Tag Archives: Hugo Chavez

Sep
4
2013
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ICYMI: Blackouts Hit Nearly Half of Venezuela

Wall Street Journal
September 3, 2013
By Kejal Vyas

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Courtesy of: AFP

CARACAS—A failure in a transmission line cut power across much of Venezuela on Tuesday, leading the government to blame unidentified saboteurs for the widespread disruption.

Electricity outages struck parts of at least 11 of Venezuela’s 23 states in the early afternoon, mostly in the central and western regions, as well as the capital city, Electricity Development Vice Minister Franco Silva said in comments carried on state television.

Information Minister Delcy Rodríguez said in an address about five hours after the initial outage that power had been restored to several states, adding electricity was in the process of coming back online in the oil-rich western states of Zulia and Táchira, and the greater Caracas area.

A shaky power grid remains a thorn in the side of energy-rich Venezuela, leading critics of the current government to point the finger at mismanagement at state-run utility companies. Authorities have periodically turned to power rationing and levied additional surcharges and penalties on heavy electricity users.

Ms. Rodríguez said “complete restoration of this important service will be done in a progressive manner” without specifying how long it would take.

Messages posted on the Twitter account of President Nicolás Maduro said that the power grid was attacked by unnamed enemies of the government.

“It’s evident that behind [the blackout] is the hand of those that want to weaken our country,” said one post. Mr. Maduro didn’t offer evidence to back up his allegations. Calls seeking further comment from officials weren’t immediately returned.

While the government’s detractors accuse authorities of misappropriating investments into the country’s electricity network and falling behind growing consumer demand, the late leader Hugo Chávez often blamed conspirators against his self-styled socialist “Bolivarian revolution.” Mr. Chávez died in March following a nearly two year battle with cancer. Mr. Chávez nationalized much of the electricity sector in 2007.

In recent weeks, his successor Mr. Maduro has disclosed details of various other alleged plots against Venezuela, including several alleged assassination attempts against his life supposedly masterminded by agents of the U.S. and Colombian governments. Critics accuse him of fabricating plots in a bid to boost support.

Venezuela opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost April elections to replace Mr. Chávez, said the power failure underscored mismanagement at state companies. “The blackout today demonstrates one more time the terrible incapacity of this government,” Mr. Capriles said in a post on his official Twitter account. “Now they’ll come up with another story to try to cover up the failure.”

In Caracas, the blackouts briefly hit some key government buildings, including the Energy Ministry, which is also the headquarters of state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA.

In a statement, Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez said refining and production operations in Venezuela’s vital oil industry were unaffected.

The sprawling capital city was furthered tangled by knotted traffic, disrupted subway service and severed water supplies, as several treatment plants went down, authorities said. Power shortfalls and outages are more common in the interior of the country of 29 million residents, while more rarely reaching Caracas.

Between 2009 and 2010, a drought cut production at Venezuela’s hydroelectric facilities that accounted for some 70% of the country’s power. The country has since had to divert more of its crude oil production and imports gas from Colombia to fulfill its own domestic power needs.

To read this article at The Wall Street Journal, please click here.

 
Aug
23
2013
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In Case You Missed It…Articles Roundup Week of 8/23/13

capriles.520.360 e1377285185692 In Case You Missed It…Articles Roundup Week of 8/23/13

Courtesy of: El Universal

This week: Nicolás Maduro tries to pass an Enabling Law, which would grant him increased decree powers in his alleged fight against corruption; and Henrique Capriles says that if they law was somehow passed, Venezuelans would disregard it. The Venezuelan government hurls anti-gay slurs at the opposition as part of their “war on corruption,” while continuing to preach social inclusion; eight senior journalists quit Venezuela’s former opposition news channel, Globovisión, in protest of government manipulation; and due to increasing government control of the media, Venezuelan officials are communicating first through Twitter, not TV or radio. PSUV members are angry at Maduro for skipping the grassroots election preceding December’s municipal election; infighting and corruption in Maduro’s party threaten Hugo Chávez’s socialist legacy in Venezuela;   the Central Bank issues more bonds to curb liquidity and attempts to boost the failing economy by auctioning $300 million in the currency exchange system; and Venezuelan doctors demand that the government declare a health emergency in the county.

Showdown looms in Venezuela over decree powers plan, Reuters

Venezuelan politicians traded insults over the weekend with a showdown looming in the National Assembly over President Nicolas Maduro’s plans to ask for fast-track decree powers he says he needs to combat corruption. Maduro, who narrowly won an April election to replace his late mentor Hugo Chavez, says he is ready to change “all the laws” if necessary to stamp out widespread graft that is denting his popularity with some core supporters.

Capriles: “If passed, Venezuelans would disregard the Enabling Law”, El Universal

“I say responsibly to the country that if they (pro-government officials) want to pass an Enabling Law throughout abuses and disregarding the Constitution, we, Venezuelans would disregard such law,” Henrique Capriles Radonski, Miranda state Governor and opposition leader stressed on Tuesday on his live web show Venezuela Somos Todos (“Venezuela is all of us”) as he commented that President Nicolás Maduro would request special legislative powers via an Enabling Law to the National Assembly in order to allegedly fight against corruption.

Venezuela Government Under Fire for Anti-Gay Slurs, Wall Street Journal

Venezuela’s leftist government, which often touts its social inclusion and antidiscrimination policies, is under fire from rights groups after a tirade of antigay slurs in the National Assembly, prompting President Nicolas Maduro to take to the airwaves waving a conciliatory gay-pride flag—before continuing to attack his political opponents. Lawmakers from Mr. Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela released photos that appeared to be from a private gathering in which a top aide to the opposition’s former presidential candidate is seen hugging other men and, in others, mugging for the camera while wearing a shawl and a feathered head piece.

Journalists Quit Venezuela TV News Channel in Censorship Protest, Bloomberg

Eight senior journalists quit Venezuela’s main television news channel Globovision in the past week in protest at alleged government manipulation of coverage. “We have progressively seen changes and unacceptable conditions to the free exercise of our profession,” the anchors and reporters at the broadcaster said in a joint e-mailed statement late yesterday. The journalists resigned in solidarity with director Leopoldo Castillo, who announced his exit from Globovision on Aug. 16 after 12 years at the channel.

Latin American presidents and their often love affair with Twitter, Associated Press

Whenever Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez uses Twitter, controversy often follows. Although tweet discussions range in content and frequency, there’s never a lack of debate. Fernandez, who almost never gives interviews or takes questions from reporters, often uses her official Twitter account, https://twitter.com/CFKArgentina , which claims more than 2.2 million followers, to have a direct connection to the people.

Maduro’s explanation for skipping grassroots election is rebutted, El Universal

Since its foundation in 2007, the ruling United Party of Venezuela (Psuv) has gone through at least four grassroots elections in preparation of  several municipal, state and parliamentary polls, even for the election of Psuv authorities. This is not the case for the municipal election to be held next December 8. This time, top authorities took care of it. The decision, ultimately in the hands of the High Political Command of the Revolution, was justified recently by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Hugo Chávez: His legacy at stake, Financial Times

When almost 500 families invaded the estate owned by the Santa Teresa rum company in 2000, Alberto Vollmer decided that using brute force to expel them would be futile. Hugo Chávez had just won the presidency and was encouraging Venezuelans to squat on private land. So instead, Mr Vollmer devised a plan to allow some families to remain, so long as the government paid for their housing.

Venezuela Opens Bidding Process for Latest Dollar Auction, Wall Street Journal

Venezuela authorities began accepting bids Wednesday for the government’s latest hard currency auction, which will offer for the first time dollar-denominated bonds issued last year among the $330 million slated to be injected into the import-heavy economy. The central bank will take bids until Thursday from companies in the food sector, those importing goods for the holiday season in December and firms looking to buy textiles and chemicals, among a limited group of permitted participants.

Venezuelan Doctors Say Country Faces Health Emergency, Latin American Herald Tribune

The president of the Venezuelan Medical Association asked the Venezuelan government Tuesday to declare a health emergency and take steps to address serious problems with the Andean nation’s healthcare system. “We demand… a healthcare emergency be declared here in Venezuela,” Dr. Douglas Leon said during a press conference in Caracas.

 
Aug
19
2013
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ICYMI: Venezuela Government Under Fire for Anti-Gay Slurs

Wall Street Journal
August 15, 2013
By Kejal Vyas and Ezequiel Minaya

WO AP040 VENGAY G 20130816182829 e1376937194509 ICYMI: Venezuela Government Under Fire for Anti Gay Slurs

Courtesy of: Reuters

CARACAS—Venezuela’s leftist government, which often touts its social inclusion and antidiscrimination policies, is under fire from rights groups after a tirade of antigay slurs in the National Assembly, prompting President Nicolas Maduro to take to the airwaves waving a conciliatory gay-pride flag—before continuing to attack his political opponents.

Lawmakers from Mr. Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela released photos that appeared to be from a private gathering in which a top aide to the opposition’s former presidential candidate is seen hugging other men and, in others, mugging for the camera while wearing a shawl and a feathered head piece.

Though the pictures showed nothing lurid, the lawmakers charged that they were “unquestionable” proof of the opposition’s “moral degradation” and evidence of their involvement with “prostitutes” and orgies.

Socialist party congressman Pedro Carreño said “we in the revolution accept sexual diversity,” before using antigay slurs and vulgarities to describe the opposition leader Henrique Capriles and his Primero Justicia party.

The following day, Mr. Carreño apologized, adding, “but I had to put them in their place.”

Ramón José Medina, a director of the opposition coalition, dismissed the allegations as trumped-up efforts by government officials to divert attention from the mountain of economic and social problems plaguing Venezuela, including high crime and an inflation rate topping 40%.

“All of this is clearly an attempt to attack those close to Capriles,” he said.

He said some of the photos as well as receipts to a party-services company cited by Socialist party lawmakers to support allegations of corruption came from property seized during the search of the aide’s residence a week ago.

He said they do not prove any wrongdoing and added that officials were violating the law by publicly showcasing private property. “We’re still trying to figure out what offense they say was committed here,” Mr. Medina said.

Activist groups said the slurs followed a pattern of increasing demonization of homosexuals in the political arena during the past year amid a pair of hard-fought presidential elections. Last October, Mr. Capriles came close to beating former President Hugo Chávez, who died of cancer in March.

Politicians in Venezuela use gay and transgender slurs to “destroy” political adversaries, said Yonatan Matheus, director of the gay advocacy group Venezuela Diversa.

Venezuela has one of the least friendly legal environments toward the gay community in the Spanish-speaking Americas, experts said. Homosexual acts are legal but civil-unions aren’t recognized, in contrast to an increasing number of other countries in the region, said Javier Corrales, a political-science professor at Amherst College, who has written on homosexual and transgender issues in Latin America.

Allies of Venezuela like Argentina and Uruguay have both moved forward with legalizing gay marriage. Meanwhile in Ecuador, courts fined a former presidential candidate earlier this year and stripped him of his political rights for one year after he made homophobic comments.

Mr. Chávez, who often celebrated diversity and inclusion policies toward women, blacks and indigenous peoples, steered clear of the issue.

“What happened in the National Assembly will go down in history as one of the most aggressively homophobic acts in contemporary Latin America,” Mr. Corrales said. “The government is hoping that the public becomes more scandalized by issues of ‘indecency’ than by issues of actual money-related corruption.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Maduro appeared on television holding a rainbow-colored flag and said that he was in solidarity with people of different sexual orientation but backed his ally, Mr. Carreño, calling him an “honorable man.”

He then went on the offensive again, accusing Mr. Capriles of holding orgies in his office. What was shown in the National Assembly, “is only 1% of all that has been uncovered. The orgy videos and photos aren’t publishable…it would be denigrating to the human condition,” the president said.

Mr. Maduro, facing growing criticism of alleged government corruption in his regime, has promised to tackle widespread graft but his withering rhetoric so far has focused almost exclusively on his political foes.

During the presidential campaign in April, Mr. Maduro used gay slurs against Mr. Capriles and other political rivals. Mr. Maduro later offered a tacit apology on state television.

“This is what I would call the pattern of a state that’s schizophrenic,” said Tamara Adrián, a Venezuelan lawyer, professor and local gay and transsexual rights advocate.

Ms. Adrián said Venezuela has signed international accords for protection of sexual diversity, “but it’s not what we see every day,” citing frequent cases of harassment and violent crimes against lesbians and gays.

To read this article at Wall Street Journal, please click here.