<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 13, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

In its April 11 anniversary communique, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV)  has made a strong attack on the government, claiming that the rule of law and political coexistence has been damaged by the struggle centering on the government's legitimacy and institutionality.

"Polarization has paralyzed the country sinking us into growing poverty and an increase in division and social violence." 

Confirming its openly anti-government stance, the CEV says, "in commemorating April 11, the only loser is the Venezuelan people: conflict, intolerance, deaths and institutional destabilization." 

The document says that since April 11, violations of the right to life, citizen security and property have become so apparent that everyone can see them as they develop. 

The CEV criticizes the performance of the Attorney General, Ombudsman and the Judiciary, questioning their roles as defenders of human rights. "April 11 is a call to attention of those whose mission it is to impart justice, as well as those whose duty it is to defend the people from any hegemonic power.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuelas's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 13, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

US State Department for Latin American Affairs official, Ricardo Pardo Maurer has announced that it is highly possible that Chilean and Argentinean military will join peace-keeping activities in Afghanistan, while Nicaraguan and El Salvador soldiers will be doing the same in Iraq. 

Pardo Maurer has made it clear that of the Latin American armies ready to take part in US peace-keeping missions Venezuela is the exception.  "There is a world scarcity of military officers for peace-keeping missions ... Latin America is undertaking a very effective job in prevention and working closely with Washington to make sure that Islamic terrorism does not become a problem." 

Elaborating on the Venezuelan problem, Pardo Maurer comments that President Chavez Frias is attempting to subvert the Venezuelan military bribing some officers to support his government ... "that is one of the most disturbing aspects I have seen ... the military as an institution has been able to resist but Chavez Frias is seeking officers that accept bribes." 

On a side note, the US Armed Forces (USAF) press office has welcomed the offer of Chile, Argentina, El Salvador and Nicaragua to take part in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as an "excellent sign from Latin America."

The War in Iraq, effects and consequences discuss the role of the United Nations towards an equitable solution for the Iraqi people

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 13, 2003 By: Einnoc Lebrac

Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2003 18:28:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Einnoc Lebrac venezuelanoestuya@yahoo.com To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor: I read with dismay the first line of Gustavo Coronel’s editorial, “Distrust and handouts are killing Venezuela.”  It took me a few minutes to regain my senses … I just could not stop laughing ... what has happened to Gustavo Coronel?

Poor Gustavo Coronel ... he must really be feeling homesick in Valencia or Margarita Island … so far away from Disney World ... where he has a hard time hanging on to Fantasy Land. What was he really thinking to start a letter with such an outrageously funny line?

Hear me people: “I, Gustavo Coronel, 8 years of age (?), went to Walt Disney, and Mickey Mouse was at the bank and he smiled at me” … (this is the image I got).

Now, I believe I understand why he writes what he writes…

Of course he felt offended when he went to the (Venezuelan) bank and was treated like the rest of us! That has been the way people have been treated at banks for many years; you sign in front of the teller and your picture is taken.

You know, these are places where robberies are likely to happen ... whether in Venezuela or in the USA.

Gustavo Coronel probably never noticed it because he was used to the “doctor with money” type of treatment he perhaps received in the past.

I am almost certain that all of you “earthly-normal-aware” people have experienced it or known of somebody else who has gone to a bank or a very busy office where you need to wait in line in cities like Chicago, New York, etc …and if you step 2 inches beyond any waiting line, the security guard approaches you and roughly signals you to step back, smile not included. If you need to withdraw or deposit cash, you're asked questions, your picture taken and all, and no “Mickey Mousing” around.

The sad part in all of this is that people still try, whichever way they can, to ignore that today’s world is not as safe as it was few years ago. “Homeland” security measures are taken worldwide, and Venezuela is part of this world. It is not Chavez or those who follow him who are causing it.

People, let’s stop closing our eyes to the reality of the world!

Venezuela has changed …and we hope for the better!

NOTE: In the same article Gustavo Coronel says: “The Welfare State is the other main enemy of our social progress. Paternalistic political leaders have led Venezuelans to believe that they can sit and wait for the government to provide them with all their needs…”

Or maybe, Venezuelans should have maintained the status-quo and “sit and wait” for the government to keep on stealing from them instead…

Einnoc Lebrac venezuelanoestuya@yahoo.com

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<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, April 11, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: Years ago I ran out of cash in Disney World, California. I walked into the tiny bank where a teller, dressed as Mickey Mouse, cashed a check for me. My check was from an obscure east coast bank and Mickey Mouse had never seen me before. Still, the transaction took about five minutes, smiles included.

In Caracas, I kept a bank account in a large bank for over 30 years. And yet, every time I wanted to conduct a transaction ... no matter how simple ... I had to go through a tedious and humiliating process of revalidation which strongly smelled of distrust. Today it's even worse. The process now includes fingerprinting, added to the inevitable photograph for which the teller commands you, in police fashion, to take off your glasses.

Distrust is a core characteristic of Venezuelan society.

This explains why there are so few multiple owner corporations, almost none of them quoted on the financial markets.

Venezuelan companies are either family- or State-owned. In both, control is rigidly exercised by the "family." The choice between nepotism or clientelism and managerial efficiency is almost non-existent ... only in Argentina is there more distrust than in Venezuela. In both countries "shrewdness" is at a premium. When you ask a Venezuelan how he's doing , a frequent answer is "defendiendome..." ... "Defending myself".... from real or imaginary enemies, assassins or coupsters.

I still remember former President Jaime Lusinchi, pointing his finger at a reporter who asked him a difficult question and answering: "Tu a mi no me jodes."... "You can not screw me!"

Francis Fukuyama dedicated a whole book to the issue of Distrust.  Societies which trust, like Japan, Switzerland and the US, do well, while the opposite is true of distrusting societies such as China and Italy. In these latter countries the family is stronger but for the wrong reasons. 'Family' runs the business and get together to kill their enemies, affection comes a distant third ... as a result, any wealth generated tends to remain in fewer hands.

Venezuelan family-owned companies tend to perform poorly since professional management is often bypassed in favor of sons or nephews. Most of them have, in fact, gone under State-owned companies, now with no exception since the destruction of PDVSA at the hands of the barbarians, are managed by political "relatives" or clients of the government obsessed with filling out their pockets.

During the last four years, more than $100 billion of petroleum income has evaporated, never to be seen again, due to the incompetence and the corruption of the government of Hugo Chavez. This money came from the liquidation of a non-renewable resource which took between 30 and 100 million years to be formed and which will never be seen again.

The Welfare State is the other main enemy of our social progress. Paternalistic political leaders have led Venezuelans to believe that they can sit and wait for the government to provide them with all their needs.

This explains the long lines of people in front of the Presidential Palace, all holding small and wrinkled pieces of paper on which they have written, sometimes at a word per hour, their list of wishes or needs: a house ... a job ... some cash for emergencies ... used furniture ... a TV set.

For many of these people patiently waiting in line, the act of asking is not begging but the exercise of a right ... it is written in the Constitution that all Venezuelans are guaranteed a house, a job, free education, free health services, especially the children and the elders. But the old and the young are the Venezuelans who are suffering the most.

The people in line then become lottery players, since only one out of one thousand will be heard by the government. As a result, most members of Venezuelan society are no longer working or saving or educating themselves but playing the lottery, waiting for their number to be called.

The conversion of citizens into beggars or lottery players is one of the most horrible crimes a government can commit.

This is what the government of Hugo Chavez has done to poor and middle class Venezuelans.

Because of this crime, the country might already be beyond repair for several generations, after these four years of ineptitude, populism and indiscriminate handouts.

How can we explain to these thousands of social invalids ... to these thousands of poor indians roaming the streets ... to the thousands of children starving to death in every corner of our cities ... that the way to salvation is the way of education and hard work and social solidarity?

How can we tell them that we have to start from scratch, that societies are built by citizens and not by beggars?

How can we tell them convincingly that they had been misled by charlatans?

This is the task that lies ahead, as soon as we wake up from the nightmare....

How can a single person do so much harm?

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 gustavo@vheadline.com

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<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 13, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Organization of American States (OAS) general secretary, Cesar Gaviria has condemned  the explosion of a 5-kilo C4 explosive at the Caracas Teleport tower, which has been used as the meeting place of government-opposition negotiations aimed at solving Venezuela's longstanding political crisis. 

Calling the incident a "terrorist attack," Gaviria says such actions are the work of a "radical minority that has no vision for Venezuela's future ... more than ever, it is imperative to seek democratic means." 

The general secretary, who is not in Venezuela, says he is confident the bomb will not intimidate the government or the opposition and much less the Venezuelan People. "We will continue to work hard to maintain political will on both sides to reach an agreement that Venezuela needs to preserve its pacific tradition and democratic coexistence." 

Both sides of the political spectrum had announced a pre-agreement but have not released details. 

Meanwhile, President Hugo Chavez Frias has been playing cat and mouse, commenting to foreign correspondents that he is not sure whether it is worthwhile keeping the negotiating process going. "It started off badly because the opposition was represented by coupsters and minor political players."

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