What will happen with the signature collection aimed at forcing a referendum against the office of Hugo Chavez, democratically elected President of Venezuela?
by Oscar Heck
November 17, 2003
The signature collection is scheduled for a period
of four days, November 28 – December 1, 2003, and will be directed and
controlled by the CNE (National Electoral College). The rules are set and
amongst these rules, it appears that signatures will be matched with
fingerprints, thus virtually eliminating any possibility of fraud.
What will the final figures be?
(Approximately 2.4 million signatures are needed in
order to call for a referendum against Chavez.) The preemptive figures range
from between 1.3 million and 3.8 million, depending on who one talks to.
Realistic figures appear to be in the vicinity of 1.3 million. (No matter how
I do my calculations, I also end up with a maximum of 1.2 to1.3 million.)
The higher figure, 3.8 million, is "claimed" by certain
sectors of the opposition, Bloque Democratico in particular. Bloque Democratico
(Democratic Block or BD) is a recent invention of what appears to be the most
rabid anti-Chavez sectors, comprised of several supposed "civil" associations
all seeking desperately to "get rid of Chavez."
It should be noted, that even if denied by opposition
sectors, most, if not all anti-Chavez supposed "civil associations" are founded
and/or operated by mid-to-upper class pro-USA-intervention Venezuelans ... the
same ones who have endorsed, backed and committed the recent attempts at
destabilizing and sabotaging the country, which resulted in severe economic
problems and the loss of thousands upon thousands of jobs amongst the innocent
Venezuelan working classes (the 80%).
I am quite sure that if I did further research, I would
find that several of the organizations/people involved in this latest planned
"coup" attempt against Chavez (through the Bloque Democratico) are/were
partially funded directly by the "great" US of A, through supposed
non-governmental Washington-based organizations such as the NED (National
Endowment for Democracy – an organization that supplies operating funds for
pro-US-style-democracy efforts abroad, including Venezuela). The fact that the
USA, in its efforts to infect (and infest) the rest of the world with their
lop-sided view of "democracy," feeds cash to pro-USA "elite-ridden"
organizations, is nothing new. What is new (perhaps?), is that if the USA is (or
has been) funding any Venezuelan people or organizations involved with the
Bloque Democratico, then, the USA is in fact aiding and abetting in the
proliferation, instigation and implementation of violence and anti-democratic
criminal actions.
The following are a few excerpts taken directly from the
Bloque Democratico web-site
www.bloquedemocratico.org/ -- it is important to note that the
excerpts are all quoted here below within context. The context can be summed up
as follows, in the words of the Bloque Democratico
"El Bloque Democrático plantea que las soluciones
modernas, aplicables a las crisis como la que vive Venezuela, no son solamente
de carácter electoral, sino más bien de desobediencia civil generalizada, que es
definitivamente apoyada por las Fuerzas Armadas, las cuales obligan al Dictador
a someterse a la voluntad de las mayorías."
Translation
-- "The Democratic Block states that modern solutions, applicable to the crisis
such as the one currently lived in Venezuela, are not only of electoral nature,
but of generalized civic disobedience that is definitely supported by the Armed
Forces, which compels the Dictator to abide by the will of the majority".
The above statement speaks for itself. For readers
outside Venezuela, a few comments
1) The use of the word "dictator" is
reflective of their own biased view on the situation. In fact, Venezuela, of all
the countries in the world, probably has the highest degree of freedom of
expression of any.
2) It is pure speculation on their part
that the armed forces would support the opposition sectors’ actions against the
President, Hugo Chavez.
3) The use of the words "... the will of
the majority," is completely unsubstantiated and, as far as facts go, far from
anything that could be regarded as truth. The vast majority of the support for
Chavez comes from the working class, which, in Venezuela, is comprised of close
to 80% of the population. It is completely unthinkable, by normal standards of
reason, that the majority want Chavez "out," especially since Chavez is the
first president in the history of Venezuela to attend to the day-to-day needs of
the 80% hospitals, clinics, schools, micro-credits, etc. Chavez is also the
first president in Venezuelan history to give the 80% a voice and to give them a
sense of dignity ... something conveniently and often intentionally pushed aside
by former Venezuelan governments and their cronies.
More.
"...el Bloque Democrático plantea que, sin el
concurso de la Fuerza Armada, a la cual le exige su cooperación, es imposible
obtener la solución a la crisis."
Translation--
"...The Democratic Block states that, without the support of the Armed Forces,
of whom they demand cooperation, it is impossible to obtain the solution to the
crisis"
This statement is quite clear. Taking into account that
it is probably impossible for the Venezuelan opposition to win a signature
campaign for a referendum against Chavez, the BD is insinuating that the only
solution " out of their mess" is to use the military in their effort to oust
Chavez from power. Unfortunately, as usual, the BD (and opposition supporters)
seem to be unaware that the greater portion of the military is comprised almost
exclusively of people from the working classes. Do they, the opposition (which
is comprised primarily of the mid-to-upper classes) really believe that the
military will side with them (the people that have traditionally and habitually
exploited the working classes)?
"Para el Bloque Democrático, la presidencia de Hugo
Chávez no es un fenómeno nacional, sino la expresión local de un proyecto
mundial de corte comunista, cuyo objetivo es subvertir el equilibrio político y
económico existente, a fin de implantar un modelo marxista-fundamentalista."
Translation --
"For the Democratic Block, the presidency of Hugo Chavez is
not a national phenomenon, but the local expression of a worldwide project of
communism, whose objective is to subvert the existing political and economic
balance, in order to establish a marxist-fundamentalist model"
Here, again, the total ignorance or desperation of the
opposition shines through royally. Venezuela is not a communist country (nowhere
near), Chavez is not a communist and has no intention of bringing Venezuela into
a communist state ... and there is no evidence of this. (The opposition uses as
"evidence," for example, the fact that the Chavez government is using Cuban
doctors for their inside-barrio-clinic program. However, the reasons why the
Chavez government is using Cuban doctors is simple there are not enough
Venezuelan doctors that want to work in the barrios, and Cuban doctors are close
by and known worldwide as some of the top medical practitioners in the world ...
something that even the Venezuelan opposition knows because they have
traditionally traveled to Cuba for expensive top-rate surgery.) Chavez and his
government have basically taken examples of social programs which are currently
being used in countries such as Canada, Sweden, Norway, England, France, etc.,
and have been trying to bring them to fruition, even while the opposition does
everything possible (legally, illegally and criminally) to quash all efforts. In
addition, the Chavez government has implemented many innovative programs dealing
with education and health care, something never seen in the past in Venezuela.
The 80% have traditionally been considered second-class citizens, and treated as
such by the 15-20% from "good families." The 80% are maids, servants, gardeners,
plumbers, welders, brick-layers, taxi drivers, bus drivers, factory workers,
laborers, city workers, clerks, secretaries, bar-servers, waiters, and on and on
and on ... the majority of productive Venezuelans. Note Most working class
Venezuelans work 5-6-7 days weekly, usually full days, and have few vacations.
Most mid-to-upper class Venezuelans work, at the most, 5 days weekly (and
substantially less than full days), and have extended lunch hours and extensive
vacations ... yet they are paid salaries many times greater than the working
class.
"... el Régimen utiliza el poder para destruir las
instituciones y las bases morales y económicas de la nación ..."
Translation:
... the Regime uses power to destroy institutions and the
economic and moral bases of the nation..."
Institutions? Institutions such as PDVSA that apparently
had thousands of "extra" paid employees collecting salaries for doing squat?
Economic bases? Like the banks that were "rescued" by former governments only to
go into bankruptcy anyways? Economic bases such as large factories that
traditionally paid their employees peanuts while "managers" (from the
mid-to-upper classes, of course) were paid tens to hundreds of times the
working-person’s salary, took endless vacations and scotch whiskey "business
lunches" with local municipal and state "authorities" and "bishops?"
Amongst tens of false premises and outright unverifiable
information/allegations contained within this organization
"Pdvsa paralizada y en peligro de ser controlada por
factores externos; la guerrilla colombiana, milicianos cubanos y células
fundamentalistas operando en territorio nacional con apoyo del oficialismo;
brigadas paramilitares auspiciadas por el Gobierno..."
Translation -- "PDVSA
paralyzed and in danger of being controlled by foreign factions; the Colombia
guerrilla, Cuban militia and fundamentalist cells operating in the nation’s
territory with the support of the "oficialismo" (government); paramilitary
brigades assisted by the Government..."
More desperation? Definitely. There is absolutely no
evidence for any of such allegations. The BD makes such statements as a "matter
of fact," in much the same way as the mid-to-upper classes claim that the was
never any racial or class segregation in Venezuela. (My foot!) PDVSA paralyzed?
Since when? The only time that I am aware of that PDVSA was paralyzed recently,
was when the opposition sabotaged and halted PDVSA operations between December
2002 and February 2003.
Under "Strategy," BD states
"El Bloque Democrático propone a los venezolanos,
civiles y militares, acogerse a los Artículos 333 y 350 de la Constitución, y
desconocer el Régimen de Hugo Chávez; realizar acciones a nivel nacional de
desobediencia civil legítima; e incorporar a la Fuerza Armada para que, con el
poder disuasivo que le otorgan las leyes, obligue al Dictador a someterse a la
voluntad de las mayorías. El Bloque Democrático plantea que en esta solución
participen la Sociedad Civil, los partidos políticos, las instituciones
representativas de la sociedad, los sectores representativos de las provincias,
las organizaciones no gubernamentales y la Fuerza Armada Nacional."
Translation -- "The
Democratic Block proposes to all Venezuelans, civil and military, to back
themselves by Articles 333 and 350 of the Constitution, and to deny the regime
of Hugo Chavez, undertake legitimate civil disobedience nationwide; and
incorporate the Armed Forces in order to, with the dissuasive power given to
them by the law, oblige the Dictator to abide by the will of the majority of the
people. The Democratic Block proposes that the Civic Society, political parties,
representative institutions of the society, representative sectors of the
provinces, non-government organizations and the National Armed Forces
participate in this solution."
Sedition? A call to armed force? A call to treason and
violence? I certainly appears to be the case!
The BD has also published a newsletter called "El
Desobediente," meaning, "The Disobedient." The newsletter is being transmitted
to as many opposition supporters as possible. It contains several paragraphs
relating to suggested measures that can be taken by opposition supporters in the
next weeks to assist in non-democratic actions aimed at destabilizing the
country (again!) and aimed at "attacking" those who do not support the
opposition in their near-future attempts at ousting Chavez from power using
"all" possible avenues, excluding legal and democratic methods, yet including
violence
"De ahora en adelante, cuando se fije una estrategia
de protesta ciudadana, no se debe retroceder. Frente a las agresiones injustas y
desmedidas del oficialismo, los venezolanos hemos evitado la confrontación; pero
ha llegado el momento de invocar el derecho universal a la legítima defensa, y
neutralizar el ataque con los mismos mecanismos con que se nos agrede. No
queremos, ni nos gusta confrontar a nadie, pero constituye un deber ineludible
defender nuestros principios, nuestras familias y nuestras propiedades cuando
sean amenazados."
Translation -- "From now
on, when a strategy of citizens’ protest is to be fixed, we must not back off.
Before the unfair aggressions and offenses of the administration (government),
we Venezuelans have avoided confrontation, but the moment has arrived to apply
the universal right of legitimate defense, and to neutralize the attack with the
same mechanisms with which we are aggressed. We do not want, nor like to
confront anybody, but it constitutes a unavoidable duty to defend our
principles, our families and our assets whenever they are threatened".
The words used above are reminiscent of USA rhetoric
legitimate defense, neutralize, attack, principles ... and of course, assets.
The BD also uses the word "regime" on a regular basis. Another USA-style tactic
to assist in preparation for categorizing the Chavez government as a "rogue
state?" The word "regime" has a connotation of a state that it "undesirable,"
doesn’t it?
Now, with regard to the collection of signatures slated
for Novemer 28-December 1, 2003, the BD states that the collection of signatures
is in reality the actual referendum, and that they (and all opposition
supporters should interpret the signature collection as such). They also state
that the signatures collected in February 2003 (El Firmazo) are valid,
regardless if the CNE (National Electoral College) and the courts have rejected
them as valid
"Puesto que las firmas entregadas el 20 de agosto son
válidas, El Reafirmazo no es una repetición de la recolección de firmas, sino un
REFERÉNDUM REVOCATORIO DE HECHO Firmar en papel de máxima seguridad, impreso en
la Casa de la Moneda, colocando además la huella digital, lo hace aún más
oficial. El Bloque Democrático reitera que en lugar de darle más tiempo al
Régimen, El Reafirmazo debe ser el principio activo de la desobediencia civil,
ya que ésta se basa en el desconocimiento ciudadano hacia el gobierno que viole
el estado de derecho, la Constitución y las leyes (Artículos 333 y 350 de la
Constitución Nacional). Al firmar, usted manifiesta su derecho a desconocer a un
régimen anticonstitucional."
Translation -- "Since the
signatures turned in on August 20 are valid, The Re-signing is not a repetition
of signatures collection, but a REVOCATORY REFERENDUM DE FACTO Signing the
maximal security paper printed in the Casa de la Moneda, putting the finger
print, makes it even more official. The Democratic Block ratifies that instead
of giving more time to the Regime, The re-signing should be the active principle
of civil disobedience, since it is based on the citizens rejection against a
government that violates the state of right, the Constitution and the law
(Articles 333 and 350 of the National Constitution) By signing you manifest your
right to deny a unconstitutional Regime."
They go on, with respect to paranoia-generated imaginary
imminent attacks on themselves by pro-Chavez supporters
"... la cual consiste en protestar frente a la propia
vivienda -donde se tiene acceso a la protección y a todos los servicios- para
impedir el paso vehicular, como la forma más segura e inteligente de manifestar
contra el Régimen y desconocer su autoridad. Saboteo. Si el Régimen sabotea la
realización de El Reafirmazo, sacando a la calle sus círculos violentos, la
desobediencia civil debe iniciarse en el mismo momento que comiencen los
acontecimientos, como mecanismo de legítima defensa."
Translation -- "...which
consists on protesting in front of your own residence – where you have access to
protection and all services – to prevent the passage of any vehicles, as the
most secure and intelligent way to manifest against the Regime and deny its
authority. Sabotage. If the Regime sabotages the realization of The Re-Signing,
sending its Violent Circles to the streets, the civic disobedience must initiate
as soon as events begin, as a mechanism of self defense."
Again, "self-defense." Again, blocking of streets.
Again, the mention of "Violent Circles," referring to another invention of the
opposition violent government-armed Bolivarian Circles.
Now, here is something interesting. Some of the notable
members found within the list of organizations included within the BD are
Pro Quality of Life Association of Caracas Quality of
life engenders calls to violence and civil disobedience? Quality of life for
whom? For only those that are anti-Chavez?
Latin American Federation of Lawyers What kind of
lawyers (supposed educated professionals) would be capable of interpreting
"civil rights" as sabotage, sedition, treason, violence and an intentional
disregard for the democratic process?
Foundation Love in Action (Guayana) What kind of love
are these people propagating? If they back the blocking of roads, they are
supporting murder. Yes, murder. I was in one of the main barrios in Caracas when
the opposition blocked off all access roads in and out of the barrio. Two people
from the barrio died because they could not reach the hospital! Love? Love of
murder? Love of violence?
Partiotic "Junta" of Venezuela Patriotic? Destroying the
economy, calling for sabotage and violence against fellow Venezuelans who
support the government? Not respecting the decisions of the CNE?
Thinking in Action Thinking? About what? How deeply?
Democratic Block USA Hummmmm.... no comment.
Now, another important note is that some of the people
involved in the BD are "doctors" and "engineers." The reason I put these titles
in quotations is simple These people consider themselves educated and more
capable than the 80%. Because they have titles or degrees, they actually believe
that they are (or will be) believable ... at least in the eyes of gullible
westerners. Unfortunately, even though they have degrees, it doesn’t seem to do
much to enhance their ability to think clearly or logically ... nor does it seem
to have any impact on their spiritual and emotional development.
I suppose that too many years of inaction has softened
their capacity to think coherently or act within reason.
Here is a striking example of some of the attitudes and
depth of thinking often found within the mid-to-upper classes in Venezuela A
dear friend of mine, a lady born into a working class family (white father and
black mother), was working as a secretary for some very prominent people within
the former Venezuelan government. Her boss, a woman in her 50’s married to a top
general, said to her one day, "You will never get a real job unless you get a
nose-job."
