<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, June 06, 2003 By: David Coleman

In an exotic twist to democratic reform, Venezuela's Congress has moved out to the El Calvario steps just a few blocks away from the Capitolio after opposition legislators began to throw papers and fought with each other in the body of parliament.  Bemused Venezuelan TV viewers saw how politicians lost their cool and any assumption of respectability in brawls featured on live television as National Assembly (AN) officers tried in vain to quell the unruly behavior.

A majority vote concluded that proceedings should be removed to the park after opposition thugs tried to prevent the passage of parliamentary reform proposals.  The Legislature moved to convene parliamentary proceedings under a hastily erected marquee after filibustering opposition deputies refused to allow a democratic vote to take place on which committee decides which laws should reach the floor.

National Assembly (AN) president Francisco Ameliach opened lawful sessions of the El Calvario Congress, broadcast live on TV, saying "if we have to, we'll have congress wherever, whenever.''   As fuming opposition deputies held sway without a quorum in the capitol building, Congressman Juan Barreto viewed the establishment of a legislative quorum on the El Calvario steps and said "we were forced to move out to the people ... the coup-mongering and fascist opposition tried to provoke violence.''

The right royal rout will probably delay approval of a new National Electoral College (CNE) board of directors, a preliminary step towards hold a revocatory referendum later this year. Although the government and opposition leaders had signed an OAS-brokered peace agreement last week, the opposition seems intent on disrupting the Constitutionally mandated process which will kick-off only after August 19 when President Hugo Chavez Frias' governing mandate reaches it's halfway point.

At that stage (after August 19) a signature campaign is required to get a referendum proposal off the ground ... and the CNE must first update its register of voters to get rid of thousands of fraudulent registrations, some including voters who are long-since dead.

International monitors must then be appointed to review the signature-gathering process which, if a similar venture in February is anything to go by, will be riddled with forgeries and falsifications as both sides of the political barricades in Venezuelan politics seek advantage.

Vitali Meschoulam, a Eurasia Group analyst quoted by Bloomberg in New York, opines "it's quite clear that Chavez is intent on gaining power at all costs in all aspects of Venezuelan life ... he has control of international reserves ... he has control of PDVSA ... he's basically shut the opposition down by signing an agreement that says let's do what's in the Constitution.''

Commentators in Caracas are still trying to puzzle out what Meschoulam could mean as being negative about the President signing an OAS-brokered agreement which stipulates that government must be conducted according to the Constitution...

Meanwhile. Chavez Frias supporters are claiming that the opposition is trying illegally to change procedural rules.  The President agrees saying "the desperate and irresponsible opposition tried to sabotage congress ... patriotic deputies are trying to approve laws necessary for the country.''

Chavez opponents are attempting to hammer home a Goebbelesque proposal that the revocatory referendum must be held in August without reference to Constitutional  or parliamentary procedures ... essentially they want the same as rebel business executive Pedro Carmona Estanga demanded at the start of his military-civilian dictatorship after the April 11, 2002 coup d'etat.  That time, the opposition was kicked out of the Presidential Palace by the Venezuelan masses after Carmona Estanga moved immediately to dissolve Congress, the Supreme Court and the Constitution in one fell swoop.

June 6 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's ruling majority moved congress outside to a sunny Caracas park, convening the legislature on folding chairs under a hastily erected canopy, after accusing opposition lawmakers of provoking fights in the assembly hall.

Representatives supporting President Hugo Chavez approved a change to congressional rules that will allow them to bypass an opposition-controlled committee that decides which laws reach the floor for a vote. Legislators from both parties began throwing paper and wrestled each other on live television two days ago after pro- government congressmen, who hold a slim majority, sought the change.

The coup-mongering opposition tried to sabotage congress so we couldn't pass laws,'' Chavez said during a televised speech. We're not going to let a technicality stop us from implementing the constitution.''

The congressional donnybrook may delay approval of a new elections board needed to hold a binding referendum on Chavez's rule later this year. Government and opposition leaders signed an agreement last week to let the board set the date of the referendum and allow international observers to monitor voting.

``It's quite clear that Chavez is intent on gaining power at all costs in all aspects of Venezuelan life,'' said Vitali Meschoulam, an analyst with political risk research company Eurasia Group in New York.

He has control of international reserves. He has control of PDVSA,'' the state-controlled oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, said Meschoulam. He's basically shut the opposition down by signing an agreement that says let's do what's in the constitution.''

Trading Accusations

Chavez's supporters said the opposition is obstructing legislation, such as a law that would regulate the media, from being passed. Opposition leaders said the majority illegally change procedural rules.

``If we have to, we'll have congress wherever, whenever,'' said National Assembly President Francisco Ameliach in a televised speech at the beginning of the session in El Calvario park.

Opposition congressmen met, without a quorum, at the capitol building, a few blocks from El Calvario.

This reform was made in the most vulgar way possible,'' said opposition congressman Rafael Rivero. This was legislative fraud.''

Chavez opponents agreed to a binding referendum after the August midpoint of his six-year term, following a two-month national strike that failed to force a vote on the president's rule in February.

Polls have indicated that Chavez, who was ousted by the military for two days last year during a failed coup attempt, would lose a referendum. After the strike crippled oil production and consumer spending, the economy fell 29 percent in the first quarter and unemployment rose to 20 percent.

Two Venezuelans died and at least 16 were injured last month after gunmen fired on two marches of Chavez opponents.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, June 06, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Metropolitan Police (PM) director, Lazaro Forero says 109 firearms were seized in different operations throughout the metropolitan area during May ... "we have recovered an average 3 guns a day ... 90% of crimes in Caracas are carried out at gunpoint." 

Forero highlights  the fact that 67 cars were reported stolen during May, 4,000 packets of drugs were seized and 257 persons arrested in connection with different kinds of crime. 

The MP director says he has been surprised to discover that the majority of criminals with a long rap have gun permits from the Armed Force (FAN) Armament Office (Darfa), even though Forero complains that Darfa retains weapons taken off the PM during last year's stand-off with the government. 

The PM, Forero states, cannot penetrate red alert zones of Caracas because it lacks the necessary automatic weapons that criminal elements possess. "Our uniformed officers have.38s ... we haven't been in some barrio for 5 months ever since our weapons were taken off us."

Defense Minister Jose Luis Prieto continues to defend his position that police weapons are Armed Force (FAN) responsibility ... the government claims that the PM used their heavy weapons during the events of April 11-14 to repress government supporters.

Posted on Fri, Jun. 06, 2003 ALEXANDRA OLSON Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Meeting in a downtown park to avoid their rivals, lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez adopted parliamentary procedures that allow them to swiftly pass several new laws, including one that would tighten restrictions on the media.

The lawmakers, gathering in tents in a poor neighborhood of hard-core Chavez supporters, adopted new debate rules intended to make it more difficult to block legislation supported by the president. Opposition members of Congress said they did not recognize the legitimacy of the vote.

The president's supporters hold a slim majority in the 165-seat Congress, but they wanted to cut the opposition out of the debate by meeting in a hostile neighborhood - a sign of the political bitterness in a country that is a major oil exporter to the United States.

"They are trying to create an assembly completely subservient to the interests of the government," said opposition lawmaker Julio Borges of the Justice First party.

Opposition lawmakers boycotted the session in the park, calling it illegal and a Chavez-sponsored attempt to undercut the Congress. They tried to convene a separate session at the legislative palace, but the president's supporters ordered the doors locked.

The bickering threatened to further delay Congress' attempt to choose election officials to run an internationally backed referendum on Chavez's presidency planned for later this year.

National Assembly President Francisco Ameliach defended the meeting in the park, calling it "completely justified."

Ameliach convened the session after ruling party and opposition lawmakers ended up in a brief shoving match at the legislative palace on Wednesday.

The new parliamentary procedure would make it easier to move legislation through a key 21-member committee in Congress that is dominated by the opposition. Chavez supporters claim that the opposition has used this committe to block legislation.

The opposition plans to ask the Supreme Court to invalidate Friday's session in the park and intends to ignore the new parliamentary procedure in the meantime.

The new media law would ban "rude" or "vulgar" language, prohibit depiction of sex or alcohol or drug use, and ban violence during daytime.

It would also require that 60 percent of programming be produced within Venezuela, half of which would have to be created by "independent producers" approved by the government.

Broadcasters, who tend to oppose the president, say the law will give too much influence to censors hand-picked by Chavez to crack down on the mostly opposition news media.

06 Jun 2003 19:16:26 GMT By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 6 (Reuters-AlertNet) - Venezuelan National Assembly deputies supporting President Hugo Chavez held a parliament session in a Caracas park Friday, approving reforms the absent opposition condemned as an illegal attempt to avoid democratic debate.

Opposition deputies boycotted the bizarre outdoor session by the pro-Chavez majority and accused the government side of trying to force through laws the opposition fears will restrict democracy in Venezuela.

The 93 pro-government deputies said they were forced to hold the one-sided session outside the National Assembly to overcome what they called an opposition block on legislation in a key parliament drafting committee.

"What we are doing is freeing up laws that had been kidnapped (by the opposition)," Deputy Nicolas Maduro told Reuters.

Protected by police and troops and cheered on by sympathizers, the pro-government members of parliament met in a large tent in El Calvario, a crime-ridden city park located in fiercely pro-Chavez west Caracas.

Opposition deputies, who gathered in the National Assembly building a few blocks away, dismissed the unilateral session as illegal and said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.

The split in the 165-member National Assembly, which followed a brawl between rival deputies on Wednesday, showed that a peace accord signed last week by the government and its foes had done little to defuse their long-running political feud.

The pro-government deputies passed reforms of parliamentary procedure they said would speed up the passage of legislation consolidating Chavez's self-styled left-wing "revolution" in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

"They (the government) have kidnapped the parliament. ... They want to have a parliament that submits to the whims of President Hugo Chavez," Carlos Tablante of the small opposition MAS party told reporters.

Chavez, who survived a coup last year followed by a grueling opposition strike in December and January, accused the opposition of disrupting the National Assembly.

"They don't want to work. They just want to sabotage things," he said in a speech in eastern Venezuela.

The legislation held up by the opposition included government draft laws to counter terrorism and regulate the content of television and radio broadcasting.

Opposition leaders, who charge Chavez is ruling like a dictator and trying to install Cuban-style communism, say these bills contain clauses that seek to muzzle criticism of the government and restrict the right to stage public protests.

Last week's government-opposition agreement, which was brokered by international mediators, recommends the holding of a constitutional referendum on Chavez's rule after Aug. 19, halfway though his current term.

But it sets no precise date and the opposition says it fears Chavez will try to avoid the vote by any means.