Venezuela - Links

Venezuela - General Links
Venezuelan Directories in the World-Wide-Web
Internet Service Providers in Venezuela
Venezuelan Government
Venezuelan Communications Media
Crisis in Venezuela
Results:
"Officialist" Politics
The Opposite Side of the Coin
International Press and Opinion
Human Rights in Venezuela
Crude oil price
New Time Zone for Venezuela (GMT - 4:30 hrs)

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Venezuela - General Links:

Aldea Educativa
Alfredo Keller y Asociados (Investigación de mercado y opinión pública, análisis y planificación)
Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia (AsoVAC)
a-venezuela.com (Viajar en Venezuela)
Avior Airlines
AVTEK (Electrical Protection Products)
Banco de Venezuela
Banco Provincial
Banesco - Banco Universal
BanPlus Valores
BIVnet - Banco Industrial de Venezuela
bolívar Banco
Bolsa de Valores de Caracas
Cámara Petrolera de Venezuela
Cámara Venezolano-Americana de Comercio e Industria (VenAmCham)
CANTV - Telecomunicaciones de Venezuela [nationalized on May 22, 2007]
- Movilnet - Telefonía Celular
- Movilnet - Tráfico Móvil (Monitoréo del Tráfico Automotor en Caracas y Maracaibo)
Carlos Ferrán Urdaneta
Cautus Networks Corporation (Bookkeeping, management, accounting services)
Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo (CENDES) Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)
Comunidad Andina
Confederación de Asociaciones Israelitas de Venezuela (CAIV)
Confederación Venezolana de Industriales (Conindustria)
- Posición de Conindustria sobre la Reforma Constitucional (24 de Septiembre, 2007, .pdf)
Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (CELAM)
Consejo Nacional de Promoción de Inversiones (CONAPRI)
Consultores 21
Corporación Internacional de Protección Integral, C.A. (CORINPROINCA)
Datanalisis (Investigación de mercados, Información sobre el entorno económico, político y social)
Datos information resources (Investigación de mercados, Información sobre el entorno económico, político y social)
D'empaire Reyna Bermúdez Abogados (DRB) (Legal Information)
Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) (United Nations)
Embajada de la India en Venezuela
Embassy of the United States in Caracas, Venezuela
F-1 Live
Federación de Cámaras y Asociaciones de Comercio y Producción de Venezuela (FEDECAMARAS)
Fe y Alegría Movimiento de Educación Popular Integral y Promoción Social
Fundación Centro Gumilla (Investigación y Acción Social de la Compañía de Jesús en Venezuela)
Fundación Daniela Chappard (Prevención de VIH/SIDA)
Fundación Empresas Polar
Fundación La Tortuga (Protección del medio ambiente y su biodiversidad)
Fundación para la Prevencíon de la Violencia Doméstica hacia la Mujer (FUNDAMUJER)
Grupo G.A.N.B. (Security and Fire Protection Systems)
Hato Piñero
Hermandad Venezolano-Americana (VenAmHer) Clínica Venamher, South Florida
Historia de la Isla de Margarita, Mariano de Briceño, 1885
Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA)
Intersilo (Franklin Holland)
La Electricidad de Caracas (EDC) [nationalized on February 8, 2007]
Laser (Airline)
Lonely Planet World Guide: Destination Venezuela (Travel Guide)
Mapas de Venezuela (a-venezuela.com)
Me Quiero Ir (Vivir, trabajar y estudiar en Estados Unidos, Canadá, Australia y España)
Meteorología en Venezuela (Luis Mujica)
MiPunto.com / Punto Tráfico (Monitoréo del Tráfico Automotor en Caracas)
Observatorio ARVAL (Astronomy)
- Meteorology for South Florida and the Caribbean
Organización Nacional de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima de los espacios Acuáticos de Venezuela (ONSA)
Organización Rescate Humboldt
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Orinoco Tours
Pasión F1.com
Patricia Van Dalen
Real Academia Española (Diccionarios del Idioma Español)
- Diccionario de la lengua española
- Diccionario panhispánico de dudas
RESCARVEN (Servicios Médicos)
Ricardo Baez Duarte: Ineffable ideas and reflections
Serigrafías Neira C.A.
Siderúrgica del Orinoco (SIDOR)
Smartmatic "Technology Solutions - All Things Connected"
Sociedad Mundial del Futuro Venezuela (SMF Venezuela)
Software de Venezuela
Sovica Electronics (Sistemas de seguridad)
Tecnoiuris.com (Raymond Orta Martinez, Abogado)
Transparencia Venezuela (Lucha contra la corrupción - Capítulo nacional de Transparencia Internacional)
TuCarro.com (Compra y venta de carros usados)
United Nations
Universidad Alejandro de Humboldt (UAH)
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB)
- Centro de Derechos Humanos
Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)
Universidad de Los Andes (ULA)
Universidad de Carabobo (UC)
Universidad de Oriente (UDO) - Núcleo de Sucre
Universidad del Zulia (LUZ)
Universidad Metropolitana (UNIMET)
Universidad Monteávila
Universidad Nueva Esparta (UNE)
Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB)
Venezuela Competitiva
Venezuela en la Universidad de Texas
Venezuela Factual
Venezuela in the CIA World Factbook
Venezuela Maps (U. of Texas, Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection)
Venezuelan-American Broderhood (VenAmHer) Clínica Venamher
Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce of the United States (VACC)
Venezuelan Council for Investment Promotion (CONAPRI)
Venezuela Tuya (Travel in Venezuela)
Veniños (Venezuelan Children In Need)
vLex (La Editorial Jurídica en Internet)
WebMedia (Internet Marketing)
World Digital Library (UNESCO)
World Tel-Fax Electronics (WTFE) (iNFOLiNE)

See the links for Venezuelan astronomy sites at Observatorio ARVAL - Astro Links

Venezuelan Directories in the World-Wide-Web:

Auyantepui (Venezuelan WWW Directory, with search engine. Soon in English)
Infoguía Web
Páginas Azules Digitales (Directorio Comercial, Mapas de Ciudades, Mapa de Venezuela)
Todos los periódicos diarios de Venezuela (Prensa Escrita)
Veneblogs Venezuelan Blog Directory

Internet Service Providers in Venezuela:

AT&T Global Network Services
CANTV [nationalized on May 22, 2007]
Internet Comunicaciones
MSN Latinoamérica - Access
TELCEL.NET
Tutopia

Internet Traffic Report - S. America

Venezuelan Government:

Venezuelan Communications Media:
(now under a "Gag Law")

ABC de la Semana (Semanario Venezolano - Noticias, Política, Geopolítica, Latinoamérica)
Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) [government controlled]
Analítica.com (Emilio Figueredo)
Bloque Dearmas (Armando de Armas)
Cadena Global
Cambio de Siglo (Mérida)
Canal-i (UHF TV, Caracas)
Cifras Online
- Informe Cifras (Editor: Victor Manuel García Hidalgo)
Circuito Nacional Belfort (CNB) (Radio AM/FM)
CompuTV CaracasInf
Confirmado
Correo del Caroní (Ciudad Guayana) [Without a printed edition due to the government blocade.
The legislature of the Estado Bolívar ordered their building to be condemned and demolished.]
Descifrado (Juan Carlos Zapata)
Diario 2001
Diario El Carabobeño
Diario El Impulso (Barquisimeto)
Diario El Mundo
Diario El Nacional
Diario El Tiempo (Valera)
Diario El Universal (with the Daily News English Section)
Diario La Verdad (Maracaibo)
Diario La Voz
Diario Notitarde (Valencia)
Diario Panorama (Maracaibo)
Diario Últimas Noticias
Diario VEA [government controlled]
Diario Versión Final (Maracaibo)
El Diario de Los Andes (Trujillo, Táchira, Mérida)
El Tiempo (El Periódico del Pueblo Oriental)
El Sol de Margarita (Porlamar)
Espacio Público (Asociación Civil)
Gentiuno - Gente del Siglo XXI
- Carlos Alberto Montaner escribe...
- Isa y sus apuntes que apuntan... (Isa Dobles)
- Callar la historia es criminal (About Clodosbaldo Russian, Jun. 22 '11)
- Trinchera (Eleonora Bruzual)
Globovisión TV (Television and News, with Free Live Signal) [under "investigation" by the government]
La Hora Digital (Porlamar)
LaPatilla.com (Información e Investigación)
La Prensa de Barinas
La Red, el Periódico de Internet
Latin American Herald Tribune (News for the English-reading public about Latin America)
- VenEconomy: Yes, There Are Political Prisoners in Venezuela!
Meridiano Diario y Televisión (TV Sports)
Noticias24
NoticiasCentro (Editor Rodolfo Schmidt)
NoticieroDigital (Primer portal de periodismo digital de Venezuela)
- Foros de NoticieroDigital
Opinión y Noticias (Iván R. Méndez, Director de Contenido)
PetroleumWorld.com (Latin American Energy, Oil & Gas)
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) [From May 28 '07 the RCTV frequency will be used by the government to establish TVes, a "public service television". On May 26 '07 the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia illegally ordered all RCTV transmission equipment temporarily under government custody for the use of TVes.]
[From July 16 '07 to January 24 '10 Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) could be seen on private subscription carriers DirectTV, Intercable, Net Uno, Planet Cable, and Supercable. No more!]
- El Observador (Noticiero RCTV)
Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV) [government controlled]
RadioNexx La Voz de la Libertad (with Free Live TV Signal)
Reporte (El Diario Económico de Venezuela)
Reporte Confidencial (Periodismo Investigativo Audaz)
Reportero24
Semanario Informe (Periodismo de investigación y análisis político)
Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa (SNTP)
SuperMúsica Radio (El Portal Musical Adulto Contemporáneo)
Tal Cual Digital (Teodoro Petkoff)
teleSURtv.net [government controlled]
Televen TV
Quinto Dia (El Semanario de los Nuevos Tiempos)
Unión Radio
Vale TV (Valores Educativos Televisión, Arzobispado de Caracas)
VenEconomy (and VenEconomía)
VeneTubo (Difusión de Videos)
Venevisión
- Noticiero Venevisión.net [Politics, Economy, etc.]
Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) [government controlled]
Venezuela al Día
Venezuela es Noticia
- Venezuela es Noticia [.tk accesible from CANTV.net]
VenezuelaPress (El Portal de Noticias de Venezuela)
webarticulista.net (Una lectura sin compromisos)

Crisis in Venezuela:

On February 4, 1992, Hugo Chávez led a failed military coup and murder attempt against president Carlos Andrés Pérez and his family, causing the deaths of many Venezuelans.
Thus started his career as a coupster ....
[Hugo Chávez, Wikipedia.org] (incomplete in Spanish)

On March 26, 1994, after 2 years in prison, president Rafaél Caldera decided the dismissal of the cause against Hugo Chávez, and released him with his immediate accomplices. On December 14, Hugo Chávez visited Fidel Castro in La Habana.
Thus started his career as a Castro-communist ....

On December 6, 1998, Hugo Chávez was elected president with 60% of the votes (40% Enrique Salas Römer, 46% abstention) and was inaugurated in February 2, 1999. Chávez took the legal oath of office "on a dying constitution" that he "would not respect".
On March 10, 1999, he called an election for a Constituent Assembly, where his supporters got 95% of the positions with just 30% of the votes.
Thus started his dictatorial career and the opposition to it ....
On December 15, 1999, the new constitution was approved, with 72% of the votes and 56% abstention. After the voting, and after weeks of continual rains on the coastal mountains North of Venezuela, mudslides killed about 30,000 people that were never evacuated.
[Mr. Chávez's Power Grab, New York Times - Editorial, August 22, 2007]

On July 30, 2000, general elections were held. Chávez's coalition got 66% of the seats in the National Assembly, while Chávez was reelected with 60% of the votes (38% Francisco Arias Cárdenas, 44% abstention). The Carter Center monitored the election; their report stated that, due to lack of transparency, perceived partiality of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE; "National Electoral Council"), and political pressure from the Chávez government that resulted in early elections, they were unable to validate the official CNE results. However, they concluded that the presidential election legitimately expressed the will of the people.
[Observing Political Change en Venezuela: The Bolivarian Constitution and the 2000 Elections, Final Report, Laura Neuman and Jennifer McCoy, Carter Center, February 2001 (.pdf)]
Thus started his career of electoral fraud ....
On August 2000, Hugo Chávez visited Saddam Hussein in Bagdad.
[Hugo Chávez, Wikipedia.org] (incomplete in Spanish)

On April 11, 2002, a gigantic protest march in defense of the independence of Petróleos de Venezuela resulted in 19 death and 150 injured by bullets. The military high command disobeyed orders from Hugo Chávez to attack the protestors, and asked for his resignation, "which he accepted", according to General Lucas Rincón (now Ambassador to Portugal). On April 11, 2002, Hugo Chávez was returned to the presidency by a military faction led by General Raúl Isaías Baduel.
[Political Crisis in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch - Background Briefing, July 2002]
[Los primeros meses de 2002, Memorias de un Obispo, Monseñor Baltazar Porras, .pdf, 1.23 MB]
[On June 24, 2006 Baduel was promoted to General in Chief and appointed Minister of Defense. On July 18, 2007, Baduel was retired and resigned as Minister to begin opposing Chávez.]

45.5% of the Venezuelan population; 10.8 million people, now live in poverty.
[BBC Mundo | América Latina | Economía, Julio 10, 2002] (in Spanish, there is no English version)

On February/March 2003, Hugo Chávez, fired 18,756 managers, engineers, technicians and qualified workers from Petróleos de Venezuela which had opposed the politization of that company supporting the general strike of December 2002 and January 2003 (including 69% of the managers). Petróleos de Venezuela then forbade their employment by the contractors.

55.1% of the Venezuelan population; 14.9 million people, by the end of 2003 lived in poverty.
[Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) - Reporte Social, Octubre 2004] (now recalculated to 47%)

On May 14, 2004, the National Assembly, with just a simple majority, illegally increased from 20 to 32, the number of judges in the Supreme Justice Tribunal to give Hugo Chávez control over the judiciary.
[Venezuela: Chávez Allies Pack Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch, 14-12-2004]

On August 15, 2004, a referendum was held to try and revoque the rule of Hugo Chávez. After a massive fraud, he declared himself the winner with 60% of the votes and the approval of the Carter Center and the Organization of American States (OAS).
[Fraud against Democracy - The Venezuelan Case, T. Álvarez, F. Malpica, J.D. Mujica, J. Casado, .pdf, October 15, 2004]
[The Venezuela Presidential Recall Referendum: Final Reports, Carter Center, 25 Feb 2005]
[In Search of the Black Swan Analysis of the Statistical Evidence of Electoral Fraud in Venezuela
(Study by R. Haussman and R. Rigobón, .pdf, Feb 3 '09)]
[Report on an Analysis of the Representativeness of the Second Audit Sample, and the Correlation Between Petition Signers and the Yes Vote in the Aug. 15, 2004, Presidential Recall Referendum (Carter Center, .pdf)]
[The Carter report on the Hausmann-Rigobon Analysis is bereft of any statistical basis (.pdf, Sep 17 '04)]
[Un Fraude Largamente Preparado, urru.org, documents in Spanish, English, and French]
The names of those Venezuelans that signed for the referendum where published by the nacional assembly member Luis Tascón, thus started his career of political purges ....
[Luis Tascón Wikipedia]
[Analysis of the 2004 Venezuela Referendum: the Official Results versus the Petition Signatures Gustavo Andres Delfino, and Guillermo Alejandro Salas, Institute of Mathematical Statistics]
[El Referéndum Revocatorio Presidencial de 2004 en Venezuela EsData.info]

A statistical study done by two Venezuelan scientists, Maria M. Febres Cordero and Bernardo Marquez, has determined that Hugo Chavez alleged victory in the recall referendum of 2004 was unlikely. The report concludes by saying "the Venezuelan opposition has statistical evidence to reject the official results given by the CNE. The irregularities detected were observed consistently in numerous voting centers and the magnitude of the irregularities implies that the official results do not reflect the intention of voters with statistical confidence."
[Study shows how Hugo Chavez rigged elections in Venezuela By Alek Boyd, 22.02.07. A statistical approach to assess referendum results: The Venezuelan recall referendum 2004. Cordero, Márquez, 2006]

Venezuela Presidential Referendum - Statistical Analysis, May 2006:

A statistical approach to assess referendum results: The Venezuelan recall referendum 2004

Maria M. Febres Cordero and Bernardo Márquez
Independent Consultants

Summary

This article presents a statistical approach to assess the coherence of official results of referendum processes. The statistical analysis described is divided in four phases, according to the methodology used and the corresponding results:
(1) Initial Study, (2) Quantification of irregular certificates of election, (3) Identification of irregular voting centers and (4) Estimation of recall referendum results.
The technique of cluster analysis is applied to address the issue of heterogeneity of the parishes with respect to their political preferences.
The Venezuelan recall referendum 2004 is the case study we used to apply the proposed methodology, based on the data published by the "Consejo Nacional Electoral" (CNE-National Electoral Council). Finally, we present the conclusions of the study which we summarize as follows: The percentage of irregular certificates of election is between 22.2% and 26.5% of the total; 18% of the voting centers show an irregular voting pattern in their certificates of election, the votes corresponding to this irregularity are around 2,550,000; The result estimate, using the unbiased votes as representative of the population for the percentage of YES votes against President Chávez is 56.4% as opposed to the official result of 41%.

Venezuela Presidential Referendum - Statistical Analysis, May 2006
[http://vcrisis.com/Venezuela Presidential Referendum - Statistical Analysis May-2006.pdf]

[See also Referendum Revocatorio: Análisis Estadístico (María Mercedes Febres Cordero, Bernardo Marquez y Alejandro Troya, in urru.org)]

For the first quarter of 2005, household poverty is in 38.5% and extreme poverty at 10.1% (sic).
[Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) - La Pobreza, Octubre 2005] (now recalculated to 37.9%)

Between 1998 and 2005, homicides have grown 128%, kidnappings in 426%, executions and gang murders in 253%, on a national level.
[Homicides in Venezuela jumped 128% for the period 1998-2005] (Vcrisis, 05.09.2006)

Since 1998 the industrial sector has decreased almost 40% (of 11,117 industries then, only 6,756 remain in 2007).
[Confederación Venezolana de Industriales (Conindustria), "Cerco empresarial 2007"]

Unemployment among the young is 18.4%, twice the national average.
More than 60% of the active labor population only have informal employment.
[La Exclusión laboral, Juan Martín Echeverría, El Universal, October 1 '06, in Venezuela Real]

Lack of confidence in the electoral system, resulting in more than 75% of abstention on December 2005, giving Hugo Chávez 100% of the National Assembly.
[See the pages of Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE)]

But, on December 3, 2006, Hugo Chávez declared himself reelected with some 63% of the votes,
against Manuel Rosales (Un Nuevo Tiempo) with 37%, and 26% of abstention.
11,777,126 votes counted, 99%, on December 18 '06.
[See the pages of Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE)]
[See The Systematic Annihilation of the Right to Vote in Venezuela EsData.info, 2007, .pdf]

And, on January 31, 2007, Hugo Chávez was granted dictatorial powers to legislate for 18 months by the Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela.

Accordding to the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), inflation in Venezuela between May 2006 and May 2007 was the largest in Latinamerica: 19.5%.

From May 28, 2007 the frequency of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is being used by the government to establish TVes, a "public service television". On May 26 '07 the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia illegally ordered all RCTV transmission equipment temporarily under government custody for the use of TVes.
[This measure is generating protests around the country]
[From July 16 '07 Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) can be seen on private subscription carriers DirectTV, Intercable, Net Uno, Planet Cable, and Supercable]

2006 PDVSA revenue fell nearly 16% from 2005, the local profits fell more than 65% while our oil prices rose more than 19%, social expences almost duplicated to $13,781 million, according to their audited financial statements presented Friday 7, September '07.
[See El Universal, Marianna Párraga, Septiembre 11, 2007]

On December 2, 2007, Hugo Chávez ilegally submitted to a referendum a new constitution; Communist and even more presidentialist than the one from the Constituent Assembly of 1999, permitting his continued reelection and restricting human rights and private property.
Human Rights are inalienable, and a fundamental change in the constitution can only be made by a Constituent Assembly, never by a minority in a referendum.
[See Venezuela - President for life in Economist.com]
[See List of proposed changes in Venezuela referendum MiamiHerald.com, 12-02-2007]
[See Universal Declaration of Human Rights in United Nations - Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)]
[This measure generated protests around the country]
[On November 5, 2007, Retired General Raúl Isaías Baduel rejected the new constitution, calling it a "fraud"]

At 01:15 on December 3, the CNE announced that the new constitution was rejected 51% vs 49%, with 44% abstention (with just 9,002,439 votes counted).
[See Venezuela Hands Narrow Defeat to Chávez Plan in The New York Times]
[See CNE - Resultados]
Thus started his career as a looser ....

See Venezuelans Deny Chávez Additional Authority (Washington Post, Juan Forero, December 3, 2007)
See Chávez Chastened in Venezuela Vote (Washington Post, Juan Forero, December 4, 2007)
See Chávez Turns Bitter Over His Defeat in Referendum (Washington Post, Juan Forero, Dec. 6, 2007)

After more than 45 days since the referendum on the constitutional reform,
Asociación Civil Súmate demands the CNE publishes the definitive results.
See Hay serias incongruencias en resultados del CNE sobre el referéndum constitucional (.pdf, Ene. 20 '08)
Informe Súmate - Referéndo Sobre Proyecto de Reforma Constitucional (.pdf, Ene. 24 '08)

On April 2, 2008, more than 122 days after the referendum, 1.8 milion votes remain uncounted.
[See Lucena y sus Cuentos de Camino in Venezuela Real: Óscar Lucien, El Nacional, 4 de Abril 2008]

By December 1, 2008, these 1.8 milion votes remain uncounted.

A sample from the proposed new constitution; from article 136:
"The people are depositaries of the sovereignty and exercise it directly through the Popular Power. This is not born from suffrage or any election, but is born from the condition of the human groups organized as the base of the population."
[See Reforma Constitucional in Venezuela Real]
This contradicts article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
"The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."

The new article 337 allows the president to declare a "state of exception" and temporarily suspend the right to due judicial process, violating articles 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
[See Reforma Constitucional in Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela]

On October 24 '07 the Asamblea Nacional added a "right to a defense" in the new article 337.
[See Parlamento aprobó artículo de los estados de excepción in Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela]
[But see also article 337 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (December 30, 1999), where the "right to due process" is much more than a "right to a defense"]

From the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (December 30, 1999):

Article 25:
Any act on the part of the Public Power that violates or encroaches upon the rights guaranteed by this Constitution and by law is null and void, and the public employees ordering or implementing the same shall incur criminal, civil and administrative liability, as applicable in each case, with no defense on grounds of having followed the orders of a superior.

Article 333:
This Constitution shall not cease to be in effect if it ceases to be observed due to acts of force or because of repeal in any manner other than as provided for herein.
In such eventuality, every citizen, whether or not vested with official authority, has a duty to assist in bringing it back into actual effect.

Article 350:
The people of Venezuela, true to their republican tradition and their struggle for independence, peace and freedom, shall disown any regime, legislation or authority that violates democratic values, principles and guarantees or encroaches upon human rights.

On January 12, 2008, Hugo Chávez said in his annual report before the National Assembly, that the FARC and ELN "are insurgent forces with a political project that is respected here". His National Assembly, sheepishly approved.
[See ESPECIAL: Chávez presentó su Informe en la AN in Noticias24]

On February 25, 2008, Clodosbaldo Russián, the general comptroller, filed before the directors of the CNE a list of 400 public officials inconstitucionally disabled by his office to opt for popularly elected office. None of the included will be able to run in the 2008 regional elections. Among these are the opposition leaders Leopoldo López, Enrique Mendoza, Oscar Pérez, Enrique Ochoa Antich and Alfredo Peña.
[See Contralor llevó al CNE la lista de 400 inhabilitados para postularse in El Universal]

On March 3, 2008, General Oscar Naranjo, head of the Colombian National Police, unveiled documents seized from guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes, who was killed last Saturday by the Colombian Army, which show an alliance, old contacts and even financial aid between the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
[See Colombia Discloses Documentes linking Chávez to the FARC in El Universal Daily News]
[See Alleged Chavez's Call to Reyes Revealed Location of FARC Camp in El Universal Daily News]
[See Forensic report requested by Colombia on seized FARC computers and hardware INTERPOL, May 15 '08]

Venezuela increased its arms imports dramatically in 2003-2007, taking it from the 56^th biggest importer in the world in 1998-2002, to the 24^th place. Some 92% of Venezuela's imports came from Russia.
International Arms Transfers Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

On May 28, 2008,

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías President of the Republic

On exercise of the attributions conferred on him by numeral 8 of article 236 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and in conformity with numeral 9 of article 1 of the Law authorizing the President of the Republic to dictate Decrees with Rank, Value and Force of Law on the matters that are delegated, ....

DICTATES the following,

DECREE WITH RANK, VALUE AND FORCE OF LAW
OF THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
....

CHAPTER I - GENERAL DISPOSITIONS
....

Range of application
....

Article 2.-
The norms and principles contained in this Decree with Rank, Value and Force of Law are of mandatory compliance for:
....
5. Every person that in the course of his activities inside or outside of the national territory has or has access to information of strategic interest for the Nation.
....

CHAPTER III - OF THE SUBSYSTEMS
....

Organs of Support

Article 16.- Organs of Support to the activities of intelligence and counterintelligence are, the natural and juridic persons, from public and private law, nationals or foreingners, just as the organs and entities of the national public administration, states, municipalities, the social networks, organizations of popular participation and organized communities, when their cooperation is solicited for the obtention of information or technical support, by the organs with special jurisdiction.

The persons that do not comply with the obligations established in this article are responsible in comformity with the Organic Law of Security of the Nation, and other acts of legal and sublegal rank applicable on the matter, because such conduct threatens the security, defense and integral development of the Nation.

....

Complete text of the Law of the National System of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, at Control Ciudadano. In English, translated from the Gaceta Oficial number 38,940, dated May 28, 2008.

On June 7, 2008, Hugo Chávez admitted that this law "overreaches" and will be reformed.
On June 10, 2008, he recalled this law.

On June 17, 2008, twenty seven Venezuelan groups started an international campaign supporting a petition presented to the International Penal Court (IPC) in Le Hague to investigate and judge president Hugo Chávez for his alleged ties to the FARC.
[See Venezuela Offered Aid to Colombian Rebels (Washington Post, Juan Forero, May 15, 2008)]
[See Frente Patriótico - Comunicado, 19 de Diciembre de 2008]

Please sign the petition:
Investigacion por la Corte Penal Internacional de la relación Hugo Chávez-FARC

On July 31, 2008, Hugo Chávez inconstitucionally dictated 26 new laws on banking, transportation, housing and social security, and on military matters, making himself the highest military commander.
This was protested by opposition leaders. Some of the contents of these laws had already been rejected in the referendum on the constitutional reform of December 2, 2007.
[See Heated debate over 26 new laws enacted by Chávez, El Universal, August 4, 2008]

The Consumer Price Index for the Metropolitan Area of Caracas (IPC-AMC) for August 2008, published by the BCV, reflects 34.5% of acummulated inflation in the last 12 months.

On August 11, 2008, Hugo Chávez, amidst obscene statements, announced he was giving American Ambassador in Venezuela Patrick Duddy 72 hours to leave the country, in part to show solidarity with the Bolivian government and people. He also ordered Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolás Maduro to recall Venezuelan Ambassador in Washington Bernardo Álvarez "before he is kicked out".
[See Venezuelan Government expelled US Ambassador, VenEconomy, August 12, 2008]
[Ver Venezuela Joins Bolivia in Expelling U.S. Ambassador (Washington Post, Juan Forero, Sep. 12, 2008)]

On September 18, 2008, Hugo Chávez expelled from Venezuela Human Rights Watch (HRW) officials hours after publishing their report "A Decade Under Chavez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights".
[See Venezuela Expels Two Rights Activists (Washington Post, Juan Forero, Sep. 20, 2008)]

On October 23, 2008, in a resolution on democracy and human rights adopted at the end of this week's Strasbourg plenary session, the European Parliament condemns the use of intimidation and electoral manipulation in the run-up to elections in Venezuela. In the run-up to Venezuela's regional and local elections in November 2008, Parliament, in a resolution adopted by 51 votes to 1, "expresses concern about the list of electoral disqualifications" issued by the authorities, pointing to a "long series of measures taken by the government with a view to intimidating opposition members, dissidents and international observers in the country".
[See Human rights: political rights abuses in Venezuela]

On November 23, 2008, there were regional elections for 22 State Governors, 328 Municipal or District Mayors, 20 Councils in City Halls, 233 in Legislative Councils (603 positions in total).
On February 25, 2008, Clodosbaldo Russián, the general comptroller, filed before the directors of the CNE a list of 400 public officials inconstitucionally disabled by his office to opt for popularly elected office. Those included were not able to run in this 2008 regional elections. Among these are the opposition leaders Leopoldo López, Enrique Mendoza, Oscar Pérez, Enrique Ochoa Antich and Alfredo Peña.
[See Contralor llevó al CNE la lista de 400 inhabilitados para postularse in El Universal]
[See For Ousted Candidate, Fight Goes On (Washington Post, Juan Forero, October 11, 2008)]

From a total of some 9,022,686 votes (34.55% of abstention), 5,073,774 (56.23%) supported the government and 3,948,912 (43.77%) the opposition. The government won 80% of the Mayors, but the opposition elected 3 new State Governors (Zulia, Miranda and Carabobo), for a total of 5 (with Táchira and Nueva Esparta), and the Principal Mayor of Caracas.
The government got 178 positions (76%) in the Legislative Councils.
[See El análisis del resultado electoral, por Patricia Poleo in Noticias24.com]
[See Venezuela has new state governors, mayors in El Universal Daily News]
[See Allies of Venezuela's Chávez Win Big, but Opposition Secures Key Posts (Washington Post, Juan Forero, November 24, 2008)]

Primer boletín del CNE, Divulgación Elecciones Regionales - 23 de Noviembre de 2008
El chavismo gana en casi todo el país, pero pierde Caracas y Miranda in Noticias24.com
Análisis AFP: Gana mayoría de estados pero pierde los más poblados in Noticias24.com
Análisis AP: Oposición gana terreno en el mapa político venezolano in Noticias24.com

On December 11, 2008, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) began collecting signatures to support a constitutional amendment eliminating the two-term limit for the presidential office. The first discussion of this ilegal amendment took place in the National Assembly on December 18 '08, the second and final discussion was on January 5 '09. It would be approved or not in February 15, 2009.
[See Congress formally proposes unlimited presidential reelection in El Universal, December 9 '08]
[See Editorial: Hugo Chávez Tries Again to Expand His Powers The Washington Post, December 19, 2008]
[See Resolución Convocatoria para el Referendo Aprobatorio de la Enmienda Constiticional (.pdf) Consejo Nacional Electoral, Enero 16 '09]

The project for constitutional reform defeated in the referendum of December 2, 2007, contained the change to "indefinite reelection".
According to Art. 345: A revised constitutional reform initiative may not be submitted during the same constitutional term of office of the National Assembly. (1999 Constitution, in effect)
The illegal referendum question does not contain the texts of the proposed reformed articles (160, 162, 174, 192 and 230), the government has not published the texts of the reforms; the amendment is a blank check. [Articles referred to the Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela (English) 1999, in effect]

On January 6, 2009, Hugo Chávez expelled Israel's ambassador in solidarity with Hamas.
[See Government expels Israel's ambassador in solidarity with Palestine in El Universal, January 6 '09]
[See Israel mulls over expulsion of Venezuelan ambassador in El Universal, January 7 '09]

On February 2, 2009, Hugo Chávez reached 10 years in power, 10 years dedicated to destroying Venezuela, transforming an emerging democracy into a failed fascist dictatorship.

On February 15, 2009, The government submitted to a referendum an ilegal constitutional amendment eliminating the two-term limit for the presidential office and other elected officials.
The opposition voted No. The officialists Yes.
The non-aligned and the abstention decided the vote. And the results?

At 9:35 PM, according to the CNE: Of a total of 12,068,967 votes, the Yes got 54.36% and the No 45.63% of the votes, with an abstention of 32.95%. [with 94.2% of the votes counted]
Few Venezuelans believed the fraudulent CNE, but the ilegal amendment was approved.
[See Ganó el Si con 54,36% in Unión Radio, Febrero 15 '09]
[See 54.36 percent of voters endorse Chávez's endless reelection in El Universal, February 16 '09]
[See Informe de Contraloría Electoral sobre el Referendo Aprobatorio de la Enmienda Constitucional Súmate, Febrero 15 '09, .pdf]
[See Chávez Wins Removal of Term Limits (Washington Post, Juan Forero, February 16, 2009)]

On March 19, 2009, The Prosecutor asked for the detention of Manuel Rosales, Mayor of Maracaibo and main opposition leader, for the alleged crime of embezzlement.
On Abril 1, 2009, The Ombudsman Gabriela Ramírez says that Manuel Rosales is a fugitive.
[See Ombudsman says that Manuel Rosales is a fugitive in El Universal, April 1 '09]
By the end of April Manuel Rosales went to Perú to avoid a fake trial.
[See Opposition Leader Seeks Asylum in Peru After Fleeing Venezuela (Washington Post, Juan Forero, April 22, 2009)]

On April 2, 2009, retired General Raúl Isaías Baduel was violently detained for allegedly stealing from the army while he was their commander.
[See Intelligence agents detain ex Defense Minister in El Universal, April 14 '09]
[See Chávez Ally-Turned-Critic Is Detained by Venezuelan Military (Washington Post, Juan Forero, October 4, 2008)]

On April 3, 2009, Venezuela cries out for justice and weeps.
Easter this year started with bad omens for Venezuela. This Good Friday opened the gates not only to Easter week, but also, tragically, to the rogue injustice of the Hugo Chávez administration.
The list of its victims now includes those who have just been guillotined by the unjust sentence handed down by Judge Maryori Calderón: former Metropolitan Police captains Iván Simonovis, Henry Vivas, and Lázaro Forero and eight policemen.
[See Venezuela cries out for justice and weeps, VenEconomy, April 3, 2009]

On December 10, 2009, the 31st Control Court of Caracas, presided by Judge María Lourdes Afiuni, granted me a conditional release, after having spent the past two years and ten months in "pretrial" detention without a trial. I would note that Venezuelan criminal law places a two-year maximum on pretrial detention, except in exceptional circumstances which were not present in my case. Unfortunately, the Venezuelan government hopes to create the impression that Judge Afiuni's independent decision was somehow the product of corruption or a shady deal. Sadly, compliance with the law has become suspect in Venezuela, and those who dare to follow the law are subject to a moral and public "firing squad" from the Chávez regime. My first thoughts are for the brave judge, who was assigned to my case only recently, and whom I met for the first time when I appeared before her in her courtroom on December 10, but who today is paying for her judicial independence with jail time. Her treatment reveals to the world the true face of Venezuela's justice system, and underscores my feelings of solidarity with the dozens of political prisoners who today are in our prisons for thinking differently and expressing it publicly.
[See Venezuelan leader violates independence of judiciary - UN rights experts, United Nations News Centre, 16 December 2009]
[See Eligio Cedeño's First Statement in Freedom, Robert Amsterdam, December 25, 2009]
[See Venezuela: Stop Attacks on Judicial Independence, Human Rights Watch, April 8, 2010]
[See Venezuelan judge is jailed after ruling angers President Hugo Chávez, Washington Post, Juan Forero, April 25, 2010]
[See Por la salud de la jueza Maria Lourdes Afiuni. Te pido unirte al llamado humanitario, Martha Colmenares, Enero 10, 2011]
[See I'm Hugo Chávez's prisoner, says jailed judge, the Guardian, Rory Carroll, January 14, 2011]
[See Noam Chomsky denounces old friend Hugo Chávez for 'assault' on democracy (Judge María Lourdes Afiuni has suffered enough), the Guardian, Rory Carroll, July 3, 2011]

On March 23, 2010, Venezuelan authorities have jailed a former state governor and presidential candidate who accused President Hugo Chávez's government of links to subversive groups in Latin America.
The detention of Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, a veteran of the opposition COPEI party but not one of Chávez's most prominent foes, will fuel criticism that the Venezuelan leader is taking his nation down an increasingly dictatorial route.
Picked up at home Monday night, Álvarez joins a list of several dozen Chávez opponents now in jail, living in exile or facing probes in the South American oil-exporting country.

A court ordered Álvarez's arrest for conspiracy, spreading false information and inciting hate, judicial officials said.
He governed oil-producing Zulia state in the early 1990s and unsuccessfully ran for the presidency with COPEI in 1993.
Authorities opened an inquiry into Álvarez earlier this month after he gave an interview to pro-opposition TV network Globovision accusing the government of ties to illegal groups.

"The Venezuelan regime has relations with structures that serve narco-trafficking, like [Colombian rebel group] FARC and others which exist in the continent and the world", he said.

The accusations against Álvarez could carry a jail sentence of between two and 16 years, local media said. "I assume the responsibility for the things that I have said and that I do", he told reporters before his arrest.

[See Arrest in Venezuela raises free speech concerns (Washington Post, Andrew Cawthorne, March 24 '10)]

Oswaldo Álvarez Paz was released on bail on May '10.
[He was found partially guilty on July 13, 2011. See below.]

.....

On July 12, 2010, a commando of 20 agents from the Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional (SEBIN), burst into the apartment of Venezuelan political leader Alejandro Peña Esclusa and took him prisoner.

The break-in resulted from the statements given by an alleged terrorist from El Salvador detained in Venezuela, Francisco Chávez Abarca, in which he implicated Peña Esclusa in an alleged plot against the State. Due process was violated; first, because Chávez Abarca did not declare in front of a tribunal, as corresponds according to law, but in the headquarters of SEBIN; and second, because the Salvadoran was immediately extradited to Cuba, without being judged in Venezuela, even though - according to the government - he was involved in a plot to destabilize the State. It is presumed he was extradited so his testimony could not be falsified in a trial or, so he could not be thoroughly investigated.

In a drawer in the desk of the youngest of Peña Esclusa's daughters, 8 years old, the agents "found" type C-4 explosives with the corresponding detonators. The agents seized the opportunity to steal cash, jewels, electronic equipment and other valuables.

The true reason why the ex-presidential candidate Peña Esclusa is in jail, is his long and persistent trajectory of denouncing mister Hugo Chávez. Peña Esclusa not only has denounced verbally and in writing the civil and human rights violations committed by the Venezuelan government; but has penaly charged mister Chávez before the Public Ministry (for Treason, due to his ties with FARC), he has charged him before the Interamerican Comission on Human Rights (Washington) for improperly intervening and promoting violence in other Latin American countries; and was about to file charges for crimes against humanity before the International Penal Court (CPI), based in Le Hague - based on the information contained in the computers of FARC's second-in-command, aka. Raúl Reyes, killed on March 1, 2008 - due to the complicity of mister Chávez with the Colombian narco-terrorists.

Peña Esclusa has been persecuted systematically by Chávez's government. Was illegally detained in 2002 - also in the headquarters of SEBIN - by direct order from mister Chávez. The States' media and functionaries have advanced a campaign of slanders against him. Chávez himself has attacked him publically in all national radio and television stations. He has been forbidden to leave the country for two years. Has been subjected to police tracking, threats against his physical integrity and constant harassment. The case on the governmental persecution against Peña Esclusa was presented by his lawyer before the International Penal Court (Le Hague).

Alejandro Peña Esclusa, 56 years of age, has no criminal record, nor weaponry knowledge. Has been an outstanding sportsman, getting international titles for his country. Has a stable, well founded, family. Is a mechanical engineer, with advanced studies in financial administration, and defense and security. Was an assessor to the National Council on Security and Defense of Venezuela (CONASEDE). Is a writer and columnist; author of six books, some of which have been translated to other languages. Was a candidate for the Presidency of Venezuela. Is a correspondent in Venezuela and Colombia for Argentine daily La Nueva Provincia. Member of the Philosophical Academy of Brazil. President of the civil asociation Fuerza Solidaria. President of the Union of Democratic Organizations of America (UnoAmérica). Has been decorated in Honduras with the Order José Cecilio del Valle. Received a special recognition from the Alabama Congress, for his extensive efforts defending democracy and freedoms in Latin America. Has been invited as speaker in almost all the capitals in America.

[From El caso Peña Esclusa en breve, Fuerza Solidaria]

On July 20, 2011, Peña Esclusa is released from jail

A release warrant on behalf of Engineer Alejandro Peña Esclusa is already in the hands of his defense attorneys, his wife Indira de Peña told daily newspaper El Universal.

"Right now, I am having a meeting with defense attorney Alfredo Weil for him to explain me the extent of Peña Esclusa's release warrant", his wife said.

[From Peña Esclusa is released from jail, El Universal, July 20, 2011]

[See Venezuela: HRF celebra el cese de la detención arbitraria de Alejandro Peña Esclusa, Human Rights Foundation, 20 de Julio de 2011]

[See Peña Esclusa en libertad: "Vale la pena sacrificarse por Venezuela", Fuerza Solidaria, 21 Julio 2011]

[See "La reconciliación del país comienza con la liberación de los presos políticos", Fuerza Solidaria, 30 Julio 2011]

[See Prohiben a Peña Esclusa hablar a medios de comunicación, Fuerza Solidaria, 2 Agosto 2011]

On September 26, 2010, "Mesa de la Unidad" got 48% of the popular vote in the parliamentary elections, but just 39% of the deputies. "PSUV" with 49% of the popular vote got 59% of the deputies. "PPT" with 3% of the votes got just 1% of the deputies.
According to the Consejo Nacional Electoral, out of 165 deputies PSUV got 98 with 5,399,574 votes, MUD got 65 with 5,312,293 votes, PPT got 2 with 330,260 votes.
Participation was 11,042,127 votes total, 66.45% of the electoral registry.
With these results the opposition breaks the qualified majority of the officialist party in the Asamblea Nacional.
[Aggregate electoral data from El Universal, Septiembre 27, 2010]
[See Divulgación Elecciones Parlamentarias - 26 de Septiembre de 2010, Consejo Nacional Electoral]

Article 186 (Violated by the Consejo Nacional Electoral):
The National Assembly will be integrated by deputies elected in each federal entity by universal voting, direct, personal and secret with proportional representation, according to a population base of one point one percent of the total population of the country.
[See Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Diciembre 30, 1999]

[See PSUV 95, MUD 62, PPT 2, por definir 6, Noticiero Digital, Septiembre 27, 2010]
[See Un sistema electoral diseñado a medida salva al líder bolivariano, Diario El País, España, Septiembre 28, 2010]
[See Chavez fails to reach critical two-thirds majority in Venezuelan assembly, Juan Forero, Washington Post, September 28, 2010]
[See PPT afirma que el "gran perdedor" es el Presidente, Pedro Pablo Peñaloza, El Universal, Septiembre 28, 2010]

On May 10, 2011, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published the Strategic Dossier "The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of 'Raúl Reyes'".
This Strategic Dossier provides unique insights into the thinking and evolution of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It is based on a study of the computer disks belonging to Luis Edgar Devía Silva (aka Raúl Reyes), head of FARC’s International Committee (COMINTER), that were seized by Colombian armed forces in a raid in March 2008 on Devía’s camp inside Ecuador. Several months afterwards, senior officials from the Colombian Ministry of Defence invited the IISS to conduct an independent analysis of the material.
The dossier shows how FARC evolved from a small, autarkic and strategically irrelevant group into an insurgent movement which, fuelled by revenues from narcotics production, came close to jeopardising the survival of the Colombian state. A key part of FARC’s evolution was the development of an international strategy aimed at acquiring financial support, arms and political legitimacy. The dossier looks in detail at FARC’s relations with Venezuela and Ecuador.
The dossier illuminates in detail FARC’s efforts to develop relationships with the governments and other strategic actors in the neighbouring states of Venezuela and Ecuador. These followed different trajectories and achieved different degrees of success. The relationship with Venezuela ultimately acquired a strategic dimension characterised by various forms of state support, whereas that with Ecuador did not.

[See The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of 'Raúl Reyes' - Summary, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), May 10, 2011] (Available in English, Spanish and Portuguese)]

From June 10 2011, Chavez’s disappearance from public view since a surgical operation in Cuba has convulsed the volatile and politically polarized South American OPEC member of 29 million people.
He came back to Venezuela on July 4 but continues to receive cancer treatment in Cuba.

[See Rumors over Chavez absence reach frenzy in Venezuela (Andrew Cawthorne, REUTERS, June 28 '11)
[See And now we have a video of Hugo Chavez, which only raises more questions (The Devil's Excrement, June 28 '11)]
[See Another video, more questions, but Hugo Chavez is certainly recovering from something serious (The Devil's Excrement, June 29 '11)]
[See President Chávez had a cancerous tumor removed (El Universal, June 30 '11)]
[See Hugo Chávez admits cancerous tumor (The Miami Herald, July 1 '11)]

On July 13, 2011, the former Governor of Zulia State, Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, was sentenced to two years in prison for the crime of spreading false information. The twenty-first Trial Court of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, in charge of Judge Alberto Rossi, found that Álvarez Paz incurred in this crime on March 8, 2010, when during a television show, he said that "Venezuela had become a center of operations that facilitates drug trafficking".

Despite the sentence, the former Governor of Zulia will not remain behind bars, because the Court agreed to his staying on bail with prohibition from leaving the country.

Out of the trial, Álvarez Paz said that his trial is "a political case".

[See Hallan culpable a Álvarez Paz de difundir información falsa (El Universal, Alejandra M. Hernández F., 14 de Julio de 2011)]

[See Venezuela: HRF Condemns Two-Year Sentence against Oswaldo Álvarez Paz (Human Rights Foundation, July 15, 2011)]

On September 1, 2011, The Interamerican Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Leopoldo López.
The ruling determined that the disqualification of opposition politician López Mendoza violated his political rights under Article 23 of the American Convention on Human Rights. The IACourtHR also asked Venezuela to lift Lopez Mendoza’s disqualification.

[Ver Corte IDH. Caso López Mendoza Vs. Venezuela. Fondo Reparaciones y Costas. Sentencia de 1 de septiembre de 2011 Serie C No. 233 (Juez García Sayán, Juez Vio Grossi)]

"The ruling of the IACHR Court runs counter to the human rights of all Venezuelans, the laws of the Republic, justice and national sovereignty; it promotes impunity and impedes and undermines the fight against corruption", reads the statement issued by the Comptroller General, Carlos Escarrá, Office.

[See Comptroller: IACHR ruling in favor of Leopoldo López is unfair El Universal, Friday September 16, 2011]

[See HRF Welcomes IACourtHR Ruling on Case of López Mendoza, Asks Venezuela to Comply Human Rights Foundation, September 19, 2011]

On November 21, 2011, Diego Arria files complaint against President Chávez at The Hague.

Opposition presidential pre-candidate Diego Arria said that the lawsuit seeks to protect Venezuelans from crimes which are "predictable" due to Venezuela's situation. He expects a prompt ruling.

"It is a complaint to defend the rights of thousands and thousands of victims of Hugo Chávez. This complaint is neither against the Venezuelan president's office as an institution nor against Chávez as Head of State. It is intended to determine the criminal and personal liability of Hugo Chávez and some of his top aides for crimes against humanity", he said.

Arria stressed that the complaint requires a prompt ruling, in order to prevent new crimes that are foreseeable in the light of Venezuelan circumstances. "I intend to prevent situations similar to those occurred in countries such as Ivory Coast when his President (Laurent Gbagbo) refused to step down."

[See Diego Arria files complaint against President Chávez at The Hague El Universal, Monday November 21, 2011]

On January 9, 2012, Chávez orders closure of Venezuelan consulate in Miami.

"During the presentation of his Report and Accounts, President Hugo Chávez ordered the closure of the consulate in Miami while his government assesses the facts in which Consul General Livia Acosta was allegedly involved."

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Friday announced the closure of Venezuela's Consulate in Miami, after the US government expelled Venezuelan Consul General Livia Acosta last week."

"'Foreign Minister (Nicolás Maduro) advised me to close the consulate. We have shut it down. There is no consulate in Miami', said the head of State during the presentation of his Report and Accounts at the National Assembly."

[See Chávez orders closure of Venezuelan consulate in Miami El Universal, Friday January 13, 2012]

[See US: Closure of Miami consulate is Venezuela's sovereign decision El Universal, Friday January 13, 2012]

Results:

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Venezuelan "Officialist" Contemporary Politics (1999 - 2011):

aporrea.org - Venezuela "Agencia popular alternativa de noticias"
Autonomia Islámica Wayuu "Hezbollah Venezuela" [This MSN group has been disabled]
Cibernéticos Bolivarianos El Portal Bolivariano [disabled]
Círculo Bolivariano 17 de Marzo Página de apoyo al proceso de cambios liderado por Hugo Chávez Frías
Círculo Bolivariano Abre Brecha Parroquia 23 de Enero [disabled]
Círculo Bolivariano de Cincinati (Cincinnati Bolivarian Circle - The Red Machine)
Contragobernanza "Contra el Gobierno de las Empresas" [disabled]
el 23 barrios, callejones y sueños
El Militante Corriente Marxista Internacional
- Lucha de Clases (Venezuela)
Frente Francisco de Miranda [disabled]
Global Exchange "Building People-to-People Ties"
Hands Off Venezuela! "In Solidarity with the Venezuelan Revolution"
Iglesia Catolica Reformada de Venezuela
Las Verdades de Miguel (Miguel Salazar)
Observatorio Global de Medios de Venezuela
Ojo Electoral (Asociación Civil)
Portal ALBA-TCP "Alternativa Bolivariana para la América"
Postcards from the Revolution (Eva Golinger)
Radio Defensa Venezuela (Jesús R. Soto)
Venezuelanalysis.com "On line News, Views and Analysis from Venezuela"
Venezuela Information Office (VIO) "to educate the public about contemporary Venezuela" [disabled]
vheadlinevenezuelanews.blogspot.com - VHeadline Venezuela News en Español Roy S. Carson
www.vheadline.com - VHeadline: News & Views about Venezuela, Roy S. Carson
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Also see the official sites of the Venezuelan Government in the main section of this page.

The Opposite Side of the Coin (2002 - 2012):

11abril.com
Acuerdo Social
Adolfo R. Taylhardat
Alcaldía de Baruta
Alcaldía de Chacao
Asociación Civil Ciudadanía Activa
Asociación Civil Control Ciudadano (para la Seguridad, la Defensa y la Fuerza Armada Nacional)
Asociación Civil Queremos Elegir
Centro de Divulgación del Conocimiento Económico para la Libertad (CEDICE) (Asociación Civil - 25 años)
Comando Nacional de la Resistencia (CNR)
Democracy and Development (Reports on Venezuela, Pedro Pablo Aguilar)
Democracy on Trial (Venezuela Political Rights Violation Goes to Court)
Eduardo Casanova (Escritor Venezolano)
El Gusano de Luz
enOpinión (Omar Estacio)
EntornoInteligente.com (Información Estratégica)
EsData (Por el derecho a elegir en Venezuela)
- The Systematic Annihilation of The Right to Vote in Venezuela (July 16, '07, .pdf, 222 KB)
Foro de Oposición Venezolana (Yahoo! Grupos)
Frente Patriótico (compromiso existencial de luchar por el rescate de la Democracia)
Fuerza Solidaria (Asociación Civil, Presidente: Alejandro Peña Esclusa)
- Futuro de venezolanos depende de liberación de Álvarez Paz (Marzo 23 '10)
- ¿Quién es y qué ha hecho Alejandro Peña Esclusa? (Agosto 1 '10)
- Alejandro Peña Esclusa desde la cárcel: "Mi lucha apenas comienza" (Agosto 2 '10)
- Peña Esclusa, la antítesis de Chávez (Agosto 5 '10)
- Asdrubal Aguiar: "Caso Peña Esclusa clama al Cielo" (Agosto 8 '10)
- Luis Marín: "El caso Peña Esclusa como modelo" (Enero 24 '11)
- Peña Esclusa, preso político de Chávez (Febrero 20 '11)
- Alejandro Peña Esclusa: una lucha sin tregua (Abril 26 '11)
- "La reconciliación del país comienza con la liberación de los presos políticos" (Julio 30 '11)
Informe21.com (Periodismo Ciudadano, Vladimir Gessen)
Juzgar a Chávez
La Verdad nos hará Libres!! - Sólo la Verdad!! (Néstor Luis Álvarez M.)
Liderazgo y Visión (Asociación Civil. Un Sueño para Venezuela. Gerver Torres, Director General)
Literanova (Literatura - Política - Arte. Eduardo Casanova)
Marcos Petri (Lo De Hoy Venezuela)
Megaresistencia.com
Movimiento 2D (Democracia y Libertad)
Movimiento Demócrata Liberal (Derecha política autonomista)
No Más Chávez (Marcha Mundial Contra Hugo Chávez el 4 de Septiembre '09)
notiven.com (Noticias de Venezuela)
Organización de Venezolanos en el Exilio (ORVEX)
- Ruédalo TV
palahaya.com (Denuncia contra Hugo Chávez Frías por los Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad Cometidos en Venezuela)
Pensar en Venezuela (Asociación Civil)
Plataforma Democrática (Venezolanos en Madrid)
Por la Conciencia
- Campaña presidencial bajo la sombra del fraude (El Tabú)
Pro Venezuela Organization (ProVeO) (Aleksander Boyd, Founder and Director)
Rafael Rivero Muñoz (Acción Cívica)
Red de Veedores
Red Escualidos.net
Resistencia Civil de Venezolanos en el Exterior (RECIVEX)
Roberto Weil (Caricature Drawings)
RunRun.es (Nelson Bocaranda)
Sammy Eppel (Artículos de Prensa)
Soberanía (Ambiente, Energía, Política)
Tiempo de Palabra (Carlos Blanco)
Un Mundo Sin Mordaza (23 de Enero de 2011, Protesta mundial contra la dictadura de Chávez)
urru.org (Texts, photographic, audio and video documentation on the Venezuelan political crisis)
- Calendario de Varios Eventos y Links sobre Venezuela
- Un Fraude Largamente Preparado (Referéndum Revocatorio - August 15 2004)
Venezolanos en Línea
Venezuela.com (Venezuela Information)
Venezuela Activa - contrachavez.org (Noticias de Venezuela - America Latina)
Venezuela Awareness Foundation (Promoting democracy and human rights)
VenezuelaNet.org (Por la recuperación de la democracia en Venezuela)
WebArticulista.net (Luis DE LION Editor)

Also see the "Blogs":
Adolfo R. Taylhardat
Alejandro Tarre
Alek Boyd
Ana Julia Jatar - Weblog
Antonio Sánchez García (en Noticiero Digital)
Caracas Chronicles (Juan Cristobal Nagel and Francisco Toro)
- The Untold Story of Venezuela's 2002 April Crisis
- Crónicas de Caracas (con Raúl Aular)
Caracas Gringo
Comando Angostura
Coronel Antonio Semprun V.
Crónicas y otras naranjas (Doménico Chiappe)
Democracia del siglo XXI (Teódulo López Meléndez)
Dialogando con Osorio (Juan C. Osorio)
Diplodemocracia (Bilingual information on Venezuela and its international relations)
doctorpolitico.com
Dr. Álvaro Albornoz
EcoPolítica (Lic. Raul Zapata A.)
El blog de José Antonio Colina
El Blog de William Dávila
El Domo de la Oca (Escritos de Carolina Jaimes Branger)
El Liberal Venezolano (Larry Nieves)
El Republicano Liberal (Movimiento Republicano)
Enlace Venezuela
Farsa Electoral (Venezuela sin Salida Electoral) [el fraude electoral en Venezuela]
Grupo G-400+ Venezuela (Agrupación informal de carácter técnico, plural e independiente)
Informe21.com (Vladimir Gessen)
La Carolina, Venezuela (Diego Arria)
La Pluma Candente
Las Armas de Coronel (Gustavo Coronel)
- The time has come in Venezuela (Dec 22 '10)
- Hugo Chávez: reo de estado en La Haya (Nov 26 '11)
- Importante atículo de Erick Ekvall sobre el sistema electoral venezolano (Dic. 19 '11)
Las Fotos que Chávez No Quiere Que Veas
La Voz de la Resistencia (Robert Alonso)
- 2000 Cuba
- El Profeta
- Renuncia
- Imbéciles
Los criterios del dragón (Jorge Ramírez Fernández)
Luz tras las rejas (Dibujos del Sargento Julio Rodríguez)
Martha Colmenares
- grupo11 ¡prohibido olvidar! ¡Queremos justicia!
Mi Blog Escuálido (Ironú Mora)
Movimiento de Resistencia Nacional de Venezuela
Muevete – Por un mundo mejor
Otto Gebauer Morales (Preso Político)
Ovario's Blog
Pablo Aure
Patricia Poleo (Periodista, Premio Rey de España 2002)
- Fugitiva en Rosa (la persecución política durante el Régimen de Hugo Chávez)
Pedro G. Paúl Bello Weblog
Píldoras de un Mismo Frasco (Alberto Quirós Corradi)
Plomo Parejo (por Radio Caracas Radio)
PMBComments on the State of Democracy in Venezuela and more ... (Pedro Mario Burelli)
Radar de los Barrios (Asociación Civil)
Rafael Rivero Muñoz (Acción Cívica)
- Condenado por mata policías y fugado, resulta ser un prófugo de la justicia (Clodosbaldo Russian)
reportemundo (Rodolfo Schmidt)
Resistencia Catia-Caracas
Roberto Carlo Olivares (La prensa es la artillería de la libertad)
Sammy Landaeta Millán (Coronel (R) F.A.V.)
Soledad Morillo Belloso (Escribidora de Oficio)
The Devil's Excrement (Miguel Octavio)
vdebate - Venezuela Debate (Spanish and English)
Venezolanos Perseguidos Politicos en el Exilio (VEPPEX)
Venezuela News And Views (Daniel Duquenal & Alex Beech)
Venezuela Vetada
Yo Estoy con RCTV!

International Press and Opinion:

ABC.es: Internacional (Madrid, España)
Adam Smith: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Library of Economics and Liberty. 1776-1789. 1904, Edwin Cannan, ed.)
Agencia Cubana de Noticias División de la Agencia de Información Nacional (AIN)
Agencia de Noticias Nueva Colombia (ANNCOL) (Noticias de las FARC) [SUSPENDED ACCOUNT]
Agencia Interamericana de Prensa Económica (AIPE) (Carlos Ball, Director)
Agenda: Cuba (Lucha por el cambio dentro de Cuba)
Albert Einstein Institution (Advancing freedom through nonviolent action)
- From Dictatorship to Democracy (Gene Sharp, 1993, .pdf)
AméricaEconomía (Primera revista de negocios de América Latina)
América Libre (Foro de São Paulo)
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI)
- Search: Venezuela
- The American (The Journal of the AEI)
- 'Chavez Has Begun to Take the Path of Dictatorship' (Ambassador Richard S. Williamson, Jan. 5, '11)
American Security Council Foundation (ASCF)
American Thinker
Americas Forum (For Freedom and Prosperity)
- Facing a life-threatening disease in Cuba, Chavez continues to oppress his opponents back home
- Why Hugo Chavez's Illness Matters (Joel Hirst, July 1, 2011)
- Venezuela army assures calm after Chavez surgery (Reuters, July 1, 2011)
Analysis of Voting Data from the Recent Venezuelan Referendum [Aug 15 '04] (Edward W. Felten, Department of Computer Science, Princeton University. Aviel D. Rubin, Adam Stubblefield, Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University. Sep 1, 2004)
Análisis del conflicto colombiano (Luis Alberto Villamarín Pulido, Blogs - eltiempo.com)
Anti-Defamation League (Fighting Anti-Semitism, Bigotry and Extremism)
Asamblea para Promover la Sociedad Civil en Cuba (¡Para Cuba, Ya es hora!)
Associated Press (AP) (Global news network)
Babalú Blog (Valentín Prieto)
BBC News | Americas (International version)
Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) Shaping Change-Strategies of Development and Transformation
- BTI: Venezuela Country Report
Bloomberg.com (Business and financial information services, news and media)
Cambio.com.co (Bogotá, Colombia)
Center for Security Policy
- Americas Report Archives (Menges Hemispheric Security Project)
Canada Free Press (Online conservative newspaper)
Centre for Applied NonViolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS)
Centro de Economía Latinoamericana (CESLA)
Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina (CADAL)
City Mayors: Juan Barreto - Mayor of Caracas
City Mayors: Leopoldo Eduardo López - Mayor of Chacao, Caracas
CNN (Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News)
- Venezuela: News & Videos about Venezuela
CNSNews.com (The Cybercast News Service)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Conflicto Colombiano (Luis Villamarín)
Contacto Magazine
Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)
Counterterrorism Blog
- The Further Narco-Terrorist Ties of the Chávez Government (Douglas Farah, November 12, 2010)
Cuba, Democracia y Vida
Cuba Libre Digital
Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF/FNCA)
CubaNet
Cuba On-Line database (Research and information on economics, politics and social issues)
Cuba Transition Project (Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami)
CubDest Servicio de Difusión (Desde Cuba en el Destierro)
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (Harvard University)
- ReVista Harvard Review of Latin America - Venezuela: The Chávez Effect (Fall 2008)
DesdeCuba.com (Un portal de periodismo ciudadano)
- Generation Y (Blog, Yoani Sánchez)
Diario Crítico (Venezuela)
Diario de América / America's Daily
- No olvidemos a los presos y perseguidos políticos (Venezuela, Mercedes Montero, 16/6/2008)
- Violaciones de los derechos humanos en Venezuela (Venezuela, Mercedes Montero, 16/6/2009)
- Condena a Mazuco no tiene precedentes (Venezuela, Mercedes Montero, 28/12/2010)
- Caso Biaggio Pilieri: confiscación de la libertad (Venezuela, Mercedes Montero, 26/1/2011)
Diario El País - Internacional - América Latina (Madrid, España)
Diario La Nación (Argentina)
Diario La Razón (Bolivia)
Directorio Democrático Cubano (Non-Cooperation Campaign)
Eco-Imperialism - Green Power. Black Death (Paul K. Driessen)
El Heraldo (Periódico nacional, independiente, Tegucigalpa, Honduras)
El Imparcial (Diario liberal e independiente, Madrid, España. Luis María Anson)
El Mundo (Santa Cruz, Bolivia)
El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida, USA)
- El Nuevo Herald - Venezuela
- El Nuevo Herald - América Latina
- Andrés Oppenheimer (El Nuevo Herald)
ElTiempo.com (Principales noticias de Colombia y el mundo)
- Chavismo en Colombia
Encuentro en la red (Diario independiente de asuntos Cubanos)
En defensa del neoliberalismo (Adolfo Rivero Caro)
Energy Tribune (Key issues in the energy sector)
Erick Stakelbeck on Terror (CBN News Terrorism Analyst)
- The Iran/Venezuela Axis (with Roger Noriega and Ilan Berman, Nov 17 '10)
- Exclusive Pics: Venezuelan Govt. Officials Meeting with Hezbollah (w/ Noriega and Berman, Dec 10 '10)
European Union | Election Observation Mission to Venezuela 2006
Evaluating the Security of Electronic Voting Systems (The Computer Security Group at UCSB)
Family Security Matters Informing Americans about the issues surrounding national security
Financial Times (World business, finance and political news. London, UK)
- World > Americas
Firmas Press (Revista liberal Latinoaméricana, Carlos Alberto Montaner)
Forbes.com (Business and Financial News, USA)
Foreign Affairs
- In Search of Hugo Chávez (Michael Shifter, May/June 2006)
- Slouching Toward Authoritarianism (Michael Shifter update, November 7, 2007)
- An Empty Revolution (Francisco Rodríguez, March/April, 2008)
Foreign Policy (FP) (Global Politics & Economics, Moisés Naím editor and publisher)
- FP Passport (Editors blogging on global news, politics, economics and ideas)
- Shadow Government (Blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration)
- The Return of the Idiot (May/June '07, Alvaro Vargas Llosa)
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
FOX News, FOX News Latino, FOX Business
Francis Fukuyama (School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University)
Freedom House (A clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world)
- Country Report: Venezuela - 2010
FRONTLINE (PBS Public affairs documentary series)
- The Hugo Chavez Show (November 25 '08) [view online]
FrontPage Magazine (David Horowitz)
Fundación Internacional para la Libertad (FIL) (Mario Vargas Llosa)
Fundación para el Análisis y los Estudios Sociales (FAES) (José María Aznar)
GlobalSecurity.org
Google News Search - Venezuela
guardian.co.uk (Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian, UK)
- Venezuela, Hugo Chávez
HACER Latin American News (Hispanic American Center for Economic Research)
- Venezuela: Hugo Chavez cozies up to tyrants and narco-terrorists (John R. Thomson, August 26 '10)
Havana Journal Business, Culture, Politics, Travel News and Information
Heitor de Paola Papéis Avulsos (Brasil)
Honduras Libre y en Democracia (Blog, Eloy Page)
Human Events Conservative News, Views & Books (USA)
IBDeditorials Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily
IBI Consultants (Douglas Farah)
Impacto CNA (Citizen News Agency. Actualidad venezolana, latinoamericana y mundial)
Independent Venezuelan American Citizens (IVAC) (Non-profit organization in Miami, helping legal residents change their status to American Citizens without any cost)
Infobae (Argentina)
- Venezuela - en los últimos 30 días
Infolatam (Noticias y Análisis de América Latina, España)
Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT)
- Venezuelan Ties to Hezbollah ICT Database Staff, 14/08/2008
- Iran and its Proxy Hezbollah: Strategic Penetration in Latin America Dr. Ely Karmon, 15/04/2009
Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS)
Intelligence & Terrorism Information Center (Israel)
Inter American Press Association (SIP/IAPA)
- Information - 63rd General Assembly
InterAmerican Security Watch
- Rumors over Chavez absence reach frenzy in Venezuela (Andrew Cawthorne, REUTERS, June 28 '11)
- If Hugo Goes (Michael Shifter, Foreing Policy, June 29 '11)
International Association of Broadcasters (AIR-IAB) (Radio & Television)
International Herald Tribune (The Global Edition of The New York Times)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International News Analysis Today (Toby Westerman)
Jerusalem Post
- Editorial: To the people of Venezuela (Jan 31, 2009)
- Synagogue in Venezuela vandalized (Feb 1, 2009)
José Brechner (International Political Analyst)
La Minaccia (The Threat, a documentary by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino, is the chronicle of a desilusion)
La Prensa (El Periódico Hispano de la Florida)
Latin American Studies (Dr. Antonio Rafael de la Cova)
Latin Business Chronicle (Daily source on Latin America's business, technology and politics)
- Venezuela
Latinobarómetro (Opinión Pública Latinoamericana)
LatinPetroleum Magazine (Petroleum News, Oil & Gas News)
Letras Libres (Enrique Krauze, Director)
LiberPress (Contenidos y noticias del pensamiento liberal. Observación de Cuba y Venezuela)
Libertad Digital - Internacional (Noticias y opinión en la Red, España)
Madres y Mujeres Anti-Represión (M.A.R.) por Cuba
Martí Noticias (U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio y TV Martí Online)
Milton Friedman - 'Free To Choose' (1980) (a PBS TV Series): Power of the Market, The Tyranny of Control, Anatomy of a Crisis, From Cradle to Grave, Created Equal, What’s Wrong With Our Schools?, Who Protects the Consumer?, Who Protects the Worker?, How to Cure Inflation, How to Stay Free.
Updated 1990 Series: The Power of the Market, The Tyranny of Control, Freedom & Prosperity, The Failure of Socialism, Created Equal.
National Council of Resistance of Iran - Foreign Affairs Committee
National Review Online
- Venezuela in the National Review Online (2004-2008)
NetforCuba.org (The realities of Cuba today)
Noticuba Internacional (Un medio al servicio de la verdad)
Nueva Mayoría (El portal sociopolítico de Iberoamérica)
NewsMax - The Americas
Olavo de Carvalho (Sapientiam Autem Non Vincit Malitia) [Malice does not defeat wisdom, Saint Paul]
- The Revolutionary Mentality ["The revolutionary is the worst enemy of the human species"]
Oxford Analytica (International, independent consulting firm)
Periodismo Sin Fronteras (Ricardo Puentes Melo - Periodismo de opinión. Colombia, Venezuela)
Periodista Digital (Madrid, España)
- Periodista Latino
Poder 360° (USA, Miami, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela)
Política y Desarrollo (Argentina)
Pilar Rahola (Essays, lectures, interviews and photographs)
RealClearPolitics (Opinion, News, Analysis, Videos and Polls)
- Venezuela
- Latin America: Wikileaks Relief (Álvaro Vargas Llosa, December 8, 2010)
- The Coming Venezuela Missile Crisis (Jed Babbin, December 22, 2010)
- Latin America, 2011 (Álvaro Vargas Llosa, December 29, 2010)
RealClearWorld (Global news and commentary)
- Venezuela
Rebelión - Venezuela (Heinz Dieterich, James Petras, Marta Harnecker, Noam Chomsky, and others)
Reporters Without Borders
Reporte Virtual Digital documentary platform
Reuters.com World News, Financial News, Breaking US & International News
Revelaciones Cuba, Cuba al Descubierto (Bernardo Jurado)
Revista América Libre (órgano de comunicación del Foro de Sao Paulo)
Robert Amsterdam - Venezuela Report (Information, reports, news, translations, and original opinion and analysis on Venezuela)
Semana.com (Bogotá, Colombia)
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Stratfor (Strategic Forecasting, w/Free Intelligence Reports)
- George Friedman on Geopolitics (Free weekly)
- A Change of Course in Cuba and Venezuela? (September 21, 2010)
TheAtlantic.com
The Daily Journal Online (News in South America)
The Cato Institute (Research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C.)
- Corruption, Mismanagement, and Abuse of Power in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela
(Gustavo Coronel, November 27, 2006)
- Hugo Chávez's Unfulfilled Promises (Gustavo Coronel, December 1, 2006)
- A Letter to Danny Glover (Gustavo Coronel, May 31, 2007)
- Misreading Venezuela (Gustavo Coronel, August 15, 2007)
- Will the frog jump? (Gustavo Coronel, September 28, 2007)
- Hugo Choice (Gustavo Coronel, November 30, 2007)
The Economist (Analysis of world business and current affairs)
- Hugo Chávez's Venezuela: A coup against the constitution (Editorial, Dec. 28, 2010)
- Americas View (Politics, Economics, Society, Culture in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada Blog)
- Life, liberty and property (Americas View: Franklin Brito, Aug. 31, 2010)
- Clausewitz (Defence, Security and Diplomacy Blog)
The European Courier (European American Affairs and World Politics)
- Democracy in Venezuela Blog (Diego Arria, Co-editor)
- The Threat Closer to Home - A Book on Chavez Fake Revolution (Gustavo Coronel, January 29 2009)
The Heritage Foundation: Policy Research and Analysis
- 2009 Index of Economic Freedom - Venezuela
- What to Do about Hugo Chávez: Venezuela's Challenge to Security in the Americas (February 19, 2009)
The Independent Institute (Public policy research and debate)
The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)
- Book, Video Show Hizballah Training Near Caracas (May 26, 2010)
The Miami Herald - Americas
- The Oppenheimer Report
The New American - World News - South America
The New York Times (NYT)
- Venezuela News - Breaking World Venezuela News (updated Sept. 27 2010)
- A Venezuelan Oasis of Elitism Counts Its Days (by Simón Romero, December 27, 2010)
The Online Library of Liberty (A project of Liberty Fund Inc.)
- Ludwig von Mises, Liberalism: The Classical Tradition (LF ed.) [1962]
- Ludwig von Mises, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics [1949]
The Real Cuba
The Threat Closer to Home: Hugo Chavez and the War Against America (Douglas Schoen and Michael Rowan, January 2009, Simon & Schuster.com) [Read online]
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) (Business & Financial News, Markets Data & Charts)
- WSJ/Americas (in Spanish)
- Chávez's 40-Year Plan to Conquer Vice (WSJ, Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Dec. 5, 2011)
The Washington Post: World, South America:
- Venezuelan consumers fear inflation, dump cash after Chávez devalues bolivar (January 13, 2010)
- Venezuela President Chavez orders TV station off the air (January 25, 2010)
- Organization of American States report rebukes Venezuela on human rights (February 25, 2010)
- Venezuelan judge is jailed after ruling angers President Hugo Chávez (April 25, 2010)
- Arrest in Venezuela raises free speech concerns (March 24, 2010)
- Oil-rich Venezuela gripped by economic crisis (April 29, 2010)
- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez allegedly helped Colombian, Spanish militants forge ties (May 20, 2010)
- Chavez fails to reach critical two-thirds majority in Venezuelan assembly (September 28, 2010)
- Venezuela acquires 1,800 antiaircraft missiles from Russia (December 11, 2010)
- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is granted decree powers by lame-duck National Assembly (Dec. 18, 2010)
- See Articles by Juan Forero (from Sep. 22, 2006)
The World Bank
- Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2008
Unión de Organizaciones Democráticas de América (UnoAmérica)
- El plan del Foro de São Paulo para destruir las Fuerzas Armadas (Alejandro Peña Esclusa)
- Alejandro Peña Esclusa: Desde los calabozos de Chávez (Enero 12 '11)
- Diputados bolivianos entregan carta en la Embajada pidiendo libertad de Peña Esclusa (Mayo 14 '11)
- Brasil: Duras críticas al sistema judicial venezolano (Junio 6 '11)
Urgente 24 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
U.S. Department of State - Venezuela
- U.S. Embassy - Venezuela (Page in the U.S.A.)
- U.S. Embassy - Venezuela (Page in Venezuela)
- Venezuelan Declassification Collection (Documents)
Visión Iberoamérica
VOA News - Voice of America - English News
What’s Next Venezuela (The radicalization of the Chávez regime)
World-Check (Reducing Risk Through Intelligence)
World Economic Forum
- Global Competitiveness Report
- Financial Development Index 2008 Rankings
World Justice Project (To strengthen the rule of law for the development of communities)
WorldNetDaily (A Free Press for a Free People)
World Socialist Web Site Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)
WorldThreats.com (Ryan Mauro, Investigating your National Security - USA)

Human Rights in Venezuela:

Amnesty International, Amnistía Internacional - Venezuela
Asociación Civil Súmate
- Informes - Procesos Electorales de Venezuela
- En busca del cisne negro Análisis de la evidencia estadística sobre el fraude electoral en Venezuela
[Estudio de R. Haussman y R. Rigobón] (.pdf, Sep 3 '04)
- The Carter report on the Hausmann-Rigobon Analysis is bereft of any statistical basis (.pdf, Sep 17 '04)
- Information on the State of Democracy in Venezuela
- Venezuela en Cifras Oficiales (Indicadores económicos y sociales)
- Informe Súmate - Referéndo Sobre Proyecto de Reforma Constitucional (.pdf, Ene 24 '08)
- Inconsistencias e incongruencias en boletines de resultados presentados por el CNE (.pdf, Feb 25 '08)
- Supertestigos (no pelan un voto...)
Carr Center for Human Rights Policy (The Latin American Initiative. Harvard Kennedy School)
Case Osvaldo Álvarez Paz (Omar Estacio and Juan Carlos Álvarez, 861 KB .pdf, 27 April 2010)
Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Electoral (CAPEL) (Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos)
COFAVIC Promoción y Protección de los Derechos Humanos
Fundación para el Debido Proceso (Investigación de violaciones a los D.H. y defensa de las víctimas)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
- Human Rights Watch - Venezuela
- A Decade Under Chavez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities .... (Sep. 18, 2008)
[HRW officials were expelled from Venezuela hours after the publishing of this report]
- Venezuela Legislative Assault on Free Speech, Civil Society (Dec. 22, 2010)
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR - OAS) (Organization of American States)
[Since May 2002 Venezuela has been denying the Commission its permission for another visit]
[See Annual Report 2006 - Chapter IV - Human Rights Developments in Venezuela]
[See Report Feb 24, 2010 - Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela]
Inter-American Court of Human Rights (OAS)
International Crisis Group (Conflict prevention and resolution)
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)
International News Safety Institute
International Press Institute (IPI)
INTERPOL (International police organization)
- Forensic report requested by Colombia on seized FARC computers and hardware (May 15 '08)
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Venezuela Programs Facts
Observatorio Hannah Arendt (El derecho a la educación vs. ideologización de la educación)
Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones Derechos Humanos en el ámbito penitenciario venezolano
Organization of American States (OAS) [Observers of the Recall Referendum fraud in August 2004]
- OAS: Inter-American Democratic Charter [In effect?]
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea)
Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz
Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC)
- Chavez Hate Set Stage for Sabbath Armed Invasion and Desecration of Synagogue February 1, 2009
- Venezuela's Anti-Semitic Campaign Protested by Simon Wiesenthal Center January 30, 2009
- Antisemitism in Venezuela: SWC Protests to the Organization of American States January 29, 2009
The Carter Center [Observers of the Recall Referendum fraud in August 2004]
- Report on an Analysis of the Representativeness of the Second Audit Sample, and the Correlation Between Petition Signers and the Yes Vote in the Aug. 15, 2004, Presidential Recall Referendum (.pdf)
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
- Caracas Nine (Nine Victims of Political Persecution in Venezuela)
- Tell Chávez (Demand Human Rights of Venezuela's Political Prisoners' Be Respected)
Transparency International (Corruption Perceptions Index)
Venezuela was 172^th of 182 countries in 2011, the 10^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 164^th of 178 countries in 2010, the 12^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 162^th of 180 countries in 2009, the 14^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 158^th of 180 countries in 2008, the 16^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 162^th of 179 countries in 2007, the 17^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 138^th of 163 countries in 2006, the 25^th most corrupt in the world.
It was 130^th in 2005, 114^th in 2004, 100^th in 2003, 81^th in 2002, 69^th in 2001, 71^th in 2000, 75^th in 1999, 77^th in 1998.
- Transparencia Venezuela (Prevenir y disminuir el uso del poder público para beneficio personal)
According to the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), it can be stated that, by the end of fiscal exercise 2004, there was a difference of US $3,500 million between the money reported as paid by PDVSA and the amount that reached the BCV.
The Venezuelan government intervened in the official process for participation by Transparencia Venezuela at the Organization of American States (OAS) with the aim of silencing the 2006 report on that country's compliance with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.
Un Fraude Largamente Preparado (urru.org - Índice de Documentos 2004 - Varios del fraude)
- En busca del cisne negro Análisis de la evidencia estadística sobre el fraude electoral en Venezuela.
Estudio de R. Haussman y R. Rigobón, para Súmate (.pdf, Sep 3 '04)
- Fraud Against Democracy: The Venezuelan Case (.pdf, Oct 15 '04)
- Fraud Against Democracy: The Venezuelan Case (Summary) (MS Word document, Oct 15 '04)
- Impugnacion del Referéndo Revocatorio ante el CNE
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights United Nations - Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Oil-Price.net:

Today's crude oil price, change, % change (WTI $/bbl)
Crude oil prices for the month, quarter, year, or 5-year period (WTI $/bbl)
[Venezuelan crude oil sells at a price lower than West Texas Intermediate (WTI)]

Did High Oil Prices Cause the Financial Crash? (Oil-Price.net)

See PetroleumWorld.com (Latin American Energy, Oil & Gas)

The First Law of Petropolitics: The price of oil and the pace of freedom always move in opposite directions. Thomas L. Friedman, Foreign Policy. April 25, 2006.

New Time Zone for Venezuela:

From ~~24 September~~ 2007^* the Time Zone for Venezuela would be GMT - 4:30 hrs.
This time zome was not available from the Windows Control Panel - Date and Time - Time Zone.

^* [This change was again delayed, till December 9, 03:00]
Hotfix to add a time zone in Venezuela (GMT-4:30) for 2007 in Windows XP, Server 2003, and Vista,
Microsoft Support, September 28 '07 (available through Windows Update).

Manual solution:

Download and run the Windows Time Zone Editor (TZEDIT.EXE) from Microsoft Support or from Microsoft Download.
Create a new Time Zone, i.e. "New Time Zone VE", for GMT - 4:30 hrs.
Activate it (when it is in effect) from the Control Panel - Date and Time - Time Zone.

This time zone change backs your clock, and advances all astronomical events, in 30 minutes.

This is the original time zone for the Legal Time in Venezuela, adopted in 1912 and based on the meridian of Villa de Cura (Longitude 67.5° W, Estado Aragua). It replaced the meridian based on Punta de Playa (Longitude 60° W, Estado Delta Amacuro) adopted in 1965 for GMT - 4 hrs.

Longitude on Earth is related to Local Time:
360° of Longitude equal 24 hours, this is; 1 hour equals 15° of Longitude (360/24 = 15).
67.5° of Longitude equal 4.5 hours (67.5/15 = 4.5).

With a time zone of GMT - 4 hrs, in 2007:
The Sun is zenital over Caracas on April 17 at 12:27, and August 26 at 12:29. ^*
The earliest sunrise occurs on May 30 at 06:04, and the latest on January 27 at 06:51. ⁺
The earliest sunset occurs on November 18 at ~~18:01~~, and the latest on July 13 at 18:54. ⁺
[All these events would be advanced by 30 minutes with the Time Zone GMT - 4:30 hrs]
With a time zone of GMT - 4:30 hrs, in 2007:
The earliest sunset would occur on November 18 at 17:31. ⁺

^* See Topocentric Positions of Major Solar System Objects and Bright Stars at the US Naval Observatory,
or NOAA Solar Position Calculator.

⁺ Calculated with SunGraph for Macintosh & PC, at Analemma (Bob Urschel).

With a time zone of GMT - 4 hrs, for Caracas:
The earliest sunrise occurs at 06:04, and the latest at 06:51.
The earliest sunset occurs a las 18:01, and the latest at 18:54.

With a time zone of GMT - 4:30 hrs, for Caracas:
The earliest sunrise occurs at 05:34, and the latest at 06:21.
The earliest sunset occurs at 17:31, and the latest at 18:24.

This page was updated in: January 31 '12

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