During the weekly show Alo Presidente!, which most recently broadcast for six hours, President Chávez criticized the actions of the student movement such as the hunger strike at the headquarters of the OAS and the march on Saturday that concluded some protestors lowering their pants to demand the presence of representatives of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to recognise the existence of political prisoners in Venezuela. "It's a shame, I feel sorry that some of the youth are calling for that (...) Now imagine calling political prisoners corrupt people who are being detained by robbers or murderers who then do the same to demand their freedom and for the OAS to come," he said.
The leader of Alianza Bravo Pueblo (ABP), Oscar Pérez, who is expecting that Peru grants him asylum, said the student march that was held today to demand that the government accept the visit of a delegation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), "is a clear sign of national unity in defense of civil liberties that are undermined by official sectors." He explained that President Chávez should allow the entry of the IACHR to assess the the human rights situation, because in Venezuela "it isn't just political leaders, students, soldiers or journalists who are pursued, but also civil society organizations such as Cedice, Fedecamaras and the Catholic Church." "He who owes not, fears not. What is the fear that international bodies go to Venezuela to assess what actually happens there? Will it be that they know they will be exposed before the eyes of the world as systematic violators of Venezuelans' human rights?" he asked.
By the close of 2009, total public debt, internal and external, could reach $60 billion, reported the national coordinator of Primero Justicia, Julio Borges, referring to the limited steps the government has taken to reduce unnecessary spending during its tenure. Borges said that this sum must be added the "huge debt" that PDVSA is accumulating, so the total exceeds $100 billion. "We are saying that the Government is imposing a debt of more than $17,000 on each Venezuelan family, representing about 100 million bolivars, debt that the president expects our children and grandchildren to foot the bill, a party that he refuses to end," he added.
The IMF said yesterday that Venezuela has little room to implement countercyclical policies to boost its economy, as it justified its forecast that Venezuela is the only Latin American country that will not emerge from the recession next year. "Venezuela maintain very pro-cyclical measures at a time when oil prices were really high." "Venezuela will be the only major economy that remains in recession in 2010," said IMF Managing Director for Latin America, Nicolas Eyzaguirre, referring to government spending. "Now it is running out of fuel to provide sufficient space to produce countercyclical policies" to stimulate the economy in times of global crises like the current recession, he said from Istanbul, where the institution is holding its annual meeting. "Due to this, we think that (Venezuela) will not recover soon."
Virginia Contreras, former Ambassador of Venezuela to the Organization of American States (OAS), clearly recalled how on 22 September 1999, a presumptuous and calm Hugo Chávez proclaimed himself the first leader of South America to come to the headquarters of the IACHR in Washington, and without fear requested that a inspection delegation conduct a site visit to Venezuela. "Many years later we took the floor. Sir, if you were invited as is the case right now, they would not let you come," said Contreras, who added that this was not the only time that the government deferred to the body. Even though there is no official voice to confirm the times that the Venezuelan state has refused to accept the visit of the Commission human rights specialist, a press agency said last year that the last time they went to the country was in May 2002, to observe the events of April 11, and since then have not been given the green light by the Chávez government.
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