¡La politica es una cochinada! Politics is a filthy game! By Carlos Herrera

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VHeadline commentarist Carlos Herrera writes: Former British Prime Minister, the late Harold Wilson once said “A week is a long time in politics.” In Venezuela, there is no such eloquent expression, but the nearest is perhaps “La politica es una cochinada”. (”Politics is a filthy game”).

The following will give a good idea of just how filthy politics can be, even under the nose of President Chavez. Our investigations have come up with the following:

Reliable and confidential sources have indicated that a new political grouping will be soon be formed in Venezuela with the aim of eventually taking power. The time frame for this is not yet clear, but recently there was a clandestine (or so the protagonists thought!) meeting in Charallave (Miranda State), at one of the residences of the former Governor of Aragua State and current National Assembly (AN) Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) deputy, Carlos Tablante … a sworn enemy of President Chavez.

The other participants were current Aragua State Governor Didalco Bolivar and Ismael Garcia, the general secretary of Podemos (political party), who is still a deputy in the AN … the latter two are supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution and of Chavez‚ presidency.

The common denominators of all three are MAS and Aragua State.

To understand what this could mean on the political map of Venezuela, it is necessary to give overseas readers some background on these people, and why they are apparently working together.

Carlos Tablante is a veteran political operator and initially supported Chavez after the 1998 elections … but, along with his MAS colleagues and a total of 16 deputies “jumped the fence” to the opposition in the AN in 2001 … after Chavez would not let himself be blackmailed into not legislating 49 new laws in the context of the Enabling Law, granted to him by a clear majority in the National Assembly.

In Venezuela it is a constitutionally legal convention if approved by a 2/3rds majority in the AN … in effect, these new laws were designed to push the revolution forward on a firm legal basis … but the traditional (corrupt) politicians on the MAS benches obviously did not want to lose their privileges, such as trafficking of influences and juicy contracts because of their political and economic connections.

The new laws would prejudice their financial backers and rich (corrupt?) friends of the IV Republic.

The political maneuver weakened the government position in the AN to a one or two votes majority and made the passing of new laws extremely difficult. However, as time has since proven, MAS has been wiped out in its traditional stronghold in Aragua State and in other parts of the country … as evidenced in regional elections last October 31 … but still has several deputies in the AN who will probably lose their mandates in December 2005 parliamentary elections, if the current political climate is anything to judge by.

Didalco Bolivar and Ismael Garcia were originally members of MAS but, when the party split into two parts in late 2001 (MAS “Mas” and MAS “Menos”) … the former still loyal to Chavez … Bolivar and Garcia were instrumental in setting up the new party Podemos and remained on the “Chavez aircraft carrier” as he continued to sweep all before him in 9 elections and referendae in the last 6 years.

Governor Bolivar is very popular in Aragua and won the regional elections with around 70% of the vote since he had the crucial support of Chavez as the “revolution’s official candidate” … and the opposition was almost non-existent with his main contender being Margarita de Tablante, Carlos Tablante’s spouse.

However, many active members of Chavez‚ party in Aragua, the MVR (Movimiento V Republica) have for some time expressed doubts about Bolivar’s loyalty to Chavez.

For example, during the April 2002 coup d‚etat, the Governor did not come out on to the streets to support the masses, or stand beside General Baduel at the Parchute Regiment’s HQ in the state capital Maracay, when 5,000 able-bodied men enlisted on the spot to take up arms against Carmona‚s ephemeral dictatorship.

In fact, he was silent until the coup situation had been resolved.

In addition, Bolivar has always had close connections with the Sindoni “King of Pasta” family, who own the central TV station TVS and the daily newspaper, El Aragueno .. both ostensibly (like most of the private media in Venezuela) very anti-Chavez.

On the other hand, Bolivar did set up popular food markets, with subsidized pork and chicken and did subsidize the plastics and footwear industries in Aragua in 2001-2002, as part of generating employment and stretching family budgets, thus gaining credibility … even though these initiatives were central government funded.

Tablante himself did not stand to fight a state election he could not possibly win (on October 31) and so protected his political future by sending his wife to the electoral slaughter … and at the same time managed to keep the Tablante name up front as a strategic move in Aragua.

A good example of Tablante’s rock bottom credibility and popularity in Aragua was when – some 18 months ago – he attended a public meeting in El Consejo (a small town on the PanAmerican Highway that passes through Aragua). The local populace was so incensed by his presence … since they considered him a traitor to Chavez and had gradually learned about his “illegal activities” while Governor of Aragua in the late 1980s and early 1990s .. that they forced him to escape by the back door, so strong and potentially violent was the protest at his presence.

It was soon after this that that his wife appeared on the political scene.

Tablante is connected with the Capriles business dynasty in Aragua, which owns the influential regional newspaper “El Siglo” … which is very anti-Chavez, and which reportedly earned millions of bolivares in infrastructure contracts in the state for many years when there was an accommodating Governor. One member of the Capriles family is currently in exile in Miami, wanted for questioning over the “disppearance” of several million dollars from public coffers.

Ismael Garcia is former Mayor of the Jose Felix Ribas municipality in La Victoria (also in Aragua), where he has a house in the best suburb in the town and several latest model vehicles. He eventually made it to the National Assembly in 1998. His big political chance came in late 2003, when he was appointed as one of the spokesmen of the Comando Ayacucho. This was set up by Chavez to organize the collection of signatures against some 35 opposition AN deputies to trigger a recall referendum against them as allowed for in Article 72 of the Bolivarian Constitution.

At national level, during the collection of signatures, all appeared to be hunky-dory. Garcia appeared on national TV with a broad grin, announcing that all opposition deputies would have to face the recall referendum due to the great success and organization of the Comando Ayacucho. In fact, Aragua State .. as conceivably the most “chavista” should have had no problems collecting enough signatures against the “MAS traitors” … amongst them Tablante himself.

To cut a long story short, only 9 of 5 deputies earmarked for a recall referendum had enough valid signatures collected against them to trigger the constitutional process … none of them in Aragua State.

The government is still waiting for the recall process to take place … now probably in March 2005 … although the signatures were collected at the end of November 2003.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) had continually postponed these referendae until after the Presidential recall referendum … even though half the period of mandate of the deputies expired before Chavez‚ mid-term came around on August 18, 2003.

The question was … and still is … what happened to the signatures?

In the case of signatures collected against the opposition deputies there were no “repairs” or second chances to confirm or deny one’s signature … simply either the signatures were invalid, due to incompetence by the local officials of the Comando Ayacucho supervising the signature collection process (they had not been thoroughly trained, and the signatures were rejected by the CNE for a host of technical reasons) or – more importantly – the signatures NEVER arrived at the CNE in Caracas for verification.

To date, no acceptable explanation has been given by anyone in this matter … not by Ismael Garcia and not by his fellow of spokesmen of the Comando Ayacucho, William Lara and/or Eustoquio Contreras.

Chavistas in Aragua are still rather miffed at this impasse, to put it mildly.

Copies of the confirmation totals in the hands of the Comando Ayacucho in Aragua, proved that sufficient signatures were collected, but the CNE says it never received them.

Aragua State … which is where Ismael Garcia, Carlos Tablante and Didalco Bolivar have real influence … is a case in point. No deputy of the MAS traitors in Aragua had enough signatures collected to trigger the referendum … or to put it another way … the signatures just “vanished.”

Anyone who signed these petitions from Aragua will tell you that there was by far enough turnout to trigger the recall referendum. In fact, some of the signatures from Aragua appeared in Falcon State! So what happened?

The signatures from the whole state were consigned to the Governor’s Palace in Maracay and from there, allegedly sent to Caracas. They could have been intercepted and there were even rumors that they had been “sold” to Sumate!

However, it is curious to note that all the main actors in this alleged fraud against the will of the people were at one time or other political bedmates – all from MAS – so was there are political agreement for their old mates not to go to the recall referendum, and inevitably be revoked from the US$2000+ salaries per month, plus perks – a tidy sum in Venezuela?

No one knows…

Not even current Minister of Popular Economy, Elias Jaua knew anything … even though he suspected that it was a “political agreement,” as he said when he came to Aragua over a year ago.

How much money could have changed hands with such high political stakes?

The proof of this “theft” came almost a year later when all the opposition parties in Aragua were virtually liquidated by the popular vote, especially MAS and its political derivative “Solidaridad,” with the minority Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) outpacing some of them in selected municipalities. So who’s fooling who?

The result for Ismael Garcia, whose popularity grew during his positive TV appearances has been a change of fortune. He is now sometimes heckled when he goes to public meetings … and no one could understand how he could have been placed at the head of the Comando Maisanta (set up by Chavez to mobilize the people to vote in his favor in the Presidential recall referendum) together with Didalco Bolivar in Aragua State … and he was roundly booed on live TV in May 2004 at the Municipal theater in Caracas.

The people are not stupid and they suspect that Comando Ayacucho, under the auspices of its main spokesman, Ismael Garcia, “stole” their signatures … and as such their political will.

The 25 billion bolivares for organizing Comando Ayacucho was also under the control of Podemos … and no one is certain what happened to at least part of those funds, either!

The general feeling is that Bolivar and Garcia have been given the benefit of the doubt by the people, since Chavez appeared to give them a second chance.

And now, to the present…

We have these three politicians looking to set up a new political party, with the aim of getting Didalco Bolivar elected to the Presidency of the Republic.

Will this be in 2006, or in 2012?

Chavez himself will not be able to run as Presidential candidate in 2012 … notwithstanding a constitutional amendment, which Chavez himself has said that he did not want. This information about Bolivar’s projected Presidential candidacy is not available, but if it is being planned for 2006, and it means that there’ll be a split in government ranks, as Garcia and Bolivar could carry some loyal acolytes with them.

Looked at from another point of view .. this could mean that the new opposition that Venezuela so badly needs now that the clowns of the rancid defeated opposition are off the scene, will emerge from the supporters of Chavez himself.

Is this political treason, or not?

No, it is just yet another “cochinada.”

Another example of the “cochinada” taking place in Aragua at present, is that Proyecto Venezuela (Salas Romer’s party) candidates are negotiating their entry into Garcia’s and Bolivar’s party Podemos … among them Lucia Garcia (no relation!), who was one of Governor Bolivar’s opponents in the regional elections.

This sort of maneuvering does not go down well with the “pueblo,” with the bourgeoisie entering into what is a “popular party” in Aragua … and will only serve to weaken the popularity of Podemos, as it is abundantly clear that these middle-class opportunists are just looking for their slice of the financial and power cake.

To put it bluntly, Chavez is the guiding light for the populace, and not political parties still following the vices of the IV Republic.

Despite a strong local following in Aragua, both Garcia and Bolivar could be committing political suicide (as Tablante has already done) if they turn their back on Chavez.

If Chavez launches a candidate in Aragua with his personal seal of approval, it will be very difficult to beat any other candidate. Just look at what happened in Miranda and Carabobo States in the regional elections – entrenched opposition governors were summarily kicked out by the pro-Chavez vote.

Perhaps Governor Bolivar has let his electoral successes and popularity go to his head, and one can be 100% certain that associating himself with Carlos Tablante is not the best tactic even long or short term.

If these three politicians form a new political grouping to challenge for the Presidency, they will invariably be labeled “traitors” by the Chavez camp … even though the private mass media would presumably welcome them with open arms, as they need someone to conceivably challenge Chavez in 2006.

Thus, this is the latest “cochinada” cooking in Venezuelan politics and it could be some time before anything is announced, or not.

Bolivar, Tablante and Garcia will now have to decide whether to leap into the abyss … Chavez must know about this, since the information available from our sources indicates that the meeting was recorded. If this is the case, Chavez and the intelligence services have had these three politicians under surveillance – Garcia for what happened in the Comando Ayacucho case, Bolivar for his lack of action during the coup d’etat and Tablante as an out-and-out traitor … and all three since they were bedmates in MAS and must have had some sort of complicity in the Comando Ayacucho disaster in the signature collection process in November 2003 (in Aragua State at least), so as to protect their supposedly ex-political colleagues.

Perhaps they know that Chavez knows all this … which he must do … and that the President is strategically biding his time, planning their political demise?

Patience is the key once again … and Chavez has this in abundance.

Do Garcia, Bolivar and Tablante?

Carlos Herrera
Carlos.Herrera@VHeadline.com