www.chronwatch.com Posted by Kevin Willmann Tuesday, February 25, 2003

     Venezuela has been a volatile powder keg for the last couple of months. There has been loud dissatisfaction with the presidency of Hugo Chavez, and some have paid the price for their dissent against Chavez.

     Thor Halvorssen wrote the following for The Weekly Standard about one dissenter in that South American nation.

     VENEZUELA IS NOW an abyss where there is no rule of law. A rogue government tortures innocent civilians with impunity while paying lip service to democracy and buying time at the ''negotiation'' table set up by the Organization of American States. Venezuela's foreign minister, Roy Chaderton, has funded an effective multi-million dollar public relations campaign to smear the opposition as coup-plotters and fascists intent on bringing about violence.

     Jesus Soriano has never met Roy Chaderton or Hugo Chavez. Soriano supported President Hugo Chavez's meteoric rise, volunteered during the election campaign, and is now a second-year law student in Caracas.  His law-school peers describe the 24-year-old as a cheerful and happy young man.

     Soriano, a member of the Chavez party, is part of a national student group called ''Ousia,'' a group that brings together moderates who support the government and opposition members seeking a peaceful resolution to the current crisis.

     On December 6, Soriano witnessed the massacre that occurred during a peaceful protest in Altamira, a neighborhood in Caracas where the opposition has a strong presence.  The killer was Joao De Gouveia, an outspoken supporter of Chavez who has an unusually close relationship with mayor Freddy Bernal, a Chavez crony.  Gouveia randomly began shooting at the crowd.  He killed three--including a teenage girl he shot in the head--and injured 28 people.  As Gouveia kept shooting, several men raced toward him to stop the killing. Soriano was one of the men who wrestled Gouveia to the ground and prevented further killing. Soriano also protected Gouveia from a potential lynch mob that swarmed around the killer.

     Soriano's heroic accomplishments did not cease that day. He became a national figure in Venezuela when he brought a small soccer ball (known in Venezuela as a ''futbolito'') to a sizable protest march organized against the rule of Lt. Col. Chavez. Soriano and other pro-Chavez partisans made their way towards the march intending to engage the opposition members in dialogue.

     That hot afternoon, Soriano kicked the futbolito across the divide at the members of the opposition.  They kicked it back.  The magical realism of the event is evident in the extraordinary television footage of what occurred next.  By the end of the match the anti-Chavez protestors and pro-Chavez partisans were hugging and chanting ''Peace!  Unity! We are Venezuela! Politicians go away!  We are the real Venezuela!'' In one particularly moving part of the footage, Soriano and a member of the opposing team trade a baseball hat for a Chavez-party red beret.

     In one hour this sharply divided group of strangers accomplished more than the high-level negotiation team that seeks to defuse a potential civil war.  Chavez was reportedly furious with the televised soccer match and even angrier that the reconciliation was a product of the efforts of one of his supporters.  Soriano was declared an enemy of the revolution.

To read the entire article, go to: www.weeklystandard.com

news.ft.com By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas Published: February 25 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: February 25 2003 4:00

A pact condemning political violence, signed last week by the government of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and opposition leaders, appeared to be breaking down yesterday as opponents threatened to withdraw from the accord.

Opponents of Mr Chávez, grouped in the "Democratic Co-ordinator", warned they could rescind their side of the agreement unless the international community pressed the government into upholding the accord.

The warning follows the house arrest of Carlos Fernández, head of the Fedecamaras business federation, who was captured by armed security police in a heavy-handed midnight raid last week.

Mr Fernández is facing charges of "criminal instigation" and "civil rebellion" for his role in co-leading a two-month strike in December and January aimed, unsuccessfully, at pressing for early elections and forcing Mr Chávez's resignation.

"If the international community does absolutely nothing and the government does not uphold its side of the agreement we will withdraw," said Timoteo Zambrano, an opposition negotiator in talks facilitated by the Organisation of American States (OAS).

No outside sanctions were agreed as part of the accord, but opponents of Mr Chávez had hoped members of a six-nation "Group of Friends" would be able to lend diplomatic weight to reinforce the OAS-sponsored agreement.

The group - consisting of Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Portugal, Spain and the US - was formed in January to give fresh impetus to a four-month-old but virtually fruitless effort by the OAS to broker an electoral solution to the country's political deadlock, which has on several occasions spilled over into violence.

However, in a sign that Mr Chávez is willing to put already cool diplomatic relations on the line to deflect outside pressure, he has bluntly warned both the OAS and the "Group of Friends" not to interfere in domestic affairs.

Speaking on his weekly Alo, Presidente television show on Sunday, Mr Chávez accused both the US and Spain of taking sides with his opponents, who charge that the populist president and former paratrooper is governing like a dictator.

Government spokesmen from the US and Spain, and César Gaviria, secretary-general of the OAS, have expressed concern at the handling of Mr Fernández's case.

However, the Fedecamaras chief has said he was treated with due respect by the authorities.

usinfo.state.gov

QUESTION: Venezuela?

MR. REEKER: Sure, we will go next door and then we ill go around, back to Mr. Lambros.

QUESTION: Venezuela. Did you know of any plans for the Friends of the OAS Secretary General to meet again on Venezuela, and are you pressing for any such meeting?

MR. REEKER: I don't know of anything on a specific meeting. I think the Friends group are in regular contact and working, obviously, with Secretary General Gaviria. They are, after all, named the Friends of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States. That is, these diplomatic representatives in our case, Acting Assistant Secretary Curt Struble, Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, who has been working with his colleagues from some other Latin American countries, from Iberian countries, to support the efforts of the Secretary General to help the Venezuelans find a solution, a peaceful solution, a constitutional and electoral solution to the situation there.

We continue to encourage the Government of Venezuela and the opposition to honor the nonviolence pledge that they signed, I believe last week, the 18th, I think it was, 18th of February. I would point out that the first point of that agreement from the 18th, that accord specifically emphasizes the need to curb confrontational rhetoric and moderate the tone, style and content of language.

So we are concerned, I think given the current situation of the last few days, that heightened political rhetoric has contributed unnecessarily to some of the recent violence in Caracas. We would note that according to Venezuela's constitution, the judiciary, not the president, decides what charges to bring in criminal cases and inflammatory statements such as those attributed to President Chavez are not helpful in advancing the dialogue between the Government of Venezuela and the opposition and the bringing, of course, of a peaceful resolution to the current state of affairs.

QUESTION: Well, when you say attributed to President Chavez, are you -- does that mean you're not -- you don't know whether he really made them or?

MR. REEKER: I think that would be it. We have seen the reports of the statements that have then led to some of this rhetoric back and forth and we don't think that is particularly helpful.

QUESTION: Well, is the United States pleased, though, that the strike appears to be losing its momentum and that oil exports are on the increase?

MR. REEKER: I don't know. I have not looked into that nor could I, you know, categorize anything in that way. What we have been concerned about and remain concerned about is the rhetoric, the government's rhetoric and some of the actions that have been undermining the dialogue process.

We certainly reiterate that the Venezuelan authorities must respect Mr. Fernandez' and Mr. Ortega's rights as guaranteed by the constitution and we are still strongly urging the parties on both sides to continue to pursue the dialogue as facilitated by the OAS Secretary General and supported very much by the Friends of the Secretary General group to find a constitutional, democratic, peaceful and electoral solution to this crisis.

QUESTION: But in general, is there a feeling that the crisis is less severe than it was --

MR. REEKER: I don't think I want to categorize our feeling. We are still very concerned about the situation there and are continuing our efforts as part of the Friends group to support the Organization of American States and the Secretary General's efforts in this regard, as called for in the OAS Permanent Council Resolution Number 833.

Now, we will go to Mr. Lambros and then we will hop to the other side.

news.pacificnews.org Commentary, Andrew Reding, Pacific News Service, Feb 24, 2003

The deaths of more than 23 people in Bolivia during protests and riots is but one sign of forces that threaten to tear apart Latin America, writes PNS Associate Editor Andrew Reding. Yet Washington's policies toward the region are making things worse, not better.

While Washington focuses almost all its attention on a country half a world away, the Americas are falling apart. The recent slaughter of police and civilian protesters by Bolivian troops is but the latest in a long string of warning signals. And misguided U.S. policies are squarely to blame.

Bolivia is in some ways a microcosm of what ails the region. Latin America has by far the highest degree of inequality of any region of the world. One reason is that the poor -- mainly indigenous and Afro-American populations -- continue to be without meaningful access to basic services, including education. Absent domestic and foreign public investment to equalize opportunities, market forces tend to accentuate the gap between rich and poor rather than spread prosperity throughout the society.

In Bolivia, most of the Aymara population remains barely literate and bound to the land. As it has for centuries, it continues to cultivate the coca plant. Traditionally, coca leaves were merely chewed for the mild high they gave the consumer. Today, however, the leaves fetch a much better price from traffickers who process them into cocaine for the U.S. market.

As in Colombia and other Andean countries, the United States has responded with aerial eradication of coca crops. It is arguable whether this has any impact on the availability of cocaine in the U.S. What is unarguable is that it is robbing the poor of their livelihood. No other crop will fetch anywhere near the price.

While offering negligible levels of direct foreign assistance, the United States is indirectly putting a budget squeeze on La Paz, through conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund. The attempt by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to meet those constraints by raising taxes triggered the recent violence, and has caused much of the middle class, including striking police officers, to join coca farmers in protests demanding his ouster.

Compounding the damage was the White House statement following the La Paz massacre, reaffirming President Bush's "strong support" for the discredited president. That support is in sharp contrast to the administration's condemnations of President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela following similar shootings of demonstrators.

To Latin American eyes, Bush's inconsistent behavior is a sign of acute partisanship: Sánchez de Lozada's ties are with the elite, whereas Chávez is a populist who appeals to the poor. Bush is seen as trying to export a born-again Reaganite ideology that favors the wealthy over the poor to Latin America, where the gap between rich and poor is already explosive.

The explosion has already occurred in Colombia, which is torn by civil war, and in neighboring Venezuela, which is on the edge of civil war. Tensions are festering in Argentina, which suffered an economic collapse after the Bush administration made a deliberate decision not to extend the sort of lifeline President Clinton had earlier offered to rescue Mexico. Argentina had been the United States' most loyal ally under President Carlos Menem in the 1990s; now, after being betrayed by Washington, Argentines have become stridently anti-American.

A comparable shift is underway in Brazil, where voters recently elected socialist Lula da Silva -- a longtime critic of U.S. policies in the region and the world -- to the presidency in a landslide. Brazilians are frustrated by the failure of U.S.-led globalization and market liberalization policies to alleviate poverty. And they are angry about protectionist Bush administration trade policies that discriminate against Brazilian steel and citrus exports.

Even Bush's much-touted personal friendship with Mexican President Vicente Fox is fraying. The Mexican foreign minister recently resigned over the failure to secure a deal on migration. Fox is now suing the United States at the International Court of Justice to stop the execution of Mexican nationals, and his normally conservative National Action Party is proposing to change the country's official name from "United States of Mexico" to just plain "Mexico" -- symbolizing its exasperation with its northern neighbor and NAFTA partner.

When even conservative Mexicans begin questioning their relationship with the United States, it should act as a wake-up call at the White House. Current policies are fomenting rather than alleviating Latin America's socioeconomic pressures. This is not only undermining plans for hemispheric economic integration, but fanning the flames of anti-Americanism in the United States' own backyard, undermining the goal of ensuring "homeland security."

Reding (areding@earthlink.net) is senior fellow for hemispheric affairs at the World Policy Institute in New York

reuters.com Mon February 24, 2003 03:18 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his government of using inflammatory rhetoric, possibly contributing to violence between opponents and supporters of the populist leader.

"Inflammatory statements such as those attributed to President Chavez are not helpful in advancing the dialogue between the government of Venezuela and the opposition," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.

"We are concerned that heightened political rhetoric has contributed unnecessarily to some of the recent violence in Caracas," the spokesman added.

On Sunday Chavez warned the world to stop meddling in the affairs of his troubled South American nation and Venezuelan police locked up a strike leader on "civil rebellion" charges.

He accused the United States and Spain of siding with his enemies, warned Colombia he might break off diplomatic relations, and reprimanded the chief mediator in tortuous peace talks for stepping "out of line."

Last week he said he was going on the offensive against the "terrorists" and "fascists" who have defied him.

Reeker said: "What we ... remain concerned about is the government's rhetoric and some of the actions that have been undermining the dialogue process."

He said the United States continued to favor the dialogue mediated by Cesar Gaviria, the secretary-general of the of American States, who spent weeks in Venezuela trying to arrange an end to a strike by Chavez's opponents.

Opponents of the president, who they accuse of disregarding democracy and ruining the economy, are waging a campaign to pressure him into accepting elections.

The opposition strike, which fizzled out during the first week of February, severely disrupted the nation's oil exports in the world's No. 5 exporter. Oil exports account for half of state revenues and Venezuela's economy, already deep in recession, contracted by nearly 9 percent by the end of last year.

The Venezuelan government has fired more than 12,000 oil company employees who joined the strike. It is now using replacement workers to help restart the industry, undermining the opposition's campaign which Chavez charges is trying to drive him from office.

The United States complained on Thursday about the arrest of business leader Carlos Fernandez, the head of the Fedecamaras business chamber and one of the strike leaders.

Reeker added: "We would note that according to Venezuela's constitution, the judiciary, not the president, decides what charges to bring in criminal cases."