Commenting on the arrest of a National Guard (GN) sergeant, Manuel Agudo Escalona in Colombia, Interior & Justice (MIJ) Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin says the version of the sergeant and that of the Colombian government do not coincide. The Colombian government accuses the GN officer of selling arms to guerrillas, while Agudo Escalona says he was set up. According to the official, he admits committing a crime in accompanying somebody across the border with money but on the journey, he claims, other people joined the group carrying weapons and on the other side they were all arrested by Colombian officials. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro denies any involvement of the State in the case of the GN sergeant and repeats that if there is any charge, he acted on his own. The Foreign Minister brushes the incident off as one of thousands of crimes committed along the extensive border, adding that if it were not for the press picking up the incident in such a delicate political time, it would have gone unnoticed. Maduro has announced that President Chavez is waiting for clarifications from Colombia regarding the crime and the legal process. If the sergeant is guilty, Maduro warns, then he must face up to the charges as an individual.
United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) events director, Dario Vivas has announced imminent talks with minor political parties belonging to the Patriotic Alliance (AP). The main theme of the talks, he says, will be to debate joint participation in consolidating the revolutionary process in Venezuela. Vivas reveals that there will be no debate on candidacies, even though he concedes that the PSUV is ready to dialogue on the matter. The reason for not meeting the Patriotic Alliance before, Vivas clarifies, is because of the PSUV's intense period of internal elections.
Political & Security (DISIP) Police director, Henry Rangel Silva says 90% of the content of the controversial Intelligence and Counterintelligence Law could be rescued without passing through any reform. The law is important, the director states, because it deals with state security but he denies any intention of violating values and fundamental rights of the human person such as liberty, justice, free choice, the right to doubt and at the right to privacy. Rangel reveals that inside the agency, they have been contributing with point of views for the final draft and the legal instrument for over two years. Rangel Silva's statement comes as part of the debate on the new law, opened up after severe criticism from within and without the Bolivarian movement, which itself has been rocked by President Chavez' statement yesterday that the time for guerrilla movements in Latin America is over. Several articles have appeared in Aporrea.org supporting the President's announcement, while others express bewilderment.
The government through its Enabling Law Cabinet is currently reviewing and reforming the intelligence and counterintelligence law. Interior & Justice (MIJ) Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin says the fact that President Chavez has called for a review of the law shows his deeply democratic sentiment and capacity to listen to people and to rectify when necessary.
The Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) has agreed to pact in certain states with the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and other parties belonging to the Patriotic Alliance (AP). PCV general secretary, Oscar Figuera points to Barinas where he affirms that the PSUV candidate, Adan Chavez is an ideal candidate. Figuera has made it clear that the party will ask for a debate on candidacies at the upcoming meeting between the PSUV and AP, not just to secure victory on November 23 but also to more forward with candidates that guarantee the advance of the revolution.
Agriculture & Lands (MAT) Minister, Elias Jaua has rejected any possibility that the government will give way to blackmail or pressure from sectors such as the all-powerful National Ranchers Federation (Fedenaga), which he dubs a group of political activists and destabilizers. The government, Jaua insists, is ready to work with serious producers in the agro-industrial sector to ensure food supplies at just prices for all Venezuelans. The Minister calls on the social media sector to treat food problems and topics with responsibility and seek a balanced approach. "They cannot simply become echoes of sectors involved in political activities of destabilization." After meeting producers, the Minister has announced the setting up of the technical workshop in conjunction with the Light Industry & Trade Ministry regarding imports, dollars for agricultural supplies and a balance in prices. Jaua reports that the milk processing industry is working at maximum capacity and there are already a surplus that will be converted into powdered milk with the aim of creating a strategic reserve for the summer months.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
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Venezuela is facing the most difficult period of its history with honest reporters crippled by sectarianism on top of rampant corruption within the administration and beyond, aided and abetted by criminal forces in the US and Spanish governments which cannot accept the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people to decide over their own future.
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