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May
10
2013
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 5/10/13

Maduro In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 5/10/13

Courtesy of Reuters

This week: The Venezuelan government starts an expanded audit of the disputed April 14 presidential election as Henrique Capriles files a legal challenge of the results; the Obama administration continues to monitor Venezuela’s crackdown on political opposition; Nicolás Maduro reacts angrily to Barack Obama’s comments about the political crisis in Venezuela; the family of Timothy Tracy, the American filmmaker held in Venezuela on charges of alleged espionage, calls the situation a “nightmare”; and U.S. diplomats are finally granted access to Tracy in Venezuela. Senior Venezuelan banking official is held on charges of accepting at least $5 million in bribes to funnel business to two Miami broker-dealers; the U.S. Treasury punishes Iran-Venezuela Binational Bank for helping the Iran government evade international sanctions; the Venezuelan government scrambles for answers to the country’s homicide rate, creating concerns about possible human rights abuses; and representatives of 130 countries believe Venezuela fails to meet the minimum democratic requirements. Venezuelan inflation soars toward 30 percent, the highest since August 2010, as the central bank’s scarcity index reaches a record high; according to mathematicians, the tally in Venezuela’s disputed election presents logical and numerical inconsistencies; Venezuela falls to seventh place in scientific research in Latin America, ranking below Cuba; and Venezuela’s only opposition TV station announces management changes after being taken over by the government.

Venezuela Starts Election Audit, The Wall Street Journal

Authorities on Monday began an expanded audit of the disputed April 14 presidential election even though the opposition candidate who called for the review has since withdrawn his support and instead filed a legal challenge of the results.

U.S. Monitoring Venezuela’s Political Crackdown On Opposition, Obama Says, Reuters

The United States is watching “crackdowns on the opposition” in Venezuela, President Barack Obama said in a television interview aired on Friday when asked if he considered newly elected Nicolas Maduro to be the country’s legitimate president.

Venezuela’s Government Condemns Obama’s Comments, The Associated Press

Venezuela’s government on Saturday angrily rejected comments made by U.S. President Barack Obama about the South American country’s political crisis and accused Washington of being behind violence that has followed its recent presidential election.

Family of American held in Venezuela says experience ‘a nightmare;’ embassy has had no access, The Associated Press

U.S. diplomats have been given no access to a California man held in Venezuela for nearly two weeks in what his family on Monday called a “nightmare” that unfolded after he was accused of being a spy fomenting postelection unrest.

US officials are granted access to American detained in Venezuela, Associated Press

Venezuela’s government has granted U.S. diplomats access to a California man who is being held while he awaits trial on charges of espionage and fomenting unrest.

Venezuelan banking official and 2 Miami broker dealers charged in $5 million NY bribery case, The Associated Press

A senior Venezuelan banking official is being held in Miami on charges that she accepted at least $5 million in bribes to funnel business to two Miami broker-dealers, federal authorities in Manhattan announced Tuesday.

US punishes Venezuelan-Iranian bank for helping Tehran, El Universal

The US Department of the Treasury punished on Thursday the Iran-Venezuela Binational Bank (IVBB) for helping the Iranian government to “sort out” international sanctions because of its controversial nuclear program.

Justice minister says Venezuela’s military to form part of anti-crime initiative, The Associated Press

Venezuela’s top security official announced Sunday the government of President Nicolas Maduro will use the military to fight rampant violent crime, raising concerns among activists who warned the initiative could lead to human rights violations.

No democracy in Venezuela, according to 130 countries, El Universal

Representatives of 130 Foreign Offices of countries viewed as democratic met last week in Mongolia, at the Summit of the Community of Democracies.

Venezuela Inflation Soars Toward 30% as Maduro Cuts Dollar Sales, Bloomberg

Venezuelan consumer prices soared the most in three years last month as President Nicolas Maduro’s government reduced dollar sales to importers and the central bank’s scarcity index reached the highest on record.

Mathematicians claim that election numbers in Venezuela do not match, El Universal

The results released by the board of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) in several bulletins about the presidential election of April 14 exhibit “logic and numerical inconsistencies.”

Venezuela ranks below Cuba in scientific research, El Universal

Venezuela ranked seventh in scientific production in Latin America in 2011, according to international indicators such as SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR).

Sole Opposition TV Channel in Venez Makes Changes, The Associated Press

Venezuela’s only opposition television channel says it is bringing in new management after its sale to new owners, but pledges to maintain its critical line against the government.

 
Jul
27
2012
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Facing election, Hugo Chávez ruthlessly consolidates his power

The Washington Post
July 26, 2012
By Editorial Board

chavez fiesta venezuela 644x362 Facing election, Hugo Chávez ruthlessly consolidates his power

Courtesy of: Reuters

NOT FOR THE first time, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has declared himself cancer-free and ready to resume a full schedule. The announcement should be treated dubiously; the government has refused to release details of the strongman’s illness, and numerous reports have said he suffers from an incurable malignancy. But Mr. Chávez’s claim does make clear that he intends an all-out push to win reelection in an Oct. 7 vote.

Having the caudillo at the top of the ticket makes a big difference: While most polls show Mr. Chávez leading opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, they also indicate that the opposition would trounce any of Mr. Chávez’s potential successors. The president’s personal popularity lingers with some Venezuelans, who do not fault him for the soaring inflation, power and food shortages and world-beating murder rate that have emerged during his 13 years in office.

Mr. Chávez, however, is leaving little to chance. He is pouring tens of billions of dollars, much of it borrowed from China, into the economy, producing a preelection boomlet. More significantly, he is employing all the leverage of a legal system and mass media that he has politicized and subordinated to his personal control. Just how far that process of corruption has advanced is illuminated in a report by Human Rights Watch, which concludes that “the accumulation of power in the executive, the removal of institutional safeguards, and the erosion of human rights guarantees have given the Chávez government free rein to intimidate, censor and prosecute Venezuelans who criticize the president or thwart his political agenda.”

Since 2010, the report says, Mr. Chávez has “repacked” the Supreme Court with followers who “have openly rejected the principle of separation of powers and publicly pledged their commitment to advancing the political agenda of President Chávez.” He has increased the number of state-run TV channels from one to six while relentlessly pressuring the two remaining independent networks, one of which was pushed off the air. He has “targeted media outlets for sanction and/or censorship for their critical reporting” on “issues such as water pollution, violent crime, a prison riot, and an earthquake.”

One of the most disturbing accounts in the report is of Maria Lourdes Afiuni, a judge who courageously granted conditional release to a Chávez opponent who had spent nearly three years in prison while awaiting trial on corruption charges. Though her ruling complied with Venezuelan law and a recommendation by U.N. human rights monitors, Ms. Afiuni was arrested and ordered to stand trial by a provisional judge who had loudly proclaimed his loyalty to Mr. Chávez. She has now spent 21 / 2 years in prison or under house arrest while awaiting trial.

The Obama administration has done its best to ignore Mr. Chávez and his domestic offenses; Mr. Obama recently told an interviewer dismissively that Venezuela “has not had a serious national security impact on us.” That may be true, but Mr. Chávez certainly has had an impact on democratic freedoms in his country and in the hemisphere. While he lives, the United States should be doing what it can to preserve and protect Venezuela’s democrats; they will be needed for what, at best, will be a long and painful rebuilding process.

To read this article on The Washington Post, please click here.

 
Jul
27
2012
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ICYMI: Facing election, Hugo Chávez ruthlessly consolidates his power

The Washington Post
July 26, 2012
By Editorial Board

chavez fiesta venezuela 644x362 ICYMI: Facing election, Hugo Chávez ruthlessly consolidates his power

Courtesy of: Reuters

NOT FOR THE first time, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has declared himself cancer-free and ready to resume a full schedule. The announcement should be treated dubiously; the government has refused to release details of the strongman’s illness, and numerous reports have said he suffers from an incurable malignancy. But Mr. Chávez’s claim does make clear that he intends an all-out push to win reelection in an Oct. 7 vote.

Having the caudillo at the top of the ticket makes a big difference: While most polls show Mr. Chávez leading opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, they also indicate that the opposition would trounce any of Mr. Chávez’s potential successors. The president’s personal popularity lingers with some Venezuelans, who do not fault him for the soaring inflation, power and food shortages and world-beating murder rate that have emerged during his 13 years in office.

Mr. Chávez, however, is leaving little to chance. He is pouring tens of billions of dollars, much of it borrowed from China, into the economy, producing a preelection boomlet. More significantly, he is employing all the leverage of a legal system and mass media that he has politicized and subordinated to his personal control. Just how far that process of corruption has advanced is illuminated in a report by Human Rights Watch, which concludes that “the accumulation of power in the executive, the removal of institutional safeguards, and the erosion of human rights guarantees have given the Chávez government free rein to intimidate, censor and prosecute Venezuelans who criticize the president or thwart his political agenda.”

Since 2010, the report says, Mr. Chávez has “repacked” the Supreme Court with followers who “have openly rejected the principle of separation of powers and publicly pledged their commitment to advancing the political agenda of President Chávez.” He has increased the number of state-run TV channels from one to six while relentlessly pressuring the two remaining independent networks, one of which was pushed off the air. He has “targeted media outlets for sanction and/or censorship for their critical reporting” on “issues such as water pollution, violent crime, a prison riot, and an earthquake.”

One of the most disturbing accounts in the report is of Maria Lourdes Afiuni, a judge who courageously granted conditional release to a Chávez opponent who had spent nearly three years in prison while awaiting trial on corruption charges. Though her ruling complied with Venezuelan law and a recommendation by U.N. human rights monitors, Ms. Afiuni was arrested and ordered to stand trial by a provisional judge who had loudly proclaimed his loyalty to Mr. Chávez. She has now spent 21 / 2 years in prison or under house arrest while awaiting trial.

The Obama administration has done its best to ignore Mr. Chávez and his domestic offenses; Mr. Obama recently told an interviewer dismissively that Venezuela “has not had a serious national security impact on us.” That may be true, but Mr. Chávez certainly has had an impact on democratic freedoms in his country and in the hemisphere. While he lives, the United States should be doing what it can to preserve and protect Venezuela’s democrats; they will be needed for what, at best, will be a long and painful rebuilding process.

To read this article on The Washington Post, please click here.