Venezuela’s Signature Re-certification Ends Without Major Incident

[Imperialism Inc.]

Good pictures at this link as well.

Both sides claiming victory.

Venezuela’s Signature Re-certification Ends Without Major Incident but with Many Minor Ones
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1284

--cut--

Opposition supporters accused government supporters of harassing people who were waiting in line to re-certify or “repair” their signatures. The international observer missions of the Organization of American States (OAS) and of the Carter Center said that aside from isolated complaints on both sides, the three days of the process had gone smoothly.

--cut--

"They had to collect 500,000 signatures, but what happened, happened, but we have to wait for the CNE to say it officially," said Education Minister Aristobulo Isturiz visibly happy, meaning that the opposition failed to repair enough signatures. Isturiz's words reminded many when his victory in the elections to be mayor of Caracas in the early 90's was almost stolen through fraud by the two dominant political parties at the time.

--cut--

At least 2.000 forged IDs were confiscated today in Caracas on Sunday, according to Mayor Freddy Bernal, a Chavez ally. A computer, scanner, printer, repair forms, and forged IDs were found at the local headquarters of the opposition party Accion Democratica in El Valle, Caracas, where people who were being pursued by authorities sought refuge. Yesterday, a man carrying 140 ID cards was detained by the police. 600 ID cards were also found in the Accion Democratica headquarters in the Caracas district of El Paraiso.

--cut--
According to union spokespersons, workers at a Coca-Cola plant in Antimano, Caracas, were fired from their jobs for refusing to go repair their signatures, which were included in the anti-Chavez signature drive without their authorization or under pressure.

[Imperialism Inc.]

1. More sources.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/international/americas/31vene.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5062&en=bd2a87db8ebb5adc&ex=1086580800&partner=GOOGLE

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/87685/1/.html

(AP report)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001943398_venezuela31.html

[Imperialism Inc.]

2. From the pictures I have seen,

the fraudulent IDs, dead people signing, etc. It is looking to me like the opposition failed.

I really had hoped they would succeed because God only knows what is coming next if I am right.

Most of the pics are from VenezuelAnalysis.com . One thing I notice though is that the pictures that do appear in mainstream sources never show any lines, usually just a closeup of one person. Based on the bias and disinformation that have been appearing in the mainstream media I am afraid that means that no big crowds showed up. If they had we would probably be seeing them. There is one shot from VA that shows a long line though.

Photos available at these 2 links and the mainstream sources above as well.
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1284
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1282

[Judi Lynn]

4. Amazing news in the first of your later two articles

I had heard of trouble with supervisors forcing employees to sign the recall petition under threat of losing jobs at the Coca Cola companies in Venezuela all the way back when they were in the first round, but I had NO IDEA who owns the companies. From your first article:

According to union spokespersons, workers at a Coca-Cola plant in Antimano, Caracas, were fired from their jobs for refusing to go repair their signatures, which were included in the anti-Chavez signature drive without their authorization or under pressure. The workers introduced a formal complaint at the Ministry of Labor, and claimed that similar situations were experienced at Coca-Cola plants in the states of Carabobo, Lara, Bolivar, and Monagas. The Venezuelan subsidiary of Coca-Cola is owned by billionaire Gustavo Cisneros, who also owns Venzuela's biggest TV network, and who is believed to be the main economic supporter of the anti-Chavez movement in Venezuela.
(snip)

From a Guardian article:

The tycoon who led the media onslaught that preceded the coup and whose television station announced it, Cuban-American Gustavo Cisneros, is an old fishing pal of Bush senior.

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0424-04.htm

[Imperialism Inc.]

6. Yes. That is the original one I took the excerpts from.

Lots of good details in it. Highly recommend all to read the whole thing as copyright restrictions made it too difficult to get the whole story across here.

Well, enjoy and TTFN.

And WOW by the way on the Bush connection.

[9215]

11. Good find, and Cisneros is a good friend of the Bushies

.....A May 1 (2003)article in Mexico's Proceso says one of the aims of the coup leaders was "the privatization of PDVSA, turning it over to a U.S. company linked to President George Bush and the Spanish company Repsol; plus the sale of CITGO, the U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA, to Gustavo Cisneros and his partners in the north, as well as an end to the Venezuelan government's exclusive subsoil rights."

Cisneros, a longtime friend of former President George Bush, heads up a corporate empire stretching from the U.S. to Patagonia, the British Economist reports.

PDVSA is Latin America's largest company -- a lucrative prize awaiting the eager fingers of the privatizers. The maneuvers to achieve privatization of PDVSA began in earnest after Chavez became president. Though we are told that it was the workers who reacted against Chavez's changes, a March 2001 Wall Street Journal <http://www.transnationale.org/fiches/-852570645.htm> article disclosed a different picture, speaking of "top management and white-collar workers" at PDVSA "in open revolt against the government of President Hugo Chavez."

The WSJ reported: "hey have participated in ... noisy demonstrations and work stoppages to protest the recent appointment of three Chavez loyalists to PDVSA's board. ... Leaders of a newly organized PDVSA management union' aren't saying when or if they would strike. However, after holding a companywide meeting last weekend, they announced plans to carry out a series of gradual escalations of the conflict that could culminate in an indefinite strike ... The controversy quickly exploded when thousands of PDVSA executives signed full-page newspaper ads denouncing the new appointees as incompetent.'" On April 4, 2002, "PDVSA executives declared a work stoppage," the WSJ reported. In the lexicon of U.S. labor, these "strike" actions would be considered "lockouts" by management. .....more

[9215]

12. Cisneros also a buddy of Kissinger

and the infamous Kissinger and Associates:

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16547
Chavez's well-funded opposition also appears to be receiving the tacit stamp of approval from Henry Kissinger and his international consulting firm, Kissinger and Associates. In late-January, while the national elections council was preparing to evaluate the authenticity of the two-plus million petition signatures handed in by the opposition, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was presenting an award to Venezuelan billionaire, Gustavo Cisneros, Chairman & CEO of the Cisneros Group of Companies. According to the Green Left Weekly, Cisneros has been "identified by Newsweek and Venezuelan publications as one of the protagonists and financiers of the April 11, 2002, coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Thanks for posting four sources, Middlemen.

Can't wait until this is over.

IF Chavez is allowed to remain in the position for which he was chosen in a landslide election, someone should insist Otto Reich and Roger Noriega remove their snouts from Venezuelan matters of state.

They are desperately out of place mucking around in another country's internal affairs.


Otto, across from Roger, former Chief of Staff to Jesse Helms

[Imperialism Inc.]

5. No problem. Google makes it easy.

Hopefully, the fact they found all those fraudulent IDs may be a buffer against any charges leveled against the government if it fails.

There is an odd thing in the NYT report:

According to Venezuelan law, a referendum held after Aug. 19 would only remove the president - there would be no election. Instead, Mr. Chávez's vice president, Jose Vicente Rangel, would take over, effectively giving Mr. Chávez the chance to rule from behind the scenes and then run again in 2006

but above that by a few paragraphs is this:

It was unclear how many signatures were repaired between Friday and Sunday evening, but the opposition needed 530,000 to reach the 2.4 million threshold. If that requirement is met, a referendum could be held Aug. 8 (CNE says date already set according to AP report, and my personal recollection), followed by an election to choose a new president.

I don't understand why they even mention it since the date is set.

The bad ID's and the fact that the referendum date is already set confirms to me, even more than before, that the opposition is up to no good and the claims of obstructionism are dubious. (why set the date so that he will be removed instead of handing it over to the vice-president if they are trying to obstruct?)

[burrowowl]

14. Am really glad

President Carter was there and he said there were only some minor problems that were taken care of.

[Judi Lynn]

7. People interested in a discussion on John Kerry's position on Venezuela

can check this thread in G.D.:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1693066

which was preceded by this archived thread done soon after John Kerry released some remarks on the subject:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=536942

[papau]

8. Why is Kerry position unreasonable?

Kerry said: "The disturbing trend towards establishment of an authoritarian regime must be reversed now, so that the referendum can begin a process of national reconciliation. President Chavez has a responsibility, as the head of state, to protect the interests of all Venezuelans by allowing the recall signatures to be reviewed in an atmosphere of calm and transparency. Representatives of the OAS and the Carter Center must be given full and unfettered access to all aspects of the process. Given the need to verify hundreds of thousands of signatures, more time should be granted if necessary to allow this process to be completed in an orderly manner."

After he says this Carter goes down and reports the review process was fair, Chávez announces his hands off policy - and then follows it.

Seems reasonable and effective to me.

[bemildred]

10. It begs the question.

Kerry says: "The disturbing trend towards establishment
of an authoritarian regime" when in fact Chavez is easily
the least authoritarian President in Venezuelan history, most
of which consists of tin-pot dictators representing the
ruling class (US stooges) with the backing of the military
(US suborned).

[pescao]

15. what a thread that is! thanks for that, only read LBN usually

cant believe ol' windy's back. got to challenge it on the FACTS, eg:

>(Chavez) got into office, appointed all of his own people to write a Constitution. Didn't listen to any opposing views.

answer: that's a load of old rubbish! the people who wrote the new constitution (venezuela's 26th, btw) were all democratically elected in a separate election, and then the constitution itself was voted for (overwhelmingly) in a referendum. and the stuff about locking up people who disagree with him - jeez he didn't even lock up the people who kidnapped him and had his supporters murdered! as for stacking the courts, well it's actually time he did, cos these are the same courts who said no-one could even stand trial for the 2002 coup! but the best of all was, as AP put it, blaming the victim for the assassination: anyone who, once elected with an massive mandate from the poor, doesn't appease the oligarchs enough, can basically expect bloodshed, so therefore must make every effort to win over the monied minority. anyone who don't reach consensus with these cut-throats is anti-democratic, unlike their enemies, of course, who just kidnap and murder people they disagree with.

sorry, i had to rant, the thread was locked! btw, the reason Kerry's saying this stuff is because someone showed him the pentagon diary and later this year is penciled in 'war with venezuela' and this guy knows how to play ball. he is, however, vulnerable, to politically alert, highly-communicative, opinion forming Democrats - basically, people on this board! give him hell and maybe u americans can force him to reverse his position (preferably very publically) or lose all credibility with the tekno-hip politicos - maybe not but the venezuelans would like to see this challenged publically from within the party, otherwise what hope do they have?

btw, we're doing a "Hands off Venezuela & Cuba! No to Plan Colombia!" rally here in london in a coupla weeks, if any of u know people here maybe u can network it, pesc xxx http://www.thenewagenda.org/cvc_rally

btbtw, caracas is divided into two districts, with two mayors (one pro and one anti govt)

[9215]

13. The Carter Center and OAS are not up to the job

or, at least, have not been up to now. When they monitor the voting "process" they need, and I mean NEED, to look at the kind of shit that Coca-Cola company and other Cisneros controlled interests are doing to "get out the vote".

What good is a clean process when it starts with bought off and coerced voters?

[AP]

9. "Caracas...Mayor Freddy Bernal, a Chavez ally"???

Did Chavez'z party win an recent election in Caracas? I'm pretty sure the last mayor was with the fascists.