134 foreign observers to witness Venezuela's local polls

[Judi Lynn]

CARACAS, Thursday November 20, 2008
134 foreign observers to witness Venezuela's local polls

The president of Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, welcomed on Thursday 134 foreign observers that arrived in the South American country to monitor next November 23rd election of governors and mayors.

Lucena said at a press conference in Caracas that the presence of international observers from America, Europe, Africa and Asia, will help "show before the world (...) the reality of the Venezuelan electoral process," EFE reported.

Representatives of international electoral organizations of the United States and Canada, as well as members of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and the Organization of American States (OAS) will be among the international observers invited to participate, the CNE said.

The OAS confirmed on Thursday in a statement that two top officials of the OAS, on behalf of Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza, will participate as guests in the activities planned by the Venezuelan electoral institution.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/11/20/en_pol_esp_134-foreign-observer_20A2138403.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

1. 2 LTTE's from Ireland, on Hugo Chavez.

In praise of Hugo Chavez

Saturday, 22 November 2008
Phil Gunson paints a bleak picture of the situation in Venezuela under the Hugo Chavez government ("Tough-talking Chavez faces rising dissent", 20 November). Yet, if this is accurate, why are President Chavez's approval ratings at 58 per cent, as he reports?

No mention is made of how the Chavez government has delivered free healthcare to millions of people for the first time, eradicated illiteracy and used the country's best economic performance for decades to halve poverty levels.

Suggestions of "violent reaction" to the poll results from Chavez also turn reality on its head. It was the Chavez government itself that was briefly the victim of an opposition-led military coup in 2002. In contrast, the Chavez government has showed a consistent commitment to democracy; Sunday's vote will be the 13th national electoral contest held since Chavez became President. Moreover, last week the respected Latinbarametro survey showed that Venezuela is now the country with the greatest support for democracy in Latin America and the region's second-most satisfied with the functioning of its democracy. Venezuela's combination of democracy and social progress under the Chavez government has inspired widespread support. Others can learn from this process, but only if it is portrayed accurately.

Colin Burgon MP
Chair, Labour Friends of Venezuela group of MPs, House of Commons

~~~~~~~~~
Phil Gunson's assertion that Chavez "is threatening to jail a popular opposition leader" cannot go unchallenged, because it suggests serious failings in Vene-zuela's democracy.

He quotes Chavez as saying, "That criminal must go to prison", but this is something altogether different, especially when one considers that the said opposition leader, Manuel Rosales, is under investigation on corruption charges and has been summoned to court to make depositions. But Rosales is totally free and is campaigning vigorously to win his election for Mayor. Electoral rhetoric apart, the President of Venezuela does not have the legal or constitutional authority to arrest anybody.

As Chavez has already demonstrated in the 2007 constitutional referendum which rejected his government's proposals, the democratic wishes of Venezuelans will be duly recognised. It has been solidly established that Venezuela's electoral processes are probably the cleanest in the world; they are certainly the most observed.

Dr Francisco Dominguez
Head of Latin American Studies, Middlesex University, London N14

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/in-praise-of-hugo-chavez-14075215.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Helpful reading: The New Politics of Political Aid in Venezuela (Just found this)

Americas Policy Program Report
The New Politics of Political Aid in Venezuela
Tom Barry | July 24, 2007

Americas Policy Program, Center for International Policy (CIP) americas.irc-online.org


Five years after U.S.-funded groups were associated with a failed coup against Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, the U.S. government's political aid programs continue to meddle in Venezuelan domestic politics. A new focus of the "democracy builders" in Venezuela and around the world is support for nonviolent resistance by civil society organizations.*

In the name of promoting democracy and freedom, Washington is currently funding scores of U.S. and Venezuelan organizations as part of its global democratization strategy—including at least one that publicly supported the April 2002 coup that briefly removed Chávez from power.

When he first heard the news of the coup, the president of the International Republican Institute (IRI) praised those "who rose up to defend democracy," ignoring the fact that Chávez was the twice-elected president of Venezuela. Despite this declared support for a coup against a democratically elected president and for the opposition's blatant disregard for the rule of law, IRI still runs democratization programs in Venezuela that are underwritten by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The IRI, a supposedly nonpartisan institute established to direct U.S. democratization aid for which Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is chairman, is one of five U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that channel funding from USAID to Venezuelan organizations and political programs. USAID also funds the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDIIA) and three U.S. nongovernmental organizations: Freedom House, Development Alternatives Inc., and Pan-American Development Foundation.

The United States has supported democratization and human rights groups in Venezuela since the early 1990s, but funding for "democracy-building" soared after Chávez was elected president in 1998. Both USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which funds IRI and NDIIA, sharply increased their funding to Venezuela's business associations, its official labor confederation, human rights organizations, and political party coalitions.

USAID's Transition Initiative
Several months after the unsuccessful April 2002 coup in Venezuela, the U.S. State Department established an Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) in Caracas, using money from USAID. Operating out of the U.S. Embassy, OTI has two stated objectives, according to the agency: to "strengthen democratic institutions and promote space for democratic dialogue"; and "encourage citizen participation in the democratic process."

USAID established OTI with the all-but-explicit intention of aiding efforts to oust President Chávez. According to USAID, the new office would "provide fast, flexible, short-term assistance targeted at key transition needs."

Although it did not spell out what would be the desired "transition," USAID warned that Chávez "has been slowly hijacking the machinery of government and developing parallel non-democratic governance structures." In its 2001 job description for the new OTI director in Caracas, USAID stated that the director's responsibilities would include "formulating strategy and initiating the new OTI program in close coordination with U.S. political interests" and "developing an exit strategy and operational closeout plan."

Rather than directly funding Venezuelan organizations and political parties, OTI channels USAID funding through U.S. NGOs that in turn fund scores of Venezuelan NGOs and political party projects. In its January-March 2007 report, USAID reported 139 subgrants to Venezuelan entities working in 19 of the country's 23 states.

OTI, which has directed an estimated $30 million in democratization aid to Venezuela, is not the only source of U.S. political aid. The office describes itself as part of a "comprehensive assistance program to shore up the democratic voices and institutions in Venezuela," such as the NED and other State Department initiatives, including "educational" trips to the United States for selected members of the Venezuelan media. As U.S. economic aid decreases, OTI is seeking local funding to complement its own programs, noting in its January-March 2007 report that it succeeded in leveraging $3.5 million in local contributions in the year's first quarter.

More:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4420