Venezuela News and Views
I guess nothing really surprises us anymore.
On a side note there's a grand protest planned for 10 AM on the 3rd (this Saturday). Basically there will be a concentration on Avenida Victoria in Caracas and in every Plaza Bolivar in Venezuela. (As some readers may not know there is a Plaza Bolivar in every town and city in Venezuela.) Anyone not in Venezuela is invited to congregate at the Venezuelan emabassy closest to them.
http://megaresistencia.com/foro/...opic.php?
t=5440
Student Vivas is the son of comisario Henry Vivas? then the attack was not merely casual. I saw the beating live, couldn't help crying. These people, don't they have family? children?
There was another student with 10 stitches on his forehead. He said that the water canon truck wouldn't stop.. -he was on his knees- and the truck just hit him.
What is this? I don't know these 'funcionarios' but they seem like G2 trained to me.
Sad day.
The NYTimes has some pictures up on their "pictures of the day" this one is my favorite
http://www.nytimes.com/
slideshow...71101POD_7.html
The police look a little scared 
and out numbered
KA
I think chavismo seems a little bit scared these days. amazingly they seem to have completely underestimated the rejection that the constitutional reform would raise. i mean, they expected something, but they truly thought that after the summer vacation the students woudl have disappeared. now they are calling for huge marches.
i am not saying by that that there is a majority against the reforma, i am saying that the government hoped that rcvt closing and the students would haev been something of the past today. and it is not. even without rctv the opposition seems to set the agenda these days and chavismo is dumbfounded. hence the repression, the only option when you run out of arguments.
Y dicen que no tenemos dictadura, expliquenme por favor que es lo que tenemos aqui, los chavistas protegidos, la oposición tratada como traidores a la patria, si no filman al hijo Vivas, a la hora estaria muerto o en el hospital en terapia intensiva, policia = criminales=malandros, el G2 mandando como en su casa, el pais derrumbandose,la canasta básica escasa. El pueblo esta bravo!
“Rector Yepez said that the CNE doesn’t have the constitutional faculty to defer the referendum (like the students propose) since by law they have the obligation to convoke it 30 days after the Legislative Power formally delivers the reform proposal. He insisted that they are open to receive any other type of demand”
Open. Are they?
This is the opportunity for the political parties (PJ, Podemos, UNT) to call for a public question and answer debate (emphasis in answers, not merely to ‘receive’ demands) with all of the CNE rectors.
Question: when the National Assembly presents an unconstitutional proposal, isn’t the obligation of the independent an autonomous Electoral Power to act only in the way the constitution mandates?
After all, Rector Diaz was the first to point out that fundamental changes to the constitution require a Constituent Assembly. He seemed to have abandoned that position. Time to challenge them again, if only to hear them publicly formulating lame excuses.
Why isn't a national general strike called?
I mean, people have to be against even the consideration of these constitutional amendments and not only the imminent reduction of personal rights and freedom guaranteed to make everyone suffer.
Also, the reduction of two hours of work will seriously hit the poor and middle class who need the wages to pay for the costly mistakes this corrupt government is making.
Seriously, I remember the days the student riots occurred and the police shooting rubber bullets and tear gas constantly. It's not much of a change from those days but the students are much better organized and aren't covering their faces that much. It's like a throwback to those times but this time they're going to save the country and the mess this country is in. The police hasn't changed though, they're still the poorly educated violent people who are brainwashed into the robolucion now.
Concerned ExPat,
A national strike was attempted in 2002/203. Chavez didn't blink then I'm not convinced he would blink now, especially since he now controls 100% the oil sector which is his livelihood. We need something else. I wish I knew what.
Sometimes I think Ghandian tactics are the best in this circumstance,or maybe a combination of that and students speaking out.... but nothing is guaranteed.The stakes are high,Risk will always be a factor, and I do not pretend to know the future but
As things are never exactly the same,I mean in the sense that circumstances change slightly , knowledge evolves, feelings transmute etc.; the time, place and intensity of something can change the outcome quite a bit.One day I can tell my husband we need to get a new roof and he might not listen or agree...and then a few months down the road,after he is hit with leak repairs I may say the same thing at the right moment, and in the right way, and BINGO, he agrees.Just a thought.
Say Daniel: Were there Pro-Chavez students protesting against the Reforma as well?
I read that somewhere but I have seen no photos or videos
Greetings
gifzahn
No, I have not heard anything of the sort. And it is rather unlikely that we would see pro Chavez students protesting the reform. Unless they like PODEMOS kind of masochism.
All the pro Chavez "students" have been exposed as speaking for themselves, that is they do not represent any campus, are not issue from any student internal election and are all on some form of governmental payroll. The odds that one of them woudl challenge the reforma is for all practical purpose 0.
Look, I don't support Chavez. He clearly has delusions of grandeur and a totalitarian mindset. But I think it is laughable to pretend like the opposition stands for democracy.
What kind of a democratic opposition demands the resignation of a democratically elected and still popularly supported president like it did back in April 2002?
And where was all the student activism during the Puntofijo years that sought to establish a more egalitarian society, that rebelled against the massive corruption of that pact's last couple decades? I believe the only thing they really got up in arms about was when the government in the 1990s sought to reduce their university tuition subsidies. So let's be clear: they are fighting for their interests. That is fine. But these kids don't know what democracy is.
Hi Daniel,
Much as I am on the side of the students, I have to say I was troubled by this video-- which of course can and will be used by chavistas to discredit the anti-"reform" movement. The leaders of the movement should very explicitly oppose this kind of violence against the police-- who, after all, are not the real enemy. And it's not good enough to say the police have done much worse-- even if they have. The students risk losing the moral high ground.
Instead of throwing stuff at the police, the students should have sat down in the street and let the police carry them away one by one. There are lessons to be learned from Martin Luther King and the US civil rights movement.
The BBC has pictures of the confrotation with the police. It's sad to see the erosion of democracy anywhere in the world, but in South America, where everyone thought that dictatorships had finally disappeared... it's downright heartbreaking.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pi...res/
7074233.stm
Now some members of Lula's PT are trying to change the Brazilian constitution to make him run indefinetely. Truly a disgrace...
Gene
You are right and that is why I did not go much into the details this time around because I am trying to digest it all and try to make some sense.
What I can tell you though, is that the arrogance of the government over the subject of the "reforma" is what is heightening tensions in Venezuela. when a small group of people decided how to change the constitution just because they say so, you can only end with violence in the streets at some pint. The question her is whether the government is acting incompetently or seeking violence. The answer will come soon enough.
I should also add that the CNE has reached such a level of discredit, and has been appearing as trying to help as much as possible the government to pass quickly the changes that some anti CNE violence was just a matter of time. Exactly as in a soccer game: if the umpire is too partial, he ends up been beaten up. It cannot be justified ever but that is unfortunately what happens all the time, in soccer or in politics.
Also a small note: that video comes from VTV. Not that the video is untrue, but you should know that the video of the beaten up student has probably not been shown by VTV. VTV anchors have a unique ability to reach areas where shots will favor the government. No other media is there when they have filmed some of their best anti opposition moments. curious, no? Not that Globo is innocent of that "scoop" thing, but somehow videos of Globo tend to be confirmed by other media....
Unfortunately for VTV there are always MORE videos of police violence than violence against the police. but Chavez has more money to advertise them outside. so you are right, they should be more careful least chavismo passes again as a poor innocent victim
edgar
do you know anything about punto fijismo? only pro chavez folks use the term the way you use it.
as for they fighting for their interests. are chavista not fighting for theirs? so, what is your point?
This is a rumor and I am saying so, but if you take a spin around some of the Spanish language blogs you will find reports of infiltrated "students" whose job was to rile things up. There was also a video of the "alleged" opposition student who supposedly was caught with gasoline. Well in that video it distinctly looked like the can was passed to him from underneath a police car where the PM and Nazi Guard were located. Is it true? Stranger things have happened. If the so called "students" at the National Assembly were found to be employees of different government entities, who's to say there weren't infiltrated "students." Right now I think I could believe anything.
edgar,
”these kids don't know what democracy is.”
These students are on average between 18 and 25 years of age today. They were between 9 and 16 when Chavez came to power and between 3 and 10 when Chavez attempted a bloody military coup against a democratically elected leader.
The political environment where they grew up was one where a bloody military coup against a democratically elected leader is glorified and celebrated.
If today they oppose policies of militarization, of exacerbation of hatred among Venezuelans, of political discrimination, of violation of constitutional rights, of restriction of freedom of expression and of communicational hegemony, I would conclude that they are demonstrating their defense for democratic values in a much more convincing way than the groups who defend what they oppose.
Maybe you think that the students defending the military caudillo and employed by his government are more democratic?
Now... about the student movement.. We are defending our interests - nothing wrong about it - with the hope that some of our interests (most of them) are the same that other sectors of the Venezuelan population have and we could be right about this hope.
Today there were several protest at the streets, and later the highway surrounding my university (UCAB). I think that happened at other universities as well but since I just came back home I could not tell. As I write this, the students are blocking again (since 5 Pm) the university entrance as a protest against the reform, and yesterday' police repression.
Now Edgar, could you give us a concept of democracy and then tell us why us kids are so ignorant about it? Second, I dont like the way you demonize Punto Fijo years but despiting that, don't blame us for the lack of student activism on the past generations. That argument simply dont work when the political activist are not older than 25, and generally around 18,19 years old.
I'm truly sorry if you couldn't protest when you were a student, but it's not my fault. I'm a student now, not before, unless you criticize my lack of activism when I was 5...
Edgar, there is a type of fighting for one's own interest that is true and real, and that is the type that includes others.I cannot truly fight for my rights if I do not fight for all other people's rights as well.
Then there is the kind of fighting for rights that is not equal and does not allow others the same rights and opportunities, but rather attempts to limit others as in fascist regimes and dictatorships.This is not truly fighting for oneself.
Sometimes it takes great suffering to arouse people to begin to fight for truth.Sometimes people go around in a kind of sleepwalk until they are shocked into awakening.
Obviously this is what is happening with the students.
The oppression and chaos are so bad that people are beginning to finally fight for their own self interest.
While I agree somewhat with edgar I disagree with the notion that the student activists are fighting for thier own interests.
It is clear that the students (as an extension of the general opposition population) will challenge the government on any front that presents itself as fruitful to shame the government, warranted or otherwise. These tactics are vastly different than any one group acting to preserve thier own interests per se. To clarify, thier motives for organizing are not based on a specific threat to them as students, but rather as minority members of the overall population who opposes the current government. This is made evident by thier constant shifts in emphasis to what they are protesting against e.g. RCTV - Constitutional reform. In essence they protest for protests sake.
How is it that a mobilization of such vast numbers of student protestors can organize on so many varied issues?
The short answer is that they are being guided; but by whom?
To be sure, the students, which noted earlier in previous comments, are, for the most part, no more than 25 years of age, know the meaning of democracy. That which they have experienced in thier formative scholastic years over the last 8 years! Perhaps it is not the kind of democracy that thier sponsors would like to see.
Ed
Guided? Dispersed interests? I am not following you.
I think that in fact the student movement is very focused on preservation of freedom. RCTV closing was an attack against freedom of information. The present constitutional garbage is an attack against our individual liberties as a people.
I suggest that you read closely the constitutional articles published in this blog and you will surely find yourself in the streets supporting the students (though you IP is not in Venezuela). I trust that you will find out that no one needs any guidance to oppose the constitutional "reform". In fact it is downright condescending to imagine that people could be guided into opposing the Chavez power grab. Though many certainly seem to be able to be bought to support it.
Ed,
”How is it that a mobilization of such vast numbers of student protestors can organize on so many varied issues?” ??
The short answer is not the one you stated.
The students explained themselves very clearly before the National Assembly earlier this year. When you were 21, could you not have expressed yourself in this manner without being guided?
We believe in the work for safety, well-being, and the greatest possible happiness for our people. It is because of that that we demand, with the same strength that the right to choose be guarded and guaranteed. Understanding the right to choose from the most simple thing, like the right to choose which clothes to wear, what to eat, and which road to take to go to work, to the most complex thing, like choosing their religion, their ideology, and their political authorities, even including the right to choose what do you wish to read in the newspaper, listen to on the radio and to watch on TV, because that choice at the end falls on the individual, on the citizens and not on the state, nor on the government.
That right to choose whatever we consider best for us is what makes the man truly a man, truly free. And a life without elections, a life without decisions, has little freedom, little humanity, little life. That would be an robotic, singular existence, it would be, in the end, meaningless.
That is the goal of our struggle. It is a struggle without those who aim to participate in coups or destabilize the current situation. It is a struggle for freedom, a struggle for choices. A struggle that as men, women, students, university students and above all, as Venezuelans, we cannot stop fighting. It is our right, it is our duty, it is our responsibility, it is our moral obligation.
http://antipatrioticvenezuelan.b...l-
assembly.html
The government treat us like kids, some commenters as idiots. I got nothing else to say, Daniel just did it.
It's happening, Musharraf in Pakistan declared a state of emergency but the supreme court rejected it calling it illegal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/
0...04pakistan.html
I wonder if Chavez calls a state of emergency, will it be permanent martial law and detain every single opponent of his government?
The momentum and impetus for fascism is spreading quickly, the voice of dissent around the world is being crushed by the mighty military machines.
Viva la libertad. Long Live Freedom!
Some people from places 'other than Venezuela' write because they wonder what is really going on, and ask who are the real democrats.....it makes no sense to wonder about the motivations of the students who are unknown to you....speculation there will only show the erroneous thinking that we can know the inward lives of people we do not know..
Instead, I invite them to read the proposed constitutional modifications.I invite them to look at crime statistics.I invite them to consider widespread public unrest with Chavez government. I invite them to study Chavez's public remarks in the context of what it means to be a sane and healthy personality. Look at his threats, find out the true statistics of his militarization of the country.Consider the widespread food shortages in a country that is rotting in money.Look at his unsavory connections. See what is going on in the real here and now...and stop trying to read people's minds...because when you assume that the students are not protesting out of any real needs of their own bur rather out of sponsorship....this is just opinion and not fact.
There are facts out there that people are living with that I hope you never have to live with. Instead of second guessing other people's motivations ......look at pure facts.....
Because if you don't you will only become captive to the greatest cynicism without having the opportunity to discover any truth.There are plenty of opportunities to study the facts. God forbid, this could happen to you in your country one day.
But unless you're able to see what is happening and learn to stick to the facts then you could contribute to it happening in your own country.
Commenting by HaloScan
