[Mb-civic] FW: Venezuela election and U.S.......and Porter Goss (bad news)

[Michael Butler]

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From: ean at sbcglobal.net
Reply-To: ean at sbcglobal.net
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 18:23:28 -0700
To: ean at sbcglobal.net
Subject: VEnezuela election and U.S.......and Porter Goss (bad news)


"The Stakes in the Election Were Not Chavez Himself":
3 Questions for Maurice Lemoine
By Laura Martel 
Le Nouvel Observateur
Monday 16 August 2004
Maurice Lemoine is Assistant Editor-in-Chief at "Le Monde Diplomatique", a
Latin American specialist, and author of "Central America, the Esquipulas
Castaways" (2002, L'Atalante).
 Under what conditions did the recall referendum vote take place?
How do you explain the very high level of participation?
- According to the two outside observers on the ground, the Carter Center
and the Organization of American States (OAS), the democratic process was
respected. The balloting even took place under conditions of rather
exceptional calm, given the context of political crisis that has been
running 
through Venezuela the last three years.
The only anomaly in comparison to a traditional election was the extension
of time for polling places to be open, but this was done in an altogether
legal 
way since such an extension is allowed for by the National Electoral Council
to permit all voters who wish to vote to do so.
The level of participation was so high because this referendum constitutes a
sort of climax in the acute political crisis that has polarized Venezuelan
society since November 2001.
Consequently, mobilization was maximized by both sides for this crucial
event. This participation illustrates Venezuelans' desire to express
themselves through the ballot box, which is a good thing given the
opposition's anti-democratic maneuvers in recent years. After the 2002
attempted coup and economic destabilization in 2003, democracy recovers
its rights.
Moreover, it is all to the honor of the government to have allowed such a
referendum to take place under such good conditions. The principle of the
recall referendum, which gives all power to the people, only exists in three
countries.
How do you analyze the results and Chavez' popular victory. Does he
owe his success to his record?
- I am not surprised by this victory. Unlike some others, I have always
supposed that Chavez enjoyed solid popular support.
Well before the rise in oil prices, Hugo Chavez had implemented all sorts of
reforms (agrarian reform, literacy programs, introduction of doctors to poor
regions) that allowed the popular masses ignored by the IVth Republic to get
their heads above water.
You have to know that 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.
That's why the stakes of the election were not Chavez himself, but the
reforms he had initiated. The opposition had in effect announced that it
would 
go back on these reforms if they won. Now, if agrarian reform seems an
archaic issue to us, it's a concrete reality for Venezuelans. The Chavez
government, by giving property title to peasants who illegally occupied
those 
lands, also gave them access to citizenship. These actions may remain
invisible at a macro-economic level, but they count for a great deal among
the population.
Beyond his rather "rough" persona, Chavez' overall positive record explains
the support he's received. First of all, President Chavez has always
respected democratic process. He has, by the way, been confirmed in his
functions by democratic processes eight times, a record no other American
leader (including Bush) can boast.
Even if he has failed in some areas such as the fight against corruption,
reduction of unemployment, and insecurity, he has restored dignity to the
neglected popular masses in spite of opposition attacks which have
absorbed a good 60% of his government's energy.
 Will the opposition refusal to validate the results lead to trouble?
What consequences could this result have at the national and
international level?
- As far as I know, the declarations of the two National Election Council
members close to the opposition are not a challenge to the results, but an
objection to the publication of preliminary results. One segment of the
opposition is truly Pinochettist, however. It was responsible for the 2002
coup 
and the lock-out of the economy that finished by bankrupting the country in
2003 (9% reduction in Gross National Product): we may therefore expect that
it will not accept the results. If the opposition accepts the democratic
process, 
it could prepare for the 2006 elections, find the unity, the leader, and the
program that it currently lacks. If it refuses, we may fear the worst.
For the moment, its only objective is to oust Chavez, whom it accuses of
implementing a Castro-Communist regime. Now, although Chavez does not
hide his friendship for Castro, there's nothing Communist about him! Cuba
has established a single party state and state control of the media and the
economy. Venezuela counts 40 political parties, the media - in the
opposition's pay - is not censored or punished, and the President, who has
not nationalized anything, calls for foreign capital to invest in the
country. 
Certainly Chavez supplies low price oil to Cuba, but he does the same for
the 
Caribbean and Central America.
At the international level, this eighth consultation may finally convince
other 
countries - especially in Europe which has conducted a media campaign
against him - of Hugo Chavez' legitimacy. As for the United States, it finds
itself in a very difficult position. Washington detests Chavez, to the point
of 
having participated in the 2002 coup d'Etat and financed the opposition
through the National Endowment for Democracy, which is close to the
International Republican Institute. Venezuela, however, is one of the USA's
principle oil suppliers.
Confronted with instability in the Middle East, Washington can't take the
risk 
of destabilizing Venezuela by pushing Chavez out. He personifies stability
and his re-legitimation by the referendum creates a fear of popular revolt
should the opposition take power by force. The United States has no other
solution, therefore, than to deal with him.
Translation: t r u t h o u t French language correspondent Leslie Thatcher.

***

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

sengt by map at economicdemocracy.org (activ-l) - August 16, 2004

New CIA Chief Seeks Power for CIA to Arrest US Citizens

See especially story b) below...another step towards Police State USA

a) Harman Tells Senate Dems to Accept Goss

The top Democrat on the House intelligence committee is warning fellow
Democrats in the Senate not to block the nomination of Republican
Congressman Porter J. Goss as CIA director. Appearing on Meet the
Press Sunday Congresswoman Jane Harman of California said blocking
Goss would be picking the wrong fight in this election year. But more
questions have arisen over the qualifications of Goss who once worked
as a CIA operative.

b) Goss Seeks Power For CIA To Arrest U.S. Citizens

Newsweek is reporting that in Congress, Goss recently introduced a
little-noticed bill that would give the president new authority to
direct CIA agents to conduct law-enforcement operations inside the
United States-including arresting U.S. citizens.

The bill would essentially overturn a 57-year-old ban on the CIA
conducting operations inside the United States. One former general
counsel of the CIA, Jeffrey Smith, questioned the bill.

He told Newsweek, "This language on its face would have allowed
President Nixon to authorize the CIA to bug the Democratic National
Committee headquarters. I can't imagine what Porter had in mind."

c) Porter Goss to Michael Moore: I Am Not Qualified for CIA

Meanwhile filmmaker Michael Moore has released an excerpt of an
interview that he conducted with Goss during the filming of Fahrenheit
9/11 in which Goss himself raises questions about his qualifications
for working again in the CIA.

Goss said "I couldn't get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified. I
don't have the language skills. I, you know, my language skills were
romance languages and stuff. We're looking for Arabists today. I don't
have the cultural background probably. And I certainly don't have the
technical skills, uh, as my children remind me every day: 'Dad you got
to get better on your computer.' Uh, so, the things that you need to
have, I don't have."

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