<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

El Universal journalist Roberto Giusti says Napoleon Bravo's TV program has proved that Patria Para Todos (PPT) accusations against him are false. "Jorge Nieves' death in Guasdualito was a territorial and booty dispute and between kidnapping and extortion mafia operating in the zone.  According to Giusti, a video showed "24-hours" program reporter reading Nieves a communique from an alleged group of institutional military officers condemning him to death and in the background graffiti against his life on village walls.

Giusti, who has received support from the International Federation of Journalists' regional office, has been spearheading a campaign highlighting the presence of left-wing Colombian guerrillas in Venezuelan border badlands and attempting to link President Hugo Chavez Frias to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The journalist now claims that mountains regions of Tachira in SW Venezuela and Perija in NW Venezuela have become "zones of distension" similar to the one that existed in Caguan (Colombia) during negotiations between the FARC and former Colombian President, Andres Pastrana.

From his latest piece replying to PPT, it seems clear that Giusti was responsible for publishing an unsigned piece in El Universal about guerrillas, paramilitaries, narco-traffickers and common criminals swamping border areas while the Venezuelan military turn a blind eye or are accomplices. "Neither the President nor the Vice President, nor the Defense Minister has batted an eyelid, hoping it will blow away ... they can't deny it."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Chinese Embassy in Caracas has reacted to Venezuelan newspaper allegations about illegal entry of Chinese nationals into Venezuela to help President Hugo Chavez Frias win the recall referendum.

Embassy press attache Zhang Tao says it's a lie that President Hugo Chavez Frias has ordered the entry of 200 Chinese nationals on a daily basis carrying illegally obtained Venezuelan passports.

"Such calumnies involving China in Venezuela's political panorama are damaging the excellent relations between our two nations ... we are convinced that the malicious presumptions will fail to achieve their objective."

The Embassy blames some Venezuelan newspapers that have been gone OTT highlighting cases of alleged corruption at the Caracas (Simon Bolivar) international airport at Maiquetia and Passport & Identification offices (Oni-Dex) throughout Venezuela, speculating political motives for the sudden surge of foreigners.  Tabloids have also played havoc with the legitimate fear of SARS entering Venezuela through illegal people trafficking, which has thrived since the 90s.

Lamenting the manipulation of the disease for political gains, the Embassy has confirmed its policy of rejecting illegal migration of its citizens. The majority of legal and illegal Chinese nationals in Venezuela are from Hong Kong and cases of granting legal documents for high cash payments to Venezuelan immigration officials have been amply uncovered and substantiated by the media.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Un Solo Pueblo political party executive secretary, Adriana Sanoja has confirmed news that Venezuelan journalist and one-time Chavist, William Ojeda has been arrested in Havana for interrogation during a two-day visit to Cuba.

Ojeda had hoped to present Cuba leader Fidel Castro with a letter asking for the release of 75 Cuban dissidents ... he says he condemns the execution of 3 kidnappers, calling the measure a "jump towards primitivism, contrary to all evolution of human civilization ... the dissidents' only crime is to have fought for democratic opening through a referendum as stipulated in the Cuban Constitution."

According to sources, Ojeda got a cool reception at the Venezuelan Embassy in Havana, where officials accused him of trying to impose the Venezuelan political situation on Cuba.  A defiant Ojeda retorts that in Venezuela it's the other way round ... "they're trying to 'Cubanize' Venezuela."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Human rights umbrella group Foro por la Vida has condemned the assassination of a well-known human rights activist, Jorge Nieves on April 26, 2003 in Guasdualito (Apure).

Foro spokesmen, Jose Gregorio Guarenas, Fernando Pereira (Cecodap) and Carlos Correa (PROVEA) recall that Nieves founded the Apure State Paez Municipality Human Rights Committee (Codehum) and undertook an important role in highlighting and following up HR abuse cases during the suspension of guarantees between 1995 and 1999.

• More than 50 persons have died in the border area since December 2002.

The Foro calls on the central and state governments to adopt urgent security measures in line with respect for the rule of law and human rights principles established by international organs.

"We are not requesting a suspension of guarantees because the experience in 1995 and1999 showed that far from resolving the crisis of insecurity, it made it worse by criminalizing the peasant population and increasing the number of arbitrary arrests and tortures. "

The group wants the government to ensure what it calls a "democratic policy of citizen security which implies not just measures of democratically activating security organs but strengthening civil institutionality in the zone."

Concluding, Foro has asked for a thorough and independent investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Nieves and others before him with the corresponding penalties for those responsible.

The Foro communique made no mention of Nieves militancy in Patria Para Todos (PPT) or the running conflict between PPT and El Universal journalist, Roberto Giusti.