Posted on 01/17/2004 12:26:45 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS - Frustrated by opposition delays, congressional supporters of President Hugo Chávez are pushing for new rules to expedite a bill allowing him to pack the Supreme Court -- which might rule on a drive to recall the president.
Approval of the bill would allow the leftist populist president to get his way in the courts, including blocking or delaying the referendum by filing any number of appeals against the process, without having to violate the constitution to remain in power.
''The judicial system is pyramidal and centralized,'' said Gerardo Blyde, a constitutional lawyer and legislator for the opposition Justice First party, ``The Supreme Court is at the top. Political domination of the court would result in political domination of the entire judiciary.''
The 20-member Supreme Court appears almost evenly divided between Chávez supporters and critics. The justices have occasionally ruled in favor of an opposition movement that claims to have collected some 3.4 million signatures demanding a recall vote against the president.
The Chavistas' push for new rules that would speed up consideration of the bill came at an extremely sensitive time. Venezuela waits on tenterhooks for the National Electoral Council to rule whether the opposition has enough valid signatures in December to force a referendum.
The new rules proposed for the legislative National Assembly, the seventh reform of procedures since Chávez supporters won control of the assembly in 1999, would limit severely the number of speakers in any debate and further hobble the opposition's ability to use procedural delaying tactics.
The new rules can be approved by a simple majority in the 165-member assembly where Chávez's supporters have a five-seat majority.
What the Chávez supporters brand as opposition ''sabotage'' of the democratic process has long delayed the bill that would add 12 justices to the Supreme Court, to be appointed by the legislature, for 12-year terms.
ALLEGATIONS
Chávez has alleged that the signature drive amounted to a ''megafraud'' -- although international observers said they saw no sign of significant problems -- and vowed that he would challenge the council's signature count if it goes against him.
It's unclear whether the assembly could move fast enough to appoint the 12 new justices in time for them to consider any legal challenges to the referendum.
Pro-Chávez congressman Luís Velásquez Alvaray, one of the bill's promoters, said the 12 new justices are needed because of the Supreme Court's excessive workload. ''Each of the judges makes a huge effort,'' he said, ``but there remain enormous problems, which lead to the denial of justice.''
The opposition dismisses that argument as an excuse for the government to tip the political balance in the Supreme Court, whose members sit on five branches that handle constitutional, criminal and administrative cases.
''The only one of the court's branches in which the overwork argument is justified is the political-administrative division,'' Blyde said. ``And it is perfectly possible to appoint temporary judges.''
`JUST EXCUSES'
Jorge Rosell, who chaired the Supreme Court's criminal division until his resignation in 2001, agreed.
'The `excess workload' argument is false,'' Rosell said. ``These are just excuses to justify the total and absolute domination of the court.''
The bill to expand the Supreme Court by a dozen members was introduced to the National Assembly early last year after an initial vote on a show of hands. But it has met with consistent filibustering by the opposition since it came up for final approval in September. So far, only nine of the bill's 31 articles have been approved.
Chávez counted on a solid majority in the Supreme Court until his 2002 split with Luis Miquilena, a former political mentor who played a key role in the appointment of the 20 justices in 2000, after a new constitution was adopted in 1999.
Spanish and U.S. embassies are also thought to be in danger.
"Venezuelan authorities have informed the embassies of this threat that they consider credible," one diplomat, who asked not to be named, told Reuters on Friday.
The security alert followed a fierce exchange of public criticisms over the last week between senior U.S. government officials and leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez, a populist former paratrooper who has irked Washington by maintaining close ties with Communist Cuba, accused members of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration of meddling in Venezuela's internal affairs.
He rejected U.S. statements urging him to submit to a referendum being sought by his opponents this year on whether he should remain president of the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
Last February, bombs badly damaged a Spanish embassy technical office and the Colombian consulate in Caracas in incidents blamed by the government on anti-Chavez military officers. The blasts followed verbal attacks by the Venezuelan president against the Spanish and Colombian governments.*** Reuters
Venezuela shifts control of border (mounting terrorist allegations)*** Venezuela is also facing mounting allegations by U.S. officials, and regional security analysts, over ties to terrorism. Middle Eastern terrorist groups operate "support cells" in Venezuela, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials. Left-wing guerrillas in neighboring Colombia also have training bases inside Venezuelan territory, they say. ***[SP Times emphasis]
Chavez appoints radicals to head Venezuelan passport agency - reports of Arabs otaining ID documents*** CARACAS -- Already facing allegations that Muslim extremists have obtained Venezuelan identity documents, President Hugo Chávez has put the country's passport agency in the hands of two radicals -- one a supporter of Saddam Hussein.
Hugo Cabezas and Tareck el Aissami were appointed last month as director and deputy director of the Identification and Immigration Directorate, in charge of border controls and issuing passports and national ID cards. The agency also works with electoral authorities on voter registration.
Both were top student leaders at the University of the Andes in the western city of Merida, described by senior school officials as a virtual haven for armed Chávez supporters and leftist guerrillas.
When El Aissami served as president of the student body from 2001 to 2003, his armed supporters controlled the university's dormitories, said Oswando Alcala, a professor and director of student affairs.
Cabezas and El Aissami declined several Herald requests for interviews. Calls to the Information Ministry in Caracas also failed to elicit an official response.
Their appointments to the passport office raised eyebrows both because of the reports of Arabs obtaining Venezuelan ID documents and the possibility of fraud in an ongoing drive for a referendum to recall Chávez. His popularity stands at less than 40 percent.
''These appointments raise suspicions,'' said Pompeyo Marquez, a former Cabinet minister for border issues and an opponent of Chávez opponent. ``The risk is that they can play tricks both as regards elections and with identity cards.''
MAGAZINE REPORT
Allegations that Chávez's leftist government issued ID documents to Islamic radicals surfaced most recently in the newsweekly U.S. News and World Report.
''Venezuela is providing support -- including identity documents -- that could prove useful to radical Islamic groups,'' the magazine reported last month, quoting senior U.S. military and intelligence officials.
Chávez has strongly denied previous opposition allegations of links to Islamic radicals and leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia. Following the U.S. magazine's report, he accused the U.S. ''extreme right'' of trying to justify his ouster by ``anything: an assassination, a coup d'etat, an invasion.''*** [More at LINK]
The U.S. revokes visas of 17 pilots who fly the Caracas-Miami route for Venezuelan airline***CARACAS, Venezuela -- The U.S. State Department revoked the visas of 17 pilots who fly the Caracas-Miami route for the privately owned Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela airline, the company's president said.
The local El Universal quoted Nelson Ramiz on Friday as saying the visas for pilots subcontracted by the airline were suspended last week without any explanation from the U.S. government.
Ramiz said the airline has requested an explanation from the U.S. consul in Venezuela, but has yet to receive an answer.***
U.S. Wary of Cuba's Support for Leftists*** WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is becoming increasingly concerned about what it sees as a joint effort by Cuba and Venezuela to nurture anti-American sentiment in Latin America with money, political indoctrination and training.
As U.S. officials see it, the alliance combines Cuban President Fidel Castro's political savvy with surplus cash that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez obtains from oil exports.
Venezuelan resources may have been decisive in the ouster of Bolivia's elected, pro-American president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A key recipient of Venezuelan help has been Evo Morales, a charismatic Bolivian legislator who has broad support among his country's indigenous population. He is an avowed opponent of the capitalist system.
Before Sanchez de Lozada was deposed, one official said, Venezuela's military attache in Bolivia was expelled for giving money to Morales, and Morales received money from Venezuelan officials in a visit to Caracas.
There also has been evidence of Venezuelan money and manpower in Ecuador and Uruguay being used in support of anti-government groups, the officials said. Despite Venezuelan denials, they said, Chavez has supported Colombia's FARC and ELN rebels, allowing use of territory in western Venezuela as a springboard for attacks inside Colombia.***
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