<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=5 color="#A80000">Elio Cequea: Do you
REALLY think the referendum will be the peaceful resolution?<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4 color="#A80000"><a href="http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22090">http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22090</a><br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2><b>VHeadline.com commentarist Elio
Cequea writes: An </b>Open Letter to US Congressmen Henry Hyde, Tom
Lantos, Doug Bereuter and Robert Menendez:<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dl>
<dd><font face="Courier New, Courier" size=2>CONGRESS OF THE UNITED
STATES <br>
<dd>House of Representatives <br><br>
<dd>Henry Hyde, Chairman<br>
<dd>Committee on International Relations <br><br>
<dd>Tom Lantos, Ranking Democratic Member<br>
<dd>Committee on International Relations <br><br>
<dd>Doug Bereuter, Chairman<br>
<dd>Subcommittee on Europe <br><br>
<dd>Robert Menendez<br>
<dd>Ranking Democratic Member<br>
<dd>Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere <br><br>
</b></font>
</dl>
</dl><font face="georgia" size=3><b><u>Dear Sirs:</u></b> I am writing to
you with regard to
<a href="http://www.vheadline.com/graf/lettersumate.pdf">a letter signed
by each one of you that was directed to the President of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias.</a> In that letter you
communicate to the President your "serious" concerns about the
actions taken against Sumate, an organization you refer to as "a
Venezuelan civic organization."<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2><b>The leaders of Sumate have indeed
been charged with conspiracy.<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>It is my opinion that the
accusation against this Venezuelan NGO is more than justified. The same
opinion is shared not only by the government but also by many other
Venezuelan citizens. If you let me borrow few minutes of your time, I can
bring some light to this issue by showing you "the other side of the
coin."
<ul>
<li>I sincerely hope that for the sake of the political stability of my
country, my words help you to have a more objective and less partisan
position.</font>
</ul><br>
<font face="georgia" size=2><b>The influence of the US in Venezuela is
enormous and the unconditional support being offered to the opposition is
<u>not</u> helping to bring the situation to a truly happy and democratic
ending. <br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3><u>There are some facts about
Sumate that I expect you do not know:<br><br>
</u>As an organization that was born to promote democracy in Venezuela,
Sumate has done so <b><u>ONLY</u></b> with the opposition. They have
encouraged political participation only among opposition sympathizers.
Since its creation, Sumate has been acting more like a pro-opposition
political party rather than an NGO. This is why its relationship with the
US's National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is illegal. <br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>To put it into words you would perhaps understand better, imagine the
US GOP receiving money for the November Presidential campaign from a
foreign government, company or organization. Do I need to explain
more?<br><br>
</u></b>
</dl><img src="cid:6.1.0.6.2.20040720084512.037c8b60@66.103.156.66.0" width=126 height=165 alt="ae40f2.jpg"></u></b>Maria
Corina Machado is the more visible and active of the leaders of Sumate.
During the April 2002 coup d'etat, she was among the many who signed the
document supporting "Dictator for a day" Pedro Carmona Estanga.
<br><br>
Then, she turned pro-democracy and helped to create Sumate?
<br><br>
<font face="georgia" size=2>Change of heart? I do not think
so. <br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>Sumate was one of the main
protagonists during the signature collection rally that resulted in a
Presidential recall referendum. They did promotions, training and
actively participated in the organization and execution of the collection
of signatures. They were the keepers of the signatures until they were
turned in to the electoral authorities. They were in charged of counting
and verifying the number of signatures for the opposition. <br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=4>Some of the facts are as
follows:<br><br>
</u></font><font face="georgia" size=3>Sometime during the week after the
signatures were collected, a conversation between two prominent members
of the opposition took place. In that conversation, one said to the other
that he had been to an urgent meeting were Sumate had said that only 1.9
million signatures had been collected. None of the participants in this
secretly taped conversation denies that the conversation took place. Keep
in mind that at least 2.4 million signatures were needed to call for a
referendum. <br><br>
Three weeks later, Sumate "officially" submitted to the
electoral authorities the quantity of 3.4 million signatures. This
quantity had Sumate's seal of approval. To make a long story short, more
than 300,000 signatures were invalidated right away for reasons such as
being </font><font face="georgia" size=2>signatures of minors, foreigners
and unregistered voters</u></b></font><font face="georgia" size=3> among
others. Sumate accepted the signatures were invalid but insisted that, in
any case, there were enough left to call for a referendum. <br><br>
Then, more than 11,000 signatures were deducted from the final total
number because they were proven to be
</font><font face="georgia" size=2>signatures of dead
people</u></b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>. I would not call
this a conspiracy. This is rather a clear intent on the part of Sumate to
commit fraud. I can prove to you all the facts I have mentioned and you
can make your own conclusions. They are common knowledge and all of them
were reported on the national and international press one way or another.
<br><br>
If after all of this you still insist that the charges against the
leaders of Sumate are unfounded, you will then probably be among the
people outraged if they are found guilty. I can already see you
voting to support an immediate invasion to Venezuela to "defend and
protect democracy and human rights."<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=4>That seems to be in vogue in
Washington D.C. nowadays, with or without WMDs!<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3>There are some other things mentioned
in your letter that are worth note. In the May 29, 2003 agreement, it was
the opposition that finally agreed to follow the terms of the 1999
Constitution ... but only after a coup attempt and a civic strike that
almost ruined the country. Your defense of the "pro-democratic"
work of the NED in Venezuela sounds like wishful thinking.
<ul>
<li>The truth is that only pro-opposition organizations have received
money from the NED and most of them, if not all, supported the coup and
the strike. Is that a coincidence?</font>
</ul><br>
<font face="georgia" size=4>You probably know the inside scoop.<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3>Do you really think that the
referendum will be the peaceful resolution to the political impasse
afflicting Venezuela?<br><br>
</font><div align="center"><img src="cid:6.1.0.6.2.20040720084512.037c8b60@66.103.156.66.1" width=480 height=302 alt="ae4140.jpg"><br><br>
</div>
<font face="georgia" size=5 color="#A80000">What if Chavez is the
winner?<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=4>Would you accept that as being the end
of the conflict?<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3>These are really difficult questions
to answer for opposition leaders and their followers. <br><br>
</u>In your letter you commended the President for "allowing"
the recall referendum, but, with all due respect, Sirs, the referendum is
going to happen because according to the electoral authorities (fraud or
not) there are sufficient signatures to call for one under the 1999
Constitution.<br><br>
You should commend the President for "respecting" and
"following" that Constitution ... but then, that will change
that label of "Dictator" that the press has placed upon his
back. You do not want to do that. Dictators "allow," they
do not "respect." You are just playing with the words.
<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=2>With regards to Sumate ... a judge
found enough reasons to press charges ... a court of law will decide
their fate.<br><br>
</b></font><font face="georgia" size=3>As he has done on other occasions,
the President will "respect" the outcome ... whatever the
verdict and it is actually disrespectful on your part to urge him to
violate the law and influence the courts to "reconsider" their
position...<br><br>
On top of that, you want Sumate and its leaders to be able to continue to
work "consistently with the constitutional process and the
Venezuelan laws." As if they have done that all along, which
they have not! <br><br>
</font><img src="cid:6.1.0.6.2.20040720084512.037c8b60@66.103.156.66.2" width=200 height=254 alt="ae41fc.jpg">Sometimes,
I am amazed about the amount of contradictions that are found in the
Venezuelan opposition ... it seems to be a virus that infects all of
those who get close to them. You obviously are not immune. <br><br>
<font face="georgia" size=2>I beg your pardon me if I sound upset. To
tell you the truth, I am.</b></font><font face="georgia" size=4>
<br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3>I do not want at some juncture in the
future, to see President George W. Bush explaining to his nation that the
invasion of Venezuela and the subsequent killing of thousands of its
innocent citizens was somehow justified because Chavez
"intended" to violate somebody's human rights.<br><br>
Respectfully, <br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=5>Elio Cequea<br>
<a href="mailto:Elio@vheadline.com">Elio@vheadline.com<br>
</a></font><font face="georgia" size=4>A Venezuelan
citizen</font><font face="georgia" size=5> <br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3><a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>