<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 By: David Coleman

Venezuela's opposition is claiming congressional victory over what they describe as President Hugo Chavez Frias' "diluted majority" after they succeeded in rejection of a reform to internal parliamentary debate rules, Tuesday.

But they may have preempted a ruling by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) which was asked, Monday, to decide on the legality of an external session of Venezuela's congress convened on Friday of last week on the steps of the El Calvario monument after opposition deputies went berserk in an attempt to filibuster passage.

• The El Calvario Congress, held with a quorum of 83 members of parliament, approved the motion which the opposition are now seeking to have declared illegal.

Parliamentary rules state unequivocally that  at least 50% + 1 of the nation's 164 legislators must be in attendance at any plenary session to have legal effect but opposition Accion Democratica (AD) secretary general Henry Ramos Allup disputes that any quorum of 83 was indeed achieved ... "The truth is that they did not gather together the 83 deputies that were necessary to validate the little circus they committed to last week ... the vote should have taken place in El Capitolio anyway!"

Nevertheless, political observers see the brouhaha as just the latest in a series of delaying tactics by opposition deputies who are attempting to show that the Chavez Frias government is slow and ineffective ... many are now admitting it will be impossible for them to appoint a new National Electoral College (CNE) board of directors in time to kick-start democratic procedures after August 19 when President Hugo Chavez Frias' term of office reaches its halfway point.

The CNE board is necessary to direct a massive revision of electoral registers and to eliminate falsifications and deceased voters from the rolls before a preliminary vote can be held to ask Congress to call for a revocatory referendum.

Government deputies at the El Calvario session of congress said they were forced to take remedial action after 79 opposition deputies attempted to turn the ordinary session to utter chaos.  In somewhat childish response the opposition decided to boycott Friday's session claiming it was being held "on enemy territory" despite special security arrangements and the presence of 5,000 National Guardsmen to protect proceedings.

Pending the TSJ ruling, the Friday-approved motion remains suspended ... the government bench counterclaims that the opposition is using a party political imbalance on an internal debates and procedure committee to filibuster a series of necessary reform laws which will take Venezuelan governance away from the political-economic corruption of the last 50 years.  The reforms also include a regulation of radio and television broadcasting to set a series of controls on violence and sex at times when young children may be watching.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

While the government is busy at a Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) hearing to revoke an Appeal Court decision lifting an arrest warrant against rebel Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) executives for their role in the December-January national stoppage that brought PDVSA to its knees, rebel leader Juan Fernandez, who has just returned to Venezuela, reports that his Gente de Petroleo organization is undergoing a re-launch to convert itself into an abuse-monitoring body. 

"The group will lodge complaints and call for action against any situation that goes against freedoms, rights and defense of democracy." 

Gente del Pueblo acted as a shadow PDVSA during and in the weeks following the strike's failure ... its role has gradually fizzled out as the new PDVSA managed to get production back to normal. The group's last stand is to defend the Intesa Company that had monopolized PDVSA's computer system. 

Fernandez confirms that the recall referendum has become one of the "new" group's priorities and boasts that it will be a resounding victory for the opposition.  Referring to the TSJ hearing, he says he and his colleagues are innocent until proved guilty, warning that if Venezuelan justice, then they will internationalize the conflict. "Citizens rights have been violated because the Attorney General's Office and the 50th Control judge established arrest procedures that were illegal." 

Rebel white collar "trade  union," Unapetrol leader, Horacio Medina denies charges that the executives plan to start a political party, indicating that they do not intend to get into politics and prefer to create a network of civil sector groups (Gente del Mar, Gente del Barrio etc.) that oppose President Chavez Frias.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Primero Justicia (PJ)  National Assembly deputy Gerardo Blyde dismisses President Chavez Frias' threat to sue opposition deputies for alleged disruption of parliament as ridiculous. "There is a political objective behind the threats made by the President last Sunday." 

Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ)The constitutional lawyer brands such an action "absurd" and calls the President's bluff saying the move is just a smokescreen to divert attention from what is really happening, namely the dismantling of Venezuela's parliamentary institution by attempting to change the rules of the game which should be clear and "complied with from Assembly president to the least of the deputies." 

Blyde accuses AN president, Francisco Ameliach of violating current AN regulation and insists that it is up to the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ)  to issue a ruling on the validity of the parliamentary session held outside the Capitolio in El Calvario last Friday during which the majority government bench passed a partial reform bill on the internal debate regulation.

Monday, June 9, 2003 Posted: 6:29 PM EDT (2229 GMT) CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN-AP) -- A mayor aligned with President Hugo Chavez said Monday he would not allow an opposition march planned for Friday in his district.

Jose Vicente Rangel Avalos, mayor of a poor eastern Caracas district, denied an opposition political party's request for permission to stage the protest, arguing it could provoke violence.

His decision came two weeks after gunfire broke out during opposition march in a poor western area of Caracas, killing one and injuring 10. No one was arrested.

"We have seen what has happened in the past, and we don't want something like that to be repeated," said Rangel Avalos, the son of Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel.

Rangel Avalos said the proximity of the planned rally to a local hospital was also an inconvenience.

Leaders of the center-right Copei party vowed to go ahead with their march despite the mayor's decision.

At least 50 people have died in political violence over the last year, including an April, 2002 coup that ousted Chavez for two days.

Chavez accuses the opposition of promoting chaos to justify his ouster. Opponents say the president incites his supporters to attack dissidents.

Last month's protest and the planned Friday march are part of an opposition campaign to show Chavez's popularity among the poor traditionally his core support -- is waning.

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

Lt. Colonel Francisco Arias Cardenas continues to preach about the importance of the recall referendum and it would appear that he is fighting a losing battle.  During visits to the provinces, Union party leaders say they have not managed to convince many people about the advantages of the recall referendum. This fact must acknowledged, Arias Cardenas says, and the opposition must not be distracted by whatever President Chavez Frias threatens or throws at it. 

The recall referendum is checkmate for the government ... "it's impeccable and we have to give it top priority." 

The former Zulia State Governor insists that the opposition must be magnanimous to open the door to adversaries because what the country needs now is a national consensus with minimum conflict. 

Aware that the government is intent on widening its power base, Arias Cardenas warns that President Chavez Frias will attempt to divert the opposition towards partial objectives, which gives him the chance to re-group and counter-attack. " The opposition should stick to its guns and promote the recall referendum ... it will take will and conscience."