November 2009 Archives

José Cárdenas of Foreign Policy's Shadow Government blog comes down on the side of do not ignore:

The problem going forward is this: The Venezuelan economy has just begun to free-fall, as outlays of petro-dollars are no longer able to paper over Venezuela's systemic economic deficiencies under Chávez's mismanagement. Private sector investment and output is declining, infrastructure is breaking down, and an overreliance on government spending is choking off growth. The result, to be played out over the next few months, is likely to be increasing discontent among a populace already fed up with shortages, unemployment, and skyrocketing street crime.

Combine this with the lawless situation on the Venezuelan-Colombian border, where Colombian and Venezuelan troops mix with murderous guerrillas, drug traffickers, and paramilitaries that have set up shop to take advantage of Chávez's lax attitude towards cocaine trafficking through Venezuelan territory, and you have a tinderbox that could combust on the slightest miscalculation, or irresponsible action.

La Verdad is carrying an interview with Richard Blanco from prison today obviously worth reading in its entirety, but certainly notable for Blanco's bluntness. Read here.

(Photo: El Universal)

By Weil - diario Tal Cual:

The four banks that the government took over 10 days ago - Canarias, Confederado, Bolivar and ProVivienda (BanPro) - were closed this morning after authorities determined that the institutions present a compromised financial situation, said Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque. The minister said that in the case of Banco Canarias and BanPro a "liquidation'' will proceed, and that the government will try to reinstate Confederado and Banco Bolivar because the" damage (is) relatively minor.'' Rodriguez told Venezolana de Television (VTV) that after the assessments the authorities made, it was determined that "the damage has been so great that it has severely compromised the solvency of these institutions'' resulting in the decision to take over the four banks "behind closed doors". Rodriguez explained that the state deposit and bank protection guarantee fund (Fogade) will be in charge of making for the liquidation of BanPro and Canarias as well as protection for workers and depositors.

I've finally had a chance to take a look at the exclusive interview Globo's William Waack conducted with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the latter's visit to Brazil last week. First is the video clip, followed by a full transcription. Lest any of you are tempted to dismiss Ahmadinejad's answers as lies, pointless, grandstanding, kowtowing or what have you, I would urge you to pay equal attention to the order in which Waack poses the questions as equally as significant as the substance of Ahmadinejad's answers. Here you go:

1:00
Waack: What do you expect to find in Brazil?
Ahmadinejad: I would like to express my sincere sympathy and to congratulate the people of Brasilia and the officials of Brazil. In the first place we are concentrating on relations between our nations because the nations of the world meet the demands and the necessities of one another. Between Iran and Brazil, we can create better relations on a number of different fronts. The two nations, these two great nations are in two of the most important regions of the world. Brazil is in the heart of South America, and Iran is in the heart of the Middle East. I think about what we will need from our friends and brothers of your country.

Residents of kilometre 2 protested the accumulation of garbage over 90 days and closed the highway, demanding that the mayor of Libertador take action against such unsafe practices. The queue was stretched several kilometres toward Caracas and Los Teques. Source: Diario La Región

By Rayma - Diario El Universal:

"To be rich is bad, better to be a figurehead."

Colombian Defence Minister Gabriel Silva confirmed on Friday the allegation that at least one senior FARC leader is in Venezuela and admitted that Bogotá has "half lost" the regional dispute by trying to say that there are US military bases on Colombian territory. The Venezuelan government has repeatedly refused to provide protection on its land to Colombia or at the very least it is known that FARC members do enjoy such protection. Minister Silva said "the problem is not that there is the use of a country's territory" by an illegal group "but the will to fight them."

A group of women, students and civil society members yesterday protested at the gates of the hotel Melía Caracas to protest the visit by Iranian President Ahmanidejad. Source: Diario Notitarde

By Weil - diario Tal Cual:

President Chávez received Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with honours at Miraflores Palace. Ahmadinejad welcomed the opportunity to return to see his "revolutionary brothers" and called President Chávez "courageous" for "resisting the pressures of imperialism and defending freedom for the peoples of Latin America." President Chávez discussed the position of the media against Ahmadinejad. "The western media, how it attacks my brother," he said, while he commented on the opinion Shimon Peres gave to South American media about the upcoming departure from power of the two leaders. "What the President of Israel said we take as a threat and act accordingly." Presidents Chávez and Ahmadinejad signed 70 new agreements on agriculture, industry, trade, energy, food, industrial, energy, science and culture.

Any time a prominent policymaker tells it like it is, my ears perk up. So it was for principally that reason that this recent report from Bloomberg caught my eye. I've spent a fair amount of time in Mexico over the years, as well as a fair amount of time working in finance. Without getting too into the specifics of the challenges plaguing Mexico, all I will say for the moment is that my respect for Mexican Central Bank Governor Guillermo Ortiz continues to grow more and more every day and I've long said that he's the only high level official in that country who has any credibility (don't even get me started on Agustín Carstens). Consider these statements from Ortiz during a recent event at Yale:

"Fixing Mexico is quite easy -- you just twink a few reforms here and there. Things are so screwed up that it is relatively easy to make a jump."

"We have been wasting opportunities for many years for economic reform. We just have a horrible political establishment, and that is part of the problem."

After four days without electricity, residents of the Guzmán Lander neighborhood closed down a thoroughfare of Intercommunal Puerto La Cruz Avenue in Anzoátegui for about two hours. The result was heavily congested roads, such as the Camejo Octavio and delays on Paseo Colón. In La Ponderosa there were also protests because of no light, while power failures were reported in Puente Ayala and Mesones. Source: El Tiempo

By Bozzone - diario El Carabobeño:

Around two o'clock Wednesday morning, Negar Blanco, defense attorney for Richard Blanco, announced that Blanco will remain in the Yare prison as per the decision of the third control court judge, Jeanne Medina, upon accepting the accusations of serious personal injury and instigating crime. The attorney criticised the judge's decision, which took nine hours, and characterised it as inhumane. He reiterated that this is not a trial with the defendant's rights in mind. He said he does not understand why Blanco remains deprived of his liberty, when the alleged victim, a police official, did not recognise him as the attacker. Relatives and friends who remained in the courthouse for more than 16 hours expressed outrage at the position of the judge and blamed President Chávez for the security of Richard Blanco.

As I have stated many times before here, I remain a big fan of the Reuters Factbox feature that occasionally accompanies updated reports on developing stories. So when I came across an article earlier in La Verdad entitled, "Chávez defends dictators, terrorists and guerrillas as friends", I was immediately reminded of the format.

Let's put aside for now the polarising language promoted by this sort of headline and just think for a moment about the concepts of perception, association and friendship. A very dear friend of mine who by her own admission has a limited attention span for the ins and outs of international diplomacy, once told me that what made her turn the corner on appreciating foreign relations was comparing it to the way gossipy high school girls relate to each other. That is, that amicability between nation states ultimately rests in large part on who is seen hanging out with whom, at what event, and how much they agree on whether or not to befriend that other nation state who always eats lunch alone at the far end of the cafeteria.

During the weekend garbage multiplied beyond what is usual in the streets of the township of Libertador in Caracas. Catia, Candelaria, El Valle and Las Acacias are some sectors where neighbours voiced concern. In Las Acacias, residents decided to declare a state of emergency and agreed that people should only go out wearing a face mask. The mayor's office did not comment on the causes of the delay in trash collection. Source: El Universal

By Edo - diario El Mundo:

"No trespassing: Private Property."

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived today in Caracas for an "intense" official visit of two days that aims to strengthen the "solid" relationship between the two countries, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said yesterday. "We are two peoples determined to build our own path of independence and development," said Maduro during a meeting between businessmen from both countries consisting of six workshops. Ahmadinejad's agenda in Caracas, where he will meet with President Chávez, Iran's strongest ally in the region, has not yet been released. Ahmadinejad's visit is not welcome in Caracas. The Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela (CAIV) expressed its "dismay and disappointment" in a statement yesterday over the Iranian president's tour of several South American countries.

"Students from the University of the Andes will continue standing up to fight," said Gustavo Sayago, who remains on hunger strike along with others to demand the government to authorise the visit of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in order to assess the situation of civil liberties and political prisoners. In addition to the students who joined the protest at the headquarters of the Organization of American States in Caracas, young people have joined the movement in the states of Mérida, Aragua, Carabobo, Lara and Portuguesa. Source: El Nacional

By Zapata - diario El Nacional:

"The war toys are from Russia and cost a boatload."

President Hugo Chávez applauded the imminent arrival in Venezuela of 300 armored vehicles and tanks manufactured in Russia and urged its citizens to join the government-organized militias to defend the country from possible foreign invasion. Chávez called on his supporters to receive military training and join the militia during a speech Saturday night. He said it is the duty of socialist party members to participate in organizing combat groups. Venezuela must prepare for a possible attack by the U.S. and Colombia, he said, and emphatically denied that his country would attack the neighboring country. "We are preparing and will continue preparing to defend the sacred sovereignty of Venezuela, to defend the Bolivarian revolution from imperialist aggression and soldiers of the empire,'' said Chavez.

Welcome to where time stands still
Dissenters do not have free will
Talk is cheap, never seems to change
Just labeled mentally deranged
Say the same thing every week
The revolution gets more bleak
No free press, no free expression
And truth defeated by perception

Idi Amin and Mugabe
Friends of ours, worth amnesty
The world looks down on our allies
They say our only aim is to "terrorize"

Bo-li-varian!
You will see...
Bo-li-varian!
Protest not condoned

From Dow Jones yesterday:

The Venezuelan government took operational control of four small banks, citing a number of irregularities ranging from missing government-imposed lending quotas to failing to explain a capital expansion by the banks.

"It's an open-door intervention," Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said Friday. "The banks will continue to operate as usual," he said. The measure is directed at Banco Confederado SA (BCF.CA), Banco Canarias de Venezuela CA (BCA.CA), Banco Provivienda and Bolivar Banco.

The intervention doesn't threaten the financial sector since the banks account for only about 6% of deposits in the country and are likely to continue operating normally.

By Néstor - diario El Impulso:

An Argentine judge is investigating a video showing Venezuelan national Guido Antonini Wilson in Argentine government headquarters two days after a suitcase containing $800,000 in undeclared cash was seized from him, sparking the so-called "suitcase trial", local media reported Thursday. Judicial sources stated that Judge Daniel Petrone received footage from state-owned Channel 7 in August 2007 that shows Antonini Wilson in the white room of the Casa Rosada, the seat of the Argentine government, during an official ceremony. The case broke into a scandal in late 2007 when, during the trial of a Venezuelan spy in Miami, a prosecutor released recordings of Antonini Wilson's conversations in which $800,000 were said to be destined for the electoral campaign of the current president of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez. In mid-March, a Miami judge ordered the Venezuelan businessman Franklin Durán to four years in prison for conspiracy and acting as an agent of his government to pressure Antonini Wilson and cover up the scandal. Antonini Wilson was a protected FBI witness in that procedure, while three others who were accused of espionage pleaded guilty in exchange for minor punishments.

It is worth noting that the Berlin-based corruption watchdog ranks Venezuela as tied at 162 out of 180 countries in this year's report, alongside Angola, both Congos, Guinea-Bissau and Kyrgyzstan. From the regional highlights:

Once again Haiti, the poorest country in the region, ranks at the bottom though its score improved modestly from 1.4 in 2008 to 1.8 this year. Additional low scorers include Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Paraguay, all countries facing high levels of poverty and a great need for solid, transparent institutions that could facilitate much-needed economic growth. Argentina and Venezuela are also among the low performers in the index, an indication that high perceptions of corruption are not exclusively linked to poverty.

Thousands of faithful gathered last night in the plaza of the Basilica. The walk began after the pontifical mass. Devotees from Zulia and around the world gathered at the Basilica de Maracaibo to celebrate 300 years of the apparition of the Virgin Mary, under the patronage of Our Lady of Rosario of Chiquinquira. Source: Diario Panorama

By Zapata - diario El Nacional:

Globovision president Guillermo Zuloaga said that according to information from reliable sources with links to high government officials, President Chávez ordered his arrest, which he indicated could be implemented in the coming hours. "The president gave instructions that he wanted me jailed for whatever reasons, even though there is not one crime in the file the prosecution has on me. What President Chávez is afraid of is the truth, afraid that Venezuela has finding out all at once about its many problems that we Venezuelans suffer every day and those problems are another consequence of the bad government we have been suffering all these years,"said Zuloaga. The employer acknowledged that the possibility of being taken to prison generates anxiety and fear, but stressed that he will not be intimidated. He said that he has no plans to leave Venezuela.

The LA Times' Chris Kraul is confusing me. Posted today is an interview with Maruja Tarre, a local consultant who apparently thinks that Primo Hugo's war threats toward Colombia should be taken seriously. As Kraul notes in his lead-in to the interview:

With his revolution losing popularity amid rising inflation, rampant crime, a stagnant economy, and frequent water shortages and power outages, Chavez needs a galvanizing event, she says. A border skirmish, if not a full-fledged war, would solidify his support base ahead of next year's legislative elections and give his Bolivarian Revolution the heroic episode that it lacks.

The problem I have with this is that nowhere in the interview which follows does she actually say this.

The one from yesterday, students say, was a spontaneous protest, justified by the repeated thefts and assaults they suffer while going to their places of study. The intervention of the Metropolitan Police against a barricade that blocked access included the use of tear gas and buckshot. University officials today discussed measures to ensure the safety of that community. Source: Diario El Nacional

By Weil - Tal Cual:

Venezuela's economy shrank 4.5 percent in the third quarter of 2009 with respect to the same period of 2008, a fall that exceeded market expectations and leaves the oil-rich country in recession for the first time in over five years. The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) said in a statement Tuesday that oil-derived gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 9.5 percent year on year in the third quarter, dragged down by falling oil prices and production cuts agreed on by OPEC. For its part, the non-oil GDP fell by 3.0 percent, hurt by a reduction of 9.2 percent in manufacturing, a 11.5 percent decrease in trade and an 18.3 percent decrease in mining. After 22 consecutive quarters of economic expansion in the heat of the oil bonanza, Venezuela experienced a sharp contraction that raises doubts about the sustainability of the government's billion-dollar social plans and its policies of tight state control of the economy.

National Assemblyman Luis Tascón, known for his "lists", has a new report on voting trends in Venezuela from the 1998 elections to the referendum in 2009 with a projection to December 2010. The report projects that by December 2010 opposition support will grow while Chavista support will decrease and that if current trends continue, Chavistas will lose ground in national parliamentary elections.

Tascón's analysis goes beyond the parliamentary races, ensuring that defeats in parliament for Chavistas will trigger a phase of "ungovernability" in Venezuela and will mark the beginning of the end for Bolivarian revolution in 2012. The report shows a detailed historical analysis of federal elections and states categorised as "high priority" - strategic states where the Bolivarian revolution is particularly vulnerable.

The situation of the Libertador municipality is one of the most "critical," according to Tascón, in that there is "a clear and steady increase of popular will in favor of the opposition. Ten years ago the opposition lagged by 15.71 percent of the vote and in 2006 by 18.85 percent; today, the difference is only 2.79 percent and projected to convert into a 10.07 percent advantage for the opposition in 2010 if the current trend continues. This would signify a historic decline in what once was one of the more emblematic bastions of the Bolivarian revolution.

Globovión's coverage is here. Full report detailing state-by-state polling patterns is available in Spanish here.

Criminals took the opportunity yesterday to commit crimes during a protest yesterday. Neighbors and members of the drivers' union yesterday closed the main access roads and two channels of the Barcelona-San Mateo metro for more than five hours yesterday. The occasion allowed the thugs to loot three cellars full of food, assault two taxi drivers and rob the passengers of a PDVSA truck. Source: Diario El Tiempo

By Bozzone, Diario El Carabobeño:

"Seems that instead of 'Christmas without prisoners', the government prefers 'Prisoners without Christmas."

An elite group of technicians and Cuban advisors are actively involved in controlling key functions in the Venezuelan government with the consent of the authorities, including the military command, a former senior Chávez Administration official warned on Monday. Luis Alfonso Dávila, a retired colonel who led Congress in 1999 and was chancellor and Minister of Justice and the Interior of for President Chávez between 2000 and 2002, said that some 60,000 Cubans control activities sensitive to the sovereignty of Venezuela, from health systems and food production to public notaries, where properties and their owners from across the country are registered. "Cubans are at the highest levels of government in Venezuela, with the consent of Chávez,'' Dávila said in an interview with El Nuevo Herald.

Put on a blindfold and imagine hearing these three quotes from three different Latin American politicians:

1. "Street blockades are moving [this country] in the direction of an anarchic society, where there will be fewer investments and more poverty. You often have just 10 people blocking traffic, and the police are protecting those 10 people instead of the hundreds of thousands who need to go to work. That's ridiculous."

2. "It's not a question of imposing order at any cost. We must try to find a balance between the rule of law, the respect for private property and workers' demands."

3. "When societies adopt a culture in which it's tolerated to break the law, then people say, 'If I can break the law a little bit, I can break it a little bit more.' It's an escalating process. [The current turmoil] was not born overnight. It's the result of a culture of illegality that has escalated to unbelievable levels."

Before I name names, let's just consider a few things.

Richard Blanco has spent 81 days in prison and Oscar Pérez has spent 70 days in refuge in Peru, but their families have not lost hope that justice will be done. So yesterday a caravan went to Caracas to support not only them but also all exiles, political prisoners and persecuted. "Mr. President, the fate of 24 innocent Venezuelans in jail and exile is in your hands," said Andreína Blanco, daughter of the prefect of Caracas, who advocated a peaceful Christmas. Source: Diario El Nacional

By Fonseca - Diario Últimas Noticias:

Energy Minister Ángel Rodríguez, who on Sunday visited a polling station in El Pensil in Puerto La Cruz to participate in the primary elections for the Socialist Party, said the electricity situation will not be stabilised in 2009. "It is likely to be resolved by next year." The solutions expect direct cooperation of employees and workers of the electricity companies. "The labor federation (Fetraelect) represents important support, and it is a presidential order to direct and control union power." Already in Carabobo, Bolívar and others, committee hearings consolidated these into assemblies to be chaired by the minister. Rodriguez also said the ministry will create political awareness by saving 20 percent of current consumption. To this end, the executive will sign a series of decrees related to the purchase of items such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, among others.

Between 7:00 and 8:00 yesterday morning, the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge remained closed (Táchira state, Venezuela-Colombia border) because of a protest of motocycle taxi drivers burning tires. The protesters used the hot and steamy blockade for protesting the about-face imposed by the Bolivarian National Guard. Source: Diario La Opinión

By Edo - Diario El Mundo:

Yesterday afternoon Hanibal Hector, chief inspector of the DISIP (Police national government policy), was arrested when he fled after leaving a blue Explorer with a grenade and some documents tried to accuse the Regional Police of Zulia (PRZ) of plotting. He remains imprisoned in his command headquarters in El Milagro. Odalis Caldera, Secretary of Security and Public Order of the state of Zulia, explained that the parking lot of the Economists Association presented a commission from the Disip, who stated that there was a bomb on location. "When the people from the neighboring building came along, they shouted that someone had abandoned the truck that was outside. Antikidnapping Brigade officers grabbed him when he was getting onto a motorcycle." They immediately captured the individual, and PRZ officials said that they found a grenade in the glove compartment of the vehicle; garments that similar to those worn by officers assigned to the anti-kidnapping and auto theft division; a photo of the faces of Cilia Flores, president of the National Assembly, Nicolas Maduro, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Tarek El Aisaimi, Minister of Interior and Justice, inside a red circle with a list of phone numbers of commissioners from PRZ headquarters. "The situation shows unfortunately that they were seeking to implicate the Zulia Regional Police in an attack," said Caldera

Newsweek's Mac Margolis recounts the basic drivers of the looming "war" here. And he pretty much gets it. But if you want to know who really gets it, look no further than Caracas Chronicles:

The whole narrative about a virtual US occupation of Colombia and the imminent threat of gringo-prodded invasion is too weird, too unhinged to take at face value. This may, indeed, come to be remembered as one of the most catastrophic misreadings of a declared presidential intention in the Chávez era, but I really don't think so.

Instead, what I'd say to my Colombian friends is this: Hugo Chávez has decided to cast you in the role of villain.

As in March 2008, military troops mobilized battle tanks to the border with Colombia in the state of Zulia yesterday. Several trucks, with at least 12 military vehicles, roamed Maracaibo in the afternoon. Source: Diario La Verdad

By Bozzone - Diario El Carabobeño:

"Don't take that off your mouth until we're approved for Mercosur."

President Chávez yesterday blamed a "media manipulation" for the fact that his "reflections" on the crisis with Colombia were presented as a call to war and reiterated that his aim was "to ensure peace." "Venezuelan soldiers are pacifists and we prepare for war to ensure peace, that's what I said yesterday, but what turned the world's head is that Chávez is calling for war," he said. "Look for yourselves how the media manipulates," he said. Chávez stressed that his speech on Sunday, which has provoked more criticism than accessions, was to "prepare more to defend" Venezuela from the "threat" which he believes is posed by the agreement to allow U.S. military use of bases in Colombia.

The press office of Brazilian Senator Eduardo Azeredo of the center-left Social Democrat Party (PSDB - MG) has just released the following announcement:

Vote on Agreement on the Accession of Venezuela to Mercosur is Postponed

The senate vote on the agreement on the accession of Venezuela to Mercosur has been postponed until next week. The decision was made with the agreement of party leaders as the issue has generated numerous controversies. "I had a concern with the unsuitable behavior of Hugo Chávez, but now he is threatening to start a war with Colombia. In addition, the Venezuelan president has not resolved his issues with the Brazilian Senate. The postponement is necessary," said Senator Eduardo Azeredo, recalling two episodes: Chávez said that Brazil's congress is a parrot of the U.S. Congress, and the Venezuelan Ambassador to Brazil did not respond to the invitation to discuss the accession of Venezuela to Mercosur with the Senators.

Let's step back from this Colombia-Venezuela "war" threat for a moment.

Pablo Escobar's son, who now goes by the name Sebastián Marroquín, is discussing a new documentary about to be released in Buenos Aires about growing up Escobar. The point here to me - or at least, having not yet seen the movie - seems to be less about drug trafficking and more about how a person confronts the notion of reconciliation in a society where people have memories that often stretch back generations. There are a lot of emotions that this publicity effort provokes, and as I have only just finished my first pass at it I will surely not capture them all in this blog post. But suffice it to say I am glad to have the luxury of being able to read this from a distance without any personal stake whatsoever in anything anywhere near this story.

The Guardian:

In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Marroquín has revealed the motivation behind an extraordinary new documentary, entitled Los Pecados de mi Padre (The Sins of my Father), which culminates in an attempt to make his peace with the sons of two prominent Colombian politicians, murdered at the behest of his father.

Following is a translation we have just received of a press release from the International Commission of Jurists concerning the case of Eligio Cedeño.

Geneva, 9 November 2009

International Commission of Jurists Expresses Concern About Serious Violations of Due Process against Eligio Cedeño

In a letter to the Venezuelan attorney general's office dated 7th September, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) voiced concern over a series of human rights violations which have occurred during the ongoing criminal prosecution against Eligio Cedeño. Mr. Cedeño, a Venezuelan businessman, was charged in November 2005 with financial crimes has been deprived of his freedom since 2007.

The International Crisis Group has just released a report entitled "Venezuela: Accelerating the Bolivarian Revolution", examining how in 2009 the Chávez government has progressively abandoned core liberal democracy principles guaranteed under the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights.

Press release is here, overview is here, report is here.

Following is the English translation of a press release just published on Noticia Capital of Brazil.

"Colonel Chávez's current sabre-rattling in Venezuela, including the sending of 15,000 troops to the border with Colombia in order to deter an alleged attempt at aggression, confirms everything we have been saying about the Chávez régime inventing external enemies simply to distract attention of the Venezuelan people from the multiple problems that beset the country," said Canadian attorney Robert Amsterdam, a specialist in the defence of victims of human rights violations, on the eve of a vote by the plenary Brazilian Senate on Venezuela's accession to Mercosur.

Amsterdam defends a political prisoner in Venezuela, Eligio Cedeño, who has been incarcerated for two and a half years without trial in the Secret Police jail in Caracas, and has been condemned to two more years, simply for having challenged Chávez. Amsterdam has met with the leaders of the Brazilian Senate, arguing that the entry of the Chávez régime into Mercosur would be both a blow to Mercosur, and a desecration of its democratic clause.

Residents of several communities in Ciudad Guayana of Bolivar state closed Cisneros Avenue, where they released gas in protest of the problems they have faced in purchasing bottled gas service for several months now. The residents requested that the situation be resolved and tired of dealing with it. Source: El Diario de Guayana

By Edo - Diario El Mundo:

The possibility that Venezuela may go to war with Colombia is rejected by eight out of ten Venezuelans, according to a study released on Tuesday by one of the major pollsters in the country. The national survey indicates that 79.9% of Venezuelans disagree with the threats of war President Chávez has been making against Colombia since the diplomatic crisis erupted between the two countries last July. The survey was conducted by the private firm Datanalisis from the 5 to the 16 September among 1,299 persons, with a margin of error of 2.7%. Also, 67.5% of respondents rejected the ban on bilateral trade between Venezuela and Colombia, and 66.8% opposed the Venezuelan government breaking diplomatic relations with the neighbouring country.

Or at least, that's what the headline SHOULD have been. What I'm referring to here is Arturo Valenzuela's confirmation to be US State Department's Assistant Secretary of State of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Frankly, this whole charade led by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint brings to mind an old standby joke on Capitol Hill:

"If the opposite of pro is con, what's the opposite of progress? Congress!"

EFE picks up the story here, with Steve Clemons of the Washington Note adding his two cents here.

Barquisimeto greeted Monday morning convulsed by different causes. Educators, workers, staff and surveillance officers demanded that the governor move them from contractors to full-time workers. Residents of Barrio Nuevo also burned tires and demanded the replacement of asphalt that Hidrolara removed to conduct pipeline work. To this, the claim of thirty truck driver associations from Lara state was added. They are all demanding public safety. Source: Diario El Impulso

By Weil - diario Tal Cual:

Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, upon concluding the "International Meeting for a Christmas without political prisoners", said the call on our youth to go to war with Colombia is not acceptable and that it is necessary to declare "a peaceful Christmas in Venezuela." "Mr. President, you are responsible for the situation of political prisoners now living in Venezuela. Do not call on our young men to risk their lives in war. Invite them to build the new country we need. Enough of hatred and rancor," said Ledezma, who said the Venezuelan president as was partly responsible for the failures in public services and insecurity plaguing the country. "Not only your ministers are responsible, you are too, because it was you who appointed those officials and keeps them."

El Universal is carrying an interview with Juan Pablo López, deputy president of the Federation of University Centers of the Central University of Venezuela (FCU-UCV), about the recent trip of a Venezuelan student delegation to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington. The original is article is here. A translation follows.

On 30 October a delegation of 14 university student traveled to Washington to meet with the executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Santiago Cantón, to explain to him firsthand the situation of persecuted, exiled and political prisoners of Venezuela. The meeting was the result of the 30 September agreement to cease the six-day hunger strike that 160 students staged throughout the country.

Juan Pablo López, deputy president of the Federation of University Centers of the Central University of Venezuela (FCU-UCV), formed the delegation and vividly recounts the 60 minute-long interview, highlighting as "positive" his impression of Cantón and other officials in response to discussing the reality of human rights in the country.

By Nestor - diario El Impulso:

The Colombian government announced yesterday that it will take the "threats of war" launched by President Chávez to the United Nations Security Council and the Organization of American States (OAS). Colombia "has not made nor will it make a single gesture of war to the international community, and even less to a neighboring country," according to a issued by Colombia's foreign ministry, adding that the government "stands ready for an open dialogue" to resolve the crisis with Venezuela. "The only interest that drives us is overcoming narco-terrorism that for so many years has mistreated Colombians," according to the statement, which insists on having the conflict mediated "in accordance with understanding and standards of international law." The text states in conclusion that "in the face of war threats from the Venezuelan government, Colombia proposes taking this matter to the Organisation of American States and the Security Council of the United Nations".

Espacio Público, a Caracas-based non-profit independent NGO devoted to defending human rights, just released a new report covering free speech violations in Venezuela from January to September of this year. Among their findings:

• 165 registered violations of free speech
• The states with the most violations are Caracas (103), Táchira (12) and Carabobo (11), followed by Anzoátegui and Mérida with 5 each.
• 105 cases were perpetrated by the government, 24 by third parties and 20 by an unknown source.
• The January-September period of this year represents 85 percent increase over the same period last year.

Access full report here.

Richard Casanova, Secretary General of the party Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) complained that the Minister of Electricity and former chairman of the Energy and Mines Committee of the National Assembly, Angel Rodriguez, is stealing electricity directly from the power lines. He said the images show that "there is an illegal electric power connection to light up Minister Angel Rodriguez's house in Puerto La Cruz in the state of Anzoátegui. Source: Últimas Noticias

By Weil - diario Tal Cual:

Venezuelan Vice-President Ramón Carrizález noted on Thursday the deployment of 15,000 National Guard officers along the country's western border (in the states of Amazonas, Apure, Bolívar, Barinas, Táchira and Zulia) as part of Operation Sentinel, which combats illegal mining and the presence of irregular groups. The operations are divided according to the problems the government detects in each area. Carrizález specified that in Zulia, Operation Sierra XXI "will be tasked with destroying illegal planting." Nevertheless he stressed that currently "there is no illegal planting in Venezuela." Carrizález said that Operation Blue Gold will be carried out "to fight the illegal exploitation of the mineral coltan. The exploitation of coltan, a mineral found in abundance, is strategic, because it has been taken out of the country and large sums of money have been paid for it."

They didn't get through. With helmets, body armor, rolls and shields, National Guard officers prevented the peaceful march of public school workers without contracts who arrived at the Educational Zone building in Zulia (ZEZ). They still did not surrender. Protesters sang the anthem in front of the wall of guards and repudiated the detainment. They reported that they were not allowed to exercise their rights granted by the constitution: to protest peacefully. Minutes later those affected and those who supported the march knelt on the pavement to say a prayer: they prayed for the intervention of the Ministry of Education. Source: Diario La Verdad

By Morfeus - Noticiero Digital:

With stringent controls to enter or leave the country, the border crossing between Venezuela and Colombia was reopened at international bridges "Simón Bolívar", San Antonio and "Francisco de Paula Santander" of Ureña.. On the San Antonio bridge, from the morning until about 3 pm on Wednesday, vehicles were not allowed to pass through to Colombia, but were allowed to enter from Colombia. From 3 pm onwards, three was traffic in both directions, although the traffic was very slow, since the guards stationed at the main customs checkpoint were asking for and carefully reviewing, one by one, vehicle and driver documents. The National Guard continued its raids in the barrios of San Antonio and Ureña, as well as the parish El Palotal. Those detained in a preventive manner, including Venezuelans and Colombians, were transferred to the military commands.

In the latest on the ongoing Orinoco bonanza, Bloomberg and Dow Jones have the most detail on this story so far - Chevron's President of Latin America and Africa Ali Moshiri has announced that the company is willing to submit to contracts with the Venezuelan government that ban international arbitration in case of conflict.

Looks like Chevron wants to consider itself a "friendly". And looks like I was right - it's scenario 2.

Wow.

Several people climb stairs to illegally cross the International Simón Bolívar bridge in Táchira, the border crossing between Colombia and Venezuela in the Colombian city of Cúcuta. The two main crossings between the two countries remained closed yesterday. So far economic losses in the area are estimated at $4 million a day. Source: Diario El Aragüeño

By Rayma - diario El Universal:

The governor of Táchira state, César Pérez Vivas, responded to statements from Vice President Ramón Carrizales, who accused him of being complicit with Colombian paramilitaries and denied that the government had disarmed regional police. "The politics of Chávez leads us down the wrong path, the goal is to take me out of power by force because I won votes from them. They have to resort to terrorist propaganda to slander a man who defends freedom," he said, adding that the President Chávez is bound to and protecting the FARC. "They are creating a crisis with Colombia and that is treasonous," he said. Pérez Vivas took the opportunity to denounce the unemployment caused in his state resulting from closing the border. "There are more than 20,000 unemployed people in Táchira because there is a total economic shutdown at the border."

The third annual Legatum Prosperity Index was released last week, and what it says about Venezuela is predictably less than flattering. Produced by the Legatum Institute, a division of the Dubai-based Legatum Group, the index attempts to rank 104 countries (covering 90 percent of the world's population) based on a definition of prosperity that combines economic growth with measures of happiness and quality of life.

This ranking is forged according to each country's overall ability to foster the following nine drivers of prosperity: Economic Fundamentals, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Education, Democratic Institutions, Governance, Health, Personal Freedom, Security and Social Capital.

Venezuela comes in with a ranking of 74th. To put this in perspective, consider the following:

• Venezuela is the lowest performing country in Latin America, narrowly beaten by Bolivia (73rd) and Ecuador (71st).

El Nuevo Herald ran an interview with Robert Amsterdam last week, discussing the Eligio Cedeño case. Following is a translation of the article, the original is accessible here.

Venezuelan businessman is a political prisoner, says attorney

After two years and nine months in prison awaiting trial, much longer than Venezuelan laws allow, businessman Eligio Cedeño will have to endure another eight months behind bars in a maximum security prison in Caracas, in one of the most emblematic cases of how justice functions in Venezuela.

After issuing a release order for Cedeño under the argument that "preventive" detention of Cedeno for so long was "disproportionate" and had no justification, Judge Ana Villavicencio, presiding judge for appellate court 8 in Caracas, suddenly changed her mind and ordered the release not only suspended, but extended Cedeño's imprisonment until mid 2010 after an appeal by the attorney general.

After spending several hours without electrical service, residents protested in the neighborhood La Vela in Colina, Central Sector of Falcon state. With sticks, stones, rubber and other objects, they interfered with vehicular passage specifically on Falcon Street, reporting that the lights went out on Sunday evening, and yesterday morning they were without plumbing, while others said it had been 72 hours without service. Source: Diario La Mañana

By Zapata - diario El Nacional:

Hugo Chávez's government has increased its repression against demonstrators and strikers in the last two years, arresting more people and causing more injuries and deaths, three nonprofit organizations reported Monday to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Six students were killed by police during protests in the past year and 2,240 people were on trial for protesting or participating in strikes in the past five years, activists said. Often the demonstrations are peaceful and violence results from the behaviour of the state, said the activists. Furthermore, the number of criminal trials, the detention of demonstrators and the prohibition of strikes has also increased, said Marino Alvarado of the Venezuelan Program of Education-Action in Human Rights (PROVEA). According to the groups, 139 public demonstrations have been suppressed so far this year. In 60 of these protests, 461 were wounded.

Last week the Brazilian magazine Época, one of the most widely read news magazines in the country, published an interview with Robert Amsterdam about the Eligio Cedeño case and the role of Brazil in hemispheric relations and the defence of human rights (the full spread is three pages, including a photo), entitled, "Lula closes his eyes to human rights." The online page of the magazine is closed to subscribers only but under the "Mundo" section on this page the teaser can be found. Translation follows.

LULA CLOSES HIS EYES TO HUMAN RIGHTS

The attorney of political prisoners in Venezuela, Russia, Bulgaria and Guatemala says the president ignores the abuses of Chávez and Ahmadinejad

By Juliano Machado and Helio Gurovitz

The Venezuelan banker Eligio Cedeño, 44 years old, has been in protective custody prison since February 2007 facing charges of financial fraud. On October 14th a court of appeals decided that Cedeño would wait for his trial in freedom. Not only was he not released, he might be in jail until mid-2010. Last week, Cedeño's main attorney, Robert Amsterdam, went to Brasília to meet the president of the Brazilian Senate José Sarney and other senators to denounce the abuses of Venezuelan Justice, controlled by President Hugo Chávez. In an interview with ÉPOCA, Amsterdam shows his frustration with the position of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva concerning the Chávez political regime and that of the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The following is a translation of coverage from O Estado de São Paulo of the white paper, 'The Bolivarian Rule of Lawlessness'. The original article is accessible here.

Report accuses Chávez of manipulating the judiciary

Document warns that the system works well, but only for the purposes of the Venezuelan President

Denise Chrispim Marin - O Estado de S. Paulo

BRASILIA - The report, the Bolivarian State of Lawlessness, prepared by lawyers Robert Amsterdam, of Toronto, and Gonzalo Himiob Santomé and Antonio Rosich, of Caracas, warns that the judiciary in Venezuela is working reasonably well, but only for the purposes of the government of Hugo Chávez. As a result of this model, there are 62 political prisoners and 250 students who demonstrated against Chávez being processed.

This is a couple of days old as I'm playing catch-up with a few items leftover from last week. Following is my translation of the press release from the Brazilian Senate on Foreign Relations and National Defence concerning the committee's approval of Venezuela's bid to enter Mercosur.

Brazilian Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approves Venezuela's entry into Mercosur

Committees / Foreign Relations

29 October 2009

After four hours of intense debate, the Protocol of Accession of Venezuela to the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) was approved on Thursday (29 October) by the Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defence (CRE). The proposal now goes to vote on the Senate floor.

For anyone who has read Professor John Ruggie's works on corporations and human rights, I would like to draw attention to the following comments on the pending Iberdrola-Elecnor deal in Venezuela by one of my favorite Venezuela blogs, Caracas Chronicles.

Assuming $750 million is the true cost, can anyone doubt that if the government had run a proper public tender, we would collectively be $1.25 billion richer than we are? At what point do the crimes against public coffers reach the tipping point when people realize their country is being pillaged from the inside out?

Of course, Chávez has a few madre patria enablers in this deal. And while it is impossible to claim they are in on it, they are hardly innocent bystanders.

The irony reaches pitch level when you find out Iberdrola is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, scoring highly on, among other things, "social responsibility." One has to wonder: are Iberdrola's and Elecnor's shareholders aware of these shenanigans?

Illegal land squatters on territory adjacent to the Terrazas del Caroni settlement in Puerto Ordaz (Bolivar state) sparked trouble and concern of area residents, who fear that the "anarchical" installation of new people in the area will have an impact on security, which they claim is already happening, as well as a negative impact on the quality of basic services. Source: Diario El Correo del Caroni

Por Edo - diario El Mundo:

"For humanitarian reasons" was the response the Peruvian government gave for extending the territorial asylum term it granted to former student leader Nixon Moreno, according to a statement issued yesterday by his attorneys Alonso Medina Roa and Tamara Sujú. The request would be submitted by Moreno and his attorneys through the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), according to their statement. Moreno, considered one of Venezuela's political refugees, has been in Lima since March this year, when he escaped the protection of the Vatican embassy in Caracas, where he was exiled for two years. He decided to go there after becoming a target of persecution by the police, who issued a detention warrant against him.