No man should attend chavista hearings
By Aleksander Boyd
London 06.03.06 | To be frank, I am gobsmacked at the behaviour of some Venezuelans. It is clear to me that Hugo Chavez continues to outwit those who oppose him, and not to the regular clueless politicos I am referring to. No. I am talking about people like Alberto Federico Ravel and Marcel Granier. Last Friday, Granier and Ravel were summoned to hearings in Venezuela's illegitimate and monochromatic congress. They went, one supposes, just to be grilled by chavista sycophants. But what left me in a state of shock was to see Luis Tascon, as a member of the parliamentary commission, questioning Ravel's and Granier's position vis-a-vis the assassination of racketeer Danilo Anderson. So let me try to make some sense out of it. The ring leader of an extorsion gang (Anderson) gets blown to bits. The prosecution, led by former Chavez's Vice President cum Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez, has charged everyone and its sister for the crime. The ones who stand accused are, need to be stressed, opposition figures. Media investigations, allegedly led by Globovision (Ravel's news network) discovered that the star witness (Giovanni Vasquez De Armas) of the charade is a Colombian citizen, with a long criminal record. The truth about Rodriguez's fabrications gets out in the public domain, thanks to the media. Hence Rodriguez orders one of his prosecutors to present charges against some TV networks and newspapers, arguing that no detail related to the case can be made public. This move comes after Attorney General Rodriguez admitted in state media (Venezelona de Television or VTV) to Ernesto Villegas, that documents shown during the programme were legitimate and part of the ongoing investigation. That is, state-controlled media can have access to documents related to the case and comment on it but it is unlawful for other media to do so. In comes tax fraudster Eva Golinger, now residing permanently in Venezuela, to allege in Ravel's Globovision "in the US one can not discuss anything related to a case before a decision is made by the courts." Little does she know about Venezuelan law...
But the most stricking thing of it all, is the disposition of some to be part of this idiotic charade. Mind you it must be that everyone in Venezuela is so bloody scared that the thought of playing along to Chavez's theatrical justice keeps winning the day. Luis Tascon is, for those of you who may have short memories, the creator of the Maisanta database. Isaias Rodriguez was, apart from Chavez's first Vice President, instrumental in the absolute, and illegal, destruction of elected powers and democratic institution via the National Constituent Assembly. And the sad clowns that make the rest of the hearing commission have been elected under fraudulent electoral mechanisms, run by an illegitimate electoral council. Meaning that the whole thing is a fucking circus. Now this begs for some questions; why would a honourable person waste any time with such petty criminals? Why would the owners of two media conglomerates not use resources available to them, to pound, on a daily basis, upon the unlawful characteristics of the minions running investigations and hearings? Why do they continue to wait for Chavez's moves in order to react? Why do they keep playing by Chavez's rules, as if Venezuela were still a democracy where Rule of Law must be abided? When will they realize that there's nothing, absolutely nothing, to be gained by playing nice with thugs?
send this article to a friend >>