Tuesday, May 27, 2003

”EL ACUERDAZO”
Posted by click at 12:03 AM in robertalonso

Poco a poco lo iremos viendo todo, ya lo verán.  Hemos visto “El Madrugonazo”, “El Firmazo” y ahora estamos ante “El Acuerdazo”.  Al final se quedarán pendejas las advertencias que el hidalgo caballero de La Mancha le hiciera a su Sancho Panza sobre las cosas que vería en su vida que harían llorar a las piedras.  ¡Anótenlo por ahí!

Imaginémonos que estamos ante una inminente demanda por cobro de bolívares, de muchos bolívares… tantos bolívares que – de llegarse a producir la demanda -- perderíamos todos nuestros bienes.  Consultamos con un abogado y éste nos recomienda que nos insolventemos lo antes posible, pero eso lleva tiempo.  Entonces comenzamos una acción de “guaraleo” con nuestro potencial demandante.  Convocamos a reuniones en las que no se llega a nada.  Prometemos esto-y-aquello y damos más vueltas que un trompo en torno a lo mismo.  El fin es sencillo: ganar tiempo mientras nos insolventamos vendiendo todo lo que tenemos para cuando llegue el inevitable momento de la demanda no nos puedan quitar absolutamente nada.   El cuento es más viejo que sentarse agachado.

Eso es EXACTAMENTE lo que hace el régimen CASTRO-COMUNISTA de Chávez y Castro.  Está “guaraleando” para ganar el tiempo que necesita desesperadamente para poder amarrar todos los cuadros medios y bajos dentro del ejército y para colocar en posiciones claves fuera de las fuerzas armadas a los efectivos para-militares del “eje” llegados de Cuba.   Hasta “El Bobo de la Yuca” se puede dar cuenta de esta operación que muy bien pudiera llamarse “Operación Guaraleo”. (ver www.geocities.com)

Lo que me asombra es la capacidad de los “negociadores oficialistas” para tomarles el pelo a gentes tan fogueadas políticamente como Timoteo Zambrano y Américo Martín, que de bobos no deberían tener un solo pelo.  Ojalá me equivoque de punta a punta, porque si no: me veo mal.

Pero es que incluso firmando y “CUMPLIENDO” los acuerdos del documento que está por firmarse entre “nuestros” representantes y el régimen CASTRO-COMUNISTA de los señores Chávez y Castro, su contenido y compromiso tendrían un impacto similar a caerle a tiros a las nubes.   Una manera “elegante” de decirle al “presidente” Gaviria que coja el monte y se regrese por el mismo lugar por donde vino.  El paso previo para que esa “comunidad internacional” nos grite al unísono: “¡Allá va eso!”

Pepín Rivero -- editor del prestigioso Diario de La Marina -- lo dijo en Cuba mucho antes de que llegara Fidel Castro al poder: “Transigir con un comunista es mil veces peor que transigir con un ladrón, sin que con esto quiera yo ofender a los ladrones…”  Es similar, me imagino, a que San Pedro y el diablo se sentasen a discutir y redactar un acuerdo sobre el respeto de las almas.  Supongo que al diablo no le temblaría el pulso firmando un documento que él sabe de antemano tendría una función netamente higiénica y terminaría sucio y arrugado en el basurero de al lado del inodoro (W.C.).

¿La Ley de Contenido?  Otro cuento.  Apuesto mi vida contra un pedacito de la uña del dedo meñique del pie izquierdo del Dr. Asdrúbal Aguiar a que no tendremos tiempo de sufrir – por separado – la famosa Ley de Contenido o “Ley Mordaza”.   Si nos demoramos mucho y aceptamos “el guaraleo” (lo cual parece ser inevitable), para cuando se apruebe la cuestionada ley, estaremos tan ocupados buscando un hueso para hacer una sopa que ya no nos interesará un comino si estamos en horario infantil o si los medios se autocensuran.  Por un lado, tal vez no haya medios privados para autocensurarse.   Eso lo sabe hasta José Miguel Vivanco, Director Ejecutivo para la América Latina de Human Right Watch, un señor que no vive aquí.

¿Entonces? ¿Vamos a seguir con el mismo cuento?  El pasado sábado no hubo más muertos en la Calle Perú de Catia porque hasta los franco-tiradores de este régimen CASTRO-COMUNISTAS son chimbos.  Yo conozco a un puñado de “activistas” que desde el Bloque 44 del “23 de Enero” se hubieran cargado unas cuantas decenas de adecos.  Ese lenguaje de la violencia es el que terminará imponiéndose al final… ya al final, cuando hasta la violencia deje de tener sentido.  Mientras tanto nos “guaralean” y lo que es peor, nos dejamos “guaralear”.

Con el gran temor de ser repetitivo, no dejo de proponer “LA GUARIMBA” para antes de ayer.  Qué lástima que no tengamos ese líder que esté dispuesto a asumir su convocatoria a nivel nacional.  Qué lástima que los medios de comunicación social no le hayan dado el calor que este plan se merece.  Cuando se vengan todos a dar cuenta, estaremos muertos, en prisión, en el exilio… o viviendo encorvados y con la cabeza baja, buscando la dignidad por los suelos de la patria.

Caracas 26 de mayo de 2003

ROBERT ALONSO robertalonso2003@cantv.net

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Monday, May 26, 2003

Venezuelan government opens wide doors to hyper-corruption...
Posted by click at 4:59 AM in Corrupt politicians and money laundering

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: Tuesday, May 13 was the date, aptly chosen, to publish the Regulations to the Law of Public Bidding (Licitations) in the GAceta Oficial (Venezuela's Official Gazette) ... this is a true horror story, as readers will soon appreciate.

In the acquisition of goods and services in both the private and public sectors, the prevailing mechanism is competitive bidding. This is done all over the world, except in very backward countries or where the dictator has the last and only say.

When constructing a public highway or buying a new airplane, transparency dictates that a competitive bid be conducted. The winner is not necessarily the company that offers the lowest price but the best combination of price, technical excellence, quality of product and the best management.

To be true, it is not a simple procedure ... it tends to be lengthy, is not corruption proof and could become a very tangled affair. However, it represents the least imperfect system, allowing for optimum transparency and accountability. In fact, Venezuela is internationally committed to the procedure under the terms of the Interamerican Convention Against Corruption, sponsored and signed by the Venezuela government ... a refusal to adhere to this policy is an open invitation to hyper-corruption.

This is exactly what the government of Hugo Chavez has just decided, violating Article III, points 1, 5, 6, 10 and 11 of the Convention. They have decided to allow all government agencies and enterprises to dispense with bidding for the acquisition of goods and services for the next 6 months ... on the grounds that a fast track is required to expedite an "exceptional" plan of economic and social development that no one knows about, not even themselves.

This anarchic measure will justify the acquisition of more than $2 billion worth of goods and services from "small, medium sized companies and cooperatives."

At the threshold of a referendum which might well result in the ousting from power of this government, this regulation clearly appears to be the starting point of an immense fraud. Companies and cooperatives mentioned above will probably be made up of friends and relatives. To add insult to injury the regulation allows the government to pay for the goods and services in advance if so required.

In Venezuela we have a saying: "Musica pagada no suena" ... Paid for music will not sound.

Of course this is not candor or naivete on the part of the government ... this is a conscious effort to walk away with bulging sacks of money when the time comes. I have seen a lot of corruption in Venezuela, but this new example comes at the top of the list, right there with Lusinchi's RECADI program.

I have to ask:

Have you ever seen a government which pretends to be honest and clean act in this manner? There is no transparency here. There is no accountability here. There is no regard for public opinion here. There is no respect for the institutions here. What we have is a bunch of crooks...

And you might ask: What do the comptrolling institutions say to this? The General Comptroller, Ombudsman, Attorney General, National Assembly, Police, the Pest Control Division?   Absolutely nothing ... everybody is silent and watching the spectacle which is being put on by the very same people that four years ago came into power waving the flag of Anti-Corruption.

I tell whoever wants to listen: this a very corrupt government, not only because of what they are now trying to do but because of what they have already done.  The Real Estate agencies in Florida already have many revolutionary clients ... you can look them up on the Internet.

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

Story Archive (Page 134 of 637)
Adamant: Hardest metal

OAS Split Over Cuba
Posted by click at 2:56 AM

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 20 May 2003, 02:44 UTC

Deep divisions are again surfacing within the Organization of American States, as the 34-member group addresses Cuba's human rights record.

On Monday, Canada, Chile and Uruguay introduced a U.S.-backed statement condemning rights violations on the communist-run island. But, the measure was withdrawn after several member nations, including Brazil and Venezuela, failed to endorse it.

Later, 16 OAS members endorsed a revised text, which expressed deep concern about the sharp deterioration of the human rights situation on the island.

Monday's debate comes nearly one month after the OAS failed to agree on a resolution condemning rights violations in Cuba.

Nicaragua had presented that motion before the OAS Permanent Council, but the panel decided to shift discussion of the measure to its General Commission.

Representatives had questioned whether the OAS was authorized to issue a resolution on Cuba, which has not been a member for more than four decades.

The Cuba debate follows that government's recent prosecution of 75 pro-democracy dissidents for treason and subversion and the execution of three convicted ferry hijackers.

Colombian president under fire for failed security measures, constitutional referendum

Posted by click at 12:56 AM in Colombia

By Cesar Garcia, Associated Press, 5/19/2003 22:35

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) President Alvaro Uribe's attempt to control a violence-plagued state bordering Venezuela by giving authorities special powers has failed, two top officials concluded Monday in separate reports.

The reports by Inspector General Edgardo Maya and government Human Rights Ombudsman Eduardo Cifuentes found that violence was increasing in oil-rich Arauca state, which is being fought over by two leftist rebel armies, a right-wing militia and government troops.

Uribe created the special security zones in September, giving military and civilian authorities special powers, including to search and detain suspects.

But there have been 13 bombing attacks this year alone in Saravena, one of three towns covered in Arauca state by the security zone, Cifuentes noted. Another town, Arauquita, has suffered eight attacks this year. And the police have only arrested 69 suspected rebels and seized 17 arms since the security zones which expired this month were created.

''The central objective of re-establishing security was not achieved,'' Cifuentes said.

Even after the zones were decreed, the governor of Arauca state a former military commander appointed by Uribe himself resigned for his safety. The president of Arauquita's city council was murdered and the town's mayor resigned because of rebel threats.

Maya pointed out that in the five months before the special zones were created, there were 23 homicides in Saravena. In the first five months of the zone, there were 30.

Uribe, a hard-liner who took office in August on a law-and-order ticket, did not immediately respond to the findings.

Also Monday, leftist rebels in northern Colombia kidnapped dozens of workers from the El Cerrejon mine one of the world's biggest coal mines but were forced to let them go when army troops backed by warplanes converged on the scene.

The rebels, who have waged war in this South American country for almost four decades, kidnap thousands of people each year for ransom. They also capture politicians, police and soldiers in hopes of exchanging them with the government for jailed rebels.

Also Monday, Colombian authorities charged 147 soldiers with stealing money they seized from a rebel hideout, the president's office announced.

Officials have arrested 40 soldiers, including three officers, and arrest warrants have been issued for another 107 soldiers, the presidency said.

CVG: Crystallex International hires Deutsche Bank to lead financing at Las Cristinas
Posted by click at 12:43 AM in Mining and corruption

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 19, 2003 By: David Coleman

A press release from CVG HQ in Puerto Ordaz states that German Deutsche Bank will lead banks in charge of financing part of an estimated US$500 million investment at the Las Cristinas gold project in southeastern Venezuela.

Exclusively contracted project operator Crystallex International will finance a fraction of the total amount through the direct investment according to Crystallex International president & CEO Marc J. Oppenheimer, executive president Robert Fung and the president of the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG), Major General (ret.) Francisco Rangel Gomez.

Oppenheimer explains that the German bank counts on worldwide financing experience through European, North and Latin American institutions except for multilateral entities. “Every mining project relies on different sources of fund-raising: financing and direct investment ... the first one is a long-term debt that honors said project and the second one is the own contribution of the company ; the proportion of both components will be known as soon as the feasibility study is over.”

"Las Cristinas is more appealing for financial entities since it accounts on proven reserves equivalent to 1.33 g/t (higher than the 1.12 g/t estimated by Minca) at US$325 per ounce ($50 less than the price set by Minca) making it less subject to price fluctuation according to data provided by Mine Development Associates (MDA) last week. Simultaneously, new drillings are being performed and the preliminary data guarantee higher reserves and tenor allowing, in this way, more independency from the price."

Deutsche Bank executive Jeffrey Stufsky describes the exclusive operation contract between the CVG and Crystallex as excellent, pointing out the importance of setting a short-term profit-making timeframe.

Rangel Gomez says the main interest on the part of the CVG is "the consolidation of sustainable economical activity in the southern zone of Bolivar State, with the creation of employment and the social benefits welfare for the communities ... this will accrue profit to Venezuela and also signal the start-up of mining projects in Bolivar State.”

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