<a href=www.thestar.com>The Toronto Star Apr. 20, 2003. 09:10 AM OAKLAND ROSS FEATURE WRITER

There are roughly 6.3 billion people in the world. Not all of them live in Iraq.

In fact, only about 0.37 per cent of them do, while the rest live someplace else.

Granted, this is not the impression that TV viewers — or newspaper readers — might have gained in recent weeks, as the eyes and ears of the globe have been straining toward Baghdad, bent on registering every conceivable detail of the U.S.-led war to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (now better known as former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein).

Since the desert hostilities began on March 19, when the first U.S. missile of the war lit the night sky above the Iraqi capital, almost every other news story on the planet — from a crackdown on political dissidence in Cuba to a still unexplained massacre in northeastern Congo — has been pushed to the bottom of the headlines, shunted from TV screens and all but ignored by the scribes, pundits and populace of this war-weary orb called Earth.

There have been exceptions, of course — notably, the rapid and alarming spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which has jetted from China to Hong Kong, Singapore and beyond. Metropolitan Toronto has been especially hard hit by the new and sometimes lethal virus.

Concern about SARS has at times equalled and even overshadowed the Iraq war in the hearts, minds and media outlets of Toronto.

But for the most part, here as elsewhere, the past month has been dominated by images of bombs in the night over Baghdad, tanks and armoured personnel carriers rattling across the Iraqi desert, and the rudely inverted statues of a widely reviled man.

Meanwhile, far from the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, the rest of the world has blundered on — unnoticed perhaps, but undeterred.

Herewith, as a service to readers, the Star provides some snapshots of the world beyond Iraq. This is what news junkies may have missed while waiting for Saddam to fall.

• First stop: Venezuela.

When last featured in the news, before being obscured by the dust storms of Iraq, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez seemed poised to survive a general strike called by his opponents in an effort to force his resignation.

Last December and early this year, the oil-rich but conflict-ridden South American republic tottered on the brink of outright civil war, but the left-leaning Chavez seemed determined to tough out the street demonstrations and the strife, not to mention the near strangulation of his country's economy by various sectors opposed to his rule.

Well, he seems to have made it.

The former paratroop officer, who once served two years in prison for leading a failed military coup of his own, is still in power and has lately taken to criss-crossing the length and breadth of Venezuela in efforts to rally support for his presidency, an office that at least twice he has seemed likely to lose.

In fact, just over a year ago, he himself was temporarily overthrown in a coup. That upheaval took place on April 12, 2002.

But the voluble and combative ruler resurfaced two days later and was restored to office, where he has continued to arouse his supporters and enrage his opponents with interminable speeches spiced with searing invective and populist rhetoric.

Political unrest continues, and the Venezuelan economy has plummeted, but Chavez's opponents seem to accept that they cannot topple him — or anyway not now. Instead, they are turning their attention toward the midpoint of the president's six-year term in August, when they will be legally entitled to seek his peaceful removal in a national referendum.

Chavez, who may not be everyone's idea of a statesman but is surely a survivor, has vowed to fight them every step of the way.

• And so to Cuba, where long-time ruler Fidel Castro — a close friend of Chavez, as it happens — chose the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq as the perfect moment to launch a harsh crackdown on mounting dissent.

The severity of his response stunned Cuban reformers and outraged governments and human-rights agencies abroad.

In all, 75 Cuban opposition activists were rounded up, to be jailed, tried and convicted in an exercise of repression whose severity is possibly unmatched in Cuba since the 1960s.

Long jail sentences were imposed against all of the detainees, ranging in most cases from 14 to 28 years.

• On April 12, in a separate case, a Cuban firing squad executed three men who had been convicted of trying to commandeer a ferry on Havana bay in a failed attempt to abscond to Florida, the latest in a recent string of mostly unsuccessful hijackings. The executions followed brief, secret trials and have been roundly criticized abroad.

Cuban authorities cast much of the blame for the crackdown on the U.S. government, which they accuse of aggressively fomenting rebellion within Cuba while not doing enough to discourage Cubans who try to flee the island.

Still, Castro's heavy-handed response seems certain to isolate his regime from democratic friends such as Canada and the European Union, while only deepening the rancour that already exists between Washington and Havana.

• As the war in Iraq was raging toward Baghdad, another, far bloodier conflict finally seemed to be edging toward a close — the long spiral of horrors that has convulsed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in West Africa since 1998.

Earlier this month, most of the parties to the war — including the armies of at least six neighbouring countries, in addition to a welter of rival armed factions within the Congo itself — finally signed a peace accord hammered out in South Africa. Not a moment too soon.

Last week in New York, an organization called the International Rescue Committee announced that the Congolese war has claimed the lives of at least 3.3 million people during its five-year span, making it "the deadliest documented conflict in African history."

Unfortunately, the death toll continues to rise.

Only days after the signing of the Congo peace accord in Cape Town, reports began to filter out of northeastern Congo concerning a series of apparently co-ordinated massacres committed in and around a town called Drodro, in which upwards of 1,000 people were feared dead.

So far, details of the atrocities remain uncertain, although it seems the carnage was not as great as initially thought — perhaps 150 to 350 people may have died. Still, the latest killings are harrowing evidence that the only reliable peace accords are the ones written, not on paper, but in the hearts of men.

It is not yet clear who was responsible for the recent massacres or why.

• Farther south on the same continent, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe — who apparently bases his notion of statecraft on the example set by Saddam Hussein — has had an awkward few weeks.

Intolerant of dissent in any form, Mugabe was undoubtedly dismayed this month when the opposition Movement for Democratic Change held a protest rally in Bulawayo, the southern African country's second largest city.

But his efforts to make his displeasure felt have lacked their usual sting.

First, Zimbabwean police detained Gibson Sabanda, the MDC's vice-president, for his role in organizing the protest. But they released him on April 7, a week after his arrest. Then, they promptly detained the organization's chief spokesperson, Paul Themba-Nyathia, and tossed him in jail instead.

That didn't work, either. Through error or oversight, the authorities failed to charge Themba-Nyathia properly, and a high court judge ordered his release four days later.

If Zimbabwean politics were played with bats, balls and wickets, Mugabe would be falling behind in the score. Unfortunately, the septuagenarian president's game is anything but cricket, and he makes most of the rules.

Still, Mugabe has had a sticky fortnight, and the Zimbabwean opposition has scored a few, which must count for something, somewhere.

• In Israel and the occupied territories, hostilities continue. A Canadian serving in the Israeli army was shot and killed on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Nablus, after a Palestinian emerged from a building under siege and began firing a pistol. Daniel Mandel, 24, of Toronto was shot dead and another soldier was wounded.

The armed Palestinian, identified as Mazen Fraitekh, was also killed in the shooting.

In another incident the same day, two Israeli workers were killed and three were wounded when a Palestinian threw grenades and opened fire near a truck crossing between Israel and Gaza.

• Finally, on a happier note, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has declared voodoo to be an official religion.

Now, Haiti's thousands of voodoo priests — known as houngans — will be able to exercise many functions formerly denied them, such as performing legal marriage ceremonies.

The African-based faith is practised by many and perhaps most of the country's more than 8 million people.

For further developments in these and other stories, check your newspaper. Normal coverage has resumed.

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

"But even supposing blood should flow. Is there not a sort of bloodshed when the conscience is wounded? ... I see this blood flowing now" Henry Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience," 1849.

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: If Thoreau was here today he would see the blood flowing out of our wounded consciences. He could clearly see how a President breaks promises. He would join with us in suspecting the motives of this government and in distrusting their actions and their words.

Our consciences are bleeding with good reason. Although this government promised to fight corruption, poverty and crime, all of these social afflictions are now worse than ever.

Street children are more numerous, in spite of the Presidential promise to "resign if he had not ended this problem in six months."

La Carlota is still an airport, not the park he promised 2 years ago.

Miraflores is still the Presidential Palace, not the "popular university" that he promised 2 years ago.

Although he promised 4 years ago that he would sell all government airplanes since having them was "immoral" he flies around in a $65 million new Airbus.

Although he promised never to dress in military uniform again, he does it regularly although a new size is now required.

Our consciences are bleeding because the actions of the government have placed the country in a disastrous situation. Chavez has started a "revolutionary offensive" patterned after the one started by Castro in Cuba in early 1970.

It is an offensive designed to annihilate the middle class and the private sector. As the Cuban offensive converted Cuba into the Albania of Latin America, this offensive is converting Venezuela into a Latin Zimbabwe.

The offensive includes exchange and price controls, the destruction of private companies, the dismantling of PDVSA, the promotion of invasions of private and productive lands and the establishment of a regime of terror to encourage the emigration of dissenters. This offensive would allow the government to control whatever is left of the country.

We have to remember that the main motive of Chavez is not social progress but political control. To him, a sound economy is not important while social unrest could well be an ally of his authoritarian agenda since it would justify repression.

Our consciences are bleeding because we do not have a government but a regime, because we do not see programs but empty rhetoric, because we see no plans but new restrictions and obstacles to the exercise of citizenship.

Hugo Chavez has violated his social contract with the nation. His mandate had to do with democratic change, not with a "revolution" which is only a throwback to the 19th century.

We are, therefore, at a critical moment in Venezuela.

The country urgently needs to vote on whether this man goes or stays.

This is urgent because every day that goes by the Nation deteriorates significantly, corruption gains ground, violence increases, hate becomes deeply entrenched, criminals rejoice, the poor starve.

We have to vote without further delay, without any more "tricks," like Carter said.

If this urgent and civilized option is somehow stolen from us ... then we will march with the spirit of Henry Thoreau in total civic disobedience ... and blood will flow.

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

Forums

Referendum 2003 discuss the pros and cons of a revocatory referendum

President Hugo Chavez Frias express your opinions on the Presidency of Hugo Chavez Frias and his Bolivarian Revolution

Bolivarian Circles Are Bolivarian Circles a Venezuelan form of Neighborhood Watch Committees or violent hordes of pro-Chavez thugs?

Venezuela's Opposition What is it? Is a force to be reckoned with or in complete disarray?

Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable  right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. --  Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher  Editor@VHeadline.com

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Editorials Express Your Opinion Posted: Sunday, April 20, 2003 By: Alvaro Sanchez

USA-based commentarist Alvaro Sanchez writes: At times, some Venezuelans, as well as non-Venezuelans, seem to forget the real promises made by current President Hugo Chavez when he was a candidate running for office. Unlike previous Presidents, Chavez did not promise to make a millionaire out of each citizen.

On the contrary, Chavez announced time and again that there would be obstacles along the way in order to fully make, implement, and enforce sound policies directed towards the eradication of poverty and the construction of an egalitarian society.

Indeed, Chavez' political platform included the following points: the restructuring of the Venezuelan political system, participation of the State in state-related matters, fair distribution of income, the fight against corruption, and perhaps the most importantly, accountability of lower levels of government as well as active grassroots political participation for community improvements. Both the Venezuelan and international media did a poor job of presenting the true meaning of these grassroots organizations.

These grassroots movements are known as Bolivarian Circles, after Venezuela's forefather: Simon Bolivar. Endorsed by the Venezuelan president and supported by the majority of the population, Bolivarian Circles grouped community leaders and neighbors alike. They worked hand in hand in order to make ends meet at various shantytowns, neighborhoods, and villages across Venezuela.

For instance, instead of waiting for the President, or another high authority or power of the government, to arrive at Barrio La Palomera, near Baruta, Miranda State, neighbors and community leaders, mostly women, went ahead and organized themselves to secure a badly-needed medical supply dispensary. In addition, they worked together on the beautification and clean up of La Palomera.

By the same token, Bolivarian Circles across Venezuela began an extensive social and political activism intended to aid the usual disenfranchised population of Venezuela. Other Bolivarian Circles, for example, concentrated their work and efforts on feeding the hungry, providing after school care for poor children, securing resources for small businesses, etc.

President Chavez did his best to provide the means and resources necessary for these Bolivarian Circles to be able to help themselves. Thus, the Venezuelan National Assembly, with the support of the President, passed legislation and appropriated funds for the creation of a line of credit available for small businesses, particularly those owned by low-income Venezuelans, women, Native Americans (Indians), and other minorities.

Along with the Bolivarian Circles, President Chavez implemented Plan Bolivar 2000. The plan allowed President Chavez to mobilize the Venezuelan Armed Forces in poor areas of the country with the goal of providing health care, subsidized food, construction equipment, school tutoring, and logistical organization to those who needed it most: the poor in the shantytowns of Caracas and other large cities of Venezuela.

All of this, on its own, represented a major achievement, especially in a country like Venezuela, where unfortunately most of the people were not used to grassroots community organization and development.

Moreover, President Chavez also suggested that Bolivarian Circle members had to carry on a civic duty as well.

By this, President Chavez meant that members were in charge of learning and teaching their constitutional rights and responsibilities. Members of Bolivarian Circles thereby became the common defenders of the Venezuelan Constitution. Even though the Venezuelan Constitution was ratified and voted on, and for, by almost 80% of the voting population in the National Referendum of 1999, this Constitution was outlawed by the 48-hour government that presided Venezuela after the April 11th military-civilian coup.

Venezuela's Bolivarian Circle members then put into practice all the civic and community training they had obtained in previous years and implemented an active demonstration that ultimately allowed, not only President Chavez back in office, but also the Venezuelan Constitution to freely reign in a country meant to be free by its brave people.

The immediate reaction of the Venezuelan opposition was to demonize the Bolivarian Circles.

After all, the Bolivarian Circles were the ones that rescued and guaranteed democracy in Venezuela. Opposition leaders and followers accused Bolivarian Circles of being armed and practitioners of terrorism. The Venezuelan and international media, major allies of the Venezuelan opposition, did their job by conveying such false messages through newspapers, radio, and television broadcasts. In the end, these poor grassroots Bolivarian Circles, with their limited resources and inefficient public relations, had to compete for public approval against major media corporations worldwide.

This was a remake of David and Goliath, Venezuelan style.

What makes such media reaction even more irrational, if not laughable, is that in neighboring Colombia a somewhat similar program was created, yet television, radio, and newspapers said nothing to criticize it. Indeed, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe also encouraged Colombian citizens to organize themselves at a community level. However, contrary to Chavez' community improvement and civics-oriented call, Uribe's own Red de Informantes (Informants Network) pretended to align, engulf, and engage poor Colombian peasants into a war with no end in sight.

As a matter of fact, while governor of Colombia's Antioquia State, Uribe developed a similar program, CONVIVIR, and its results were disastrous for poor countryside people. Indeed, Colombian and international human rights activists condemned CONVIVIR as nothing less than an institutionalized program for the "paramilitarization" of civilians. According to these human rights groups, Uribe's CONVIVIR did absolutely nothing positive for the improvement of the needy.

Where was the international media when it was time to criticize Uribe's Red de Informantes?

Why were the Bolivarian Circles evaluated by different standards than the Red de Informantes?

International media needs to answer these questions, for otherwise its credibility will suffer tremendously. Also, Colombian citizens should confront and oppose President Uribe's aggressive programs, as well as Colombian and international media, for looking the other way, thereby allowing such climate of confrontation to take place in Colombia.

In Venezuela, on the other hand, Bolivarian Circles have not been given the opportunity to show their true meaning.

The Venezuelan opposition as well as the Venezuelan and international media have stopped the Bolivarian Circles from presenting their humanitarian character.

• Nonetheless, with or without Chavez in office, Bolivarian Circles will continue their quest to improve conditions in Venezuela at a community level.

President Chavez did fulfill his campaign promise of providing the tools for self-help and political awareness ... he planted the seeds ... and future generations, as well as history, will one day appreciate such generous actions.

Alvaro Sanchez was born in Venezuela and is a middle school teacher in Miami. He is a graduate of the State University of New York – Albany. He is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Latin American history.  You may email him at a2000@rocketmail.com

Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable  right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. --  Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher  Editor@VHeadline.com  

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 20, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuela's Yare II prison was rocked with serious rioting on Friday resulting in the death of 11 inmates and 34 wounded. According to prison authorities, the cause of the riot was infighting between gangs to gain control of prison racketeering and extortion. 

• Miranda State Firefighter chief, Benis de Lima says 10 inmates died inside the jail and 1 in hospital, 10 to 15 prisoners are in hospital in a critical state.  

Since Friday, Interior & Justice Minister General (ret.) Lucas Rincon Romero has confirmed a total 12 deaths and dozens of wounded, adding that the situation is under control. "There's a scarcity of prison guards throughout the prison system." 

The General has promised a thorough investigation to discover the causes. 

Las Ultimas Noticias supplies an answer to the General's question, stating that there are three gangs fighting for control of the prison. "Miranda State Judiciary Circuit president, Luis Guevara says the riot had nothing to do with complaints about delayed legal processes but infighting over transfers to other prisons, which started boiling over last Wednesday."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 20, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Replying to US Secretary of State Colin Powell's latest remarks on Venezuelan democracy, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton Matos wryly comments that someone is not briefing Secretary Powell properly, especially as regards the recall referendum ... "it's in the law of laws, the Constitution." 

Hammering home his point, Chaderton Matos says the recall referendum was brought into Venezuelan democracy not by an opposition initiative but by an initiative of the Bolivarian government. 

The second part that Powell should have been briefed about, according to the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, is that those who shouldn't be trusted belong to the greater part of the opposition. 

Recalling the events of April 11-14, 2002, Chaderton Matos accuses the opposition of provoking huge scale social and political upheavals, attempting to strangle the country economically, causing financial panic and using media terrorism to get rid of President Chavez Frias. 

"The recall referendum is an absolutely constitutional and legal democratic exercise and not an acid test." 

Speaking during April 19 Declaration of Independence celebrations, Chaderton Matos reports that his Ministry will respond opportunely with documents pertaining to the Colombian Army's objections to allegations made by Venezuelan Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel regarding collusion with paramilitaries in border badlands. 

The Minister says both governments are working around the clock in preparation of the April 23 summit in Puerto Ordaz between Presidents Alvaro Uribe and Hugo Chavez Frias ... "democracy is working quite well between the two countries ... we are converging ... Colombians and Venezuelas will not engage in fistfights and much less bullets ... the summit agenda will be varied and revolve around common interests."

Forums

Referendum 2003 discuss the pros and cons of a revocatory referendum

President Hugo Chavez Frias express your opinions on the Presidency of Hugo Chavez Frias and his Bolivarian Revolution

Bolivarian Circles Are Bolivarian Circles a Venezuelan form of Neighborhood Watch Committees or violent hordes of pro-Chavez thugs?

Venezuela's Opposition What is it? Is a force to be reckoned with or in complete disarray?

Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable  right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. --  Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher  Editor@VHeadline.com