500,000 march against Chávez

Caracas · Hundreds of thousands of opposition demonstrators, carrying a sea of red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flags, marched peacefully in Caracas on Saturday to support a recall referendum on the rule of President Hugo Chávez.

An estimated 500,000 participants marched toward Avenida Libertador in downtown Caracas, a central street where last week two anti-government protesters were killed in clashes with the National Guard.

"Today we were able to channel the popular indignation that we saw last week into a more organized demonstration," said opposition leader Julio Borges. "We will stay in the streets until we can guarantee a referendum."

snip

His critics accuse him of ruling like a dictator, but, ironically, many of those who marched in Saturday's demonstration say they voted for the former paratrooper, who became famous after a failed coup attempt in 1992.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-hvenezuela07mar07,0,6360787.story?coll=sfla-news-caribbean

the crowd stretching at least two city blocks!

When you really think about it, how many of would really take to time to see if this is even valid? Perhaps thats what our "mainstream" media banks on.

and this site is pro chavez

have enough signatures.

The presence of the Organization of American States and The Carter Center throughout all stages has been continuous, thorough, and comprehensive. During the petition drive some 50 international observers covered more than 50 percent of the signature collection centers in 20 states throughout the country, witnessing first hand the democratic and civic spirit demonstrated by all Venezuelans. In the ongoing process of verification of the signatures, the OAS has accompanied the CNE in each technical stage, working three shifts 24 hours per day, observing these activities in detail. The Carter Center carried out an analysis of the process based on a statistically representative sample to determine whether the verification criteria used by the CNE were applied correctly. We would like to extend our appreciation to the European Union and to the countries of the hemisphere that have supported our efforts with resources and public recognition of our work.

In this process, in particular, we find sufficient controls, including security paper for the petitions, full identification of the citizen with signature and thumbprint, summary forms (actas) listing the petition (planillas) serial numbers during the collection process, party witnesses, personnel trained and designated by the CNE, verification of each petition form and a cross-check with the summary forms, a cross-check of the names with the voters list, and a mechanism for appeal and correction.

http://www.cartercenter.com/viewdoc.asp?docID=1631&submenu=news

Saving you the post.

"I am very disappointed at the Venezuelan National Elections Council's use of hyper-technical points and controversial procedural rulings to repress what appears to be the clear will of a sufficient number of Venezuelan citizens to move the country to a constitutional referendum on President Chavez."

snip


Breaking News



Posted: Friday, March 05, 2004
By: Roy S. Carson


US Congressman Barney Frank has "no confidence" in the constitutional autonomy of Venezuela's National Elections Council (CNE)
US congressman Barney Frank

In a press release issued from Washington D.C. today, US congressman Barney Frank (D-Ma) writes that "I am very disappointed at the Venezuelan National Elections Council's use of hyper-technical points and controversial procedural rulings to repress what appears to be the clear will of a sufficient number of Venezuelan citizens to move the country to a constitutional referendum on President Chavez."

"I call on President Chavez to urge his supporters on the CNE to continue talks facilitated by the OAS and Carter Center to work out procedures to guarantee the rights of citizens who wish to confirm or refute their signatures."

snip

Contacted in Washington this afternoon, Frank told VHeadline.com that he sees President Chavez Frias as pressuring the CNE to declare the referendum petition invalid ... "I've spoken with the Carter Center and I believe that the signatures that were gathered without them filling out the forms, that there was a miscommunication, a misunderstanding and there does not appear to be any doubt about these signatures/thumbprints and that is pretty well verifiable."

snip

"If it (my information) turns out wrong I will retract my statement, but I'm afraid that my impression was that pressure had been put on the CNE or the majority members and I could not have a lot of confidence in the validity of that process where people who had admittedly signed would have to come back and verify ... if they sign and put their thumb print there, what's the point in making them come back?"

note that the article also describes Frank as an "open homosexual"

wonder what that has to do with it????

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16242

the article mentions Chavez's failed coup attempt

"His critics accuse him of ruling like a dictator, but, ironically, many of those who marched in Saturday's demonstration say they voted for the former paratrooper, who became famous after a failed coup attempt in 1992."

but makes no mention of the attempted coup against Chavez. Keep that in mind

Published on Sunday, April 21, 2002 in the Observer of London
Venezuela Coup Linked to Bush Team
Specialists in the 'dirty wars' of the Eighties encouraged the plotters who tried to topple President Chavez

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0421-01.htm

Also, just to think about this, what kind of dictator allows 500,000 people out of 10 million in the country to march peacefully?

.....after all, this is the same 'press' that reported "thousands" of anti-war protesters in San Francisco when the actual number was closer to half a million! I know, I was there. The entire plaza and mall in front of City Hall was filled to capacity as were all of the side streets. There was a march from downtown that never seemed to end. The press downplayed the size of the crowd to the point that it was laughable. I see the same phenomenon here. Pro Chavez rallies are always downplayed numbers wise while anti-Chavez rally numbers are always overstated. I rely on the photographs taken by independent sources and posted on local sites.

I'm happy to see that Venezuela's democracy is working and dissenting opinions in the form of peaceful public protest marches are allowed. :)
You can bet your bottom dollar that the CIA is working overtime to help change that and stir things up a bit as a pretext for 'helping' Chavez to resign and 'flee the country to avoid bloodshed'.

Some people here had better wake up to the reality that under this administration our CIA is totally out of control. Remember what 'poppy' Bush did for a living before he became President? Do you remember what the CIA did while 'poppy' was President? Do you know what 'poppy' was doing for a living after he left office? Do you think he still has friends there? ;-)

These guys are attempting to create as much global instability as possible in order to move in and exercise control over, and profit from, the planets dwindling energy resources. At the same time they've positioned themselves to reap tremendous profits selling arms and now even services to our military at our own expense. They don't want Chavez in power because he won't play by their rules. They don't want Venezuela to change to the Euro as a basis for their oil sales.

Look at Haiti. Do you find it at all strange that several months after the US sent thousands of M16 rifles and other military equipment to the Dominican Republic, thousands of well armed Haitian 'rebels' show up with brand new M16's? Worse yet, take a close look at those 'rebels' in the photos and videos and notice the body armour. Brand new body armour! The same flack vests that our own troops in Iraq and Afghanistan go without! You would think there would be a Congressional delegation on the way to the Dominican Republic investigating what equipment we gave them and was it done so at our own troops expense and just where are those weapons right now? :shrug:

What kind of weapons are the Venezuelan 'rebels' using right now other than propaganda and what will they show up with in the near future? Keep an eye on weapons sales in neighboring countries. That should be your first clue. :(

...
And I could confirm the large protests. I'd recently returned from Caracas and watched 100,000 march against President Chavez. I'd filmed them for BBC Television London.

But I also filmed this: a larger march, easily over 200,000 Venezuelans marching in support of their president, Chavez.

That picture, of the larger pro-Chavez march, did not appear in a single U.S. newspaper. The pro-Chavez marchers weren't worth a mention.

By the next month, when the New York Times printed a photo of anti-Chavez marchers, they had metastasized. The Times reported that 600,000 had protested against Chavez.

Once again, the larger pro-Chavez demonstrations were, as they say in Latin America, "disappeared." I guess they didn't fit the print.
...
Why am I explaining the basics of Venezuela to you? If you watched BBC TV, or Canadian Broadcasting, you'd know all this stuff. But if you read the New York Times, you'll only know that President Chavez is an "autocrat," a "ruinous demagogue," and a "would-be dictator," who resigned when he recognized his unpopularity.
...
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16255

:spank: Don't confuse windansea with FACTS! :crazy: :evilgrin: :toast:

your link did not work...

http://www.indymedia.org/or/2004/03/110481.shtml

Here is another link to the article I linked to in my previous post:
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=230&row=0

,...wish we could wake up the America people,...immediately. *sigh* but, like my son,...they are slow to wake.

Sadly, the article is wrong on one point. The BBC is as quiet about this as CNN/FOX. But BBC online has gone downhill in the last few years in terms of volume of content anyhow...

V

Suffering down there because of hate and greed.

Peace

When I read posts both 'for' and 'against' Chavez and Aristide, I'm reminded of how divided the US is over our own occupation by Bush*.

The crimes of supporters can't always be attributed to the leaders of the supporters. Obvious, I know, but worth saying again.

Countries enduring cultural and military civil wars have terrible things done by people who their leaders don't control.

I've stepped back from blanket condemnations of people ever since I found out that Jimmy Carter authorized the funding of Afghan mujahadeen to draw the Soviets into their own Vietnam. And Carter has since become synonymous with human rights and fairness in governance.
And other terrible things were done by CIA under his presidency.

It would be helpful to put responsibility for crimes on the perpetrators and not just on the instigators. People might think twice about signing up for the military if they were responsible for everyone they killed, not some abstract chain of command.

public support demonstrated over the years. I think this is a pre-coup lie by the Crime Family.

heres a photo of the march from a pro Chavez website

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1217