Venezuela threatens opposition leader with jail over protest violence

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Guardian

The fallout from Venezuela's disputed presidential election continued to spread this week as the government of Nicolás Maduro threatened to jail the opposition candidate and arrested a American accused of working for US intelligence.

While electoral officials prepared a wider audit of the narrow vote on 14 April, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles added to the tension on Thursday by demanding scrutiny of registers containing voters' signatures and fingerprints.

Capriles has refused to accept the declared result, according to which he was defeated by less than 2%. Alleging thousands of cases of vote-rigging and other electoral law violations, he called on his supporters to stage peaceful cacerolazo – a popular form of protest where people bang on pots and pans.

The protests have been called off, but the government said the demonstrations last week led to nine deaths, 78 people injured and the burning down of clinics and party headquarters. This too is disputed, but the ruling United Socialist party of Venezuela initiated an investigation in the national assembly this week into whether Capriles should be held responsible.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/25/venezuela-threatens-opposition-leader-protest

[Jake Izzy]

1. Peaceful protests should be left alone

Violent ones should be prosecuted.

[tralala]

2. A good start.

If the opposition is going to whine about authoritarianism, the government may as well give them something to whine about.

[iandhr]

3. Very democratic

[tralala]

5. No democracy for racist goons

who set fire to free clinics and murder Chavistas in a petulant rage.

[iandhr]

6. Do you have anything to support this...

besides what the government says. I take anything Chavistas say with a grain a salt.

[cprise]

8. I saw some examples of 'voting irregularities'

...that he urged people to protest. For instance, a district that tallied about 10X the votes for Maduro than for Chavez in the past.

However, what Caprilles would not say is that district also returned many times the votes for himself, too. The district in question did not tally all the votes in prior elections because those were not close enough and the election would get called.

I'd say he was dishonestly trying to whip up a frenzy.

[iandhr]

16. Yeah but

Maduro has the whole apparatus of the state behind him. An while we are on the subject on "dishonestly trying to whip up a frenzy" what do you call when Maduro blamed the United States for infecting Chavez with cancer?

[cprise]

17. Maduro wasn't feeding a pattern of deadly violence

Caprilles was.

[iandhr]

21. So you say

Maduro has the whole apparatus of the state behind him.

History has shown that post election-violence is more likely to be done by the government.


Other then statements by Maduro there is no evidence that Caprilles was or is behind the violence.

[cprise]

22. Caprilles was behind the violence if he continued to

...encourage the mob once people started dying.

He acted disgracefully.

PS - Your history books seem to leave out much about imperialism. The US has just been caught as the only one not acknowledging Maduro AND with an acting provocateur in Venezeula!

[iandhr]

25. I am quite aware of the US history in Latin America.

There is absolutely no evidence to suggest the US in behind the violence.

Caprilles if you read the article called for non-violent protests.

The government's position seems to be anyone who is against them is US agent.

[cprise]

27. Channeling American money to Caprilles supporters

sounds like evidence to me.

[wordpix]

24. there are plenty of Venezuelans who are sick of the decades-long dictatorship

yeah, Capriles was everywhere, telling people to kill, kill, kill

Ever think that people are just sick of the lies and oppression of dictatorship?

[cprise]

28. Its always a "dictatorship" when bankers can't run the country. n/t

[wordpix]

29. no, it's always a dictatorship when the gov. takes over the media, judiciary, & legislature

and sends goons to arrest people they don't like.

Do you live there? I know a family who fled from there and these are reasons they cited.

[cprise]

30. Refusing to renew a broadcaster license

...because they bragged about participating in the coup (remember that??) and then refused to cover the news--That's not taking over the media. Nor is investing in Telesur.

The rest seems equally over-dramatized and doesn't remotely compare to recent abuses seen here in the US, which is going in the opposite direction as VZ in terms of wealth disparity.

[wordpix]

23. +1000

[whistler162]

13. Okay!!!!! Should Teea Partiers go to prison?

Should Democrats have gone to prison during 2001 to 2009 for opposing Bush? Should Republicans go to prison for opposing Obama? IF....IF Venezuela is a democracy, in one of its vatious forms, then what is the problem and what is the current government scared of?

[cprise]

18. Did Dem. supporters start murdering people?

How about destroying public infrastructure?

If they had, do you think it would have been responsible for politicians to tell them not to back down?

In the US, if so much as a Republican becomes red-faced, Democrats will tell people to go home and "move on". Drawing a parallel with the Venezuelan opposition is quite a stretch.

[Pterodactyl]

26. Some have tried.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/cleveland-bomb-plot_n_1467431.html

[Ash_F]

4. Wasn't this election heavily internationally monitored?

Like, to a much greater degree than the US or UK's? But that is not mentioned in the article. It would seem relevant to point out.

[cheapdate]

7. There were new restrictions on international monitors for this election.

This election wasn't monitored by international observers to the same extent that other Venezuelan elections have been.

[Catherina]

9. Not a single monitor or observer said any such thing. List a few please. n/t

[cheapdate]

15. As I understand it, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council approved observer status

Last edited Fri Apr 26, 2013, 03:52 PM - Edit history (1)

for fewer organizations for this election than they have in past elections.

Some organizations, such as the Carter Center, which had been approved as election observers in past elections, were approved only for electoral accompaniment, or were not approved at all.


"In its role of electoral accompaniment, which differs from electoral observation, The Carter Center will not present an evaluation of the overall electoral process. The Center will publish a more complete report of its observations and suggestions in the coming weeks."
- The Carter Center, Press Release, April 18, 2013

[joshcryer]

10. Correct, as the Carter Center said, "acompañante" is mostly symbolic.

In 2007, under the argument of national sovereignty, the CNE replaced the practice of international observation with that of international accompaniment. International accompaniment is, by and large, a symbolic form of monitoring.

Source: http://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/news/peace_publications/election_reports/venezuela-2012-election-study-mission-final-rpt.pdf

Despite that UNASUR witnessed irregularities using fingerprint readers: http://www.democraticunderground.com/110814518

Who knows how much more would've been witnessed had the monitors had more ability to observe.

[cprise]

11. Sounds close to "monitoring" in some US states

...where the monitors cannot enter the polling location.

The the argument of national sovereignty may be the result of this:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/nicolas-maduro-did-not-steal-the-venezuelan-elections/5332700

[joshcryer]

12. More like it's limited to certain polling stations.

Basically stations that have been approved, where the workers are well versed in the entire process, and trusted to make a good showing. Basically you can't have a free pass to go anywhere you want and observe.

Which is why the UNASUR delegates were shocked when they discovered the fingerprint machines weren't working properly. That simply shouldn't have happened because everything should've gone perfectly in their presence.

This also allows NGOs and other organizations to have "monitors" without actually expending resources to monitor a lot of places, while at the same time signing off on the process. It's reminiscent of OSCE monitoring the 2012 elections in the US (57 observers total).

I just uncovered this fascinating article about how foreign countries view our elections (totally OT to the discussion but I wanted to share it): http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/11/06/foreign_election_officials_amazed_by_trust_based_us_voting_system

[cprise]

20. I think its more reflective of the trust

...that people place in the great god of digital technology. They forget that every technology has some areas where it hurts more than helps... anonymous voting is the nemesis of computers (or vice-versa).

There has been a brewing conflict in India about this: The shiny new equipment was shown to be insecure and the person who demonstrated it was attacked by the authorities.

[BethanyQuartz]

14. If this happened here

Those responsible would be lucky to see a lawyer before being shipped off to Gitmo. As for the CIA agent, I hope he ends up under a Venezuelan jail. America needs to stay the hell out of other countries.

[UTUSN]

19. NOooo, this sort of quacking does *not* mean there's a *duck*!1 n/t