EDITORIAL

Translated By Harry Kenneth Echevarria

October 25, 2006
Venezuela - El Universal - Original Article (Spanish)    

President Hugo Chavez Addresses the 61st session of the
U.N. General Assembly. He backed Iran's right to a nuclear
program, and called President Bush a 'tyrant' and a 'liar.'
(above and below).

—UNITED NATIONS VIDEO: Venezuela's President Hugo
Chavez addresses the opening of the 61st session of the
U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 20, 00:23:50

—BBC NEWS VIDEO: Venezuela finally agrees to withdraw from
bitter contest to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council, suggests
Bolivia, Oct. 25, 00:01:42





U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton works the General Assembly
to prevent Venezuela and Hugo Chavez from obtaining its desire: A seat
on the U.N. Security Council, Oct. 18. (above).


Venezuela's U.N. ambassador Nations Francisco Arias, left, and Deputy
Foreign Minister Jorge Valero place their vote in the ballot box, at the
General Assembly, Oct. 16. (below).


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We wrote a couple of weeks ago of the Venezuelan government's lack of moral authority over a broad range of important issues sensitive to the rest of the world, and which diminished the force of the President's accusatory U.N. speech. That element, combined with his terrible management of foreign policy and his unstinting rhetoric of hostility and revanchism, has led to one of the most resounding failures that any Venezuelan government has ever experienced in the international arena.

[Editor's Note: Revanchism usually refers to regaining something lost in war, such as territory ].

We said then that much of his criticism against the United States, and especially the Bush Administration, could also be made against ourselves, and we even felt sympathy for some of the reforms the President [Chavez] presented at the United Nations and the Organization of American States. But when he followed criticism of President Bush with flattery of Fidel Castro, or talk of the sentence of Luis Posada Carriles , he sends a message of solidarity with The Jackal [A Venezuelan born hit man now in French custody ]. And when he condemns terrorism only to compliment Hezbullah, then, simply, his message loses any strength or forcefulness, inasmuch as the allies, the values, and the reasoning of the denouncer are equally as bad -or worse - than the evil ones he seeks to expose.

[Editor's Note: There is much consternation in Latin America in regard to America's apparent shielding of anti-Castro Cuban, Luis Pasada Carriles, who is a former CIA operative that has been implicated in the destruction of a Cuban passenger jet with 73 people board, amongst other things. While at the same time, Washington has insisted on swift and strict punishment for The Jackel, a murderer that is somewhat of a darling of the Latin-American left].

Confronted with this situation, we also ask ourselves: Is it possible that Chavez will manage to deceive other presidents and the world in general on so many issues? How could he, for instance, bring himself to speak of human rights, when in his own country he has ordered the deaths, imprisonment and systematic persecution of his political adversaries? Or is it that they are not deceived, but instead put up with such lunacy to continue to enjoy the benefits of having such a rich "friend"? What happened at the U.N. reveals that by all means, there are many that support him, but that the great majority of countries understand that the present Venezuelan government is a great danger to humanity.

Venezuela failed to win a single round of voting against Guatemala, and we can now be certain that we will not win. The government's failure to step aside from the fight when it became clear that Guatemala had an average 30 vote advantage dismayed those who hunger for Venezuela to act in accord with democratic and diplomatic principles. It is virtually assured that a third country will now emerge from a new Latin American agreement. Neither Guatemala – which certainly deserved to win – nor Venezuela, which in its fancy to obtain power acted like an evil child wishing to spoil the aspirations of another - will enter the U.N. Security Council.

It would also be proper to determine the amount of money Venezuela spent to obtain each of the votes from countries that promised their supposed support. With absolute certainty, several hundred million dollars was spent on 70 of the most expensive votes in history.

Finally, it is clear to us that what has occurred is only the beginning of a fiasco on the international stage that has been preceded by the defeats of Ollanta Humala in Peru and Lopez Obrador in Mexico [Left-wing presidential candidates from those nations that Chavez had backed, but who lost].

The checking account is no longer so mighty, our allies have begun to renounce their benefactor, our "brothers" are keeping their distance, and in short, the world understands and has begun to measure the real nature of this neo-communist anti-democratic regime.

visionemergente@cantv.net

Spanish Version Below

Cómica en la ONU

Cipriano Heredia

Escribíamos hace unas semanas que la falta de autoridad moral del Gobierno venezolano en una importante cantidad de aspectos que son sensibles para el resto del mundo, le quitaba fuerza a su discurso de denuncia. Ese elemento, aunado a un pésimo manejo de la política exterior en general y a una inseparable retórica de hostilidad y revanchismo, ha conducido a uno de los más estruendosos fracasos que gobierno venezolano alguno haya sufrido en materia internacional.

Decíamos entonces que mucho de lo que se critica a Estados Unidos, y especialmente a la administración Bush, podía ser compartido por nosotros, e incluso nos sentíamos identificados con algunas de las reformas propuestas para la ONU y la OEA. No obstante, cuando a la crítica contra Bush le sigue un halago a Fidel Castro, o a la condena contra Posada Carriles, le sobreviene una mensaje de solidaridad con El Chacal, o el repudio al terrorismo se complementa con un saludo al Hezbolá, pues simplemente el mensaje pierde sentido y contundencia, por cuanto los aliados, las preferencias, los valores y los razonamientos del denunciante son tan o más repudiables que aquellos que se han expuesto como negativos anteriormente.

Ante esta situación, nos preguntábamos también: ¿Será que Chávez logrará realmente engañar a los demás presidentes y al mundo en general en tantos temas?  ¿Cómo puede, por ejemplo, pararse a hablar de derechos humanos, quien en su país ha ordenado la muerte, prisión y persecución sistemática de sus adversarios políticos? ¿O es que no son engañados sino que simplemente muchos lo saben y lo entienden pero se hacen los locos para seguir recibiendo los beneficios de un "amigo" rico?  Lo ocurrido en la ONU revela que por supuesto que hay mucho vivo, pero también que la gran mayoría de los países entienden que el actual Gobierno venezolano es un gran peligro para la humanidad.

Venezuela no ganó ni una sola ronda de votación frente a Guatemala y ya podemos afirmar que no la ganará. Deja además mucho que desear su desempeño democrático y diplomático al no apartarse de la contienda ante el hecho claro de que Guatemala le superó permanentemente por un promedio de 30 votos de ventaja.  Lo más seguro es que surja un tercer país producto de un nuevo pacto latinoamericano, con lo cual ninguno de los dos entrará al Consejo de Seguridad, a pesar de que no sólo Guatemala lo mereció en todo momento, sino que lo de Venezuela lució como un capricho de niño malcriado con poder que quiere sabotear la aspiración de otro. Propicio sería también determinar el monto de lo gastado para conseguir los votos que obtuvo Venezuela y lo de los otros 38 países que supuestamente la apoyarían. Con toda seguridad fueron varios miles de millones de dólares y estos han sido los 70 votos más caros de la historia.

Por último, nos queda claro que lo ocurrido es sólo el comienzo de una debacle en el plano internacional que ya había sido precedida por las derrotas de Ollanta Humala en Perú y López Obrador en México.  La chequera ya no es tan todapoderosa, los aliados empiezan a renegar de su benefactor, los "hermanos" toman distancia, y en fin, el mundo entiende y calibra mejor la verdadera naturaleza de este régimen antidemocrático y neocomunista.

visionemergente@cantv.net