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

[Morton K.Brussel]

Thanks for the information. I too have sent a letter to Kerry similar  
to yours. I hope many others follow your example, not only about  
Venezuela and Cuba, but more generally about his approach to  
international affairs and U.S. militarism. Perhaps if he gets enough  
flack, he will be more inclined to reconsider his positions.

MKB


On Mar 22, 2004, at 8:52 PM, Phil Stinard wrote:

> 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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