Minority opposition bench plump for international SOS campaign

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Monday, June 09, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Minority opposition parliamentarians have stated that they will not attend the National Assembly (AN) until institutionality has been restored. Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) leader Leopoldo Puchi says they will ask the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) to declare decisions taken by the majority parliamentary bench at El Calvario to be null and void. 

However, international opinion seems to be the main trump card the opposition will brandish to win support and moral backing. "Parliamentarians of the world will be surprised to see how the government is attempting to eliminate a public power with a long tradition." 

The opposition has promised to call public protests to indicate public rejection of the government's attack on parliament and given the Coordinadora Democratica full authority to organize street action. 

Independent observers comment that the opposition position means more freebies to Washington and the capitals of Europe, especially Spain and a continuation of dependence on international bodies to govern Venezuela.

Perhaps opposition politicians will be surprised to find less sympathy among foreign parliaments than they imagined ... running abroad to complain about events at home could backfire as politicians urge Venezuelans to sort out their own problems. 

The opposition will also be hard put to explain their approach to majority-minority democracy, as well as their constant obstructionist tactics.