Article on Venezuela poll

[ken hanly]

August 15, 2004

U.S. can redeem itself after Venezuelans vote

By Elliott Young
History News Service



 http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/08/15/f1.ed.col.venezuela.0815.html




Venezuela will face the most important election in its history today. For
the first time, Venezuelans will vote on whether to recall their president.

The United States had better respond more responsibly than it did two years
ago.

In April 2002, the United States stunned the world by immediately
recognizing an illegal government installed after a military coup ousted the
constitutionally elected president, Hugo Chavez.

This time, the United States has the opportunity to support democracy and
allow the Venezuelan people to decide the fate of their country at the
ballot box.

 With heavy scrutiny from the Organization of American States, the Carter
Center, the European Union and thousands of international electoral
observers, there should be no question of the legitimacy of this referendum.

Therefore, there will be no grounds for the United States to reject its
outcome.

Both U.S. presidential candidates have made threatening remarks about
Chavez's supposedly authoritarian and undemocratic rule. John Kerry went so
far as to say that Chavez's close relationship with Cuba's Fidel Castro
``raised serious questions about his commitment to leading a truly
democratic country.''

The opposition-controlled media in Venezuela feed this sort of anachronistic
anti-communism with one-sided coverage. Yet the more relevant historical
analogy for Chavez's Venezuela would be Juan Peron's Argentina, a legacy
that Chavez himself frequently invokes.

In the middle of the 20th century, Latin American populists cultivated
highly personable styles of leadership while they nationalized key
industries, stressed independence from the United States and ultimately
strengthened capitalism in their countries that benefited labor unions and
workers.

Chavez's charismatic hold on the vast majority of poor Venezuelans and his
anti-Yankee rhetoric fit the populist profile.

Inheriting a state-owned oil industry at a time of record high oil prices
has enabled Chavez to pursue his ambitious social program of distributing
resources to the poor without having to expropriate private industry.

As long as oil prices remain high, Chavez may be able to have his cake and
eat it, too.

So why are members of the Venezuelan elite and significant sectors of the
middle classes apoplectic at the thought of Chavez finishing out his term in
office?

Anti-Chavistas point to corruption, crime and economic crisis to justify
their opposition, but crime and corruption are hardly new to Venezuela. And
a good part of Venezuela's economic decline, which has been turned around in
the last year, can be attributed to the three-month-long strike led by
oppositionists. These are the same people who supported the April 2002 coup
and who publicly declared their desire to topple the government by crippling
the economy.

The vehement opposition to Chavez by the Venezuelan elites is cultural as
well as economic. Put simply, they are embarrassed by their president. He's
a ``clown,'' he acts like a ``monkey,'' they complain, pointing to his
impromptu singing and folksy digressions on his six-hour weekly call-in
television program, ``Al Presidente.''

Labeling Chavez a monkey plays the race card, hinting that Chavez (who is
part Indian and part black) is distinct from the lily-white Venezuelan
elites. Historian Samuel Moncada, chair of the history department at the
Universidad Central de Venezuela, calls this the ``aesthetic opposition.''
As Moncada put it, ``The Venezuelan elites will simply not forgive Chavez
for breaking the cultural codes that distinguish them from the rest of
Venezuela,'' the darker-skinned 80 percent of the people who live in
poverty.

Like Peron's descamisados (shirtless ones), Chavez's supporters are mostly
poor and landless, the wretched of the earth. The passionate identification
of the poor with Chavez cannot be chalked up solely to rhetoric or populism;
he has produced results. Sixty thousand peasant families have received more
than 5.5 million acres of land, thousands of schools, health clinics and
low-income housing have been built, an ambitious literacy program has
graduated more than 1 million adults and higher education is being
democratized.

Venezuela is polarized today, as it has always been. On one side are the
rich who drive in caravans of SUVs with designer sunglasses, honking their
horns to get rid of Chavez. On the other side is a heterogeneous crowd of
loud and rambunctious Venezuelans, most too poor to afford cars, who seem
willing to lay down their very lives for their comandante. Most Chavez
supporters carry in their pockets a miniature edition of the new
constitution, a symbol they frequently brandish as if it were a weapon.

The most reliable polls predict that Chavez will win in the referendum, yet
the opposition has already begun to say

Venezuela news cull

[Robert Naiman]

Venezuelans have voted to keep Hugo Chávez as their president, electoral 
authorities said early this morning after 18 hours of voting, reported Juan 
Forero for the New York Times at 9 AM Monday. The national electoral 
council president, Francisco Carrasquero, announced at 4 AM that Mr. Chávez 
had won the backing of 58 percent of voters, with 42 percent supporting the 
opposition's drive to recall him. But the opposition said that the 
government had cheated and that it had won by a wide margin. The 
Organization of American States and the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which 
monitored the election and conducted their own highly accurate voting 
samples, had not commented on the dispute as of 8:30 a.m. The Venezuelan 
people have spoken, Mr. Chávez said. He was conciliatory towards his 
opponents, calling for a round of applause for them. This is a victory for 
the opposition, the president said. They defeated violence, 
coup-mongering and fascism. I hope they accept this as a victory and not as 
a defeat.

Reuters reported at 4:32 AM that two pro-opposition electoral officials 
also questioned the result. Shortly before Carrasquero made the 
announcement, two members of the five-member National Electoral Council 
leadership said they could not back the result. Ezequiel Zamora and 
Solbella Mejias, both known opposition sympathizers, said procedural checks 
had not been carried out on the results as required. ``These partial 
results that part of the National Electoral Council wants to present to the 
public cannot be considered official,'' Mejias said.

Bloomberg News reported that crude oil futures fell from record highs after 
the vote was announced. There had been concerns in the oil markets that a 
defeat would have disrupted supplies from this country, the world's 
fifth-largest exporter of oil and a key supplier to the United States. 
Brent crude oil for September delivery fell as much as 58 cents, or 1.3 
percent, on London's International Petroleum Exchange and was down 43 cents 
to $43.45 at 12:04 p.m. local time, Bloomberg said.

Earlier this morning, both sided had predicted victory. Reuters reprorted 
at 2:33 a.m. that three Venezuelan government ministers said that President 
Chavez had easily survived a referendum on whether to recall him. ``We've 
won this by a long way,'' one of three cabinet members, who did not want to 
be identified, said as they hugged and celebrated at the Miraflores 
presidential palace in scenes witnessed by Reuters. The other two ministers 
made similar claims. Shortly earlier, senior opposition leaders had dropped 
heavy hints of victory. Venezuelan law prohibits anyone from announcing 
electoral results until the country's election authorities do so. ``From 
the expression on my face, people can tell what's happening,'' said a 
smug-looking Enrique Mendoza, a leader of the opposition coalition which 
forced Sunday's referendum on the populist president. Another opposition 
leader, former state oil company executive Juan Fernandez, said: ``We're 
going to have fireworks and music  we're going to say Venezuela woke up 
on the day of the referendum.''

With crude futures above $46 a barrel in overnight trading, oil will remain 
the focus for most investors even as they derive some solace from early 
reports of victory for President Chavez in the referendum, Reuters reported 
this morning. Prices fell modestly after results released by Venezuelan 
electoral authorities with 94 percent of the vote counted showed Chavez 
survived a referendum to recall him. Energy markets have been worried about 
disruptions to the country's oil production if a disputed result sparked 
social unrest. Shipping sources had said shipments from Venezuela, the 
world's fifth-largest crude exporter, were running smoothly.

Robert Naiman
Senior Policy Analyst
Venezuela Information Office
733 15th Street, NW Suite 932
Washington, DC 20005
t. 202-347-8081 x. 605
f. 202-347-8091
www.veninfo.org
::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::
The Venezuela Information Office is dedicated to informing the American 
public about contemporary Venezuela. More information is available from the 
FARA office of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

CIA Venezuela

[Robert Naiman]

This UPI/El Mundo story looked a little wild to me at first, but when I saw 
that Chilean officials denied that Spencer was in Chile, I thought there 
might be something to it.

15) UPI Hears ...
United Press International
August 10, 2004
Charges of CIA meddling into other country's affairs has always been a 
sensitive issue, especially when it comes to Latin America where the agency 
has a history -- and not always a good one at that. Madrid's El Mundo is 
reporting that the CIA has developed contingency plans to counteract 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez winning the Aug. 15 recall referendum. The 
newspaper reports that the CIA is resigned to a Chavez victory and 
subsequently is working on a strategy to neutralize Chavez. The CIA's 
undersecretary for southern hemispherical affairs, William Spencer, is in 
Santiago, Chile, to brainstorm the Venezuelan situation with CIA country 
directors from Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Peru. Spencer is reportedly 
convinced that following his victory Chavez, intends to overthrow Colombian 
President Alvaro Uribe Velez and Bolivian President Carlos Mesa. According 
to Spencer's domino theory, Chavez will then use corruption scandals to 
force Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo from office. The CIA is 
developing a strategy using financial and possibly military pressure to 
thwart Chavez's overwhelming ambition to transform Latin America into an 
impregnable replica of Fidel Castro's Cuba. Under the newspaper's 
scenario, the Venezuelan Movimiento Quinta Republica will suspend the 
referendum, arguing that serious irregularities have occurred. The CIA's 
fear is that Chavez will claim to have uncovered an assassination 
conspiracy and use it as a pretext to declare a state of emergency and 
suspend the constitution. The Langley spooks are pursing a high-risk 
strategy for the U.S. economy -- far from being a powerless banana 
republic, Venezuela currently supplies 1.4 million barrels per day of oil 
to the United States, 17 percent of U.S. oil imports.

22) Desmienten presencia en Chile de subdirector de CIA
Associated Press (Carried by El Nuevo Herald)
August 10, 2004
http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/news/breaking_news/9364218.htm
SANTIAGO DE CHILE - El director de la policía de Investigaciones, Arturo 
Herrera, negó la presencia en el país del subdirector de la Agencia de 
Inteligencia de Estados Unidos, CIA, para monitorear el referéndum del 
domingo en Venezuela.

Se supone que cuando llega un personaje de esa alcurnia aquí al país 
debíamos conocer nosotros y al respecto no tenemos antecedentes que esté 
presente ni el director de la CIA ni su subdirector, dijo a la prensa el 
director de Investigaciones.

Agregó que tampoco tienen antecedentes que se encuentre aquí otro 
funcionario de la CIA para coordinar alguna posible acción contra el 
gobernante venezolano en caso de triunfar el domingo en el referéndum 
revocatorio.

La versión sobre la acción de la CIA contra Chávez desde este país la dio 
un periódico español. El diario El Mundo señaló que el encargado de 
coordinar a la CIA sería el subdirector, William Spencer, quien habría 
convocado a Santiago a funcionarios de la agencia en otros países 
sudamericanos.

El embajador de Venezuela, Víctor Delgado, dijo La Tercera el martes que le 
están haciendo un seguimiento a la información.

Desearíamos que fuera una gran mentira, pero en el supuesto de que fuera 
verdad sería una agresión más por parte del gobierno norteamericano a 
través de su agencia contra el gobierno democrático de Hugo Chávez, dijo 
el diplomático.

--
Robert Naiman
Senior Policy Analyst
Venezuela Information Office
733 15th Street, NW Suite 932
Washington, DC 20005
t. 202-347-8081 x. 605
f. 202-347-8091
www.veninfo.org
::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::
The Venezuela Information Office is dedicated to informing the American 
public about contemporary Venezuela. More information is available from the 
FARA office of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

Re: Venezuela rightists falter

[Daniel Davies]

for what it's worth, my copy of the FT this morning has an article in it
saying convincing Chavez victory would be good for international oil
companies.  Someone in it is quoted as saying Mr Chavez is now seen as
someone we can do business with.  Which usually means he is seen as
someone we're going to have to do business with whether we want to or not.

Looks to me as if the CIA has had the same problem in Vene as it did in
Iraq; too much encouragement that it will be really easy and the population
is on our side by pale-skinned chaps from the city with Scottish surnames
(no offence meant to our own Mr Naismith, btw).

dd


-Original Message-
From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Perelman,
Michael
Sent: 08 August 2004 17:15
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Venezuela rightists falter


With respect to this article, again, the polls here are supposed to be
close.  The Venezuela site says that they opposition polls show Chavez
winning.

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929

Venezuela rightists falter

[Louis Proyect]

NY Times, August 8, 2004
Venezuela's Opposition Loses Momentum
By JUAN FORERO
CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 6 - Pompeyo Márquez, with his shaggy mustache, 
tuft of white hair and craggy voice, is the new face of Venezuela's 
opposition movement, and therein may lie the problem.

After the opposition's failed coup attempt against President Hugo Chávez 
and its four economically devastating strikes, the old dinosaurs of the 
two political parties that plundered the country for decades and are now 
in opposition have lost their influence.

The idea now is to have someone with a steady hand and voice - as well 
as impeccable credentials - reaching Venezuelans as the opposition tries 
to gain momentum to oust Mr. Chávez, a fiery leftist who has turned 
Venezuelan political tradition upside down with his policies, in a 
recall referendum on Aug. 15.

So Mr. Márquez, a former Communist guerrilla and political prisoner, is 
more often than not the opposition's man on the stump these days.

People ask, 'After Chávez, then what?' and I say, 'After Chávez we will 
have the rule of law, respect for institutions and unity,'  Mr. 
Márquez, microphone in hand, said to wild applause on a recent night 
before 300 people packed into a restaurant outside Caracas. We are the 
future. Chávez just talks about the federalist wars of the past.

But even Mr. Márquez, who until recent months had rarely shared the dais 
with the country's top opposition leaders, admits his time has passed. 
He is 82 years old. He took part in his first strike in 1936. His 
standard speech includes references to his experiences in the 
post-Stalinist Soviet Union.

He may be respected for his honesty and tenacity. But political analysts 
say that having him serve as one of a handful of spokesmen for the 
coalition of disparate parties, unions and business executives opposed 
to Mr. Chávez is another sign of a fractured, stumbling movement that 
has lacked adroit leadership and a coherent message.

In Mr. Chávez, the opposition faces a messianic figure who is a 
formidable campaigner, drips charisma and now benefits from sky-high oil 
prices that are giving his government billions of dollars for popular 
social programs that solidify his base of support.

But of Mr. Márquez, Riordan Roett, director of Latin American studies at 
the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, 
said: Give me a break - there's no charisma there. In the 40's and 
50's, an 82-year-old figure might have been O.K. But Chávez is not 82. 
He's doing well, he's bouncy. He's got high oil prices. They need 
someone to go up against him.

Indeed, with their last-gasp chance to unseat Mr. Chávez just a week 
away, the opposition appears to be unable to gain traction.

I don't feel that the opposition has connected with the hopes of the 
people, said Jorge Botti, a businessman and opposition leader. They 
may believe there is something better than Chávez, but they have not 
seen an option.

In recent weeks, some polls have indicated that Mr. Chávez will squeak 
out a victory in the recall. A victory would probably smash opponents 
who, before they came up with this campaign, had also tried all manner 
of illegal means to get rid of him.

The polls - by the opposition and by the government - are often too 
close to call.

Undecided voters, the so-called ni-nis, or neither-nors, who have no 
affinity for either side, are the wild cards both sides want to capture.

But what is clear is that Mr. Chávez, who just a few months ago was 
behind in polls by wide margins, has shot up in popularity and is now 
within reach of winning.

The situation for Chávez has no doubt improved, and remember, Chávez as 
a candidate, the worker of a campaign, is extraordinarily good, said 
Alfredo Torres, a pollster who works for an anti-Chávez political party. 
The opposition has been a disaster in terms of creating more voters 
against Chávez.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/08/international/americas/08venez.html
--
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org

Re: Venezuela rightists falter

[Perelman, Michael]

With respect to this article, again, the polls here are supposed to be
close.  The Venezuela site says that they opposition polls show Chavez
winning.

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929

Re: More on Venezuela and oil numbers

[Daniel Davies]

I'm well out of my depth on this one but it doesn't strike me that there is
any great mystery here on the investment numbers.  The investment budget of
PDVSA is $5.3bn.  Minus $1.7bn which has been diverted into the social
housing budget gives $3.6bn.  The capital expenditure needed to cover
depreciation is $2.7bn.  So, all parties are fairly near the truth; it
doesn't look as if PDVSA is systematically and/or chronically underinvesting
and mortgaging the future, but it equally doesn't look as if they're going
to be spending enough  to seriously ramp up production.  I'd add two things:
first I would be very sceptical about the assumption of a linear
input/output function; the one thing that we do know about oil wells is that
they tend to come in big lumps and I would guess it would be pretty
difficult to drill half of one (I may well be bum-talking at this point
though).  And second, it is not obvious to me that PDVSA could have spent
the extra money anyway, since Chavez tin-tacked a lot of their senior
management during the strike.  Most of the people sacked were bourgeois
revisionists, etc and all around bad lots, but it's likely that most of them
also knew a bit about oil, and experienced oilfolk can't always be replaced
in a hurry.

I would be surprised if the distance between government and independent bpd
figures was down to omitting the petroleum products.  It might be something
as simple as the independent analyst having driven past one of the fields on
a day when the donkeys weren't nodding and counting it as not yet producing,
then PDVSA got it back onstream later in the month.  Alternatively, one of
the PDVSA managers might have fibbed to the government in order to get a
bonus.  As you say, though, the figures aren't so massively different as to
be worth cutting up rough about; everyone is agreed on the broad historical
sweep of things which is that the Venezuelans are doing a surprisingly good
job in getting the oilfields back in order after the political purge.

In general, oil analysts at stockbroking firms are among the most
trustworthy you will find, as they almost always have experience in the oil
industry.

cheers

dd







-Original Message-
From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Robert
Naiman
Sent: 06 August 2004 00:51
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: More on Venezuela and oil numbers


I'd like our broker colleague -- and others -- to consider the following.

In Peter Millard's (Dow Jones) article Venezuela 's PdVSA Ramps Up
Publicity Ahead Of Recall (July 30), the second-to-last paragraph reads:

The government claims the new PdVSA has brought oil production back to
the 3.1 million barrels a day Venezuela was producing before the strike,
but independent analysts put the figure closer to 2.6 million b/d.

I suspect that there is an apples-and-oranges issue here. I think the
government is counting 200,000 bpd in petroleum products that the analysts
are not counting. If so, the govt and independent analyst numbers are
closer than usually acknowledged.

The last paragraph reads:

Furthermore, oil analysts warn that the focus on social spending has
diverted funds from needed investments in exploration and production,
making it difficult for PdVSA to increase production in the near term.

I have no doubt that *some* oil analysts do say this (especially the ones
that used to work for PDVSA!), but I think the numbers tell a different
story.

On July 16, Millard reported that PdVSA has a total investment budget of
$5.3 billion this year, but noted that analysts warn that the company will
fall short of this target.

On July 12, Matthew Robinson, reporting for Reuters, cited Jan Dehn,
emerging markets analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston in London: I would
expect that unless they meet the $2.7 billion capital spending they need
every year, production would start to suffer in 2005.

Now, if we assume that the numbers here ($2.7b and $5.3b) are
apples-and-apples, and we suppose that in the range we're talking about,
future production capacity is a roughly linear function of investment, then
those numbers would suggest to me that PDVSA could miss its investment
target by a country mile and still invest enough to increase production. If
this is so, then, unless one takes it as an axiom that any amount of social
spending by PDVSA is intrinsically offensive to oil markets -- which I'm
sure some people do! -- isn't social spending by PDVSA totally irrelevant
to the question of future oil production? Might it be the case that some
independent oil analysts simply have an ideological bias against the
notion of using some of PDVSA's profits for social spending? What am I
missing?

By the way, in an article on July 24 in the New York Times, Juan Forero
reported that many oil analysts and executives of large oil companies doing
business in Venezuela say that the government may be able to spend big on
social programs and still invest adequately in production.

What do you make of all

More on Venezuela and oil numbers

[Robert Naiman]

I'd like our broker colleague -- and others -- to consider the following.
In Peter Millard's (Dow Jones) article Venezuela 's PdVSA Ramps Up
Publicity Ahead Of Recall (July 30), the second-to-last paragraph reads:
The government claims the new PdVSA has brought oil production back to
the 3.1 million barrels a day Venezuela was producing before the strike,
but independent analysts put the figure closer to 2.6 million b/d.
I suspect that there is an apples-and-oranges issue here. I think the
government is counting 200,000 bpd in petroleum products that the analysts
are not counting. If so, the govt and independent analyst numbers are
closer than usually acknowledged.
The last paragraph reads:
Furthermore, oil analysts warn that the focus on social spending has
diverted funds from needed investments in exploration and production,
making it difficult for PdVSA to increase production in the near term.
I have no doubt that *some* oil analysts do say this (especially the ones
that used to work for PDVSA!), but I think the numbers tell a different story.
On July 16, Millard reported that PdVSA has a total investment budget of
$5.3 billion this year, but noted that analysts warn that the company will
fall short of this target.
On July 12, Matthew Robinson, reporting for Reuters, cited Jan Dehn,
emerging markets analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston in London: I would
expect that unless they meet the $2.7 billion capital spending they need
every year, production would start to suffer in 2005.
Now, if we assume that the numbers here ($2.7b and $5.3b) are
apples-and-apples, and we suppose that in the range we're talking about,
future production capacity is a roughly linear function of investment, then
those numbers would suggest to me that PDVSA could miss its investment
target by a country mile and still invest enough to increase production. If
this is so, then, unless one takes it as an axiom that any amount of social
spending by PDVSA is intrinsically offensive to oil markets -- which I'm
sure some people do! -- isn't social spending by PDVSA totally irrelevant
to the question of future oil production? Might it be the case that some
independent oil analysts simply have an ideological bias against the
notion of using some of PDVSA's profits for social spending? What am I missing?
By the way, in an article on July 24 in the New York Times, Juan Forero
reported that many oil analysts and executives of large oil companies doing
business in Venezuela say that the government may be able to spend big on
social programs and still invest adequately in production.
What do you make of all this?
--
Robert Naiman
Senior Policy Analyst
Venezuela Information Office
733 15th Street, NW Suite 932
Washington, DC 20005
t. 202-347-8081 x. 605
f. 202-347-8091
www.veninfo.org
::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::
The Venezuela Information Office is dedicated to informing the American
public about contemporary Venezuela. More information is available from the
FARA office of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

In Venezuela, Failure Is Not an Option

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

In Venezuela, Failure Is Not an Option (Roland Denis on the August
15 referendum);
http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/07/in-venezuela-failure-is-not-option.html
Yoshie

How Venezuela will spend oil revenues

[Louis Proyect]

NY Times, July 24, 2004
Oil, Venezuela's Lifeblood, Is Now Its Social Currency, Too
By JUAN FORERO
CARACAS, Venezuela - Seventeen months after an antigovernment strike 
crippled production, Venezuela's state oil company, Petróleos de 
Venezuela, has made what analysts call a Herculean return.

Though energy experts say production remains below prestrike levels, the 
oil-and-gas monolith is, once again, one of the world's great producers 
of crude. Its giant refining arm is talking of adding two refineries to 
the three already operating in the United States. The company says it is 
embarking on a strategy, heavily dependent on foreign oil companies, to 
nearly double production by 2009.

All this is part of a grand design made possible largely by sky-high oil 
prices, which have nearly doubled the expected revenue of Pdvsa 
(pronounced peh-deh-VEH-sah), as the company is known.

But while Pdvsa's talk of foreign investment and ramped-up production is 
welcome in the boardrooms of the world's biggest oil companies, in 
recent months much of the new earnings have been siphoned from 
exploration and production projects that some energy analysts say Pdvsa 
needs to recover fully from the strike. Instead, the windfall is 
financing a social revolution long promised by President Hugo Chávez's 
5½-year-old government to extricate the country from its malaise and 
ease life for the poor, an effort that had been hobbled by the strike 
and a 2002 coup that temporarily ousted the firebrand leader.

And with the Aug. 15 recall referendum that could end Mr. Chávez's 
presidency drawing ever nearer, the spending spree - on everything from 
housing to railroads, health clinics and literacy programs - is an 
increasingly important, and successful, tool for solidifying support for 
Mr. Chávez. Recent polls show he could squeak to victory.

Pdvsa's new role has raised eyebrows among oil executives and in 
Washington, which has long counted on Venezuela as one of the four big 
exporters of oil to the United States and which has been hoping Pdvsa 
will help curtail the reliance on Middle Eastern crude.

The company that has emerged from the ashes of the strike that ended in 
February 2003 is nothing like the button-down, corporate-style company 
that in the 1990's was often the No. 1 provider of foreign oil to the 
United States.

Gone is the by-the-book giant, which had $42 billion in sales, according 
to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission last October. 
Gone is the multinational whose managers once proudly compared Pdvsa to 
Exxon Mobil. Gone, too, are 18,000 experienced executives and managers 
who were fired for their role in the strike.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/24/business/worldbusiness/24venez.html
--
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org

Cal Labor: End Occupation, Come Clean on Venezuela

[Robert Naiman]

Issued 7/13/04 11:45 p.m. PDT
For immediate release:
Contact: Michael Eisenscher, U.S. Labor Against the War
510-693-7314
Largest State Federation of Labor in U.S. Calls for Immediate End to
U.S. Occupation of Iraq
San Diego, CA: On Tuesday, July 13th at its 25th biennial convention,
the California Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, representing more than two
million members, voted overwhelmingly to call upon the AFL-CIO to
demand an immediate end to the US occupation of Iraq, and to support
the repeal of the Patriot Act and the reordering of national priorities
toward the human needs of our people. The California federation is the
largest in the AFL-CIO, with more than one-sixth of its members.
The action was inspired by a strong antiwar resolution submitted by the
San Francisco Labor Council, but as reported by the resolutions
committee to the convention, it called only for an expedient end to
the occupation.  When debate opened, State Labor Federation Vice
President Nancy Wohlforth (who is also national Secretary-Treasurer of
the Office  Professional Employees International Union and national
leader of Pride at Work), proposed to restore the original demand for
immediate end to the occupation.  Her motion was seconded by Walter
Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Francisco Labor Council.  On a
voice vote by the more than 400 delegates, an overwhelming majority
voted in favor of the stronger demand.  The strength of that vote
appears to reflect the depth of anger which union members have toward
the Bush administration's pre-emptive war and occupation in Iraq where
more than 850 U.S. troops have been killed and more than 5000 have been
wounded since the invasion last year.
A second amendment was then introduced by John Dalrymple, Executive
Director of the Contra Costa County Central Labor Council, and Alan
Benjamin, Executive Board member of OPEIU Local 3 in San Francisco, to
affirm the California Labor Federation's intent to explore affiliation
with and help actively support and promote U.S. Labor Against the War
(USLAW)  USLAW is a national network of labor organizations opposed
to U.S. policy in Iraq that has more than 80 affiliated national and
local unions, regional labor bodies, labor antiwar committees, and
allied labor organizations.  This amendment was also adopted by an
overwhelming majority, and was followed by an even larger majority vote
for adoption of the resolution as amended.
The California federation also adopted without modification a
resolution demanding transparency and accountability by the AFL-CIO in
its international programs.  It urged the AFL-CIO and its Solidarity
Center to exercise extreme caution in seeking or accepting funding from
the U.S. government, its agencies and any other institutions which it
funds, such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), for its work
in Iraq or elsewhere.  It warned that doing so could give the
appearance, if not the effect, of making the AFL-CIO appear to be an
agent of the U.S. government and its foreign policies, which, it
warned, may taint the good reputation of the Federation in the eyes of
the labor movements in other countries and draw into question the
motivation and true independence of the Federation in its international
affairs.
The convention called upon the AFL-CIO to fully account for what was
done in Chile, Venezuela and other countries where the AFL-CIO funneled
NED funds to opponents of the elected government.  In the case of Chile,
that led to the military coup and overthrow of the democratically
elected government of Salvador Allende in the 1973, which brought to
power the Pinochet dictatorship, and in the case of Venezuela, to the
attempted but unsuccessful overthrow of the government of Hugo Chavez in
2003.  It called upon the federation to give a country by country
accounting of its activities and to renounce any ... tie that could
compromise our authentic credibility and the trust of workers here and
abroad that would make us paid agents of government or of the forces of
corporate economic globalization.
The convention called upon the AFL-CIO to fund its international
programs and activities, whenever possible, with funds generated
directly from its affiliates and their members.
That resolution had been submitted by the central labor councils of San
Francisco, Monterey Bay, the South Bay and Plumbers and Fitters Local
393, in San Jose.
The two-day convention resumes and will conclude on Wednesday.
Issued by U.S. Labor Against the War
1718 M Street, NW, #153
Washington, DC 20036
U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
{{{}}}
Bob Muehlenkamp and Gene Bruskin, Co-convenors
Amy Newell, National Organizer
Michael Eisenscher, Organizer  Web Coordinator
Erin McGrath, Administrative Staff
Sam McAfee and Angelina Grab, Radical Fusion - Website Design
--
Robert Naiman
Senior Policy Analyst
Venezuela Information Office
733 15th Street, NW

California Labor vs. AFL on Venezuela

[Robert Naiman]

If folks in California want to act on this, reply to me  I will send along 
contact info for the folks in California who are organizing it.
Worth reading. They appear to have a smoking gun on AFL/ACILS collusion in 
preparatory events for the coup and AFL lying about it to their members in 
California.

-Robert Naiman, [EMAIL PROTECTED]

This Resolution has been passed by the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, the
San Francisco Labor Council, the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council and
several unions.  It will be on the agenda at the California State Federation
of Labor Convention in San Diego July 13-14.  The resolution will need the
support of a majority of unions and delegates to carry.  If you are a
delegate to the Convention, your support is vital.  The issues surrounding
AFL-CIO activities abroad have been pending for many years,  It is high time
to make some changes.
RESOLUTION TO BUILD UNITY AND TRUST AMONG WORKERS WORLDWIDE
WHEREAS, the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council (SBLC) and its affiliate,
Plumbers and Fitters Local 393 presented the ³Clear the Air Resolution² at
the July 24,2002 California State Federation of Labor Convention (CalFed).
Though many delegates had current concern about Venezuela, ³Clear the Air²
outlined an AFL-CIO role leading to the 1973 coup in Chile and, among other
things, called upon the AFL-CIO, ³to fully account for what was done in
Chile and other countries where similar roles may have been played in our
name, to renounce such policies and practices..., describe, country by
country, exactly what activities it may still be engaged in abroad with
funds paid by government agencies and renounce any such ties that could
compromise our authentic credibility and the trust of workers here and
abroad and that would make us paid agents of government or of the forces of
corporate economic globalization²; and
WHEREAS, leaders of the State Federation presented a substitute resolution,
³Looking Ahead on AFL-CIO Policy Abroad,² calling ³upon the AFL-CIO to
convene a meeting with the State Federation and interested affiliates in
California to discuss their present foreign affairs activities involving
government funds.  The aim of the meeting will be to clear the air
concerning AFL-CIO policy abroad and to affirm a policy of genuine global
solidarity²; and
WHEREAS, leaders of the State Federation, the SBLC, Local 393 and UFCW Local
428 negotiated an agreement to accept the compromise ³Looking Ahead²
resolution, based explicitly on the understanding that the meeting with the
AFL-CIO had the burden of satisfying the outlined concerns and if it failed
to do so, then the original ³Clear the Air² resolution would require
implementation. In calls for unity, that understanding was clearly stated on
the floor of the convention without discord or disagreement; and
WHEREAS, when, after 15 months of delays, the meeting with the AFL-CIO
finally took place on 10/14/2003, those in attendance were assured that the
AFL-CIO¹s total ³solidarity program² with the Venezuelan Labor Confederation
(CTV) - top leaders of which had acted in pivotal collusion with the
employers association (FEDECAMARAS) to try to force the democratically
elected president, Hugo Chavez, into exile in April 2002 - amounted to less
than $20,000 in support of the Confederation¹s internal democratization
process; and
WHEREAS,  newly released government documents reveal that the AFL-CIO¹s
American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) received a 2002
grant of $116,001, awarded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
under ³the authority contained in P.L. 98-164, as amended...and Grant No.
S-L MAOM-02-H-0054 between the United States Department of State and the
National Endowment for Democracy..,²  part of $703,927 that had been granted
by NED to ACILS between 1997 and 2002 for ACILS work in Venezuela. During
2001 NED granted $154,377 to ACILS as part of a massive increase in NED
funding that year to $877,000 for activities which coincide directly with
the efforts of the Bush administration leading to the April 11, 2002 coup in
oil rich Venezuela; and
WHEREAS, according to  ACILS  ³VENEZUELA: QUARTERLY REPORT 2001-045 January
to March 2002,² ³The CTV and FEDECAMARAS...held a national conference on
March 5...to identify common objectives as well as areas of
cooperation...the culminating event of some two months of meetings and
planning...during which the two organizations announced a Œnational
accord¹...The joint action further established the CTV and FEDECAMARAS as
the flagship organizations leading the growing opposition to the Chavez
government² ONE MONTH BEFORE THE COUP; and
WHEREAS, in that report ACILS said it helped to ³support the event in
planning stages, organizing the initial meetings with...FEDECAMARAS...
Solidarity Center (ACILS) provided assistance for the five regional
preparatory meetings ...held between January 22nd and March 1st... The March
5 national

Democrats and George Soros operatives in the thick of Venezuela counter-revolution

[Louis Proyect]

Counterpunch Weekend Edition
June 26/27, 2004
Venezuela: the Gang's All Here
Replay of Chile and Nicaragua?
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
You can set your watch by it. The minute some halfway decent government 
in Latin America begins to reverse the order of things and give the 
have-nots a break from the grind of poverty and wretchedness, the usual 
suspects in El Norte rouse themselves from the slumber of indifference 
and start barking furiously about democratic norms. It happened in 1973 
in Chile; we saw it again in Nicaragua in the 1980s; and heres the same 
show on summer rerun in Venezuela, pending the August 15 recall 
referendum of President Hugo Chvez.

Chvez is the best thing that has happened to Venezuelas poor in a very 
long time. His government has actually delivered on some of its 
promises, with improved literacy rates and more students getting school 
meals. Public spending has quadrupled on education and tripled on 
healthcare, and infant mortality has declined. The government is 
promoting one of the most ambitious land-reform programs seen in Latin 
America in decades.

Most of this has been done under conditions of economic sabotage. Oil 
strikes, a coup attempt and capital flight have resulted in about a 4 
percent decline in GDP for the five years that Chvez has been in 
office. But the economy is growing at close to 12 percent this year, and 
with world oil prices near $40 a barrel, the government has extra 
billions that its using for social programs. So naturally the United 
States wants him out, just as the rich in Venezuela do. Chvez was 
re-elected in 2000 for a six-year term. A US-backed coup against him was 
badly botched in 2002.

The imperial script calls for a human rights organization to start 
braying about irregularities by their intended victim. And yes, heres 
Jos Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch. We last met him in this 
column helping to ease a $1.7 billion US aid package for Colombias 
military apparatus. This time hes holding a press conference in 
Caracas, hollering about the brazen way Chvez is trying to expand 
membership of Venezuelas Supreme Court, the same way FDR did, and for 
the same reason: that the Venezuelan court has been effectively packed 
the other way for decades, with judicial flunkies of the rich. I dont 
recall Vivanco holding too many press conferences to protest that 
perennial iniquity.

The international observers recruited to save the rich traditionally 
include the Organization of American States and the Carter Center; in 
the case of the Venezuelan recall they have mustered dead on schedule. 
On behalf of the opposition, they exerted enormous pressure on the 
countrys independent National Electoral Council during the 
signature-gathering and verification process. Eventually the head of the 
OAS mission had to be replaced by the OAS secretary general because of 
his unacceptable public statements.

The Carter Centers team is headed by Jennifer McCoy, whose forthcoming 
book, The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela, leans 
heavily against the government. One of its contributors is Jos Antonio 
Gil of the Datanalysis Polling Firm, most often cited for US media 
analysis. The Los Angeles Times quoted Gil on what to do: And he can 
see only one way out of the political crisis surrounding President Hugo 
Chvez. He has to be killed, he said, using his finger to stab the 
table in his office far above this capitals filthy streets. He has to 
be killed.

Media manipulation is an essential part of the script, and here, right 
on cue, comes Bill Clintons erstwhile pollster, Stan Greenberg, still a 
leading Democratic Party strategist. Greenberg is under contract to 
RCTV, one of the right-wing media companies leading the Venezuelan 
opposition and recall effort. Its a pollsters dream job. Not only does 
he have enormous resources against an old-fashioned, politically 
unsophisticated poor peoples movement, but his firm has something 
comrades back home can only fantasize about: control over the Venezuelan 
media. Imagine if the right wing controlled almost the entire media 
during Clintons impeachment.

full: http://www.counterpunch.org/
--
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org

educators sign-on letter on Venezuela

[Robert Naiman]

hello, everyone. to US and Canada folks: please consider acting on the 
following request. feel free to respond to me with any questions.

-Robert Naiman
(in Washington DC for the summer, but back in the PhD program in economics 
at UIUC in the academic year)

--
Robert Naiman
Senior Policy Analyst
Venezuela Information Office
733 15th Street, NW Suite 932
Washington, DC 20005
t. 202-347-8081 x. 605
f. 202-347-8091
(*Please note new suite number and telephone*)
::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::
The Venezuela Information Office is dedicated to informing the American 
public about contemporary Venezuela. More information is available from the 
FARA office of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

Envelope-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 12:01:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Venezuela News  Action [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: Venezuela News  Action 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Venezuela News  Action June 24, 2004

Dear Friends,
This July marks the first anniversary of Venezuela's educational missions. 
The achievements in the first year have been extraordinary:  a volunteer 
force of 100,000 has established hundreds of clinics in remote regions and 
inner cities.  In all, more than 1.2 million adults have been taught to 
read in the past year alone, and Venezuela is on track to eliminating 
illiteracy altogether.

ACTION ITEM:  Educators across North America are invited to celebrate this 
success with the people of Venezuela.  Here's how you can help:

*  If you are a teacher, professor, faculty member, or other education 
professional, please sign on to the following letter by sending your NAME, 
TITLE, SCHOOL, CITY, and STATE to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

*  Circulate this letter widely among education professionals
*  Signers should respond by MONDAY, JULY 5th.  More information on the 
missions is posted immediately under the sign-on letter.

**
SIGN ON LETTER
Aristobulo Isturiz, Minister of Education
Edificio Sede
Caracas 1010
Venezuela
Dear Dr. Isturiz:
As educators across North America, we recognize the achievements of the 
literacy programs in Venezuela, and join with you to celebrate the 
remarkable accomplishments of their first year.

The level of participation in these missions has been significant: one 
million people have already graduated from Mission Robinson's basic 
reading and writing clinics, one million more adults are working to obtain 
high-school diplomas through Mission Ribas, and an additional one 
hundred-thousand students participate in Mission Sucre's higher education 
program. More than 1.2 million adults have been taught to read in the past 
year alone, with the support of tens of thousands of volunteers.

Bringing education to the most remote regions of the country is critical 
to national development. Economic advancement, civic involvement, 
technological advances, political stability and participation in the world 
require that literacy is extended to all. We hope that the tremendous 
progress Venezuela has made toward the elimination of illiteracy will 
inspire others in the region.

On the first anniversary of the educational programs, we congratulate the 
people of Venezuela for your remarkable achievement.

Sincerely,
HUNDREDS OF NORTH AMERICAN TEACHERS PROFESSORS AND EDUCATIONAL PROFESSIONALS
**
Background Information:
-VENEZUELA'S LITERACY TRIUMPH-
Venezuela has a history of discrimination in education. New social 
programs are eradicating past discrimination by providing equal access to 
educational opportunities even for the poorest and most isolated 
citizens.  With more than 1.2 million adults taught to read in the last 
year, Venezuela is creating the conditions that will allow all citizens to 
participate in the democratic process for the first time.

ILLITERACY  EDUCATIONAL DISCRIMINATION
Last summer, the Venezuelan government launched a series of sweeping 
educational initiatives to combat the learning gap that had historically 
plagued the nation's poor.  Establishing thousands of local, 
volunteer-based schools in rural communities and urban slums across the 
Caribbean nation, the initiatives have made remarkable progress.

This July, Venezuela and educators from around the world will celebrate 
the 1.2 million adults who have been taught to read in the first year of 
these programs. The country is now on track to achieve a near-complete 
elimination of illiteracy.

THE EDUCATION GAP
Just ten years ago, Venezuela's illiteracy rate was nearly 9%, or about 2 
million people, primarily in rural Indigenous communities and poor 
inner-city families.  Under previous governments, students had been 
required to pay fees to attend public schools, which in practice excluded 
the most needy from receiving basic education.  The most remote parts of 
the country had no schools at all, and government spending on public 
schools declined steadily throughout the 1990s

Buy Venezuela Bonds: Marxist Financial Advice

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Daniel wrote:
2.  Chuck it into the bonds of more or less politically palatable
emerging market countries.  Venezuela has a few series of quite
high-yielding bonds available, and buying them would both help
Chavez to buy a little time to fend off the hegemon, and offer the
possibility of a nice capital gain when and if he eventually fails
and Vene becomes a US protectorate.  Sort of a win-win situation, if
you have a rather perverse definition of what constitutes a win.
As I don't have the means to act on your advice, alas, I took the
liberty of posting the above to my blog:
Daniel Davies of D-Squared Digest (who nowadays mainly posts to
Crooked Timber) says:
I have two pieces of Marxist financial advice (note to regulators: no
I don't). Depending on your own financial circumstances and risk
appetite, blah blah, I would:
1. Find a life assurance company run by people you trust and chuck it
all into one of their long-dated policies.
or for the more adventurous
2. Chuck it into the bonds of more or less politically palatable
emerging market countries. Venezuela has a few series of quite
high-yielding bonds available, and buying them would both help Chavez
to buy a little time to fend off the hegemon, and offer the
possibility of a nice capital gain when and if he eventually fails
and Vene becomes a US protectorate. Sort of a win-win situation, if
you have a rather perverse definition of what constitutes a win.
(Progressive Economists Network, June 23, 2004)
Good advice. Despite the Venezuelan oligarchy's repeated attempts at
economic sabotage, Hugo Chávez's record of debt management has been
excellent, and high oil prices and big foreign reserves should
continue to bolster investor confidence:
* I think Chavez will stay in power, whether he avoids the recall or
holds the vote and wins, said Jose Pedreira, a managing director at
LW Asset Management, a New York-based hedge fund.
Wall Street, put off by Chavez's anti-capitalist rhetoric but
impressed by the country's debt management policies, sees smooth
sailing for Venezuelan sovereign bonds. They have already rewarded
holders with total returns of 34.6 percent so far this year while the
rest of the market is up 27 percent.
Venezuela total returns have risen 3.6 percent since Dec. 1 while JP
Morgan's Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus has edged just 1.6 percent
higher. . . .
Venezuela bond prices have been going higher because, at the end to
the day, Venezuela is in good shape in terms of being able to pay its
debts, Pedreira said. Other emerging market countries offer much
less yield, which continues to make Venezuela attractive. (Hugh
Bronstein/Reuters, Venezuela Bonds Seen Rising above Political
Woes, December 7, 2003)
* Venezuela offered to buy back $1 billion of six-month
dollar-denominated bonds after a surge in oil prices swelled
government coffers.
The government, which had sold the securities to local investors in
March, offered to buy the 1.15 percent notes due Sept. 30, 2004, at
100 cents on the dollar, or par.
They've had huge revenue off the oil side for quite some time and
huge reserve levels, said Enrique Alvarez, a Latin American debt
analyst with research company IDEAglobal in New York. And they're
very comfortable repurchasing this since they're done selling dollar
debt the rest of this year.
Venezuelan oil has averaged $30 a barrel this year, more than the
$18.50 estimate the government used to calculate this year's budget.
Venezuela, the world's fifth largest crude supplier, will likely
receive between $5 billion and $7 billion of extra oil income this
year, Central Bank Director Armando Leon said last month. (Alex
Kennedy, Venezuela Offers to Buy Back $1 Billion of Bonds,
Bloomberg.com, June 7, 2004)
* Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has almost unlimited supplies of
cash, with Venezuelan oil selling at over $30 a barrel, foreign
reserves of more than $23 billion, and few qualms about using public
funds to bolster his campaign for a 'no' vote (Phil Gunson, Chávez
Well-armed in Recall Battle, Miami Herald, June 22, 2004).
Credit rating agencies have been extremely tough on Venezuela, to be
sure, but that's only because they are politically motivated.
Bondholders have not lost confidence in the Bolivarian Republic:
Venezuela, for instance, is rated Caa1 by Moody's -- one of the
lowest ratings, even among high-yield, or junk, bonds -- and a full
two notches below Brazil's B2 high-yield rating. Yet yields for
Venezuelan bonds are comparable to those of Brazil. That means the
market isn't demanding a higher premium from Venezuela, despite the
lower rating.
Investors like Mr. Hopper say this is understandable. Venezuela is a
big oil producer and boasts foreign reserves that more than cover its
debt, while Brazil's don't. Venezuela has been volatile, and at
times overdiscounted by the market, he says. The ratings agencies
have contributed to that. (Craig Karmin/The Associated Press,
Ratings Take on Political Risk, June 21, 2004)
http

Ernesto Cardenal on Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Ernesto Cardenal on Venezuela:
http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/06/ernesto-cardenal-on-venezuela.html
--
Yoshie
* Critical Montages: http://montages.blogspot.com/
* Bring Them Home Now! http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
* Calendars of Events in Columbus:
http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html,
http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php,  http://www.cpanews.org/
* Student International Forum: http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osudivest.org/
* Al-Awda-Ohio: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio
* Solidarity: http://www.solidarity-us.org/

Should Venezuela Sell CITGO or Make It Pay?

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Should Venezuela Sell CITGO or Make It Pay?:
http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/06/sell-citgo-or-make-it-pay.html
--
Yoshie
* Critical Montages: http://montages.blogspot.com/
* Bring Them Home Now! http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
* Calendars of Events in Columbus:
http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html,
http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php,  http://www.cpanews.org/
* Student International Forum: http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osudivest.org/
* Al-Awda-Ohio: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio
* Solidarity: http://www.solidarity-us.org/

Venezuela: prospects for recall (5 June 04)

[michael a. lebowitz]

Re: new megafraud controversy raging in Venezuela:
imperialism or Chavez
by Perelman, Michael
04 June 2004 21:26 UTC

  
Thread
Index
 

What a wonderful example of American imperialism! On a more
serious
note, Michael, what are the prospects for a recall?
--
Hi Michael,
I've dated
my response because I can only say what it looks like at this very
moment. Any discussion of the prospects has to recognise that there is a
long history of electoral fraud here, that in addition to the domestic
tradition there is the support that can be expected from the usual
suspect (which won't bother to function through the National Endowment
for Destruction) and, of course, that there is the potential and
likelihood of further disruptions to the economy with the idea of
creating despair in the population which currently supports Chavez.
That said,
it is essential to recognise that all that was necessary to trigger the
recall referendum was 20% (or roughly 2.4 million) of the electorate from
the last time. Very few semi-objective observers last year thought it
unlikely that the opposition had much less than 30% support. Although the
opposition goal during the signature campaign at the end of last November
was to get 3.8 million (thus giving them more than Chavez had received to
win--- which would have allowed them to say, Chavez out
now!), despite an incredible amount of fraud they were well below
this. Because of irregularities (some innocent), the Electoral Council
threw out many signatures and assigned others to be 'repaired' (ie.,
people had to show up and prove their legitimacy); in the end, they
barely got their necessary signatures. On this count, the opposition does
not look especially strong.
But, they
are organised--- the NED-financed SUMATE organisation has extensive
computer records on the electorate, and the party organisations that
compose the opposition have experienced, committed and disciplined cadres
able to bring out their support. In contrast, the Chavist supporters,
although likely more in number, demonstrated on this occasion that they
were very poorly organised. The Commando Ayacucho, the group assembled
from the various Chavist parties to coordinate this recent campaign
(which included the attempt to recall opposition legislators), revealed
that it had strong individual spokespeople able to attack the opposition
and to make rousing, confident speeches but that it lacked the
organisation and discipline to deliver what it promised. (This has led to
considerable criticism from the barrios and elsewhere.) So, the central
question, I think, is whether the Chavist forces will learn adequately
from these events. The referendum campaign is an excellent opportunity to
deepen the Bolivarian Revolution and to raise both the consciousness and
the organisational capacity of those who support it.
It is
important to recognise that at every step of the way, the process here
has been propelled forward by the action of the opposition. In achieving
the threshold for a recall referendum on Chavez, the opposition has
provided the government with a gift--- the opportunity to turn this into
a request for a mandate on its education, health and social programmes,
on its attempt to create a new social economy, indeed into a mandate on
the constitution itself. Chavez himself will certainly frame the issues
this way. But, the results will depend on the concrete steps taken at the
base to organise the masses of poor who have been the principal
beneficiaries of the government; if new, effective forms of organisation
are not developed--- in the face of everything that the opposition, the
Bush government and capital will throw at the government, then a
successful recall is possible.
In short,
to coin a phrase, pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.

in
solidarity,

michael
 


Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6

Currently based in Venezuela. Can be reached at
Residencias Anauco Suites
Departamento 601
Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1
Caracas, Venezuela
(58-212) 573-4111
fax: (58-212) 573-7724

new megafraud controversy raging in Venezuela: imperialism or Chavez

[michael a. lebowitz]

Published: Friday, June 04, 2004
Bylined to: Patrick J.
O'Donoghue 
Chavez Frias blamed for Miss
Venezuela's poor showing in Miss Universe 
Analyzing the failure of Venezuela
to figure in the final 5 candidates of the Miss Universe contest held in
Quito, Ecuador, some Venezuelan luminaries are throwing the blame on
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias. 
Beauty contest expert, Julio Rodriguez
says political reasons dominated the exclusion of clear favorite, Ana
Karina Anez ... it's due to the tense situation between Venezuelan
and the USA ... we must remember that it's a US-based event ... she
should have been the last 5 ... I cannot see any other motive.

Nidal Nouahied, who designed Miss Venezuela's national dress agrees that
politics did enter the contest this year ... we are talking about a
US company that disagrees with the process developing in Venezuela ...
Lebanon and Israel are always excluded for the same reason.

Star Models Agency director, Elizabeth Linares complains that Ana Karina
had everything it takes to win and showed plenty of security ...
tense and stringent relations between Venezuela and the USA will
hinder everything we do in international contests ... beauty has nothing
to do with politics ... but! 
The exclusion of Miss Venezuela
broke Venezuela's record of 21 finals ... three times as runner up:
Marena Bencomo (1996), Veruska Ramirez (1997) y Mariangel Ruiz (2003).

Ruiz says she's as shocked as the rest of
the Nation because people were certain the Venezuelan girl would win ...
money was no object in the preparing Anez for the event but she rules out
the political factor, pointing to the non-political character of the
contest. 
Linares revives the theory that Miss Universe tycoon, Donald Trump is
getting his own back after the (Miss Universe Alicia Machado rumpus
several years ago but other experts reject the theory outright.

Some people suggest that it is time to change the Venezuelan
prototype, insisting that future Miss Venezuelas beef up on the question
part and learn to speak English. 

Miss Venezuela organizer, Osmel Sousa admits he
wasn't too happy with Ana Karina's performance ... she was a bit
nervous, a bit passive before the preliminary jury. 


Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6

Currently based in Venezuela. Can be reached at
Residencias Anauco Suites
Departamento 601
Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1
Caracas, Venezuela
(58-212) 573-4111
fax: (58-212) 573-7724

Re: new megafraud controversy raging in Venezuela: imperialism or Chavez

[Perelman, Michael]

What a wonderful example of American imperialism!  On a more serious
note, Michael, what are the prospects for a recall?

Also, I suspect that everybody here is grateful for the serious
information we have been getting about Venezuela.  Thanks.

By the way, Michael L. was one of the 2 original members of this list.

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929

-Original Message-
From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of michael a.
lebowitz
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 2:22 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [PEN-L] new megafraud controversy raging in Venezuela:
imperialism or Chavez

Published: Friday, June 04, 2004
Bylined to: Patrick J. O'Donoghue 

Chavez Frias blamed for Miss Venezuela's poor showing in Miss Universe 

Analyzing the failure of Venezuela to figure in the final 5 candidates
of the Miss Universe contest held in Quito, Ecuador, some Venezuelan
luminaries are throwing the blame on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Frias. 

Beauty contest expert, Julio Rodriguez says political reasons dominated
the exclusion of clear favorite, Ana Karina Anez ... it's due to the
tense situation between Venezuelan and the USA ... we must remember that
it's a US-based event ... she should have been the last 5 ... I cannot
see any other motive. 

Nidal Nouahied, who designed Miss Venezuela's national dress agrees that
politics did enter the contest this year ... we are talking about a US
company that disagrees with the process developing in Venezuela ...
Lebanon and Israel are always excluded for the same reason. 

Star Models Agency director, Elizabeth Linares complains that Ana Karina
had everything it takes to win and showed plenty of security ... tense
and stringent relations between Venezuela and the USA will hinder
everything we do in international contests ... beauty has nothing to do
with politics ... but! 

The exclusion of Miss Venezuela broke Venezuela's record of 21 finals
... three times as runner up: Marena Bencomo (1996), Veruska Ramirez
(1997) y Mariangel Ruiz (2003). 

Ruiz says she's as shocked as the rest of the Nation because people were
certain the Venezuelan girl would win ... money was no object in the
preparing Anez for the event but she rules out the political factor,
pointing to the non-political character of the contest. 

Linares revives the theory that Miss Universe tycoon, Donald Trump is
getting his own back after the (Miss Universe Alicia Machado rumpus
several years ago but other experts reject the theory outright. 
* Some people suggest that it is time to change the Venezuelan
prototype, insisting that future Miss Venezuelas beef up on the question
part and learn to speak English. 

Miss Venezuela organizer, Osmel Sousa admits he wasn't too happy with
Ana Karina's performance ... she was a bit nervous, a bit passive
before the preliminary jury. 

Exchange on Venezuela

[Louis Proyect]

CJR, May-June 2004
Did an acclaimed documentary about the 2002 coup in Venezuela tell the 
whole story?
BY PHIL GUNSON

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Filmed and Directed by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain
In September 2001, two young Irish filmmakers, Kim Bartley and Donnacha 
OBriain, arrived in Venezuela with plans to make a low-budget, 
fly-on-the-wall documentary about the countrys flamboyant president, 
Hugo Chvez. A former army officer, Chvez had attempted a coup dtat 
in 1992, spent a couple of years in jail, and was elected to the 
presidency in 1998. His followers revere him as a revolutionary, 
struggling to bring justice to the poor in the face of savage attacks 
from a local oligarchy backed by Washington. His adversaries call him a 
dangerous demagogue who has ruined the economy, polarized the nation, 
and is steadily dismantling a forty-five-year-old democracy. Bartley and 
OBriain belong unabashedly in the former camp.

In todays Venezuela, it is hard, if not impossible, to find an 
impartial observer. Most of the countrys private news media have openly 
joined the opposition. State radio and TV are crude cheerleaders for the 
government. Bartley and OBriain, however, while rightly criticizing the 
former, ignore the sins of the latter.

Seven months into their project, persistence and good fortune brought a 
scoop: they were inside the presidential palace when Chvez was ousted 
by a military-civilian uprising. The resulting documentary  
underwritten by the BBC, Irelands RTE, and other European broadcasters 
 is as thrilling a piece of political drama as youre likely to see and 
has won armfuls of prizes, including Britains top documentary award, 
the Grierson. It has aired repeatedly all around the world, has been 
shown in movie theaters and at film festivals, arguably becoming the 
prevailing interpretation of the continuing Venezuelan political crisis. 
The Chvez government, which had 20,000 copies made in Cuba, has been a 
tireless promoter and distributor of the film.

It is probably one of the best documentaries I have ever seen on 
television, and undoubtedly one of the finest pieces of journalism 
within living memory, gushed Declan Lynch, a television critic for 
Irelands Sunday Independent, in a fairly typical review of Chvez: 
Inside the Coup. The plot was classically simple: Chvez gets 
democratically elected, to the chagrin of the evil oil-barons and their 
good buddies in the Bush administration, who express extreme concern 
that Chvez doesnt have Americas interest at heart. Chvez gets 
ousted by these malign forces, spirited away amid scenes of chaos 
orchestrated by them. But Santa Mara! his palace guards remain loyal, 
and amid scenes of total consternation, Chvez is brought back, the coup 
is declared null and void by the good guys on state television, and the 
evil oil-barons flee to Miami, having duly emptied the safe in the palace.

That engaging narrative is, unfortunately, somewhat at odds with the 
complex, messy reality of April 2002, when a mass march on the 
presidential palace in Caracas ended in a massacre and a short-lived 
change of government. Bartley and OBriain are entitled to their views, 
but a close analysis of the film reveals something worse than political 
naivet. Constructing a false picture of a classic military coup devised 
by an allegedly corrupt and racist oligarchy, they omit key facts, 
invent others, twist the sequence of events to support their case, and 
replace inconvenient images with others dredged from archives. (A 
version of the film in Spanish is called La Revolucion No Sera 
Transmitida: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.)

By the time of the coup, Venezuela had been embroiled for almost six 
months in a severe political crisis. The lid blew off when Chvez moved 
to rid the state oil corporation, Petrleos de Venezuela, of its top 
managers and directors, whom he perceived as inimical to his self-styled 
revolution. Chvez recently admitted that he deliberately provoked the 
showdown: the result was that oil managers, business leaders, and large 
segments of organized labor called a work stoppage, backed by millions 
of Venezuelans, particularly the countrys increasingly impoverished 
middle class. Disaffected military officers, angry at Chvezs drive to 
place the armed forces at the service of his political project, were 
also involved.

full: http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/3/gunson-docu.asp
===
Who's Right? The Filmmakers Respond
BY KIM BARTLEY AND DONNACHA O'BRIAIN
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Filmed and Directed by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain
Phil Gunson admits it is hard to find anyone in Venezuela today who is 
balanced about the events of April 2002. He should include himself. The 
key points he raises are themselves issues of dispute in Venezuela and 
they continue to divide opinion. His criticisms are conveniently 
identical to those outlined in a politically motivated petition against 
our film

Gregory Wilpert on John Kerry's Attack on Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   A Rebuttal to Senator Kerry's Statement on Venezuela
Monday, Mar 22, 2004
By: Gregory Wilpert - Venezuelanalysis.com
Senator Kerry's press statement was issued on March 19, 2004.

Italic text is Senator Kerry's statement. Plain text is Gregory
Wilpert's rebuttal.
_With the future of the democratic process at a critical juncture in
Venezuela, we should work to bring all possible international
pressure to bear on President Chavez to allow the referendum to
proceed._
It is not up to President Chavez whether there is a referendum.
Venezuela's constitution clearly establishes rules that must be
followed for a referendum to be called. The president has nothing to
do with this procedure. If Kerry has any evidence that Chavez is
preventing the referendum process from proceeding, then he should
spell out what it is that he has done.
_The [Bush] Administration should demonstrate its true commitment to
democracy in Latin America by showing determined leadership now,
while a peaceful resolution can still be achieved._
U.S. interference in Venezuela's referendum process will distort and
damage Venezuela's democracy more than help it. If there is outside
interference, it is more likely that the results of the process will
not be recognized as legitimate  by one of the sides in the conflict
and this would probably lead to violence, not to a peaceful
resolution.
_Throughout his time in office, President Chavez has repeatedly
undermined democratic institutions by using extra-legal means,
including politically motivated incarcerations, to consolidate power._
How does Kerry know that the incarcerations of some protestors were
politically motivated? As the cases stand right now, it has not been
clearly established that any of the arrests that have occurred during
the recent spate of violent protests involved people who were
innocent of all charges. As the cases proceed and come to trial,
there will be plenty of opportunities to find out if this was the
case. To prejudge the arrests as Sen. Kerry does, does not help.
_In fact, his close relationship with Fidel Castro has raised serious
questions about his commitment to leading a truly democratic
government._
If relationships with undemocratic rulers are enough to question a
leader's commitment to democracy, then the commitment to democracy of
just about every president in U.S. history must be questioned.
_Moreover, President Chavez's policies have been detrimental to our
interests and those of his neighbors._
Exactly what our interests is is of course a much disputed issue.
If it includes Venezuela's opposition to the WTO and the FTAA, then,
indeed, President Chavez' interests have been detrimental to U.S.
interests. However, many in the U.S. and in Latin America would argue
that these institutions are not in the U.S. interest, but only in the
interest of transnational corporations, such as the one that Senator
Kerry's wife is heiress to (Heinz Ketchup). Besides, governments are
not there to pursue U.S. interests anyway, no matter where they are;
only national and human interests.
_He has compromised efforts to eradicate drug cultivation by allowing
Venezuela to become a haven for narco-terrorists, and sowed
instability in the region by supporting anti-government insurgents in
Colombia._
Sen. Kerry stands in direct contradiction with U.S. government
testimony that says that the Venezuelan government has been very
cooperative with US drug enforcement agencies. More drugs have been
intercepted by the Chavez government than any previous government.
While this could reflect in increase in drug trafficking in
Venezuela, it proves that Venezuela's government has far from
compromised efforts.[1]
Even the head of the U.S. Southern Command, Gen. James Hill, who is
directly involved in plan Colombia and the U.S. anti-drug trafficking
effort, has denied that there is any evidence of connections between
the Venezuelan government and anti-government insurgents in
Colombia.[2] If Senator Kerry has any evidence of such connections,
he should provide them to the U.S. military so that they might be
properly informed.
_The referendum has given the people of Venezuela the opportunity to
express their views on his presidency through constitutionally
legitimate means._
Perhaps it would have been good to mention at this point that the
recall referendum was proposed by President Chavez and his party when
the country's constitutional assembly wrote the new constitution.
This fact directly contradicts Sen. Kerry's questioning of President
Chavez' democratic credentials.
_The international community cannot allow President Chavez to subvert
this process, as he has attempted to do thus far._
Without mentioning concrete examples of President Chavez' supposed
efforts to subvert the referendum process, Sen. Kerry's statement
is pure innuendo that intends to slander a head of state.
_He must be pressured to comply with the agreements he made with the
OAS and the Carter Center to allow the referendum

Venezuela, Oil, Washington

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

VenezuelaFOIA.info (by the Venezuela Solidarity Committee/National
Venezuela Solidarity  Network): http://www.venezuelafoia.info/.
*The New York Times, March 11, 2004
Chávez Says U.S. Is Fueling His Enemies
By JUAN FORERO
CARACAS, Venezuela, March 10 - Under United States pressure to allow
a recall referendum against his rule, President Hugo Chávez has in
recent days counterattacked, charging that the Bush administration is
trying to oust him by aiding his adversaries, including those who
briefly overthrew him in a 2002 coup.
Mr. Chávez has seized on the information in reams of United States
government documents, made public by a pro-Chávez group in New York
that show Washington is trying to strengthen political parties and
other antigovernment groups that want to remove the populist
firebrand through a recall.
Aid to opposition groups by the National Endowment for Democracy, a
nonprofit agency financed by the United States Congress, is not new.
Nor is the $1 million spent here last year excessively high for an
organization that spends $40 million a year to finance hundreds of
organizations in 81 countries.
But the unearthing of 2,000 pages of documents has provided details
of how the Bush administration considers the rehabilitation of
Venezuela's battered political parties the best way to counter a
leader Washington views as erratic and authoritarian.
The future of Venezuelan democracy depends on the rebuilding of
healthy and responsive political parties that can effectively channel
citizen demands, says one memo.
Mr. Chávez has lashed out in three recent speeches, telling
Washington to get its hands off Venezuela and charging that the
Bush administration is financing this mad opposition. He has even
gone so far as to threaten to cut off oil exports if Washington gets
the idea of trying to blockade Venezuela, or, even worse, of
invading Venezuela. . . .
For the United States, which is dependent on Venezuelan oil supplies
and has close economic ties to the country, the possibility that the
referendum could be scrapped would be a serious blow to a carefully
calibrated policy aimed at building feasible political alternatives
to Mr. Chávez.
The endowment documents say that strengthening political parties
remains a critical part of any long-term solution and that the
battered political party system is the only institution capable of
restoring democracy by generating solidly democratic leaders and
generating sound policies.
Endowment aid had fallen to $257,000 in 2000, as political parties
and other beneficiaries in Venezuela were left crippled after Mr.
Chávez's sweeping victories in elections. Assistance more than
tripled to $877,000 in 2001 as political parties reorganized to
counter the president. In 2002, aid rose again, to $1.1 million. . . .
The documents, obtained by a freelance reporter, Jeremy Bigwood, and
posted on the Web site of the Venezuela Solidarity Committee, show
that much of the aid benefits political parties and groups leading
the recall effort. Those benefiting from assistance include Sumate, a
group that has staged signature gatherings for a referendum. It
received $53,400 last September.
Financing does not go directly to political parties. The endowment
channeled nearly $350,000 to the international wings of the
Republican and Democratic parties, the International Republican
Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs, and the foreign policy arm of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the
American Center for International Labor Solidarity. Those
organizations ran workshops and training sessions and offered advice
to three political parties - Democratic Action, Copei and First
Justice - as well as the Venezuelan Workers Confederation.
The leaders of all these organizations have been at the forefront of
the anti-Chávez movement.
Mr. Chávez has been suspicious of the endowment's intentions since it
was revealed soon after the coup that opposition groups had been
receiving funding.
Though the State Department put $1 million in endowment aid on hold
in the aftermath, an internal investigation found the groups carried
out programs adhering to U.S. laws and policies, and assistance
resumed.
The government believes it is unacceptable for the United States to
be involved in the affairs of Venezuela, said Andres Izarra, a
spokesman for the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington.
The Venezuelan parties and the workers confederation that are
beneficiaries of aid are important components of the Democratic
Coordinator, an anti-Chávez umbrella organization led by politicians,
labor leaders, former managers at the state oil company and media
executives.
Some groups that receive aid, like the Center for International
Private Enterprise, which has ties to the United States Chamber of
Commerce, do not hide their loathing of Mr. Chávez.
The enterprise, in explaining its role here, says the current
political crisis in Venezuela has been brought about by the
deplorable performance of the Chávez

Protest US Intervention in Venezuela (Mon., March 1, 2004, DC)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

--- Washington DC, March 1, 2004 ---
Protest against US intervention in Venezuela
Bush's Administration Supports Fraud to Overthrow Chavez

Stop US Intervention!
Respect Democracy and Popular Will in Venezuela!
Monday, March 1st, 11:30 AM
at OAS Building
17th Street  Constitution Ave.
N.W., Washington, D.C.
Congreso Bolivariano de Los Pueblos

[The flyer is available at
http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/English2004/DCVenez.gif.]
Dear Sisters and Friends:

We write, in follow up to the very successful speaking tour of Nora
Castañeda, President of the Women's Development Bank of Venezuela, to
urge you to participate in a global protest against US and OAS
intervention in Venezuela that is happening on Monday March 1 at
11:30am in Washington DC outside the OAS, 17th and Constitution
Avenue, followed by a protest at US News and World Report against
biased reporting that feeds the flame for intervention. Information
below.
Audiences in the US learnt a lot from Nora Castañeda when she spoke
of what the peaceful and democratic revolution in Venezuela is
achieving, and how grassroots women who live in poverty, the majority
of whom are of African and Indigenous descent, are the most involved
in the process and have the most to lose if it is crushed. We heard
how women won Article 88 of the constitution which recognizes unwaged
work in the home as economically productive and entitles housewives
to social security, and Article 14 of the Land Law which prioritizes
single mothers for land distribution and guarantees food subsidies
for pregnant women before and after birth. What women all over the
world have been campaigning for over decades is becoming a reality in
Venezuela.
As we near March 8 International Women's Day, we ask you to come out
and protect and defend these and other hard-won achievements --
literacy, free healthcare in the poorest communities, etc. -- which
represent a real alternative for all of us who oppose US corporate
greed and military might.
We know time is tight, but people in Venezuela have asked their
supporters in the US to protest a potentially dangerous situation
that is presented by the imminent findings on the referendum. The
Global Women's Strike is supporting this protest and we urge you to
forward this message to your contacts, family and friends in the
Washington DC area, asking them to please come out. There are vans
going from NYC (call 718-510-5523) and Philadelphia (call
215-848-1120) to reserve a seat. Costs will be shared.
Global Women's Strike Bolivarian Circle
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
215-848-1120
This event will be followed by a protest in front of the US News and
World Report.
What is happening?

As the February 29th deadline approaches, the Venezuelan Electoral
National Council is under pressure from the US and political
opposition forces to president Hugo Chavez, threatening that if the
decision is not favorable to them, violence will ensue. That only a
referendum independently of the number of signatures can guarantee
peace. It is nothing more than a flagrant call to disrespect the law
and the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Both of
these instruments of law clearly state that at least 20% of valid
signatures are required for a recall referendum. No fake, no
duplicated signatures can be considered. People signing for others is
an illegal act and not a technicism, as the State Department is
calling it.
Since the April 2002 US-backed coup and January 2003 oil lock-out
which were reversed by a popular uprising, the US has been pressing
to get the democratically-elected President Chavez out of power.
President Chavez was overwhelmingly elected in 1998 and re-elected in
2000, to get the country's oil revenue back to tackle poverty and
corruption and to create a caring economy in Venezuela. Recently it
was uncovered that the National Endowment for Democracy has been
funneling money to forces trying to overthrow President Chavez,
including those participating in the April 2002 coup.
As the government reforms advance, 1.5 million new children obtained
access to school, 1 million adults learned to read and write, 1.5
million people obtained access to potable water, the economy is
recovering steadily in spite of the sabotage, and the PNUD recognized
in their last report of 2003 that poverty has declined 3 points in
Venezuela. A unique case in Latin America and the United States where
the number of people in poverty increased. Venezuela has a new form
of democracy that the US does not like, a democracy where people not
only participate in discussions about their process of development
(participation) but also have the legal instruments that allow them
to make the decisions. They do not have to depend on politicians or
political parties who make decisions for them, people make their own
decisions about their projects of development (articles 166 and 182
of the Bolivarian Constitution). This is called protagonism.
Venezuelan democracy is then called participatory

Venezuela - a 21st Century Revolution

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   Documentary
Venezuela - a 21st Century Revolution
Produced by the Global Women's Strike, May 2003
Duration: 60 minutes   Cost: $15 £10 E15
Crossroads Books   Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This is not a documentary on Venezuela, but a documentary of
Venezuelans speaking on how they are making this revolution.
Picketing the Constituent Assembly every day . . . the women's
movement, and the Indigenous movement, got our rights enshrined in
the constitution. . . . Micro credit is an excuse to empower women.
Nora Castañeda, President of the Women's Development Bank
We women are strong because as single mothers we have been both
mother and father. We are not scared of any golpista.  Mano Amiga,
cleaning workers co-operative
The heroic people woke up. They used to step on us, now we all
protest and demand our rights. Co-operative of workers of the Hilton
Anauco
To re-establish production was a 24-hour struggle. Oil workers gave
it everything they had and many grassroots people took part. Nelson
Nuñez, President of oil workers' union SITRAPETROL
We feel as much pain for the world as we do for Venezuela . . . This
revolution is peaceful and democratic, but it is armed . . . We must
win by the only path open to us, the path of the revolution, which is
the path of life. President Hugo Chavez Frias
This documentary aims to help with a better understanding of what
this 21st century revolution is winning for all of us, what we can do
for it and what it can do for us. In England and the US, viewers from
Venezuela and elsewhere, have acclaimed it: Grassroots people are
full of optimism and aware of their own power. I have never seen
such confident women. I cried with joy.
* In 1998 President Chavez was elected by a landslide to tackle
poverty and corruption. The two parties in power for over 40 years
had left 80% of Venezuelans, mostly people of colour, in poverty
despite a lucrative oil industry.
* In 1999, a new constitution framed by the population was voted in.
As laws implementing the constitution were about to come into force,
the US government and Venezuela's white racist elite organized a coup
and kidnapped President Chavez.
* Two days later, on 13 April 2002, millions took to the streets led
by women from the poorest areas. With the support of loyal soldiers
they won back their elected President and their constitution.
* In January 2003, oil managers, the corporate media and corrupt
union leaders tried to stop the revolution by stopping the oil
industry. Again they were defeated.
* The constitution gives land and housing to rural and homeless
people, prioritizes water and food security, promotes co-operatives,
recognizes Indigenous peoples' rights, promotes workers' rights,
equity between women and men, recognizes housework as productive
work, entitles housewives to health care and a pension, promotes
unity among Third World peoples . . . The constitution opposes the
privatization of oil, enabling the population to reclaim its stolen
oil revenue.
* Uniquely, on a continent plagued by US-backed military
dictatorships and disappearances, the Chavez government promotes a
caring use of its military. Soldiers, as well as defending the
revolutionary process, work with and for the community: building
homes, schools, providing healthcare, teaching literacy . . .
In April 2003, the Global Women's Strike was invited to the first
anniversary of the popular uprising that saved the revolution, its
government and constitution. Six of us went, from Argentina, England,
Peru and the US, to celebrate the defeat of the coup.
Special thanks to INAMUJER, the Venezuelan Women's Institute.

There are Bolivarian Circle of the Global Women's Strike in a number
of countries, spreading the achievements of the revolution.
To buy a copy of our documentary:

Crossroads Women's Centre, 230A Kentish Town Rd, London NW5 2AB
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: 020 7482 2496
Web: http://www.allwomencount.net/Publications/Forsalepage.htm,
http://www.allwomencount.net/Publications/VIDEOS.htm
http://www.allwomencount.net/Publications/venezuelavidflyer.htm   *
--
Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
* Calendars of Events in Columbus:
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html,
http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php,  http://www.cpanews.org/
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osudivest.org/
* Al-Awda-Ohio: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio
* Solidarity: http://www.solidarity-us.org/

Venezuela report on workers-- 26 November 2003

[michael a. lebowitz]

This is the second of two notes on current developments in Venezuela; it is
being sent to a larger distribution list because of its content. Please
circulate widely.
   There have been rumours that in private industry (largely unorganised)
workers would be taken to the signature tables by their supervisors to sign
up in the 'Reafirmazo' to generate a recall of Chavez. (It is called the
RE-signing because of the opposition claim that their unsupervised and
constitutionally premature sign-up last February was the first firmazo.)
There is some rather concrete evidence, though, that the pressures upon
private sector workers will be intense.
   I have just been shown a card by a leader of UNT (the National Union of
Workers, the new trade union federation formed in August). This nicely
embossed a card for the reafirmazo'  has a place for the bearer's name and
signature and a place where this card is to be stamped. It is being given
by private sector employers to their workers. The card reads (roughly
translated): 'Today I have left my signature and my hello for history, as
demonstration of my desire and will to look for a peaceful, democratic and
electoral exit to the crisis of the country.' What will happen to workers
whose card is NOT stamped is anyone's guess. The real point is that the
pressure being placed upon workers in the private sector is clear. We can
say with certainty that no such pressure was placed upon public sector
workers this last week because we definitely would have heard about it.
   This is news that needs to be spread--- especially to trade unionists who
will recognise what such a card represents. Also, it is essential to ensure
that international observers watch for this.
   in solidarity,
michael
-
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Office Fax:   (604) 291-5944
Home:   Phone (604) 689-9510

Venezuela confronts the FTAA

[michael a. lebowitz]

Venezuela confronts the FTAA


Michael
A. Lebowitz (4 October 2003)


Our principle, announced Ramón Rosales (Venezuela’s Minister of
Production and Commerce) is “as much market as possible, and as much
state as necessary.” What that statement, released at the September 2003
WTO meeting in Cancun, means in terms of so-called international trade
agreements can only be understood in the context of what Venezuela was
arguing at Cancun.
Challenging
the effects of “free trade” on human development, calling for an end to
an unjust economic order, for the prioritizing of the fight against
poverty and social exclusion, for putting human rights before corporate
rights, the Venezuelan position called for a re-emphasis upon “the role
of public policy as a tool without which it is impossible to achieve the
stated goal of equitable, democratic, and environmentally sustainable
development.”
In short,
it was a position which directly rejects neo-liberalism and the
international institutions intended to enforce it. And, that is precisely
the stance taken by the government of Hugo Chavez for the discussions of
FTAA. In a statement released in April to delegations participating in
the FTAA Trade Negotiations Committee (and oriented to gaining support
throughout the continent), Venezuela declared that “the FTAA is not
merely a trade agreement”; it establishes “a supranational legal and
institutional system that will eventually prevail over the current system
in our country.” Precisely because of the implications of FTAA for
national sovereignty, Venezuela announced that any FTAA agreement would
be the subject of a national referendum. Indeed, it pointed out that
Article 73 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
requires a referendum: “International treaties, conventions, and
agreements that could compromise national sovereignty or transfer power
to supranational entities (…) shall be submitted to
referendum.”
In
calling for the people to decide, the Venezuelan government’s own
position would be clear. Ever since the defeated coup of 11 April 2002
and the subsequent opposition sabotage that has produced a crisis, the
document noted, “Venezuela has a new appreciation of the extraordinary
importance of the need for governments to be able to draw on a wide
spectrum of public policies to respond to crises (whether environmental,
political, or economic), as well as to be able to tackle the challenges
and demands associated with fair, sustainable development.” The proposal
for FTAA would prevent this. Indeed, the government argued, “The recent
sabotage of PDVSA, the national oil industry, is a pathetic example of
everything stated in this document.” 
Widespread
democratic involvement, though, should not be limited to a vote at the
end. Precisely because of the vast implications of FTAA, Venezuela
declared in its statement to the Trade Negotiations Committee, “we cannot
continue to negotiate as if these were just some trade negotiations in
which only experts and specialists in the different areas of commercial
and international law need participate. Democratic negotiations need to
include in an effective manner all sectors of the population
continent-wide because every sector will be affected to some extent by
the agreements being negotiated.”
And, what
of those popular sectors in Venezuela at this point? Although trade
unions and popular sectors have indicated that they oppose FTAA and all
it stands for, the priority is support for the government in its
resolve--- support in the face of an opposition aided by the US
government and prepared again to do everything possible to remove the
Chavez government. The struggle against international capital and its
goals at this point in Venezuela is a struggle to maintain and deepen the
Bolivarian Revolution.



-
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Office Fax: (604) 291-5944
Home: Phone (604) 689-9510

Further information on new coup planning in Venezuela

[michael a. lebowitz]

Video, Audio, and Documents Released
More Evidence
of Clandestine Opposition and CIA Activity Revealed

By:
Venezuelanalysis.com
Pro-Chavez
legislators Juan Barreto, Nicolas Maduro, and Roger Rondon presented more
material today, which implicates the leaders of the union federation and
of the CIA in clandestine activity in Venezuela. 
The new material the legislators presented included documents and a video
recording of a presumed CIA operative leaving from the Valencia airport
in Carabobo state. The airplane, according to Maduro, is registered to
the CIA by the Federal Aviation Administration. The video shows the same
individual who, in a video Maduro presented last week, was giving a
course in security and surveillance, boarding the airplane.
Juan Barreto presented a report by the Disip, Venezuela’s national
police, which described the arrival and departure of the plane, with the
registration N202HG, on July 25th, 2003. The people who boarded the plane
were carrying weapons, which is illegal in Venezuelan airports. The
report further states that the individuals boarding the plane were with
the security firm Wackenhut, which in Venezuela is owned by Isaac Perez
Recao, one of the main individuals implicated in organizing last year’s
2002 coup attempt against President Chavez. The plane, according to
Barreto, did not follow the normal migration protocols.
Last week, both the U.S. embassy and the security company Wackenhut
denied supporting any CIA activity in Venezuela.
Leaders of the Union Federation CTV Discuss Plans for Destabilizing
the Country
Juan Barreto then presented a recording of a phone conversation
between the former President of the CTV, Carlos Ortega, and the current
CTV President, Manuel Cova. Ortega was one of the opposition’s most
important leaders, who led, together with the industrial Chamber of
Commerce president Carlos Fernandez, the December 2002 oil industry
shut-down. After the strike, a warrant for his arrest was issued and
Ortega took refuge in the Costa Rican embassy and then applied for
political asylum in Costa Rica, which he received and where he currently
resides.
In the telephone conversation, Cova and Ortega discuss meetings with
members of the opposition and Ortega’s return to Venezuela. In the course
of the conversation, they talk about “the other way” and that Ortega’s
return would justify a “civil rebellion”.
Ortega: I will go there and in the meantime the whole program is being
planned and we’ll get to it.
Cova: I’ll do the thing with the other path and the issue of the
referendum.
Ortega: What is being planned and organized, the contacts, are very
advanced, OK? In that moment, in the moment of the mobilization, I will
show up.
Cova: That would be good.
Ortega: It would be the 25th or 30th. In the next few days, I will be
there. 
Cova: Don’t give a date.
Ortega: No, no, of course not.
Cova: This will be very important, for justifying the civil rebellion,
because 
Ortega: The government will fall. It’s going to be the biggest mess, in
the streets, … in Venezuela, this will explode, burst apart…
Cova: And the opposition, if it does not understand this…
According to Barreto and Maduro, this conversation supports their
argument that there are groups and individuals in the opposition who are
working to create general chaos and destabilization during the recall
referendum signature collection process, which, in the case of the
presidential recall, is to take place November 28 to December 1st. Then,
at the end of the recall signature collection process, the opposition
would declare it had collected more than enough signatures and would
announce a general strike in reaction to the attacks that were supposedly
organized by government supporters against the recall signature
collection locations.
Roger Rondon further announced that a week ago a judge was going to rule
in favor of lifting the warrant for Carol Ortega’s arrest, with the
support of a Supreme Court justice, who had been having discussions with
Manuel Cova about this.


-
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Office Fax: (604) 291-5944
Home: Phone (604) 689-9510

Re: Further information on new coup planning in Venezuela

[k hanly]

Here is the official response by 
Wackenhutt

 This is a printer friendly version of an article 
from www.theledger.comTo print this article open the file menu and 
choose Print.Back 

Published Saturday, October 25, 2003Wackenhut denies its employees are CIA agents 
plotting to overthrow Venezuela's ChavezThe 
Associated PressCARACAS, Venezuela A Florida company 
accused of working with dissidents to overthrow the Venezuelan government 
rejected on Saturday videotape evidence allegedly linking them to subversive 
activities.The Venezuelan unit of Florida-based security company 
Wackenhut denied that the video - presented Wednesday by legislators allied with 
President Hugo Chavez - showed CIA agents advising Venezuelans in June on how to 
destabilize the country later this year."The video was in reality filmed 
in the installations of Wackenhut Venezolana, C.A in September 2002 during an 
ordinary meeting of company officials, relating to security services offered to 
a client," the company said in an ad placed in El Nacional newspaper.A 
spokeswoman for the Palm Beach Gardens-based company did not immediately return 
a phone call Saturday.Ruling party lawmaker Nicolas Maduro claimed the 
three men in the video were U.S. secret agents training dissident military 
officers and municipal police in espionage and "terrorist" tactics.The 
U.S. Embassy said the video showed an event held by a private security company, 
not CIA agents. It added that the U.S. government did not participate in the 
event.Wackenhut said that affirmations that one of the men in the video 
was a CIA agent and retired army colonel were "false and groundless." The 
company, which has worked in Venezuela since 1994 and has operations in six 
states, also denied that police officers were present at the 
meeting.





  - Original Message - 
  From: 
  michael a. lebowitz 
  
  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 7:53 
  PM
  Subject: Further information on new coup 
  planning in Venezuela
  Video, 
  Audio, and Documents ReleasedMore Evidence of Clandestine Opposition and CIA Activity 
  RevealedBy: 
  Venezuelanalysis.comPro-Chavez legislators Juan Barreto, Nicolas Maduro, and Roger Rondon 
  presented more material today, which implicates the leaders of the union 
  federation and of the CIA in clandestine activity in Venezuela. The new 
  material the legislators presented included documents and a video recording of 
  a presumed CIA operative leaving from the Valencia airport in Carabobo state. 
  The airplane, according to Maduro, is registered to the CIA by the Federal 
  Aviation Administration. The video shows the same individual who, in a video 
  Maduro presented last week, was giving a course in security and surveillance, 
  boarding the airplane.Juan Barreto presented a report by the Disip, 
  Venezuela’s national police, which described the arrival and departure of the 
  plane, with the registration N202HG, on July 25th, 2003. The people who 
  boarded the plane were carrying weapons, which is illegal in Venezuelan 
  airports. The report further states that the individuals boarding the plane 
  were with the security firm Wackenhut, which in Venezuela is owned by Isaac 
  Perez Recao, one of the main individuals implicated 

Re: Venezuela information needed

[Michael Pollak]

On Tue, 25 Feb 2003, e. ahmet tonak wrote:

 Any suggestions for progressive political and economic analyses on
 Venezuela --web resources preferred.  Thanks

There are some good articles on the web, and I promise to track them down
when I get a chance.  But one non-web resource I can warmly recommend is
the short book by Richard Gott, _In the Shadow of the Liberator_.  It
gives an excellent history up to the present and it's a pleasure to read.

Michael

Venezuela information needed

[e. ahmet tonak]

Any suggestions for progressive political and economic analyses on 
Venezuela --web resources preferred.  Thanks

E. Ahmet Tonak
Professor of Economics
Simon's Rock College of Bard
84 Alford Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Tel:  413 528 7488
Fax: 413 528 7365
www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak

Re: Venezuela information needed

[Michael Perelman]

Has the lapsed penner, Mark Weisbrot, returned from there?

On Tue, Feb 25, 2003 at 06:07:56PM -0500, e. ahmet tonak wrote:
 Any suggestions for progressive political and economic analyses on 
 Venezuela --web resources preferred.  Thanks
 
 
 E. Ahmet Tonak
 Professor of Economics
 
 Simon's Rock College of Bard
 84 Alford Road
 Great Barrington, MA 01230
 
 Tel:  413 528 7488
 Fax: 413 528 7365
 www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak
 
 
 
 

-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Venezuela Fixes Bolivar

[Sabri Oncu]

Top Financial News

02/06 00:22
Venezuela Fixes Bolivar 17 Percent Stronger (Update1)
By Alex Kennedy


Caracas, Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela fixed the bolivar at a
rate 17 percent stronger than it last traded to protect foreign
currency reserves after a two-month national strike crippled the
economy and spurred demand for dollars.

President Hugo Chavez said the bolivar will be set at 1,598 to
the dollar, 13 percent weaker from the end of last year. The
central bank will limit sales of the U.S. currency and payments
for dollar debt and imports of food and medicine will have
priority, he said.

We are willing to do anything to defend our reserves and
economic stability from speculative attacks and capital flight,
Chavez said in a speech on national television. A two-week ban on
currency trading also will end, he said.

The currency restrictions may force many Venezuelan trading
companies out of business, spur corruption and fuel demand for
the U.S. currency on the black market, where dollars already are
selling for about 2,500 bolivars, analysts said.

Samsung Electronic Co., the world's largest maker of computer
memory chips, said its Venezuelan distributors had halted orders
ahead of the expected currency limits, while Siderurgica
Venezolana Sivensa, the nation's second-largest steelmaker, said
it was concerned the government will seize its export revenue and
make it more difficult to meet payments on more than $200 million
of foreign currency debt.

The strike, which was aimed at deposing Chavez and collapsed this
week, already had throttled most business activity in the country
and prompted some analysts to forecast the economy may contract
as much as 25 percent this year.

With the added currency restrictions, we are going to see a
country going into paralysis, said Carlos Fernandez, who heads
the country's largest business organization.

Chavez also said Venezuela has boosted oil output to 1.9 million
barrels a day from 150,000 barrels a day in December, Chavez
said.

The country produced about 3.2 million barrels a day before a
62-day strike began Dec. 2.

Venezuela: PDVSA Restructuring Tax Revolt

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   January 8, 2003

Venezuela to Tighten Control Over Oil Co.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:47 a.m. ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez, battling a strike 
that has paralyzed the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter, will 
restructure the state oil company to tighten government control and 
eliminate dissent, the energy minister said.

In a nationally televised speech, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said 
the Caracas headquarters of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. would be 
mostly dismantled. The company's administration would be moved to two 
centers of operation in eastern and western Venezuela.

Ramirez didn't say how many of the 7,000 workers at the headquarters 
will lose their jobs, but most are currently on strike. The 
government says it will fire strikers -- some 35,000 are off the job 
-- and already has dismissed high-ranking executives.

Ramirez, who told reporters last week of the plan to split the 
company, said a new board ``with a more strategic vision'' will soon 
be appointed. The company will focus more on production of crude, gas 
and refining, he said.

Chavez long has said he wanted to restructure the company, which he 
has called a ``state within a state'' run by privileged executives. 
Chavez wants to increase government revenues from the company.

``We need a PDVSA much more efficient ... and not as an oil enclave, 
but a company at the service of the nation,'' Ramirez said. 
Bureaucracy in Caracas increases operating costs by $1 billion a 
year, he added

The strike has been most effective in Venezuela's oil industry, which 
provides half of government income and 80 percent of export revenue. 
Venezuela is a top supplier of crude to the United States, and the 
strike has helped send international oil prices above $30.

Company activity is seen as gradually picking up but is still well 
below normal. Crude output is estimated at around 400,000 barrels per 
day, compared to the pre-strike level of 3 million barrels a day. 
Exports, normally 2.5 million barrels a day, are at 500,000 barrels a 
day

Chavez has named company managers Felix Rodriguez and Luis Marin to 
run operations in the east and west

Tens of thousands of people marched on the offices of the federal tax 
agency to support a tax boycott.

The government may have to cut the $25 billion 2003 budget by up to 
10 percent, Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega said. Taxes were supposed 
to pay for a third of the budget. Oil exports were supposed to pay 
for half.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Venezuela-Strike.html 
*

*   January 7, 2003

Venezuela Strikers in Tax Revolt, Chavez Defiant

By REUTERS

Filed at 9:03 p.m. ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo 
Chavez, marching in their thousands in Caracas, tore up income-tax 
forms on Tuesday as they added a tax revolt to a five-week-old strike 
crippling the nation's crucial oil exports.

But the leftist former paratrooper, who survived a coup in April, 
vowed to resist what he called their ``economic war'' to oust him as 
president of the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Waving national flags and blowing whistles, the anti-Chavez 
demonstrators marched to government tax offices in east Caracas on 
the 37th day of an opposition strike aimed at forcing the populist 
leader to resign and call early elections.

The grueling shutdown has strangled Venezuela's oil output and 
shipments, jolting world oil markets and bleeding government coffers 
of millions of dollars a day of oil income.

``We are not going to pay taxes until this government goes,'' 
52-year-old housewife Belkis Soto told Reuters as she took part in 
the march. Many protesters, who include middle class professionals, 
housewives and students, waved tax declaration forms, which they 
ripped up outside the tax offices.

The opposition, which has accompanied the strike with almost daily 
street protests, has called on individuals and firms to stop paying 
taxes, whether income or sales taxes.

But Chavez, who led a coup attempt in 1992 and was elected president 
six years later, is refusing to quit.

``We are in a situation of economic and political war because that is 
what the opposition wanted. ... Let's give them war then,'' he told 
reporters in west Caracas.

Earlier, speaking at a school, he warned his striking opponents their 
refusal to pay taxes was against the law. ``They've tried to break 
the oil industry ... now they're trying to break the national 
treasury so there is no money,'' he said.

Tax authorities say offenders face fines and prison terms ranging 
from six months to seven years.

As a result of the strike, the government is reducing by half its 
original 2003 growth forecast of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent. It has 
said it will announce tough belt-tightening measures to offset the 
strike losses.

``READY FOR THE WORST''

But Chavez seems determined to fight back. He purged the armed forces 
of opponents

Re: Venezuela: PDVSA Restructuring Tax Revolt

[Paul Zarembka]

It gets tiring to read that a lockout is labeled a strike!  Paul

***
Confronting 9-11, Ideologies of Race, and Eminent Economists, Vol. 20
RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY,  Paul Zarembka, editor, Elsevier Science
 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka

On Wed, 8 Jan 2003, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

 *   January 8, 2003
 
 Venezuela to Tighten Control Over Oil Co.
 
 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
 Filed at 10:47 a.m. ET
 
 CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez, battling a strike 
 that has paralyzed the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter, will 
 restructure the state oil company to tighten government control and 
 eliminate dissent, the energy minister said.
 
 In a nationally televised speech, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said 
 the Caracas headquarters of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. would be 
 mostly dismantled. The company's administration would be moved to two 
 centers of operation in eastern and western Venezuela.
 
 Ramirez didn't say how many of the 7,000 workers at the headquarters 
 will lose their jobs, but most are currently on strike. The 
 government says it will fire strikers -- some 35,000 are off the job 
 -- and already has dismissed high-ranking executives.
 
 Ramirez, who told reporters last week of the plan to split the 
 company, said a new board ``with a more strategic vision'' will soon 
 be appointed. The company will focus more on production of crude, gas 
 and refining, he said.
 
 Chavez long has said he wanted to restructure the company, which he 
 has called a ``state within a state'' run by privileged executives. 
 Chavez wants to increase government revenues from the company.
 
 ``We need a PDVSA much more efficient ... and not as an oil enclave, 
 but a company at the service of the nation,'' Ramirez said. 
 Bureaucracy in Caracas increases operating costs by $1 billion a 
 year, he added
 
 The strike has been most effective in Venezuela's oil industry, which 
 provides half of government income and 80 percent of export revenue. 
 Venezuela is a top supplier of crude to the United States, and the 
 strike has helped send international oil prices above $30.
 
 Company activity is seen as gradually picking up but is still well 
 below normal. Crude output is estimated at around 400,000 barrels per 
 day, compared to the pre-strike level of 3 million barrels a day. 
 Exports, normally 2.5 million barrels a day, are at 500,000 barrels a 
 day
 
 Chavez has named company managers Felix Rodriguez and Luis Marin to 
 run operations in the east and west
 
 Tens of thousands of people marched on the offices of the federal tax 
 agency to support a tax boycott.
 
 The government may have to cut the $25 billion 2003 budget by up to 
 10 percent, Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega said. Taxes were supposed 
 to pay for a third of the budget. Oil exports were supposed to pay 
 for half.
 
 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Venezuela-Strike.html 
 *
 
 *   January 7, 2003
 
 Venezuela Strikers in Tax Revolt, Chavez Defiant
 
 By REUTERS
 
 Filed at 9:03 p.m. ET
 
 CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo 
 Chavez, marching in their thousands in Caracas, tore up income-tax 
 forms on Tuesday as they added a tax revolt to a five-week-old strike 
 crippling the nation's crucial oil exports.
 
 But the leftist former paratrooper, who survived a coup in April, 
 vowed to resist what he called their ``economic war'' to oust him as 
 president of the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
 
 Waving national flags and blowing whistles, the anti-Chavez 
 demonstrators marched to government tax offices in east Caracas on 
 the 37th day of an opposition strike aimed at forcing the populist 
 leader to resign and call early elections.
 
 The grueling shutdown has strangled Venezuela's oil output and 
 shipments, jolting world oil markets and bleeding government coffers 
 of millions of dollars a day of oil income.
 
 ``We are not going to pay taxes until this government goes,'' 
 52-year-old housewife Belkis Soto told Reuters as she took part in 
 the march. Many protesters, who include middle class professionals, 
 housewives and students, waved tax declaration forms, which they 
 ripped up outside the tax offices.
 
 The opposition, which has accompanied the strike with almost daily 
 street protests, has called on individuals and firms to stop paying 
 taxes, whether income or sales taxes.
 
 But Chavez, who led a coup attempt in 1992 and was elected president 
 six years later, is refusing to quit.
 
 ``We are in a situation of economic and political war because that is 
 what the opposition wanted. ... Let's give them war then,'' he told 
 reporters in west Caracas.
 
 Earlier, speaking at a school, he warned his striking opponents their 
 refusal to pay taxes was against the law. ``They've tried to break 
 the oil industry ... now they're

RE: Re: Venezuela: PDVSA Restructuring Tax Revolt

[Devine, James]

Title: RE: [PEN-L:33648] Re: Venezuela: PDVSA Restructuring  Tax Revolt





Paul Z writes: It gets tiring to read that a lockout is labeled a strike!


isn't it a strike? I thought that the elite oil workers were in alliance with the managers against Chavez. If so, it's either a combined strike/lockout (with the lockout aimed at those workers who don't want to strike against Chavez) or a simple strike (with the management seen as striking). 


Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

More on Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

New York Times   January 7, 2003

Venezuela Plans to Split State Oil Company

By GINGER THOMPSON with NEELA BANERJEE

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 6 - Energy Minister Rafael Ramírez said 
today that the government planned to take the state-owned oil 
company, the world's fifth largest, and break it in two, hoping to 
snap the back of a devastating six-week strike aimed at driving 
President Hugo Chávez from power.

Mr. Ramírez, who offered preliminary details of the plan in an 
interview, said the government intended a sweeping restructuring of 
Petróleos de Venezuela.

The company, widely known by its Spanish acronym, Pdvsa (pronounced 
peh-deh-VEH-sah), controls the largest oil fields outside the Middle 
East and is an important supplier to the United States.

He said the government would decentralize the company by dividing 
it into Pdvsa East and Pdvsa West and hollowing out the Caracas-based 
management.

Such a move would effectively gut the company of middle- and 
upper-level executives who have joined a coalition of business and 
labor leaders in opposing Mr. Chávez, whose left-leaning policies 
they say are destroying the country.

Opponents said floating such a plan amounted to government bluster 
aimed at breaking the morale of what they estimate are 30,000 oil 
workers who have joined the strike.

Mr. Ramírez said the goal was to restore the company's production 
capacity of some 3.1 million barrels of crude oil a day while 
reducing exorbitant bureaucratic costs, which he estimated at $1 
billion. He said the company produced about 14 million barrels last 
month and was currently turning out 800,000 barrels a day, a quarter 
of what output was before the strike

In a televised address on Sunday night, Mr. Chávez said he had 
assumed the rank of oil commander and promised to rebuild the state 
company into a new Pdvsa, a patriotic Pdvsa.

Pdvsa is being restructured for the benefit of all Venezuelans, he 
added. In the near future we will see the fruits that we're sowing.

Mr. Ramírez rejected the view from critics, saying President Chávez 
remained committed to upholding the industry's strong performance. He 
acknowledged that getting the fallen industry up again was a 
Herculean task. The strike has virtually paralyzed Pdvsa, shutting 
down refineries and strangling exports.

But, he said, the strike had shown the government that the industry 
could run with a significantly reduced labor force. Restoring oil 
operations had been delayed by sabotage at most installations, he 
said.

But, he added, signs of a slow but steady recovery were clear. He 
cited a number of tankers that have left Venezuelan ports and the 
restarting of two main oil refineries, at Puerto La Cruz and El 
Palito

Government estimates seem to vary by the hour. On Sunday night 
President Chávez said the industry was exporting 1.5 million barrels 
a day. On Monday morning the Pdvsa president, Ali Rodríguez, reported 
that the industry was producing 600,000 barrels a day. Mr. Ramirez 
put daily production at 800,000 barrels.

Outside experts estimate that the government is producing at most 
400,000 barrels a day.

Clearly, by inflating production figures, his game plan is to 
psychologically wear down the workers, said Michael Shifter at the 
Inter-American Dialogue, referring to President Chávez. As time 
passes, he believes, the workers will get fatigued and come back to 
their jobs, before they lose them forever.

But, he said, exaggerated rhetoric runs both ways. Every day, the 
opposition issues oil industry reports promising that President 
Chávez is close to running out of gas - literally and politically.

They are desperate, Mr. Shifter said of the opposition. They feel 
this is their last battle, and that if they lose, there will be no 
way to get Chavez out.

Industry experts concur that the longer the strike goes on, the more 
problems Venezuela will have in reactivating their wells, said 
George Beranek, manager of market analysis at the Petroleum Finance 
Company, a Washington consulting group.

Much of the difficulty in restoring output arises from the unique 
properties of the country's crude oil. Of the three million or so 
barrels of oil a day that Venezuela once produced, about 75 percent 
was heavy oil, Mr. Beranek estimated.

Heavy crude is particularly viscous, and the petroleum from 
Venezuela's vast Orinoco belt is so thick that it is classified as 
bitumen and must be processed at specially outfitted domestic 
refineries before it can even be called oil and shipped to standard 
refineries overseas. Heavy oil has a tendency to gum up unless it is 
under the constant pressure and flow that is used to extract it.

So Venezuela risks permanently losing hundreds of thousands of 
barrels a day in production capacity from a protracted shutdown.

In 1998, for example, when very low oil prices led Venezuela to shut 
some wells, the country permanently lost 500,000 barrels a day in 
capacity, said

Re: RE: Re: Venezuela: PDVSA Restructuring Tax Revolt

[Michael Perelman]

Jim's approach depends on defining managers as workers.

On Wed, Jan 08, 2003 at 08:58:59AM -0800, Devine, James wrote:
 Paul Z writes: It gets tiring to read that a lockout is labeled a strike!
 
 isn't it a strike? I thought that the elite oil workers were in alliance
 with the managers against Chavez. If so, it's either a combined
 strike/lockout (with the lockout aimed at those workers who don't want to
 strike against Chavez) or a simple strike (with the management seen as
 striking). 
 
 
 Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]   http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
 
 
 

-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]

RE: Re: RE: Re: Venezuela: PDVSA Restructuring Tax Revolt

[Devine, James]

Title: RE: [PEN-L:33651] Re: RE: Re: Venezuela: PDVSA Restructuring  Tax Revolt





Paul Z writes: It gets tiring to read that a lockout is labeled a strike!


I wrote:  isn't it a strike? I thought that the elite oil workers were in alliance with the managers against Chavez. If so, it's either a combined strike/lockout (with the lockout aimed at those workers who don't want to strike against Chavez) or a simple strike (with the management seen as striking). 

Michael Perelman writes: Jim's approach depends on defining managers as workers.


No it isn't. Only my second interpretation can be seen in this way. In any event, since it's common to talk about capital strike, I can't see why managers can't go on strike, too. 

Of course, it's a waste of time to quibble about the meaning of words. What's important is that there's an alliance between elite oil workers and their managers against Chavez. It's not like the Westcoast longshore lockout of recent memory, in which it was clearly management and owners locking out workers. 

Jim

Venezuela: What's Really Happening?

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community  Labor Report 
- Gobal Edition Produced  Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg  Ken Nash

Venezuela, What's Really Happening?

To read the commercial news reports from Venezuela, one might think 
there is a popular labor strike that has brought an authoritarian 
regime to its knees, and that the Chavez government is 
anti-democratic. But, factual information continues to accumulate on 
the side of constitutional rule and against destabilizing coup 
attempts.

To find out what's really happening we talked with Oswaldo Vera, 
Pres. of the Employees of the Simon Bolivar University  Deputy in 
the Venezuelan Assembly, Gregory Wilpert, journalist living in 
Venezuela and author of an upcoming book on the Chavez Presidency and 
Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy 
Research, who had just returned from Venezuela .

To listen or download this 28 min radio program at 24 kbps click below

http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/bb_12-23a.mp3

at 80 kbps click below:

http://www.laborradio.org/audio/bbridges/bb12-23a.mp3

Building Bridges is regularly broadcast over WBAI, 99. FM on Mondays 
from 7-8 PM EST. It is streamed over the web at:

http://www.2600.com/offthehook/hot2.ram

To listen to archived program go to

www.buildingbridgesradio.org   *

*   ZNet Commentary

Of Lungos  Senoritos
A Colombian View Of Venezuela
January 02, 2003

By Hector Mondragon

At the petroleum refinery of Barrancabermeja the workers who are 
consigned to hard manual labour are called 'lungos'. There are a lot 
of them and they earn very little. They are almost all temporary 
labourers and they live in the poor neighbourhoods. When the 'lungos' 
go on strike, technology guarantees that production doesn't totally 
stop -- so even when the majority of the workers are united in 
protest, if they can't actually stop the plant from functioning, the 
engineers, supervisors, and managers can keep the refinery going 
under 'contingency plans'.

Right now the oil-workers union of Colombia, USO (Union Sindical 
Obrera), is getting ready to go on strike in response to the Uribe 
government's offensive. That offensive is headed by Isaac Yanovich, a 
businessman from the private banking sector who has been named 
president of the state oil company. The workers, who struggled and 
won the creation of a national oil company (Ecopetrol), have resisted 
its privatization for the past 25 years. They have paid a terrible 
price for their resistance: 100 union leaders and activists 
assassinated (4 during 2002, which saw 160 Colombian unionists 
killed), 2 disappeared, 10 kidnapped, 31 imprisoned (6 of whom are 
still in prison), and 250 fired (11 of whom were fired just a few 
days ago).

It is in such difficult conditions that the Colombian oil-workers are 
preparing their strike for the beginning of 2003. The victory of 
their movement will depend on their ability to halt production. For 
this reason the union and the government are both putting forth 
massive efforts to win the engineers and supervisors to their side. 
If the union is unable to win these over, the workers will have no 
option but to occupy the plant. This will mean that they will face 
military repression like they did in 1971. In that year, as workers 
in the union remember well, worker Fermin Amaya was murdered as he 
was about to stop production at the Barranca refinery.

Next door in Venezuela, the world is flipped entirely upside down. 
There, the 'lungos' are working intensely while the call to strike is 
followed with fervour and without hesitation by the managers. On 
December 2 the managerial body of Venezuela's state oil company, PDV 
(Petroleros de Venezuela), blocked the entrance to the refinery and 
used their vehicles to stop the workers, the 'lungos' -- who had 
showed up to work in massive numbers -- from entering.

The same managerial body was joined by the executive of labour 
relations in its attempts to bar the entry of workers.

But the real strength of the strike in Venezuela has been in the 
computers that control the giant and highly automated petroleum 
industry. Even though the PDV is nominally state-owned and run, the 
computer system is in the hands of the 'mixed' (public-private) 
enterprise Intesa. The party with the technical skill in the 
partnership is the Science Applications International Corporation 
(SAIC)-a transnational computing company. Among its directors: ex-US 
Secretaries of Defense William Perry and Melvin Laird; ex-directors 
of the CIA John Deutsch, Robert Gates; Admiral Bobby Ray Inman 
(ex-director of the National Security Agency); other retired military 
staff including Wayne Downing (former commander in chief of US 
Special Forces) and Jasper Welch (ex-coordinator of the National 
Security Council).

The hold-up of the oil-tankers was directed from these computing centers.

The hold-up was welcomed by various captains, but the tankers were 
forced to shore in any

Fuel Shipment Arrives in Venezuela from Brazil

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Fuel Shipment Arrives in Venezuela
Fuel Shipment Arrives in Venezuela As President Chavez Insists He's 
Winning Oil Standoff

The Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela Dec. 28 -

Venezuela got some desperately needed gasoline from abroad Saturday 
as President Hugo Chavez claimed he was winning the battle against 
striking workers who have paralyzed the world's fifth largest 
petroleum-exporting industry.

The Brazilian tanker Amazonian Explorer arrived with 525,000 barrels 
of gas off the coast of the eastern state of Anzoategui, Globovision 
television reported. Smaller tankers were to ship the cargo little 
more than a normal day's demand of 400,000 barrels to several 
ports

He awarded medals to troops participating in efforts to reactivate 
the state-owned oil monopoly. Chavez has sent soldiers to take over 
oil facilities and commandeer trucks to distribute gasoline. His 
government is seeking replacement dockworkers, tug boat and tanker 
crews, field hands and executives

Oil tankers that striking crews refused to bring to port are 
beginning to dock, thanks to the support of the military and 
patriotic sailors, Chavez said.

I'm sure that in a few days, or weeks, the long (gas) lines will 
disappear, said Chavez.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said new managers would soon reopen a 
giant refinery in the Caribbean island of Curacao to produce 200,000 
barrels of gasoline per day for Venezuelan use.

But the leader of the Curacao refinery's oil workers union, Elvis 
Andrade, said the Refineria Isla sent its last gasoline shipment 
Friday and shut down. A tanker left Willemstad harbor for Venezuela 
carrying 170,000 barrels of unleaded gasoline.

The refinery is owned by Curacao's government but is operated by 
PDVSA. At full capacity, it can process 335,000 barrels of crude a 
day.

Scarcity has forced Chavez's government to seek international help.

Trinidad was sending 400,000 barrels of gasoline. The Dominican 
Republic sent rice. Colombia sent 180,000 tons of food, the 
agriculture ministry said.

A small black market in gasoline emerged, with vendors selling gas at 
five to 10 times the normal price of 26 cents a gallon. Venezuela's 
consumer protection agency urged citizens to report illegal gasoline 
sales.

I bought 20 liters (5 gallons) from speculators for 10,000 bolivares 
($7). That's a robbery, but what else can I do? I have a family to 
feed, said 45-year-old taxi driver David Pena.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20021228_582.html
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osudivest.org/

Venezuela Up and Running Close to Normal without Bosses

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

New York Times  29 December 2002

Trickle of Oil Starts Flowing in Venezuela

By GINGER THOMPSON

PUERTO LA CRUZ, Venezuela, Dec. 28 - Nearly a month into Venezuela's 
devastating national strike, all systems were back up and running 
close to normal this week at the refinery here that supplies gasoline 
to the eastern half of this country. Night shift workers were 
bursting with the pride of war heroes.

Félix Deliso, who has worked at Petróleos de Venezuela, the 
state-owned oil company, for 12 years, stood watch over a console 
with so many blinking buttons and computer screens that it looked 
like the bridge of a spaceship. Mr. Deliso monitors 3,000 machines 
and processes that turn crude oil into gasoline. Though he has a high 
school education, he has been trained to be a specialist here, and he 
considers his job as delicate as disarming a live bomb.

Politics made his job even more explosive four weeks ago in this 
country, which is the world's fifth-largest oil producer. Most of the 
refinery's supervisors abandoned Petróleos de Venezuela, which pumps 
the lifeblood of the nation's economy, to join the strike that is 
aimed at forcing the ouster of President Hugo Chávez.

Operations at the company, a chief supplier of oil to the United 
States, ground to a halt. With support for Mr. Chávez strongest among 
the country's poorer residents, rank-and-file workers like Mr. Deliso 
weighed their options.

We decided to stay on the job, he said, Some of us are Chavistas. 
Some are anti-Chavistas. But here, there are no politics.

Basically we are Venezuelans, added Cipriano Hernández, who also 
has worked at the company for 12 years. We love our country and we 
do not want to see it fall.

With skeleton crews working lots of overtime, Mr. Chávez is getting 
gasoline trickling back into Venezuela's pumps. Officials here said 
that since the beginning of last week, this refinery had produced 
60,000 barrels of gasoline a day, about 70 percent its normal 
capacity and almost a fourth of the 225,000 barrels normally consumed 
by this country each day.

Still, with domestic shortages mounting over the last month, the 
gasoline produced here is only a drop in the bucket of Venezuela's 
needs. The country remains far from recovering its export 
capabilities, which provide up to 80 percent of its foreign currency. 
Economic aftershocks are expected through the first few months of 
next year

They thought they could impose their illegitimate will on this 
country, but they were wrong, said Alí Rodríguez, president of 
Petróleos de Venezuela, referring to the strike leaders. Then he 
heaped praise on the workers standing before him. Because of loyal 
workers like you, the enemy is being defeated.

After suspending at least 90 striking executives, Mr. Chávez assigned 
new management teams to take over crucial oil installations. In 
raucous meetings with oil workers in recent days, Mr. Rodríguez 
called the executives traitors to the nation, and said the 
government would press criminal charges.

The refineries at El Palito, just east of here, are expected to be 
operating at 70 percent of capacity within a week.

The government also regained control of several Venezuelan tankers 
anchored off the coast by striking crews. In the region that gave 
birth to this country's oil industry around Lake Maracaibo, 22 
million gallons of gasoline were unloaded from the tanker Pilín León, 
which had been stranded for nearly three weeks.

We have made a situation that seemed impossible, possible, said 
Edgar Ortiz, 46, the leader of a union representing gas truck drivers 
in the Lake Maracaibo region. The crisis has not ended. But the 
government is finding solutions.

The refinery here at balmy Puerto La Cruz has become a showcase of 
the government's comeback. Almost all high-level executives at the 
plant joined the strike. But officials said fewer than 20 percent of 
the operators, mechanics and technicians walked off the job.

We are prouder now than ever, said Wilfredo Bastardo, a 17-year oil 
veteran. We have shown our supervisors that we can run this plant 
without them.

International oil analysts, however, are describing Mr. Chávez's 
gains in gasoline production as a quick fix that delays progress on 
more fundamental long-term challenges. Most of the nation's oil wells 
remain closed, as does its largest refining complex, at Paraguaná, 
which can refine one million barrels of crude oil a day. Analysts 
report that in the four weeks since the start of the strike, oil 
exports from Venezuela dropped from 2.5 million barrels a day to less 
than 2 million barrels last month, sending oil prices rising above 
$32 a barrel.

Fareed Mohamedi, an economist with PFC Energy, a consulting firm in 
Washington, said that in the wake of this political crisis, 
Venezuelan oil customers might decide to take their business 
elsewhere.

Still, political analysts said, it appears that Mr. Chávez remains 
determined to ride out

Venezuela Today (Sat., 12/28, Chicago)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

* FORUM, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 7-9 p.m.

--VENEZUELA TODAY-

WHAT IS HAPPENING?
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT?
WHY IS THIS CRISIS IN VENEZUELA COMING UP AT THIS TIME?

BRIEF TALKS AND THEN QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION,

FEATURING VENEZUELAN PROFESSOR DOZTHOR ZURLENT,
Visiting Lecturer in the University of Illinois at Chicago Latino and 
Latin American Studies Program, co-author of History of the Future 
That Belongs to Us, and member of the Bolivarian Solidarity Network

Other speakers to be announced in a few days.

Refreshments. Free.

at Agape House, 1046 W. Polk, Chicago
on the south side of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, a 
short walk south from the Halsted stop on the Blue Line-Morgan St. 
exit. Free parking. [More info about the location of Agape House: 
http://tigger.uic.edu/~dandale/location.html.] 

This program is being organized by  representatives of a number of 
groups, including Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism, Chicago 
Cuba Coalition, Chicago Religious Leadership Network, Colombia Action 
Network, Colombia Solidarity Committee-Chicago, Coordinadora en Apoyo 
al Pueblo de Mexico, Evanston Neighbors for Peace, International 
Action Center-Chicago, La Voz De Los de Abajo, Rojo.net, Workers 
World Party-Chicago Branch. Our slogans include-U.S., Hands Off 
Venezuela! Respect the Constitutional Government of Venezuela! For 
questions, call 312-458-9559.

Afterwards we are invited to have free Venezuelan holiday food and 
live Venezuelan music by Hallacas Beat of Drums at Colibri, 2030 W. 
18th Street.

* Venezuela Leaflet

The Crisis in Venezuela,
and the (not so invisible) hand of the U.S. government--

Oppose the U.S. Government's Destabilization Plots and other 
Interference in the Affairs of Venezuela! Support the Continuation of 
the Democratically Elected and Constitutional Government of Venezuela!

 The U.S. government has been interfering in Venezuela. In April, 
the U.S supported forces in Venezuela that tried to overthrow the 
democratic Constitution and the elected president, Chavez. The same 
pattern  is being repeated today.
 We urge all Americans to oppose interference in Venezuela by the 
U.S. government.  We, as Americans, have a responsibility to stand 
against the Bush doctrine of a right to interfere anywhere.  And we 
must support the right of the Venezuelan people to go forward with 
the democratically elected Chavez government, which has been abiding 
by all provisions of the constitution. The majority of workers, 
peasants, and others are opposing the efforts to destabilize the 
country being led by U.S.government-backed forces of big business.

The facts:
 Venezuela is a mineral-rich country in South America, the third 
largest exporter of oil to the U.S. Yet, under rule by earlier 
pro-U.S. governments and the International Monetary Fund's austerity 
programs, 80% of the people lived in poverty.
 This gave rise to a Bolivarian Revolution led by Hugo Chavez- 
the term Bolivarian meaning to use Venezuela's wealth for the benefit 
of the people and to oppose U.S. domination. Chavez was elected in 
1998 with the support of the working class and many junior military 
officers and rank-and-file soldiers. A new constitution was also 
voted in.
 This government advocated an  OPEC (Organization of Oil 
Exporting Countries) that would be independent of U.S. domination. 
The government exported oil to Cuba on favorable terms. A land reform 
law was passed to benefit the poor farmers.
 This past April there was an attempted coup by business and 
industry owners backed by the U.S. This was preceded by days of 
anti-government demonstrations sponsored by these owners, just as is 
happening today. The coup leaders, in the few days they had control, 
immediately tried to abolish the constitution, the legislature, and 
the land reform laws and declared that there would be no oil for Cuba.

Evidence of U.S. involvement and interference in Venezuelan politics:
--On April 16, the Bush administration admitted that Otto Reich, a 
State Department official, was in phone contact with coup leaders on 
the morning of their take over. The New York Times reported Reich as 
stage-managing the takeover.
--The April 16 New York Times reports a U.S. Defense Department 
official saying, We were not discouraging people from a coup.
--The April 22 issue of Newsweek reported that some of the Venezuelan 
military, many of whom are graduates of the notorious U.S. School of 
the Americas terrorist training school,  had been in contact with the 
U.S. embassy in February to discuss plans for a coup.

Why is the U.S. interfering with Venezuela?:
 The U.S. government has made it clear in its Strategic Aims 
Statement of September 22 that it wants complete domination all over 
the world, and no opposition.  Thus the U.S. is threatening war on 
Iraq, and pouring millions of dollars into Colombia in support of the 
pro-U.S. government in the civil war

Venezuela Oil Tanker Unloaded as Strike Support Starts to Slip

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   Venezuela oil tanker unloaded as strike support starts to slip
By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas and David Buchan in London
Published: December 23 2002 4:00 | Last Updated: December 23 2002 4:00
[Financial Times]

Oil workers and a crew loyal to the government of Hugo Chávez, the 
Venezuelan president, began unloading fuel yesterday from the Pilín 
León, a strike-bound tanker containing 280,000 barrels of gasoline, 
at a distribution terminal near the western city of Maracaibo.

Distribution of the gasoline will ease shortages in the Maracaibo 
area for several days and the government is likely to ensure priority 
fuel supplies for food transportation.

A second vessel was yesterday reportedly being steered by an army 
general towards the main port near Caracas, temporarily easing fuel 
shortages around the capital.

As Christmas approaches, public support for the opposition-led strike 
against the government is slipping, as drivers become frustrated at 
being forced to spend hours in long lines, sometimes overnight, in 
the search for petrol

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStoryc=StoryFTcid=1039523923406 
*

*   New York Times   23 December 2002

Some in Venezuela Say Forget About Politics

By GINGER THOMPSON

...Business owners who are opposed to Mr. Chávez began opening 
restaurants and stores that had been shuttered at the start of the 
national strike, saying they hoped to restore some sense of normality 
to the Christmas season and recover from weeks of steep financial 
losses

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/23/international/americas/23VENE.html   *
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Venezuela Update

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   BBC News World Edition
Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 01:21 GMT
Venezuelan tanker forced into port

The Pilin Leon had been sitting idle in Lake Maracaibo The Venezuelan 
Government has commandeered and steered into port an oil tanker, in 
an attempt to break a general strike that has led to severe petrol 
shortages.

The ship, the Pilin Leon, sailed into port in Lake Maracaibo on 
Saturday and began unloading its cargo of petrol.

The ship had become emblematic for the opposition, after its captain 
joined the strike and moored offshore, refusing to dock.

The move comes as opponents of President Hugo Chavez took part in 
another march in the capital, Caracas, to demand early elections.

The 20-day-old strike has crippled oil production in Venezuela - the 
world's fifth largest exporter of crude.

On Friday, government forces boarded the Pilin Leon and detained its crew.

On Saturday strike-breaking workers took the ship to the oil terminal 
of Bajo Grande.

'Victory'

Local media say distribution to petrol station in western Venezuela 
should take place over the next two days.

The chairman of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, has described 
this as a victory for the government

The chairman, Ali Rodriguez, said the authorities would shortly move 
other striking tankers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2598241.stm   *

*   Business News Americas
December 23, 2002
LENGTH: 229 words
HEADLINE: REGULATOR: BANKS TO OPEN AS NORMAL ON MONDAY - VENEZUELA

BODY: (BNamericas.com) - Venezuela's banks will return to their 
normal business hours of 9:00-16:00 on Monday after opening for half 
days during the last two weeks, banking regulator Sudeban director 
Irving Ochoa told BNamericas.

Banks have opened from 9:00 to 12:00 since December 9 because of a 
nationwide strike. The banks will open for a full day next week 
provided shopping centers, which house about 28% of bank branches, 
return to their normal schedule.

Only one bank, which Ochoa declined to name, has remained closed 
without authorization during the strike and will be fined   *

*   BBC Monitoring International Reports
December 21, 2002
LENGTH: 89 words
HEADLINE: VENEZUELA: RUSSIAN TANKERS CHARTERED TO BRING IN PETROL

BODY: web site on 20 December

The government has signed a contract with Russian tankers to deliver 
gasoline to Venezuela as a part of delayed emergency and contingency 
plans aimed at solving growing shortage at the gas pumps. A 
government spokesman says rationing will be introduced until things 
are back to normal.

At the pumps consumers can buy a minimum amount of gas and a special 
service will be set up to cover hospitals, the police and public 
transport.

Source: VENews web site in English 20 Dec 02   *

--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Déstabilisation au Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Déstabilisation au Venezuela

(13 décembre 2002)

Après avoir subi un cinglant échec lors de la tentative de coup 
d'Etat du 11 avril 2002 contre le président Hugo Chávez, l'opposition 
vénézuélienne, minorité électorale emmenée par l'organisation 
patronale Fedecamaras, la bureaucratie syndicale de la Confédération 
des travailleurs du Venezuela (CTV) et un ensemble de partis 
traditionnels et d'organisations regroupés au sein de la Coordination 
démocratique, s'est lancée dans une nouvelle tentative de 
déstabilisation. Par de nombreux traits, celle-ci rappelle la 
stratégie qui, au Chili, au début des années 1970, a préparé le 
renversement de Salvador Allende. Si la grève générale d'abord « 
illimitée », puis « irréversible », lancée le 2 décembre par ses 
dirigeants - le patronat ayant promis de payer les jours de grève ! - 
n'a été que partiellement suivie et s'effiloche au fil des jours, on 
a vu réapparaître tous les ingrédients du scénario qui a présidé au 
golpe d'avril :

* appels au soulèvement civil et militaire lancé depuis la « zone 
libérée » de la place Altamira (quartiers chics de Caracas) par un 
groupe d'officiers ayant participé à la tentative de coup d'Etat du 
11 avril ;

* exacerbation des tensions par un appareil médiatique transformé en 
machine de propagande et relayant, dix-huit heures par jour, en 
continu, les thèses de l'opposition et appelant ouvertement au 
renversement du président légitime ;

* création de conditions propices à des actes de violence fournissant 
un prétexte pour faire appel à la communauté internationale afin de « 
mettre un terme au chaos ». Une fusillade aux circonstances encore 
non éclaircies a fait trois morts et 20 blessés dans les rangs de 
l'opposition, le 12 décembre, lorsqu'un individu, qui a été arrêté, a 
tiré dans la foule, place Altamira. Le hasard faisant bien les 
choses, le drame a eu lieu au moment précis où l'un des dirigeants de 
l'opposition, M. Carlos Ortega, s'exprimait en direct à la 
télévision, ce qui lui permis d'immédiatement qualifier d'« assassin 
» le président, accusé d'être le commanditaire du crime. Sans enquête 
ni recul d'aucune sorte, l'accusation a été reprise par l'ensemble 
des médias privés ;

* utilisation des victimes de ce « massacre d'Altamira » pour lancer 
l'opération « déstabilisation économique » en paralysant - à travers 
ses cadres supérieurs, technocratie des « généraux du pétrole » 
favorables à sa privatisation - le c¦ur économique du pays, la 
compagnie pétrolière d'Etat PDVSA.

Cette dernière mesure a payé. L'arrêt de la production a frappé de 
plein fouet la capacité d'exportation, provoquant des pertes estimées 
à 50 millions de dollars par jour et interrompant les livraisons de 
PDVSA, en particulier aux Etats-Unis. Dans le contexte de l'« 
avant-guerre » en Irak, cette défaillance d'un de ses principaux 
fournisseurs offre un prétexte à Washington pour augmenter la 
pression - y compris à travers le secrétaire général de 
l'Organisation des Etats américains (OEA), M. César Gaviria, présent 
à Caracas pour y promouvoir le dialogue - pour l'organisation 
immédiate d'élections, hors du cadre constitutionnel. Plus radicale 
encore, l'opposition exige « la démission » du président en exercice. 
Il est vrai qu'en l'état actuel des rapports de force, elle perdrait 
vraisemblablement ces élections - à moins d'en interdire la 
participation à M. Chávez, conception très particulière de la 
démocratie !

Pour preuve, l'évolution, ces derniers jours, de la situation. Depuis 
le 11 décembre, excédée par la propagande haineuse que distillent les 
médias privés, les partisans du président se massent régulièrement et 
pacifiquement, au cri de « Dites la vérité ! », autour des sièges des 
chaînes de télévision et des quotidiens. Chaque jour les défenseurs 
de la légalité démocratique prennent la rue et affirment leur 
présence en nombre plus important. Aidé par cette mobilisation 
populaire et les forces armées (épurées de leurs officiers factieux 
après le 11 avril), le pouvoir semble peu à peu reprendre - ne 
serait-ce que partiellement à ce jour - le contrôle de PDVSA.

Le gouvernement vénézuélien a reçu, ces derniers jours, de nombreux 
messages de soutien : Groupe des Verts/ALE et Gauche unitaire 
européenne-Gauche verte nordique au Parlement européen ; 16 membres 
de la Chambre des représentants américains, 39 ONG et environ 200 
personnalités - également américaines -, qui demandent au président 
George W. Bush l'appui de Washington aux gouvernements 
démocratiquement élus ; les syndicats du pétrole argentins ; la 
Centrale syndicale unique d'Uruguay ; l'Union syndicale ouvrière de 
l'industrie du pétrole (USO) colombienne ; la Centrale unitaire des 
travailleurs du Chili (CUT) ; la Conférence des pays exportateurs de 
pétrole (OPEP) ; etc.

Pour des raisons de sécurité, le gouvernement des Etats-Unis a 
autorisé une partie de son personnel diplomatique à quitter le 
Venezuela. L'opposition ayant besoin

Petroleros por Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   En Maturín Petroleros por Venezuela realizan asamblea extraordinaria
Por: LB
Publicado: 20/12/02

Casi simultáneamente a una reunión extraordinaria realizada en la 
Quinta La Esmeralda (donde un grupo de trabajadores golpistas de 
PDVSA deicidieron no acatar el dictamen del Tribunal Supremo de 
Justicia que los obliga a regresar a sus puestos de trabajo), un gran 
grupo de trabajadores de la empresa Petroleos de Venezuela están 
haciendo una asamblea extraordinaria; la gran mayoría de los 
asistentes no sólo apoyan la decisión del tribunal, sino que corean 
repetidas veces el lema Limpieza, Limpieza, Limpieza en PDVSA.

http://www.aporrea.org/dameverbo.php?docid=3015  *
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

U.S. Still Pushing for an Early Election in Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

U.S. working for early elections in Venezuela
Reuters, 12.20.02, 1:26 PM ET

By Pablo Bachelet

WASHINGTON20 (Reuters) - The United States is still quietly pushing 
for an early election in Venezuela, beset by a power struggle and 
national strike, despite publicly backing off the idea, a source 
familiar with the talks told Reuters.

The United States is brokering a deal for an early election in 
Venezuela, the source said this week in a telephone interview. 
Behind the scenes we're still pushing for an early election.

The United States has rallied the Organization of American States and 
Latin American countries, most notably Brazil, to help pressure 
leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez into accepting an election, 
according to the source

The White House issued a statement on Dec. 13 calling for an early 
election, as demanded by the opposition, but backtracked Monday, when 
a spokesman said Washington supported a referendum on Chavez's 
continued rule.

The opposition is calling for Chavez to resign and hold early 
elections. He has refused and told his foes to wait until August, 
halfway through his term, when the constitution allows for a binding 
referendum on his rule.

Observers say the U.S. endorsement of an early election in effect 
violated the Venezuelan constitution which allows for a referendum on 
Chavez no sooner than August 2003

OLD, UNDEMOCRATIC WAYS?

In April, when it looked like Chavez had been ousted in a coup, the 
White House appeared pleased that he had been toppled and was 
embarrassed when he was reinstated by loyalist officers.

The coup alarmed Latin American countries that saw a return to old 
undemocratic ways

This week a State Department official confirmed that the United 
States is actively mediating talks in Caracas, together with OAS 
Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, to broker a deal.

On Thursday, Powell also hinted at the U.S. involvement, although he 
did not mention elections directly.

We have presented some ideas to the secretary general (of the OAS) 
for his consideration, Powell told reporters. There have been some 
efforts in the last day or two to put forward ideas from both sides 
that might be a basis of discussion.

One source familiar with the talks said that Chavez wants guarantees 
that he would be allowed to run in an election -- some opponents want 
him barred from the ballot -- and that a mechanism be put in place 
that guarantee impartiality from the opposition-controlled media.

http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2002/12/20/rtr830494.html
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

SF IMC Interviews Al Giordano on Venezuela, Etc.

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

SF IMC Interviews Al Giordano on Venezuela, the media, and anarchism
by nessie * Friday December 20, 2002 at 12:10 PM

...nessie: So Al. You're the closest thing we have to a guy on the 
ground there. We need your input. Care to enlighten us as to what's 
really happening?

Al Giordano: In fact, we (and that we includes IndyMedia) have an 
enormous network of friends and allies on the ground there who are 
the ones Venezuelans proudly call Community Journalists. The 
independent media movement in Venezuela is the most advanced in the 
hemisphere, probably in the world. There are 25 Community TV and 
Radio stations in Venezuela, many of which began as pirate 
stations, one dating back to the 1960s, that were legalized under 
the Bolivarian Constitution of 1999. There are movement also includes 
important print and Internet publications.

The Popular Revolutionary Assembly has one of the best online centers 
of information I've ever seen at: http://www.aporrea.org It updates 
every hour or more often for 24 hours a day. In recent days it has 
been invaluable. Anyone who has been reading the Aporrea site for the 
past two weeks has witnessed, time and time again, how the people 
from the grassroots are leading and pushing Chávez to resist the 
coup, not vice versa.

nessie: How does their work compare to the corporate media?

Al Giordano: There's something very racist in the reporting of 
simulators like the British journalist Phil Gunson, a freelance 
mercenary who has published knowingly false stories recently in 
Newsweek/MSNBC, the Christian Science Monitor and the daily newspaper 
of coup-plotters everywhere, the Miami Herald. There's something 
positively sleazy about this guy and his work. I observed him in 
action down in Venezuela during a presidential press conference - him 
and this little clique of boy reporters from England and the U.S., 
and their snobby superiority complex, who would be more comfortable 
with Chávez as their gardener than as president of an oil-rich nation 
of 24 million people.

You can see the frustration on their faces of having to report on 
this dark-skinned hawk-nosed soldier who is smarter and more popular 
than they are, and who during a five hour press conference answers 
all their snotty questions in great detail - Imagine Bush or Gore or 
Clinton ever doing that! - and he beats them on the facts and they 
have to call him president in their reports. And the press 
conference itself is broadcast on national TV, and the Venezuelan 
people get to see just how snotty and clueless the U.S. and European 
press corps, as a group (because there is always the occasional good 
one or two in their midst; they know who they are), get completely 
beaten at their own game by Chávez.

If your sympathies are with the working class, and you distrust the 
commercial media correspondents as I do, it's great entertainment, 
and it's part of the educational process underway there. You can see 
them, these divine caste reporters, wince as it happens because 
they know that Chávez is not the buffoon they try to portray him to 
be. He's smarter than they are. In fact, if anything, he's very suave 
and smooth, which is why his five-hour live TV shows every Sunday - 
Alo Presidente! - are the most popular or at least one of the most 
popular programs in the country. Whole families gather every Sunday 
to watch the show, on which he takes live phone calls.

I could just see the Gunsons and others like him sitting there, 
thinking to them selves, if this guy were my gardener or chauffeur, 
he'd be a lot of fun. Oh, it's a sad thing, what happens to U.S. and 
British and Spaniard correspondents when they enter lands with 
oligarchies, because they start to think of themselves as landed 
gentry. They move into the wealthy neighborhoods and live behind 
walls, they send their kids to private schools with the other 
oligarchs, and from that perspective flows their reporting. They also 
develop very unhealthy parasitic relationships with US and European 
Embassy, and multinational corporate, spin-doctors. But back to 
Gunson, because he's got this coming.

Gunson, interviewed last week on NPR, gave an example of this 
inherent racism and snobbery when he said, and I quote: I think it's 
important to point out that last night what we saw was perhaps the 
worst example so far of something, a phenomenon that we've seen 
before, which is concerted attacks on different media organizations 
by mobs that are clearly organized by the government. For example, 
the mobs in most places were led by deputies, by congresspeople, 
belonging to the ruling party. Gunson said that, not me. The idea 
that the people - who Gunson calls mobs - would only protest at 
Commercial TV stations if organized by the government has a racist 
ring to it. He suggests that the people aren't smart enough or 
organized enough to think of it or do it themselves.

But anyone who has been reading the Aporrea website and following

Court Orders Halt to Venezuela Oil Strike

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 13:05:41 -0800
Subject: [VSG List] Court Orders Halt to Venezuela Oil Strike
Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Court Orders Halt to Venezuela Oil Strike
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/ap/20021219/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_strike_184
1 hour, 29 minutes ago

By ANDREW SELSKY, Associated Press Writer

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered a temporary 
halt to an oil industry strike while it considers the legality of the 
work stoppage, which entered its 18th day Thursday.

A general strike by organized labor and business to oust President 
Hugo Chavez has stopped oil exports from Venezuela - a key supplier 
to the United States - and sent global prices above $30 a barrel.

The Supreme Court said it was considering a motion filed by an 
executive with the state-owned oil monopoly asking the justices to 
declare the strike illegal. The court said it will hear arguments on 
the motion within four days. In the meantime, it ordered striking oil 
employees and executives to resume work.

Felix Rodriguez, director of production at Petroleos de Venezuela SA, 
filed the motion Tuesday, arguing that the work stoppage - which has 
drastically cut oil exports from the world's fifth-largest oil 
producer - threatened national security.

There was no immediate reaction from dissident executives at the oil 
company, which employs 40,000 people. But a spokesman for striking 
workers, Alfredo Gomez, told Dow Jones Newswires they will ignore the 
court order.

It's not safe for us to return to work and the constitution allows 
us to protest, Gomez said. Leaders of the general strike have cited 
a clause in Venezuela's constitution allowing citizens not to 
recognize a government they consider undemocratic.

Oil production was down to 370,000 barrels per day - compared to 3 
million barrels before the strike. Some oil executives fired by 
Chavez claim production is just 200,000 barrels per day.

Venezuelan and foreign tankers are idle, refineries are closed or 
operating at minimum levels and crews and dock workers are refusing 
to handle oil and non-oil cargos.

The government is still trying to unload the tanker Pilin Leon - 
named after a former Miss World (news - web sites) - which anchored 
off the western city of Maracaibo in protest. The ship carries 
280,000 barrels of gasoline, roughly a day's supply for the nation.

Chavez, who vows to stay in office, has branded striking oil workers 
as traitors sabotaging Venezuela's oil-based economy and issued a 
decree allowing the temporary seizure of private vehicles to ensure 
deliveries of food and gas.

We must always be alert, ready to defend our revolution, Chavez 
told thousands of supporters late Wednesday at a Caracas arena. He 
said the strikers have aligned themselves with treason.

Chavez, who commandeered some private truck fleets on Dec. 8 to 
deliver gas, expanded on that order with a decree allowing civilian 
and military officials to temporarily seize any vehicle that delivers 
gas, oil or food - including trucks, boats and aircraft - to end 
strike-caused shortages.

Chavez ordered inspections of businesses to determine if any were 
hoarding goods such as milk, rice or medicine. Those doing so could 
be fined. His decree, dated Tuesday and published late Wednesday, 
cited threats to national security caused by shortages of essential 
goods.

Carlos Fernandez, president of the Fedecamaras business association, 
said the decree won't be your ticket, Mr. Chavez, to become owner of 
our property.

Soldiers guarded gas stations to keep them open, but 70 percent of 
gasoline stations in the Caracas area were empty, said Angelina 
Martino, president of the Association of Gasoline Retailers.

Hours-long lines formed at service stations.

I have been at this station for an hour. Of course everyone is 
annoyed, said Claudio Cedeno, a 52-year-old truck driver. I am 
annoyed because they (the strikers) are creating unnecessary chaos.

Strike leaders claim they are providing enough basic goods to meet 
the population's needs even as they demand that stores, banks and 
businesses close and supporters block highways to stop transport.

Venezuela's private hospitals and clinics announced they would 
suspend all but emergency services for an hour a day to support the 
strike.

Opposition leaders called the strike Dec. 2 to demand that Chavez 
call a nonbinding referendum on his rule. They then increased their 
demand to early elections - Venezuela's constitution allows only a 
recall vote halfway into Chavez's six-year term, which is next August.

Chavez, elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, insists that the 
opposition abide by Venezuela's democratic constitution.
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu

Venezuela Government Agency Looking For Unemployed Oil Workers

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Thursday December 19, 12:14 AM

Venezuela Government Agency Looking For Unemployed Oil Workers

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- The Venezuelan Labor Ministry's jobs agency has 
begun looking for unemployed oil engineers and technicians, the 
government's Venpres news agency reported Wednesday.

The vacancies, advertised at the ministry's unemployment offices 
across the country, are for Petroleum Engineers, Refinery Technicians 
and Supervisors, Gas Technicians and Supervisors and Computer 
Engineers, according to the report.

The government is desperately trying to break a 17-day-old strike 
that has paralyzed the country's vital oil industry, along with many 
other critical sectors.

But analysts have said it won't be easy to restart operations with 
new crews

-By Jehan Senaratna, Dow Jones Newswires; 58212 564 1339; 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/021218/15/35uk4.html
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Participatory Democracy in Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Chaos and Constitution

With his country teetering on the brink of disaster, Venezuela's Hugo 
Chávez clings to power -- thanks primarily to the passionate support 
of the nation's poor.

By Barry C. Lynn
January/February 2003 Issue

The populist former paratrooper has mobilized Venezuela's poor to 
participate in their own government

You can buy a plastic-bound copy of the Venezuelan Constitution for 
60 cents, a leather-clad copy for $3, a coffee-table edition for $5. 
Not that you really need a copy of your own, since someone standing 
near you on the subway in Caracas will have one in his pocket. Or you 
can always listen to one of the ongoing debates at a downtown park. 
Look at this article, someone will shout, and a half dozen people 
will flip through the constitution's 35,000 words and 350 articles to 
find the pertinent passage. Yes, someone else will cry out. But 
this one here is more to the point.

Leila Escobar, a lab technician in her early 30s, carries a 
pocket-size copy of the new constitution, bound in blue plastic. I 
meet her late one morning in Nueva Grenada, a grimy, run-down 
neighborhood in the Venezuelan capital, and the mid-October day is 
unseasonably hot. As a passing cloud offers relief, Escobar pauses to 
wipe the sweat from her face with a red handkerchief. She has walked 
seven miles already, near the head of a march by hundreds of 
thousands who have come out in support of President Hugo Chávez. It 
has been six months since Chávez was ousted briefly in a coup, and 
now his opponents -- business leaders, a handful of military 
officers, almost all of the nation's media -- are once again trying 
to orchestrate his removal. So Escobar and other chavistas have taken 
to the streets, vowing to protect the president -- with their bodies, 
if necessary.

The reason for their support has everything to do with the little 
blue book Escobar carries. In one of his first acts as president, 
Chávez held a nationwide referendum on the constitution that 
effectively redrew the political boundaries of Venezuela from the 
ground up. Over the past four years, through a series of new laws and 
programs, he has mobilized the poor to participate in what had always 
been a top-down, two-party political system dominated by the 
country's upper and middle classes. The president has brought us 
hope, and he has brought us democracy, says Escobar. They will not 
take him from us

If Chávez is ousted, however, it will not be because he is a brutal 
dictatorOpposition political parties, as well as the press, 
operate freely in Venezuela, and the federal police -- once among the 
most feared forces in South America -- have not hindered even those 
advocating outright rebellion. And for the first time in Venezuelan 
history, ordinary citizens are being encouraged to create and elect 
local councils, to work with local officials to improve their 
neighborhoods, to get directly involved in their government. Acting 
together, these are the people who have become the single most 
powerful group in Venezuela. These are the people who, in many ways, 
have made themselves the real sovereigns of Venezuela's oil

...[W]hen people gather in neighborhoods like Hoyo de la Puerta [one 
of the shantytowns that ring Caracas], the talk seldom centers on the 
price of food or the lack of health care. Instead, what excites them 
is the new constitution, drafted by a popularly elected assembly in 
1999 and approved by an overwhelming vote in December of that year. A 
somewhat haphazard amalgam, the document protects minority rights, 
permits people to claim title to their farms and homes, and expands 
political participation at the grassroots level. De Peña, for 
example, is particularly excited by a new law that gives citizens the 
right to take part in the kind of urban planning that drove her from 
her home 30 years ago. Before, the government could come and do 
whatever they wanted to us, she says, pulling a newsprint copy of 
the law from her purse and waving it about. But this paper gives the 
community a voice. This law forces the authorities to listen.

The issue of land ownership, especially, inspires poor residents to 
praise Chávez. As is true of about half the people of Caracas, most 
here do not hold legal title to the houses in which they live, or to 
the lots underneath. Some say they bought their land years ago. 
Others admit they simply took the land and built on it. Now, a new 
law permits them to regularize their ownership by registering their 
claim.

Indelgard Vargas, an unemployed engineer and father of two small 
children, says land ownership is partly a matter of self-respect. It 
is better to own a little plot, he says, than to trespass on a 
great expanse. But it also has practical consequences. For the first 
time, the poor will be able to sell their lots, protect them in 
court, or mortgage them with a bank. Chávez, the revolutionary, 
promises to make the poor into property

Venezuela Lockout Fails, 32 American States Reject US Initiative, US Backpedals

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Good news from Narco News.

*   Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 16:31:41 -0600
From: Alberto M. Giordano [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [narconews] White House Venezuela Error Backfires
Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

December 16, 2002
Please Distribute Widely

Dear Colleagues,

Friday's desperate maneuver by U.S. President George W. Bush -- his 
cynical  call for early elections in Venezuela, a country that has 
had six national elections in the past four years -- has backfired 
after it was revealed as unconstitutional.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, earlier today, withdrew 
that demand with some not-too-fancy semantic footwork:

Early elections, in the sense that of course, there is a referenda 
(sic) that can be held earlier that is a reflection of the 
manifestation of the will of the people and this is the process that 
is anticipated in the Venezuelan constitution, Fleischer told 
reporters earlier today.

The White House backpedaling comes on the heels of major developments 
in Venezuela and our América...

- Stores are open for business now even in the wealthy areas of 
Eastern Caracas, the last bastion of The Strike that Wasn't

- 90 percent of all contract employees of the oil industry are back 
at work, now that the executives who locked them out have been 
removed.

- This morning's highway blockades (meant to distract from the 
strike collapse this morning) were disbanded by 2 p.m. (See our 
report today for more details):

http://www.narconews.com/

Read also, in our report today, about the machinations within the 
Organization of American States, as we name the names of which 
countries' leaders have lined up with the coup plotters, which have 
been strongest for democracy, and which have broken from the United 
States position in recent hours.

Read also from the transcript of White House correspondents grilling 
Ari Fleischer on his false claims made last Friday regarding the 
Venezuela Constitution.

Also, WELCOME BACK to Charlie Hardy and his columns on Vheadline (we 
quote his analysis of the Grinch-osition in Venezuela and link to 
today's column).

These stories and more are now posted at Narco News.

from somewhere in a country called América,

Al Giordano
Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subscribe for free alerts of new reports:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconews

Suscríbete gratis para alertas de reportajes nuevos en Español:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconewsandes   *

*   Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 23:40:25 -0600
From: Alberto M. Giordano [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

December 17, 2002
Please Distribute Widely

Dear Colleagues,

A paragraph in Spanish followed by its translation into English...

RESUELVE: Respaldar plenamente la institucionalidad democrática y 
constitucional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, cuyo 
gobierno preside Hugo Chávez Frías, y rechazar categóricamente 
cualquier intento de golpe de estado o alteración del orden 
constitucional venezolano que afecte gravemente el orden democrático.

- la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA)

RESOLVED: To fully back the democratic and constitutional legitimacy 
of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, whose government is led by 
Hugo Chávez Frías, and to reject, categorically, any coup attempt or 
alteration of constitutional order that seriously affects democratic 
rule.

- the Organization of American States (OAS)

12:21 p.m. ET, December 17, 2002:

One hour and some minutes ago, the Organization of American States 
(OAS), for the first time in the organization's history, rejected a 
major United States initiative.

The OAS backed, by a vote of 32-0 -- with two countries not counted 
-- a resolution to support the continuance of the democratically 
elected government of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

This unprecedented result of a fierce, tense, and extended, debate 
marks an historic turning point for our América.

The nations of the Western Hemisphere rejected, once and for all, any 
attempt at coup d'etat, in Venezuela or elsewhere. Washington's 
spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down was language backing 
OAS secretary general Cesar Gaviria to find a way to channel 
positive energies in Venezuela.

In a veiled message of no confidence for its own secretary 
general's pro-coup efforts in Caracas over the past 15 days, the 
Organization of American States equally called upon the Carter Center 
and the United Nations to promote dialogue in Venezuela, but not to 
permit any coup attempt nor pretension of interrupting democracy; not 
even by the OAS's own representative.

We repeat: 32 American nations tonight, after an unprecedented 
Authentic Debate among the members of the Organization of American 
states, rejected destabilizing proposals by Washington to impose its 
policies on another American country: Venezuela

Venezuela Crisis May Hit U.S. Iraq War Plans

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

The following news items concern a factor that can go either way, 
hardening or softening the US stance toward Venezuela.  So far, it 
appears to have softened it (as it has been combined with Latin 
American nations' rejection of the US initiative on Venezuela, the 
Venezuelan armed forces' -- including the commander's -- loyalty to 
Chavez, etc.), though, at the same time as increasing national and 
international skepticism about the US war on Iraq.  A win-win 
situation for us?

*   16 Dec 2002 21:16
Venezuela crisis may hit U.S. Iraq war plans
By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil strike, which 
has cut off over 13 percent of U.S. petroleum imports, may force 
Washington to hold back from launching a war against Iraq until the 
crisis in the South American oil producer is resolved, a Venezuelan 
energy expert said Monday.

Humberto Calderon Berti, a former Energy Minister, said he believed 
it would be too risky for the United States to move against Baghdad 
at a time when the turmoil in the world's No. 5 oil exporter was 
choking off key shipments to the U.S. market.

Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, who survived a brief coup 
in April and is resisting intense pressure to resign, is fighting to 
beat the two-week-old opposition strike that has cut oil output to 
less than a third and brought exports to a virtual standstill.

I believe the United States won't make any war decision against Iraq 
until the situation in Venezuela is resolved, Calderon, who has also 
served as president of the giant Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, 
told Reuters in an interview.

It looks to me very difficult to be able to press ahead with a 
military initiative in Iraq when you have Venezuela going through a 
situation of immense instability, he added.

Talks between the government and opposition representatives, brokered 
by the Organization of American States, have so far failed to reach 
an accord on an electoral solution to the Venezuela crisis.

Calderon said a full-scale U.S. war against Iraq, if it was launched 
while the crisis in Caracas was still halting Venezuelan shipments, 
could mean at least five-and-a-half million barrels of oil per day 
being cut off from the market.

Venezuela has a total output capacity of more than three million 
barrels per day (bpd) and Iraq, the world's eighth largest exporter, 
sells about 1.2 million bpd to international markets.

Between them, the two OPEC members cover roughly 7 percent of the 
world's more than 76 million bpd of crude oil demand.

This could also push oil prices skywards to as high as $40 a barrel, 
pressuring the U.S. and world economy. We'll be heading for a 
tremendous crisis,' Calderon said.

Pushed to two-month highs by the Venezuelan oil drought, U.S. crude 
oil futures settled Monday at $30.10 a barrel, up $1.66 or 5.8 
percent.

The conflict in Iraq also risked dragging in other big producers in 
the Middle East, disrupting supplies from a region that produces a 
third of the world's oil.

'CHANGE IN U.S. ATTITUDE'

Calderon said there had been a change in attitude by U.S. President 
George W. Bush's administration towards Venezuela's crisis, from a 
more neutral U.S. position a few weeks ago to a public call on Friday 
for early elections to solve the conflict.  [Yoshie: Washington has 
since been forced to backtrack from that position, however.]

It is very important for them to understand that the presence of 
Chavez in Venezuela is destabilizing, he added.

Opponents of Chavez, who was elected in 1998 promising to carry out a 
revolution to help the poor, accuse him of ruining the economy and 
dragging Venezuela towards Cuba-style communism. They also say he has 
weakened the country's traditional alliance with the United States by 
forging closer ties with anti-U.S. states like Libya, Iran and Iraq.

There has never been an oil industry strike in Venezuela like the 
one we have now ... and while Chavez remains in power, this will be a 
recurring event, Calderon said.

A U.S. diplomatic envoy, Thomas Shannon, visited Caracas at the end 
of last week and urged both Chavez's government and the opposition to 
reach a negotiated political deal on elections.

Shannon said Washington was very worried about a possible escalation 
of the political confrontation in Venezuela but denied that his visit 
was directly linked to U.S. plans to launch a possible strike against 
Iraq.

Former paratrooper Chavez, who says the strike is an attempt by his 
foes to overthrow him again, has deployed troops to try to move 
strike-bound tankers and restart idled refineries and oil loading 
terminals. He has also said he will bring in foreign oil experts if 
necessary to beat the strike.

The Venezuelan oil strikers, who include PDVSA executives, tanker 
captains, navigation pilots and refinery and port terminal operators, 
have said they will stay out until the Venezuelan leader agrees to 
quit and hold early elections

Protest Against Intervention in Venezuela (12/18, SF)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Protest In San Francisco Against Intervention in Venezuela
by solidarity * Tuesday December 17, 2002 at 04:04 PM
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

S.F. PRESS CONFERENCE / RALLY IN SUPPORT OF VENEZUELA'S DEMOCRATIC 
PROCESS COORDINATED WITH ACTIONS NATIONWIDE
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18th, NOON at VENEZUELAN CONSULATE 311 CALIFORNIA @ BATTERY

Local News Desk

For Immediate Release: Contact: Amie Fishman (415) 317-2509
December 16, 2002 or Eric Quezada (415) 699-0270


S.F. PRESS CONFERENCE / RALLY IN SUPPORT OF VENEZUELA'S DEMOCRATIC 
PROCESS COORDINATED WITH ACTIONS NATIONWIDE
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18th, NOON at VENEZUELAN CONSULATE

Bay Area community leaders embark on second trip to gain knowledge of 
turbulent political situation and support democracy in Venezuela

San Francisco, CA - A second fact-finding delegation to Venezuela 
this year will launch with a press conference and rally on Wednesday 
December 18th at noon, at the Venezuelan Consulate, 311 California 
St., in San Francisco in conjunction with other rallies of solidarity 
with Venezuela's democratic process throughout the U.S. and the 
world, including Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Paris, France.

Delegation members will gain first-hand knowledge of Venezuela's 
complex political situation through dialogues with civic leaders, 
community members, labor leaders, independent media makers, and 
neighborhood groups dedicated to community-driven development (known 
as Bolivarian Circles).

Venezuela is currently experiencing the longest sustained general 
strike in its history. This strike has been coordinated by the 
richest sectors of Venezuelan society, some of whom briefly overthrew 
the democratically elected government of President Hugo Chávez in a 
violent coup on April 11th of this year, and some of whom have 
publicly called for similar unconstitutional measures in the current 
conflict.

Though Chavez has been elected twice in the last four years and his 
policy reforms have been ratified by a majority in national 
referendums, the government has been continually under siege by 
well-funded groups in Venezuela and abroad who have sought to 
destabilize the oil-rich nation.

Strongly biased, anti-Chavez reporting by media outlets in Venezuela 
and the U.S. has made it difficult to ascertain the situation on the 
ground (as documented by media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy 
in Reporting, at http://www.fair.org).

The delegation is a project of the Venezuela Solidarity Group (VSG), 
a network of Bay Area community leaders who support democracy and 
equitable development in Venezuela. In keeping with international 
law, the VSG also works to oppose illegal intervention by other 
nations in Venezuela's affairs.

Wednesday's press conference will be a send-off for the delegation, 
which will last ten days in early January. Please contact Amie 
Fishman at 415-317-2509 or Eric Quezada at 415-699-0270 for further 
information and to coordinate interviews for the press conference and 
during the delegation's visit.

http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/12/1551638.php
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

La Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores de Venezuela se dirige a laSolidaridad

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 23:03:18 +0100
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

La Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores de Venezuela se dirige a la Solidaridad

El guión del golpe de estado continúa

Alerta para salvar las conquistas bolivarianas

1.- El mismo guión antes, durante y después del 11 de abril de 2002, 
el Sr.Carlos Ortega y Carlos Fernández, muchos de ustedes talvez los 
vieron por televisión, de acuerdo al canal de televisión y la cadena 
televisiva que trasmitió lo sucedido en la Plaza Altamira a nivel 
nacional e internacional; analicen sus expresiones, analicen sus 
acusaciones, no pierdan detalle, es la misma actitud antes, durante y 
después del golpe de Estado dado por la misma Coordinadora 
Democrática, la patronal FEDECAMARAS, quien su Presidente de 
entonces, se auto juramento Presidente de la República el 12 de 
abril, y desafortunadamente la filial más prospera para el fascismo 
empresarial: como lo es la cúpula tan cuestionada e ilegitima con su 
autodenominado Comité Ejecutivo de la Confederación de Trabajadores 
de Venezuela CTV, cuyo principal vocero es el Sr. Carlos Ortega, 
quién antes durante y después del 11 de abril de 2002, mantiene el 
discurso de la guerra civil en Venezuela.

2.- La irresponsabilidad de este señor Ortega y la oposición en decir 
que fue el Presidente de la República el que asesino, mando a 
asesinar, hasta este momento a 3 personas y herir a por lo menos 28 
personas más que estaban en la Plaza Altamira, lugar donde desde hace 
casi dos meses se mantienen los militares que ejecutaron el golpe de 
estado del 11 de abril y contribuyeron a que el empresario prófugo de 
la Justicia Pedro Carmona Estanga se auto juramentara como presidente 
de facto; que casualidad que la autodenominada Coordinadora 
Democrática y sus voceros fundamentales Carlos Fernández PRESIDENTE 
DE LA PATRONAL FEDECAMARAS y Carlos Ortega en el momento que 
trasmitían en vivo con todos los medios de comunicación, principales 
cómplices del fascismo, que el paro continuaba activo... 
inmediatamente interrumpe una periodista y le dice que habían 
disparos en la Plaza Altamira y al parecer varios heridos, 
inmediatamente este señor grita que eso es obra del gobierno y el Pr! 
esidente Chávez y lo llamó asesino, analicen ustedes mismos ¿por qué 
decir asesino al gobierno y su Presidente, si sólo la periodista le 
dijo que habían disparos y heridos? ¿Por qué no esperaron que se 
comenzaran las pesquisas y se investiga que pasó en la Plaza, por qué 
comenzaron a dar opiniones irresponsables y acusando sin ningún tipo 
de prueba?

3.- Inmediatamente el guión continúo, todos los medios casi en cadena 
y con imágenes aterradoras tenían a los voceros de la coordinadora 
democrática en la Plaza Altamira y los militares golpistas en una 
sola voz: el gobierno mandó asesinar, el presidente Chávez es el 
asesino; seguidamente los generadores de caracteres colocaron en las 
televisoras MASACRE EN LA PLAZA ALTAMIRA... esto es solo parte, lo 
demás es lo mismo que dicen los mismos políticos de la oposición, los 
mismos dirigentes sindicales que nunca hicieron elecciones, lo mismos 
sectores que no creen que el pueblo de manera pacifica y democrática 
los desalojó en sucesivas elecciones y perdiendo todos sus 
privilegios de corrupción, desnacionalización, neoliberalismo, sí, 
esto y mucho más lo vienen diciendo desde hace 6 años.

4.- El llamado a paro desde el lunes 2 de diciembre está dentro del 
guión, un paro que día a día lo van declarando que continúa, un paro 
que sólo paró un 20% de la población económicamente activa, del 
sector fundamentalmente comercial, un paro que para el 3 de diciembre 
sólo paró un 16% de la población económicamente activa, un paro que 
sólo paró el 4 de diciembre un 12% de la población económicamente 
activa, un paro que el 5 de diciembre paró menos del 10% de la 
población económicamente activa, un paro que no se sintió ni en 
porcentajes el día 6 de diciembre ¿y entonces cuál paro? Ahora lo que 
tienen son actos de sabotaje muy puntuales y poderosos, como por 
ejemplo fondear (parar), tanqueros que transportan combustible y 
otros derivados del petróleo a nivel nacional e internacional, muchas 
entidades bancarias no abren sus puertas o solo las abren 
parcialmente y miles de trabajadores y trabajadoras no pueden cobrar 
sus salarios, están bloqueando la salida de alimentos pa! ra 
abastecer a la población, esto es sabotaje y un problema de seguridad 
nacional, alertamos profundamente sobre esta actitud que raya en lo 
criminal de las cúpulas de la CTV y FEDECAMARAS, esto es el mismo 
guión de antes, durante y después del 11 de abril cuando dieron el 
golpe de estado.

5. Sin embargo seamos sinceros, lo que verdaderamente tienen como 
objetivo es el golpe de Estado ¿por qué? Porque el guión continua, 
por qué, porque desplazaron todo de nuevo hacia Petróleos de 
Venezuela PDVSA, intentando parar las refinerías, el suministro de 
gas para las plantas procesadoras, tratando de parar el

Venezuela Solidarity Group

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*  The Venezuela Solidarity Group
What We Stand For:
The Venezuela Solidarity Group is a network of North American 
activists who support democracy and equitable development in 
Venezuela through education and people to people solidarity. The VSG 
works to oppose US intervention. We support Venezuela's Bolivarian 
Revolution. To find out more information, please contact us at 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] REMEMBER, this is a moderated group 
list. Anyone may subscribe, but only approved, Venezuela-Solidarity 
related material will be allowed to post. Also, for virus protection, 
attachments are NOT allowed.

Group Info
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Founded: Oct 10, 2002
Language: English

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vsglist/   *

What's Up in Venezuela? -- Some Basic Facts (a two-page pamphlet 
produced by the Venezuela Solidarity Group): 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vsglist/files/VSG%20Brochure.pdf
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
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US, Venezuela, Iraq, OPEC

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   U.S. increases pressure on Venezuela's Chavez for vote
Associated Press
Published Dec. 14, 2002

CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- ...Increasing pressure on Chavez to call an 
early vote, the White House said it wanted an electoral solution to 
the crisis and warned of more violence if sluggish negotiations do 
not pick up their pace

Asked about early elections, Chavez said that he won't stand in the 
way of a constitutional amendment but said that was up to Congress, 
and voters in a referendum. The opposition has rejected such a 
drawn-out process, demanding immediate elections

U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon flew to Caracas to meet 
with officials from all sides of the conflict.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3531502.html   *

*Copyright 2002 Financial Times Information
Global News Wire
Copyright 2002 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc
December 14, 2002
LENGTH: 423 words
HEADLINE: VENEZUELA-CONFLICT (1ST LEAD) VENEZUELA REQUESTS SPECIAL 
MEETING OF OAS FOREIGN MINISTERS

BODY: Caracas, Dec 13 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said 
Friday that his administration has asked for a special meeting of 
Organization of American States (OAS) foreign minister to denounce 
what the president labeled another coup attempt.

My government has requested an extraordinary meeting of OAS foreign 
ministers to denounce with evidence, videos (and) documents, the 
running roughshod over the Venezuelan people and another coup 
attempt, Chavez said in an impromptu press conference at the 
Miraflores presidential palace. Chavez said the coup attempt has a 
military component, with the officers in Altamira Plaza calling for 
rebellion, and a political component, with leaders who publicly call 
(on the people) not to recognize the government and institutions.

The president also claimed that business and labor leaders and much 
of the privately owned media were involved in the alleged plot.

The announcement came on the 12th day of an opposition-sponsored 
national strike aimed at forcing Chavez to step down.

He's cornered. He has no other choice but to leave immediately. His 
time is up, union leader and opposition spokesman Carlos Ortega said.

Ortega also called on opposition activists to be ready for the great 
taking of Caracas, which he said will be the largest demonstration 
Latin America has ever seen.

The taking of Caracas, according to Ortega, will entail occupying 
the capital's streets and avenues and, perhaps, a subsequent march on 
the presidential residence.

A similar opposition march in April ended with a failed coup attempt 
that left 19 people dead and Chavez briefly ousted

Earlier Friday, the United States called for early elections as a way 
to break the deadlock, which includes an opposition-sponsored general 
strike that began Dec. 2 and has crippled the nation's crucial oil 
industry.   *

*   Washington File
13 December 2002
State Department Briefing Transcript

(Iraq, Turkey, South Korea/North Korea, Axis of Evil, Iran, Russia, 
Israel/Palestinian, Venezuela, Germany) (6260)

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher briefed.

...QUESTION: You all  --

MR. BOUCHER: Sorry.  Betsy.

QUESTION: You all have sent down, I believe, it's Mr. Shannon, Deputy --

MR. BOUCHER: Deputy Assistant Secretary, yeah, from the Bureau.

QUESTION: Can you say something about his trip, why he's there, who he is?

MR. BOUCHER: No. I'll get something for you. I'm sorry. I'll find 
out. Other than the fact that we sent him down to work with our 
Embassy and with the OAS and the others down there, I don't think I 
have anything to add. But I'll check on dates and things like that.

Jonathan.

QUESTION: Richard, for some time we've been trying to persuade you to 
say early elections and you kept --

MR. BOUCHER: I did.

QUESTION: -- just saying electoral solution.

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.

QUESTION: What has changed to make you now say early elections?

MR. BOUCHER: I think our view is that the -- we want to do everything 
we can to support an effort, a strong effort, by the OAS. We think 
it's time to make clear that the crisis has gotten to the point where 
that the early elections, we believe, have to be part of the 
solution. How those elections get organized and the exact timetable, 
I think I would leave to the Venezuelans to decide the formula.

Elise.

QUESTION: Well, that was my question, but I have one more.

MR. BOUCHER: Okay.

QUESTION: Do you foresee a foreign ministerial meeting of the OAS? 
Has it reached the level where you think that the ministers of the 
region have to get together and take some kind of action?

MR. BOUCHER: This meeting today is at the permanent representative 
level. I don't know if there would be an OAS meeting of foreign 
ministers, but certainly foreign ministers from the OAS have been 
very involved in working on this matter. The Secretary discussed it 
yesterday with the Colombian Foreign Minister, as he did last week

us coup plot in Venezuela

[Michael Perelman]

http://www.vheadline.com/0212/14248.asp

Does anybody know about this???
-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Steve Ellner's Reports form Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Commentaries by Steve Ellner @ 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner.html

Steve Ellner is co-editor of The Latin American Left: From the Fall 
of Allende to Perestroika (Westview) and three books on Venezuelan 
history and politics. He has taught economic history at the 
Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela since 1977.

The Radical Potential of Chavismo in Venezuela: The First Year-and-a 
Half in Power, _Latin American Perspectives: A Journal on Capitalism 
and Socialism_, http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner8.htm

Venezuela's Foreign Policy: Defiance South of the Border, _Z 
Magazine_ (November 2000), 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner7.htm

Venezuela and OPEC, _In These Times_ (November 3-10, 2000), 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner6.htm

Renegade or Redeemer? _In These Times_ (September 4, 2000), 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner5.htm

Polarized Politics in Chávez's Venezuela, _NACLA: Report on the 
Americas_ (May-June 2000), 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner4.htm

Interview with Luis Miquilena - President Hugo Chávez's Right Hand, 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner3.htm

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (December 10, 1999), 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner2.htm

Hugo Chavez take on the Venezuelan Establishment (October 7, 1999), 
http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner1.htm


--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Crisis en Venezuela genera polemica tambien en el resto deLatinoamerica

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Agence France Presse -- Spanish
December 12, 2002 Thursday
SECTION: INTERNACIONAL
LENGTH: 719 words
HEADLINE: Crisis en Venezuela genera polemica tambien en el resto de 
Latinoamerica
DATELINE: MONTEVIDEO, Dic 12

BODY: Con muestras de apoyo o de repudio, declaraciones a favor o en 
contra, la crisis politica que vive Venezuela y que tiene al 
presidente Hugo Chavez caminando por el pretil y los precios del 
petroleo a los saltos, tambien se ha dejado sentir en otros rincones 
de America Latina.

Las preocupaciones llegaron hasta la sede de la Organizacion de 
Estados Americanos en Washington, donde el Consejo Permanente de la 
OEA decidio realizar una sesion extraordinaria el viernes para 
considerar la grave crisis politica.

En Viena, la reunion de la OPEP se ocupo al detalle de la situacion 
venezolana y los miembros del cartel petrolero al finalizar su cumbre 
ministerial, anunciaron que daran la ayuda que sea necesaria a la 
estatal Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) e incluso le facilitaran crudo 
para cumplir sus compromisos.

En Chile, el gerente general de la Empresa Nacional del Petroleo, 
Daniel Fernandez advirtio el jueves que los precios de los 
combustibles subiran en unas dos semanas debido a la crisis 
venezolana. El petroleo y los combustibles refinados han subido y 
eso tendra un efecto en los precios locales, senalo. En Peru, la XV 
reunion regional de la OIT en Lima se convirtio en campo de batalla 
entre seguidores de Chavez y opositores, que intentaron llamar la 
atencion de 400 delegados de 35 paises que asisten a la cita de la 
OIT.

Viejas cupulas sindicales, patronales y politicas pretenden reeditar 
el golpe de Estado del pasado mes de abril, denuncio en la asamblea 
de la OIT, Wladimir Ruiz Tirado, representante del gobierno de Chavez.

Por otro lado, delegados de la oposicion venezolana repitieron sus 
amenazas de radicalizar el conflicto en terminos absolutamente 
dramaticos.

La solucion es una salida electoral inmediata y si el presidente 
Chavez no la acepta el paro se va a radicalizar en terminos 
absolutamente dramaticos, dijo Luis Salas, representante de la 
Confederacion de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV).

En cambio, los sindicalistas uruguayos le dieron su apoyo total a 
Chavez. La central sindical unica de Uruguay, el PIT-CNT, convoco a 
una concentracion y marcha este viernes 13, en Montevideo, en 
solidaridad con el Pueblo venezolano y su legitimo gobierno.

Tambien los sindicalistas petroleros de Colombia manifestaron su 
apoyo. Senor presidente y pueblo venezolano: cuenten con un punado 
de obreros colombianos, con experiencia en la industria petrolera, 
que se colocan a disposicion de su gobierno, en caso de que las 
circunstancias asi lo requieran, enfatizaron en una misiva.

El fin de semana igualmente el sindicato Union de Marinos Mercantes y 
de Pesca Colombianos (Unimpescol) ofrecio enviar tanto oficiales 
como tripulantes, los cuales estarian en condiciones de tripular 
dichas embarcaciones (petroleras).

En cambio, pese a que es uno de los principales aliados de Hugo 
Chavez, el gobierno cubano no hizo ningun tipo de manifestacion 
respecto a lo que sucede en Venezuela.

Algo muy diferente de lo sucedido en abril, cuando un efimero golpe 
de Estado desplazo a Chavez del poder por 47 horas y los medios de 
prensa del gobierno socialista cubano actuaron desde La Habana como 
portavoces del mandatario depuesto.

En Europa, el grupo de la Izquierda Unitaria Europea (GUE) del 
Parlamento Europeo manifesto en una declaracion su apoyo a Chavez y 
denuncio la actuacion de la oposicion.

En Buenos Aires, con la presencia de diplomaticos de Cuba y Brasil y 
el premio Nobel de la Paz, el argentino Adolfo Perez Esquivel, ademas 
de politicos, artistas e intelectuales, se realizo un acto en apoyo 
a la democracia de Venezuela, la preservacion de la voluntad popular 
y la unidad de America Latina.

El presidente electo del vecino Brasil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 
abogo tambien el martes por una salida pacifica y democratica a la 
crisis. Venezuela encontrase un camino y un entendimiento para que 
vuelva a crecer en paz y tranquilidad, dijo Lula desde Washington.

En Costa Rica, en tanto, decenas de venezolanos que alli residen 
protestaron con cacerolas frente a la embajada de su pais. No 
estamos de acuerdo ni con sus politicas ni con lo que esta haciendo 
(Chavez). Lo que queremos es que se vaya de una vez, dijo a la 
television local Ana Alcalde, una de las manifestantes.
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Venezuela: OPEC vs. USA

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Agence France Presse
December 14, 2002 Saturday
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 588 words
HEADLINE: Chavez raises the ante in Venezuela's conflict, US calls 
for elections
BYLINE: PATRICK MOSER
DATELINE: CARACAS, Dec 13

BODY: As Venezuela's volatile conflict led to a US call for early 
elections, President Hugo Chavez raised the ante Friday, threatening 
to import staff to replace strikers who have paralyzed the vital oil 
sector.

If we have to bring in technicians from other countries, they will 
come, said Chavez, whose government is under intense pressure from a 
12-day-old general strike staged in support of demands for his 
resignation.

The leftist-populist president said he would not hesitate to fire 80 
percent of managers and technical staff of Petroleos de Venezuela if 
that proves necessary to jumpstart the stalled state oil company. 
Chavez pointed out that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting 
Countries (OPEC) offered to temporarily supply oil to Venezuela's 
clients, and said the cartel also expressed willingness to deploy oil 
tankers to the South American country.

The strike has paralyzed oil exports, usually around 2.5 million barrels a day.

On Friday, dissident Petroleos de Venezuela managers said domestic 
supplies would run out within two days, a claim that contrasted with 
the government's insistance there was enough fuel to last a long time.

The United States, the main importer of Venezuelan oil, expressed 
deep concern over the situation, citing a warning by an international 
mediator that the country could erupt into violence.

The United States is convinced that the only peaceful and 
politically viable path to moving out of the crisis is through the 
holding of early elections, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Chavez, whose mandate ends in 2006, has rejected opposition demands 
that elections be held within months, and accused his right-wing foes 
of fomenting civil war and plotting his ouster.

Both sides remained firmly entrenched in their positions, while 
warning the crisis could explode into violence.

Venezuela's Roman Catholic church Friday issued a dramatic plea for 
reconciliation, warning that armed groups threatened to plunge 
conflict-torn Venezuela into a violent tragedy.

Standard and Poor's also expressed concern over developments, cutting 
Venezuela's credit rating and citing an increasing probability of 
default.

The US credit rating agency cut Venezuela's long-term foreign 
currency sovereign rating to CCC+ from B- in a sign that the nation 
is vulnerable to default.

Removal of President Chavez would likely lead to a heightened 
mobilization of his supporters and result in increased violence, 
said S and P sovereign analyst Richard Francis.

Government opponents, headed by business and labor leaders, were set 
to stage a massive rally on Saturday, which they dubbed the taking 
of Caracas and pledge would be the largest protest in the history of 
Latin America.

On Friday, several thousand Chavez supporters including vigilantes, 
massed outside the Miraflores government palace in Caracas to show 
their support for the president, as a similar number of people 
gathered at East Caracas square to demand that Chavez step down.

Both sides accused each other of sowing the seeds of violence, which 
already marked the conflict when three people were gunned down during 
a December 6 protest in Caracas.

Justice and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said it was suspicious 
that opposition leaders are announcing there will be attacks and 
violence.

In April they also had the booklet in hand and knew what would 
occur, he said in reference to the April 12 ouster of Chavez, who 
regained power after 47 hours.
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
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Venezuela: People of Petroleum vs. PDVSA's Blue-Collar Workforce

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*   ...The conflict between Chavez and the opposition is at least 
partly over oil.

Petroleos de Venezuela is a powerful giant on the world stage. It is 
ranked fifth among oil corporations in terms of revenue and is second 
largest overall when reserves, production and capacity are taken into 
account.

But, unfortunately for Chavez's government, PDVSA is highly unusual 
in several ways.

Although the firm is state-owned, it is a virtual fiefdom that has 
always operated with near-total autonomy from the government. It is 
perhaps the only large corporation in the world whose management has 
its own separate labor union. The group, People of Petroleum, is 
militantly anti-Chavez and accuses him of trying to grab control of 
the company and politicize its operations.

The labor union representing PDVSA's blue-collar workforce, however, 
has supported Chavez and refused to go out on strike.

PEOPLE OF PETROLEUM

But it is People of Petroleum that matters. Unlike most oil firms, 
which hire shipping contractors for most or all of their transport 
operations, PDVSA owns and operates all of its tankers. Now, as if 
with a flick of the switch, People of Petroleum's captains and 
executives have shut down the refineries and exports.

On Friday, Chavez announced that navy captains and crews would take 
over the tankers and pilot them. But it appeared to be an empty 
threat -- any move to do so would cause international insurance 
companies to suspend the tankers' policies, thus prompting U.S. 
maritime authorities to ban the ships from docking at American ports.

The management of PDVSA and the tanker captains have placed their 
political interests over their professional responsibility, said 
Mazhar Al- Shereidah, director of Petroanalysis, an oil-industry 
consulting firm, and a professor of petroleum economics at the 
National Central University in Caracas

No democratic government would allow political interference with a 
fundamental, complex industry that provides one-half of government 
revenue, he said.

(Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer, Strike Suspends Venezuelan 
Oil Exports to U.S.: Higher Prices Likely at Pump, As Bush Team 
Prepares for Iraq War, _San Francisco Chronicle_ 7 December 2002, 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/12/07/MN128972.DTL) 
*
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Greg Palast, Venezuela and Argentina: A Tale of Two Coups

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Venezuela and Argentina: A Tale of Two Coups
New Internationalist Magazine
Sunday, July 7, 2002
by Greg Palast

The big business-led coup in Venezuela failed, where international 
finance's coup in Argentina has succeeded. Greg Palast gives us the 
inside track on two very different power-grabs.

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=169row=1
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
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Marta Harnecker on Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

December 1, 2002

Social movements are sectoral movements and require an instrument for 
articulation

Manuel Alberto Ramy
Progreso Weekly

(Editor's Note: This interview was conducted before the Sunday 
victory in Ecuador by Lucio Gutierrez.)

If I say she received her degree in psychology in Paris, or she was 
an advance student of Louis Althusser -- who 30 years ago wrote the 
foreword for her first book - I've said something, but at the same 
time hardly anything. If I then add that she returned from France to 
the effervescent, and tragic, Chile of Salvador Allende, and that she 
taught at the university and edited the magazine Chile Today -- the 
only leftist weekly that existed during that very special moment -- I 
would then be telling you more about her. But in my judgment, the 
core issue is, the woman seated before me perceives with her eyes the 
heartbeat of an immense continent: Latin America.

Marta Harnecker, as she is named, speaks deliberately and has a 
deceivingly peaceable glance. There are moments, fleeting but 
perceptible, when she can't repress the fire of her ideas and her 
cause. She has worn out several pairs of shoes walking up and down 
and investigating the many turns of our region. She has interviewed 
first-class political leaders and also (with the sharpness of a 
humanistic intellectual) ordinary people and independents. A product 
of her travels and contacts are her numerous books and published 
articles. In them, she coldly analyzes the realities and perspectives 
of our people.

But Marta Harnecker does not burn-out herself writing and making 
contacts. In Havana, Cuba, she runs a center called Popular Latin 
American Memory (MEPLA), where she collects the creations, 
experiences and lives of our people in recent years. Painstakingly, 
she brings together the past, the present and the future. And she 
bets on the latter because I'm an optimistic person.

She has just returned from a tour of our region and a long stay in 
Venezuela. A product of her presence there is her latest book, 
already released in Spain. It is a long interview she had with 
President Chávez; probably the most complete interview anyone has had 
with a man who rules the destiny of a country that is key to our 
continent.

Progreso Weekly (PW): Can you give us a synthesis of Latin America today?

Marta Harnecker (MH): I think we're living in a new stage, a stage 
when the struggle against neoliberalism is on the increase in the 
continent. Three years ago we couldn't imagine what is happening 
today. At that time we began to see the triumph of an unknown 
military officer, Hugo Chávez, who won the presidential election in 
Venezuela. Recently, Lula triumphed in Brazil, and now I think that 
Lucio Gutiérrez is going to win the election in Ecuador. Next in line 
is the election in Uruguay, where it seems clear that Tabaré Vázquez 
will win. All this is creating a possibility, perhaps for the first 
time since Bolívar, of a Latin American articulation different from 
the one that has existed until now.

PW: What distinguishes this articulation you refer to?

MH: These governments - I refer to Venezuela and to Lula's in Brazil 
- are looking to apply a model that differs from the current 
neoliberal globalization. Their fundamental hope is to develop the 
domestic market, without denying that there are sectors of the 
economy that will remain part of the current globalization. With so 
much potential and with such a large market, they hope to produce for 
their people, and to establish regional accords, that will permit 
them to deal effectively with the present world situation, which is 
so complicated for our countries.

PW: As regards Latin America, where does your so complicated world 
situation lie?

MH: Today, the socialist camp that used to put the brakes on the 
United States' imperial cravings no longer exists. Today, only one 
imperial power will decide to wage war on Iraq because it clearly has 
military superiority. This is the world in which Latin America is 
moving today. Regardless, the neoliberal model has proved to be so 
incapable of satisfying the needs of our people that the people have 
rebelled and have elected candidates who represent the hope for a 
different world. People in Latin America reject a world that promotes 
wealth for a few and deepens the poverty of the majority.

PW: Do you think we are at a period of popular resistance?

MH: Yes. We're at a stage where the governments we have mentioned 
above will first try to brake the advance of neoliberalism, but we 
must understand that these are governments with limited programs; 
governments that cannot formulate a deep transformation from one day 
to the other. The first step is to create the conditions. As 
President Chávez says, we must build an international force that will 
allow us to create these alternative programs.

PW: How do you define the Latin American Left at this time?

MH: Well, you know that defining

PDVSA, Citgo, Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Copyright 2002 Financial Times Information
All rights reserved
Global News Wire
Copyright 2002 Business News Americas S.A
Business News Americas
December 11, 2002
LENGTH: 415 words
HEADLINE: GOVT. DELIVERS 6MN LITERS OF PETROL TO STAVE OFF SHORTAGES 
- VENEZUELA

BODY: (BNamericas.com) - Some six million liters of petrol were 
distributed to service stations in and around Venezuela's capital 
Caracas on Monday as the government of President Hugo Chavez fought 
to prevent the onset of serious fuel shortages, local daily El 
Nacional reported.

The fuel was successfully distributed despite sabotage attempts 
from a group of managers at state oil company PDVSA, the paper cited 
company president Ali Rodriguez Araque as saying.

The managers brought some refineries to a standstill and PDVSA fuel 
tankers joined the strike, preventing the departure by sea of 
important crude shipments to the US. We are facing the threat of the 
industry being paralyzed, but we have mechanisms to fight back and we 
are doing so, Rodriguez said, adding, the losses are very large.

If PDVSA does not fulfill its obligations, its creditors could demand 
the immediate payment of up to US $ 6bn in debts. It could also 
affect cash flow and the company's ability to pay workers' wages, 
Rodriguez said.

As a result of this threat, credit ratings agency Moody's has put the 
credit ratings of various securities linked to Venezuela's state oil 
company PDVSA on review for possible downgrade (see separate story).

The ability of the government to maintain fuel supplies and prevent 
the country from grinding to a halt seems now to be entering a 
critical phase. Local media reported that several service stations in 
Caracas closed after running out of gasoline, and there are long 
queues outside those remaining open as motorists begin panic buying.

The governor of the northeastern state of Lara, Luis Reyes Reyes, 
declared an energy emergency due to fuel supply problems, and in 
Zulia state 70% of the petrol pumps were closed Monday, El Nacional 
reported.

However, none of the refineries or service stations belonging to 
PDVSA's Citgo subsidiary in the US have been affected, government 
news agency Venpres said.

Some nine days into a general strike that organizers now say will be 
continued indefinitely, Venezuela appears to be slowly running out of 
fuel supplies - this despite having the world's largest proven oil 
reserves outside the Middle East.

With neither side seemingly prepared to back down, and the divisions 
and hostility more evident than ever, it is difficult to forecast 
just how matters will end, or just what the long-term effects will be 
on Venezuela's oil industry and society at large.

Business News Americas (BNamericas.com)
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Oil Falls as Venezuela Resumes Exports

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Oil Falls as Venezuela Resumes Exports
Wed December 11, 2002 03:18 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell from six-week highs on Wednesday 
as No. 5 world supplier Venezuela exported its first crude since a 
general strike paralyzed oil shipments.

Sharp gains in U.S. fuel inventories to feed winter heating needs 
further eased supply worries that on Tuesday pushed oil prices to 
their highest level since late October.

Traders kept a close eye on signals from OPEC ministers arriving for 
Thursday's meeting in Vienna, which will aim to tighten the Middle 
East-dominated cartel's adherence to formal output limits.

New York crude futures fell 34 cents, or 1 percent, to $27.40 a 
barrel, while Brent crude was 17 cents lower at $26.25 in London.

Prices fell as Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said a total of 
four oil tankers were loading or had completed loadings at ports 
across the country, defying a 10-day strike by foes of President Hugo 
Chavez that had stopped oil exports.

About 40 ships were still waiting at Venezuelan ports without 
instructions to load. Venezuela normally supplies around 13 percent 
of the U.S.'s daily oil import needs.

We've broken the blockade which was imposed upon us in the east in 
Zulia and we are dispatching oil to the whole world, Ramirez said, 
adding some of the cargoes were going to the United States.

State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA declared force majeure on 
the oil and product exports as tanker traffic ground to a halt.

Venezuelan crude oil production has in recent days been cut by 
two-thirds from November's level of about 3.1 million barrels per day 
(bpd).

STOCKS BUILD

Concern that the loss of Venezuelan deliveries could leave U.S. 
customers scrambling for supply eased as government figures on 
Wednesday showed a sharp rise in U.S. crude and refined product 
inventories last week.

Stocks of gasoline and distillates, including heating oil and diesel 
fuel, both rose by more than 3 million barrels in the week ended last 
Friday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Supplies swelled as refiners ran hard to meet strong demand during a 
period of abnormally cold weather in the eastern United States.

U.S. crude stocks also rose, by 1.4 million barrels, a second 
consecutive weekly increase, but they remain 23.5 million barrels 
below the level last year at this time, the EIA said.

Venezuela's strike will loom large during OPEC's Thursday meeting, 
with leading world exporter Saudi Arabia keen to restore output 
discipline to combat weakening oil demand as world economic growth 
slows.

Saudi Arabia is proposing to restore output discipline by eliminating 
overproduction and increasing formal supply targets, made irrelevant 
in recent months by chronic quota-busting.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries now appears 
more worried about a possible glut next year than the threat of the 
price spike that could come if the United States launches an assault 
on Iraq.

The West's energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, said on 
Wednesday accelerating Russian, U.S. and North Sea oil output growth 
give OPEC less room to raise supply next year, despite booming demand 
from China.

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNewsstoryID=1891260
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Middle-Class Armed in Venezuela

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

The Economist
June 29, 2002 U.S. Edition
SECTION: THE AMERICAS
HEADLINE: Middle-class and armed

BODY: IT WAS about an hour into the condominium association meeting, 
in a middle-class Caracas neighbourhood, before anyone broached the 
subject that was on everyone's mind. What happens if there are acts 
of vandalism, like in April, an elegantly dressed young woman asked 
the police officer who was addressing the meeting. You tell us to 
stay calm, but do you have any other advice? Ever since the coup 
attempt in mid-April that briefly ousted President Hugo Chavez, the 
better-off inhabitants of the Venezuelan capital have been growing 
increasingly nervous. An e-mail campaign is warning them that, if 
another military rebellion occurs, they can expect concerted, armed 
attacks on their homes by pro-Chavez mobs. In response, residents of 
many apartment buildings, and some whole neighbourhoods, have drawn 
up defence plans and taken stock of their weapons. Where I live, 
says a retired general, we've met several times to make plans. To 
decide where to place the rifles, where to place the small arms, 
who's going to use which weapon and what the angle of fire should be.

The middle-class districts of Caracas are sandwiched between slums at 
the eastern and western ends of the valley. In some cases, posh 
residential areas rub shoulders with barrios in which the rule of law 
is a joke, and where the police go in--if at all--in flak jackets and 
with guns drawn. These areas are among the chief bastions of 
government support. Before Mr Chavez was restored to power, in the 
early hours of April 14th, widespread looting took place, much of it 
seemingly organised by groups loyal to the president. Although their 
main targets were shops and supermarkets, some gun-toting Chavez 
supporters roared into the nicer streets on motorbikes, sparking 
panic.

Whatever the true nature of the threat, gun shops in wealthier 
districts are selling many more weapons and bullets these days. Most 
popular are shotguns, which are more practical for the non-expert and 
for which it is easier to get a firearms licence. One shop in the 
east of the city says June sales were up by 35%, although a good 
shotgun can cost up to $1,000.

A lawyer who acts as legal counsel to several neighbourhood 
associations says he has spoken to active-service generals who say 
they would send troops, even a tank, to defend their own and their 
neighbours' homes in an emergency. The police and the army will be 
too busy fighting among themselves, he says.

In the slums, too, people assume that armed conflict is coming and 
that the enemy is better prepared. I have a 24-inch TV, says the 
leader of one pro-Chavez community organisation in western Caracas, 
and if I can sell it to buy a pistol, I will. Both sides argue that 
the other has nothing to lose. The middle class is risking nothing, 
the community leader says. They hire people to fight and die for 
them.

Rumours of a coup, very loud in mid-June, have died down somewhat in 
recent days. But plans among military rebels to overthrow the 
government seem merely to be on hold. According to the retired 
general, the threat of armed conflict among civilians is one factor 
that might cause the armed forces to intervene. No one would question 
their right and duty to restore order; and restoring order might go 
as far as the presidential palace.

GRAPHIC: Watch out for granny, she's got you covered; Chavez may have 
the slums, but the nicer streets have their guns.
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html
* Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html
* Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/

Venezuela: Business leaders agree to general strike

[Sabri Oncu]

Business leaders agree to general strike to protest Chavez rule

The Associated Press
9/30/02 7:30 PM


CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's largest business
association said Monday it would organize a general strike
against the government of President Hugo Chavez, accusing the
leader of refusing to change the direction of his self-proclaimed
leftist revolution.

Fedecamaras President Carlos Fernandez said the organization
would decide on the date and duration of the strike within 30
days. The decision came after a two-hour assembly of business
chambers whose members control 90 percent of Venezuela's non-oil
production.

Fedecamaras accuses Chavez of steering Venezuela into recession
with poor economic planning and anti-business rhetoric. The
strike would be the third against Chavez's government. The last
one helped provoke the April 12-14 coup that briefly ousted the
president.

The Confederation of Venezuelan Workers, the country's largest
trade union, is also threatening a strike.

Opposition parties, labor unions and business leaders say they
will only meet with Chavez to discuss him stepping down before
his term ends in 2007.

Chavez says his policies are designed to reform a socially unjust
system that left 80 percent of Venezuelans in poverty -- even
though the country sits on the largest oil reserves in the
Western Hemisphere.

Venezuela

[Louis Proyect]

(Although many of us had high hopes that Venezuela could move forward 
through a mixed economy, it seems that once again we are witnessing what 
happens when a revolution stops short of transforming the mode of 
production. The local capitalist class--assisted by imperialism--will 
strangle any progressive initiative and alienate the popular classes from 
the government.)

NY Times, Sept. 24, 2002

Venezuela Economy Falters, Despite Abundant Oil
By JUAN FORERO

CARACAS, Venezuela — When Pasquale Iachini and Alfonso Marozzi arrived here 
from Italy half a century ago, they started small, buying an old Fiat truck 
to transport dirt and supplies. Venezuela boomed in the years that 
followed, and their company, Yamaro Construction, grew into a leading 
builder of bridges, highways and other public projects.

But now, the government of Hugo Chávez is pinched for cash, the economy is 
sliding fast and company officials are worried. Yamaro's payroll, once 
1,000 strong, is down to 400 workers, and three major road projects are at 
a standstill, casualties of nonpayment by the government.

The private sector is not investing, and the public sector has no capacity 
to do so, said Armando Iachini, 38, a son of the co-founder who helps run 
the company. There are projects we want to start, but we cannot get them 
going because of a lack of resources.

The outlook is not likely to improve anytime soon, economists say, as 
Venezuela is convulsed by the deepest and most troubling economic recession 
it has experienced in more than a decade.

The economic fortunes of oil-rich developing countries often soar and dive 
with swings in the price of crude, but this crisis in Venezuela is 
different: it comes when oil prices are high — now above $30 a barrel — and 
rising, and could shoot up further if the United States attacks Iraq.

What is destabilizing the economy here now is politics, not petroleum. The 
left-leaning Mr. Chávez, survivor of one coup already, is still struggling 
to keep at bay the big-business groups and old-line politicians who are 
bent on removing him from office.

Huge protests turned violent in April in the days surrounding the abortive 
coup; the upheaval claimed 18 lives. Mr. Chávez returned to power after two 
days, but his adversaries have not given up, and are now pressing for a 
referendum on the president's rule.

The turmoil has turned the economy bleak. It contracted by 7.1 percent in 
the first half of the year, according to government figures, including a 
drop of nearly 10 percent in the second quarter. Unemployment reached 16.2 
percent at the end of June, and inflation, which had been slowing for 
years, shot up again, to double last year's rate.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/business/worldbusiness/24VENE.html


Louis Proyect
www.marxmail.org

[Fwd: Venezuela and Argentina: A Tale of Two Coups]

[Bill Rosenberg]

Venezuela and Argentina:  A Tale of Two Coups

by Greg Palast
New Internationalist Magazine - July 2002

The big business-led coup in Venezuela failed, where international finance's coup in 
Argentina has succeeded. Greg Palast gives us the inside track on two very different 
power-grabs. 

**
Come see Greg Palast at Politics  Prose July 17 
or at
Border's July 18th at 7 PM
Details below 
**

Blondes in revolt 


On May Day, starting out from the Hilton Hotel, 200,000 blondes marched East through 
Caracas' shopping corridor along Casanova Avenue. At the same time, half a million 
brunettes converged on them from the West. It would all seem like a comic shampoo 
commercial if 16 people hadn't been shot dead two weeks earlier when the two groups 
crossed paths. 

The May Day brunettes support Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. They funnelled down 
from the ranchos, the pustules of crude red-brick bungalows, stacked one on the other, 
that erupt on the steep, unstable hillsides surrounding this city of five million. The 
bricks in some ranchos are new, a recent improvement in these fetid, impromptu slums 
where many previously sheltered behind cardboard walls. 'Chávez gives them bricks and 
milk,' a local TV reporter told me, 'and so they vote for him.' 

Chávez is dark and round as a cola nut. Like his followers, Chávez is an 'Indian'. But 
the blondes, the 'Spanish', are the owners of Venezuela. A  group near me on the 
blonde march screamed 'Out! Out!' in English,  demanding the removal of the President. 
One edible-oils executive, in high  heels, designer glasses and push-up bra had turned 
out, she said: 'To fight for democracy.' She added: 'We'll try to do it 
institutionally,' a phrase that meant nothing to me until a banker in pale pink 
lipstick explained  that to remove Chávez, 'we can't wait until the next election'. 

The anti-Chavistas don't equate democracy with voting. With 80 per cent of Venezuela's 
population at or below the poverty level, elections are not attractive to the 
protesting financiers. Chávez had won the election in  1998 with a crushing 58 per 
cent of the popular vote and that was unlikely  to change except at gunpoint. 

And so on 12 April the business leadership of Venezuela, backed by a few 'Spanish' 
generals, turned their guns on the Presidential Palace and  kidnapped Chávez. Pedro 
Carmona, the chief of Fedecamaras, the nation's confederation of business and 
industry, declared himself President. This  coup, one might say, was the ultimate in 
corporate lobbying. Within hours, he set about voiding the 49 Chávez laws that had so 
annoyed the captains of industry, executives of the foreign oil companies and 
latifundistas, the big plantation owners. 


The banker's embrace
 

Carmona had dressed himself in impressive ribbons and braids for the inauguration. In 
the Miraflores ballroom, filled with the Venezuelan élite, Ignazio Salvatierra, 
president of the Banker's Association, signed his name to Carmona's self-election with 
a grand flourish. The two hugged emotionally as the audience applauded.

Carmona then decreed the dissolution of his nation's congress and supreme court while 
the business peopled clapped and chanted, 'Democracia!  Democracia!' I later learned 
the Cardinal of Caracas had led Carmona into the Presidential Palace, a final 
Genet-esque touch to this delusional drama.  This fantasy would evaporate ?by the 
crowing of the cock,? as Chávez told me in his poetic way.

Chávez minister Miguel Bustamante-Madriz, who had escaped the coup, led 60,000 
brunettes down from Barrio Petare to Miraflores. As thousands marched against the 
coup, Caracas television stations, owned by media barons who supported (and possibly 
planned the coup) played soap operas.  The station owned hoped their lack of coverage 
would keep the Chavista crowd from swelling; but it doubled and doubled and doubled.  
On l3 April, they were ready to die for Chávez. 

They did not have to.  Carmona, fresh from his fantasy inaugural, received a call from 
the head of  a pro-Chávez paratroop regiment stationed in Maracay, outside the 
capital.  To avoid bloodshed, Chávez had agreed to his own 'arrest' and removal by the 
putschists, but did not mention to the plotters that several hundred loyal troops had 
entered secret corridors under the Palace. Carmona,  surrounded, could choose his 
method of death: bullets from the inside, rockets from above, or dismemberment by the 
encircling 'bricks and milk' crowd. Carmona took off his costume ribbons and 
surrendered. 


Taking on the oil giants 


I interviewed Carmona while I leaned out the fourth floor window of an  apartment in 
La Alombra, a high-rise building complex. I spoke my pidgin Spanish across to his 
balcony on the building a few yards away. The one-time petrochemical mogul was under 
house arrest - the lucky bastard. If  he had attempted to overthrow the President

Venezuela: Coup rumors again

[Sabri Oncu]

Venezuelan opposition plans new protests amid coup rumors.
AFP - June 7, 2002

CARACAS -- Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were
preparing a new protest against his rule Friday, amid rumors that
military elements are plotting a new coup to remove him from
power.

Opponents plan to demonstrate June 15 to demand Chavez's
resignation and an end to the politicization of the armed forces.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton charged government
opponents with floating rumors of another coup to create a
climate of instability.

They want to create an impression of instability and of the
imminent downfall of the legitimate government of Venezuela,
Chaderton said.

The Caracas daily El Universal published portions of what it said
were communiques in which military officers call for a
constitutional rebellion against Chavez.

Earlier in the week, opposition journalist Patricia Poleo, editor
of the daily Nuevo Pais, divulged the contents of a videotape of
hooded officers declaring that they would do whatever is
necessary to defend Venezuela's institutions and denouncing
Chavez as a leftist. The authenticity of the tape could not be
confirmed.

A week ago, a hooded man claiming to be an officer of the
National Guard made public statements against Chavez.

Rumors circulating by word of mouth have been reinforced by news
reports and handbills calling for an overthrow of the government.

Chaderton said well-financed groups were using the Internet to
foment subversion.

+++

Storm Clouds Again Forming Over Venezuela
7 June 2002

Summary

Multiple STRATFOR military and political sources in Caracas
report that Venezuela soon may experience another outbreak of
violence. This could result in a forced regime change, or it
could serve to consolidate President Hugo Chavez's so-called
Bolivarian Revolution. If the reports are accurate, the
violence likely will involve opposing elements of the armed
forces and Chavez's armed civilian militias, called the
Bolivarian Circles.

Analysis

Multiple military and political sources in Caracas, including
some within President Hugo Chavez's government, say another
outbreak of violence in Venezuela, on par with that seen in April
before the president's brief removal, is likely. Given the
elevated political tensions between the Chavez government and its
numerous (if uncoordinated) opponents, the possibility of a more
permanent ousting of Chavez could be wishful thinking by some of
these sources and exaggerated emotionalism by others.

However, if the consensus opinion STRATFOR has obtained in the
past two weeks is accurate, Venezuela could be on the verge of a
violent confrontation between the Chavez government and groups
seeking a change of regime by any means. The sources agree that
potentially violent actors in a conflict would include opposing
elements of the armed forces (FAN), National Guard and armed
members of the Bolivarian Circles -- civilian militia groups
financed and coordinated by the Chavez regime.

If violent confrontation eclipses efforts to negotiate a
political deal between Chavez and his opponents, there could be
two possible outcomes. On one hand, if a second military
rebellion fails to oust Chavez, he would finish ferreting out his
political and military foes and consolidate his regime's control
despite an economic crisis.

On the other hand, if a rebellion against Chavez were to succeed,
Venezuela's political instability likely would grow worse in the
near- to mid-term, making it almost impossible for any
post-Chavez transition regime to stabilize the economy. Moreover,
regardless of the outcome, Venezuela likely would continue to
suffer political instability, violence and economic stagnation
for several years.

The first scenario -- Chavez surviving a rebellion and
consolidating his power -- would be a geopolitical nightmare for
the United States, which is eyeing conflict in Colombia and
economic collapse in Argentina with growing concern. A new regime
without Chavez would be far less problematic in some respects for
the U.S. administration, although many international critics of
the United States likely would accuse the Bush administration yet
again of encouraging a forced regime change.

Defense Minister Lucas Rincon Romero, who will retire from the
military on Venezuela's July 5 independence day holiday, when the
president traditionally announces military promotions, insists
that the internal situation within the armed forces is stable and
controlled. The reality, however, is starkly different.

The command purge Chavez launched after barely surviving a
48-hour military rebellion on April 11-13 has intensified the
factionalism in the armed forces between those for and against
Chavez. This situation has been exacerbated by the rapidly
deteriorating economic conditions among military families, and
what appears to be a deliberate government strategy to dismantle
the FAN as an effective professional military institution.

On June 4

Richard Gott on Chavez and Venezuela

[Michael Pugliese]

http://www.versobooks.com/index.shtml
http://www.versobooks.com/books/ghij/gott_shadow_liberator.shtml
   
Bad Subjects...
the Liberator: Hugo Chavez and the ...
... Chavez and his crew are taking on the inequities in Venezuela?s system. 
With 80%
of the population living in poverty, that?s no small feat. Richard Gott?s ...
http://eserver.org/bs/reviews/2001-7-12-2.20PM.html - 9k - Cached - Similar 
pages

Rightist at CSIS...looks like a real ravathon so...
  
Volume VIII, Issue XVII

October 17, 2000

VENEZUELA ALERT
My Travels with Hugo
A Book Review of Richard Gott, In the Shadow of the Liberator: Hugo Chavez and 
the Transformation of Venezuela (London: Verso, 2000). 246 pages.

Scott B. MacDonald

Editor's Note: With this issue we inaugurate a new feature - an occasional
book review. These essays will highlight should-read publications about need 
to know subjects. Reader feedback is most welcome ([EMAIL PROTECTED]).



The Bolivarian World

On September 27-28th, 2000, Caracas hosted a summit for the leaders of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). While the OPEC meeting 
was taking place, international economic policy makers, including the G7 
industrial nations, met in Prague at the annual IMF/World Bank meetings. Anyone 
with an interest in how the post-Cold War order is shaping up should take note: 
two different organizations, two different venues, and two different 
objectives. While it would not be fair to characterize OPEC as an anti-Western, 
and in particular, an anti-U.S. organization, a number of OPEC members are 
hardly on close terms with Washington, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, and most 
recently, Venezuela. In fact, it is Venezuela's leader, President Hugo Chavez, 
who has sought to instill greater discipline within OPEC and make it more 
aggressive in terms of pricing. He is also using OPEC as a leveler of what he 
regards as a too powerful United States. Indeed, he has stated: The 20th 
century was a bipolar century, but the 21st is not going to be unipolar. The 
21st century should be multipolar, and we all ought to push for the development 
of such a world. So, long live a united Asia, a united Africa, a united 
Europe. That unity is, of course, against the United States.

Who is Hugo Chavez? As he himself has stated: Many people thought that if I 
became president it would mean the return of Hitler and Mussolini rolled into 
one. The imagined disaster has not taken place. Both Hitler and Mussolini were 
elected to office, but both turned their respective political systems upside 
down, ultimately becoming names associated with brutal totalitarianism. Some of 
Chavez's harshest critics have stated that he will eventually become like the 
mid-20th century dictators. His supporters claim that he will redress old 
wrongs in Venezuelan society and promote a new anti-U.S. order in Latin 
America.

Hugo Chavez is decidedly one of the more interesting and entertaining figures 
presently on the Latin American stage. A former coup leader and army lieutenant 
colonel, he was elected President of Venezuela in 1998. Since then, he has 
smashed the already dying, corrupt old order of Venezuelan politics; involved 
the people in the political process through a number of referendums; created a 
new constitution; and won re-election in 2000. Chavez's rise also signals a 
change in the international political structure in Latin America. While Mexico 
is becoming a key part of North America, and Brazil is quietly attempting to 
make itself felt as a leader for trade integration and democracy in South 
America, Chavez has opted to wave the revolutionary flag, rejecting 
globalization and banging the drum of old-time nationalism. He portrays U.S. 
political influence as overbearing and neo-liberal economics as a toxic waste- 
like northern export. He has developed new friendships with international 
statesmen of dubious reputation, in particular, Iraq's Saddam Hussein and 
Libya's Muammar Ghadafi, while being all aglow of his revolutionary mentor, 
Fidel Castro of Cuba. Moreover, he is seeking to re-ignite an old land dispute 
with neighboring Guyana, hardly a dagger ready to be thrust into the soft 
underbelly of Venezuela. He has also made known his sympathy for Colombia's 
Marxist-drug trafficking FARC guerrillas and called for a South American 
equivalent of NATO aimed at the United States.

As this charismatic and quirky character makes his march through history, it 
behooves us to know more. Is he an old-fashioned military dictator in the 
making, as his harshest critics maintain? Is he a well-intentioned Latin 
American populist, seeking to remold his country for the better? Or is he a 
would-be Fidel Castro, with a continent-wide ambition to dramatically counter- 
balance U.S. penetration in Latin America? Richard Gott, a veteran British 
journalist covering Latin America for The Guardian, has written the only book 
in English thus far on Hugo Chavez, In the Shadow

RE: dem. cent. Venezuela

[Devine, James]

 CB: When you use epigone to refer to Lenin's followers it seems to be a
negative epithet. 

I guess that negative connotation is part of the common usage. However, it
misses my point. My point was that democratic centralism is something
which doesn't have a totally clear meaning in Lenin, so that his followers
had to fill in the blanks. So that one talks about the Leninist idea of
democratic centralism, one is discussing the product of generations of
leftists. Given the varying interpretations, it's quite like that the
version discussed simply represents what the writer -- i.e., you -- is in
favor of _or_ what some other writer really hates. 

referring to my assertion that Lenin's concept involved ambiguity: CB: The
best way to discuss this issue is for you to bring here which parts of
Lenin's work you think are ambiguous.

I don't think so, since I do have to work some times. As I said before, the
ambiguity is indicated by the fact that the Leninist tradition has at
least two different interpretations for the concept of democratic
centralism.  Some even interpret the phrase as you do, not as referring to
internal party organization but to the relationship between the party and
the masses.

CB:I would say the comparison with the law is a good way to make the point
I am making.  A significant difference between the law and most other
academic subjects is that the law places  much more emphasis on the unity
between its theory and practice than most other academic social scientific
fields.

Ambiguity seems to be a normal empirical reality, something that the Law has
to deal with all the time. Academics sometimes revel in real-world
ambiguity, but far too often get into iron-clad certitude and _a priori_
reasoning. For example, there's the belief among many economists -- maybe
even a majority of them -- that the market is the best way to organize
society.

CB: The greater emphasis on practice is reflected in one of the specific
ways that the law deals with ambiguities. This is the subject of statutory
construction. If a party asserts that some statutory language is ambiguous,
the process is that the parties argue for one side of the ambiguity or the
other based on principles of statutory construction, and then the judge
decides. The result is always that the statute is interpreted as not
ambiguous, and to have the meaning of one side of the ambiguities or the
other.

The ambiguity of the law is due to the fact that it's impossible to write a
law that deals with all of the possible concrete real-world cases. This is
solved by using the subjective judgement of judges and juries. 

CB: ... Another legal concept can help here: presumptions. Presumptions are
basically being certain for now.  Unless evidence rebuts the presumption
it is presumed to be true (based on accumulated experience , i.e. it is a
posteriori, not a priori) and acted upon with certainty of its truth.  A
presumption allows action in the face of ambiguity.

This is what scientists call a working hypothesis (and in fact describes
all theories in the natural and social sciences, since scientific methods
don't allow for the final word ever being stated as immune to empirical,
logical, or methodological criticism). As mentioned, many academics go even
further, into being certain about the Truth and then becoming activists.
This can be seen in the way that the intellectual shock troops of the
neo-liberal policy revolution have been mostly academic economists. (The MF
springs to mind. However, many of these economists are outside of academia,
in positions of power at the US Treasury, the IMF, and the World Bank,
together constituting the vanguard party of neo-liberalism.)

BTW, I can see no reason why Lenin's work should be idolized. After all,
his main achievement in practice -- leading the Boshevik revolution -- was,
in the end, basically a failure. The failure wasn't totally his fault, of
course, but neither does he deserve all the credit for  revolution. (The
soviets workers, peasants, and soldiers had something to do with the
latter.)

 CB: In what sense do you mean failure here ? 

The failure can be seen by looking at the Bolshevik slogan of 1917, which
was pushed by Lenin: all power to the soviets, where at the time,
soviets referred to democratically-run councils of workers, peasants, and
soldiers. Over time, this morphed into something completely different, i.e.,
all power to the state and its monopoly ruler, the CPSU. Now, I can see
that the replacement of goals of popular democracy by those of national
economic development imposed from above makes a heck of a lot of sense for a
poor country that was dominated by outside forces and then invaded and
attacked by those forces. It sure looks in retrospect that Russia wasn't
ripe for a proletarian-democratic revolution in 1917, though this case
remains ambiguous. (If so, that means that the Mensheviks and Stalin were
right, against Lenin and Trotsky.) But in the end, even the program of

dem. cent. Venezuela

[Charles Brown]

 dem. cent.  Venezuela
by Devine, James
23 April 2002 21:06 UTC 


... Explaining why I described the idea of democratic centralism as coming
from the Marxist tradition rather than from Leninism, I wrote:  It's
from Lenin, but much of what's been written on democratic centralism comes
from his epigones (Stalinists, Trotskyists, etc.), who  are within the broad
tradition of Marxism.  A lot of it also came from Kautsky, from whom  Lenin
learned his stuff (see WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) 

 CB: Epigones are ? Are followers of Hal Draper his epigones ?

Of course, while being an epigone isn't always a bad thing. Some of Draper's
best work (his multi-volume book, KARL MARX'S THEORY OF REVOLUTION) is
totally epigonic, i.e., involving lots and lots of quotes from Marx. (In
fact, Draper tries to dig up _all_ quotes by Marx on any given subject.)

Note that I'm referring to the _idea_ (or ideal) of democratic centralism
here. The usual practice of democratic centralism, i.e., bureaucratic
centralism, has been practiced by governments and private corporations for
centuries. The basic idea of the Vatican's system of organization is
bureaucratic centralism.

^^^

CB: When you use epigone to refer to Lenin's followers it seems to be a negative 
epithet. 

^

I said: The phrase Leninist theory is quite ambiguous since it is a
contested theory (even more than Marxist theory), with Lenin's epigones
fighting over it. Even Lenin himself did not follow a consistent theory all
through his career (see, for example, Tony Cliff's multi-volume book on
Lenin [another bunch of epigonic quotes, BTW]). It's unclear that such a
dynamically changing vision can or should be distilled into an ism. 

CB: It wasn't so ambiguous to Lenin that it prevented him from taking
definite and effective action. This is a key principle of both Marx and
Lenin: not to get caught up in academic style ambiguities so as to fail to
unite theory with action. 

The ambiguities aren't academic: they can be found in Lenin's written work
itself. The problem is that the nature of the definite and effective
action that Lenin would have taken changed several times in his career, at
least given the way his position changed on paper. 

(BTW, I don't see why ambiguities are academic. Are you saying that the
law has no ambiguities?)



CB: The best way to discuss this issue is for you to bring here which parts of Lenin's 
work you think are ambiguous.

I would say the comparison with the law is a good way to make the point I am making.  
A significant difference between the law and most other academic subjects is that the 
law places much more emphasis on the unity between its theory and practice than most 
other academic social scientific fields. 

The greater emphasis on practice is reflected in one of the specific ways that the law 
deals with ambiguities. This is the subject of statutory construction. If a party 
asserts that some statutory language is ambiguous, the process is that the parties 
argue for one side of the ambiguity or the other based on principles of statutory 
construction, and then the judge decides. The result is always that the statute is 
interpreted as not ambiguous, and to have the meaning of one side of the ambiguities 
or the other.

The point is that when there is more emphasis on action and practice than in the 
typical academic situation, there is more emphasis on resolving ambiguities, because 
ambiguity paralyzes action.

Another legal concept can help here: presumptions.  Presumptions are basically being 
certain for now.  Unless evidence rebuts the presumption it is presumed to be true 
( based on accumulated experience , i.e. it is a posteriori, not a priori) and acted 
upon with certainty of its truth.  A presumption allows action in the face of 
ambiguity.

^^^

BTW, I can see no reason why Lenin's work should be idolized. After all, his
main achievement in practice -- leading the Boshevik revolution -- was, in
the end, basically a failure. The failure wasn't totally his fault, of
course, but neither does he deserve all the credit for revolution. (The
soviets workers, peasants, and soldiers had something to do with the
latter.)




CB: In what sense do you mean failure here ?  

Marx was also a failure , no ?  Why would Hal Draper spend so much time quoting Marx, 
when he was a failure ?

In fact, has there ever been a success in human history in the sense of the opposite 
of failure that you use it ?  Name a success in human history.

^

CB:Actually, compared with most other theories in this area, Lenin's is
relatively unambiguous.  And certainly in the spirit of Leninism, it would
be out of character to emphasize any ambiguities so as to reach the
conclusion that there is just too much uncertainty about Lenin's ideas and
theory that it cannot serve as a guide to our action.

so the spirit of Leninism (a contested phrase, one that could be
Stalinist, Trotskyist, or whatever) is to shelve all doubts

Re: dem. cent. Venezuela

[Michael Pugliese]

BTW, I can see no reason why Lenin's  work should be idolized. After all,  his
main achievement in practice --  leading the Boshevik revolution --  was, in
the end, basically a failure. The  failure wasn't totally his fault, of
course, but neither does he deserve  all the credit for revolution. (The
soviets workers, peasants, and  soldiers had something to do with  the
latter.)



CB: In what sense do you mean failure here ? 
~~
   Cf. Enrico Berlinguer in his speech to the Italian Commubist Party after the 
suppression of Solidarity in Poland in '82. This account below says it was the 
Afghan intervention. I read the report by Berlinguer in college. The Bertrand 
Russell Peace Foundation of Ken Coates (from Socialist Register) reprinted it.

 http://www.search.org.au/news/sovunion1.htm
...he major break with the CPSU occurred after the 1979 invasion of 
Afghanistan. In 1982 Berlinguer declared that the October revolution had 
exhausted its propulsive force. Until this period, Soviet subsidies continued 
to go to the PCI. In 1972 it was over US$5m, in 1976, it was US$6.5m. From the 
early 1980s subsidies were channelled to the pro-Soviet wing led by Cossutta, 
partly to finance the pro-Soviet newspaper Paese Sera.

4/24/02 11:00:43 AM, Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 dem. cent.  Venezuela
by Devine, James
23 April 2002 21:06 UTC 


... Explaining why I described the idea of democratic centralism as coming
from the Marxist tradition rather than from Leninism, I wrote:  It's
from Lenin, but much of what's been written on democratic centralism comes
from his epigones (Stalinists, Trotskyists, etc.), who  are within the broad
tradition of Marxism.  A lot of it also came from Kautsky, from whom  Lenin
learned his stuff (see WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) 

 CB: Epigones are ? Are followers of Hal Draper his epigones ?

Of course, while being an epigone isn't always a bad thing. Some of Draper's
best work (his multi-volume book, KARL MARX'S THEORY OF REVOLUTION) is
totally epigonic, i.e., involving lots and lots of quotes from Marx. (In
fact, Draper tries to dig up _all_ quotes by Marx on any given subject.)

Note that I'm referring to the _idea_ (or ideal) of democratic centralism
here. The usual practice of democratic centralism, i.e., bureaucratic
centralism, has been practiced by governments and private corporations for
centuries. The basic idea of the Vatican's system of organization is
bureaucratic centralism.

^^^

CB: When you use epigone to refer to Lenin's followers it seems to be a 
negative epithet. 

^

I said: The phrase Leninist theory is quite ambiguous since it is a
contested theory (even more than Marxist theory), with Lenin's epigones
fighting over it. Even Lenin himself did not follow a consistent theory all
through his career (see, for example, Tony Cliff's multi-volume book on
Lenin [another bunch of epigonic quotes, BTW]). It's unclear that such a
dynamically changing vision can or should be distilled into an ism. 

CB: It wasn't so ambiguous to Lenin that it prevented him from taking
definite and effective action. This is a key principle of both Marx and
Lenin: not to get caught up in academic style ambiguities so as to fail to
unite theory with action. 

The ambiguities aren't academic: they can be found in Lenin's written work
itself. The problem is that the nature of the definite and effective
action that Lenin would have taken changed several times in his career, at
least given the way his position changed on paper. 

(BTW, I don't see why ambiguities are academic. Are you saying that the
law has no ambiguities?)



CB: The best way to discuss this issue is for you to bring here which parts of 
Lenin's work you think are ambiguous.

I would say the comparison with the law is a good way to make the point I am 
making.  A significant difference between the law and most other academic 
subjects is that the law places much more emphasis on the unity between its 
theory and practice than most other academic social scientific fields. 

The greater emphasis on practice is reflected in one of the specific ways that 
the law deals with ambiguities. This is the subject of statutory construction. 
If a party asserts that some statutory language is ambiguous, the process is 
that the parties argue for one side of the ambiguity or the other based on 
principles of statutory construction, and then the judge decides. The result is 
always that the statute is interpreted as not ambiguous, and to have the 
meaning of one side of the ambiguities or the other.

The point is that when there is more emphasis on action and practice than in 
the typical academic situation, there is more emphasis on resolving 
ambiguities, because ambiguity paralyzes action.

Another legal concept can help here: presumptions.  Presumptions are basically 
being certain for now.  Unless evidence rebuts the presumption

Re: Re: dem. cent. Venezuela

[Michael Pugliese]

   Good post! For once, I see (some) wisdom on CB's side. Thouigh, politically, 
I'm with Jim. Anyway. Will google after work for, Bolivarian Circles. (I work  
from  1-9 p.m. lousy hrs...)
   For now, go to http://www.pww.org for a recent article on Chavez and the 
Venuelan CP. He spoke to their convention recently. And, read (like I haven't!) 
the Richard Gott book on Chavez from Verso.
Michael Pugliese

4/24/02 11:00:43 AM, Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 dem. cent.  Venezuela
by Devine, James
23 April 2002 21:06 UTC 


... Explaining why I described the idea of democratic centralism as coming
from the Marxist tradition rather than from Leninism, I wrote:  It's
from Lenin, but much of what's been written on democratic centralism comes
from his epigones (Stalinists, Trotskyists, etc.), who  are within the broad
tradition of Marxism.  A lot of it also came from Kautsky, from whom  Lenin
learned his stuff (see WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) 

 CB: Epigones are ? Are followers of Hal Draper his epigones ?

Of course, while being an epigone isn't always a bad thing. Some of Draper's
best work (his multi-volume book, KARL MARX'S THEORY OF REVOLUTION) is
totally epigonic, i.e., involving lots and lots of quotes from Marx. (In
fact, Draper tries to dig up _all_ quotes by Marx on any given subject.)

Note that I'm referring to the _idea_ (or ideal) of democratic centralism
here. The usual practice of democratic centralism, i.e., bureaucratic
centralism, has been practiced by governments and private corporations for
centuries. The basic idea of the Vatican's system of organization is
bureaucratic centralism.

^^^

CB: When you use epigone to refer to Lenin's followers it seems to be a 
negative epithet. 

^

I said: The phrase Leninist theory is quite ambiguous since it is a
contested theory (even more than Marxist theory), with Lenin's epigones
fighting over it. Even Lenin himself did not follow a consistent theory all
through his career (see, for example, Tony Cliff's multi-volume book on
Lenin [another bunch of epigonic quotes, BTW]). It's unclear that such a
dynamically changing vision can or should be distilled into an ism. 

CB: It wasn't so ambiguous to Lenin that it prevented him from taking
definite and effective action. This is a key principle of both Marx and
Lenin: not to get caught up in academic style ambiguities so as to fail to
unite theory with action. 

The ambiguities aren't academic: they can be found in Lenin's written work
itself. The problem is that the nature of the definite and effective
action that Lenin would have taken changed several times in his career, at
least given the way his position changed on paper. 

(BTW, I don't see why ambiguities are academic. Are you saying that the
law has no ambiguities?)



CB: The best way to discuss this issue is for you to bring here which parts of 
Lenin's work you think are ambiguous.

I would say the comparison with the law is a good way to make the point I am 
making.  A significant difference between the law and most other academic 
subjects is that the law places much more emphasis on the unity between its 
theory and practice than most other academic social scientific fields. 

The greater emphasis on practice is reflected in one of the specific ways that 
the law deals with ambiguities. This is the subject of statutory construction. 
If a party asserts that some statutory language is ambiguous, the process is 
that the parties argue for one side of the ambiguity or the other based on 
principles of statutory construction, and then the judge decides. The result is 
always that the statute is interpreted as not ambiguous, and to have the 
meaning of one side of the ambiguities or the other.

The point is that when there is more emphasis on action and practice than in 
the typical academic situation, there is more emphasis on resolving 
ambiguities, because ambiguity paralyzes action.

Another legal concept can help here: presumptions.  Presumptions are basically 
being certain for now.  Unless evidence rebuts the presumption it is 
presumed to be true ( based on accumulated experience , i.e. it is a 
posteriori, not a priori) and acted upon with certainty of its truth.  A 
presumption allows action in the face of ambiguity.

^^^

BTW, I can see no reason why Lenin's work should be idolized. After all, his
main achievement in practice -- leading the Boshevik revolution -- was, in
the end, basically a failure. The failure wasn't totally his fault, of
course, but neither does he deserve all the credit for revolution. (The
soviets workers, peasants, and soldiers had something to do with the
latter.)




CB: In what sense do you mean failure here ?  

Marx was also a failure , no ?  Why would Hal Draper spend so much time 
quoting Marx, when he was a failure ?

In fact, has there ever been a success in human history in the sense of the 
opposite of failure that you use it ?  Name a success in human history

RE: dem. cent. Venezuela

[Devine, James]

 to make Marx wince. Remember that during his own
lifetime, he rejected the idea of Marxism, by saying he wasn't a
Marxist.

I wrote:Democratic centralism has always referred to a mode of party
organization, not to a mode of analysis. You can stretch the meaning of this
phrase if you want to (as academics so often do), but it makes it incoherent
to me and to most other people.

CB: A key thing about the Party and party democracy (the democratic in
democratic centralism) is that it be closely connected with the masses. You
can't be democratic if you are  not connected to the masses. The
democratic in democratic centralism must be the extensive connections
between the masses and its leaders in the Party.

It's incoherent to you because you have an idea that practictioners of it
have not been connected to the masses. If you don't get the emphasis on
connection between the party and the masses, then you don't understand the
democratic  in democratic centralist theory.

It's true that the measing of words is typically pretty arbitrary. So if you
want to use the word democratic in that way, we're talking about two
completely different things. (I was talking about democracy within the
party, whereas you're talking about a party's relationship with the
masses.) 

I wrote: I didn't say politically unconcious. In fact, I put the word
spontaneity in quotes for a reason, because spontaneity is a vague and
confusing concept. Rather, what I was saying was that much of the opposition
to the coup came _from below_ (based on the short- and long-term  class and
national interests of those participating) rather than being orchestrated by
the  Bolivarist or any other organization. 
 
 CB: You assume the Party is above the masses.

Most self-styled democratic centralist parties _see themselves_ in this
way. This is the tradition of the Kautsky-Lenin story in WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
in which socialist consciousness among the masses must come from above
or from the outside from the intellectuals of the Party. I haven't seen
very many Leninist parties that hope to learn from the masses (or to
treat them as peers) or emphasize the importance of  democratic
self-organization by the masses. (Some Trotskyist parties go with the
latter.) 

CB:If the Party is with the masses then it participates in the movement
from below.  However, the point on consciousness is that the events of
April 13 most likely did not happen without preparation of the consciousness
of the masses by its political leaders in the Bolivarian movement. This is
precisely conscious revolt and not spontaneous in the senses that Lenin
discusses the issue in _What is to be done ?_  We already have prior
information about this issue of raising mass consciousness in Venezuela from
the repeated landslide election victories of the Bolivarian movement. The
brilliant actions of the masses in reversing the coup were the result  of
this ongoing process of consciousness raising, no doubt, probably very
unspontaneous. The whole situation bespeaks a very democratic centralist
relationship between massses and leaders.

I would like to hear more information about this.

gotta go...

JD

US involvement in Venezuela Coup

[Ken Hanly]

Venezuela coup linked to Bush team

Specialists in the 'dirty wars' of the Eighties encouraged the plotters who
tried to topple President Chavez

Observer Worldview

Ed Vulliamy in New York
Sunday April 21, 2002
The Observer

The failed coup in Venezuela was closely tied to senior officials in the US
government, The Observer has established. They have long histories in the
'dirty wars' of the 1980s, and links to death squads working in Central
America at that time.
Washington's involvement in the turbulent events that briefly removed
left-wing leader Hugo Chavez from power last weekend resurrects fears about
US ambitions in the hemisphere.

It also also deepens doubts about policy in the region being made by
appointees to the Bush administration, all of whom owe their careers to
serving in the dirty wars under President Reagan.

One of them, Elliot Abrams, who gave a nod to the attempted Venezuelan coup,
has a conviction for misleading Congress over the infamous Iran-Contra
affair.

The Bush administration has tried to distance itself from the coup. It
immediately endorsed the new government under businessman Pedro Carmona. But
the coup was sent dramatically into reverse after 48 hours.

Now officials at the Organisation of American States and other diplomatic
sources, talking to The Observer, assert that the US administration was not
only aware the coup was about to take place, but had sanctioned it,
presuming it to be destined for success.

The visits by Venezuelans plotting a coup, including Carmona himself, began,
say sources, 'several months ago', and continued until weeks before the
putsch last weekend. The visitors were received at the White House by the
man President George Bush tasked to be his key policy-maker for Latin
America, Otto Reich.

Reich is a right-wing Cuban-American who, under Reagan, ran the Office for
Public Diplomacy. It reported in theory to the State Department, but Reich
was shown by congressional investigations to report directly to Reagan's
National Security Aide, Colonel Oliver North, in the White House.

North was convicted and shamed for his role in Iran-Contra, whereby arms
bought by busting US sanctions on Iran were sold to the Contra guerrillas
and death squads, in revolt against the Marxist government in Nicaragua.

Reich also has close ties to Venezuela, having been made ambassador to
Caracas in 1986. His appointment was contested both by Democrats in
Washington and political leaders in the Latin American country. The
objections were overridden as Venezuela sought access to the US oil market.

Reich is said by OAS sources to have had 'a number of meetings with Carmona
and other leaders of the coup' over several months. The coup was discussed
in some detail, right down to its timing and chances of success, which were
deemed to be excellent.

On the day Carmona claimed power, Reich summoned ambassadors from Latin
America and the Caribbean to his office. He said the removal of Chavez was
not a rupture of democra tic rule, as he had resigned and was 'responsible
for his fate'. He said the US would support the Carmona government.

But the crucial figure around the coup was Abrams, who operates in the White
House as senior director of the National Security Council for 'democracy,
human rights and international opera tions'. He was a leading theoretician
of the school known as 'Hemispherism', which put a priority on combating
Marxism in the Americas.

It led to the coup in Chile in 1973, and the sponsorship of regimes and
death squads that followed it in Argentina, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala
and elsewhere. During the Contras' rampage in Nicaragua, he worked directly
to North.

Congressional investigations found Abrams had harvested illegal funding for
the rebellion. Convicted for withholding information from the inquiry, he
was pardoned by George Bush senior.

A third member of the Latin American triangle in US policy-making is John
Negroponte, now ambassador to the United Nations. He was Reagan's ambassador
to Honduras from 1981 to 1985 when a US-trained death squad, Battalion 3-16,
tortured and murdered scores of activists. A diplomatic source said
Negroponte had been 'informed that there might be some movement in Venezuela
on Chavez' at the beginning of the year.

More than 100 people died in events before and after the coup. In Caracas on
Friday a military judge confined five high-ranking officers to indefinite
house arrest pending formal charges of rebellion.

Chavez's chief ideologue - Guillermo Garcia Ponce, director of the
Revolutionary Political Command - said dissident generals, local media and
anti-Chavez groups in the US had plotted the president's removal.

'The most reactionary sectors in the United States were also implicated in
the conspiracy,' he said.

Socialist Embodied Realism was tactics in Venezuela

[Doyle Saylor]

Greetings Economists,

Charles Brown posed an indirect question about email?

US foreign investment / tactics in Venezuela
by Charles Brown
18 April 2002 20:17 UTC
[PEN-L:25124]

Charles
Maybe there is a challenge as to whether it (Social Revolution - Doyle)
will 
be on email. 

Doyle 
I want to look at this point.  The basic idea contained in press reports
about Venezuela that TV stations broadcast a distorted view of Chavez, and
that the people using cell phones came together into a mass to successfully
reverse the coup.  In other words the suggestion is that telephone
communications were able to over come the bias of motion picture media in
organizing a national response to the anti Chavez coup attempt.  Can we
really say anything about that contention in the press that telephones
decided the process over TV?  In particular addressing Charles query, how
might email contribute to such a mass response in some region of the world.
I would suggest these elements, first, understand what might be different
between telephone and television communications, two briefly look at
collaboration techniques with email or other related internet technologies,
three look at the statistics that underlie information production, four
points at what would be useful to the working class movement.

One 

Motion pictures, television viewing are passive experiences.  A telephone
call is active in the sense we talk to each other (hopefully).  Telephone
conversation are interactive.  Therefore the product of calls is going to
contain information shaped by different uses of the information, passive,
and active and have different forms of the data.  An individual conversing
(interacting with) can listen to someone else and integrate those thoughts
into their mind, and respond to those thoughts.  A television viewer cannot
easily (especially the poor masses) take movies and exchange them with the
television audience to whom they might want to speak.

Therefore we can suggest that the forms of labor produced by television and
telephones bring into being different end products.  With telephone
conversations the end product on both sides is an interactive unit of
communication.  With Television the product lacks an interactive component
coming from the viewer.  In the case of Venezuela, the broadcast clearly
were against Chavez.  The viewer might reasonably presume that since they
can't talk back to the TV broadcaster and audience that their thoughts would
have little affect upon the social system in Venezuela.  The mass TV
audience though lacking reports on television from the other side supporting
Chavez, also did not change poor people's minds, and through talking to each
other their sense of betrayal quickly coalesced into action together on the
streets. 

Two 

We could use this list as an example of how collaboration works with email.
People see a pool of emails popping up during a calendar day.  Various
people write in to each other about their thoughts.  The emails get stored
in an archive.  We can use the typical email thought in an historical sense
or referring to previously published thoughts.  We can access this as often
as making a phone call.

Collaboration in business settings also includes working on a document
together, which we don't see on this list for the most part though there are
forms of using each others work through linking and quoting.  Collaboration
in business requires versioning information to avoid the confusion various
similar documents might present.  Collaboration entails the ability in real
time to work on the same document together.  The use of workflow for review
and permissions around common goals are requirements for teams working on
common projects.  Templates to enforce standard practices are often used in
large Enterprises.  For example a template might use fields that have to be
filled out with metadata.  Then the documents once archived can be used
quickly and efficiently.

Three 

Per hour television broadcasts produce 2.25 Giga Bytes of data.  In the U.S.
television broadcast equals about 4470 terabytes per year in 1999.  US voice
telephone traffic per month is 48,000 terabytes per month in 1999.  Voice
traffic is much higher than television data traffic!  One wonders if the
disparity in the U.S. is related to the one way nature of television.
Motion pictures accounted for $20.8 billion of the gross domesticate product
for 1993 which had 6642.3 billion total GDP.   Telephone and Telegraph
produced $139 billion GDP in 1993.  Radio and TV combined were $39.6 billion
GDP in 1993.   Radio, Television, and movies combined were about half the
product of voice telephone!  And in the last decade talk radio was extremely
fast growing.  That being a hybrid of interactive and passive
communications.

While the volume of interactive data traffic is much higher than passively
received movie, television, and radio traffic, we can't say that
interactivity is the deciding factor for the higher volume

US foreign investment / tactics in Venezuela

[Charles Brown]

 US foreign investment / tactics in Venezuela
by Doyle Saylor
18 April 2002 02:01 UTC  

-clip-

Documents that are produced need to be accessible to people via more
reliable attention to search engines.  I am thinking of an anecdote of
Venezuela that the press recently reported.  According to press accounts the
television stations maintained a blackout and biased reporting against
Chavez, but that ordinary people using cell phones were able to get the word
out anyway.  We need to use the 'interactive' tools that the whole left can
use to our advantage.  Interactive here meaning collaboration technology.

To me then applying the example of cellphones to collaboration here I think
important work needs to be done in teamwork for online left lists.  The sort
of one line irritation of antagonists needs to be replaced by common
collective work that takes advantage of principles of computing that serves
our brain work best.

^^^

CB: I saw that reported too. The revolution may not be televised, but it may be on the 
radio and cellphones.  Maybe there is a challenge as to whether it will be on email.

Re: US foreign investment / tactics in Venezuela

[ALI KADRI]

SEE
   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 
 
 Year 7, Nº 15 / Monday, April 15, 2002 
 
 
   
  International trade missions, trade shows and forums
on promoting business opportunities and investment,
continue to be viable official policy options for
conveying relevant data to economic players, with a
view to trying business schemes in any country. Such
activities facilitate the decision making process in
connection with the development of private efforts, as
they bring investors and policymakers, trade financing
entities and country experts, closer together. These
efforts basically reflect the features of the
investor targeting technique as pertains to the
investment promotion element. This technique follows a
classification of specific actions for promoting
investment, together with support services for the
establishment and post-establishment of investments,
which are highly valued among investors. In practice,
it is a highly effective policy for attracting
investments to specific industries with a competitive
potential, or to address specific development needs in
every country. Recently CONAPRI gave its support to
and took part in a trade mission to San José (Costa
Rica), in an effort organized jointly by the Foreign
Ministry and BANCOEX. Several Venezuelan entrepreneurs
exchanged views with their Costa Rican colleagues and
explored business opportunities, joint-investments and
direct foreign investment schemes in each country.
This is a highly specific effort that evidences our
strong interaction with public sector entities. 
 
 

  
 The NA to investigate the April 11 Events 
 Federal Legislative Council to be created 
 Armed Forces to see Changes 
 
 Chávez is back after Thursday Events 
 CTV to analyze upcoming Union Moves 
 OAS: Events in Venezuela not to be repeated 
 
 OPEC advised to increase Production 
 Venezuelan Crisis drives Oil Prices up 
 Oil Supply guaranteed 
 PDVSA Board resigns en Masse 
 The VP and PDVSA Senior Managers meet 
  
 
 

Trends in Foreign Direct Investment
Accepting an invitation from the Export and Investment
Promotion Corporation of Ecuador (CORPEI), CONAPRI
took part in a regional workshop on Management of
Events for the Tourism Sector on April 9, 10, and 11
in Guayaquil-Ecuador. This report presents some of the
trends in foreign direct investment, along with the
comments on how to attract investments by one of the
key speakers, Arvind Mayaram, director-general of
tourism, art and culture of the Indian state of
Rajasthan and member of the World Association of
Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA). 
 
 
 
 

If not interested in this e-publication anymore,
please click on cancel delivery. 
  

--- Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
  US foreign investment / tactics in Venezuela
 by Doyle Saylor
 18 April 2002 02:01 UTC  
 
 -clip-
 
 Documents that are produced need to be accessible to
 people via more
 reliable attention to search engines.  I am thinking
 of an anecdote of
 Venezuela that the press recently reported. 
 According to press accounts the
 television stations maintained a blackout and biased
 reporting against
 Chavez, but that ordinary people using cell phones
 were able to get the word
 out anyway.  We need to use the 'interactive' tools
 that the whole left can
 use to our advantage.  Interactive here meaning
 collaboration technology.
 
 To me then applying the example of cellphones to
 collaboration here I think
 important work needs to be done in teamwork for
 online left lists.  The sort
 of one line irritation of antagonists needs to be
 replaced by common
 collective work that takes advantage of principles
 of computing that serves
 our brain work best.
 
 ^^^
 
 CB: I saw that reported too. The revolution may not
 be televised, but it may be on the radio and
 cellphones.  Maybe there is a challenge as to
 whether it will be on email.
 


__
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax
http://taxes.yahoo.com/

Venezuela coup

[miychi]

On 2002/04/16 11:02 PM, Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:

 Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
 by miychi
 15 April 2002 21:34 UTC
 
 
 
 1.Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
 
 
 
 
 Charles: As Lenin was a dialectician, we can be sure that these opposites are
 to be treated in both their unity and opposition, as you do below. Basically
 it is a way of relating the masses and their leaders for struggle and for long
 term operation of the country.
 
 ^^^
 
 a correct reading of Lenin $B!G (Js work makes clear that Lenin never made a
 binary scheme of democracy and centralism. Lenin speaks about centralization
 of leadership by the party, decentralization of responsibility to the local
 sections, and obligation of regular reporting and publicizing within the
 party as condition to realize them, and centralization of secret function
 and specification other functions of movement. as for democracy-inner-party
 democracy, he regards it as a condition to realize centralization of
 leadership and decentralization of responsibility to local sections, in
 other words, as a historical concrete or a variable form.
 
 
 ^^^
 
 CB: Definitely, democratic centralism is to be treated in a historically
 concrete manner. Thus, the unity of democracy and centralism in the Venezuelan
 Bolivarian movement is unique.
 
 
 What do you think of the operation of the principle of democratic centralism
 in Venezuela as we have learned of the events there ?
 
 ^comrade Charles Brown^^

 I don't know details of Venezuela coup and counter-coup, and character and
evaluation of coup and counter-coup is still unclear. There are some
explanation that it is conspiracy of CIA or OAS ^or as Chavez says that it
is media conspiracy ,not military. But it is clear that non-party mass
demonstration facilitated counter-coup.
In 1917, anti-war and anti-hunger mass demonstration happened in August,
when Lenin did not consider or decide uprising. When mass demonstration
mount to reach its top,and begin to build Soviet Lenin returned to Russia
and decide uprising finally. And military part of party(lead by Trotsky)
occupied Winter Palace, and information sector. Most important is that in
August demonstration, mass claimed revolution and built Soviet. Historically
speaking non-party mass movement often go
ahead of party action or program. This is historical truth.^
Probably similar situation happened in Venezuela.
In sum, party and mass movement dialectically intensify each other and in
decisive moment small selected member of party and non-party citizen attack
central part of power.
 
 MIYACHI TATSUO
Psychiatric Department
Komaki municipal hosipital
1-20.JOHBUHSHI
KOMAKI CITY
AICHI PREF.
486-0044
TEL:0568-76-4131
FAX 0568-76-4145
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 

dem. cent. Venezuela

[Devine, James]

[was: RE: [PEN-L:24983] Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)]

I wrote: In leftist theory, democratic centralism refers to the
organization of the  revolutionary political party. The theory says that
when a party's membership decides on a policy (a line, a program) it is
binding on members of that party, including its leadership. Though they may
disagree with it at party forums, they should not do so openly, when
non-party people are  around. 
 
CB:By and large, we can be more specific than leftist theory , and
attribute democratic centralism to Leninist theory.  

It's from Lenin, but much of what's been written on democratic centralism
comes from his epigones (Stalinists, Trotskyists, etc.), who are within the
broad tradition of Marxism.  A lot of it also came from Kautsky, from whom
Lenin learned his stuff (see WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) 

The phrase Leninist theory is quite ambiguous since it is a contested
theory (even more than Marxist theory), with Lenin's epigones fighting over
it. Even Lenin himself did not follow a consistent theory all through his
career (see, for example, Tony Cliff's multi-volume book on Lenin). It's
unclear that such a dynamically changing vision can or should be distilled
into an ism. 

In retrospect, it was a major mistake by 20th century revolutionary leftists
to attach too much prestige to any single individual, including Lenin. (It
was probably a mistake to do this to Marx, too. The poor old guy must roll
in his grave every time his name is invoked.) 
 
CB: On the other hand, Lenin's theory of democratic centralism can be
generalized beyond the specific Bolshevik situation as a way of analyzing
and organizing the relationship between the working class masses and its
leadership whereever the class struggle is hot, as in Venezuela.

Democratic centralism has always referred to a mode of party organization,
not to a mode of analysis. You can stretch the meaning of this phrase if you
want to (as academics so often do), but it makes it incoherent to me and to
most other people.

Though there are likely organizations in Venezuela that are organized in a
democratic centralist way, the mass demonstrations in favor of Chavez
don't fit that description unless they are simply as part of a party. It
looks to me instead that there's a lot of spontaneity going on. That is,
people were demonstrating in favor of Chavez because they liked him, not
because they belonged to a party-type organization. The Bolivarist
organization did not simply orchestrate the anti-coup movements. (Of course,
if my facts are wrong, I'd like to be told.)

CB: It is highly unlikely that the response of the overwhelming numbers of
workers and of the soldiers who remained loyal to Chavez was essentially
spontaneous. It evidenced a high level of consciousness.

I didn't say politically unconcious. In fact, I put the word spontaneity
in quotes for a reason, because spontaneity is a vague and confusing
concept. Rather, what I was saying was that much of the opposition to the
coup came _from below_ (based on the short- and long-term class and national
interests of those participating) rather than being orchestrated by the
Bolivarist or any other organization. 

CB:The organization of the Bolivarists in the poor neighborhoods has been
reported for years before these events. This is most likely precisely an
example of CONSCIOUS , emergency struggle by masses led by a party as Lenin
discusses it in _What is to be done ?_, as opposed to spontaneous struggles
such as rebellions/riots in U.S. cities over the last 40 years, and the
consciousness demonstrated by the workers and soldiers is most likely the
result of prior party work and democratic centralist methods.

It's important to remember that the Bolivarist movement did not spring
full-blown from the head of Chavez. It also is part of the movement _from
below_ mentioned above and discussed below. It did do a lot of organizing
work. But we should also remember that most Latin American countries have
not undergone the kind of sometimes-deliberate atomization that the U.S.
African-American community has. (Here in L.A., it seems that wherever there
was a prosperous middle-class black neighborhood, a freeway would be built
or there'd be urban renewal of some other sort.) That is, there were
strong kinship, religious, and community networks that existed before the
Bolivarists came along. 

 BTW, in practice, most democratic centralist organizations end up not
being democratic. The rank and file end up being manipulated by the central
committee or its leader, i.e., end up being passive followers  rather than
active, democratic, participants.   

 CB:  Most ? Do you have stats on this ?This is a  standard anti-democratic
centralist claim and opinion. 

it is also an accurate description of the vast majority of so-called
Leninist (Stalinist and Trotskyist) party organizations _in practice_ -- and
also applies to social democratic and a lot of other types of political
groups.

No I

dem. cent. Venezuela

[Charles Brown]

 dem. cent.  Venezuela
by Devine, James
16 April 2002 18:33 UTC
Thread Index


[was: RE: [PEN-L:24983] Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)]

I wrote: In leftist theory, democratic centralism refers to the
organization of the  revolutionary political party. The theory says that
when a party's membership decides on a policy (a line, a program) it is
binding on members of that party, including its leadership. Though they may
disagree with it at party forums, they should not do so openly, when
non-party people are  around. 
 
CB:By and large, we can be more specific than leftist theory , and
attribute democratic centralism to Leninist theory.  

It's from Lenin, but much of what's been written on democratic centralism
comes from his epigones (Stalinists, Trotskyists, etc.), who are within the
broad tradition of Marxism.  A lot of it also came from Kautsky, from whom
Lenin learned his stuff (see WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) 



CB: Epigones are ? Are followers of Hal Draper his epigones ?


^



The phrase Leninist theory is quite ambiguous since it is a contested
theory (even more than Marxist theory), with Lenin's epigones fighting over
it. Even Lenin himself did not follow a consistent theory all through his
career (see, for example, Tony Cliff's multi-volume book on Lenin). It's
unclear that such a dynamically changing vision can or should be distilled
into an ism. 



CB: It wasn't so ambiguous to Lenin that it prevented him from taking definite and 
effective action. This is a key principle of both Marx and Lenin: not to get caught up 
in academic style ambiguities so as to fail to unite theory with action. 

Actually, compared with most other theories in this area, Lenin's is relatively 
unambiguous.  And certainly in the spirit of Leninism, it would be out of character to 
emphasize any ambiguities so as to reach the conclusion that there is just too much 
uncertainty about Lenin's ideas and theory that it cannot serve as a guide to our 
action.

The development in Lenin's thinking might be your overlooking that he is very 
concrete, so as things develop , he develops. 








In retrospect, it was a major mistake by 20th century revolutionary leftists
to attach too much prestige to any single individual, including Lenin. (It
was probably a mistake to do this to Marx, too. The poor old guy must roll
in his grave every time his name is invoked.) 


^

CB: I don't see any proof put forth here to support the proposition that Lenin 
shouldn't have the prestige he has.

  I very much doubt that Marx would be upset that he has had so much influence after 
his death if he could know it. He certainly spent a lot of time developing a very 
distinct point of view, and he was very picky about criticizing pretty much everybody 
else except Engels. So, the modesty you suggest doesn't immediately square with much 
of his style and personality.

^




 
CB: On the other hand, Lenin's theory of democratic centralism can be
generalized beyond the specific Bolshevik situation as a way of analyzing
and organizing the relationship between the working class masses and its
leadership whereever the class struggle is hot, as in Venezuela.

Democratic centralism has always referred to a mode of party organization,
not to a mode of analysis. You can stretch the meaning of this phrase if you
want to (as academics so often do), but it makes it incoherent to me and to
most other people.



CB: A key thing about the Party and party democracy ( the democratic in democratic 
centralism)  is that it be closely connected with the masses. You can't be democratic 
if you are not connected to the masses. The democratic in democratic centralism must 
be the extensive connections between the masses and its leaders in the Party.

It's incoherent to you because you have an idea that practictioners of it have not 
been connected to the masses.  If you don't get the emphasis on connection between the 
party and the masses, then you don't understand the  democratic  in democratic 
centralist theory.






Though there are likely organizations in Venezuela that are organized in a
democratic centralist way, the mass demonstrations in favor of Chavez
don't fit that description unless they are simply as part of a party. It
looks to me instead that there's a lot of spontaneity going on. That is,
people were demonstrating in favor of Chavez because they liked him, not
because they belonged to a party-type organization. The Bolivarist
organization did not simply orchestrate the anti-coup movements. (Of course,
if my facts are wrong, I'd like to be told.)

CB: It is highly unlikely that the response of the overwhelming numbers of
workers and of the soldiers who remained loyal to Chavez was essentially
spontaneous. It evidenced a high level of consciousness.

I didn't say politically unconcious. In fact, I put the word spontaneity
in quotes for a reason, because spontaneity is a vague

Venezuela: Not Another Banana-Oil Republic by Gregory Wilpert

[michael pugliese]

   NACLA, I think, had a recent piece by Wilpert.
M.P.

Received:
4/14/02 11:09:37 PM

From:
Gregory Wilpert [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Add to People Section
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 

CC:
 

Subject:
Venezuela: Not Another Banana-Oil Republic 

MIME Ver:
1.0 

Attachments:
 




Part Number:
1

Part Type:
Plain Text


Dear Friends, here is my latest analysis of the recent events
in
Venezuela. Anyone who has a website or a print publication is
welcome to
reprint this article. Apologies to Spanish-speakers, as I have
not had a
chance to translate this.
In Solidarity,
Greg


Venezuela: Not a Banana-Oil Republic after All





By Gregory Wilpert




The Counter-Coup



It looks like Venezuela is not just another banana-oil republic
after
all. Many here feared that with the April 11 coup attempt against
President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela was being degraded to being
just
another country that is forced to bend to the powerful will of
the
United States. The successful counter-coup of April 14, though,
which
reinstated Chavez, proved that Venezuela is a tougher cookie
than the
coup planners thought.



The coup leaders against President Chavez made two fundamental
miscalculations. First, they started having delusions of grandeur,
believing that the support for their coup was so complete that
they
could simply ignore the other members of their coup coalition
and place
only their own in the new government. The labor union federation
CTV,
which saw itself as one of the main actors of the opposition
movement to
President Chavez, and nearly all moderate opposition parties
were
excluded from the new democratic unity cabinet. The new transition
cabinet ended up including only the most conservative elements
of
Venezuelan society. They then proceeded to dissolve the legislature,
the
Supreme Court, the attorney general's office, the national electoral
commission, and the state governorships, among others. Next,
they
decreed that the 1999 constitution, which had been written by
a
constitutional assembly and ratified by vote, following the procedures
outlined in the pervious constitution, was to be suspended. The
new
transition president would thus rule by decree until next year,
when new
elections would be called. Generally, this type of regime fits
the
textbook definition of dictatorship.



This first miscalculation led to several generals' protest against
the
new regime, perhaps under pressure from the excluded sectors
of the
opposition, or perhaps out of a genuine sense of remorse, and
resulted
in their call for changes to the sweeping democratic transition
decree, lest they withdraw their support from the new government.
Transition President Pedro Carmona, the chair of Venezuela's
largest
chamber of commerce, immediately agreed to reinstate the Assembly
and to
the rest of the generals' demands.



The second miscalculation was the belief that Chavez was hopelessly
unpopular in the population and among the military and that no
one
except Cuba and Colombia's guerilla, the FARC, would regret Chavez'
departure. Following the initial shock and demoralization which
the coup
caused among Chavez-supporters, this second miscalculation led
to major
upheavals and riots in Caracas' sprawling slums, which make up
nearly
half of the city. In practically all of the barrios of Caracas
spontaneous demonstrations and cacerolazos (pot-banging) broke
out on
April 13 and 14. The police immediately rushed-in to suppress
these
expressions of discontent and somewhere between 10 and 40 people
were
killed in these clashes with the police. Then, in the early afternoon,
purely by word-of-mouth and the use of cell phones (Venezuela
has one of
the highest per capita rates of cell phone use in the world),
a
demonstration in support of Chavez was called at the Miraflores
presidential palace. By 6 PM about 100,000 people had gathered
in the
streets surrounding the presidential palace. At approximately
the same
time, the paratrooper battalion, to which Chavez used to belong,
decided
to remain loyal to Chavez and took over the presidential palace.
Next,
as the awareness of the extent of Chavez' support spread, major
battalions in the interior of Venezuela began siding with Chavez.



Eventually the support for the transition regime evaporated among
the
military, so that transition president Carmona resigned in the
name of
preventing bloodshed. As the boldness of Chavez-supporters grew,
they
began taking over several television stations, which had not
reported a
single word about the uprisings and the demonstrations. Finally,
late at
night, around midnight of April 14, it was announced that Chavez
was set
free and that he would take over as president again. The crowds
outside
of Miraflores were ecstatic. No one believed that the coup could
or
would be reversed so rapidly. When Chavez appeared on national
TV around
4 AM, he too joked that he knew he would be back, but he never
imagined
it would happen so fast. He did not even have time to rest and
write
some poetry

Rumored U.S. Involvement in Venezuela

[Sabri Oncu]

I don't think the conclusions there are exremely interesting but
there is some useful information in the below Startfor
analysis.

Sabri



Venezuela: Rumored U.S. Involvement Could Hurt Bush
Administration
14 April 2002

Summary

Human intelligence sources in Venezuela and Washington told
STRATFOR April 14 that the Central Intelligence Agency and the
U.S. State Department may have been involved separately in the
events that took place in Caracas between April 5 and April 13.
If the information is correct, the reinstatement of President
Hugo Chavez less than 48 hours after he was toppled by a
civilian-military coup could have disastrous implications for the
Bush administration's policy in Latin America.

Analysis

Several human sources told STRATFOR on April 14 that the U.S.
State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency may have had
a hand in the tumultuous events that occurred between April 5 and
April 13 in Caracas, culminating in President Hugo Chavez's brief
ouster and his return to power.

Although these sources may have had their own motivations for
making the allegation, it is possible -- if the Chavez regime
produces convincing evidence of U.S. government involvement in
the failed coup -- that it could poison Washington's relations
with governments throughout Latin America. Efforts to win
regional support for increased U.S. military support to Colombia,
and to other Andean ridge countries battling the twin threats of
international drug trafficking and nominally Marxist
insurgencies, would be set back significantly in Latin America
and Washington. The Bush administration's efforts to pursue more
free trade agreements in the region also would be undermined.

Chavez could strengthen his own political base in Venezuela if he
can quickly prove U.S. involvement in attempts to topple his
3-year-old regime. This also would give a tremendous boost to
Chavez's leadership status and credibility with populist and
nationalist groups across Latin America that view the United
States as a threat and that oppose U.S.-style capitalist
democracy.

The U.S. government has a long history of interfering with Latin
American regimes viewed as unfriendly or dangerous to U.S.
national security interests in the region. Although the Bush
administration tried very hard in the past week to distance
itself from the chaos in Venezuela, many governments in Latin
America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia viewed Washington's
cautious silence on Venezuela with considerable skepticism.

However, if STRATFOR's sources are correct, the skepticism may
have been justified.

Our sources in Venezuela and the United States report that the
CIA had knowledge of, and possibly even supported, the
ultra-conservative civilians and military officials who tried
unsuccessfully to hijack interim President Pedro Carmona
Estanga's administration. Sources in Venezuela identified this
group as including members of the extremely conservative Catholic
Opus Dei society and military officers loyal to retired Gen.
Ruben Rojas, who also is a son-in-law of former President Rafael
Caldera. Caldera, who governed from 1969 to 1973 and from 1994 to
1998, founded the Christian Democratic Copei party.

STRATFOR's sources say this ultra-conservative group planned to
launch a coup against the Chavez regime on Feb. 27, but the
action was aborted at the last minute as a result of strong
pressure from the Bush administration, which warned publicly that
it would not support or recognize any undemocratic efforts to
oust Chavez.

Separately, STRATFOR's sources report, the State Department was
quietly supporting the moderate center-right civilian-military
coalition that sought Chavez's resignation by confronting his
increasingly authoritarian regime with unarmed, peaceful people
power. The April 11 protest by nearly 350,000 Venezuelans was the
largest march against any government in Venezuela's history, and
even without violence the momentum likely would have continued
building in subsequent days. U.S. policymakers who supported the
civic groups seeking Chavez's departure believed their numbers
eventually would reach a sufficiently large critical mass to
force a change in Chavez's policies or even trigger a regime
change.

However, the violence that killed 15 people and injured 350 --
including 157 who suffered gunshot wounds inflicted by pro-Chavez
government security forces and civilian militia members -- united
the previously leaderless and disarticulated center-right
opposition and gave moderates in the armed forces (FAN) what they
perceived as a legitimate reason to oust Chavez immediately.
Sources in this center-right group tell STRATFOR that the
videotapes of pro-Chavez gunmen firing indiscriminately into the
front ranks of marching protesters were more than enough to
legally justify a regime change.

The conservative civilian-military group timed its
coup-within-a -coup perfectly, using Carmona's swearing-in
ceremony as the platform from which

Translation of document written by the legal Ministry of Venezuela

[Bill Rosenberg]

Translation
of document written by the legal Ministry of Venezuela
Caracas, April 12, 2002
PRESS RELEASE
The Ministers denounce the
coup against Chavez and warn that the President has not resigned.
The ministers called on the
Governors and on the Federal Councils of the Government to defend the constitutionality.
The de facto Junta "is violating
the constitutional framework of the country."
Two ministers of the President,
Hugo Chavez Frias Cabinet denounced that the national power has
launched a coup against the State with the President of Fedecameras, Pedro
Carmona Estanga at the head.
The titular [leaders] of
Labor, Mara Cristina Iglesias, and Education, Aristbulo
Ist™riz, explained that the elected President was [forcefully] removed
from the Palace of Miraflores at approximately 4:00 a.m. today by a group
of Generals, and taken by force to the Tiuna Fortress. "They wanted to
convince President Chavez to resign, but he refused consistently. Chavez
did not renounce. Chavez does not want to leave the country; if they say
he left, its because they removed him by force from Venezuela,"
Iglesias warned. "To say he is going to renounce is the game that those
who have carried out the coup enact in order to pretend that there was
no coup.
"The President has shown
that he was incapable of using armed forces against the people."
The Cabinet "wants to inform
the people what happened: there is a de facto "junta" that has violated
the constitutional framework of the country. This is a step backward, toward
the past, with the complicity of the High Command of the IPSO which was
not named by the President."
What happened to the President,
they reiterated, "is the responsibility of those who took him prisoner.
The Authority of the Peoples Defense was not present, nor were
the tribunals."
Iglesias and Ist™riz emphasized
that the military, which is loyal to the constitutional government are
under arrest in the military bases of the armed forces. "They are not allowed
to leave," they added. "We think that the Vice-President, Diosdado Cabello,
is imprisoned or being pursued."
They also urge the Attorney
General of the People to initiate the action "which will help the people
to reinstate the State of Rights." They requested those who make up the
remainder of the powers to guarantee the life of Chavez, the detained officers
and of the Ministers.
The members of the Executive
called upon all the Governors, and called for the installation of the Federal
Council of the Government.


Ist™riz emphasized that the
plot against the legitimately constituted government linked the coup to
the demonstration carried on yesterday in the Parque del Este. The makers
of the coup "took the buildings that are [situated] around Miraflores,
and placed Alfredo Peas sharpshooters with the Metropolitan
[Police] and Bandera Roja (Red Flag). In addition there were the Police
of Chacao and Baruta out of uniform."
The Ministers also accuse
that the command directed by Carlos Melo (From the alliance Bravo Pueblo)
and Gabriel Puerta (of Bandera Roja) attempted to attack the Miraflores
Palace.
The Minister of Education
pledged that the victims of the repression were shot in the head and that
the Honor Guard was able to capture the sharpshooters who fired on the
demonstrators and that they carried credentials of the police of Chacao
and Baruta. "The majority of the shots came from the Metropolitan Police,
functionaries who fired against the people who were demonstrating in favor
of Chavez." According to Iglesias, the National Guard left once they discovered
there were sharpshooters [present] and the Avila Plan was never put into
effect.
What happened yesterday "was
an act that had been planed within a conspiracy," Ist™riz declared. "They
needed an incident of this type to manipulate the National Armed Forces."


Fdo. Poltica Urgente
Translated by Lori Zett
I have translated this document
verbatim as it was sent to me for your information and judgment. Any words
added are in brackets.

Coup in Venezuela: an eyewitness account (posted on WSN)

[Louis Proyect]

Please spread the word far and wide and call your foreign ministry or the
U.S. State Department and tell them not to recognize the new government of
Venezuela. Chavez has not resigned! According to people I spoke to this
morning, who work close to Chavez, he is being held against his will by the
military, who are claiming he has resigned, when he has not. Isolate the
new government of Venezuela, so as to support democracy everywhere!

Coup in Venezuela: An Eyewitness Account

By Gregory Wilpert

The orchestration of the coup was impeccable and, in all likelihood,
planned a long time ago. Hugo Chavez, the fascist communist dictator of
Venezuela could not stand the truth and thus censored the media
relentlessly. For his own personal gain and that of his henchmen (and
henchwomen, since his cabinet had more women than any previous Venezuelan
government's), he drove the country to the brink of economic ruin. In the
end he proceeded to murder those who opposed him. So as to reestablish
democracy, liberty, justice, and prosperity in Venezuela and so as to avoid
more bloodshed, the chamber of commerce, the union federation, the church,
the media, and the management of Venezuela's oil company, in short: civil
society and the military decided that enough is enough--that Chavez had his
chance and that his experiment of a 'peaceful democratic Bolivarian
revolution' had to come to an immediate end.

This is, of course, the version of events that the officials now in charge
and thus also of the media, would like everyone to believe. So what really
happened? Of course I don t know, but I'll try to represent the facts as I
witnessed them.

First of all, the military is saying that the main reason for the coup is
what happened today, April 11. 'Civil society,' as the opposition here
refers to itself, organized a massive demonstration of perhaps 100,000 to
200,000 people to march to the headquarters of Venezuela's oil company,
PDVSA, in defense of its fired management. The day leading up to the march
all private television stations broadcast advertisements for the
demonstration, approximately once every ten minutes. It was a successful
march, peaceful, and without government interference of any kind, even
though the march illegally blocked the entire freeway, which is Caracas
main artery of transportation, for several hours.

Supposedly at the spur of the moment, the organizers decided to re-route
the march to Miraflores, the president's office building, so as to confront
the pro-government demonstration, which was called in the last minute.
About 5,000 Chavez-supporters had gathered there by the time the
anti-government demonstrators got there. In-between the two demonstrations
were the city police, under the control of the oppositional mayor of
Caracas, and the National Guard, under control of the president. All sides
claim that they were there peacefully and did not want to provoke anyone. I
got there just when the opposition demonstration and the National Guard
began fighting each other. Who started the fight, which involved mostly
stones and tear gas, is, as is so often the case in such situations, nearly
impossible to tell. A little later, shots were fired into the crowds and I
clearly saw that there were three parties involved in the shooting, the
city police, Chavez supporters, and snipers from buildings above. Again,
who shot first has become a moot and probably impossible to resolve
question. At least ten people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in this
gun battle--almost all of them demonstrators.

One of the Television stations managed to film one of the three sides in
this battle and broadcast the footage over and over again, making it look
like the only ones shooting were Chavez supporters from within the
demonstration at people beyond the view of the camera. The media over and
over again showed the footage of the Chavez supporters and implied that
they were shooting at an unarmed crowd. As it turns out, and as will
probably never be reported by the media, most of the dead are Chavez
supporters. Also, as will probably never be told, the snipers were members
of an extreme opposition party, known as Bandera Roja. 

These last two facts, crucial as they are, will not be known because they
do not fit with the new mythology, which is that Chavez armed and then
ordered his supporters to shoot at the opposition demonstration. Perhaps my
information is incorrect, but what is certain is that the local media here
will never bother to investigate this information. And the international
media will probably simply ape what the local media reports (which they are
already doing).

Chavez' biggest and perhaps only mistake of the day, which provided the
last remaining proof his opposition needed for his anti-democratic
credentials, was to order the black-out of the private television stations.
They had been broadcasting the confrontations all afternoon and Chavez
argued that these broadcasts were exacerbating the situation

Venezuela

[Devine, James]

 Put Venezuela on the list, where now some labor
 leaders seem to be taking their turn in following
 a script out of CIA headquarters.

 Gene Coyle

while the CIA is probably involved, I think it's a mistake to see this
solely in terms of CIA machinations. Venezuela is a country with a social
system (classes, etc.) and this is what both CIA and Chavez have to work
with. Simply pointing to the CIA is superficial.

(In any event, history -- i.e., the 1973 Chilean coup -- doesn't repeat
itself.)

Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]   http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

 

Re: Venezuela

[Eugene Coyle]

Jim, I don't see what you are saying here.  Chile too  ... is a country
with a social system (classes, etc) ...  So what?  Nebraska has a social
system, classes, etc. -- does that mean the CIA can't depose the governor?
Or that it can?
The steps unfolding in Venezuala are reminiscent of Chile.  Coups are
supported by outside forces  -- whether it is anchoring a warship off the
harbor or orchestrating various and successive elements -- military, labor,
or however the support is expressed.   Did you think I meant that the CIA
walked in and decided to replace Chavez without a fertile local setting?  I
didn't.

Gene  Coyle

Devine, James wrote:

  Put Venezuela on the list, where now some labor
  leaders seem to be taking their turn in following
  a script out of CIA headquarters.
 
  Gene Coyle

 while the CIA is probably involved, I think it's a mistake to see this
 solely in terms of CIA machinations. Venezuela is a country with a social
 system (classes, etc.) and this is what both CIA and Chavez have to work
 with. Simply pointing to the CIA is superficial.

 (In any event, history -- i.e., the 1973 Chilean coup -- doesn't repeat
 itself.)

 Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]   http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

Re: Venezuela

[Sabri Oncu]

Jim writes:

 In any event, history -- i.e., the 1973 Chilean
 coup -- doesn't repeat itself.

I would say it does but each time differently. There seems to be
lots of CIA involvement in Venezuela. Of course, this is not to
deny that Venezuela is a country with a social system with which
Chavez, CIA and other social actors have to work. Below is from
Stratfor, from those former CIA agents, that is.

Sabri

Venezuela: Oil Strike Situation Becoming Critical
22 March 2002

Dissident managers at Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de
Venezuela (PDVSA) said that 75 percent of white-collar workers
participated in a sick-out March 21. PDVSA employees have for
three weeks been protesting against the appointment of new
company president Gaston Para and five directors they view as
unqualified and as having got their jobs only due to their ties
with President Hugo Chavez. Chavez threatened to militarize
PDVSA if strikers interfere with the country's oil exports.
National guard presence has increased at oil installations around
Venezuela. However, the military lacks the technical skills to
run a major oil concern.

Most PDVSA workers are protesting Chavez's politicization of the
oil industry. Their tactics include slowing domestic gasoline
deliveries and crude exports to Cuba, home of Chavez's
ideological ally Fidel Castro. Chavez's fear is that PDVSA
employees will damage the firm's infrastructure through sabotage.
Strikers have not yet targeted production capacity.

The situation is becoming critical. The Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks in the United States triggered a global recession that
sent oil prices -- and Caracas' income -- plummeting. PDVSA's oil
sales supply 80 percent of Venezuela's foreign hard-currency
earnings. A drop in such income would be problematic for any oil
state, but this is doubly true for Venezuela.

The president's sagging Bolivarian revolution has led him to
milk PDVSA of its investment capital to bolster his own flagging
popularity. That in turn has diminished the oil giant's long-term
production and refining capacity to the point that it has
resorted to purchasing Ecuadorian oil to fulfill supply
contracts. STRATFOR estimates it would take five years to repair
the damage.

But the threat to Venezuelan oil infrastructure would not
necessarily end if Chavez were removed from power, which could
very well happen by the end of the year. The president is a
strong backer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) rebel group. Should Chavez be succeeded by a more pro-U.S.
and anti-FARC leadership, Colombia's rebels could find Venezuelan
oil infrastructure an attractive a target.

Venezuela

[michael pugliese]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/662026/posts
yahoo.com | Mon Apr 8, 2002 - 3:01 PM ET | Pascal Fletcher,Reuters



CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops tightened security
at oil facilities on Monday as stoppages by state oil workers
halted exports, jolting the world's No. 4 oil exporter and throttling
the economic lifeblood of President Hugo Chavez's government.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Lucas Rincon said that National Guard
soldiers who routinely protect oilfields, refineries and oil
export ports in Venezuela were being reinforced by other units
of the armed forces.

What we want to do is guarantee peace and quiet, Rincon told
a news conference.

The military protection was stepped up as shipping and trade
sources said the escalating six-week-old dispute by executives
and employees of the state oil giant PDVSA had halted Venezuelan
oil shipments. Production was also being cut as storage facilities
were full to the brim, they added.

However, Energy Minister Alvaro Silva and PDVSA president Gaston
Parra insisted oil industry operations were normal.

The revolt by the dissident PDVSA staff, who oppose management
changes made by Chavez, put intense pressure on the president
a day ahead of a 24-hour national strike called by opposition
labor and business chiefs.

The disruption of oil exports, which account for a third to a
half of Venezuelan government revenues, clamps a heavy economic
squeeze on the left-wing populist leader, who is battling a wave
of opposition to his three-year-old rule.

But Chavez, a pugnacious former paratrooper, has shown no sign
of backing down and Sunday used a live television broadcast to
sack seven dissident executives in PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela),
and to forcibly retire 12 more.

The government has promised to guarantee both international oil
deliveries and internal gasoline supplies. Most gas stations
appeared to be still operating normally Monday.

The president, who has threatened to send in troops if PDVSA,
Latin America's biggest oil company, is brought to a complete
halt, accused the protesters of subversion bordering on terrorism
and said security forces were on the alert.

Chavez's words have thrown more fuel on the fire, one local
shipping agent, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

The abrupt sackings, announced by Chavez on television as he
blew a soccer referee's whistle, infuriated the disgruntled state
oil company employees, who said they would intensify protests
and stoppages.

Today, tomorrow and the next day, our actions are going to be
even more radical, Eddie Ramirez, one of the PDVSA staff sacked
Sunday, told reporters in Caracas, surrounded by a crowd of protesting
colleagues chanting, We are not afraid.

Three years after he won elections with widespread support, Chavez
is confronting a storm of criticism from political foes, business
and labor chiefs, dissident military officers, and the opposition-
dominated media.

The president, who in 1992 tried unsuccessfully to seize power
in a botched military coup, defends his self-proclaimed revolution
as a noble campaign to help the poor. But critics accuse him
of trying to introduce a Cuban-style leftist regime in Venezuela.

OIL INDUSTRY IN TURMOIL

Chavez has repeatedly rejected demands that he revoke the appointment
of five new PDVSA board members named in late February. The dissidents
complain the appointments were based on political loyalty to
the president, not on merit.

Local shipping and trade sources said the revolt in PDVSA was
severely hitting production, refining and exports although there
were conflicting reports of the precise impact.

Nothing is going out (in shipments), one private trader told
Reuters, saying exports had been halted from the main loading
terminals at Puerto La Cruz, El Palito and Paraguana.

Other estimates said shipments had been reduced to around 15
percent to 20 percent of normal levels. There isn't a complete
halt yet, although it looks as though it's headed that way,
the Caracas-based shipping agent said.

Venezuela's oil production, which normally runs at 2.6 million
barrels per day (BPD), was also being cut back, the sources said.
You can't produce for long if you're not exporting, the trader
said.

Storage facilities are full to the brim, he added.

But PDVSA president Gaston Parra insisted oil output and exports
were being maintained. There will be no stoppage in the country
and especially not in PDVSA, Parra said.

He's lying, the shipping agent said.

PDVSA chief Parra told state television that the 960,000 bpd
Amuay Cardon refinery complex, Venezuela's largest and a key
supplier of gasoline and heating oil to the United States, was
working normally.

But a PDVSA spokesman from the refinery in the Paraguana Peninsula
told Reuters the complex was reducing its throughput to minimum
levels and that oil shipments had been halted.

What are we going to load up? There are no ships and no business,
he added.

FEARS OF STREET VIOLENCE

On top

RE: Re: Venezuela

[Devine, James]

I wasn't criticizing you, but rather some folks on the left who are too pat
in their analyses. I just think we have to (1) realize that the CIA is
important while (2) being clear that sometimes leaders like Chavez
antagonize important constituencies independent of the CIA's efforts. Of
course, both sides of this equation play a role. 

Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]   http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine



 -Original Message-
 From: Eugene Coyle [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
 Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 9:39 AM
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Subject: [PEN-L:24741] Re: Venezuela
 
 
 Jim, I don't see what you are saying here.  Chile too  ... 
 is a country
 with a social system (classes, etc) ...  So what?  Nebraska 
 has a social
 system, classes, etc. -- does that mean the CIA can't depose 
 the governor?
 Or that it can?
 The steps unfolding in Venezuala are reminiscent of 
 Chile.  Coups are
 supported by outside forces  -- whether it is anchoring a 
 warship off the
 harbor or orchestrating various and successive elements -- 
 military, labor,
 or however the support is expressed.   Did you think I meant 
 that the CIA
 walked in and decided to replace Chavez without a fertile 
 local setting?  I
 didn't.
 
 Gene  Coyle
 
 Devine, James wrote:
 
   Put Venezuela on the list, where now some labor
   leaders seem to be taking their turn in following
   a script out of CIA headquarters.
  
   Gene Coyle
 
  while the CIA is probably involved, I think it's a mistake 
 to see this
  solely in terms of CIA machinations. Venezuela is a country 
 with a social
  system (classes, etc.) and this is what both CIA and Chavez 
 have to work
  with. Simply pointing to the CIA is superficial.
 
  (In any event, history -- i.e., the 1973 Chilean coup -- 
 doesn't repeat
  itself.)
 
  Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]   http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
 
 
 

Iraq-Venezuela-Oil

[Sabri Oncu]

Oil prices surge after Iraq halts crude exports, Venezuelan
strife compounds fears
Mon Apr 8, 5:04 PM ET
By BRUCE STANLEY, AP Business Writer

LONDON - Oil prices surged Monday in a fresh wave of anxiety
after Iraq cut off crude exports to demonstrate support for the
Palestinians in their struggle with Israel.


At the same time, labor strife in Venezuela squeezed that
country's oil shipments to a trickle. The combined effect of the
supply interruptions added to existing concerns stoked by
tensions in the Middle East, home to two-thirds of the world's
proven oil reserves.

Crude futures prices spiked as much as dlrs 1.44 a barrel, or 6
percent, in London, before setting to close at dlrs 27.02, up
dlrs 1.03 from Friday's close. In New York, May sweet crude rose
to dlrs 27.23 a barrel before falling back to dlrs 26.55 a
barrel, up 34 cents from Friday.

Some energy analysts played down the risk that major, long-term
supply disruptions might result. Analysts suggested other members
of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries, which pumps
a third of all crude, would intervene to offset a major shortfall
in supplies.

Leaders of the oil producers' group expressed alarm at the latest
developments.

After the announcement of Iraq to suspend exports and the effect
of Venezuela's exports, we could go directly to an oil crisis,
OPEC (news - web sites) Secretary-general Ali Rodriguez told
Venezuela's Radio Caracas Radio in an interview from Qatar.

Iraq and Venezuela jointly export about 4.5 million barrels a
day, or about 6 percent of global supplies.

President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) announced that Iraq
would suspend oil exports starting Monday for 30 days or until
Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories. His unilateral
cutoff could put more pressure on other Arab leaders to move
against Israel in retaliation for its offensive.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday urged
Islamic countries to stop shipping oil for one month to countries
with close relations with Israel. Libya announced Monday that it
supported the call. Both nations also are members of OPEC.

Although OPEC hadn't received formal confirmation from Iraq about
its embargo, U.N. oil monitors noted that the transfer of oil
from Iraq to the Ceyhan loading terminal in Turkey ceased at
midmorning Monday, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.

At Iraq's other loading terminal, Mina al-Bakr in the Gulf, one
vessel completed loading on Monday and two other vessels were
waiting to be loaded. It wasn't clear if they would take on their
oil cargo, Eckhard said.

Iraq, which has a daily production capacity of 2.3 million
barrels, exports about 1.8 million barrels a day under the close
supervision of the United Nations (news - web sites). Iraq also
is believed to export an estimated 250,000 barrels a day
illegally, via pipeline to Syria and by truck to Turkey.

Iraq's main customers are refiners and oil trading firms in the
United States and Europe.

Some analysts expect OPEC's biggest producer, Saudi Arabia, and
other moderate members of the group to quietly raise output to
make up for an Iraqi shortfall.

OPEC officials have argued that prices must not rise so high as
to choke off an economic recovery.

That volume of crude can be made up overnight, said Michael
Rothman, senior energy analyst at Merrill Lynch in New York.

An OPEC source, speaking on condition of anonymity from OPEC
headquarters in Vienna, Austria, said oil ministers were
conferring about how to respond, the source said.

It's in OPEC's interest now to make sure the froth in the oil
market is limited, Rothman said.

Crude prices have risen in recent weeks to levels not seen since
September, and this provides an additional incentive for other
countries, including independent producers such as Russia and
Norway, to boost production.

In spite of their earlier expressions of support for an oil
boycott, Iran and Libya were unlikely to join with Iraq, argued
Jan Stuart, head of research for global energy futures at ABN
Amro in New York.

Iran's economy is too weak to go for long without precious oil
revenues, and Libya is worried about jeopardizing its slowly
warming ties with the United States, Israel's main backer, Stuart
said.

This isn't a shock price, but it is the Iraqis being mischievous
and trying to wage a little economic warfare against the West,
Gignoux said.

Politics and labor problems in Venezuela, a top U.S. oil
supplier, compounded the impact of Iraq's action. Venezuelan
exports almost dried up Monday due to an escalating dispute at
the national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, between
dissident managers and new executives appointed by populist
President Hugo Chavez.

Refining volumes at Venezuela's 950,000-barrels per day Paraguana
complex dropped by half, and other refineries also experienced
lower production levels. Labor strife is likely to intensify
Tuesday, when Venezuela's largest labor and business associations
stage

Venezuela: Next Chile?

[Bill Rosenberg]

Venezuela: Next Chile?

By John Pilger 

He has won two elections, and
he has made a start on relieving poverty. So now the US wants to get rid of Venezuela's president Chavez.

Almost 30 years after the violent destruction of the reformist government of
Salvador Allende in Chile, a repeat performance is being planned in Venezuela. Little of this has been reported in Britain. Indeed, little is known of the achievements of
the government of Hugo Chavez, who won presidential elections in 1998 and again
in 2000 by the largest majority in 40 years.

Following the principles of a movement called Bolivarism, named after the South
American independence hero Simon Bolivar, Chavez has implemented reforms that
have begun to shift the great wealth of Venezuela, principally from its oil, towards the 80 per
cent of his people who live in poverty. 

In 49 laws adopted by the Venezuelan Congress last November, Chavez began
serious land reform, and guaranteed indigenous and women's rights and free
healthcare and education up to university level.

Chavez faces enemies that Allende would recognise. The oligarchies,
which held power since the 1950s during the corrupt bipartisan reign of the
Social Christians and Democratic Action, have declared war on the reforming
president, backed by the Catholic Church and a trade union hierarchy and the
media, both controlled by the right. 

What has enraged them is a modest agrarian reform that allows the state to
expropriate and redistribute idle land; and a law that limits the exploitation
of oil reserves, reinforcing a constitutional ban on the privatisation of the
state oil company.

Allied with Chavez's domestic enemies is the Bush administration. Defying Washington, Chavez has sold oil to Cuba and refused overflying rights to American
military aircraft supplying Plan Colombia, the US campaign in support of the murderous regime in
neighbouring Colombia. Worse, although he condemned the attacks of 11
September, he questioned the right of the United States to fight terrorism with terrorism.

For this, he is unforgiven. On 5-7 November, the State Department, Pentagon and
National Security Agency held a two-day meeting to discuss the problem of
Venezuela. The State Department has since accused
the Chavez government of supporting terrorism in Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador. In fact, Venezuela opposes American-funded terrorism in those three
countries.

The US says it will put Venezuela in diplomatic isolation; Colin Powell has
warned Chavez to correct his understanding of what a democracy is all
about. Familiar events are unfolding. 

The International Monetary Fund has indicated it supports a transitional
government for Venezuela. The Caracas daily El Nacional says the IMF is willing to
bankroll those who remove Chavez from office. 

James Petras, a professor at New York State University, who was in Chile in the early 1970s and has studied the
subversion of the Allende government, says that 

the IMF and financial institutions are fabricating a familiar crisis. The
tactics used are very similar to those used in Chile. Civilians are used to create a feeling of
chaos, and a false picture of Chavez as a dictator is established, then the
military is incited to make a coup for the sake of the country.

A former paratrooper, Chavez apparently still has the army behind him (as
Allende did, until the CIA murdered his loyal military chief, opening the way
to Pinochet). However, several senior officers have denounced Chavez as a
tyrant and have called for his resignation. It is difficult to
assess this; in its rumour-mongering, the hostile Caracas press plays a role reminiscent of Chile's right-wing press, with poisonous stories
questioning Chavez's sanity.

The most worrying threat comes from a reactionary trade union hierarchy, the
Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV), led by Carlos Ortega, a hack of the
anti-Chavez Democratic Action Party. The CTV maintains a black list of
disloyal and disruptive members, which it supplies to
employers. 

According to Dick Nichols, writing from Caracas, Chavez's most serious mistake has been his
failure to move against the union old guard, following a national referendum in
which a majority gave him a mandate to reform the CTV.

The crime of Hugo Chavez is that he has set out to keep his electoral promises,
redistributing the wealth of his country and subordinating the principle of
private property to that of the common good. Having underestimated the power of
his enemies, his current counter-offensive is imaginative but also hints of
desperation.

He has set up what are called Bolivarian circles, of which 8,000
are being established in communities and workplaces across the country. Based
on the revolutionary heritage of Simon BolIvar's triumph in the war against Spain, their job is to ...

raise the consciousness of citizens and develop all forms of
participatory organisations in the community, releasing projects in health,
education

RE: Venezuela: Next Chile?

[Devine, James]

 The
International Monetary Fund has indicated it supports a transitional government
for Venezuela. The Caracas daily El Nacional says the IMF is willing to
bankroll those who remove Chavez from office. 



they actually said theyd support a transitional
government? 

Jim D.

RE: Venezuela: Next Chile?

[Sabri Oncu]

 they actually said they’d support a “transitional government”?

 Jim D.

I don't think so. Most likely they said, a transnational
government, global government, global governance, Empire,
what have you?

Sabri

Re: Re: Carnagie 2002 and developments in Venezuela

[Carrol Cox]

Michael Perelman wrote:
 
 The coup in Venezuela should be easy, especially after all the US
 troops hit Colombia.  I cannot believe what a free ride the 
 spineless Dems. are giving W.

They are not at all spineless, Michael. They are bravely sacrficing
possible electoral advantage by supporting those interests which they
and Bush share.

Carrol

RE: Re: Re: Carnagie 2002 and developments in Venezuela

[michael pugliese]

   I agree that with the exception of a about a half dozen of
the more leftish Democrats like Lee, Waters and Kucinich, the
Democrats have been spineless. Today, walking to work I was comparing
in my head the response to Iran-Contra by congressional Democrats
or the battles over Contra Aid (see the Cynthia Arneson book
on this from Pantheon Books) to the PATRIOT Act and other repressive
sheeit. Should the below give one any hope? Or, just more pseudo-left
rhetoric to keep left-liberals from radicalizing influences and
keep them on the DFemocratic Party plantation? Interesting that
this was an ADA meeting too.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/guestcolumnists2002/anderson02-22-02.htm
Michael Pugliese

--- Original Message ---
From: Carrol Cox [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: 2/24/02 7:50:09 PM




Michael Perelman wrote:
 
 The coup in Venezuela should be easy, especially after all
the US
 troops hit Colombia.  I cannot believe what a free ride the

 spineless Dems. are giving W.

They are not at all spineless, Michael. They are bravely sacrficing
possible electoral advantage by supporting those interests which
they
and Bush share.

Carrol