Democratic Unity Committee spokesman Julio Borges has announced a march for September 5 to the Attorney General's Office to protest the legal proceedings against Caracas prefect Richard Blanco and the 11 employees of the Metropolitan Mayor's Office. "We want to tell the prosecutor that protesting is not a crime, it is a right and we will exercise it" said Borges, according to the summary of the news portal Cadena Global. He said the route of the march scheduled for Sept. 5 has not yet been defined, and "all" will be responsible for the mobilization. He indicated that with the actions that occurred this week clearly shows "weak" government for whom the only thing left is repression - brute force - because it has lost popular support. "The prosecutor is denying the right of Venezuelans to protest in the street, and this is being denied in a country where there is no justice," he added.
Táchira Governor Cesar Pérez Vivas said he was unafraid of the possibility of impeachment proceedings being opened, as President Chávez indicated, for the acts of violence on Saturday in the Education zone, which resulted in five injuries. "We are not afraid of the threats of President Chávez, who will put everyone in jail. What do you need pre-trial formalities for? He is an autocrat who does not respect the law nor the truth. Here all of that which is protest is immediately disqualified," he said. "Prisons are not sufficient to hold every single Venezuelan who disagrees with the management of our government, for its offenses and the manner in which it manages public affairs," he said. Pérez Vivas said it is "immoral that the government intends to charge attendees of the demonstration against the Education Act with the responsibility of a group who attacked them from the roof of the building." he added. He complained that "through justice, the government intends to ignore the will of the majority of people from Táchira that elected him its leader.
The chairman of the Domestic Policy Committee of the National Assembly (AN), announced that the second ordinary session of Parliament will proceed with the reform of several standards, including the Criminal Code, which will include "new crimes". Upon specifying the content of the agenda, the commission president said that drafting a new Penal Code will occupy most of the attention of the deputies because it include new offenses involving, for example, genetics and telecommunications. "We will also revise the Civil Code, the Code of Military Justice and the Commercial Code. All these instruments must be adapted to changing times in the country," said the parliamentarian. He said when addressing the reform of the laws mentioned, the committee will consult with the sectors who "have a material interest, for example: universities, colleges, law schools, judges, public defenders and, of course, the public prosecutor. They have to reform Law of the Supreme Court, the Law on Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the Rules and Proceedings of the National Assembly.
An Uruguayan judge is investigating the export of books to Venezuela at a cost of $32 million in what was detected as a significant over-invoicing, court sources told the AFP. The inquiry involves the company Apilser SA, which sold library materials to Venezuela for $32 million, although the cost of developing these materials was half a million dollars. The case has been in the hands of organized crime specialist Judge Graciela Gatti for more than a month "after receiving an anonymous complaint," the sources said, who noted that the research is focused "on an alleged money laundering of assets. Senator Ruperto Long, of the opposition National Party (center-right), publicly aired the case this week, raising suspicions about the possibility of an alleged cash injection from the Venezuelan government to the campaign of a presidential candidate from the ruling leftist coalition Frente Amplio, José Mujica. Mujica went to the crossing to say that the campaign funds of the FA "come from what we have" and that "everything is documented."
The automotive sector, which in major world economies is protected by its ability to generate jobs and boost growth, is living its worst hours in Venezuela due to such problems as labor disputes, exchange rate policy, market-related and even legal. Of the five vehicle assemblers operating in the country : General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota and MMC Automotriz, three are working and well below full capacity - Ford, Toyota and Chrysler - while two other plants are paralyzed - MMC and GM - the latter being responsible for half of the vehicles assembled in the country. As for the makes of vehicles assembled abroad, import licenses have not flowed this year, amid falling oil revenues and foreign currency shortages that have been affecting the Venezuelan economy. This results in drought and virtual paralysis of the vehicle market. On average, dealers of the brands with national assemblers had decreased sales by about 83%, since in two years they went from selling about 120 vehicles a month to just 20 or fewer, in some cases. Workers from the dealers explain that a few vehicles have gone on sale since and in some cases industries are operating at a maximum of 50% capacity.
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