off foreign assets, fire right-wing and redundant managers and train loyal replacements to run the company ... his appointment of Senator and environmentalist, Marina Silva, to Petrobas? council of directors is a good first step.

Chavez and Lula should take advantage of the public's mood and the disasters caused by the right wing to institute credit controls, the takeover of financial institutions and to seize the properties of business criminals and the many businessmen who are organizing illegal activities against the government.

• Popular referendums would demand the asset seizure of the coup plotters, the financial backers of the illegal strikers and the companies (broadcast media especially) who participated.

Careful analysis of the taxes paid by most Latin American businesses and multinational corporations will reveal major fraud and many land titles can also be challenged. Workers should be encouraged to investigate and reports abuses. Preparation should be made for the inevitable worker management of many factories.

Marcel Idels Ecosolidarity@yahoo.com