Venezuela's reality unruly, undemocratic

It was with extreme satisfaction that I read Jonathan Gurwitz's article on Venezuela ("Roily Venezuela needs support in creating change, Dec. 18), reprinted in the Caracas Daily Journal. Having lived, run a business and raised a family here for the last 27 years, it is heartening to see that the international press is finally coming to their senses in regard to what is happening in this beautiful country.

For too long, most foreign journalists, the Organization of American States, governments as well as many non-government organizations such as the Carter Center, have allowed the Chavez regime's "democratic credentials" to blind them to the very undemocratic reality of a country stripped of an effective separation of powers and run by an incompetent band of thugs, ex-guerillas, failed coupsters and communists.

My wife was near the front of the peaceful April 11 march mentioned by Gurwitz and saw through the clouds of tear gas, uniformed sharpshooters firing on the unarmed mass. A TV camera crew also recorded a group of gunmen in civilian clothes emptying their handguns time and time again. Three of them were later identified and arrested, but none was brought to trial.

One turned out to be a federal government employee and another is a convicted rapist and murderer who is a city councilman under one of Chavez' most trusted lieutenants, Freddy Bernal, mayor of a Caracas municipality. In the Dec. 6 shooting, one of the gunmen who was caught and confessed on TV turned up on an amateur video in the company of Bernal the night before.

The shootings, aggression against the press and other acts of violence are too numerous to mention, but they share a common trait: Virtually all have come from the government and its supporters.

What has probably contributed most to Chavez' fall in popularity from 80 percent to under 20 percent today, however, is the gross corruption and mismanagement of the biggest oil revenue bonanza in Venezuelan history. He has not fulfilled a single campaign promise regarding public services, housing, poverty, health, corruption, infrastructure, foreign debt, etc. While his country falls further into chaos, despair and ruin, he buys a $85 million Airbus presidential jet/palace and uses the bully pulpit endlessly to attack any group that dares take a critical stance: the church, the media, business, organized labor, ranchers and political parties, among others.

As the population has steadily turned against him, so have most of the closest of his original collaborators, including many of the officers who were involved in his bloody failed 1992 coup attempt against the elected and legitimate government of Carlos Andres Perez. The latest to jump ship is his wife Marisabel, who after recently leaving him went on national TV and pleaded with him to "listen to the voice of the people."

With gasoline depleted, food supplies running out and daily marches and street rallies, we have had no Christmas this year. But as most middle-class families here, we are more than willing to withstand whatever hardships are necessary during the general strike to peacefully rescue Venezuela from this madman.

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

Editorial: Save U.S. oil reserves for real emergencies - San Antonio Express-News - [Full Text] Turmoil in Venezuela, which provides 14 percent of fossil fuel imported by the United States, has translated to price increases at this nation's gas pumps.

Oil workers in the South American nation are part of a four-week national strike aimed at toppling embattled President Hugo Chávez.

This is yet another reminder of how dependent Americans are on foreign oil and, thus, how vulnerable they are to chaos abroad.

Fortunately, this nation can weather the Venezuelan crisis, thanks to supplies from other nations such as Mexico and Saudi Arabia. It also has the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Last year, when oil was $18 a barrel, compared with today's price of about $32, the Bush administration had the foresight to replenish the nation's reserves - stored in salt caverns beneath the coasts of Texas and Louisiana.

However, as the name implies, the 600 million barrels of reserves are for emergency use only. At the current rate of consumption, the oil stored would last about 70 days.

This is important to remember because last week U.S. Rep Billy Tauzin, R-La., asked the White House to release crude oil from the reserves to bring prices down.

Tauzin and other like-minded Americans must remember that this nation may need its stored fuel if it declares war against Iraq.

A few years ago, when President Clinton released stored fuel to help some northeastern states, his action was viewed as a political move to win votes for Vice President Al Gore.

President Bush would not want to appear to be acting for reasons other than a real national emergency.

This is not the first time that oil prices are high, nor will it be the last. Until there's a crisis, such as the Arab embargoes of the 1970s and the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s, the president should not tap into the national reserves. [End]

12/30/2002

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