Things are not getting better in Venezuela

In fact, they seem to be barrelling along at a rather good clip over the precipice, along with the rest of the world.

I hate to see a chance for a democratic country go down the toilet.

Their ambassador to the UN resigned. I would like to think that it is because he has been a pawn of the earlier regimes and an opposition supporter, and an American tool. Of course I don't know that. Perhaps I can find out.

At a news conference at UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Milos Alcalay said that his key concerns throughout a 34-year diplomatic career were to promote democracy, human rights and a non-confrontational foreign policy but "Venezuela is now operating devoid of these fundamental principles, which I still remain intensely committed to." It is known that Ambassador Alcalay was "hugely disappointed" by President Hugo Chavez Frias' last weekend speech to hundreds of thousands of Chavista loyalists in which Chavez had railed against US President George W. Bush and qualified statements made to the National Assembly (AN) last month by Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel rejecting United States covert involvement with Venezuela's political opposition. In an interview only a few days ago with VHeadline.com, Alcalay said that he had increasing concerns over the preservation of institutionality and that he considered it outside of his ambassadorial portfolio to spread the political message of President Chavez Frias' Bolivarian Revolution in the manner that Foreign Minister Perez had ordered previous to last week's G-15 Summit in Caracas. In a letter announcing his resignation, Alcalay said that he was in disaccord with "conflict diplomacy"...

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Cowboy diplomacy meets conflict diplomacy. I think they're actually quite similar. At least Chavez is using conflict diplomacy as a response and not as a weapon.

Reuters has a surprisingly even-handed report on the resignation, and adds:

Alcalay said the actions of the National Electoral Council, which has ordered the reconfirmation of more than 1 million disputed pro-referendum signatures, "rob Venezuelans of the right to affect change through the democratic process."

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If that quote is correct, it makes me think it may be right to suppose Alcalay's political leanings are pro-American (or maybe his wallet is), since that makes no sense. How could the reconfirmation of disputed signatures rob Venezuelans of the democratic process? If the signatures are reconfirmed, then it is assumed the referendum would go forth. If they are not, then it means that there were not enough true signers, according to the requirements of the law, to effect a recall vote.

Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) deputy, former National Assembly (AN) president Willian Lara says that out-of-control radicals in the loosely-formed Coordinadora Democratica (CD) coalition of opposition parties have been discovered in conspiracy plans to assassinate one or more of their own leaders." ... "We have surveillance data which shows they are planning to kill people during their anti-government rallies on Saturday (March 6) ... hopefully by blowing their cover now, we will be able to persuade them to drop their crazy notions." ...Meanwhile, Lara says the National Assembly (AN), where the government still maintains a majority, is about to petition the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) to immediately dismiss Chacao Mayor Leopoldo Lopez, Baruta's Enrique Capriles Radonsky, El Hatillo's Alfredo Catala and the Governor of Miranda State Enrique Mendoza, among others, for having abandoned their constitutional obligations as elected-officers.

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That's probably a wise decision on the government's part. If they can get it done. I don't know what the legal issues are, of course, and it may be that it's wise, but shady. On the other hand, it may be absolutely legal and absolutely called for. I wish we could get rid of the morally defunct constitution razing Neanderthals in the White House who have certainly abandoned their constitutional obligations as elected officers. Oh wait, they aren't elected.

CNN makes nice with the opposition:

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Opposition leaders Thursday called for a new demonstration this weekend against President Hugo Chavez's government to encourage a national electoral commission to approve a recall vote. The leaders set the demonstration for Saturday, but said they would keep working with the National Electoral Council for a compromise that would allow a recall vote to take place.

Well, actually, they have been rioting in the streets. If you call that "encouraging" and "working with", okay.

The opposition has collected 3.4 million signatures, more than the 2.2 million to mandate a recall vote. But the Electoral Council last week questioned the authenticity of pages that contain similar handwriting for several people and called for people who signed the petition to come forward and verify 1.4 million signatures.

Well, actually, there were several pages which appeared to be written by the same person. I wouldn't call 1.4 million signatures "several people". And where's a mention of the signatures of dead people and children that somehow turned up on the petitions?

The Organization of American States and the Carter Center, which helped set up the recall process, are trying to help broker a solution to the latest crisis. But the opposition says a majority of the commission are Chavez loyalists. Many of the protesters have said they don't trust any government institutions.

Well, there you go.

Actually, the OAS and Carter Center are not Venezuelans, and they have both asked the opposition to stand down and let the process take its course, saying that it is being done legally and fairly.

So, thanks for the really accurate and unbiased reporting, CNN.

And SFGate has a question and answer article on the signature problem that is completely different from anything else I've read. But still with an anti-Chavez bias.

And this Venezuelanalysis article seems to contradict the SFGate statements that would lead you to believe the referendum signature confirmation process is somehow crooked. (Which is of course the opposition stance.)

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gave recognition to Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) and the process of re-confirmation of signatures to be implemented in the next few days in order to determine the validity of up to a million signatures contained in petitions that violate referenda regulations. ..."President Chavez is the democratically elected president of Venezuela and the United States accepts that outcome," said Powell to journalists.

Yeah, I know. Surprise. But State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos also claimed to be with the OAS and Carter Center in calling on everyone to let the process go forward peacefully. Maybe they figure we're in enough hot water over the Haiti deal.

Once again, there are two versions to what's going on that are impossible to reconcile. Having watched the Irish-made documentary of the 2002 coup attempt and seeing what was happening on film being reported on opposition-owned Venezuelan TV and in the U.S. as something completely different from what in reality was taking place makes me suspect anything that now comes out of opposition/U.S. reporting.

And from the Venezuelanalysis article quoting Powell, that skepticism seems warranted.

Venezuela's commercial media, which openly opposes the government, refused to give coverage to the U.S. State Department's statements. The decision by Venezuela's commercial media to not carry Powell's and Gallegos' statements, sharply contrasts with their extensive coverage of other U.S. officials' comments critical of Venezuela's government or its institutions. The Miami Herald, which openly opposes Chavez, also ignored the U.S. officials' statements.

That's the best I can offer. I'm not there. And even if I were, I'm sure there would still appear to be two opposing views.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.