O.A.S. Seeks Peaceful Solution to Tense Venezuelan Impasse

[Dover]

O.A.S. Seeks Peaceful Solution to Tense Venezuelan Impasse

By JUAN FORERO

March 4, 2004


CARACAS, Venezuela, March 3 — The Organization of American States met Wednesday with electoral officials and opposition leaders in a last-ditch effort to find a peaceful solution to Venezuela's political turmoil, while opponents of President Hugo Chávez called for a major protest march on Thursday.

The situation here has remained tense since the National Electoral Council announced on Tuesday the disqualification of hundreds of thousands of signatures needed to allow a recall referendum on Mr. Chávez.

The president's foes charged that the leftist government pressured electoral authorities to disqualify the signatures in order to derail a referendum, since a successful recall would end Mr. Chávez's tumultuous five-year rule. The opposition leaders contended they had collected more than enough signatures to permit a recall on Mr. Chávez, whom they have fought to oust over the last two years through legal maneuvers, a failed coup, strikes and protests...cont'd >

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/international/americas/04VENE.html

[Kolesar]

1. I wish we could tie this to the abduction of Aristide from Haiti story

There are parallels.

[KenLayedOff]

12. How come Chavez is never in the news here?

Is there a media blackout on him?

[NashVegas]

16. They Want it to Look Like a Spontaneous Outburst

when the shit hits the fan, and not see the US involvement in aiding the opposition.

[TheFarseer]

2. How long are terms there?

6 years? life? Anyone know?

[Joanne98]

3. I think it's 6 years.

I'm not sure though:)

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. why does the NYT say "last-ditch"?

that implies there's a deadline set - for what to happen? Has the opposition threatened something?
At least they acknowledge that it was a failed coup, not a legitimate otherthrow.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

5. They probably know something we don't.

[bemildred]

6. Spin, inflate the crisis. nt

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

7. A couple weeks ago the Columbians were amassing at the border

we know who backs the columbians. I think Haitiwas meant to set an example. We can remove you wether you like it or not. Setting examples is part of the PNAC game plan.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. Uribe is a stooge and a POS.

But I hope he's not as stupid as to start a regional war. If he fucked with Venezuela that's what could happen.

[bemildred]

10. "I think Haiti was meant to set an example."

I agree. More than anything it was meant to scare people.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

8. Isn't Venezuela at the head of OPEC?

This is, and ultimately always will be, and issue of oil.

[AP]

11. OAS was a big critic of recent Haitian elections. Maxine Waters said that

when she asked (can't remember whom) for evidence supporting allegations of fraud in those elections, nobody could produce anything.

OAS is, I'm sure, not on the side of democracy, but on the side of promoting US interests.

[Say_What]

13. OAS head Gaviria is former Colombian president and no bargin

Here's some background on Cesar Gaviria in Venezuela as well as a HWR while he was president of Colombia:

<clips>
... Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), has just squandered whatever credibility the organization tenuously had as mediator in the Venezuelan conflict. He should leave Caracas immediately – where he has become a destabilizing force against democracy and constitutional rule – and cease posing as a “mediator” of a power-struggle in which he is, now transparently, a partisan player.

On the very same day – Monday, December 9th – that the permanent council of the Organization of American States (OAS), representing all nations in América, stated that “all the countries of the hemisphere ratify unanimously our support for Venezuelan democracy,” the OAS chairman, in Caracas, showed his contempt for that same Venezuelan democracy and the right of public assembly.

According to the French Press Agency (AFP), Gaviria “condemned” peaceful demonstrations by the Venezuelan people outside of pro-coup TV stations Globovision, Venevision, and other commercial media corporations. The “news coverage” of those media companies in recent days has been at extreme levels of simulation and dishonesty even for them: the people have had enough. Terming the popular assemblies as “acts of intimidation” against a “free press,” Gaviria called upon the Chávez government to use repression against the demonstrators.

“The secretary general of the OAS is deeply worried about the acts of intimidation against the installations of some of the principal media of the country such as Radio Caracas Television, the De Armas Group, Venevision and Globovision,” Gaviria stated through an OAS press release from the posh Melia Hotel in Downtown Caracas, according to AFP.

http://www.narconews.com/Issue26/article558.html

---

<clips>

On November 8, 1992, Colombian President César Gaviria Trujillo declared a "state of internal commotion," invoking provisions of the Colombian Constitution empowering him to adopt emergency measures in the event of "serious disruption of the public order imminently threatening institutional stability, the security of the state, or the peaceful coexistence of the citizenry." 1 A series of emergency decrees restricted civil liberties, granted additional powers to the military, and punished contact or dialogue with insurgent groups. The decrees marked a reversion to authoritarian patterns of rule supposedly left behind with the passage of the 1991 Constitution. 2

http://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/colombia/stateintro.htm

[Judi Lynn]

14. Why haven't our media given this story any attention?

There should be a very interesting explanation behind it:

Commercial media silent on positive U.S. statements
U.S. State Department Expresses Support for Venezuela's Electoral Authorities

Thursday, Mar 04, 2004 Print format
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By: Venezuelanalysis.com


Caracas, Venezuela. Mar 3, 2004 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gave recognition to Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) and the process of re-confirmation of signatures to be implemented in the next few days in order to determine the validity of up to a million signatures contained in petitions that violate referenda regulations.

The CNE announced last Tuesday that not enough valid signatures were collected by opposition forces to force a recall referendum on President Hugo Chavez, and that signers listed in irregular petitions must appear before authorities to confirm their identities and signature.

"There is a process underway now and we will see how that works itself out as the citizens of Venezuela are able to go to verify their signatures," said Powell after appearing before the House Appropriations Committee of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

Secretary Powell also signaled what could be interpreted as U.S. acceptance of the results of the signature count to decide if a recall on Venezuelan President Chavez should be held. "President Chavez is the democratically elected president of Venezuela and the United States accepts that outcome," said Powell to journalists.
(snip/...)

http://ww.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1214

[Judi Lynn]

15. Wouldn't you just know it? This is predictable, but goddawful.

Venezuela's Media Presents Superficial Information About Deaths in Anti-Government Protests

Thursday, Mar 04, 2004 Print format
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By: Radio Nacional de Venezuela


A National Guard officer is taken to a hospital after receiving gunshots from opponents of President Chavez during a protest in eastern Caracas.
Photo: Misael Snow

Caracas, Venezuela. Mar 3, 2004.- The media along with some health centers are withholding information that would establish the origin of gunshots that have left several dead in the opposition protests, with the aim of placing blame on the National Guard.

Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are protesting to put pressure electoral authorities into approving a recall referendum on the President's mandate.

Information about the wounded and dead resulting from the demonstrations and violent protests of the opposition in recent days has been very superficial and difficult to find.

The lack of information about the caliber of the shots and their origins has raised suspicions. The private media has tried to hide evidence that opposition groups are armed and firing against the public security forces.
(snip/...)

http://ww.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1213