<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, June 01, 2003 By: Rainbow Sally

Date: Sat, 31 May 2003 09:03:08 -0700 From: Rainbow Sally rainbowsally@zippnet.net To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Two Hard Tests And Only One Shot To Do It

Dear Editor: Here is a copy of the Venezuelan 1999 Constitution which is available at VHeadline. Spanish www.vheadline.com English www.vheadline.com

There are three elements of this on which I would like to comment:

Article 72: All magistrates and other offices filled by popular vote are subject to revocation. Once half of the term of office to which an official* has been elected has elapsed, a number of voters constituting at least 20% of the voters registered in the pertinent circumscription may extend a petition for the calling of a referendum to revoke such official's mandate. When a number of voters* equal to or greater than the number of those who elected the official* vote in favor of revocation, provided that a number of voters* equal to or greater than 25% of the total number of registered voters* have voted in the revocation election, the official's mandate shall be deemed revoked, and immediate action shall be taken to fill the permanent vacancy in accordance with the provided for in this Constitution and by law. The revocation of the mandate for the collegiate bodies shall be performed in accordance with the law. During the term to which the official* was elected, only one petition to recall may be filed.

What can be seen from the above is that referenda are not to be taken lightly and though they must be honored as a non-violent means to redress grievances, they are certainly not to be used to harass an elected official unnecessarily. 1.  One out of five registered voters must endorse the referendum. This is the first of two tough tests. 2.  25% of the registered voters must vote to validate the revocation election AND the number of votes for recall must exceed the number that elected the official. This is also a tough test. 3.  If the petition qualifies, and the recall vote fails, another attempt may not be made until after the next regular election cycle.

If the opposition manages to pass the above two tests, it is clear that their case is valid.

If on the other hand they fail, it will be interesting to see by what margin they fail. I hope all parties involved understand the seriousness of this undertaking and do their best to assure an honest record of the upcoming events is shown in history books for all future Venezuelans to consider in their management of the delicate affairs of state and justice.

If the opposition even gets close, this is an indication of serious problems that are worthy of Venezuela's attention and respect. And the opposition should wait patiently for this respect ... if in fact it is due ... because it will probably take time for everyone to get used to the idea that peace can also be a means to an end.

Good luck everyone! Show the rest of the world how it's done.

Rainbow Sally rainbowsally@zippnet.net

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, May 30, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

"If the politician does not take care of the problems, the problems will take care of the politician" -- R. G. Collingswood: "The Idea of History."

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: Throughout its republican history, Venezuela has had many authoritarian Presidents who felt certain that, by exercising power, they were doing the right thing: The Monagas brothers, Guzman Blanco, Castro (yes, we had our Castro), Gomez, Perez Jimenez and, now, Chavez. However, when they departed, the country was in worse shape than before they arrived ... with the possible exception of Guzman and Perez Jimenez, both thieves, but also doers who left abundant infrastructure behind.

The negative impact of strongmen on Venezuelan society suggests that the exercise of power is not the answer to our problems. In one of Plato's Dialogues, Gorgias says that "Power is the chief good of Life" and can be obtained "through the use of rhetoric."

"It is a natural law," he adds, that "those with power impose their will on the weak".... however Plato goes on to say, through Socrates, that "Rhetoric is cosmetic and deceiving. True politics requires the exercise of leadership, not the exercise of power."

This concept is amplified by Robert Tucker in a book called "Politics as Leadership" that I have already mentioned in a previous commentary and recommend to our readers. Leadership, in the platonic sense, has to do with inspiring followers to better themselves and work together ... not with reducing followers to the condition of members of a herd.

Power and leadership are old foes ... they have faced each other in many countries and the result of the confrontation determines if the country progresses or stagnates. Holders of power have changed faces throughout history: King or Prince, as in Machiavelli's work; cliques as in the Soviet Union; the proletariat as in Marx; the racial "elites" as in Hitler; the intellectual "elites" as in Pareto; the caudillos as in Sukarno, Hussein, Quaddafi, Castro, Kim Il Sung, Peron, Chavez, Duvalier, Pinochet or Trujillo. Caudillos generally do not possess an organic ideology beyond the lust for power, although all speak of revolution. Some, like Sukarno, can even be catalysts of national integration but most are promoters of misery and ignorance.

Facing this group of power addicts are the true leaders, many of whom were never officially elected to positions of power. Tucker calls them "non-constituted" leaders and mentions, as examples: Gandhi, Schweitzer, King, Sakharov. I would add Mother Teresa, Rachel Carson, Casals, Lincoln, Uslar Pietri ... men and women who lead humanity up the path of civilization, justice, beauty and compassion.

In his book on "Leadership," James MacGregor Burns states that leadership has to do with the persuasion of followers "to act for certain goals which represent the values and the motivations, the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations of both leaders and followers." Such a definition clearly excludes most caudillos since they are, at the most, wielders of a power used to fulfill their own expectations.

True leaders can read correctly the aspirations of the society where they live and, therefore, can become agents of human progress, helping others going up the ladder which leads to full "species-hood". This is a term used by Erickson ("Life History and the Historical Moment") to define a fully evolved human being. Erickson postulates that world governance can only be possible if, first, a world society emerges ... and this is the work of leaders. Authoritarian figures, on the other hand, tend to remain at work at the level of the pseudo species, where tribes prevail over nations and where castes and ideologies are more important than a sense of true human solidarity.

Teilhard de Chardin spoke of "homo progressivus," for whom the well-being of the species, of society, was more important than individual well being.

Not many of those can be found in Caracas.

We will get our share some day ... meanwhile, however, we are going to experience some severe social upheavals since, as Collingswood predicts, either the politician takes care of the problem or the problem will take care of the politician.

In Venezuela. the problem is one of extreme and desperate poverty and ignorance, one of social chaos...

These afflictions will soon take care of those politicians who have proven incapable of moving effectively towards their solution...

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

CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Writer Thursday, May 29, 2003
(05-29) 12:48 PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=www.sfgate.com>AP) --

Venezuela's government and opposition signed an agreement Thursday that requires them not to seek changes to election laws as they prepare for a referendum on the rule of President Hugo Chavez.

The agreement ended six months of negotiations sponsored by the Organization of American States between rivals engaged in a power struggle that produced a short-lived coup and a crippling general strike.

Opposition leaders feared pro-Chavez lawmakers would amend election laws to put obstacles in way of the referendum.

Chavez said he hoped the agreement would compel "those who have taken the path of violence and coups" to abide by the constitution.

"I feel happy," Chavez said in a nationally televised address. "There are no winners and losers. The government won't say we've won, and I hope the opposition won't either. Let's say the country won."

OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria called on political rivals to "make every effort" to see that the agreement is respected. Gaviria said he would return to Venezuela "if the sides require him to do so."

"The two sides should resolve any impasse that could present itself," Gaviria said.

Diplomats from countries that supported the talks -- the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain -- witnessed the signing ceremony.

Both sides agreed the best way to resolve their differences over Chavez's continued rule would be a binding referendum on whether the president should step down.

Venezuela's constitution allows the vote if citizens gather signatures from 20 percent of the electorate, or 2.5 million people.

It can take place midway through a president's six-year term -- August, in Chavez's case. The next scheduled elections are in 2006.

The deal prohibits the Chavez-dominated Congress from amending electoral laws ahead of the vote. To deter political violence, it calls on authorities to disarm the population ahead of balloting and obliges the government to finance the vote. It also urges Congress to swiftly name an elections council.

The agreement provides for referendums on the terms of other elected officials. Chavez supporters plan to seek the ouster of several opposition legislators to increase the government's slim majority in Congress.

In a statement from the Atlanta-based Carter Center, former president Jimmy Carter said the period leading up to a possible vote will be the toughest yet.

"The implementation of the agreement will be the most important and most difficult phase in the process of lessening the crisis in Venezuela," Carter said in the statement.

Election authorities must be named, signature and voter rolls verified, ballots printed and a date chosen before any referendum can be held. Gaviria said Wednesday he expects the presidential referendum to take place in November if those requirements were met.

Several opposition political parties and business groups endorsed the agreement reluctantly, saying there was no guarantee the vote would take place.

Opponents argue Chavez can no longer govern a country bitterly divided between those who fear he is becoming increasingly authoritarian and those who consider him a champion of the poor.

Thursday, May 29, 2003 Posted: 1637 GMT (12:37 AM HKT)

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN-AP) -- Opposition leaders said they would sign Thursday a political pact laying ground rules for a possible referendum on Hugo Chavez's presidency but voiced concern that there was no guarantee the vote would take place.

Leaders said they were disappointed by the agreement brokered by the Organization of American States after six months of talks designed to bring stability to a country rattled by a short-lived coup and a long, crippling strike.

The signing ceremony was scheduled to be witnessed by OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria and diplomats from six countries who helped broker talks: the United States, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and Portugal.

The largest opposition party, Democratic Action, said it was not convinced the pact would prevent Chavez from delaying a referendum. The party vowed more street protests to ensure the vote occurs.

"We warn that a rogue government like Chavez's does not mean to honor any agreement," the party said in a statement late Wednesday. "The agreement by itself does not guarantee the realization of a recall referendum against Chavez. That's clear. It's clear the only thing that can guarantee it is popular pressure."

Other opposition parties and Venezuela's largest business association, Fedecamaras, had similar reservations. But they agreed it would put international pressure on Chavez to play by the rules.

President applauds agreement

The deal stipulates that current electoral laws cannot be amended by the Chavez-dominated Congress. To deter political violence, it requires authorities to disarm the population ahead of balloting and obliges the government to finance the vote.

On Tuesday, Chavez applauded the agreement, saying it would compel what he called a "fascist, coup-plotting" opposition to respect the constitution. Refusing to quit during the two-month strike, Chavez often noted that Venezuela's constitution allowed a referendum halfway through a president's term. That's August, in his case.

A two-month strike -- organized by Fedecamaras and Venezuela's largest trade union ended in February without achieving its goal of forcing early elections or Chavez's resignation. The protest almost paralyzed the world's No. 5 oil exporter, costing Venezuela US$6 billion. The economy shrank 29 percent in the first three months of 2003.

Opponents argue Chavez can no longer govern a country bitterly divided by those who fear he is becoming increasingly authoritarian and those who consider him a champion of the poor. They say they have the 2.5 million signatures required to petition for a referendum.

Election authorities must be named, signature and voter rolls verified, ballots printed and a date chosen before a referendum can be held.

Gaviria said Wednesday a referendum could be held in November if all those requirements were met.

The pact also provides for referendums on the terms of other elected officials. Chavez supporters want to revoke the mandates of several opposition legislators in a bid to increase the government's slim majority in Congress.

El Universal

The revoking referendum is one of the most polemic points included in the agreement achieved by government and opposition at the Negotiation and Agreement Table. It is widely considered a way out of the current crisis facing Venezuela. The voting should be made as provided for in article 72 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which reads as follows:

Article 72: All magistrates and holders of other offices filled by popular vote are subject to revocation.

Once half of the term of office to which an official has been elected has elapsed, a number of voters constituting at least 20 percent of the voters registered in the appropriate constituency may file a petition for calling a referendum to revoke such official's mandate.

When a number of voters equal to or greater than the number of those who elected the official votes in favor of revocation, provided that a number of voters equal to or greater than 25 percent of the total number of registered voters have voted, the official's mandate shall be deemed revoked, and immediate actions shall be taken to fill the permanent vacancy pursuant to the Constitution and the law.

The revocation of the mandate for bodies shall be made in accordance with laws.

During the term to which the official is elected, only one petition to recall his/her mandate may be filed.