Venezuela: Facts and Misinformation

 

Venezuela: Facts and Misinformation

Editorial
April 1, 2017

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Thanks to Nelson Valdes who brought this to my attention
and helped revise the translation for posting here.

The unfolding Venezuelan political crisis is being accompanied by an incessant media campaign that seeks to plant in international public opinion the idea that the South American country is going through a government-sponsored coup process that has little to do with reality.

This recent propaganda war against the democratically-elected Venezuelan government has been compounded in recent weeks by the political attacks originating at the Organization of American States –a multilateral organization presumably engaged in the pursuit of dialogue– and the rightwing and ultra-right regimes of the Latin American region

The facts are that the Venezuelan Constitution continues to be in operation, the president is still in office –which, in a presidential regime like the Venezuelan, makes it absurd to speak of the existence of a coup–, all constitutional guarantees are in force.

The internal life of all political parties and respect for freedom of expression persists. Paradoxically, those very constitutional rights are being used to describe the regime as a dictatorship. In addition, the notion that the legislative power was dissolved is no more than absurd, since no parliamentarian has been dismissed and the legislative assembly can resume its functions as soon as it complies with an order of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) issued on January 5, 2016 .

The tale of a coup or self-coup by the government of President Nicolas Maduro is an uninformed interpretation of the decision adopted on Thursday, March 30, by the Constitutional Chamber of the TSJ, with which the TSJ assumed the powers of the National Assembly of Venezuela (ANV, Venezuela’s unicameral parliament), as it puts an end to the situation of contempt in which it finds itself caused by the illegal swearing in of three opposition deputies.

It should be remembered that the present situation of a  prolonged confrontation between the Venezuelan right grouped in the Democratic Unity Table (MUD) and the Maduro government has its origin in the legislative elections of December 2015, when the opposition managed to snatch  a majority from the pro-Chavez Parliament.

In the election then, large irregularities were verified and verified in the state of Amazonas were documented. This caused the annulment of the election of three MUD deputies and the high court also ordered the reinstatement of the corresponding votes. The opposition decided to use its parliamentary majority to swear in the legislators, in open violation of legality, and for that reason the courts declared the opposition in contempt by the TSJ.

It is also necessary to point out that the decision by which the TSJ temporarily assumes the powers  of the assembly is based in Venezuelan law and responds to the need to unlock the operation of the oil sector, which is crucial to facing the serious economic crisis of the country.

In short, it is imperative to put an end to systematic disinformation that only exacerbates an already delicate conflict, and the outcome will determind the welfare and social peace of millions of Venezuelans. The Venuelans are the ones who must resolve their differences within the framework of their own laws, while the external actors who wish to contribute must do so while fully respecting the sovereignty of Venezuela and with the sole purpose of facilitating the implementation of resolutions adopted internally.