VHeadline News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue reports:Speaking in Brazil after a Southern Cone Economic Zone (Mercosur) meeting, President Chavez insists that Venezuela has the necessary resources and research to tackle the world economic crisis. Chavez stresses that the country's development plans will go ahead but at a new rhythm imposed by the crisis that is affecting almost everybody. The economic crisis, Chavez argues, is caused by the development model imposed from Washington and what himself and others seek are alternatives. Recalling that December 17 is the anniversary of Simon Bolívar's death, the President says ideas that everybody thought were dead or buried, such as Bolivar's ideas, a free Latin America and Socialism have returned.
Renegade Bolivarian lawyer, Herman Escarra has lodged a complaint at the International Criminal Court against President Chavez for alleged crimes against humanity by violating human rights of political and personal prisoners in Venezuela. The lawyer is hanging on to Article 7 of the Rome Statute, which denotes a crime against humanity for failing to respect human rights. Escarra claims there are 38 political prisoners, some of whom he calls presidential or personal prisons, such as a young businessman called Gustavo Arraiz who was arrested for an alleged relation with the President's daughter. Escarra rejects the charges as untrue, adding that Arraiz has been imprisoned and his family is being persecuted.
PROVEA human rights group has replied to an article by pro-government journalist, Eleazar Diaz Rangel who claims that the organisation got its numbers wrong when reporting on the number of Cuban doctors working in Venezuela and the number of homicides over the last year. Defending its record, the human rights group argue that it has been monitoring the human rights situation in Venezuela for the last 20 years and all statistics are based on a diverse number of sources, which include public and private organizations.
PROVEA's annual report is meant to be a "tool for discussion with the authorities" to improve the human rights situation in Venezuela, a representative reveals, and in no way is meant to discredit government initiative. The group also admits that there could be some inexact information but it is never used it to distort figures and much less for political objectives.
As regards the number of Cuban doctors working in the Barrio Adentro program, PROVEA declares that information on the matter came from three sources, two of which are aligned to the government project, such as the Bolivarian National Medical Front. Along with that information and the organization's own work in urban areas, a conclusion was reached that the number of doctors diminished.
PROVEA calculates that there were 10,606 homicides last year and says most of the information came from the Interior & Justice Ministry.
The group hopes that the newspaper, of which the journalist is editor (Las Ultimas Noticias) would contribute to a debate on the status of health and levels of existing violence. There is a need, the letter concludes, to provide official and reliable information that would allow society to audit and assess policies as one way of promoting participative democracy.
Chicago White Sox manager, Oswaldo Guillen has expressed concern about public insecurity in Venezuela. During a visit to the country and an Christmas act where he handed out presents to more than 300 children belonging to an association of parents of children with cancer, the former big leaguer says many baseball players in the US are not coming to Venezuela for the winter league because of the homicide rate and fears for the personal security of themselves and their families. How is it possible, he says, that life isn't worth a penny in Venezuela.
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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