National Assembly Representative Ismael Garcia denounced before the Finance Committee the existence of a report from the Directorate General of Intelligence and Prevention Services, also known as the Disip. During the Globovision program "Aló Ciudadano", in which part of the report was discussed, the MP said that President Chávez can not claim to have been unaware of the alleged irregularities in these banks. The Disip-originated investigation infers, according to Garcia, that three of the four banks were self-financing with the intent of turning a profit from it. That is, according to the report that is now in the hands of the National Assembly's Finance Committee, the federal government would have to have known about the alleged irregularities since February 2009. Garcia stressed that President Chávez did know businessman Ricardo Fernandez Barrueco and noted that there are videos where Chavez spoke positively of the banker. Garcia said that Fernandez Barrueco now under arrest because he no longer serves the Bolivarian revolution's purpose and that the national government was able to prevent the tragedy with these banks as it knew of their situation since February.
Álvaro Uribe complained yesterday that the Venezuelan government made an "illegal and unjust embargo" on Colombia's economy, while urging the Chávez government to protect Colombians living in Venezuela while speaking to local media. "What's really in Venezuela is an embargo against the Colombian economy. And it is an illegal, unfair embargo," Uribe told the privately-held radio station Todelar. According to President Uribe, although in the last Ibero-American Summit in Estoril, Portugal he refrained from discussing the matter publicly due to the absence of his Venezuelan counterpart, he discussed the issue privately with several heads of state. "In private, I told them: worry about that, because what it is is an embargo, an illegal embargo. Many have complained about the embargo against Cuba, and now what Venezuela has is an embargo against Colombia. They are creating a Berlin Wall against Colombia," Uribe said.
President Chávez said the country is in a class struggle between the "bourgeois" and "proletariat" that is "irreconcilable", while rejecting an appeal from the Catholic Church in favor of an amnesty law. "We are in the midst of an historic struggle, we are in the midst of class struggle and we must speak. The bourgeoisie and its allies and the people and their allies. Here are two opposing sectors and there's no reconciliation possible," he said during a function with students of social mission educational programmes. Chávez again referred to the appeal of Cardinal Jorge Urosa, who urged the government to approve an amnesty law allowing the release of so-called political prisoners. Chávez also said that in January a new campaign will begin which will run until the 2012 reelection for his third term.
Thanking the people and all Miranda state government workers for their enthusiasm and willingness to mobilise on Tuesday December 1 to defend their state and demand a fair budget, Governor Henrique Capriles Radonski said that "nobody will divide Miranda" and that "the struggle for a fair budget does not end here." He said he still hopes that the budget is reconsidered, but with regard to the special meeting National Assembly representatives called for on Wednesday to approve the National Budget Law, Venezuela "is in bizzaro land." The parliamentarians, "instead of defending their states, raise their hands to have their regions castrated. What we are asking for is that congressmen defend their regions and do not betray the people's will."
According to the Mayor of Baruta, Gerardo Blyde, the violent reaction against a delegation of political leaders who came to the National Assembly to request an increased 2010 budget is the product of an "aggressive and violent discourse" promoted by President Chávez. Mayor Blyde said the incidents were not isolated or spontaneous and confirmed that at the front of the group of assailants was Freddy Bernal, PSUV leader and former mayor of Libertador. Meanwhile, Táchira governor César Pérez Vivas said that violence is a state policy, authored by President Chávez. "This is the line from the president, he encourages them," he said.
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