The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has rejected the method of open or closed primaries to choose candidates for regional elections in November. 1,600 delegates will be meeting for a party assembly on Friday when the battalions will present a list of candidates. The national leadership will assess the profile and revolutionary quality of those proposed, independently of how many votes they received from the grass roots. The PSUV, it appears, will use the same method they adopted to select regional leaderships. The method has caused dissatisfaction in certain states among grassroots supporters. Party vice president, General (ret.) Alberto Muller Rojas has announced the setting up of 30 roundtables at next Friday's assembly to reach a consensus on the method to be used. Delegates will be consulted to give greater legitimacy to the selection process and avoid it being a decision from the top. Muller confirms that Zulia, Nueva Esparta and Tachira are the most difficult states. The General also has cleared up the situation of Barquisimeto Mayor Henry Falcon, who will remain inside the party because the General claims that Falcon never launched his candidacy and as for Yaracuy State Governor, Carlos Gimenez, the General rules that he has been suspended but remains inside the party.
Patria Para Todos (PPT) pro-government party accuses the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) of opportunism in the selection of candidates to regional elections and embarking on a policy of exclusion against its allies. According to PPT leader, Andrea Tavares, the party has not been invited nationally and in some regions of the country to take part in joint events and much less to take part in government actions. The situation is particularly difficult for PPT in Guarico, she alleges, where the party has been the "victim of a counterrevolutionary campaign which has its origin inside Chavism." It would appear that the controversial Guarico State Governor, Eduardo Manuitt, who used to belong to the PPT, is now a member of the PSUV and has turned against his former comrades.
Guarico State Governor, Eduardo Manuitt has rejected a preliminary hearing called by Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Diaz for alleged physical aggression against the Mayor of Zaraza, David Fares. Speaking to journalists, the State Governor admits that there was a fight between himself and the mayor at the Finance Ministry on June 2007. Manuitt accuses Ortega Diaz of taking part in a plot to have him removed from office and he promises to sue her.
Planning Minister, Haiman El Troudi says inflation in the month of April was 1.7%. In terms of accumulated variation, the Minister admits that inflation stands at around 8.9%, which, he insists, is a drop of around 50% in the inter-month variation. In the first months of the year, El Troudi adds, the economy was negatively affected by the inflationary rise in Q4 2007 and he says he is convinced that prices have stabilized throughout Venezuela. The 1.7% registered in April, he clarifies, is the same percentage registered in the previous month.
President Chavez has signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Sutiss trade union. The President reveals that the finalization of the collective contract for the Sidor steel and iron company, which will be nationalised, was done in record time. The government wants to place Sidor within the project of national development and economic Socialism. During the meeting with workers' representatives, President Chavez made it clear that the government does not yet have technical, financial, or juridical control over Sidor and he has appointed Executive Vice President, Ramon Carrizalez to continue meeting workers to avoid any vacuum in the nationalization process. The condition laid down by the government yesterday before signing is that workers raise production levels, share benefits with local communities and establish a comptroller system within the company.
President Chavez has apologized from not taking part in a presidential food sovereignty & security summit in Managua. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro says Chavez' absence at the meeting is due to a health problem caused by overwork. The President has designated the Foreign Minister to lead the Venezuelan delegation and to ratify the government's solidarity with the government of Nicaragua. Apart from his usual executive responsibilities, Chavez has been forced to monitor goings-on inside the PSUV. On Sunday, he warned his Ministers, public officials and party leaders to avoid temptation related to the use of power commenting that he has seen revolutionaries change and go corrupt once they reach important positions. The issue has become a constant feature on the President's Sunday radio address as Chavez attempts to unravel fact from fiction in glowing reports filed by government officials.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
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