Court Delivers New Setback to Venezuela Vote Hopes

[Judi Lynn]

Court Delivers New Setback to Venezuela Vote Hopes
2 hours, 3 minutes ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!



CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela's Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a ruling favoring a referendum against President Hugo Chavez, the latest setback to opposition efforts to vote the leftist leader out of office.



The constitutional magistrates annulled a March 15 decision by the Supreme Court's Electoral Chamber, which had found the opposition initially obtained well above the minimum 2.4 million signatures required to trigger a recall vote against Chavez.
(snip/)

~~~~ link ~~~~

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. If Venezuelan legislators had any smarts...

...they'd be pushing to scrap this referendum nonsense from their Constitution and reducing the Presidential term. They'll be preventing a lot of grief for the future.

As for Chávez, well, if he's so bad he'll surely be voted out when his term is up, won't he?

[daleo]

2. We will soon be told this court is corrupt

The media and hmm.. 'others', will soon be letting us know the depths of corruption, drug running, and other depravities that this court represents. Count on it.

[cprise]

3. This is a blow to John Kerry

After accusing Chavez of being an anti-democratic thug.

What are the chances that Kerry would try to topple Venezuela's president?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

4. this is a blow to the rabid ant-chavez people (many in this forum)

it won't affect Kerry at all.

And if the people really want him out so bad (and the elections are fair - a BIG if) then he won't be re-elected

[Zhade]

22. One less such person, now that windansea got banned.

I truly hope no one fell for the propaganda that guy was selling!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

23. I think he's back. Not doing a good job at playing it off either.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

29. seems to be

going by the name "Sanity" now, though he might have been banned already

[dax]

25. Gone?

I wondered-it was refreshing to get a daily dose of propaganda dense-too much syrup, no flavor.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

26. Feast your eyes on this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=135441

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

30. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!

When will we see this with Sanity?

[Judi Lynn]

5. US attacks on Venezuela: interview with Venezuela's Army Commander

Published: Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Bylined to: Toni Solo


US attacks on Venezuela: interview with Venezuela's Army Commander

VENEZUELA: An interview with General Raul Baduel, Commander of the Venezuelan army by Heinz Dieterich, translated with an introductory note by Toni Solo

Central America activist Toni Solo writes: The barbaric violation of basic legal norms revealed by British detainees lately released from Guantanamo is emblematic of US foreign policy root and branch. Open or covert illegal aggression has always been a principal tool of US foreign policy. The energy needs of the US and its allies will dictate the next likely savage intervention -- in Venezuela.

Venezuela is an obstacle to the full implementation of US plans for the region. Those plans require control of extraction and transport of Latin America's energy resources and on destroying the region's food sovereignty. Plan Colombia, Plan Puebla Panama and the “free trade” corporate welfare scams the US seeks to impose on the region are the main policy instruments to achieve those goals. Multinational European corporations are willing collaborators.

It is certainly not mere coincidence that the US now has military bases in the Dutch Antilles -- Curacao and Aruba. Like the other huge oil companies including British Petroleum and the United States oil giants, the Anglo Dutch oil multinational Shell would love a free hand in a privatized Venezuelan oil industry. It goes without saying that European Union foreign policy prioritizes European energy needs. This fact probably does much to explain why European mainstream media resolutely refuse to report the facts of political and economic events in the country,
(snip/...)

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16654

[Judi Lynn]

6. Venezuelan Supreme Court Panel Rejects Recall Ruling

Venezuelan Supreme Court Panel Rejects Recall Ruling (Update2)
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Venezuelan Supreme Court's constitutional chamber, in a decision contradicting its electoral panel, ruled that President Hugo Chavez's opponents haven't gathered enough valid signatures for a recall vote.

The decision by the constitutional chamber will probably be appealed to the full 20-judge Supreme Court, further delaying an effort by the opposition to force Chavez from office, said analysts such as Julia Buxton, a professor of political science at the London-based Kingston University.

``The agony continues, and Venezuela's constitutional crisis keeps getting deeper and deeper,'' Buxton said in a telephone interview. ``I don't see how this crisis can end as people won't negotiate as their positions become more entrenched.''

The ruling by the constitutional panel, in which backers of the president hold a majority, contradicts one made last week by the electoral chamber which held that 876,000 disputed signatures seeking a recall of Chavez should be counted as valid. That ruling would give the opposition enough signatures to force a referendum vote on the president.
(snip/...)

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aPBx_EGbuDWE&refer=latin_america

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

7. are all the anti-chavez folks stuck on that Kerrey post?

I though they'd jump all over this.

[hang a left]

8. ah....heeeeell no....... don't anyone tell windansea

n/t







on edit wrong handle
thank you post #9

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

9. you mean windansea and his girlfriend?

They're probably curled up in a ball on their floor. He was so quick to post how Chavez was almost done for. I don't imagine he will show up here. Maybe he will. Let's wait and see...

[Judi Lynn]

10. We'll know when he blows back into town, won't we?

He's off trying to invent his next name and attractive logo. I imagine he probably painted his last one himself.

He may have had a tag-team effort going on, as it seems no one human could locate that many "opposition" sources that quickly.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

11. well he often spoke of his "gorgeous" venezuelan girlfriend

my theory is they sat at two computers together hitting up any oligarch sponsored media outlet and poorly sourced blog to push the Oil industry's line. He can change whatever he wants, his rhetoric will stand out like a sore thumb

[hang a left]

15. Well, what do you know?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1274755

[Judi Lynn]

12. Venezuela probes firms over "political coercion"

Venezuela probes firms over "political coercion"
Reuters, 03.22.04, 5:46 PM ET


By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela said Monday it was investigating local affiliates of Coca-Cola , PepsiCo and other firms after receiving complaints that they forced employees to sign a petition for a referendum against leftist President Hugh Chavez.

The Chavez government announced the probe as it defended itself against accusations by labor unions and the opposition that it was waging a campaign of intimidation against public sector workers who signed up for the recall vote.

Opposition leaders say the government has threatened to fire thousands of state employees who joined the referendum campaign as Chavez fights a possible ballot box challenge this year.

Labor Minister Maria Iglesias said the investigation into alleged intimidation also included Parmalat , U.S. glass container maker Owens-Illinois, local private firms and state governor offices controlled by the opposition.
(snip/...)

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/03/22/rtr1307730.html

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

13. Now where have I heard this before?

Coersion. Beautiful

[Judi Lynn]

14. It would be interesting to see some of the lines lead right back here

I had assumed earlier the companies which pressured employees into signing the petitions, using termination as the threat, were all Venezuelan companies.

It would be choice if the American companies could really get nailed on this.

[TinaTyson]

16. For some reason my completely different much more detailed

article was locked.

Here it is.

Venezuela’s Recall Process Allowed to Continue With Supreme Court Ruling
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1235

[Judi Lynn]

18. You posted an excellent article. It SHOULD be read by everyone

interested in what happened today with the new S.C. ruling on the petition. It has a LOT of important information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was written right after the second judgement came, this time from the first opposition appeal last week:

The National Elections Council had asked for confirmation of 870,000 signatures it said were questionable. The opposition claimed that the ruling would create a logistical nightmare that would have killed the recall drive.

But on Monday, the high court said that council must consider those signatures valid unless citizens come forward to disclaim them.

Though the ruling spared Chavez opponents the effort of mobilizing voters to come forward and confirm they signed, it still remains far from certain that a recall vote will be held even though the opposition now has more than enough signatures.

The issue now is in the hands of the 20-member high court, which is divided into several chambers dealing with different areas of law. Monday's ruling came from the court's electoral chamber, whose three magistrates are accused of favoring the opposition.
(snip/...)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/16/venezuela.recall.ap/

Happy opposition nimrods celebrating the coup in April, 2002:





(After you've been posting a while, you'll notice that it's the practice to consolidate the threads on any one subject, and that unless there's been a mistake, or some unusual element pertains, the first person to post an article on any one subject generally has the thread to which others are added. I'd imagine it's for the posters' convenience, to prevent having the subject they're interested in appearing in different places at the same time.)

[AP]

19. I vaguely remember, but am not certain, that there was some

sort of intrigue involved in the way the three judges were selected for the panel which issued the original ruling. They went around normal procedure. But I can't remember all the details.

Another thing to remember is that the Supreme Court in VZ is not known to be pro-Chavez. Most judges were appointed by previous governments, I believe. And it's not like the Universities and the legal profession have been producing super liberal judges. So it's basically a group of people, about half of whom are trying to help the opposition, and the other half of whom are trying to interpret the consitution fairly, and NONE of them are really biased in favor of Chavez.

That's my understanding.

Furthermore, this is the case in many postcolonial and postimperial governments. It's always the courts who are the last and biggest hurdle for progress. Nigeria is an excellent example of this problem.

[TinaTyson]

20. Yeah I understand why but seeing that the headlines

express two completely opposite takes on the situation I would have liked to see them separatley in Latest Breaking.

The headline of the posted article is way out of bounds. This is actually an example of their system functioning rather smoothly. The various SEPARATE, INDEPENDENT branches of government have all done their jobs. The headline makes it sound like it is a bad thing.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Makes you sick, actually!

As you read more and more on this subject, you'll discover a great many sources in the States are truly biased, to the extreme, and it comes through even in the choice of words in their headlines, so they get the jump on the unsuspecting reader.

They really intend to mold peoples' perceptions for them, which is a real slap in the face to anyone. It's actually LYING, only done in an even more underhanded way.

[Vladimir]

27. I couldn't agree more

I gotta say JudiLyn, the quality and breadth of the research you do on here never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for all the time you put in, its appreciated.

V

[Judi Lynn]

28. Hi, V. Thanx for the encouragement. I've just had some time.That's all.

Have finished reading all the Venezuela threads today, and it does look as if we're being blessed again with a visiting pro-coup plotter enthusiast, doesn't it?

They've got to get their guys back in so they can complete their privatization program and get their grubby mitts on Venezuelan oil.
I guess if they make conspicuous fools of themselves in the effort, it's worth the price to them.

Trying to flim-flam Americans, so we'll go along with _Bush's plan to eliminate their President seems very dishonest.

[AP]

17. For the sake of a little context...

...it's probably worth reminding people why they need to confirm 600K or so signatures.

When the procedures for collecting signatures were agreed, both sides conceded that rigorous procedures were required to prevent fraud. IIRC, both sides decided that signatures could only be collected at stations where IDs were confirmed, and where two people observed, and where careful tabulations were made at the end of each day, and forwarded to a non-partisan signature collection center. (California should be jealous as hell!)

All well and good. Who could complain. Well, the opposition decided that this procedure would exclude people who were sick in hospital or whom, for whatever other reason, couldn't make it to the polling stations.

So they agreed to a second set of rules and procedures -- for, what they called, I believe, "walk around lists."

Well, guess where all the similar handwriting, and failures to provide all the required information were found? That's right. On the walk around lists.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Updated Reuters article

Venezuela Top Court Deals Blow to Chavez Referendum
Tue Mar 23, 8:34 PM ET

By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - A branch of Venezuela's politically split Supreme Court dealt what could be a crippling blow on Tuesday to opposition hopes of securing a referendum against President Hugo Chavez by overturning a previous decision in favor of a recall vote.

The Constitutional Chamber declared void a March 15 ruling by the court's Electoral Chamber that said the leftist leader's foes had initially obtained more than the minimum 2.4 million pro-referendum signatures needed to trigger a vote.

Chavez's government, which has rejected the opposition vote petition as riddled with fraud, welcomed Tuesday's decision. Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel said it meant the referendum bid was "dying a natural death."

Opposition leaders condemned it as proof that the populist president, whom they accuse of ruling like a dictator, was manipulating state institutions like the Supreme Court to block the recall vote and cling to power by undemocratic means.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040324/wl_nm/venezuela_referendum_dc_3