Revolutionary Justice

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, March 03, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: Venezuela has no death penalty. Maximum penalty is 30 years, rarely applied. However in the National Venezuelan prisons more than one hundred inmates die violently every year. Many more spend more time in prison than the sentence they are finally given, due to the slow judicial processes.

The prisons are run by the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, which has had 6 incumbents in four years. One of the most infamous of these prisons is Tocuyito, some 8 miles from where I live. The prison normally would hold 600 inmates but it has about 1,800 today. For the last two months these prisoners are not being fed by the government. They make do with whatever foodstuffs are brought by families and friends, and according to judge Norma Ramirez, by eating rats, cats and dogs. 80 inmates are seriously undernourished and dehydrated according witness reports of February 28.

Finding out about this situation, the young Governor of Carabobo, the State where the prison is located, instructed his staff to prepare and deliver to the prison 23 tons of food. The five trucks containing rice, pasta, milk, canned food, sugar, cheese, flour and other basic products were brought to the prison by the president of FUNDASOL, a social organization of the State of Carabobo.

She was accompanied by three judges and a Prison Evaluation Officer who conducted a previous inspection of the prison and certified the lack of food in the storage areas. An Act was drawn up to this effect and the five trucks were ordered by the judges to drive into the prison. At this point in time, however, the military in charge refused to let them pass claiming that the Ministry of the Interior refused to accept food from the State of Carabobo. Judge Ramirez Padilla, however, insisted, claiming that the human rights of the inmates could not be violated.

Based on her decision, the doors to the prison were forced open under the passive eyes of the military. Once inside, the trucks were searched in a very slow motion fashion for about two hours before they were led to the storage area. The inmates protested the attitude of the military.

This incident illustrates the current tragedy of our country. The food was denied entrance by the National Government because the sender of the food was a political adversary.  To accept this delivery would constitute a "political defeat."

And what about the inmates? What about their right to be decently fed, according to the Laws of this country?. Are they animals or simple pawns in a political game? While the immense majority of the inmates and their families accepted the food with gratitude, the representative of the National Government and one inmate speaking on behalf of pro-government inmates insisted that the food should not be accepted, coming from the hands of "enemies."

In Venezuela we have a saying: "No lavan ni prestan la batea" (They do not wash but they do not let you use the wash tub).  The Ministry of the Interior, because of incompetence or corruption (or both), is not feeding the inmates but they refuse to let any other Venezuelan organization to help the inmates if they represent political adversaries. This is a crime and reflects unfavorably upon the moral qualities of the men in power.

I am sending a letter along these lines to the Organization of American States, denouncing this violation of human rights in Venezuela. Inmates also have human rights, especially since so many of them are in prison without being properly sentenced.

Last Sunday, March 2, I saw and heard the President violating human rights with total sadism.  He said that the coupsters and saboteurs of the petroleum industry were now planting bombs since they could not overthrow him in any other way. Coming from any citizen and especially from the President of our country this is an unacceptable violation of our Constitution which stipulates that anyone is innocent until proven guilty. The President was already passing sentence!

This shows he is unworthy of the position he holds. Furthermore, he said he "had proof and photographs of the criminals" and implied that the criminals were the opposition ... but he did not show the evidence. This constitutes a crime in our country. Chavez is at this moment an accomplice of the bombers because he is withholding information which could lead to their identification, while accusing others who might not be guilty.

This is revolutionary "justice." We seem to be more and more under a government which borders on the openly criminal. According to Article 350 of the Venezuelan Constitution this would be valid grounds for open civic rebellion.

I sincerely hope we can get to vote before we get to rebel.

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 ppcvicep@telcel.net.ve