Two events on Venezuela
This post was written by CIP Intern Cristina Salas. This week the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held several hearings on Venezuela. Taking advantage of the presence of many important Venezuelan political figures in Washington to attend the hearings, a number of events discussed the situation in Venezuela. Below are brief summaries of two events on Venezuela held this week in Washington: The recent IACHR report, Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela was the topic of discussion at the first event, sponsored by George Washington University's Latin American and Hemispheric Studies program, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL). Speakers Carlos Correa from Espacio Público and Liliana Ortega from COFAVIC highlighted the most troubling human rights problems expressed in the lengthy report. Correa emphasized freedom of expression. As he explained, the most important circumstances that hamper this right are: arbitrariness in the administration of the broadcasting spectrum following the closing of the RCTV television network in 2007; the transfer of responsibility from the individual to the media concerning opinions expressed in broadcasts, as stated in the Law on Social Responsibility on Radio and Television; and the offenses of defamation and vilifying categorized as criminal in Venezuela's Criminal Code. Ortega called attention to alarming data in the report that was either provided by state sources or released by the state. For instance, Venezuela's Prosecutor's Office acknowledged an average of 600 extrajudicial executions per year in a one such statement. Of the 7,243 ongoing cases of extrajudicial executions, less than 2% ever make it to a judge, and the other cases remain in investigation and don't go to trial. For Ortega, the most alarming situations in Venezuela, as supported by the government's data, are insecurity and impunity. Citing statistics from the Corps for Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations (CICPC), Ortega noted that there are around 16,000 homicides in Venezuela every year, and out of 100 murders, only 9 arrests are made. On the other hand, speakers Alfredo Ruiz, from Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz, and Mark Weisbrot, from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, criticized the way the report was elaborated. They claim the most important question to ask is why should there be a report about Venezuela when similar conditions, and even worse human rights violations, can be found in other Latin American countries. According to Weisbrot, there is no need for Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) or Richard Lugar (R-IN) to call for a permanent session at the OAS to discuss the report. Instead he suggested, "Senators Dodd and Lugar should read the report or at least have their staff read it." He also proposed the report be carried out by public survey because, in his opinion, it is not well substantiated. Ruiz, on the other hand, affirmed that out of the more than 200 recommendations the Commission made in the report, at least 6 have already been carried out. On Wednesday 26th, Georgetown University hosted the event The Future of the Venezuelan Political Arena: A Lecture by Leopoldo López, where the opposition politician talked about the policies he proposes for Venezuela's future. The former mayor of the Chacao Municipality in Caracas said his objective is to look for inclusive policies to unite all social sectors in Venezuela. Chávez's model of social and economic aid is not sustainable, said López, who noted that while poverty has been reduced because of public expenditure due to the high price of oil, extreme poverty has risen. He suggested a revision of Venezuela's energy policies to create a better oil economy and to work in the creation of new jobs. According to López, "there is a clear commitment to disregard the rules of democracy" in Venezuela, and many countries have decided to ignore what is going on in the country - especially regarding human rights violations - because of commercial interests. However, he made clear he does not want or expect change in Venezuela to come from an economic collapse, but rather from building from social and political foundations. Regarding his political future, he referred to Chávez preventing him from running for public office without a trial or a chance to defend himself, and pointed out that "it is easy to win elections when you can decide who your adversaries are." He stressed the importance of the opposition coming together for the upcoming parliamentary elections and of holding primaries to legitimize its candidates.