On Palm Sunday, April 4th. President Chavez in his Sunday program said that the �oligarchic� press had made a big deal out of a little incident calling it a �little fire�, denying that it was set on purpose and calling the injuries �slight�. To make matters even worse, Chavez spoke with his usual all-knowing authority, saying �we are not covering up anything�. Even more remarkable, Chavez congratulated his Minister of Defense, who was present that day with him as he spoke, for withstanding all these unfair attacks on him and the military, calling it another attempt to destabilize the country.

No sooner had Chavez said these words, when the relatives of one of those injured challenged the President to personally visit Angel Pedreanez who had burns covering 52% of his body rejecting the President�s statement that they were slight injuries. The sister of the soldier called her brother condition �critical� while his father said that his son had been unconscious for the first 72 hours following the incident.

And it was all downhill from there for a Government accustomed to lying and mostly getting away with it. On Monday, Orlando Jesus Bustamante one of the injured soldiers died of the burns he had received. His family charged that they were never able to talk to him after he was hospitalized and was moved to Caracas without their consent, something that the Minister of Defense clearly knew on Sunday as Chavez spoke, given the mobilization required to move the injured soldiers to Caracas. At the same time, it was revealed that two additional soldiers were severely burned.

After the news came out that day, Minister of Information Jesse Chacon resigned �irrevocably� for failing to provide the President with true information and once again accusing the press, which actually had revealed the details the Government was trying to hide and cover up, of presenting the facts in an irresponsible manner (!!).

By Tuesday, the Maracaibo fire department had presented its report saying that the fire had been provoked and not like Chavez had explained was due to a cigarette butt falling on a mattress. Even the representative of the Peoples� Ombudsman in Maracaibo raised a number of issues about the fire, questioning the fact that the soldiers were not allowed out and are actually not allowed to smoke in the stockade.

To show even more how the Government was trying to cover up the incident, Doctors from the Maracaibo Hospital where the soldiers were first treated, said that the patients were moved against the opinion of the doctors. One Doctor said that she did not even think one of the patients should be moved from one floor to another for treatment.

By now, the Government began trying to spin events. On Sunday, Chavez asked for forgiveness for saying the injuries were slight, but clearly showed that Chacon�s resignation was simply a smokescreen by �not accepting it�. Thus, what was defended by Chavez� supporters, like Tarek William Saab, as an ethical resignation became empty words with Chavez defense and reinstatement of Chacon.

While a lot of the news seemed to center on the Chacon resignation (or his purchase of a 140 thousand dollar (!!) painting by Venezuelan painter Armando Reveron), the truth is that the true grotesque aspects of the incident in my opinion seemed to have been missed. Here we have a Government where the President and two Ministers are lying through the nose. Not only were they doing this, but they were simultaneously trying to cover the events, by hiding the injured as well as minimizing what had happened, showing a total disregard for human rights and the law.

As if this were not enough, while the Zulia representative of the People�s Ombudsman acted promptly, the People�s Ombudsman has yet to make a statement on any of these events. Similarly, the Attorney General/Prosecutor Isaias Rodriguez has actually said absolutely nothing about the whole affair, from the violations of human rights, through the lies and manipulations and the fact that evidence, such as the report by the Maracaibo fire department, has disappeared in the hands of the military.

Thus, one more story of this corrupt, unethical and insensitive administration is being written as we speak. One of the soldiers remains in critical condition as his relatives charge that they are being pressured by military intelligence not to say anything else to the press. Chavez supposedly invited the father to meet with him in Caracas, but the father simply said: �I do not trust the Government or the military� adding that the General in charge of Zulia state General Silva is a liar that is simply twisting the truth.

By now, the Chavez administration is not capable of deceiving too many people. As all of this was taking place Human Rights groups in Washington such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International were complaining to the Chavez administration for the lack of investigation into the charges of human rights violations. HRW even wrote a letter to Chavez asking for full and impartial investigations and saying that they had information they could trust that the tortures occurring during the February protests were not isolated or exceptional but the generalized behavior with apparent official approval. The letter even contained specific cases and accusations with names of those that were tortured. Thus, the same institution that used to defend Hugo Chavez two years ago, is now presenting a damning condemnation of the human rights violations by the Chavez Government.

Thus, just as two years have gone by and not one person has been jailed for the 19 deaths of April 11th. the evidence against Hugo Chavez and his cronies continues to pile up. And as it does, everyone should remind the leading figures of this administration that crimes against humanity never prescribe.

www.vcrisis.com, April 13, 2004

When people see a woman who has been beaten by her husband, no one dares say, "It is her fault; she deserves the man she decided to marry." It takes a while for neighbours to believe that this nice guy, who always shows himself as a family man and a good citizen, is capable of abusing of his wife. Sometimes it is not until the victim has been seriously beaten � or murdered � that friends and authorities are forced to face the truth.
This is very similar to what Venezuela is going through now. President Hugo Chavez was democratically elected in 1998. He was a sweet-talking groom who promised the Venezuelan people he would build a better nation, where wealth would be distributed more fairly and where every Venezuelan would be entitled to a life of dignity and prosperity.
And most of the people believed him. The speech of this retired colonel, who led two failed military coups in 1992, gained the trust of people who were disappointed by four decades of democracy characterized by corruption and poor administration.
But Venezuela has now decided to get a divorce before her husband kills her. In this case, divorce comes in the form of a revoking referendum, as it is described in our constitution. More than three million signatures were collected last year, almost one million in excess of what is required by the constitution. Observers from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center witnessed the process. But Chavez has violated the constitution to avoid going for elections. He calls himself a democratic president and accuses the opposition of being fascists. But while the "fascist opposition" is struggling to celebrate elections and to have as many international observers as possible, the "democratic president" is using every trick in the book � and a few new ones � to delay the electoral process and to get rid of the observers.
Chavez has used excessive force to repress unarmed demonstrations where hundreds have been wounded and tens have been murdered.
Thanks to videos and photos taken by the media and amateurs, there is plenty of evidence of human-rights violations by the National Guards and by Chavez�s political police. There is also forensic evidence of torture suffered by demonstrators who have been captured by these armed corps.
In the middle of this tragedy, it is sometimes outrageous for Venezuelans to read articles written by journalists who choose to believe the government�s version, without digging any further in search of evidence.
Chavez has told the world that Venezuela�s crisis is due to a confrontation between rich and poor, between black and white. Yet I was born in a poor home, where a midwife assisted my mother. Neither of my parents finished elementary school, but I am proud to say that I was able to obtain an engineering degree in a public university in my hometown and later an MSc from a university in North America, thanks to the hard work of my family and a scholarship from PDVSA (Venezuelan National Oil Company). I also have two daughters; one is blond while the other has a beautiful copper-coloured skin, just like my wife. Venezuela is like that, a wonderful mixture of races and cultures.
Unfortunately, our country, formerly known for such things as its large oil production and reserves and its baseball big-leaguers, is now capturing the attention of the world because of extreme violations of human rights. The judiciary and the legislature have no independence from the presidency. Chavez�s siblings and close friends � including many soldiers who accompanied him during the failed coups in 1992 � occupy key roles in ministries and other public offices. They show no respect for the constitution.
If you want to understand the frustration and indignation Venezuelan people feel, imagine being an abused woman whose husband is so powerful and influential that you cannot call 911, nor go to the police station.
That is why I urge Canadians not to look away. The great majority of Venezuelan people want a peaceful and electoral solution to our crisis. And for those journalists who care to write about the sad situation in our country, I would ask them to please dig thoroughly.
For those who still decide to support Chavez�s arguments, I would encourage them to look over the hundreds of pictures that show the faces and bodies of those who have been murdered and tortured by his regime.
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Jorge Robles, who worked for 13 years at PDVSA in Venezuela, is now a research engineer in Edmonton, where he is also president of the Association of Venezuelans in Defence of Democracy. (www.avended.org)

MAY 7th to 12th, 2004

AVENDED is present every night in the Citadel Theater for giving the audience the missing facts from the film "The Revolution will not be televised"

MAY 3rd, 2004

AVENDED send a letter to Metro Cinema Society, which subject was: "Edmontonians, please do not be poisoned by their lies". Due to the presentation of the film "The Revolution will not be televised"

APRIL 29th, 2004

AVENDED participate in the screening of "The Revolution will not be televised" in Citadel Theater, giving the missing facts from the film to the audience.

APRIL 14th, 2004

AVENDED launches its first News letter (click here)

APRIL 3rd, 2004

AVENDED organized a pacific demonstration on Saturday April the 3rd, 2004 to let the Edmontonian community know about the actual social and politic crisis abating Venezuela. Also, shown the human right violation by the actual regime ruling the country.

We invite everyone to go through the S.O.S. for Venezuela slides presentation for better information background (click here)

MARCH 31st, 2004

Edmonton Journal, Mar 31, 2004 - Opinion Page A15

A beaten wife named Venezuela (click here)

BY JORGE ROBLES

Reafirmazo in Edmonton