Former Venezuelan general and one-time Chavez-backer, Raul Isaias Baduel, was sentenced by a military court to just under eight years in prison on Friday. The charges on which he was convicted: abuse of power, misappropriation of funds, and violation of the military code while an officer in the Venezuelan military. The evidence, according to Venezuelan state news: “testimony, payment receipts and bank documents” which allegedly showed relatives of the former defense minister “benefiting” from the diverted cash. Following the verdict, Baduel’s only words, says the LA Times, came via Twitter where he told family and friends, “God is with us and divine justice always present.”
The Wall Street Journal also has coverage of the conviction, saying it will prohibit Mr. Baduel from running for political office in the future as well. Baduel has been in prison since April 2009 on charges of illicit enrichment.
The news on the Baduel case comes along with a few other Venezuela stories this weekend, mostly related to the country’s economy. The Wall Street Journal has more on life after the currency devaluation announced four months ago by the Chavez government. “Venezuelans continue to see the value of their money evaporate under the weight of foreign-exchange controls,” is how the paper leads. The Journal also discusses the government’s plan new use of the military in investigating businesses suspected of hoarding or partaking in speculative activities. However, “not all has gone wrong for the government since the devaluation,” the paper does note. “The move has allowed Venezuela to avoid a cash crunch by getting more bolívars for every dollar of oil revenue it earns.” These extra dollars could, however, disappear if government spending rises ahead of September legislative elections.
The LA Times has a bit more on what it’s calling “Chavez fatigue,” particularly amongst the Venezuelan working class. And the DC-based Center for Democracy in the Americas also has a new report out after a recent congressional delegation trip it led to the country with staffers from three US House offices. The report looks at the economy, the opposition, the media, upcoming elections, and more.
To other stories:
· On the conflicts between workers and the government in Bolivia, the AP writes this morning that “little by little” calm is returning to greater La Paz – particularly the town of Caranavi which was the site of significant protests over a citrus processing plant. Two were killed in those particular protests; many more were injured. But over the weekend, President Evo Morales said dialogue with labor leaders from the country’s principal union, the COB was now beginning. Separately, the COB continues its indefinite strike over wage issues – the most significant worker mobilizations against the Morales government. For more, Infolatam has an interesting comparative look at demonstrations by sectors traditionally aligned with the governments of Ecuador and Bolivia.
· The US has said it will provide $130 million dollars to Central American nations ratcheting up their fight against regional organized crime. The figure represents a 30% increase in US funding of such programs and comes as the Central American Integration System (SICA) discusses the idea of a regional security initiative against organized crime – perhaps similar to the UN-backed CICIG in Guatemala, but on a regional level. A recent editorial in Guatemala’s El Periodico has a critical opinion of the idea, saying that “while the struggle against impunity is a common objective of Central American countries, each country has its own problems of impunity” which must be taken into account.
· The LA Times’ Tracy Wilkinson sits down with the head of the OAS/US-backed truth commission in Honduras, Eduardo Stein. Among the most interesting bits of information Stein shares, his belief that, beyond the “extremes” the commission will eventually find national support.
“On the far right they consider us a Trojan horse that will promote constitutional reform. Among the Zelayistas and the resistance, they see us as just an extension of the coup, only window-dressing. We are not worried about the extremes. We have found enough interest among groups who want to come forward. And we have to be surgically careful not to allow ourselves to be sucked into the political squabbles.”
And apparently there are still lingering issues about whether the events of late June should even be called a “coup” – at least among some sectors.
I went on record [shortly after the coup] saying that a forced expulsion of a popularly elected president, taken by military people and thrown out of the country, is a coup. ... Here, I have been reprimanded for taking sides. So now we are calling it an alteration of political institutionality, and we will examine whether there was a constitutional framework and if rights were respected.”
· At IPS, more on Honduras’s lobbying efforts to regain international recognition – now over 100 days and counting.
· Brazilian President Lula da Silva travels to Iran later this week for talks with Mahmoud Ahmaninejad. State spokesman, PJ Crowley, says the US is not fundamentally opposed to the meeting between the two heads of state but, DOS notes, that the US doesn’t see much productive coming out of the meeting. Meanwhile, El País’s Juan Luis Cebrían sits down with the Brazilian president and had a long, reflective piece in the paper over the weekend on their conversation. Perhaps the most interesting information relates to Lula’s vision of a UN with improved representativeness – and the rising role of the “developing world” in geopolitics. Also in El País, Moises Naím is more critical of Lula, breaking down the “good, bad, and ugly” of his presidency. The good: a growing middle class and other economic successes. The bad: corruption and an unwillingness to share credit for Brazil’s success with his predecessors. The ugly: what Naím believes are bad friendships with some other Latin American and world leaders.
· The New York Times’s Simon Romero has his own Mockus-mania piece out this weekend. Meanwhile, the latest poll from an Ipsos-Napoleon Franco in Colombia has Mockus defeating Santos in a potential second-round run-off, 48% to 41%.
· The Washington Post talks with Sec. of State Hillary Clinton’s Haiti point-woman, Cheryl Mills, about rebuilding efforts in the country. And the New York Times runs an editorial this morning calling on the international community to help with Haitian elections. “If fair elections can be held in Iraq, amid war, terrorism and ethnic feuds, they can be held in Haiti,” says the paper. “The last thing Haiti needs is to lay a political catastrophe atop the natural one. Haiti needs a legitimate government chosen in a legitimate election.” That after Haitian President Rene Preval hinted that he was considering extending his mandate.
· Finally, some opinions. In the latest issue of the New York Review of Books, I recommend a piece on Cuba by Daniel Wilkinson and Nik Steinberg of Human Rights Watch. Jaime Daremblum of the Hudson Institute says President Obama has “treated Latin America as an afterthought” and calls for some sort of “coherent agenda” to fend off Iranian, Russian, and Chinese influence. And Mary Anastasia O’Grady seeks to reframe the Arizona immigration debate. It’s organized crime, “spawned by US drug policy,” that is the “epidemic” most threatening security in Central America, Mexico and US border states, she says. “It’s tempting to couch the organized crime problem as an issue of sovereignty (i.e., Mexicans are invading!), but that ignores the role of the demand for drugs. The solution has to start with acknowledging that drug trafficking through Arizona—a key concern of citizens of that state—is the product of a complex set of federal policy failures.”
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