Monday, November 07, 2005

Sumate leaders charged and prohibited from leaving the country Continuing in its attempt to intimidate and block the opposition just prior to the upcoming elections for the National Assembly, a Judge decided tonight to charge four of the Directors of Sumate for conspiracy against the Government. The charge comes form receiving funds from the National Endowment for Democracy for electoral education. Sumate has been a thorn in the Government's shoe as it activities allowed the opposition to gather the signatures to be able to call for the recall of Hugo Chavez. Sumate has unveiled all of the problems with the electoral process in Venezuela and its leaders have been going around the world presenting this document (in English here) about the State of Democracy in Venezuela. In contrast to the Government that uses State funds for party activities without accountability, Sumate has provided all of its financial information on the web, including contracts with funding agencies, as well as its financials. This is simply another fascist act by the Government: find a way to criminalize the opposition activities in order to stop them and intimidate them. The Prosecutor handling the case is Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who has taken over most of the responsibilities that Danilo Anderson used to have of handling political cases. Meanwhile, all accusations against the Government, including murders, abuse of power and corruption are simply shelved or "decided" by a Judiciary that is totally controlled by the Government. Did I forget to say some people claim this is still a democracy? 11:26:58 PM    comment []

Another sad day for freedom and justice in Venezuela There is no question that this Government has no shame. It is no longer a matter of whether you are pro-Chavez or not, you simply have to be unconditional. Judge Maria Mercedes Prado, was handling the case of the bombings of the Colombian and Spanish Embassies in February 2004. According to the Government the case was "solved", it was "clear cut". Despite this time went by and no evidence of any worth was presented to the judge. Even President Chavez got involved in the case in his Sunday variety show "Alo Presidente", saying "we have the video that shows who did it". But the pro-Chavez judge disagreed. To her, there was little evidence to charge anyone in the case. Thus, she told te Government that she was going to rule on the case, saying there was no evidence to convict any of the suspects. Big mistake! Judge Prado was fired last week, precisely for not being willing to rule as the Government and the Prosecutor's office wanted. She was mad, she was trying to hold a press conference today to denounce in the press briefing room of the papalce of Justice when Judge Belkis Cedeño ordered the electricity to be shut off and the National Guard to expel the Judge from the Hall of Justice. In so doing the guards assaulted reporters, attempted to take their cameras away and kicked them out of the building. As of today, the press room of the Hall Justice will be eliminated and reporters will not be allowed in the Hall at al from now on. Oh yes, they claim this a democracy! Justice and freedom of speech are non-existence as the ochlocracy controls everything and has no clue about what democratic values are.  8:37:52 PM    comment []

The price of a gallon of gas across the world, a measure of economic health? I saw this table in a report from J.P. Morgan and I just had to post it, judge for yourself the list which is separated into two groups: Oil exporting countries and oil importing countries.Except for a couple of exceptions, there seems to be an inverse relationshop between the economic health of each country and the price of a gallon of gas Oil Exporters US$/gal     Venezuela 0.16 Iran 0.26 Nigeria 0.76 Qatar 0.78 Algeria 0.83 Saudi Arabia 0.91 Oman 1.17 Ecuador 1.45 Russia 2.27 Argentina 2.65 Mexico 2.65 Malaysia 2.76 Colombia 3.00     Oil Importers       Indonesia 1.73 China 2.04 Thailand 2.16 Philippines 2.23 Bulgaria 3.07 Brazil 3.57 South Africa 3.57 Peru 4.00 India 4.09 Chile 4.54 Korea 5.34 Turkey 7.95 8:15:26 PM    comment []