Venezuela
and the Duping of Latin America
By Jerry
Brewer
The intentional
or unintentional neglect of the Western Hemisphere in recent years by the United States has most certainly diminished its
stature and influence throughout most of the Americas, with much of the perceived neglect attributed to security obligations
in the Middle East. And in the absence of proactive democratic U.S. strategies
for the region, self-absorbed, unstable leftists have risen – many with hidden agendas.
Through the undermining of civil and democratic institutions, leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez have virtually eliminated free expression, circumventing effective checks to arbitrary government via the media. The Chavez regime has instigated violent verbal and physical attacks against the owners,
editors, and employees of the media. Their buildings have been bombed, reporters
killed and injured, and property destroyed by armed members of Venezuela’s security apparatchik.
Prominent Venezuelan
journalists have had their homes raided and been compelled to testify to the secret police.
This prompting the International Broadcasting Association, Inter American Press Association, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization
of American States to plead in vain to the government to protect freedom of the press.
Moreover, regularly
scheduled television and radio broadcasts are routinely interrupted in Venezuela, with presidential decrees that force transmission
of hours of pro-government propaganda.
A newly instituted
penal code states that “anyone who offends with words, or in writing or in any way disrespects the President of the
Republic, or whomever is fulfilling his duties, will be punished with six to 30 months in prison if the offense is serious,
and half that if it is light.” Journalists who “expose another person
to contempt or public hatred” can receive a prison sentence of one to three years.
The new code
also specifies, incredibly, that anyone charged with these crimes will not be entitled to legal due process.
The crime of
“civil rebellion” in Venezuela carries a minimum 12-year and maximum 25-year sentence. So what if Argentina had such a statute when President Chavez led violent protests there, in Mar del Plata
during the Summit of the Americas, with out of control protestors throwing rocks and bottles, and burning U.S. flags?
Self-serving
agendas are the earmarks of a dictatorship. Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a U.S.
soldier killed in Iraq, hailed Chavez last week in Venezuela, stating: “I admire him for his resolve against my government
and it’s meddling.” Too, Sheehan has called her son’s killers
in Iraq “freedom fighters.”
Chavez responded
by saying, “Down with the U.S. empire! It must be said in the entire world, down with the
empire.”
Idols bearing
gifts through oil wealth attract influence. As well, assisting financially strapped
countries, such as Argentina and Cuba with debt assistance may look good in photo opportunities and buy favors. However a pied piper who perilously gathers all state power in his own hands is hardly a prophet.
The United
Nations Population Fund says that some 222 million people are poor in Latin America and the Caribbean, over 43 percent of
the region’s population, with 96 million living in extreme poverty. And
free market policies are not popular in situations where diverse income gaps make an area the world’s least equitable
region.
What is particularly
disturbing about unchecked power in the leadership of Venezuela is the manner in which vast wealth from oil revenue can be
used as bait to gain compliance or favors. By extension, what is to prevent a
nation’s infrastructure (stockpiled production, oil facilities and related mechanisms) from being exhausted or destroyed
in a desperate bid by a self-styled dictator to perpetuate a regime in the face of adversity?
When the unicameral
National Assembly, as well as Venezuelan courts, military, police forces, budget, electoral council, and virtually every other
branch of power are controlled by the presidency, how can there be justice for abuse of power?
Do the lesser advantaged and poor have a voice in their nation’s wealth?
A president must not own a country and play fancy-free with its natural resource income to buy influence and allies.
Again relating
this to Argentina, President Nestor Kirchner campaigned with a philosophy of having a strong centralized government free from
foreign influence. However since he has accepted millions of dollars in Venezuelan
aid, plus Venezuela has purchased US$2 billion in Argentinean securities.
The fallacy
of Kirchner’s quick rise to stardom, with an appearance of future prosperity for the Argentine Republic, is that this
perceived economic recovery will need to be backed by ongoing investments from disparate sources, not just Venezuela.
To be continued.
Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice International Associates,
a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, is also a columnist with MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at Cjiaincusa@aol.com
