Re Justin Delacour's latest 'article' on Venezuela
By Aleksander Boyd
London 27.09.05 | This is a copy of comments I posted on the SOLAS-L list to which Delacour's makes reference throughout his latest attempt at portraying Venezuela as paradise on earth. After recently spending seven weeks in Caracas,... [who paid for that?]
"currently controls the executive, judiciary and legislative powers" and that he assigns "almost all executive government posts (ministries, state governorships, municipal governorships) to military officials..."
Given that you've become an expert in all things Venezuela, would you care to inform the readers of this list how many army officers are actually cabinet members -appointed by Chavez, or shall I do it?
"As for Venezuela's Supreme Court, its recent expansion was first debated and then approved by the National Assembly." False, the approval of its expansion was demonstrably illegal, as it did not count with the 2/3 vote needed according to the cosntitution of, even, congressmen/women present in that legislative session.
"Neither the education minister (Aristobulo Isturiz), the foreign minister (Ali Rodriquez) nor the Vice President (Jose Vicente Rangel) come from the military." Again pls do tell the names and backgrounds of Chavez cabinet members and ministers.
"I find the above claim to be utterly absurd. One need not go back very far in Venezuelan history to find governments that acted in ways that were far more authoritarian than anything we've seen under the Chavez government. For example, former Venezuelan President Jaime Lusinchi once shut down a television program simply because it dared to identify the president’s mistress." Indeed and Chavez shut them all on April 11 2002 when they showed how innocent civilians were massacred in Av Baralt. And speaking about authoritarianism how about yesterday illegal confiscation of the Polar Silos? And that of La Marqueseña?
"In February 1989, Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez sent the military into the country's streets to crack down on popular riots against the government's neoliberal "reforms." True. In April 11 2002 Hugo Chavez gave specific orders to General Manuel Rosendo to apply the same military plan (a.k.a. Plan Avila) to placate an unarmed civil demostration. Fortunately Rosendo dissobeyed him to prevent massive loss of life.
"I did not witness any crackdown on political dissent."
"As for the private media, most newspapers and television channels are in the hands of the opposition, and the opposition media say pretty much whatever they please." I wholeheartedly agree.
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