VHeadline Venezuela News reports: In an interview published in Friday's editions of El Diario de Guayana, jailed Sifontes Mayor-elect Carlos Chancellor has told reporter Yuri Hatziageldis that he does NOT want presidential pardon or an amnesty ... all he wants is to be let out of jail on bail.
Chancellor has the distinction of being the first-even Mayor to have been democratically elected to office whilst being held prisoner, and he did it with more than 80% of the votes in the Sifontes municipality of southern Bolivar State. He's been held in custody for 22 months awaiting trial on more than 11 criminal charges which he hotly disputes. His lawyers have asked successive courts to grant bail which has been denied because magistrates believe there is a high risk of flight.
As regards what has been dubbed "the Crystallex International case," Chancellor is keen to clarify that his beef is NOT with its Venezuelan subsidiary, Crystallex de Venezuela C.A. and explains that the (parent company) Crystallex International had received a contract from the Venezuelan State under which it undertook to provide benefits for the mining communities in the south of Bolivar State.
"It has failed to do (what it undertook to do)," Chancellor claims adding that the company, rather, sought to evict local miners by placing 'Alcabalas' (check-points) to prevent the passage of miners to the sites where they worked, and that this "caused a spontaneous explosion of local protests that were neither organized nor sponsored by me!"
- In the end, the then deputy Mining Minister at the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) Orlando Ortegano signed an agreement to remove the obstacles that had hindered local miners.
Chancellor complains of injustices allegedly committed for five years by the transnational, "forcing the miners to cross dangerous mountain terrain, while the managers travelled in luxury vehicles on a road built specially for them." He says that the CVG had signed a mine operating contract with Crystallex in good faith, thinking that the transnational was going to meet its contractual obligations and to generate 50 jobs in 2002, while assuming the cost of maintaining 22 workers, assistance with technical projects for small miners, assuming the cost of a rural outpatients primary medical center in Las Claritas, the training of personnel with equipment and mining machinery, development of community social programs, implementation of road improvements and the construction of 30 homes in the town of Santo Domingo in San Isidro parish.
"The only thing they've done is to build a drinking water plant, which is not fit for human consumption! And the key clause regarding special benefits has been broken, there's been an increased environmental impact by preventing access by small-scale miners to certain areas protected by the company ... it was at that point that I intervened, with the consequence we now know. Crystallex has been required by the State to withdraw from the (project) assignment of 25,000 tonnes of gold bullion ... the richest of proven gold reserves in Venezuela, the second largest in the world and the sixth in Latin America."
"The miners and indigenous communities of Tumeremo, El Dorado, the peasants, students and farming populations voted for me in the absence of a municipal government that gave no answer in a timely manner despite having handled millionaires budgetary resources ... they were NOT able to give answers to the problems that the community continues to suffer, such as drinking water and very high levels of unemployment."
"I have no words with which to thank the vote of confidence the people have given me in this electoral process, to be elected Mayor, despite the fact that I am physically separated from my people in Tumeremo, El Dorado, San Isidro, Kilometer 88 and all indigenous communities with whom I have an excellent relationship. My whole life has been lived in Tumeremo ... my children, my family home are all in the Sifontes municipality ... I am the son of people committed to these people, and now I am Mayor of this municipality!"
In his electoral campaign, Chancellor had promised to govern without political retaliation and he says he is ready to forget his personal confrontation with the regional Governor, Francisco Rangel Gomez. He says that President Chavez and Rangel Gomez will not make "a government of opposition" in Sifontes ... "all that the people want is for someone to face up to challenges such as the problem of water, construction of houses, roads and health."
His lawyer, Alicia Hernandez says that 2nd Circuit Judge, Eli Rendon Nunez, has been reluctant to grant bail even if there is no civil or legal disqualification of her client from becoming Mayor ... Chancellor also says that an alleged risk of flight, is invalid since conditional parole has been granted on two occasions under strict conditions. Since then, he claims, he has been at the court's disposition despite having had his constitutional rights violated in preliminary hearings. His candidacy for Mayor was admitted in accordance with electoral process and he won fairly, with electoral authorities conferring on him the powers accorded to him under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution to exercise the office of Sifontes Mayor for four years.
Chancellor says his mayoralty doesn't change anything with regard to the court case and that he is still prepared to stand trial, declaring his innocence of all charges.
He says he is only requesting parole within the legal framework that he should meet with people who elected him and that not that he has been proclaimed Mayor, he must be allowed to exercise the mandate of the people of the Sifontes municipality.
"I do not ask for a pardon or amnesty, I am willing to undergo due legal process, to demonstrate that the accusations against me have no legal basis. Ultimately I will prove my innocence, and for that reason I do not fear a legal process against me!"
VHeadline Venzuela News
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