Political Developments

Sections of the Venezuelan opposition are opposing a decision by Venezuela’s Comptroller General, who has submitted a list of 386 individuals to be banned from standing for public office for (being guilty of) corruption and/or misuse of public funds. In fact, the Comptroller General is merely implementing existing legislation — a great deal of which precedes the Chavez government.

Over the weekend, Chavez showed his mettle as a democratic leader. He acknowledged "errors" in the newly enacted Law on Intelligence and Counterintelligence and will fix them to assure it fully complies with Venezuela's Constitution.

Reports keep surfacing about new threats against Hugo Chavez. Given past ones, they can't be taken lightly. Chavez is alerted and reacts accordingly. Case in point: revamping Venezuela's decades old intelligence services. It's long overdue and urgently needed.

The democratic primaries held by the 5.7-million-strong United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) on June 1, to choose candidates for the November 23 regional elections for mayors and governors, are crucial for re-engaging and revitalising the grassroots of the Chavista movement to push the revolution forward.

Having failed to halt the tide of South America’s Pink Tide, Washington is seeking to cultivate relationships with secessionist leaders in order to facilitate the breakup of countries which share left leaning governments. 

The Global Peace Index claims to be the first study of its kind ranking nations according to their peacefulness, ranking the U.S. higher than Venezuela. However, in reality, the U.S. should rank lowest on peace. It keeps sinking lower. It alone threatens planetary survival.

A series of photos allegedly found on the laptops of the FARC leader killed when the Colombian government bombed and raided a FARC encampment across the Ecuadoran border, appear to have actually been taken by Colombian intelligence agents—or by allied police or intelligence agents—in Quito, Ecuador.

The Interpol report on the computers that supposedly link Venezuela to the FARC says that user documents (Word and the like) are authentic, because they were not modified between March 1 and the date of the examination, however, the same report acknowledges the limits of this statement.

Over the last month, the Colombian government's strategy has involved a media campaign with timed leaks of new documents to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald and other outlets, many of whom relied on the Colombian interpretation of their meaning, and with little acknowledgement of the deep controversy surrounding them.

Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Rafael Correa of Ecuador warned of possible "contagion" in their countries by the autonomy movement in the eastern Bolivian province of Santa Cruz.