On Saturday I do news hygiene; that is, once I have read the papers I do not watch any news on TV for the rest of the day. No radio, no Globovision, not even Internet Google News. It is the necessary weekly break. So I missed the biggie in Venezuela which I learned about this morning only via the NYT newsletter. Well, at least I can say that my sanitary Saturday satisfied.

Checking back with El Universal, indeed Chavez announced yesterday that he will withdraw the ley sapo for revision, that article 16 which made it mandatory for any one to collaborate with the intelligence apparatus "was a mistake". I suppose that the words of Cardinal Urosa stating that law the secret of confession was violated through that ley sapo were too much pressure, even in a country were Catholic confession is today a rarity. Symbols do have a weight.

Thus in front of universal condemnation of a totally unnecessary law, unless your intention is to establish a dictatorship Cuban style, Chavez decided to step back. Does this prove anything? Yes, it does, but not necessarily what one would wish.

It proves that the government learned from the closing of RCTV. This ley sapo had the potential to become an even worse issue than the closing of RCTV. The prompt outcry which was magnifying stupendously fast through public opinion would have had worse electoral consequences in November. Numbers being much lower than what they were when the decision to close RCTV was taken, the government decided that it would be best to "review" the law. I am willing to bet that it will be entrusted to a commission that will not say anything about it until AFTER the election.

It proves that the government will do a much less arrogant campaign than what it did last year for the referendum. That might improve its chances and teach it some inside how democracy works.

But it also proves without a doubt where chavismo is headed in the long run and even if Chavez withdrew that law we all know, even chavistas, what are his intentions, to create a subject society Cuban style held together through informers. That he might be able to do so is irrelevant, what matters is that he thinks that way and that colors everything he does. Let's not forget that video confession on VTV where his security employees admit already using routine spying on any politician in Venezuela.

No matter what spin control was launched yesterday, it was probably too late and will remain a simmering campaign issue. I expect Rodriguez Chacin to leave the Interior Ministry any time soon: after this major blunder, and the FARC ties that must appear to be over for the time being, he has overstayed his welcome back.

-The end-

For all that is worth Tal Cual reminds us this morning in its front page the numbers of the Russian list, that list that is unconstitutional and designed to remove notable opposition candidates from running for office (see here, here, here and here for details if at this point you have no idea of the hottest debate within the opposition blogosphere in months).

• The list carries 400+ names.
• Of this 80%+ are opposition names who supposedly have perpetrated some corruption or mismanagement crime that has yet to reach any court of justice (the famous article 42 to ensure truly due prohibition from running for office).
• Yet, this 20%- of chavista in the list are issued from the people who truly have access to the oil manna: they come from 21 out of 23 state houses, almost 3/4 of the town halls, and mostly from a public administration that has ballooned under Chavez to nearly twice of what it was in 1998 and which includes dozens of misiones, parallel administrations accountable only to Miraflores Palace.

Who are they trying to fool at Russian's office?

Heck, just with the shameless use of public funds for last Sunday pseudo primaries at the PSUV, the 400+ list should double and should include all the candidates that got the nod last Sunday.

If the Russian/Ruffian criteria were to be strictly applied there would be NO candidate come November.

-The end-

This is the title of the New York Times top story today, by Simon Romero.

Every morning I get an e-mail with the top stories of the major US papers. Usually the subject of the E-mail carries the top story of the day according to the editors (most of the time these days it carries the words Obama or Clinton). And to my great surprise, and dread, Venezuela made it to the top front of the New York Times, to subject of the E-mail as well as the top right corner of the print edition. Indeed it is a worthy piece of news, to observe how a government publishes a law decree, without previous consultation with any public sector, not even the National Assembly, a law decree that will transform Venezuela in a nation of informers, just like Cuba.

Because make no mistake: this new decree law is worse than the Patriot Act of the US. If I bring up this last remark it is because the Bush administration Patriot Act is perhaps its most controversial legal action, the one that has damaged the most its popularity over the years. Not for me to discuss the virtues and sins of the Patriot Act here: I want to limit myself to note that the Patriot Act was lengthily discussed, had to be voted and exists in a country where considerable safeguards exists. Not to mention that September 11 did take place and that the US is truly under constant terrorist threat. Maybe there were better ways to enhance US security but the Patriot Act is still under the constant monitoring of an independent judicial system and a strong press, thus many abuses have been corrected.

None of this would hold true for Venezuela as the new decree law goes into practice.

The Romero article is thorough and is a required reading for anyone living outside of Venezuela. Mr. Romero does not need to be condemnatory of the Chavez regime: the facts speak loudly by themselves, Chavez has entered into an era of repression and this new decree is the first of many to come as his political fortunes keep waning. Make no mistake: Chavez was never a democrat, is unable to understand democracy and the concept of checks and balances. If he managed to retain an image of democrat outside of Venezuela it is because his agenda coincided with many grievances of Venezuelan society, and because oil at 1000 USD a barrel allows for the easy correction of many mistakes and the purchase of much good will. But there comes a point where even a barrel at 200 USD will not be enough. That is when the true Chavez comes out, the Cuban controlled Chavez that we are seeing so clearly with thsi new diktat.

To entice you to read this essential article I will post two paragraphs:

The new law requires people in the country to comply with requests to assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Mr. Chávez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years for most people and four to six years for government employees.

“We are before a set of measures that are a threat to all of us,” said Blanca Rosa Mármol de León, a justice on Venezuela’s top court, in a rare public judicial dissent. “I have an obligation to say this, as a citizen and a judge. This is a step toward the creation of a society of informers.”

-The end-

I have been so busy this week that it is Sunday night and I have not been able yet to write on the new fascist law published last week by the Chavez government. I need to read it in detail and make my report on the matter. Right now what strikes me the most is that it establishes tattling, denunciation by your neighbor as a mandatory activity. For example this blogger who has written repeatedly that the Venezuelan army was in no shape to face war with Colombia is betraying national interests and thus as of now anyone who know shim is under the obligation to going to the authorities and denounce me from divulging opinions that could be used against Venezuela by a foreign power.

Right now there is the editorial of Veneconomia of last Friday which will give you a quick overlook. I predict lot of trouble ahead.

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SINful absence of the rule of law


This week, the Chávez administration dealt a mortal blow to the rule of law in Venezuela and armor-plated its totalitarian regime with the enactment of the Decree-Law on the National Intelligence and Counterintelligence System.

The problem is that this law does not just change the names of or eliminate the Military Intelligence Directorate (DIM) and the Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP).

Nor is it as simple as creating a National Intelligence System (SIN after its initials in Spanish) that will be managed at discretion and with no restrictions by Hugo Chávez; or that this SIN will act like the Gestapo in the days of Adolph Hitler, against anyone who processes or has access to information that may be arbitrarily classified as “confidential,” “secret” or “of strategic interest” to the State.

It is not even merely that this is yet another unconstitutional law, of the many that Hugo Chávez with his special powers has cobbled together on the spur of the moment and behind the backs of the people.

What this is really all about is that this decree-law, published in Official Gazette this Wednesday (May 28), is a lethal weapon that will stifle the rule of law and the citizen’s most elementary civil, political, economic, and social rights. All of these rights, from now on, come under the absolute control of Big Brother, who today goes by the name of Hugo Chávez.

With this decree-law, the Executive (read Hugo Chávez) assumes the “sole power” to search for, process, and divulge information on issues classified as strategic, of economic and geopolitical interest for the country or that might affect “the stability of the democratic institutions and the constitutional order.”

This, in the times of Chávez, could mean anything: from the seizure of a briefcase full of dollars from a public official who is a friend of the regime, to the information on the computer of narco-terrorist Raúl Reyes, to the increasingly opaque balance sheets of PDVSA, INE indicators or the delayed figures of the Central Bank.

Below are the aspects that pose most danger for Venezuelans as regards the exercising their democratic rights and freedoms:
1) It denies all Venezuelans the right to information by forbidding and criminalizing the divulging of information arbitrarily labeled “confidential” or “secret” by some government official.
2) The powers of the new intelligence agencies (i.e. Chávez) are broad, generic, and undefined, which gives more discretionary power to the officers of this new corps.
3) Anyone can be detained without just cause, a court order or the presence of a representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
4) Evidence will be kept secret, which means that the right of the person who has been detained to due process is violated as well as the minimum guarantees that entitle him to have access to the evidence that is being used against him.
5) Nor will the person who is arrested be given the opportunity for legitimate defense in a manner that is just, fair, and timely. According to this law, the opportunity to defend himself will come later, if at all. Definitely, this is a new weapon to eliminate dissidence.


-The end-

One year after taken RCTV from the air waves, the chavista censors have found a way to silence Globovison. Or at least dull considerably their ability to expose the misdeeds of the government: from now on any second lifted from the open broadcast transmission of VTV will be charged at the exorbitant rate of 56 USD. That is, every 30 second that is used by Globovision (and others, cable or open air signal, it does not matter as Globovision is the real target) will cost 1674 USD. And this payable every time it is retransmitted. The memorandum sent by VTV director, ineffable Yuri Pimentel, is worthy of detailed scrutiny as it reveals the clear censorship intentions of the government through VTV.

The first paragraph is a masterpiece of arrogance.

VTV [the state TV, the 24/24 pro chavez propaganda channel at tax payer expense] in defense of its property and its most important asset, which is the the signal that they emit daily to 90% of the national territory; considering that it witness daily the indiscriminate use of its broadcast, through retransmission, by private broadcaster for commercial aims and other, has decided to establish the following payment schedule.

So here we are, the state TV who serves only Chavez, who rarely if ever allows any opposition view inside, will also charge for its broadcast. This would sound pretty reasonable IF THERE WERE another open air broadcast, paid by tax payer, that has 90% coverage of the country and where the political opposition would have, said, at least 40% of air time. IT DOES NOT. The TV stations that air opposition point of views are only private and are limited to regional transmission or to cable. That is the case of RCTV who covered 90% of the country and who now is limited to the 28% homes share of the cable. That is the case of Globovision who fares somewhat better as it also operates with an open signal Caracas and Valencia which roughly gives it a 40% national reach. That is the case of any local TV who individually reach at the very most a 10-15% of the population of Venezuela.

Some of you would said still at this point, "so what?". Let me first point out that a self styled socialist government suddenly considers as private property what belongs to ALL Venezuelans. Indeed, the vary same slogan of VTV is "el canal de todos los Venezolanos" stressing on the 'todos', the networks of ALL Venezuelans. As thus any Venezuelan should be able to use its transmissions since we all pay for them with our taxes, INCLUDING private media broadcasters. But let's move beyond this primal contradiction of the sick mind of Pimentel and those who ordered him to do that (I do not think that he is intelligent enough to come up with this strategy, though he is vicious enough).

If you still find nothing really wrong with that, which by now should mean that you are either a Chavez supporter or simply do not follow regularly how the news are broadcast INSIDE Venezuela, let me explain to you who the real target of this measure is.

RCTV was closed one year ago in what was perhaps the greatest political error of chavismo, even including the FARC recognition. Yet, in spite of this, RCTV through cable managed to gain the highest morning ratings with the talk show La Entrevista, which uses a lot of VTV footage to examine and criticize governmental actions. In the afternoon, in spite of all sorts of attempt, Alo Ciudadano reigns over the ratings from 5 to 8 PM at Globovision, not to mention Grado 33 from 8 to 8:30 PM. Neither VTV nor the neutralized Venevision and Televen have been able to do anything about this as even chavistas watch these spaces.

And why folks watch these spaces? Because VTV only offers propaganda, because the other private networks offer nothing and because through snippets taken from VTV Globovision and RCTV expose the mediocrity and failures and contradictions of the chavista regime. That is why there is a surprisingly large number of chavista who watch these networks, because they get the arguments they need for the internal chavista discussions.

But some of you might still not be impressed. After all you could say that Globovision should send its own camera folks to cover what they need and thus create their very own footage. Good, excellent point of course. Except for one thing: Globovision or RCTV are not allowed in most official functions or press conferences of government officials and thus MUST USE the VTV signal as it is most of the time the only source available for the declaration of such and such minister or chavista politician. When was the last time that Chavez gave a real press conference to ALL Venezuelan media? How often have you seen on TV ministers making important declarations ONLY in front of the microphones of RNV or VTV, and in a discrete hallway at that, as a perfect set up to make sure no embarrassing question shall rise?

By forcing Globovision to pay for ANYTHING taken from VTV in fact the government exerts almost direct censorship: the ability of Globovision to transmit information will be considerably limited, serious criticism of governmental measures at Globovision will be blocked as it cannot show the actual facts and thus risks lacking credibility by only "speaking" about things and not "showing" things, a crucial element in this media era. And the case for other services is even worse: Globovision could still afford the occasional snippet when it is really, really important, but local providers and RCTV simply cannot afford the fees of VTV as too much of their meager advertisement income would be swallowed (RCTV had to reduce its staff by 50% and one year after is still fighting to avoid outright bankruptcy). For all practical purposes, if this measures goes into effect, the access to information of the Venezuelan people will be severely damaged as all official information will have to come through the rosy filter of VTV. And let's not forget one additional benefit for VTV: since much less of its stuff can be now shown, since its editorial abuses will be less prone to scrutiny, we can easily imagine that creeps like Mario Silva at La Hojilla will feel even freer to slander opposition figures without these ones having the recourse to defend themselves at the remaining free channels.

Censorship, as simple as that.

Note: as an added insult to injury, VTV states that all all emissions featuring Chavez and official events will be free of charge, and only if these are shown during news hours. HOWEVER, if any editing is done they will be charged. The memo does not precise if simply shortening of a given speech is considered editing.... Since the words of Chavez are sacred, we can expect that even removal or portions will be considered editing.

And of course no word as to VTV paying Globovison or RCTV for all the transmissions that they get from them to show at slander shows such as La Hojilla.

And even less if private networks will be compensated from the loss of revenue from awful cadenas as the one last night.


-The end-

OK, I could not resist the latest Weil, reflecting how far the perception of Chavez in his bunker is percolating.


That is that, the disgusting blackmail that will be the only electoral theme of Chavez until November: vote for my candidates or else. And that includes from the the PSUV "primaries" to the "runoff" of November. Observe that in the cartoon Chavez is actually talking to one of his supporters as he wants them to support any candidate he designs. The Lara disaster when Barquisimeto Mayor Falcon was out and back again in barely 48 hours must have been very stinging to Chavez ego...

-The end-

Must be the day for editorials. After this morning readings, at lunch I read the latest one from Teodoro Petkoff in Tal Cual which deserves prompt translation below (here for the original in Spanish). The topic that bothers Petkoff, and this blogger, is the latest illustration on how Chavez and chavismo are constantly rewriting history, retaining only what is of use in the justification of Chavez abuses.

We see this rewriting everywhere, from the chavista supporters, in Venezuela or overseas. There is the very simplistic: "but they did the same thing before", even when this is not true, if anything by the scale at which these abuses are perpetrated today (think judicial system partiality and the new level which corruption is practiced). In this case history is used as an excuse, trying to magnify past errors to allow for present abuses.

The next level is Chavez himself inventing pages of history, such as his meditations on the Spanish invasion of the Americas where the indigenous world he thinks of only happened in his imaginary or those of ecologists cum New Age fantasist. I hope that the translation of books such as 1491 will soon hit the bookshelves of Caracas to bring some common sense to these prejudices.

And then there is the most sophisticated history rewriting. Currently we watch the satanization of Baduel, the man that contributed MORE than anyone else to ensure the return of Chavez in office on April 13 2002. Since the fallout between Baduel and Chavez last year, chavismo has been diligent in accusing Baduel of all sorts of crimes, such as him receiving millions for the CIA or the NED (uttered by figures lacking credibility like Iris Varela; the more credible chavista characters are more careful and use such folks as Varela for the dirty work, a long established character assassination protocol). That nothing so far has stuck to Baduel is irrelevant: the chavista dwindling masses are only too eager to pretend that they believe the exact contrary position to what they had been asked to proclaim for the past three years.

Next, the translated editorial.
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The official chavista celebration of the April 2002 events this year had a precise objective: to destroy the figure of General Raul Baduel. The tons of B.S. discharged during those days, the ever redundant and empty cadenas of Yo-El-Supremo, the liturgy Puente Llaguno and the participation of General Garcia Carneiro, all had a common thread: to show that Baduel had nothing to do with the return of president to Miraflores and that the "Hero of the Revolution" in fact is nothing more than a traitor.

The procedure recalls the manipulations of history that took place in the Soviet Union during the Stalin era and which ended after a time, not only by death but also with the disappearance of the historical narrative of the people who were condemned by Stalin. The thing began with a campaign of insults against "enemies", which covered them in mud, and then, sufficiently destroyed politically and morally in the eyes of the population, not only shot them but also erase, with impunity, from history.

Stalin launched a special dedication thus destroying the entire elite who led the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. So were erased from history, including thousands of old revolutionary fighters, the big bosses of the assault of Bolsheviks to power: Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin and finally Leon Trotsky himself. The slaughter had one aspect that might seem comical had it not been so tragic: every time Stalin liquidated a member of the communist leadership in 1917, he was removed from the photographs where he appeared with the leader. Each year, therefore, officials had to retouch photographs. Fidelismo also has been given to this kind of exercises, but not the extent that was achieved in the USSR. There is a famous photograph of Fidel Castro with Carlos Franqui, director of Radio Rebelde in the Sierra Maestra and then one of the first dissidents, placed to his right. After Franqui left Cuba, he was also taken out of the picture.

This is one of the profound differences between a democratic conception of life and totalitarian one. A democratic vision of the story assumes its contradictions. No one would think to erase from our history general Piar. A totalitarian regime, however, tries hard to project a monolithic image. The part of history which he claims to be the heir, as well as its own, must not contain cracks or contradictions and even less arguments with the leader.

It makes us perplex to see the insistence in copying practices not only aberrant but frankly stupid, such as writing the story to please the boss. But on the other hand, if something is demonstrated through this Stalinist campaign against him, is the importance to be named Raul Baduel.


-The end-

By Cernig

Mickey Edwards, 16-year Republican Congressman from Oklahoma, founding trustee of the Heritage Foundation and Princeton scholar, has found his contrary voice to the Bush?Cheney GOP late in life - but, oh boy, is it a clear one.

The decision to go to war...to send young Americans off to battle, knowing that some will die -- is the single most difficult choice any public official can be called upon to make. That is precisely why the nation's Founders, aware of the deadly wars of Europe, deliberately withheld from the executive branch the power to engage in war unless such action was expressly approved by the people themselves, through their representatives in Congress.

Cheney told Raddatz that American war policy should not be affected by the views of the people. But that is precisely whose views should matter: It is the people who should decide whether the nation shall go to war. That is not a radical, or liberal, or unpatriotic idea. It is the very heart of America's constitutional system.

In Europe, before America's founding, there were rulers and their subjects. The Founders decided that in the United States there would be not subjects but citizens. Rulers tell their subjects what to do, but citizens tell their government what to do.

If Dick Cheney believes, as he obviously does, that the war in Iraq is vital to American interests, it is his job, and that of President Bush, to make the case with sufficient proof to win the necessary public support.

That is the difference between a strong president (one who leads) and a strong presidency (one in which ultimate power resides in the hands of a single person). Bush is officially America's "head of state," but he is not the head of government; he is the head of one branch of our government, and it's not the branch that decides on war and peace.

When the vice president dismisses public opposition to war with a simple "So?" he violates the single most important element in the American system of government: Here, the people rule.

It's been obvious to many of us for a very long time that the GOP had been taken over by people who would prefer that the people not rule. I'm glad to see more and more conservatives figuring that out for themselves in the last year of the Bush presidency. It might just help prevent a McSame presidency continuing Bush and Cheney's work.

Certainly McCain should be seen as going into the elections with all of his policies, along with his candidacy, already the lamest kind of ducks.

By Cernig

You really should read the NY Times' editorial today. Both Tristero and BooMan have the same take on it - that it's about time the NYT and others in the mainstream woke up, smelled the coffee, and got as angry about Bush's impact on the underlying fabric of American civil liberty as leftie bloggers have been for years.

Here's a taste:

For more than two years now, Congress, the news media, current and former national security officials, think tanks and academic institutions have been engaged in a profound debate over how to modernize the law governing electronic spying to keep pace with technology. We keep hoping President Bush will join in.

Instead, the president offers propaganda intended to scare Americans, expand his powers, and erode civil liberties — and to ensure that no one is held to account for the illegal wiretapping he ordered after 9/11.

...The president will continue to claim the country is in grave danger over this issue, but it is not. The real danger is for Mr. Bush. A good law — like the House bill — would allow Americans to finally see the breathtaking extent of his lawless behavior.

The mainstream media gave Bush a pass on all his soft-totalitarian tricks for most of his presidency - the best part of eight long years - before finally deciding to speak up. Let's hope that they've already figured out that John McCain is just more of the McSame and won't give him the benefit of any doubt at all on his scaremongering tactics in the run-up to November.

By Cernig

Reports are coming in of tanks and machine-gun posts on the streets of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and another city, Xiahe, along with up to 100 dead. Unless, that is, you live in Beijing - in which case you're watching a blank screen when international satellite news reports talk about it.

The disruption comes just months before the Olympic Games, when China's leaders had hoped to display a 'harmonious society'. However, chaos has gripped Xiahe, which is home to a large community that considers itself part of greater Tibet even though it is outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

According to Sanjay Tashi of the Free Tibet Campaign, the city centre was filled with tear gas, cars were set on fire, government buildings ransacked and the banned Tibetan flag flew over a school.

Other witnesses said they saw 10 to 20 truckloads of riot police moving into the area. Police have fired tear gas rounds and arrested some protesters. But the crowd stormed the jail and released the prisoners, Tashi said.

In Lhasa, police have locked down the city, patrolling the streets and setting up checkpoints on many roads. Foreign tourists have been ordered to leave the central area, with many flying out of Tibet. Those who stay are restricted, though they say there has been no official curfew.

'The army and police forbid us from walking down the road, so our activity is confined to the hostel,' said one traveller. He said tanks and soldiers were patrolling the streets and guarding junctions. Other witnesses have reported troops setting up machine gun positions and there were unconfirmed reports of shooting.

The authorities blame Tibetan insurgents working on the orders of the Dalai Lama and have vowed to hunt down the perpetrators of what state media called 'sabotage'. Police warned that anyone who did not turn themselves in by Monday faced 'stern punishment by the law'.

...Overseas Tibetan groups say police killed at least 36 Tibetan protesters, including three monks. Free Tibet Campaign reports that 26 demonstrators were shot or blown up while demanding the release of political prisoners in Lhasa's notorious Drapchi prison. Other groups say the death toll could be more than 100.

The UN, US and UK have condemned Chinese repression - but not too loudly. After all, the Chinese hold all America's notes...and there's an Olympics coming. Wouldn't want to deprive the millions of their televised sport.