• President Hugo Chávez condemns new destabilizing plan by private media channels whose only objective is to flood the country with false rumors
AN attempted "social coup" made patent via a blatant manipulation of reality is the latest strategy by the opposition in Venezuela to bring together the maximum number of sympathizers for a supposed revocatory referendum of Hugo Chavez’s presidency. On May 11, the President himself exposed the plan and called on the executive and the people to be on the alert in relation to the Democratic Coordination’s maneuvers.
In the same way, he warned his critics that a national front composed of diverse political forces and supporting the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution is to come into existence in July.
The possible passing of the Radio and Television Social Responsibility Law in the National Assembly is seen by Chávez as an instrument giving genuine freedom of expression while sanctioning distortion and manipulation of information.
For the last three months (approximately), rumors regarding shortages of food, medicines and fuel have circulated throughout this South American country via an offensive launched through the private media. These channels reported that a delay in the operations of the Hard Currency Administrative Commission (Cadivi) was the result of a scarcity of essential state resources needed to import production accessories for bread or poultry production.
In the face of a series of distorted facts from the opposition whose only objective is to detract from the current government’s credibility, Cadivi informed the press that it is "in a position to meet hard-currency demands for real necessities in the import sector and essential raw materials."
For his part, Chávez explained why many businesspeople have not had accessed the dollars administered by Cadivi. "They (the businesspeople) are not fulfilling the requirements that the state demands, most notably the presentation of tax payments and Social Security premiums. He also stressed the important role of that organization, its responsibility for currency exchange controls, preventing the flight of capital and speculation.
Giving his traditional Sunday address in Mérida, in the southeastern part of the country, the Venezuelan president underlined the idea that the individuals who took in on themselves to remove him from power on April 1, 2002, and who are now calling for a revocatory referendum for August, have hatched a new plot based on an "attempt to inundate the country with rumors via the television and media."
"I condemn this latest destabilizing onslaught by the media," he affirmed while insisting: "we will defeat it and I call on the Venezuelan people once again to raise their conscience to battle and struggle."
He appealed to the confidence gained over the last few years thanks to the Bolivarian process, which, he stated, will do as much as it can and with a firm political will to guarantee food for the population. In this way, he announced the import of more than 1,000 tons of chicken from Brazil and wheat flour from Italy to fill gaps in the local market.
He referred to the provocative act of stockpiling provisions by saboteurs in the production industry and to illustrate what he termed as a "dishonest" situation, mentioned that authorities in various alimentary sectors had confiscated food and hidden it deliberately.
FRANCO-BRAZILIAN CONSORTIUM TO PROMOTE HYDROELECTRIC CONSTRUCTION
To show how the country is advancing despite the enemy’s obstacles, the Venezuelan leader praised a $160-million-USD investment for the construction of a hydroelectric plant in the southwestern region of the country, in order to secure a significant increase in national energy by the year 2006. The project will be the responsibility of the Venezuelan Electrical Administration and Promotion Company (CADAFE) and the Franco-Brazilian consortium, Alatom Power Hidro.
"This contract once again exposes the opposition’s lies and their attempts to confuse Venezuelans and people around the world by claiming that here in Venezuela there is no government, there is no governability and that nobody wants to invest in Venezuela", he stated.
Analyzing the possibility of facing a revocatory process on August 19, just halfway through his six-year presidential term (2000-2006), Chávez assessed that it would be very difficult for the Democratic Coordination to gather together 2.8 million credible and non-fraudulent signatures.
On the contrary, he predicted increased unity among sympathetic forces suggesting that a new Bolivarian front will bring together center-left parties and organized civil groups of women, trade unionists, drivers, campesinos, etc.
"The opposition will have to sweat in the streets to collect signatures and request a revocatory referendum for my term of office," he stated, adding that they would have to be genuine and not falsified as they were last December, when the names of military personnel absent from the country and other names taken from electronic bank records were included in the petition.
CONFLICTING INTERESTS WITHIN THE OPPOSTION
Meanwhile, Prensa Latina reported on May 12 that talks between the Venezuelan opposition and the government at the Negotiations and Accords table under the supervision of the Organization of American States (OAS) have been resumed.
However, there is a lack of unity amongst those opposed to Chávez’ presidency. According to analysts, individual positions put forward to date give rise to fears for the outcome in the political arena and of an incipient crisis in the ranks of the opposition.
The same news agency affirmed that the Democratic Action Party (AD) leader Henry Ramos Allup has accused members of the Primero Justicia Party (PJ), Causa R and Proyecto Venezuela (PV) of playing on disunity within the opposition front in line with their own private interests.
CARACAS (PL). — Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton condemned the meddlesome declarations of Charles Shapiro, the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela this Wednesday, and stated that it is dangerous to talk benevolently about persons who violate fundamental human rights.
Currently on his way to Moscow, Chaderton’s statement was made public by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as a response to Shapiro who, in a highly publicized meeting in his residence, criticized alleged limitations regarding freedom of expression in Venezuela.
"I hope that the (ambassador’s) statement refers to the media dictatorship that exists in Venezuela, where last year the private media channels took part in the overthrow of a legitimate government. They kept information concealed from the public and have spent years manipulating information," said the minister.
Chaderton added that it is very difficult to be benevolent to those who, in the private sector, are violating fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression, the right to free movement and a good reputation.
"The proven and self-confessed enemies of democracy, institutions and freedom of expression, they are entrenched within the private sector and conspiring to launch a new assault against the Republic’s legitimate powers, in the hope of international support," Chaderton emphasized.
During the reception at his residence, Shapiro made a clear threat to the Venezuelan government by warning that the United States is taking the alleged official aggression to the freedom of the press very seriously and expressed its support for the owners of the private media channels, those who are involved in a ferocious campaign against President Hugo Chávez.
At the same event, he even allowed Daniel Natera, newspaper boss and Press Bloc president to call for the press to continue "the fight against Chávez and his dictatorship," and a comedian, carrying an effigy of the head of state, to make jokes at the government’s expense.
CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Venezuela's government on Thursday sharply criticized U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro for hosting an event at his official Caracas residence during which an impersonator used a puppet to ridicule President Hugo Chavez.
Senior Venezuelan officials heaped criticism on the ambassador, calling him irresponsible. But they made clear they did not want the incident to affect ties with Washington.
Venezuela, the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter, is a leading supplier of oil to the United States.
Relations between the Bush administration and the government of left-winger Chavez have been strained on several occasions in the past and the Venezuelan leader has fiercely criticized U.S. policies such as the invasion of Iraq.
"What we have here is an irresponsible U.S. ambassador," Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told a news conference. In a sharp public rebuke of the U.S. envoy, he said the incident could be interpreted as "a provocation."
Shapiro hosted an event at his residence on Tuesday marking International Press Freedom Day during which he criticized what he called a deterioration of press freedom in Venezuela.
The event was broadcast on local television and was attended by several anti-Chavez media personalities. It ended with the appearance of a male comedian dressed as a Venezuelan female media broadcaster and carrying a large puppet wearing a red beret representing the Venezuelan president.
Shapiro planted a mock kiss on the comedian's cheek.
"As a citizen and a diplomat, I am surprised and horrified by this media witches' sabbath held at the home (of the ambassador) of a friendly country in Caracas," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton said in a statement from Russia.
Pro-government deputies at the National Assembly drafted a motion calling on the ambassador to make a public apology for what they called his "unfriendly action."
The ambassador and U.S. Embassy officials were not available for comment.
IRRESPONSIBLE ACT
Rangel said Venezuela considered Shapiro's behavior an act of personal irresponsibility and did not want the incident to damage relations with Washington.
"In spite of Mr. Shapiro, we want excellent relations with the United States," Rangel said.
Since being elected in 1998, former paratrooper Chavez has irritated the United States by strengthening Venezuela's relations with states viewed as hostile by Washington, such as communist Cuba, Iran, Libya and Iraq, and for condemning the U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some members of Chavez's government have accused the United States of supporting a coup that briefly toppled the Venezuelan president last year but Washington has repeatedly denied this.
Opponents of Chavez accuse him of ruling like a dictator and of trying to install Cuba-style communism, including seeking to restrict freedom of expression by media hostile to him.