Human rights

all the facts and news in Venezuela on Human rights and how it influences all decisions made by Hugo Chavez as president implications for Human rights of the Venezuelan people

Sep
21
2010
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Chavez allies play on sabotage claims before vote

This article was originally posted by The Associated Press

A power cut halts subway service in Venezuela’s capital. It’s sabotage, officials say. An explosion rocks a state-run iron plant. Sabotage again, they explain. Power outages sweep the country and President Hugo Chavez calls on state workers to guard electricity plants against sabotage.

With key congressional elections only days away, Venezuela’s leftist government is increasingly blaming attacks by shadowy opponents for problems in public services — even though they presented no evidence and have made no arrests.

Chavez’s critics mock the claims, saying the government is inventing bogeymen to hide its own inefficiency ahead of elections on Sunday that could challenge the president’s control of the legislature.

Charges of sabotage have become increasingly common among officials in recent weeks as the electric utility and other state-run companies struggle with problems ranging from temporary shutdowns to explosions.

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Sep
21
2010
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A Plea for Independent Election Monitoring in Venezuela

This article was originally posted by The Huffington Post

Venezuela will hold National Assembly elections on September 26 and it represents the next best chance to slow totalitarianism’s advance. For this reason, it is imperative for the international community, including the UN and the Organization of American States, to insist on fully independent election monitoring.

Hugo Chavez’s illegal appropriation of Globovision marked the end of independent media in Venezuela. That criminal act, combined with intimidating of the judiciary (most prominently the jailing of independent judges like Maria Lourdes Afiuni, who held his government to the rule of law), adds to the long list of reasons why the world must act.

Clearly, an independent legislature is the last barrier to complete dictatorial rule.

Chavez has been busy issuing decrees to arbitrarily “censor any information, facts or circumstance that it decides should be confidential” according to Human Rights Watch. It is no wonder then, that the Chavez government has also called on an investigation into human rights organizations that are alleged to receive funding from the United States.

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Sep
20
2010
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Vargas Llosa fears manipulation of Venezuela legislative elections

This article was originally posted by Merco Press

“It seems hard that free elections can take place in Venezuela nowadays. It’s a pity because I’m convinced that the majority of Venezuelans are against Chavez particularly the middle class, academia, trade unions, but I fear manipulation of the September 26 elections”, said Vargas Llosa in a Sunday interview with the conservative German daily “Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung”.

The Peruvian novelist, a well known political enemy of the Venezuelan president adds that Chavez “controls the whole of the state structure and the media”, and has no qualms about suffocating dissent.

“If Chavez ever falls, it won’t be through elections but with the people in the streets protesting the internal rotting of a completely corrupt regime” he underlines.

“The Chavez regime looks every day more like that of Fidel in Cuba”, added the Peruvian novelist who recalled last year’s frustrated attempt to participate in a debate with Chavez, during a visit to Venezuela, but which according to Vargas Llosa, “the president skipped the appointment at last minute”.

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