Tag Archives: José Vicente Rangel

Aug
10
2012
Posted by
admin
Comments

Who’s Next Venezuela: The Final Potential Successor

Possible Leader of the Transition: José Vicente Rangel

jose vicente rangel Who’s Next Venezuela: The Final Potential Successor

Courtesy of: AVN

Although his age and recent absence from the political stage may eventually disqualify him, writer, leftist intellectual and former Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel has nonetheless found his name among those being considered as possible successors.

Rangel’s experience in politics goes back as far as 1948, when he was exiled for opposing the coup that overthrew President Rómulo Gallegos. He has spent his life in and out of politics, serving in Congress and running for president three times, in 1973, 1978, and 1983. Between his political forays he also worked as a journalist and lawyer.

Under Chávez, he has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defense, and even replaced Diosdado Cabello as Vice President in 2002, a position he held until 2007.

After five years out of the political world, Rangel again rose to prominence when he was named to Chávez’s six-member Council of State, along with Elias Jaua, in May. This is the same body that Chávez originally entrusted with removing Venezuela from the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The Council has still yet to be officially formed, inviting questions as to why Chávez announced it in the first place. Many speculate that it was intended to manage the internal transition of power in the event of Chávez’s death.

In the weeks after being named to the Council, Rangel assumed his role with gusto, repeating Chávez’s attacks on the IACHR and showing that he, even at age 83, still has the energy necessary for politics. The appointment also showed that Rangel remains one of Chávez’s closest confidantes. As an “elder statesman” of Venezuelan leftist politics, Rangel may be well-suited to quell fractiousness within the PSUV and manage any transition of power. Analysts suggest that Chávez will benefit from Rangel’s vast political experience and network of contacts, solidifying the theory that the president views Rangel as an invaluable advisor, and not a potential successor.

Rangel’s age and semi-retired status makes likelihood of him taking over Chávez’s job a long shot. If he does, it will certainly not be a permanent appointment. But considering his clout within the PSUV, and the vote of confidence Chávez recently gave him, we can be sure he will play a crucial role in a PSUV attempt to hold on to power after Chávez’s death.

 
May
30
2012
Posted by
admin
Comments

Chávez Convenes Possible Transition Body

chavez lot1 Chávez Convenes Possible Transition Body

Chávez and his closest advisors appear to be taking the first steps in arranging for a successor should the president lose his battle with cancer or become unable to seek re-election.

On April 30, Chávez announced the creation of the “Council of State,” declaring that its first task should be to present recommendations on Venezuela’s withdrawal from the Inter-American Commission on Human rights. The six-member council should be formally sworn in sometime in the coming weeks.

Under the 1999 Constitution, the president may convene such a body “to recommend policies of domestic interest regarding those issues that the president of the Republic recognizes to be of special transcendence and that require its opinion.” Chávez’s decision to convene this body only now — 13 years following the enactment of the constitution and after months of cancer treatments — indicates that the president’s illness is likely the event that has qualified as a matter of “special transcendence.”

The timing of this move, concurrent with news of Chávez’s failing health, has led experts and analysts to believe that the Council of State’s true purpose is to serve as a transitional body to lead Venezuela into the post-Chávez era — and possibly choose a successor. Following reports of infighting within Chávez’s own party, the Council will likely mediate between rival political factions and attempt to quash dissention within the PSUV in the event of Chávez’s death or incapacitation.

Other prognostications are bleaker: as What’s Next Venezuela guest blogger José Cardenas put it, “many see [the Council] as the first step toward the establishment of a junta to govern in Chávez’s absence or name a successor if Chávez is forced to step down.”

Chávez’s spokespeople have long maintained that the president is in good health and will stand for re-election. But the sudden formation of this council — made public as Chávez traveled back and forth to Cuba for cancer treatments — casts doubt on those rosy claims.

The members, meanwhile, claim the body serves only an advisory function.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with a transition government, it’s not been conceived that way at all … We don’t have power to take administrative decisions or pass laws,” council member Luis Britto said in an interview with Reuters.

elias jaua council of state Chávez Convenes Possible Transition Body

The Council is led by Elías Jaua, the vice-president. The other members of the Council are all close Chávez allies and mainly former government officials: Germán Mundaraín, former Ombudsman; Jorge García Carneiro, former Minister of Defense; José Vicente Rangel, former Vice-President; Luis Britto García, writer; Earle Herrera, Deputy for PSUV-Anzoátegui state; Roy Chaderton, former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Admiral Carlos Giacoppini Martínez and Luisa Estella Morales, President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ).

The makeup of the group — which includes several plausible successors — suggests that Chávez has drawn close his closest confidants in an attempt to ensure that his socialist project will carry on, with or without him.

 
May
11
2012
Posted by
admin
Comments

Another Former Judge Alleges Drug Trafficking Ties in Venezuelan Government

Velasquez Alvaray SoiTV Another Former Judge Alleges Drug Trafficking Ties in Venezuelan Government

After weeks of controversy surrounding Eladio Aponte Aponte’s testimony that high-ranking Venezuelan officials were complicit in the illegal narcotics trade, a second former Venezuelan Supreme Court judge, Luis Velásquez Alvaray, has stepped forward. On Wednesday, Velásquez Alvaray publicly accused Venezuelan government officials and members of the judiciary of corruption and of aiding drug traffickers and guerrilla organizations, via SoiTV, a Miami online channel.

Velásquez Alvaray, who currently resides in Costa Rica after having himself been charged with corruption, accused a group of judges and prosecutors that operate under the name “Band of Dwarves”, of extortion and bribery. He claims that the groups is led by former vice-president José Vicente Rangel, and known for penetrating the whole country with their influence. Velásquez Alvaray calls them a criminal gang, describing them as the “worst perversion from the judicial point of view that could exist.”

He also accused Rangel of being the mastermind behind the controversial murder of prosecutor Danilo Anderson, who died after a device under the driver’s seat of his car containing an explosive erupted. The bomb was apparently activated remotely by a cell phone.

Velásquez Alvaray showed the camera several incriminating documents; the worst was the actual record of Hugo Chávez ordering the arrest of his former presidential rival, Manuel Rosales. “The order was to arrest Manuel Rosales however possible, even though there was no proof against him,” he claimed. Politics has long been a contact sport, but to actually arrest one’s political opponent without cause is not an act that most democratically-elected leaders would countenance.

He went on to describe the two biggest drug trafficking groups operating in the country: “the Cartel of the Suns,” which he believes is composed primarily of generals, and the “Syrian-Lebanese Cartel,” which he argues is comprised of senior government officials. There apparently is proof of the involvement of many of these civil and military personalities in drug trafficking, extortions and homicides. It is this “war of cartels,” as Alvaray called it, that is tearing Venezuelan civil society apart. He claimed that the president of the Supreme Court, Luisa Estella Morales, is fully aware of the situation, but has done nothing to resolve or address the issue.

Links between many members of Chávez’s regime and the Colombia guerrilla organization FARC were also drawn; “I rely on information from the Colombian intelligence bodies on the current operation of the FARC in Venezuela,” and presented evidence of an alleged report which says that “the guerrillas are operating in Venezuela with more force than ever before.” Chávez’s brother, Adán, was one of the many accused.

These declarations emerge three weeks after another former Venezuelan Supreme Court judge, Eladio Aponte Aponte, accused Venezuelan officials of drug links and corruption, and turned over proof to the DEA. This is not the last we can expect to hear about this discouraging issue: according to a U.S. official, Aponte is preparing to speak publicly on these issues in the coming weeks.