Remembering the lessons of 1939 and 1989: Resistance not appeasement to totalitarian thugs

Today we too find ourselves in the midst of a dramatic conflict between the "culture of death" and the "culture of life".  - Saint John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, March 25, 1995

Statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky taken down in Warsaw

Europe offers a cautionary example to the world of what happens when the good appease tyrants rather than oppose them.  In the 1930s Western Democrats sought to appease Hitler's Third Reich to avoid war and ended up with the destruction of Europe in World War II. Fifty years later, Western Democrats following decades vigilance and resistance, the communist regimes of the Soviet empire peacefully imploded.
  
Despite this moment of celebration, Pope John Paul II raised the warning in 1995 that there was a dramatic conflict between the cultures of life and death. This warning had also applied in 1939, and caught many by surprise when two ideologies that at first glance appeared to be opponents became allies.

On August 23, 1939 the Hitler-Stalin Pact (formal name the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact) was signed that publicly proclaimed a non-aggression treaty, but had secret protocols that divided up Central Europe and partitioned Poland. This so-called "non-aggression pact" had sparked Word War 2 on September 1, 1939. On September 22, 1939 a joint Nazi–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk was held to celebrate the successful invasion and conquest of Poland. This war ended six years and one day later on September 2, 1945.  An estimated 15 million soldiers died on the battlefield, and 45 million civilians were killed in the conflict. In a speech delivered on August 1, 1940 Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov,  celebrated this alliance.

"A radical change for the better in the relations between the Soviet Union and Germany found its expression in the non-aggression pact signed last August. These new, good relations between the USSR and Germany have been tested in practice in connection with events in former Poland, and their strength has been sufficiently proved."

The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany continued to collaborate and assist each other in a bilateral pact through the summer of 1941.  In October - November 1940 they held talks and negotiated terms and spheres of influence to have the Soviet Union join the Axis powers in a four power pact. This would have meant that Germany, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union would all work together to overthrow Western Democracies and divide up the world.  However, their inability to reach on accommodation on the division of Europe led to a deterioration of relations in 1941, and Hitler's invasion of Russia in Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941 ended their alliance. 

Talks on dividing up the world between Nazi and Soviet spheres held in 1940

This was not the first time Nazis and Communists would collaborate nor would it be the last.  This history calls for a deeper reflection on the two ideologies and their commonalities, which are found in the "culture of death" they both embraced.

World War II escalated the culture of death to levels not seen before in human history and culminated in the creation of atomic bombs that threaten continued human existence, and the depravity of the Holocaust. It also ended with the Soviet Union occupying half of Europe and imposing communist regimes on captive nations.

Thankfully the liberation of Central and Eastern Europe from communist control was finally achieved relatively non-violently between 1989 and 1991. Democrats were nonviolent while communists killed opposition members and created martyrs.

Over the next few weeks many in the world will be celebrating this triumph of the culture of life over the culture of death that took place between 1989 and culminated on Christmas day in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The Velvet Revolution in Prague on November 17, 1989

 What was achieved 30 years ago in Czechoslovakia on November 17, 1989 that makes it a day of celebration around the world? It was a rejection of totalitarianism and the system of lies and hatred on which the regime thrived. It was a rebirth of freedom and of normal human relationships.  In Vaclav Havel's address to the European Parliament on November 11, 2009 he outlined the daunting challenges faced after the collapse of the communist regime:

A democratic political culture cannot be created or renewed overnight. It takes a lot of time and in the meantime there are plenty of unanticipated problems to be solved. Communism ruled just once in modern times (and, hopefully, for the last time), so the phenomenon of post-Communism was also a novelty. We had to confront the consequences of the rule of fear that lasted for so many years, as well as all the dangers related to a redistribution of property without precedent in history. So there were and are lots of obstacles and we are only now acquiring experience of such a state of affairs.

In Poland on the same day, people applauded in Warsaw as a 49 foot statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of Cheka, the first Soviet's secret police that would eventually be replaced by the KGB, was taken down. It had been in downtown Warsaw since 1945. Poland had elected its first non-communist government since WW2 in September of 1989.

Despite the claims of Francis Fukuyama that history had ended and democracy had won the reality is that resistance to these evil ideologies and other variants that arise must continue. The German city of Dresden declared a "Nazi emergency" on November 1, 2019 citing a resurgence of the toxic ideology. 

Communism did not disappear with the Soviet Union. In 1990 following a request made by Fidel Castro to Brazilian leader Lula Da Silva the Sao Paulo Forum (FSP) was established with the goal “to reconquer in Latin America all that we lost in East Europe.” The FSP is a communist network comprised of over 100 left wing political parties, various social movements, and guerrilla terrorist organizations such as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the Chilean Movimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR).

Both Communist and Nazi networks continue to operate worldwide, but the communists can still rely on state actors such as Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and Mainland China for additional support to the existing networks.  During the Cold War, the Soviets provided support to the Neo-Nazis in West Germany in an effort to disrupt the democracy there.

What began as a strike on rising prices at the metro turned violent

Communists in Chile channeled discontent over a fare increase in the Metro there into a coordinated series of violent protests that destroyed in short order 80 of the 136 metro stations had been damaged with eleven completely destroyed. This began with a protest of the fare increase that led to jumping the turnstiles and escalated to coordinated acts of destruction and violence that has caused over 300 million dollars in damage and over twenty dead in riots and looting.

80 of 136 metro stations have been damaged in Chile with a cost of $300 million

We are now witnessing an attempt in New York City to repeat this "revolutionary" moment. Teen Vogue has published an article favoring the violence in Chile as a challenge to inequality while ignoring that poverty has been steadily declining in the South American nation over the past thirty years, and inequality has also been declining over the past ten. The objective is to destroy a successful economic model that has lifted many out of poverty and with proper reforms could achieve even more.

The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States on October 15, 2019 sounded the warning:

The strategy of destabilization of democracy through the financing of political and social movements has distorted political dynamics in the Americas. For years, the Venezuelan dictatorship, with the support of the Cuban dictatorship, institutionalized sophisticated co-optation, repression, destabilization and media propaganda structures in the region. For example, the financing of the Venezuelan dictatorship to political campaigns has been one of the effective ways to increase capacities to generate conflict. The crisis in Ecuador is an expression of the distortions that the Venezuelan and Cuban dictatorships have installed in the political systems of the hemisphere. However, what recent events have also shown is that the intentional and systematic strategy of the two dictatorships to destabilize democracies is no longer as effective as in the past.

This warning should not just be heeded by Latin American policy makers but also by their counterparts in the United States.  The refrain, "that it cannot happen here," is one that I have heard over the years from Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Bolivians, and Mexicans. It is a foolish sentiment. It can happen anywhere. Complacency and lack of vigilance are the greatest threats to liberty. British statesman Edmund Burke understood that "when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

Metro cars destroyed in Chile

We witnessed in 1989 what can be achieved when the good associate to resist evil, and what happened in 1939 when the good sought to appease evil and the terrible price paid afterwards to contain and defeat it.

Now is the time to defend the culture of life that is found in the defense of human dignity and rights. While opposing those who seek to subjugate and destroy free nations and peoples.

Venezuela is a militarized narco-dictatorship and will not be negotiated out of power

"Dictator's will not negotiate themselves out of power." - Gene Sharp, strategic nonviolence expert on BBC program HardTalk in 2015
 

 #MaduroIllegitimate #MaduroDictator #MaduroUsurper

Venezuela is a militarized narco-dictatorship that will not be negotiated out of power, Venezuelans are suffering greatly under the Maduro regime and it is part of a larger threat to democracy in the region. Chavista defectors such as Supreme Court Justice Christian Zerpa continue to confirmed this.

Consider the following:


On June 13, 2019 the opposition leader  Juan Guaidó was taken by Maduro's secret police while on his way to an opposition rally. Former OAS Ambassador for the United States, Roger Noriega sent out the following tweet.

Thugs who made this arrest are ALL #CUBANS, accompanied by Venezuelan head of secret police, Gen de División Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera. They took him to the HQ of Cuban intelligence in Caracas. They issued threats and released him. #Cuba is running #Venezuela. https://t.co/CBPVS9ojfb

— Roger Noriega (@rogernoriegaUSA) January 13, 2019

NPR on January 10, 2019 reported of the suffering of Venezuelans: "Hyperinflation, widespread hunger and deaths from preventable diseases in formerly oil-rich Venezuela have sparked an exodus of more than 3 million people, from a nation with a population of just over 30 million."

Reuters reported on January 9, 2019 that "Venezuelan security forces have detained and tortured dozens of military personnel accused of plotting against the government, and in some cases their family members," made public in a study by New York-based Human Rights Watch and Venezuela’s Penal Forum, which also says forces tortured civilians. Reuters found that in "32 cases in which accused plotters detained by the intelligence service Sebin and military intelligence group DGCIM were subjected to beatings, asphyxiation and electric shocks to obtain details of alleged plots.When authorities could not find the accused, they in some cases detained and abused family members to determine their whereabouts, the report says."

What we've gone through suggests that 2018 hasn't been just another year. Crisis in #Venezuela far from resolving itself is becoming more difficult, pressing & distressing, but know I'll continue by your side & we won't give up. Open letter to Venezuelans #OEAconVzla pic.twitter.com/wk45jxF8mI

— OAS (@OAS_official) December 29, 2018

Two nephews of Venezuela’s first lady were sentenced to 18 years in prison on [December 14, 2017] following their convictions in New York on U.S. drug trafficking charges." The New York State attorney reported on the conviction over twitter. The two men were arrested in Haiti in 2015 and were found guilty in December 2017 of trying "to smuggle 1,700 pounds (800kg) of cocaine into the United States." Jackson Diehl in The Washington Post reported on the Venezuela, FARC, Cuba trafficking axis on May 24, 2015 in the article "A drug cartel’s power in Venezuela":

Ever since Colombian commandos captured the laptop of a leader of the FARC organization eight years ago, it’s been known that Chávez gave the Colombian narcoguerrillas sanctuary and allowed them to traffic cocaine from Venezuela to the United States with the help of the Venezuelan army. But not until a former Chávez bodyguard [ Leamsy Salazar] defected to the United States in January did the scale of what is called the “Cartel of the Suns ” start to become publicly known. Spain’s ABC newspaper published a detailed account" ... [and] ABC reporter Emili Blasco followed up with a book [that says] ... Cuba’s communist regime and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah have been cut in on the trafficking. 

In Venezuela, the Maduro regime calls those who oppose the regime: worms, and fascists. In the past sectors of the political opposition in Venezuela sat down to dialogue with a government whose leadership rejects the legitimacy of the opposition but used the process for tactical purposes to slow the imposition of international sanctions while they continue to engage in systematic human rights violations.  In Venezuela the purpose of the Constituent Assembly that was brought into existence on July 30, 2017 with escalating repression, including government snipers shooting unarmed demonstrators in the head, and tampering with voting machines in a massive fraud is to make the opposition illegal. This turned Venezuela into a second Cuba.

On May 18, 2017 The Miami Herald reported that it had a secret recording of a Venezuelan general advocating for the use of snipers against street demonstrators. Beginning in February of 2014 the phenomenon of young Venezuelans being shot in the head while peacefully protesting was first widely documented and has continued over the years. 

Snipers in Venezuela targeting government opponents.

The role of the Castro regime in Venezuela is under reported in The New York Times, and other mains stream media outlets. The Cuban dictatorship beginning in 1959 had strategic designs on taking over Venezuela to exploit its natural resources in order to magnify its regional impact. Nevertheless the United States Southern Command military in 2018 recognized this relationship:

"Cuba’s negative influence in Venezuela—notably through its intelligence service and Armed Forces, which play key advisory roles shaping Venezuelan domestic policy —is evident in the Maduro regime’s increasingly authoritarian tactics and human rights abuses. This relationship is symbiotic, as Cuba receives oil and financial support in exchange for keeping the Maduro regime afloat." ... " The continued assault on democratic institutions provides increased space for illicit actors to operate with impunity, and for Russia, China, and Cuba to expand their influence over the corrupt Maduro regime."

Venezuela has been a full blown dictatorship since the Maduro regime on October 20, 2016 illegally suspended a recall referendum because the dictatorship knew that it could not obtain a favorable result. 

Declaration by @FedericaMog on behalf of the EU on the new mandate of President Maduro:

➡️ The EU deeply regrets that President Maduro is today starting a new mandate on the basis of non-democratic elections.

Full text: https://t.co/mdwHaXtG82#Venezuela

— EU Council Press (@EUCouncilPress) January 10, 2019

The International community is now aware of the threat of Venezuela to democracy in the region and the Maduro regime has lost all legitimacy. The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States resolved among other things "to not recognize the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro’s new term as of the 10th of January of 2019," and "to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners. The European Union has called for new elections and does not recognize the May 2018 elections as legitimate."

With 19 votes in favor, 6 against, 8 abstentions and 1 absent, Permanent Council of the #OAS agrees “to not recognize the legitimacy of @NicolasMaduro’s new term” as of January 10, 2019 #OEAconVzla #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/TvngkdiaIC

— OAS (@OAS_official) January 10, 2019

However it is still too narrow a focus. Bolivian attorney and former government minister, Carlos Sánchez Berzaín in an important January 9, 2019 article, "Democracy is not regained without clearly identifying it's enemy" identifies four countries (Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia) that are "under a common group of dictatorships" and that they are "integrated into a group controlled by Cuba." Sánchez Berzaín understands that "to regain democracy, it is vital to clearly identify its enemy that is not just a single one local dictator"  but a “transnational organized group.”

Worse yet, the new government of Mexico is led by a Castro regime ally and has broken away from the Lima Group and recognized the Maduro regime. This development should not just concern Venezuelans, but also Mexicans, and democrats the world over. The democratically elected government of Mexico, like Venezuela's 20 years ago, needs to be watched closely and democratic institutions defended.

No dictatorship has ever negotiated itself out of power, and the Maduro regime is no different. They have used and will continue to use dialogue as a tactic to delay and distract the opposition. However, nonviolent strategy remains the best option for restoring democracy in Venezuela. "Violent flanks" and the use of the so-called "diversity of tactics" reduces mobilization and decreases the probability of success for a resistance movement. Strategic thinker Gene Sharper put it succinctly when he said: "using violence is a stupid decision." Violent resistance is not a short cut to ending the regime but prolonging its time and power while undermining the international legitimacy of the opposition.

Night Comes to Venezuela: Electoral Farce in Venezuela

"Support Venezuelan democratic institutions that must today work in exile. - Luis Almagro, General Secretariat of the OAS

My message on the elections held yesterday in #Venezuela #OEAconVenezuela #OEAwithVenezuela https://t.co/idjeYNlxHd pic.twitter.com/EymRFvARMs

— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) October 16, 2017  

Message from the Secretary General on Venezuela

October 16, 2017

Yesterday gubernatorial elections were held in Venezuela. We are not going to comment on the irregularities in the process, given that they repeat the same variables of illegality, uncertainty and fraud that we have been denouncing since our first communication to the president of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena, in November 2015. We reiterate these same complaints regarding the election process for the National Constituent Assembly or the annulment of the recall referendum.

Today we would have liked to greet the winners and welcome the completion of a civic celebration. However, we have to express skepticism and denounce the lack of guarantees that take place over and over in elections held by dictatorships.

The General Secretariat of the OAS rejects all of these illegitimate acts carried out by illegitimate governments, and condemns in particular, once more, the abuses of the civil and political rights of the Venezuelan people by the regime.

The results of an election in a country with no guarantees for the effective exercise of democracy cannot be recognized. It is clear that any political force that agrees to go to an election without guarantees becomes an essential tool of the eventual fraud, and shows that it has no democratic reflexes to protect the rights of the people, in this case, the right to the vote.

This type of act is not new: it first happened when the recall referendum was annulled and it was repeated when the results of the July 16 consultation were not respected.

This is an important lesson for everyone, for the political leadership of Venezuela and for the international community.

These are the only kind of results we can expect – fraud and human rights violations – if the political strategy and acts distance themselves from democratic principles and values in favor of easy and circumstantial agreements.

No election in Venezuela will provide guarantees to voters unless it is carried out with qualified electoral observation – in particular by this Organization – that ensures a transparent and legal process.

In order to generate a democratic reconstruction in the country, the opposition political leadership must unite with the people and those few leaders who, in accordance with their principles, understood at all times that the citizens of Venezuela want freedoms and are not willing to follow the rules of the dictatorship.

We consider that it is no longer the time for resolutions or declarations, although we appreciate that the last ones made have been conclusive and reflect more accurately the agenda we proposed on May 30, 2015: general elections, freedom for all political prisoners, the separation of powers and respect for institutions, and the opening of a humanitarian channel.

The General Secretariat of the OAS, for its part, will continue along the lines of action that have been announced:

a) Continue the processes underway to determine the evidence for crimes against humanity by the authorities of the regime in Venezuela;
b) Promote and legitimize the application of sanctions against the Venezuelan regime; and
c) Support Venezuelan democratic institutions that must today work in exile.

Reference: S-031/17

Venezuela: Protests continue as Maduro's forces kill more students

"Years selling us the idea that all the weapons of war they bought was to fight the gringos, it turned out to be that it was to kill ourselves," Juan Pablo Pernalete, student age 20, murdered by Maduro's political police

Juan Pablo Pernalete, age 20 murdered by Maduro's political police

The situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate as the Maduro regime announces that it will leave the Organization of American States to avoid having its anti-democratic behavior called into question as it's repressive forces kill more students.

Marching in memory of Juan Pablo Pernalete and other fallen students

Juan Pablo Pernalete, a 20 year old college student majoring in economics, was shot and killed by Maduro's Bolivarian National Police on April 26, 2017 and a day later thousands took to the street to honor his memory. Juan Pablo was a youtube sensation who had a presence on twitter with a photo of his girlfriend, Fabiana Marchesini, who now mourns for him.

Juan Pablo Pernalete with his girlfriend Fabiana Marchesini

The killings are meant to terrorize and break the spirit of the young protesters. Maduro and his Cuban handlers have apparently misjudged the situation and a child of a prominent regime official has taken to the streets and to social media to call out his dad to do the right thing and denounce the violence.

The narrative of the Castro and Maduro regimes in Latin America that all the evils of the world are due to the United States is breaking down before the cruel reality both are inflicting on Venezuela's youth in the name of 21st century socialism.

The nonviolent struggle by the student movement in Venezuela is shaking the pillars of power of the Maduro regime now is the time to step it up not abandon it.  Maduro and his Cuban masters know how to deal with violence, but are at a disadvantage confronting a nonviolent opposition.  
 

Obama - Kerry Foreign Policy Legacy: Chickens coming home to roost in Venezuela

The downward spiral continues in Venezuela

Dictator Maduro with his puppet court in Venezuela

  Venezuela has been a dictatorship for sometime under the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan judiciary has not been an independent body for years meaning that the rule of law has long been absent.

Therefore the decision of the Venezuelan Supreme Court to strip the powers of the Venezuelan National Assembly and repeal the immunity of its members while further expanding the powers of the executive should come as no surprise. Venezuelan democrats have been under fire for years. Many, like Leopoldo Lopez, have been unjustly imprisoned.

 Nor is the continuing downward spiral into greater misery for Venezuelans a surprise because it is the natural outcome of "21st Century Socialism" which bears a striking resemblance to 20th Century Communism.

Dictator Nicolas Maduro and Secretary of State John Kerry

We are witnessing in the tragic developments in Venezuela the fruits of Secretary of State John Kerry's diplomatic strategy in that South American country.  It was Secretary Kerry who said on August 20, 2015 that "the United States and Cuba are talking about ways to solve the Venezuelan crisis." This implied that the U.S. was on board with Maduro continuing in power in Venezuela while trying to find ways to stabilize the country.

Embracing Chavez in 2009 and Castro in 2014 did not help Demoracy in Venezuela

President Obama early on in his presidency began his outreach to the Venezuelan regime of Hugo Chavez and the Cuban regime of the Castro brothers.

Hopefully this approach will change with the new administration in the White House and there is reason for hope as democracies in the Americas have finally spoken up to express their alarm with the course of action take by the Maduro regime. Let us pray that this will not be another case of too little, too late.

Venezuela: “The recall referendum belongs to the people, as does the freedom to demand it”, says OAS Secretary General

  September 23, 2016

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, today said the National Electoral Council (CNE, for its initials in Spanish) of Venezuela is “obstructing a constitutional right and acting with a clear political bias” in announcing the rules and the timetable that will govern the process for the recall referendum sought by the opposition, and demanded that the referendum be held in 2016.

“The recall referendum belongs to the people, and it is up to the CNE to ensure the guarantees for the free expression of the people, instead of curtailing and trying to annul their rights,” stressed the Secretary General.

Luis Almagro said the dates announced by the CNE are “one more maneuver to delay the process and to impede the holding of the recall referendum this year. Constitutional deadlines cannot continue to be violated, the will of the voters cannot continue to be manipulated, it is completely unacceptable that there are attempts to cut civil and political rights through biased interpretations by the CNE.”

For the OAS leader, moreover, the CNE “arbitrarily and with demonstrated intention changed the rules of the game” by determining that the collection of 20 percent of the signatures needed to convene the referendum must be done at the state level, rather than at the national level: "Electoral bodies do not exist to undermine democracy and act in the interests of the current government; their nature and obligation is to serve as vehicles for the strengthening of the will of the people,” he reaffirmed.

In effect, during the recall referendum against the former President Chávez in 2004, under the same law, the collection of 20 percent of the signatures was carried out at the national level, which makes complete sense, given that the office in question is the President of the Republic, a national office.

“The President of the CNE Tibisay Lucena and its rectors Sandra Oblitas, Socorro Elizabeth Hernández and Tania D´Amelio are showing a high level of undue technical incompetence regarding the responsibilities they must meet. Their role is to ensure that 100 percent of the Venezuelan electoral registry is able to sign, if they desire to do so, not to certify the elimination of the rights of the people,” added Almagro.

“It is urgent that the required number of machines in all districts are present in order to meet the needs of the more than 19 million Venezuelan voters and carry out a fair and proper distribution of districts that does not blatantly favor the position of the government. This decision is unconstitutional, violates the very spirit of the recall referendum and aims to sweep away the last glimmer of democratic hope for Venezuela,” he explained.

The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) reiterates the urgent call for respect for democratic institutions and rights, while recalling once more what is established in Article 1 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter: “The peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it.” "The right is that of the peoples and the obligation to ensure that right is that of the government," said Almagro.

There is an urgent need today for international observation to avoid further violations of that right.

Reference: E-099/16

Regional human rights group expresses concern over Nicaragua's turn to dictatorship

Democracy's downward spiral continues in Latin America

IACHR Expresses Concern over Removal of Opposition Legislators in Nicaragua

August 8, 2016

Washington, D.C. — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expresses its concern regarding the removal from office of opposition legislators in Nicaragua, and urges the State to adopt any measures that may be necessary to ensure the free exercise of political rights in the country.

According to the information received, on July 28, 2016, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) decided to unseat all legislators who did not accept Pedro Reyes as leader of the Partido Liberal Independiente (PLI).

On July 30, the Executive Board of the National Assembly acted on the CSE decision to unseat the 16 regular deputies and 12 alternates who belonged to that political party, on grounds that they had refused to recognize Judgment 299 of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, which removed Eduardo Montealegre as the PLI’s legal representative and replaced him with Pedro Reyes. With this decision, individuals elected by popular vote to hold office as deputies of the National Assembly were replaced by means of a judicial decision issued in the political context of an election year. General elections in Nicaragua are scheduled for November 6 of this year.

The right to vote means that citizens can decide for themselves and freely elect, under conditions of equality, those who will represent them in decision-making on public affairs, and political participation through the exercise of the right to be elected implies that citizens can run as candidates under conditions of equality and that they can hold elective public office if they win the required number of votes.

The inter-American human rights system, through decisions of the Inter-American Commission and Court, has established that citizens have the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs through freely chosen representatives. The right to vote is one of the essential elements for the existence of democracy and one of the ways citizens exercise their right to political participation.

As the Inter-American Commission and Court have indicated, the American Convention on Human Rights establishes that the full scope of political rights may not be restricted in such a way that their regulation or the decisions adopted in application of this regulation prevent people from participating effectively in the governance of the State or cause this participation to become illusory, depriving such rights of their essential content. Instituting and applying requirements for exercising political rights is not, per se, an undue restriction of political rights, as these rights are not absolute and may be subject to limitations. However, in a democratic society the regulation of these rights should respect the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality.

Based on the foregoing, if the decision to remove the legislators from office means that authorities elected by the mandate of the vote cannot serve out the terms for which they were elected, this decision could constitute an undue restriction on the exercise of political rights. In this regard, the Commission urges the State to create the appropriate conditions and mechanisms so that political rights can be exercised effectively, respecting the principle of equality and non-discrimination. The IACHR also recommends that the State adopt the measures necessary to guarantee due respect for the powers of political adversaries who have been elected and invested with the people’s mandate.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 111/16

 

International organizations concerned about legislative elections on December 6th in Venezuela

Venezuela stopped being a democracy a while ago. What you have now is a dictatorship that long ago undermined the rule of law, imprisons popular opposition leaders, murders student activists, hides billions in foreign Swiss bank accounts and rigs contested elections to give the appearance of a democracy. Maduro and his regime are threatening voters and may not recognize a loss at the polls. This is why the international community has taken such an interest in today's election to the National Assembly.

ODCA parliamentary delegation for Venezuela's legislative elections

 The President of the Christian Democratic Organization of America (ODCA), Jorge Ocejo led a delegation of fifty parliamentarians to attend the transcendental legislative elections in Venezuela this Sunday.  The Mexican political leader, Jorge Ocejo, confirmed that a large delegation of International Christian Democrats arrived on Friday to Caracas to integrate an election observation mission for the parliamentary elections scheduled for today, Sunday, December 6th.  Ocejo said the ODCA delegation is composed of more than 50 parliamentarians and political leaders from 16 countries in Latin America, who were invited by the Campaign Command of "United Venezuela"  of the Table of Democratic Unity (MUD). In Sunday's election more than 19 million Venezuelans are eligible to vote and elect 167 deputies to the National Assembly to hold office for a period of 5 years, from 2016 to 2021. According to most polls, the democratic opposition  for the first time in 17 years will defeat the ruling party for the first time since the electoral triumph of Hugo Chavez in the election of December 6, 1998.  Presentación de la Misión Electoral en Venezuela

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro: "24 hours before the legislative elections in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we call on all Venezuelans to ensure that Sunday is a civic celebration and that the sovereign - the people - can exercise their right to vote in peace. We also hope that December 7 is a day of unity, peace, and calm following the electoral results. All the peoples of our Americas and the world are watching attentively what happens in Venezuela. In this context, we respectfully ask all sectors of Venezuelan society, following the electoral result, to find mechanisms to begin a dialogue and a great national reconciliation." Reference: E-349/15

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: "I remain very concerned at the deteriorating human rights situation in Venezuela, particularly the government’s harsh responses to criticism and to peaceful expressions of dissent. The use of lethal force against demonstrators is deeply disturbing. We have also received repeated reports of intimidation and public smear campaigns, including by high-ranking government officials, of human rights defenders. I am particularly concerned at the continued detention of opposition leaders and demonstrators, often for prolonged periods."  Opening Statement, Item 2, High Commissioner's Annual Report

The International Young Democrat Union declared: Constant violations to human rights and individual freedoms in Venezuela and Ecuador must end – immediately; Support for political leaders who resist human rights violations, fight against the abridgment of individual freedoms, and defend freedom of peaceful assembly and protest of those in opposition to an oppressive regime; International organizations be cognizant of the plight of those oppressed, create missions to stop human rights violators. The IYDU demands with specificity: Freedom for all political prisoners in Venezuela and Cuba; International groups send observers to Venezuela leading up to the December 2015 parliamentary elections to ensure the democratic process is upheld so that free and fair elections exists; Member parties act to the best of their abilities to influence the governments of their respective countries to protest the violations against freedom of expression in Latin America and the Caribbean. In conclusion, the IYDU remains steadfastly committed to free people, the rule of law, liberal democracy, and the right of self determination believing that without freedom of speech or freedom of assembly none of those pillars of democracy can flourish. IYDU Demands an End to Human Rights Violations in South America

Venezuelan democrats are not alone and are being accompanied by international democratic movements on the ground as observers in Venezuela and via social media across the internet. Whatever happens today will be documented and reported far and wide.

International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims

"Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty." -Archbishop Oscar Romero

 IACHR Urges Countries in the Americas to Respect and Guarantee the Right to Truth

Washington, D.C. - On the occasion of the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, March 24th, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) calls on the States of the Americas to respect and guarantee the right to the truth concerning grave human rights violations.

“The region’s democracies have inherited the responsibility of investigating human rights violations that occurred in times of dictatorships and authoritarian governments, and to punish those responsible,” said IACHR President Rose-Marie Antoine. “The path to truth and justice for these types of crimes of the past has been extremely long and difficult, but it is an outstanding obligation and a responsibility the States cannot avoid. It is impossible to build a democratic future without first shedding light on the grave violations of the past and achieving justice and reparation,” she added.

Investigations to identify and punish those responsible for the region’s serious human violations of the past have been seriously flawed. For example, some States continue to apply the military criminal justice system, and there are still amnesty laws in effect, known by different names, which ensure that these crimes remain unpunished. In many cases, there are major obstacles or it is even impossible to gain access to information about what transpired. In some countries, the concealment of extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, acts of torture, and sexual violence, along with other serious human rights violations, was a deliberate State policy and even a tactic of war. There has been important and significant progress in many areas and across different countries. However, gaining access to the full record of what transpired continues to be a major challenge.

The right to truth has two dimensions. The first is that victims and their family members have the right to know the truth and the identity of those who played a role in the violations, which means that States must investigate the facts, prosecute and punish those responsible, and guarantee access to the information available in State facilities and files. Secondly, society as a whole has the right to know the truth about past events, as well as the motives and circumstances in which the crimes were committed, in order to prevent recurrence of such acts in the future.

Consequently, the right to the truth should be a priority on States’ agendas. This means carrying out reforms or adopting legislative, judicial, and practical measures that recognize the rights of victims and their family members to know the truth about what happened, as well as ensuring access to information available in State facilities and files concerning serious human rights violations.

“States should declassify all documents that could be of use in judicial investigations, and in the case of serious human rights violations in a transnational or regional context, States should cooperate in turning over official information to other States seeking to investigate, prosecute, and punish such violations,” the IACHR President said.

In November of last year, the IACHR published the report “The Right to Truth in the Americas,” which provides tools for States that seek to guarantee the right to truth. The report identifies positive contributions in close to ten countries made by victims, family members, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations to document, verify, and spread the truth about human rights violations.

Such efforts include establishing unofficial truth commissions, conducting investigations, preparing studies and reports, and implementing initiatives to bring pressure to bear for these violations to be recognized by society and the public.

“This report provides a useful guide for the States by compiling the case law of the inter-American system on what their obligations are with regard to justice and reparation for victims of grave human rights violations and society as a whole, in order to guarantee the right to the truth,” the IACHR President said.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

CELAC 2014: Human rights violations in Cuba and silent friends

“Ver un crimen en silencio, es cometerlo” - José Martí

 "In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

These are sad days for democracy and human rights around the world. Two representatives of international organizations charged with defending human rights and democracy are not only remaining silent before wholesale human rights violations but in the case of the United Nations placing some of the enemies of human rights and democracy in charge of a fund supposedly dedicated to promote democracy. 

 As world leaders gather in Havana, Cuba the state security apparatus across the island has rounded up dozens of activists, laid siege to the homes of many more. Over the past four years activists have died on hunger strikes, others have been beaten to death, and two prominent opposition leaders died under suspicious circumstances that point to state security.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, expected to be visiting Cuba to attend the meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the regional grouping created by Hugo Chavez, the late authoritarian president of Venezuela, with the aim of doing away with the OAS that is currently led by Cuban dictator Raul Castro had this to say about meeting Cuban democrats and human rights defenders:

"I don't want to provoke any problem or situation that can be uncomfortable for anyone, for I don't think it corresponds to me. When one travels as an observer to a meeting, one does not do it to seek protagonism."

Last week the world observed the legacy of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. who was born on January 15, 1929 but all too often this remembrance is superficial. Secretary Insulza in his above statement is providing the anti-thesis of what Reverend King advocated. The late civil rights leader spoke of the need to create uncomfortable situations to expose injustice that he described as creative tension:

“Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue…I must confess that I am not afraid of the word, tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive tension that is necessary for growth… the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.”

The statement made by Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations raises concerns:

Remarks by the UN Secretary General upon arriving in Havana, Cuba

Despite the regime in Cuba:  violating United Nations sanctions smuggling weapons to North Korea hidden under bags of sugar through the Panama Canal where they were intercepted; systematically violating human rights in Cuba and working to undermine human rights internationally; and a petition to the United Nations to investigate the murders of Cuban democrats, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante the Secretary General has decided to visit Cuba to discuss peace, security, sustainable development, and human rights with the dictatorship that has ruled Cuba with an iron fist for 55 years. During these years the Castro regime has murdered thousands of Cubans and imprisoned tens of thousands more for their political and religious beliefs.

The United Nations (UN) claims democracy as a core value, and both the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) require states to be democracies to be members. Nevertheless, the OAS has welcomed the dictatorship of Cuba back into the fold and currently the Cuban dictatorship is heading CELAC.

George Orwell would have had a field day. Meanwhile Cubans continue to suffer systematic human rights violations and those who should be their friends remain silent while breaking bread with their oppressors.