www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: The International Bar Association has 2.5 million lawyer members all over the world, in some 185 countries. They sent a fact-finding team to Venezuela for about 10 days last February to evaluate the Venezuelan system of Justice. The findings of this team have just been given to the press and they could not be more damaging to the government of Hugo Chavez. In essence the team found that "the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is not a democratic State, is not under the rule of law and Human Rights are in peril..."

The fact-finding team claims that there exists a high level of impunity, that the judicial system is incapable of satisfying the need for justice of citizens, and that 75% of judges are only provisionally in their jobs, which make them specially vulnerable to political pressures.

The team also criticized the lack of clear limits between civil legal action and military action. In particular they express their deep concern about the absence of checks and balances in government, since the roles of the Attorney General, of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice and of the Ombudsman are in hands of unconditional government followers. The absence of independent action in these institutions, they claim, worsens the problems of the administration of justice.

The team observed that the model of Judicial System called for in the 1999 Constitution has not been put in place ... sentences by the Supreme Tribunal are often ignored by government while open political pressures against judges have weakened the credibility of the system.

Some of the conclusions of the report (as printed in the Venezuelan press) are:

1. "The current distribution of political power in the Venezuelan State endangers human rights. It is of great concern (to us) the close relationship between the military and the executive power. When the military are given the role of judicial police and allowed to act in areas that should be reserved to civilian authorities, the rule of law tends to weaken...",

2. "The performance of the Venezuelan State has deteriorated in relation to its international obligations concerning human rights",

3. "The team respectfully asks the Venezuelan government to return to a proper Rule of Law by complying with Constitutional precepts",

4. "Demeaning remarks about the judicial system by the Executive Power represent an abuse of  State power ... insulting its members and decisions, inviting disobedience of their sentences and promoting social struggle constitute an aggression against democracy and can lead to serious violations against human rights",

5. "The team recommended naming the members of the Moral Power (Comptroller, Attorney General and Ombudsman) in accordance with the Constitution",

6. "The demand for justice in Venezuela is far from being met. There are millions of judicial processes unfinished. The country needs 5,000 justices of the peace and has only 250."

The International Bar Association team which carried out the mission is made up of a US lawyer, professor of law at the University of Florida, the President of the Constitutional Group of the Supreme Court of Costa Rica and an expert in human rights.

In most countries of the world such a report would create a major commotion and cause many dismissals and resignation ... in the Hugo Chavez' Venezuela it will not merit much attention ... the Law and the Constitution are not priority issues of this government.

International opinion, however, will take notice of this report and will pressure hemispheric governments to protest the increasingly authoritarian Venezuelan regime. Political and social unrest will not cease in our country until this bad President is gone ... until this nightmare disappears.

Gustavo Coronel is the founder and president of Agrupacion Pro Calidad de Vida (The Pro-Quality of Life Alliance), a Caracas-based organization devoted to fighting corruption and the promotion of civic education in Latin America, primarily Venezuela. A member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), following nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry, Coronel has worked in the oil industry for 28 years in the United States, Holland, Indonesia, Algiers and in Venezuela. He is a Distinguished alumnus of the University of Tulsa (USA) where he was a Trustee from 1987 to 1999. Coronel led the Hydrocarbons Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in Washington DC for 5 years. The author of three books and many articles on Venezuela ("Curbing Corruption in Venezuela." Journal of Democracy, Vol. 7, No. 3, July, 1996, pp. 157-163), he is a fellow of Harvard University and a member of the Harvard faculty from 1981 to 1983.  In 1998, he was presidential election campaign manager for Henrique Salas Romer and now lives in retirement on the Caribbean island of Margarita where he runs a leading Hotel-Resort.  You may contact Gustavo Coronel at email ppcvicep@telcel.net.ve

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Addressing an International Women's Day event this weekend President Hugo Chavez Frias accused opposition members of being responsible for recent violent acts, including the explosions at Colombian and Spanish diplomatic missions in Caracas, as well as the killings of three soldiers and a civilian woman. 

• The President claimed that the acts were orchestrated by the opposition in an attempt to discredit him and his government.

So far no arrests have been made for the two bombings, but government officials, including the President, claim they are closing in on the suspects.

The Colombian Consulate has handed a security video taken at the mission moments before the explosion, to Venezuelan security forces and it is thought to capture several individuals acting suspiciously.

As for the killing of the soldiers and the civilian, police have arrested a man and he has confessed to the murders.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

US Ambassador to Venezuela Charles Shapiro has expressed his concern that international terrorist organizations have set up bases in Venezuela and other Latin American countries.

The comments echo those made by US General James Hill who earlier this week said several international terror groups, including Hezbollah, had set up bases in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and on Isla Margarita in Venezuela.

Following a meeting with Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, Shapiro said "I don't want to accuse anybody, but we are on alert ... we are ready to collaborate with the Venezuelan government to seek out terrorism that may exist in the country."

The pair also discussed the upcoming war on Iraq, and although on details of this conversation were made available the talks almost certainly addressed Venezuela's ability to raise its oil production to help meet an Iraqi shortfall.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Rebel Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) executive Juan Fernandez narrowly escaped arrest after addressing an anti-government demonstration in Chacao, Caracas, over the weekend.  An arrest warrant was issued for Fernandez several weeks ago and since then he and other PDVSA strike leaders have gone into hiding.

• However, Fernandez briefly came out of hiding to address the demonstration and was able to escape before security police could get to the area.

When the police arrived opposition supporters tried to prevent them carrying out their duties and their vehicles were attacked with sticks and stones. Police responded by firing shots into the air and using tear gas to disperse the crowd.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

The government is currently reviewing its price control system on many basic food supplies as the maximum prices that were recently imposed have proved to be too low in some cases, cutting profit margins to such an extent that it has become uneconomical for producers to manufacture the goods and as a result shortages have appeared.

• In response to the shortages soldiers manned stalls at outdoor markets selling basic food supplies at discount prices.

The cost controls were introduced as inflation pushed the price of goods higher, causing the government to become increasingly concerned about the ability of poor Venezuelans to buy their basic needs.