Tag: Chavez

In 2017, Michael Shifter reported that “Just a decade ago, Venezuela was perhaps the most influential Latin American country in the Organization of American States (OAS), the world’s oldest regional cooperation group…On April 26, after a majority of OAS states called a special meeting to discuss Venezuela’s crisis, Caracas declared that it would leave the organization.”

A glance at key provisions within the recently released report by the Organization for American States outlines the crisis:

“The decision to produce this report stems from the marked deterioration in the country with respect to the exercise of human rights, and the grave political, economic, and social crisis in Venezuela…the Inter-American Commission addresses the human rights situation in Venezuela by analyzing the impact on them of the dismantling of much of democratic institutional system and the alarming increase in repression, violence, and citizen insecurity…For several years now, the [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]  IACHR has been observing a gradual deterioration in the democratic institutional system and the human rights situation in Venezuela that has become significantly more intense and widespread since 2015. …This breach of the principle of the separation of powers is most seriously manifested in the alarming behavior of the Judiciary, especially in the past two years. Indeed, the exacerbation of the recent crisis in Venezuela is closely linked to a series of decisions taken by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) that amounted to interference with the National Assembly (AN) and violated the principle of the separation of powers.

“This situation worsened in 2017 to a point at which Judgments No. 155 and 156 handed down by the TSJ on March 28 and 29, respectively, produced an alteration of the constitutional order. In those judgments, the TSJ did away with the parliamentary immunity of deputies to the AN, established that their acts constituted “treason”, granted the Executive broad discretionary authority, and arrogated to itself powers rightfully pertaining to the Legislature. As the IACHR pointed out at the time, those measures represented usurpation by the Judiciary and the Executive of powers constitutionally granted to parliament, as well as a de facto annulment of the popular vote, via which those deputies had been elected. The alteration of the constitutional order in Venezuela was possible due to a series of factors that mean that, in general, the country’s democratic institutional system is seriously flawed. … there are still serious instances of interference with the Legislature and obstacles to the exercise of its constitutional function…the Commission calls upon the State to adopt immediate and resolute measures to restore the constitutional order, and guarantee the separation of powers and appropriate exercise of the constitutionally established functions of the AN, including the lifting of the measures referred to above…

“The interferences of the Judiciary and the Executive in the Legislature have been accompanied by a lack of independence and inadequate exercise of the functions of constitutional bodies that are vital for democracy, such as the National Electoral Council (CNE), the Public Prosecutors’ Office (Ministerio Público -MP), and the Ombudsperson’s Office (Defensoría del Pueblo – DP). That being so, the Commission considers it essential to take decisive steps to ensure that these bodies function without interference or improper political pressures and comply fully with their constitutional mandate, which is vital for the democratic rule of law in Venezuela.
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“The IACHR points out that the complaints about high levels of corruption in the country further undermine already weak government institutions, given that impunity encourages and perpetuates acts of corruption, steps need to be taken to ensure that acts reported are investigated independently, impartially, and promptly, without pressures or discrimination based on membership of certain political parties or on the positions held by those under investigation. Preventive measures are also needed. They include governance imbued with the principles of openness, transparency, and effective public accountability.

“The problems associated with the weakness of democratic institutions referred to earlier have resulted in widespread impunity and have had a profound impact on the exercise of rights that are fundamental for democracy, such as political rights. The IACHR is particularly concerned about the situation of these rights in Venezuela, Their exercise has been severely curtailed by a series of obstacles. Among the most recent are: the suspension of the Presidential recall referendum process; the putting off for a long time of municipal and regional elections; and serious recent allegations of unfair advantages and fraud in the regional election of October 15, 2017.

“In Venezuela those who dissent from the Government are victims of serious reprisals, as seen in the frequent detention and destitution of mayors, governors, members of parliament, and opposition figures in general. As emblematic cases, the IACHR points to the worrying acts committed against Henrique Capriles, Antonio Ledezma, and Leopoldo López. In light of the above, the Commission reiterates the need to guarantee, as a matter of priority, full exercise of the political rights of every authority and inhabitant of Venezuela, irrespective of their political sympathies; and the need to refrain from any act of harassment, intimidation, or criminalization of political dissent…

“As regards freedom of expression, severe curtailments to that right have been documented, including censorship and the closing down of media, attacks on journalists, and, in general, harassment and criminalization of those who express political views or dissemination that the State does not approve of. Such measures are not part of any regulatory framework compatible with Venezuela’s international obligations in this regard and, in practice, they are geared to silencing critics of the current Government. The harm they are doing to Venezuelan democracy is obvious and requires priority attention.”

U.S. State Department map

As western nations react to the dictatorship and poverty resulting from the leadership first of Chavez and then Maduro, the Venezuelan dictatorship has turned to Iran, Russia and China.

Alexander Martinez, in a Center for Security Policy/London Center for Policy Center report  “Politico uncovered a story with serious and far-reaching implications. The Obama Administration undermined and blocked a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) program in its eagerness to secure a nuclear deal with Iran…cocaine trafficking originated… specifically through Venezuela and Mexico…The story reported by Politico …follows a larger trend that has serious security implications for the entire Western Hemisphere. ‘Iran has had a presence in Latin America for decades. … its role in the region expanded and intensified after Hugo Chavez took the reins of the Venezuelan state in 1999. Chavez based his rule on a revolutionary transnational agenda that included a quasi-socialist authoritarian revolution at home, and an aggressive, expansionist foreign policy aimed at spreading his revolution throughout the region…. Chavez began to funnel money to candidates in different countries in the region who held views akin to his ideology and proceeded to establish alliances with regional guerilla movements to organize subversion across Latin America… Chavez saw groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as a necessary force that could create subversion abroad and expand his so-called ‘Bolivarian Revolution.’ Likewise, they strengthened relations with the Shining Path guerrilla Maoist movement in Peru and other subversive groups in the region. They also trainedmembers of the Paraguayan Popular Army (EPP) … the alliance between Venezuela and Iran has strong foundations. They both are anti-American and seek to reduce U.S. power in their respective regions and, if possible, in the world. Chavez defined the Islamic and the Bolivarian revolutions as ‘sister revolutions.’ Venezuela needed Iran’s subversive capabilities and its ‘valuable’ experience in building a totalitarian-revolutionary regime…Hezbollah and Iran’s IslamicRevolutionary GuardsCorps (IRGC) have also established a presence in the region, training ‘soldiers of the revolution’ in Venezuelan camps…For its part, Iran needed Venezuela to expand its presence in Latin America… It also sought a strategic position in the region to increase deterring capabilities against the U.S.”

In an el-Nacional newspaper article first reported by Fox News, Vladimir Medrano Regifo, former director general of the Office of Identification, Migration and Immigration of Venezuela, revealed that the Venezuelan government may have distributed about 10,000 passports to Syrians, Iranians, and nationals of other Middle Eastern nations. “Nowadays, they do not know where these people are or what they are doing. They can be anywhere in the world, traveling with Venezuelan documentation… Around 173 individuals from the Middle East have been detected with Venezuelan passports. Likewise, the majority of Iraqis who tried to enter Canada first arrived in Caracas, detailed a study by the Center for a Free and Secure Society (SFS) of 2014.”

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The U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission reports that Venezuela maintains strong ties to the Chinese military “through a high number of official visits, military officer exchanges, port calls, and limited arms sales.”  Venezuela has purchased Chinese arms and military equipment, including radar and aircraft.

A Council of the America’s study  found that “Running a cash-strapped country didn’t stop Maduro from announcing his plans to “modernize” the Venezuelan Armed Forces with new military equipment, marking another aspect of Venezuela’s relationship with China and Russia.

That Venezuela turns to China and Russia for military equipment is partly out of necessity. In 2005, while trying to upgrade an aging F-16 fleet, the United States blocked Israel from selling replacement parts to Venezuela. So Venezuela turned to Russia, from which it bought 24 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, along with 53 military helicopters and 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles, over the next two years.

In his annual state of the union address in 2011, Chávez said that Venezuela had doubled its military capacities in one year, thanks to equipment from Russia and China.”

The Report Concludes Monday.

Venezuelan Govt. photo

The disastrous decline of Venezuela, despite its vast oil wealth, since hard-core socialists took over the government in 1999 has both been tragic for the people of that once-prosperous nation, and dangerous for the entire western hemisphere, as the administration of Nicolás Maduro expands relations with Iran, China, and Russia.

Testifying before Congress on February 15, Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, who runs the U.S. Southern Command told the Senate Armed Service Committee “…the political, economic, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela worsens by the day. Its citizens (especially the most vulnerable) are suffering. The health care system has nearly collapsed. Child malnutrition rates are past the crisis threshold and infant mortality rates have risen sharply. Some reports suggest that 93% of Venezuelans claim they cannot afford the food they need. The government is on the brink of total default as a result of the Maduro regime’s mismanagement of the economy. Venezuela has long provided a permissive environment for narco-terrorist groups and Lebanese Hezbollah supporters, and is a transit country for the smuggling of illicit drugs and SIAs. The continued assault on democratic institutions provides increased space for illicit actors to operate with impunity, and for Russia, China, and Cuba to expand their influence over the corrupt Maduro regime.”

Venezuelans Rafael Acevedo and Luis B. Cirocco, of the Mises Institute, writing for Business Insider highlight how far Venezuela descended from prosperity to poverty. “[Previously] The oil wells were privately owned, and in many cases were owned by private international companies that operated in Venezuela…during this period, tax rates in the country were relatively low. Over time, the destruction of economic freedom led to more and more impoverishment and crisis. This in turn set the stage for the rise of a political outsider with a populist message. This, of course, was Hugo Chávez. He was elected in 1998 and promised to replace light socialism with radical socialism. This only accelerated the problems we had been facing for decades. Nevertheless, he was able to pass through an even more anti-private-property constitution. Since Chávez’s death in 2013, the attacks on private property have continued, and Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro, promises only more of the same…the government is turning toward outright authoritarian socialism, and Maduro is seeking a new constitution in which private property is almost totally abolished, and Maduro will be allowed to remain in power for life…So, what are the results of socialism in Venezuela? Well, we have experienced hyperinflation. We have people eating garbage, schools that do not teach, hospitals that do not heal, long and humiliating lines to buy flour, bread, and basic medicines. We endure the militarization of practically every aspect of life. The cost of living has skyrocketed in recent years.”

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Aside from purely political and international matters, the stunning downfall of a nation that has abundant oil resources illustrates the problem.  According to the International Monetary Funds’ projections, Venezuela’s economy will continue to be in freefall during 2018. It’s economy is expected to shrink by 6%, while consumer prices escalate by an enormous 2,349.3%.

A France 24 review notes that: “Venezuela’s money, the bolivar, is sinking faster and faster under an intensifying political and economic crisis that has left citizens destitute and increasingly desperate.Its depreciation accelerated this week, after a disputed vote electing an all-powerful “Constituent Assembly” filled with allies of President Nicolas Maduro, which the opposition and dozens of countries have called illegitimate…In a year, the currency has lost 94 percent.”

Michael Shifter, writing in Foreign Affairs during 2017,  noted that Nicolás Madur “…presides over a broken nation of some 30 million people, most of whom are barely scraping by, desperate for food and medicine, fearful for their safety, and angered by their government’s erosion of democratic safeguards. On March 29, a Supreme Court ruling effectively closed down the opposition-dominated National Assembly, triggering massive street protests. Since then, more than 35 Venezuelans have been killed in violent clashes, many with government-backed militias—and there is no end in sight… Over the course of the last year, Venezuela was suspended from MERCOSUR, a regional trade bloc, and many Latin American officials—particularly in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru—began to forcefully criticize Maduro for the first time.” On April 26, after a majority of OAS states called a special meeting to discuss Venezuela’s crisis, Caracas declared that it would leave the organization.”

The Report Continues Tomorrow.