www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 3:14:09 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

The government's decision to fix the bolivar's exchange rate at Bs.1,600.00 / Bs.1,596.00 could turn out to be a big gamble in the government's fight against the effects of the Coordinadora Democratica work stoppage, particularly if they drag on for several months. 

The government claims it had no choice but to impose trading restrictions, and this opinion has been supported by Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) directors, as capital flight was spiraling and international reserves were falling by around $60-70 million per day as the BCV fought in vain to support the plummeting currency. 

The value of the bolivar was also hit by rumors of an imminent devaluation as the government was allegedly looking at options to balance its budget after huge losses of revenue due to Petroleos de Venezuela's (PDVSA) low production levels since the work stoppage began on December 2. 

So few can argue that something needed to be done, but the question is will the new measures just mean the nation's economy falling out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Opposition leaders argue that the controls will lead to inflation, corruption, black market trading and possible shortages, and this seems at least partially true as the US dollar is now buying as much as Bs.2,500.00 on the black market.

However, faced with such serious economic problems, inflation and corruption are likely to be risks the government is prepared to take. 

• As for shortages, they already exist in most Venezuelan towns and cities, so will they get any worse?

It seems unlikely at this stage, but it is obviously too early to say. At least if the bolivar is kept at a lower level then Venezuelans will still be able to buy the imported goods that they can lay their hands on, as if the bolivar shot up to around Bs.2,000.00 to the dollar many wouldn't be able to afford even the most basic of supplies.

The imposition of fixed prices on food, fuel and medicines also seems a solid enough tactic for making sure the poorer Venezuelans can weather out the storm, providing it doesn't last too long.

So all in all the measures look to be stacking up pretty positively for the government, but the threat of restricting the supply of dollars to the supporters of the opposition strike remains troubling. As the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce (VenAmCham) pointed out this week, this could turn into a witch hunt. If this were to happen then the repercussions for the economy could be huge.

• Punishing the owners of businesses that supported the stoppage is also punishing their employees and their families. 

Many businesses are already on the brink of bankruptcy and such pressures could push tem over the edge, costing many their jobs. Hopefully this threat is just hot air and not something that the President will seriously be pursuing, if not the consequences could be grave.

Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 3:14:09 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

The government's decision to fix the bolivar's exchange rate at Bs.1,600.00 / Bs.1,596.00 could turn out to be a big gamble in the government's fight against the effects of the Coordinadora Democratica work stoppage, particularly if they drag on for several months. 

The government claims it had no choice but to impose trading restrictions, and this opinion has been supported by Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) directors, as capital flight was spiraling and international reserves were falling by around $60-70 million per day as the BCV fought in vain to support the plummeting currency. 

The value of the bolivar was also hit by rumors of an imminent devaluation as the government was allegedly looking at options to balance its budget after huge losses of revenue due to Petroleos de Venezuela's (PDVSA) low production levels since the work stoppage began on December 2. 

So few can argue that something needed to be done, but the question is will the new measures just mean the nation's economy falling out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Opposition leaders argue that the controls will lead to inflation, corruption, black market trading and possible shortages, and this seems at least partially true as the US dollar is now buying as much as Bs.2,500.00 on the black market.

However, faced with such serious economic problems, inflation and corruption are likely to be risks the government is prepared to take. 

• As for shortages, they already exist in most Venezuelan towns and cities, so will they get any worse?

It seems unlikely at this stage, but it is obviously too early to say. At least if the bolivar is kept at a lower level then Venezuelans will still be able to buy the imported goods that they can lay their hands on, as if the bolivar shot up to around Bs.2,000.00 to the dollar many wouldn't be able to afford even the most basic of supplies.

The imposition of fixed prices on food, fuel and medicines also seems a solid enough tactic for making sure the poorer Venezuelans can weather out the storm, providing it doesn't last too long.

So all in all the measures look to be stacking up pretty positively for the government, but the threat of restricting the supply of dollars to the supporters of the opposition strike remains troubling. As the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce (VenAmCham) pointed out this week, this could turn into a witch hunt. If this were to happen then the repercussions for the economy could be huge.

• Punishing the owners of businesses that supported the stoppage is also punishing their employees and their families. 

Many businesses are already on the brink of bankruptcy and such pressures could push tem over the edge, costing many their jobs. Hopefully this threat is just hot air and not something that the President will seriously be pursuing, if not the consequences could be grave.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 12:05:21 AM By: VHeadline.com Reporters

In an article entitled "Inside the Revolutions in South America" Eco Solidarity's Marcel Idels writes in favor of participatory economics and agrarian-based localization saying that in words and deeds, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias has been the strongest proponent of measures to counter corporate globalization.

"He supports import substitution, regional integration and an end to the militarized US drug war, Plan Colombia and Bush's Andean Initiative ... at the World Social Forum in Brazil he spoke in favor of (Brazilian President) Ignacio Lula da Silva's  program and called for a Latin American Monetary Fund to replace the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its failed policies ... he also announced that Venezuela would be the first country to adopt the Tobin tax on international financial transactions."

Idels continues "emboldened by the electoral victories in Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador and the heroic triumph of Chavez over the US-backed coup and sabotage in Venezuela, people all over the world have moved to the radical perspective ... the debt bomb, which the rich countries created in Latin America in order to extract profits has turned into a powerful device for forcing the rich to accede to the demands of the poor."

"The US knows that a unified leftist block of nations in Latin America could easily pursue a generalized default on public and private debt ... this requires the US to behave and to work hard to avoid a multi-nation default that would threaten the global banking system and takedown many large US corporations ... debt negotiations will test the vulnerability of the US and create a spectacularly suspenseful drama."

If orderly defaults are not possible due to US pressure, then Brazil and other countries should form a debt cartel and negotiate a general and full default. The negotiating position would be: Support this general default and behave or we will nationalize all your assets.

Banks would be nationalized with strict currency controls ... reserves and deposit withdrawals would be prioritized for key imports, the poor and the lower middle class ... and not for the wealthy ... the mistakes of Argentina are instructive. Commercial debt and foreign ownership deals would be abrogated in the name of social debt relief.

Writing about lessons from Venezuela, Idels says that in Venezuela, the word "democracy" has come to mean the overthrow of the elected President. "Bosses organize the strikes and corrupt union leaders complain about the government defending workers' legal rights. And the military, armed with cement mixers and bricks, invade the shantytowns to build houses, not to destroy them. In the midst of this struggle for the future of Venezuela, is an increasingly confident Hugo Chavez, who, having seen off a US-backed coup attempt last April, is now busy banging the last nails into the coffin of a collapsing two month old strike of managers in the state owned oil company, the PDVSA.

The strike is a showdown between the right wing opposition and the government over the control of the country's vast oil reserves, which provide Venezuela with two thirds of its export earnings.

Wresting control of the PDVSA from the old pro-American management, who had run it as a personal fiefdom and who favored privatization, is seen as pivotal to Chavez's ability to deliver on his promises of homes, health and education for the poor ... the slow defeat of the strike in the PDVSA, has provided Chavez with the opportunity to dismiss 5,000 anti-government executives and saboteurs, and press ahead with the long overdue reform of the company.

After his landslide election in 1999, Chavez had the luxury of a mandate to purge and restructure the judicial, military and administrative branches of the government. Even the right wing in the US applauded some of these efforts. Cleaning up the vastly larger bureaucracy of Brazil could take time or many resources (money, personnel, political favors).  Brazil's President Lula da Silva also needs to cut back the military budget and direct these public monies to social investments, but this is a large problem to tackle as well. He may follow Chavez' path of reorienting the military to social and ecological restoration programs as he eases some of the older and reactionary military leaders out of the armed forces.

Chavez has shown remarkable ingenuity and patience in his confrontations with the US-backed upper classes. Rather than confront them directly, he allows them to throw temper tantrums and expose themselves as the spoiled brats they are.

Hoping to wear down the downtrodden, the US plays the game of grinding attrition that it used against the people of Chile, Jamaica and the Sandinistas of Nicaragua in the 1980s.

A strange alliance of anti-Castro Cubans, Media-billionaires and the US White House prod the Venezuelan business class to extend the bosses-strike indefinitely. The US hopes to scare the people and wear down their resolve until they give up sovereignty. With the armed forces on their side the people of Venezuela have successfully weathered these terrorist tactics of the US.

Because the right wing opposition political parties are so detested and weak in Venezuela, the rich, the corrupt labor unions and the broadcast media have had to fill the vacuum and coordinate the strike. Chavez has allowed them to play out their hand and to break many laws so that now, he has every right to seize some of these seditious media organizations and other companies that they own.

One example is the Coca Cola bottling plant, Panamco ... part-owned by the billionaire coup plotter, Gustavo Cisneros, Panamco was shut down just before the strike and its output hoarded in warehouses to help add to shortages and the people's fears. After initially supporting the strike, the thirty-something billionaire, Lorenzo Mendoza, has kept his Polar beer factories humming ... he controls 75% of the beer produced in Venezuela! Cisneros controls most of the rest of the market for beer with his Regional Beer Co.

Like beer a few billionaires control most of the media in Venezuela. Unlike beer, information and news are a public good that benefit all people, just like clean water, clean air and schools. The airwaves are a limited resource and the right to complete information in a democracy is crucial. If broadcasts are to be private, then a large collective editorial board that is held responsible to present the unbiased news should run them. A diversity of programming and slots on all channels for unedited commentary and video presentations from all sectors of society is a common sense addition.

Miraculously, the poor of Venezuela don't need the media to tell them what they already know: "Never be fooled again by the old political parties ... only support the parties of the poor people." The main effect of the Venezuelan strike -- besides hurting the economy -- has been to mobilize poor neighborhoods and support for Chavez. Excitement over Chavez speaking at the World Social Forum threatened to overfill the auditorium and upstage the whole event. The strike has also forced Chavez to intervene more directly in the economy than he desired while in Brazil, Lula worries that the business class will soon challenge his economic program too.

The problems at the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, suggest actions that Lula must take at Brazil's state-owned mega-corporation, Petrobas -- the largest corporation in Latin America. He should split the company up into smaller management units, sell off foreign assets, fire right-wing and redundant managers and train loyal replacements to run the company ... his appointment of Senator and environmentalist, Marina Silva, to Petrobas? council of directors is a good first step.

Chavez and Lula should take advantage of the public's mood and the disasters caused by the right wing to institute credit controls, the takeover of financial institutions and to seize the properties of business criminals and the many businessmen who are organizing illegal activities against the government.

• Popular referendums would demand the asset seizure of the coup plotters, the financial backers of the illegal strikers and the companies (broadcast media especially) who participated.

Careful analysis of the taxes paid by most Latin American businesses and multinational corporations will reveal major fraud and many land titles can also be challenged. Workers should be encouraged to investigate and reports abuses. Preparation should be made for the inevitable worker management of many factories.

Marcel Idels Ecosolidarity@yahoo.com

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 6:12:55 AM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Sucre Municipal Engineering Department official Maria Francia Rojas must be a bit of a nitwit for not checking out her facts before arriving at the building where an opposition quango called “Sumate” has been storing signatures against the government. Her story that she thought an illegal casino and bingo hall was in operation because of the number of posh cars coming and going and merited a raid sounds like a load of cobblers.

The opposition has highlighted the fact that Rojas just happens to be Sucre Mayor Jose Vicente Rangel Avalos’ sister-in-law and director of the municipal engineering inspector’s office. Rangel Avalos is the son of Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel.

• Just add all of that up to see the political mileage the opposition was handed on a plate.

Then there is the opposition reaction. "Neighbors prevented Rojas and a group of municipal police from taking away the signatures.”

From similar incidents, it is now clear that opposition media spin of “neighbors” is a nicer way of saying “shock troops” ... an answer to the Bolivarian Circles (the latter are never called “neighbors”).

It’s no surprise to see America Martin and Pablo Medina “defending the signatures with their lives” but sad to see constitutional lawyer, Gerardo Blyde joining in the circus.

Last weekend’s signature campaign had already been dismissed as "a face-saving effort" after the implosion of a two-month national stoppage.  The “Sumate” group ... which had promised to publish the results last Tuesday, has not complied, and justifiably people are asking why.

The so-called "democratic" opposition is having second thoughts about the 4-million signature campaign because of 'contraband' introduced in the many petitions people were asked to sign.

Teodoro Petkoff points out that the Coordinadora Democratica (CD) had not authorized the proposal for a Constituent Assembly and modifications to 1999 Constitution Articles 57 and 58 regarding freedom of information ... which, some analysts claim, eliminates the right to receive opportune and truthful information, right of reply and correction.

The lunatic elements of the opposition are once again imposing the agenda and political parties remain in the rearguard, afraid to show leadership.

• Saturday’s anti-government march defending print & broadcast media and the signature campaign supporting Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) are examples.

The loonies have succeeded in convincing the opposition masses that they are defending “our media” ... and we all know that the signatures to defend PDVSA are to maintain Fernandez, Paredes, and Quijano and minor mafia figures in their jobs. I wonder who is footing the bill?

Just to browse the headlines on opinion articles in El Universal and El Nacional is depressing, and shows the current state of creative thinking among opposition intelligentsia … it’s more like the herd mentality.

The same can be said of the government side, except that there are fewer defenders among the intelligentsia and fewer media outlets. Is there any freshness coming from the pens of Barreto, Herrera and other hacks? Not really.

Quinto Dia is the only print media that has maintained a healthy and critical balance throughout this difficult period.

Maria Francia Rojas must be a nitwit … she doesn’t even know her own municipality. Fortunately for her, and the government, the incident was quickly overshadowed by the opposition march to defend “our” media and “our” PDVSA.

The incident has however told us something about the desperate state of the opposition and its coordinated defense system.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, February 07, 2003 - 2:56:30 PM By: Kira Marquez Perez The attitude of the Venezuelan opposition is simply embarrassing Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 18:01:59 +0100 From: Kira Marquez Perez marquez@uni-duesseldorf.de To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: personal ambitions of power and money

Dear Editor: I am a Venezuelan chemist, who is actually finishing her PhD in Germany. My whole family lives in Venezuela. I have been working in a sandwich program with the Universidad de los Andes in Merida and have therefore remained in contact with my country and my family the whole time I've been in Germany (3 years). I spend a lot of time in Venezuela and travel there on each vacation. I was there in December and stayed there until the end of January (I was there the whole time during the "strike"). I have written a text describing some of my experiences during this time which I have included below:

With concern and a deep feeling of powerlessness we observe how the political conflict in Venezuela has been radicalized. Each day the threats against peace and tranquility arise in a nation that has been always characterized, throughout its history, by its tradition of respect, tolerance, co-existence, public spirit and liberty.

It is not so difficult to find out which are the motives hidden behind the current situation in Venezuela: there is a group of people that are using us all to satisfy their personal ambitions of power and money.

It's very easy to identify the propitiators of violence in Venezuela, the promoters of hate and division. It's them: the same people from the past, the so-called "friends of the bi-partisanship" ... those who have been sacking Venezuela and have become easily rich and illegally using the country's money during the last four decades ... the same ones that have found a "gold mine" in Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) ... our oil company ... which they, of course, do not want to lose ... the same ones that do not care about diversification in Venezuela's economy or about development and improvement in agriculture, education, technology or tourism, because their business is based on creating dependence. Those are the same ones that have been evading taxes and supporting acts of corruption for years and that (not having enough with all the harm and pain that they have already caused the country) would like to continue doing so...

The worst of all is that these people (who by the way have already shown on many occasions that they are capable of doing anything, without measuring consequences, in order to achieve their goals) have started an unbearable psychological war that is affecting the health and wellness of Venezuelans.

They have reached the limit in which they manipulate and use the media (almost 24 hours a day) for presenting only subversive and violent programming.

Has anybody thought about the children in Venezuela and about the consequences of these irresponsible actions of the media? I believe not...

However, we can already see what they have achieved: they have created a climate of violence and hate in which even the children (who, above all, have the right to be loved, educated and made happy) have been involved...

What makes me even more sad, is to see that these people would really be willing to drive such a beautiful and wonderful country like Venezuela to the paths of ruin and war only to satisfy their personal interests.

One of the main persons involved is Mr. Gustavo Cisneros (owner of the TV-channel Venevision), who, since a long time ago, has set his sights  on Citgo, the North American affiliate of PDVSA. It is enough to observe the daily programming of Venevision ... as well as the amount of space dedicated to sending messages of violence ... in order to realize that this gentleman does not know any limits.

The programs for children were eliminated and replaced by war, and this shows that these persons had absolutely no scruples. Additionally, there is evidence of the use of subliminal information (flash images) with messages of subversion and war. We can not accept that children are being involved in this problem, for which they have absolutely no responsibility.

The worst of all is that other commercial channels ... like Globovision, Televen and RCTV ... follow the same pattern, many people being manipulated in this manner. By the way, I would like to know who was financing these channels, since they had not promoted one single product in several weeks.

It is enough to observe the mechanisms that these people have been using in the last months to see what they are capable of doing: in April last year, Venezuelans were victims of the shortest, most despotic extreme right-wing dictatorship in their history. For a few hours Mr. Pedro Carmona Estanga (who was, at that time, president of Fedecamaras, the Venezuelan Federation of Industrialists) was imposed in the Presidency after a coup d'etat supported and organized by the same people that promoted the "strike" in December, meant to ruin Venezuela.

We must remember personalities such as Carlos Ortega (the "representative" of the CTV, the Venezuelan Worker's Confederation, but who does not have any support whatsoever from Venezuelan workers, is working for the first time in history on the side of, and probably even paid by, the industrialists). However, we must remember that Mr. Ortega was directly involved in the events of April 2002, and it is really surprising that such people have not been investigated and prosecuted (in any other country in the world these persons would be already behind bars).

Ortega was one of the main culprits who at the last minute diverted an opposition demonstration on April 11 ... this deliberate action produced street conflicts that caused at least 19 deaths in the surroundings of the palace of government ... most of the dead were supporters of president Hugo Chavez and it is now known that the Policia Metropolitana, controlled by opposition leader Alfredo Pena, was responsible for most of the deaths.

Additionally, the snipers shooting from the roof of the Hotel Asonia on April 11 and who had been captured by the crowd, were set free by Dictator Carmona Estanga the following day and left the country immediately. I think this is a very good evidence of a cooperation between the Dictator and the snipers.

The massacre was preceded by a general strike, quite similar to the one in December. At that moment (as well as today) we were victims of media montages and lies ... and they even invented that President Chavez Frias had resigned, promising to show a supposed resignation document signed by him, which, of course, did not exist (that means, they wanted to show us a falsification).

Today, these montages and falsifications are a normal activity of the opposition as we have seen recently when several commercial channels presented a live New Year's message sent by Mr. Carlos Fernandez (current president of Fedecamaras, the same organization that was headed by the Dictator Carmona Estanga in April last year). However, it has now been proven that Mr. Fernandez was actually in Aruba at that time. That means: they filmed the message several days before and presented it (with the complicity of the media) as a "live" transmission. But this is not new. There are many other cases, the majority of them having been already exposed.

Another example is the montage in which they intended to bind one of the persons involved in the shooting in Plaza Altamira on December 6, with government personalities by presenting them together in a public meeting. However, it could be shown that this person (a Portuguese) was not even in Venezuela at the moment at which this meeting took place. Furthermore, it's quite curious that somebody takes a plane and flies more than eight hours from Lisbon to Caracas just to go and shoot at a couple of demonstrators (the opposition has obviously a very good financial support).

Additionally, one of the national newspapers: El Nacional, declared that a PDVSA worker Alirio Carrasquero (who did not join the strike and had been working normally in the oil company), had died in an accident due to operational errors. A few days later, this gentlemen appeared to show all his IDs (personal ID and ID from PDVSA) to prove that he was alive. Can you imagine how his mother felt as she read these lies about her son's death? Isn't this really a scruple less? They invented his death just to show that the people that were still working at PDVSA to be "incompetent."

At this point, I would like to mention that Mr. Carlos Ortega is a very good friend of Mr. Carlos Andres Perez, one of Venezuela's most corrupt presidents, who abruptly ended his second period in the Presidency when he was dismissed and prosecuted over acts of corruption. Mr. Perez was sentenced to 28 months in jail.  He currently lives in the USA and, from there, he participated actively in the April 2002 coup.

But there is something even worse on ex-president Perez' conscience: the February 27 (1989) massacre in which over 2,000 Venezuelans were killed by the military during a series of demonstrations against the serious economical crisis to which the country had been driven by him and his people.

Well, let's continue talking about the April coup. Within a period of 28 hours, Mr. Pedro Carmona and his people (including Isaac Perez Recao, from whom illegal weapons,  fake ID and passports were confiscated) dissolved all democratically-elected institutions, removed all Governors and Mayors from office, initiated pursuit and attacks in several Venezuelan cities and suspended our participation in OPEC. Fortunately, at that time our democracy, which represented ... as it still does today ... the wish of the majority, could be rescued.

Today, they are trying to do the same thing again at any price.

Little by little, the desperate efforts of these people to destabilize Venezuela's democratic system increased considerably after President Hugo Chavez announced a series of reforms in December 2001 that would possibly affect their interests and that would put in danger some of the benefits that they have had for years. The reforms include the Lands Law (Ley de Tierras) against which the big landowners, supported by many opposition Governors and Mayors have expressed resistance.  In January 2002 several members of designated commissions to investigate idle lands in states like Zulia or Merida were murdered by unknown killers ... I think it is not really difficult to guess who is behind these deaths, is it?

Other reforms that have caused opposition desperation are: The Hydrocarbons Law (Ley de Hidrocarburos) that allows the government to act to manage spheres entrenched in PDVSA as well as the control and automation of Customs & Excise and a more rigorous monitoring of the payment of taxes. In 1976, the year in which oil was nationalized, the Venezuelan Treasury received 74.4% of total income of PDVSA in fiscal receipts ... but in 2000 it received only 23.2% of total income. According to PDVSA directors, the rest of it is used to overcome "operational costs."

The current conflict shows that one of the main goals of the so-called PDVSA "executives" is to try to keep PDVSA management away from any control or monitoring by the Venezuelan State.

All these reforms introduced by the current government would be actually quite positive for common Venezuelans, since they would contribute to the diversification of our economy (a very important point, considering that our oil reserves will not last forever and we have to start thinking what we are going to do afterwards). Additionally, we can't forget that in the main industrialized countries, millions of dollars are invested each year to develop alternative sources of energy ... so we shouldn't be so confident that oil is going to provide all we need to be happy. It is necessary to promote and support education. It is necessary to encourage agriculture. It is necessary to develop the manufacturing industry. It is necessary to improve the infrastructure and promote tourism, and it is necessary to orientate towards alternative and more environmental-friendly forms of energy.

We have to take action today in order to guarantee our future and that of our children.

Unfortunately it is true that these individuals are prepared to do anything to reach their goals. However, to achieve this it is necessary that many people, absolutely innocent, support them without understanding which disastrous consequences these actions can have. Believe it or not, the organizers of this sabotage were born and have grown up in and loved this country, they enjoy it when they see how Venezuelans confront each other.

It was unbelievable to hear how Carlos Ortega and the two Fernandez (Carlos and Juan) said with satisfaction that the "strike" had been a success? How could that situation be a success for Venezuela? It was destroying all of us! The country lost billions of dollars in those days! Furthermore... it was enough to see the happiness with which these personalities talked about the severe lack of supplies that affected all Venezuelans as a consequence of their "fabulous strike" ... many of the people who stopped working did not do it voluntarily, but as the result of the sabotage and permanent aggressions that these "gentlemen" initiated against public and private property. These actions included: sabotage to several installations and damage of scientific and plant equipment (mainly in PDVSA), psychological pressure, threats, outrage and aggression on workers or merchants that did not join the "strike," contamination of fuel, damage to valves in order to produce oil spills, blocking of the import of medicines (an assault against people's health), manipulation of information, montages and promotion of panic within the population for personal purposes, threats and aggression (in some cases even with bombs and guns) against the embassies of foreign countries, some of which offered help to solve the oil problem in Venezuela (i.e., Brazil, Argelia, India, Cuba, etc), blocking coasts, roads and avenues, obstruction of transportation and supply of goods, illegal retention of our money by the banks, sabotage to education in schools and universities, order of "cessation of the Christmas activities" in Venezuela and a permanent and open incitement to carry out violent and criminal activities, such as tax evasion.

Actually, what these people did is absolutely illegal and even criminal, since public services were not guaranteed (they even threatened to block water and electricity supplies) ... and the worst thing is that they did it consciously and happily.

Some day in December, full of satisfaction, Carlos Ortega claimed: "be prepared because a critical lack of foodstuffs is coming in the next hours ... the standstill of all services will immediately aggravate."

Can it really be possible that all this represented a source of happiness and fulfillment for Mr. Ortega?

Besides, we all know what an environmental and ecological threat it was to have several loaded oil and gasoline supply ships anchored off Venezuelan coasts ... this could even be considered, among many of the other activities mentioned above, as an act of terrorism, because millions of liters of gasoline could have blown up a considerable area in the event of a fire, turning these ships into bombs at any minute. We also know that we will start to suffer the economic consequences in the next months ... but they don't seem to care about that either. We're convinced that there is no limit for these people ... our economy was strongly hit by their plans, and whatever is happening now in Venezuela, like exchange controls is mainly their fault.

• What's more amazing is the urgency with which these people want to "get rid of Chavez immediately and at any price."

From a logistic point of view it was practically impossible to organize hurried elections for the February 2nd and over 30% have turned out to be illegal: fake, double or scanned.

So ... what do these people really want ... and why this urgency?

We all know that our Constitution establishes that "all elected offices and magistracies are revocable"  once the public official has reached half of his period ... that means that Chavez can be submitted to a revocatory referendum in August 2003.  The same law is applicable to all Mayors and Governors who have reached half of their periods (including Mr. Alfredo Pena, who has participated openly in many sabotages).

The problem is that these groups are obviously not sure about their own capabilities, strengths and summons ... they want to call an immediate consultative referendum, because they know they do not satisfy the minimum requirements that are needed for a revocatory referendum (on February 2 they collected signatures and after a few hours claimed that they already had 4 million ... a number which I honestly do not believe. I wouldn't be surprised if they came up with another of their traps, or with a brand new lie. However, we all agree to go to a legal revocatory referendum after August and then we'll see.

Before any elections take place, it is necessary to "clean out" the National Electoral College (Consejo Nacional Electoral, CNE) which must be an impartial organization. There was evidence of irregular activities at the CNE.  For instance, several members of the Council ... such as Mr. L. Pizzani ... had been working actively for the opposition.  Dead people, even well known ones such as Dr. Arturo Uslar Pietri and others, still appear in the voter lists. Who was going to vote for them?

A referendum under these conditions would be totally illegal. Besides which, it is necessary that an international committee of observers to monitor the process is named. This committee must include foreign observers and not only from the USA, since the responsibility and support of the United States of America during the coup in April last year has still not been discarded.  Moreover, the way in which events have been taking place reminds us of Panama and Nicaragua in the 1980s, or the case of Chile in September 1973, where USA participation has been totally confirmed.

At this point, I would like to mention that I absolutely agree that an electoral solution would surely satisfy the expectations of national and international communities, although (unfortunately) the opposition has shown day after day that they are not prepared to accept any solution other than the one they are demanding. The only "democratic" solution that the opposition seems to be prepared to admit is the imposition of their own criteria.

Several other organizations in Venezuela must also be revised ... one of them is the Supreme Court of Justice (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, TSJ) ... the only organization in the whole world that declared that there was no coup-de-etat in Venezuela on April 11, and that although a democratically-elected President was forced out of office, kidnapped and put in jail while the parliament and all other democratic state institutions were dissolved ... the group of military coupsters were acquitted by the TSJ which is now openly participating in conspirations against the State ... a situation that is really unbelievable.

The attitude of the Venezuelan opposition is simply embarrassing. It is true that President Chavez Frias has displayed a lack of tact, refinement and diplomacy when interacting with his opponents ... but this does not give them the right to attack and ruin us all; and it does not justify their criminal activities with dark and ambitious purposes. Is this opposition really against the government ... or is it against Venezuela? In this country, we need a critical and constructive opposition that respects the people.

Concerning President Chavez Frias, one must accept (in spite of all the things that they might say) that his period has been one of the most democratic and participative ones in our entire history.

Let's think again about ex-President Carlos Andres Perez and his massacre (the so-called Caracazo) in 1989 or ex-President Rafael Caldera and the closing of the Central University of Venezuela (Universidad Central de Venezuela, UCV) in 1970 to force students to remain silent.

Let's remember that person who was put in jail for several months in the 90s because he predicted on television that ex-President Caldera would probably not end his second period.

Let's remember that ex-President Carlos Andres Perez was minister of internal affairs during the Presidency of Mr. Romulo Betancourt and that he at that time headed the Political Police (Policia Politica), which was responsible for many deaths and forced disappearances.

Let's remember that time, during the Presidency of Mr. Jaime Lusinchi, when an opinion program was closed due to a commentary that was made concerning Ms. Blanca Ibanez, who was at that time the President's lover.

By the way, do you know that the Judge Jules Spodek from the US State Supreme Court prohibited a pacific strike organized last December by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) in New York? The judicial statement included that  the workers would be penalized two days salary for each strike day and could even get prison for disrespecting authority. Additionally,  the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, asked the court for authorization to impose penalties of $1 million on the Workers Union and fines of $25,000 for each employee that did not go to work. In spite of all this, they call themselves democrats ... or not?

On the other hand,  here in Venezuela we have had people that have been grouped for more than a month protesting in a public square, we have had strikes, demonstrations and stoppages, people that have not only stopped working but that have also hindered other people's work, people that have tried to obstruct and block all social and economical activities in the country... but, believe it or not, many of these persons have not been punished. Fortunately, some of the conspirators from PDVSA have now been fired.

In the past, several Venezuelan newspapers, radio and TV stations have been either closed or censored.  On the other hand, during this Presidential period, everybody has been able to say what he or she wants and (unfortunately) some individuals have taken advantage of this freedom to distort the freedom and even used it for personal interests against Venezuelans. These persons have gone beyond any limit of what is acceptable and we think that one of the main faults of this government has been its excessive tolerance towards sabotage.

It is time to do something about these abuses and it seems that President Chavez Frias has finally decided to act, since legal processes against some commercial channels have recently begun.

We only ask for peace, tranquility, unity and respect for all Venezuelans.

We are tired of so much disrespect and so many manipulations ... it would be unworthy of a country like ours, with a tradition of civism, democracy and liberty, and with the majority of Venezuelans loving peace, co-existence, respect and tolerance, to allow that this historical and distinctive element of our behavior as nation ... that has been an example of democracy for Latin America and the entire world ... could be affected by a violent minority.

All we want is the well-being of all Venezuelans and respect for our Constitution.

Kira Marquez Perez marquez@uni-duesseldorf.de