Venezuela: Video of Opposition Destabilization Plan

2007-12-02

Richard Moore

Original source URL:
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2937

Venezuelan Government Uncovers Video of Opposition Destabilization Plan

November 30th 2007, by Chris Carlson - Venezuelanalysis.com

Caracas, November 30, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)- Venezuelan Telecommunications
Minister Jesse Chacon presented a video revealing the opposition strategy of 
destabilization for Sunday's referendum at a press conference on Thursday. In 
the video, opposition leaders call on their supporters to reject the results of 
the referendum and to take part in nation-wide protests to overturn the 
constitutional reform. Two opposition leaders are being investigated for 
inciting violence and calling on supporters to break the law.

In the video that has been posted on the internet at various web pages, 
including YouTube, leaders of the Venezuelan opposition can be seen speaking to 
supporters in a church in Caracas, calling on supporters to create "pockets of 
protest" all over the country after the national vote this Sunday.

"It is a more efficient mechanism that generates a political crisis and a crisis
of instability that forces the regime to withdraw the reform," says opposition 
leader Alejandro Peña Esclusa in the video. Esclusa insists that the plan for 
massive protests must be a group effort all across the nation, making the 
government unable to control it.

Alongside Esclusa is opposition mayor Leopoldo Lopez, who also speaks in the 
video, making the case that the electoral results cannot be trusted, but he does
not give explicit support for the destabilization plan.

"The worst part," said Minister Chacón, "is that the mayor of Chacao and leader 
of Un Nuevo Tiempo [the opposition party A New Era] appears in the video. We'd 
like to know if Mr. Leopoldo López will tell the nation that he does not believe
what Esclusa says, and that if the CNE says that the reforms are approved, if he
will respect the results."

Chacón stated that he was not surprised upon seeing Lopez in the video and 
assured that he and Exclusa are not democrats, but rather "fascists." He also 
accused the bishops of the Catholic Church of endorsing the destabilization 
plans of Esclusa and called on the Venezuelan Catholic hierarchy to reflect on 
their use of the church to hold these kinds of meetings, and incite the 
Venezuelan people to the use of violence.

"How is it possible that the temple of God be used to incite violence?" asked 
Chacón. "The pulpit should be used to call for peace, not for violence."

As a result of the finding, the Venezuelan government launched an investigation 
of two opposition leaders, Alejandro Peña Esclusa and Carlos Guyón Celis, for 
publishing various videos online that incite violence. Government intelligence 
will investigate the two leaders for their involvement in calling on sectors of 
society to not recognize the results of the national vote on Sunday and to break
the law.

Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez denied the accusations of the 
Telecommunications Minister Jesse Chacon and assured that he does not agree with
the plans of Esclusa.

"It is not true that I said to not recognize the electoral results, or to create
protests in that meeting," said Lopez. "On the contrary, I had a different 
position than Peña Esclusa, who didn't want people to go vote. I have always 
been working in favor of voting."

Minister Chacón called on all Venezuelans to respect the electoral process on 
Sunday, and to respect the results, no matter what they are.

"I imagine that the Venezuelan people that vote Œyes' and Œno' are going to 
respect the results. Because if not, what they are preparing is a situation of 
destabilization and violence on the night of December 2nd, which the government 
is not going to permit."

"We are not going to permit a situation of destabilization and violence on 
December 2nd," assured Chacón. "We are going to respect the results on Sunday, 
whatever they are."

Link to destabilization plan video (in Spanish)
Source URL: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2937
Printed: December 2nd 2007

License: Published under a Creative Commons license (by-nc-nd). See 
creativecommons.org for more information.
-- 

--------------------------------------------------------
Posting archives: 
http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=newslog

Escaping the Matrix website: http://escapingthematrix.org/
cyberjournal website: http://cyberjournal.org

How We the People can change the world:
http://governourselves.blogspot.com/

Community Democracy Framework: 
http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html

Moderator: •••@••.•••  (comments welcome)