[Peace-discuss] Letter to John Kerry objecting to his recent policy statement on Venezuela.

[Phil Stinard]

I just came across John Kerry's statement on Venezuela posted on his website 
at :

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0319d.html

I sent the following reply to his website (info at johnkerry.com):



Dear Sirs,

I am wiriting to protest John Kerry's March 19, 2004 statement on Venezuela. 
  I am including it at the bottom of the email so that you know to what I am 
referring.  First, let me state that Kerry has his facts about the Chavez 
government WRONG, and let me further note that Chavez is the democratically 
elected president of Venezuela, winning with around 60% of the vote in the 
last election, a margin that is not to be taken lightly, especially 
considering that Kerry is concerned about the democratically elected 
government of Haiti having been overthrown with U. S. assistance.  Now, 
apparently, Kerry is saying that he would do the same to Venezuela if he is 
elected president.  I find that HIGHLY offensive and hypocritical.

Kerry is apparently completely uninformed about the recall referendum being 
proposed in Venezuela.  It is not clear that it has received a sufficient 
number of signatures to go forward.  The signatures are in the process of 
being validated.  The elections committee of the supreme court is currently 
having a dispute with the constitutional committee to determine whether 
supposedly invalid signatures can count towards the total.  If Mr. Kerry 
remembers the last U. S. election, the results were determined by the U. S. 
Supreme Court, not by the U. S. people, so I think that he should be a 
little more humble and entertain the possibility that things in Venezuela 
are not quite as they seem to his uninformed mind.  Who is Mr. Kerry to 
determine what is and what is not democratic in another country?  Isn't this 
what he was objecting to with respect to U. S. policy in Haiti?

What is Mr. Kerry's evidence that Chavez is involved in narcoterrorism and 
supporting anti-government insurgents in Colombia?  If he knows something 
that the rest of the world doesn't know, he should tell us so we know too.

What is contributing to the destabilization of the "fragile democracy" in 
Venezuela is not Chavez's populist policies (Chavez is like Senator John 
Edwards in that respect), but interference from the U. S., which always 
seems to mess up every foreign affair it gets involved in, and interference 
from business interests who have a vested financial interest in seeing 
Chavez go so that the IMF and World Bank can get involved in dismantling and 
selling off Venezuela's lucrative petroleum industry, which, by the way, is 
currently funding Chavez's health programs for the poor.

Kerry is dead wrong about Venezuela, and that is a shame, because I am a 
lifelong loyal democrat, and I really want to see Bush defeated in the fall. 
  But, I will not sell my principles by voting for the lesser of two evils, 
especially since I'm beginning to realize that the lesser of two evils is 
more evil than I had thought, and I will NOT be voting for Senator Kerry, 
nor would I encourage anyone else to do so.  You have also lost the vote of 
my significant other, who is, as a latino, deeply offended by Kerry's desire 
to interfere in the internal affairs of yet another Latin American country.  
I am truly ashamed of you.

Sincerely,

Philip Stinard



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kerry Statement on Venezuela


March  19,  2004




With the future of the democratic process at a critical juncture in 
Venezuela, we should work to bring all possible international pressure to 
bear on President Chavez to allow the referendum to proceed. The 
Administration should demonstrate its true commitment to democracy in Latin 
America by showing determined leadership now, while a peaceful resolution 
can still be achieved.
Throughout his time in office, President Chavez has repeatedly undermined 
democratic institutions by using extra-legal means, including politically 
motivated incarcerations, to consolidate power.  In fact, his close 
relationship with Fidel Castro has raised serious questions about his 
commitment to leading a truly democratic government.
Moreover, President Chavez’s policies have been detrimental to our interests 
and those of his neighbors.  He has compromised efforts to eradicate drug 
cultivation by allowing Venezuela to become a haven for narco-terrorists, 
and sowed instability in the region by supporting anti-government insurgents 
in Colombia.
The referendum has given the people of Venezuela the opportunity to express 
their views on his presidency through constitutionally legitimate means.  
The international community cannot allow President Chavez to subvert this 
process, as he has attempted to do thus far.  He must be pressured to comply 
with the agreements he made with the OAS and the Carter Center to allow the 
referendum to proceed, respect the exercise of free expression, and release 
political prisoners.
Too often in the past, this Administration has sent mixed signals by 
supporting undemocratic processes in our own hemisphere -- including in 
Venezuela, where they acquiesced to a failed coup attempt against President 
Chavez.  Having just allowed the democratically elected leader to be cast 
aside in Haiti, they should make a strong statement now by leading the 
effort to preserve the fragile democracy in Venezuela.

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