Chavez opponent to be tried in Caracas

[Judi Lynn]

Chavez opponent to be tried in Caracas
Web posted at: 3/25/2009 6:51:17
Source ::: AP

CARACAS: The trial of a top opposition leader will be held in Caracas instead of his home city, Venezuela’s Supreme Court announced yesterday, a move aimed at stacking the odds against him.

The court said that it agreed to a prosecutor’s request to move the trial from Maracaibo to the capital to ensure “the security of all the parties involved” and because it is a serious case that has caused a “public scandal.”

Manuel Rosales, who was President Hugo Chavez’s top opponent in the 2006 presidential election, faces a charge of illegal enrichment. He maintains he is innocent and accuses prosecutors of attempting a “political lynching ordered by Chavez.” The president vowed last year “to make Manuel Rosales a prisoner,” though he denies influencing the legal process. Rosales, who is the mayor of Maracaibo, the country’s second largest city, said on Monday as he left a court in Maracaibo that moving the trial is a “political plan” that violates his rights. He has also said he suspects it’s an effort to “search for a judge who’s obedient.” Four judges in the western state of Zulia, meanwhile, have been suspended from their duties by the Supreme Court after meeting with Rosales.

Pro-Chavez lawmaker Calixto Ortega said on state television yesterday that such contacts must be fully investigated, alleging that one of those judges could have been in a position to influence the case if it had remained in Zulia state. Prosecutors say Rosales failed to show the legal source of about $68,000 in income several years ago while he was Zulia state governor. Rosales says he reported the money and that it came from his involvement in the agriculture business.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Americas&month=March2009&file=World_News2009032565117.xml

[EFerrari]

1. Let me see if I understand ths. Four judges in Zulia were caught

meeting with Rosales before his trial but the AP says the move is political? Wow.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Zulia must be the creepiest place in South America politically. Good lord. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

2. "...a move aimed at stacking the odds against him."--Associated Pukes

So, the reporter is spouting the fascist/CIA line as fact. Couldn't be more clear that the Associated Pukes are a highly biased, corpo/fascist 'news' monopoly.

This is a no-no in real journalism:

"The trial of a top opposition leader will be held in Caracas instead of his home city, Venezuela’s Supreme Court announced yesterday, a move aimed at stacking the odds against him."--AP :puke:

[Judi Lynn]

6. It's an insult to see that slimed into where news reporting should be.

These people have thrown away the rules, haven't they?

I hope it comes back to bite them all in the ass.

[rabs]

3. Rosales has bugged out of the country so

there may be no trial in the near future.

Chavez is in Doha, Qatar for the Arab-South America summit.

Last night Rosales is said to have fled Venezuela to Panama via Colombia and from there to an unknown location. (Miami??)

(Spanish) http://www.abn.info.ve/noticia.php?articulo=175717&lee=1

[EFerrari]

4. Poor Miami!

[Judi Lynn]

7. He knows what will happen if he can't control the judges. Maybe he's going to look up Carlos Ortega,

the crooked union leader who was given a ton of N.E.D. money, who helped Carlos Fernandez work that workers-lockout oil industry strike.

You may remember they were the guests of honor at an anti-Chavez march in Miami years ago when the Cuban "exiles" arranged a joint protest with the Venezuelan expatriots.

Also, one of the banks in Miami was the bank where $200,000.00 was deposted for a couple of Venezuelan military officials who were involved in the coup.

Miami's an attractive destination for Venezuelan right-wingers.

Looking forward to finding out exactly where the guy went. Thanks for the information!

[rabs]

8. Now no one knows where Rosales is

Opposition governor of Zulia state says Rosales has NOT left Venezuela. But he does NOT say where he is, and that to be mayor of Maracaibo, Rosales does NOT need to be "at his desk."

A pro-Chavez deputy in Zulia said Rosales is known to have investments in Miami worth US$11 million.

Look for more Chavez wars on LBN and GD when this gets out:

1. Hillary Clinton told the BBC in an interview last week before she went to Mexico that she would not engage in "childish discussions and insults" with Chavez.

"Obviously we have a lot of problems with him and the manner in which he is mistreating the Venezuelan people. The manner in which he treats his neighbors.
Obviamente tenemos muchos problemas con él y la manera como está maltratando al pueblo venezolano. La manera como trata a sus vecinos.

Democracy is more than holding elections," Clinton said referring to the 11 elections during the decade in which Chavez has been in power.

--------------------------------------------

(So it looks like we can look forward to verbal fireworks at the hemisphere leaders' conference in Trinidad & Tobago in three weeks.)

More here on Hillary's remarks (Spanish): http://www.laverdad.com/detnotic.php?CodNotic=10231

-----------------------------------------------
2. Chavez is on his way today to Tehran to talk with Iranian leaders. That will draw howls on LBN and GD.

3. Chavez invited the president of Sudan to Venezuela, in defiance of the internatiobal arrest order issued against the Sudanese president. (More howls.)

4. Chavez criticized Michelle Bachelet of Chile for inviting Biden and the U.K. Brown to last week's progressive leaders' summit in Chile. Chavez said by doing so Bachelet was undermining the unity of South America because Biden and Brown represent two imperialistic powers. Chilean government spokeswoman today rejected Chavez's remarks an "inadequate." (Howling already going on in Santiago.)

(Spanish)
http://www.laverdad.com/detnotic.php?CodNotic=10257

5. Chavez had an approval rate of 71.2 percent in March, according to poll announced today.
(Caracas, 31 Mar. ABN.- La gestión del presidente de la República, Hugo Chávez Frías, obtuvo una aceptación del 71,2% durante el mes de marzo, según estudio realizado por el Instituto Venezolano de Análisis de Datos (Ivad).)

Bachelet is on her way to Moscow to bolster Chilean-Russian trade.
(Moscú, 31 Mar ABN.- La presidenta de Chile, Michelle Bachelet, llega el miércoles a Rusia en una visita que busca fortalecer los crecientes vínculos económico-comerciales entre los dos países, y que coincide con el centenario de sus primeros nexos diplomáticos, informó Telesur.)

Whew, too much happening. Best sit back and wait.

:popcorn:

[EFerrari]

9. Hillary is crazy. His vecinos all stood up for him and he is very popular

as you point out.

But, Venezuela is a member state at the ICC and he is making a mistake on that score, imho. Unless he wants a flap about that as a diversion which is entirely possible.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Hillary is way out of line trying to maintain that right-wing line on Chavez.

She needs to tune in to her progressive party. She needs to get the facts, not force through a right-wing policy. When the right-wing is happy the entire world suffers.

Thank you for this huge array of information, rabs. There's so much to think about here! Explosive! Should be interesting, absolutely. :hi:

[EFerrari]

11. "A democracy is more than holding elections". I guess you're not a democracy

until your president has bombed a few Middle Eastern countries for no reason. Or, until you've bailed out Wall Street? Or? The more I think about Clinton's pernicious statement, the more disturbing it is.

That is one of the pivots we were talking that were illustrated in the Rowan video. It's not an observation or merely an opinion. It's a neocolonial justification to attack a democracy.

[EFerrari]

12. rabs: I'm trying to find that BBC interview and can't.

I'm not great at searching span lang sources but, it doesn't come up at the BBC website for some reason. What do you think of La Verdad? If I write about this, I don't want to accuse Clinton of something she didn't say! lol

[rabs]

13. Let me look around

La Verdad appears to be an opposition newspaper in Maracaibo (Zulia state).

The article says the interview was by Univision, and that she later made remarks to the BBC.

Am surprised that Hillary's remarks have not shown up on LBN or GD or maybe I missed them.

Will get back to you either way.

[EFerrari]

14. I don't think this is an opposition paper. There are two and three syllable words here.

[rabs]

17. That was good ...

How do you translate "morans" into Spanish? :rofl:

[EFerrari]

20. I just call them the Guccis.

:evilgrin:

[rabs]

15. EF, It is worse than the La Verdad article says

Found the Univision video of the Hillary Clinton interview.

There is a bothersome Spanish voice-over her remarks but one can make out that Hillary did say what the La Verdad article says and MORE. Her Chavez remarks begin about 30 seconds into the video and runs to about 2:15 minutes. What she says is a puke-fest of the Bushista propaganda against Chavez.

I just wonder why the English-language MSM did not pick up on this, because you can be sure Hugo Chavez is aware of it and we can surely now expect fireworks in Trinidad & Tobago. (El Nuevo Herald did not have the story???)

Video of the interview:

http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&cid=1890230&schid=160&secid=163#p

Article on the interview by Jorge Ramos, hotshot Univision anchor that repeats couple of La Verdad paragraphs.

http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&cid=1890230&schid=160&secid=163#p

[EFerrari]

16. Well, thank you. Puke fest or no, I need to have a good source.

:hi:

[rabs]

18. Not sure what you mean

when you say you need a "good source."

The video tape shows Hillary talking on Univision, one of the big TV networks in this country.

Looked around to see if could find either a Spanish or an English transcript but unable to find one.

Maybe the State Department press releases ?? Will check.

:)

[EFerrari]

19. I meant, thank you for the link! I understood La Verdad fine

but couldn't find the BBC dealie they referred to. :hi:

[rabs]

21. An intriguing little update on Rosales.

What is interesting is that the story does not say where Rosales is. :shrug:

------------------------------------------

Rosales asks permission to be absent from his job

Maracaibo councilman Henry Ramirez: Rosales today asked for 90 days.

Ramirez: If Rosales does not come back by the end of that period, new elections will be called to replace Rosales.

Ramirez: The 90-day period begins today (April 3).

Ramirez: Mr. Elias Mata has been named care-taker mayor, replacing Rosales.

----------------------------------------------------

Manuel Rosales pide permiso para ausentarse del cargo


Caracas, 03 Abr. ABN.- El alcalde de Maracaibo, Manuel Rosales, pidió este viernes un permiso para ausentarse del cargo por noventa días, según lo informó el concejal marabino Henry Ramírez.

Explicó el concejal, en un contacto telefónico con Venezolana de Televisión, que si Rosales no asume de nuevo el cargo en noventa días, la cámara municipal procederá a declarar la ausencia absoluta y a allanar los procedimientos para convocar unos nuevos comicios para elegir una nueva autoridad.

"La fecha de la solicitud es el tres de abril, a partir de allí comienzan a correr los noventa días que establece el artículo 87 (Ley Orgánica del Poder Público Municipal) para declarar la falta absoluta, si el no se reincorpora en ese tiempo la cámara municipal tendrá que declarar la falta absoluta y proceder en consecuencia a la elección de un nuevo alcalde en Maracaibo", puntualizó el edil.

El concejal informó que por los momentos el encargado del ejecutivo municipal será el señor Elias Mata y que lo procedente luego de este permiso es convocar a nuevos comicios porque todavía no ha transcurrido la mitad del periodo del alcalde, tal y como lo estable la constitución y las leyes correspondientes.

------------------------------------

[EFerrari]

22. This is all very creepy. n/t