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<font face="georgia" size=6 color="#008000">Response to Allen is
below.<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=5 color="#A80000">US Senator George
Allen from Virginia tells VHeadline's Elio Cequea he is deeply worried
over the relationship that Chavez has with regional terrorist
groups<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4 color="#A80000"><a href="http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22033">http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22033</a><br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2><b>Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 19:25:23
+0000 <br>
From:
<a href="mailto:senator_allen@allen.senate.gov">senator_allen@allen.senategov</a><br>
To: Elio Cequea<br>
Subject: A response from Senator George Allen<br><br>
</b>Dear Mr. Cequea:
<a href="http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=21973">Thank you for
contacting me regarding the political situation in Venezuela.</a> I
appreciate your concerns and value the opportunity to respond. <br><br>
<img src="cid:6.1.0.6.2.20040715155914.02740238@66.103.156.66.0" width=143 height=200 alt="2f6fad.jpg"><b>Since
the election of President Hugo Chavez in 1998, Venezuela has undergone
enormous political changes, with a new constitution and revamped
political institutions. President Chavez has seen his popularity slowly
erode due to his ineffectiveness in improving the living conditions of
80% of its 23 million citizens that live in poverty. <br><br>
</b>As you may know, President Chavez resigned on April 12, 2002, under
pressure from the military, but was ultimately restored to power two days
later. From early December 2002 until February 2003, the opposition
orchestrated a strike against Chavez, hoping to pressure him into
resigning. According to reports, some 35,000 workers walked out of the
State oil monopoly PDVSA <i>(Petroleos de Venezuela Sociedad
Anonima)</i>, thus slowing oil production to a mere trickle. However, the
strike was unsuccessful in getting President Chavez to agree to an early
non-binding referendum on his rule or new elections. <br><br>
In addition, I am deeply worried over the relationship that Chavez has
with regional terrorist groups. According to the State Department, the
Venezuelan Army reported that more than 700 combatants of the Marxist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had established camps in
the western border states.<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>Moreover, Chavez continues to throw caution to the wind with his
close ties to Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein. I am pleased at the
ongoing negotiations between Venezuela and the Organization of American
States (OAS). On May 29, 2003, the Chavez Administration and opposition
leaders signed an agreement to end violence and make President Chavez
subject to a possible recall vote after his midway point in office,
August 19, 2003. <br><br>
</dl><font face="georgia" size=3>It is important that we continue to put
pressure on Chavez to hold a referendum on his rule through international
observers to safeguard political and civil liberties. Furthermore, the
"group of friends of Venezuela" that includes ministers from
Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal must hold Chavez accountable so that he
does not make any open-ended promises to the people of
Venezuela.<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2><b>Moreover, we must closely monitor
Chavez and increase intelligence collection on his dealings with the FARC
and Castro.<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>It is my sincere hope that by
holding a referendum on Chavez's rule, the people of Venezuela will be
able to have their voices heard and will resurrect Venezuela's prosperity
of the past. <br><br>
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. If you would like to
receive an e-mail newsletter about my initiatives to improve America,
please sign up on my website
<a href="http://allen.senate.gov/">http://allen.senate.gov</a> . It is an
honor to serve you in the United States Senate, and I look forward to
working with you to make Virginia and America a better place to live,
learn, work and raise a family. <br><br>
With warm regards, I remain<br><br>
Sincerely,<br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=5>Senator George Allen<br>
<a href="mailto:senator_allen@allen.senate.gov">senator_allen@allen.senategov</a><br><br>
</font><font size=3> <br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=5 color="#A80000">VHeadline's Elio
Cequea responds to US Senator George Allen's serious
allegations<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4 color="#A80000"><a href="http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22034">http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22034</a><br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3>Dear Senator Allen:
<a href="http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22033">I want to
express my highest appreciation to you for finding time in your busy
schedule to answer my letter.</a> The political situation in Venezuela is
of extreme importance not only to me but also to all my fellow citizens.
I would like to thank you for your personal interest in the situation ...
although, I personally believe that before committing to a serious search
for a solution, the first step should be getting the facts
straight.<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2><b>I respectfully have to tell you
that, according to your letter, you have <u>not</u> gone through that
exercise.<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>President Chavez has indeed taken
my country through enormous political changes. He has been able to do so
<u>with the support</u> of the people. That support has been expressed in
the form of victories in several referendae ... the Venezuelan people
approved the new Constitution in one of those referendae.<br><br>
Right after that, a general Presidential election was called and the
people chose Hugo Chavez <b><u>again</u></b> as their President over
other candidates of the opposition. He has won two Presidential elections
in six years and all the referendums that he has personally
promoted.<br><br>
With regards to the "erosion of his popularity," the latest
polls have him as the winner of the Presidential Referendum ... even the
polls sponsored by the opposition have him in front by at least ten
points. <br><br>
Has he been ineffective improving the living conditions of the
people? A lot of Venezuelans do not think so. In a democracy,
it is the people who decide if a public official's performance is
ineffective. <br><br>
I do not know as a matter of fact <b><u>if</u></b> President Chavez
resigned under pressure from the military on April 12, 2002. I <b><u>do
know</u></b> though that in most civilized countries, "resigning
under pressure from the military" is another way to call the more
familiar "military coup."<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2><b>We both know that Chavez was
restored to power two days later and, perhaps you forgot to mention, a
popular uprising asking for his return had a big influence on that turn
of events. <br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>I got the impression that you
support a coup or ... as President Bush puts it ... a regime change in
Venezuela. Your words regarding the PDVSA strike are
"considerate," to say the least. It is your prerogative if you
just want to have a "politically correct" position about an
issue, but, in case you are interested in having a position based on
facts, these are very simple. <br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>First</u></b>, that was a strike promoted ONLY by the top management
of the company ... a lot of people did not have any choice but to joint
or get fired. <br><br>
<dd>Second</u></b>, they did not go on strike "hoping" to
pressure Chavez into resigning ... they were 100% sure the strike was
going to help to throw him out of office .. it was another coup attempt
or, as you will put it, "pressure from the civil society to
resign."<br><br>
<dd>Third</u></b>, the intent of the strike was not</u></b> to get
President Chavez to agree to an early non-binding referendum or</u></b>
new elections. You already mentioned that they were hoping to pressure
Chavez into "resigning."<br><br>
</dl><font face="georgia" size=2><b>As you can see, it is very easy to
get things mixed up when our opinions and thoughts are not based on
fact.<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>Considering the recent official
reports on the failures of intelligence on Iraq and its weapons of mass
destruction (WMD), I am puzzled by your willingness to believe reports
coming out from the US State Department.</font>
<ul>
<li><font face="georgia" size=2><b>Did you believe Colin Powell when he
went to the UN with pictures showing Iraq's WMD?</b></font>
</ul><font size=3><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3>Do you believe them<i> (without a need
for proof)</i> that more than 700 combatants of the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) had established camps in the western border
states of Venezuela?<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2><b>If that was true, is it really an
indication that Chavez has an on-going relationship with them? Wouldn't
you like to ask at least for a picture this time? I would! It might save
a lot of lives.<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>With all due respect, if I were
you, I would <b><u>not</u></b> be too concerned with Chavez' "close
ties" with Fidel Castro ... George Bush's close ties with Tony Blair
have caused a lot more real trouble in the world already ... a lot of
innocent people have died because of the failures of their corresponding
intelligences.<br><br>
The agreement signed on May 29, 2003, between the Chavez administration
and the leadership of the opposition was, among other things, to end
violence. There was no agreement about a recall vote against the
President. The agreement on that was to follow the legal steps that have
always been available under the
<a href="http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=6822">1999 Venezuelan
Constitution:</a> a referendum petition, the collection of signatures,
signature verification, etc., etc.<br><br>
The referendum is <b><u>not</u></b> going to happen because Chavez is
going to allow it or not ... it will happen because, according to the
independent electoral authority (the CNE), there are enough signatures to
call for one.
<ul>
<li>You cannot pressure Chavez to produce signatures supporting a
Presidential referendum.
<li> </font>
<li><font face="georgia" size=3>You cannot put pressure on him either to
push for a desired result. </font>
</ul><br>
<font face="georgia" size=2><b>Of course, I say all of this under the
assumption that you are a firm supporter of democracy regardless of if
you like President Hugo Chavez or not. <br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>I want to make a quick comment
regarding the collected signatures. <u>There was a fraud.</u> You
probably heard about a lot of signatures that were
"invalidated" by the CNE.<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>Would you agree that if only one of those signatures was proven to be
from a person who was already dead, that that alone will be enough to
prove somebody's intent for fraud?<br><br>
<dd>What if I tell you that more than 11,000 signatures were deducted
from the final count for that very "particular"
reason?<br><br>
</dl><font face="georgia" size=2>In fact, there are more than 80,000
confirmed dead people that are still registered as voters and the
government is pushing for the records to be updated before August 15.
<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>The international observers
present during the signature collection drive did not help to safeguard
"political and civil liberties". These dead individuals who
signed apparently "walked" in front of them in their way to
stamp their signatures on the referendum petition. President Hugo Chavez
cannot be "held accountable" if the opposition is defeated in
the referendum. An opposition victory in August 15 was not an open ended
promise to the people of Venezuela. In a democracy things like that
depend on the people. <br><br>
In your letter you have expressed your desires for a closer monitoring on
the Venezuelan President and an increase in intelligence collection on
his dealings with the FARC and Castro. I encourage you to keep an open
mind about these "intelligence" reports. The Iraqi experience
has shown us the complete disregard of some people for lives of innocent
human beings when they are in pursue of their own interests. Some people
in Washington D.C. are more concerned with geo-political power and
economic results than the way their lack of intelligence affects others.
<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2>People in Venezuela will be able to
have their voices heard in the upcoming referendum ... the most important
thing, though, is for that voice to be heard all the way in Washington
D.C.<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>It is interesting that you refer
in your letter to "Venezuela's prosperity of the past!" That is
exactly one of the opposition "arguments" against Hugo Chavez
... in Venezuela, "the past" is that period of time before
December 1998. Chavez won his first election that month, that
year.<br><br>
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. If you would like to
have access to a different view to that which you have been provided
about the situation in Venezuela, I would extend an invitation to visit
VHeadline.com at
<a href="http://www.vheadline.com/">http://www.vheadline.com/</a>
It is practically the only publication that is willing to publish
opinions and articles from both</u></b> sides.</font>
<ul>
<li><font face="georgia" size=2>I appreciate anything that you can do to
at least spread the voice about the existence of other "valid"
opinions about Venezuela. </b></font>
</ul><font size=3><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3>One of the defects of the
"representative democracy" is that power belongs to those who
for whatever reason have somebody to represent them. Those without
representation always end up on the losing end.<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2>The Venezuelan opposition has a lot of
political power and influence in high places ... the rest of the
Venezuelan people and the government have only their votes, and each
other. <br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>With warm regards, <br><br>
Sincerely, <br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=5>Elio Cequea <br>
<a href="mailto:elio@vheadline.com">elio@vheadline.com</a><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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