November 21, 2007   The Editors of ECrisis commend and thank the MIAMI HERALD today for providing actual "constitutional texts" from Caracas and Cuba and for pressing us all in to doing what we all should be doing: actually reviewing side by side copies of the Chavez constitutional language with the Cuban "constitution."
 
Daniel in Venezuela is performing a great service with a new blog which notes, "Venezuela's Constitutional Reform
This blog was created by a group of bloggers to explain to the outside world why the Venezuelan constitutional reform is dangerous for Venezuelan democracy...This blog compiles the studies of the constitutional reform in Venezuela as it has been examined by a group of bloggers and their readers. It is a team effort...Each post title includes the Article number and the name of the author of the said article. The sequential index is on the right margin. Each post will include at the end the link to the original publication and any translation that might exist.
Read this terrific effort here. 
 
Chavez's so called election on his so called constitution is December 2, 2007. Ecuador's so called vote follows in less than three months. It is very important to fully analyze how your world is being affected by these behind the scenes acts. We have seen many of these Cuban-Chavez specifics before in the Rafael Correa manifesto for Ecuador's "new" constitution which is not new and is not a constitution but rather a manifesto for political control of a region to benefit a small cabal of self enrichment schemes under the banner of economic fascism for their few while claiming falsely that a new socialism "to help the poor" will be installed. Review the two constitutional texts here. You will see this same language again from Correa's constitutional mount at Montecristi even as you have seen this language from Correa's team already in varying formats.
 
There is no question that the authorship of the Venezuelan, Cuban, Bolivian and Ecuadorean "constitutions" radiates from one orb.

There is also no question that irresponsibly no one- no one at all in any of these four nations- took the mandatory step to apply common sense and reviewed constitutions from extant nations which are not failing, which do not serve as gulags to their own citizens and which actually provide for the common good. Instead, these countries- with no known Chavista leadership interest in comparative law and comparative constitutional standards, have foolishly adopted whole cloth the Cuban standards for self imprisonment. With no advice and consent and no interest in what works or what does not work, these ridiculous excuses for constitutions are blindly now being busily enshrined.
 
Understand that when the OAS tells you that these "new” constitutions reflect democracy in action, they are lying. Insulza has chosen to ignore the fact that the language for altering democracy into non democracy is upon us all. Chavez's paid "constitutional scholars" have been very busy and have installed the action plans. Ecuadoreans have said nothing and worse: done nothing as their lives stand today with no hope of reinsertion of any functional liberties.
 
To begin with, Ecuadoreans should have demanded and secured their obligatory right to review all constitutional language which benefits all Ecuadoreans instead of foolishly revering like cult followers the Chavez-Correa mandate before them. No one raised a question and no one uttered a word. Even Oswaldo Hurtado has been silenced by those who have sold out his commitments to democratic principles. We watched as one by one most all freedom lovers have sold out in Ecuador, whether it be by the most notorious application of the Chavez method of political persuasion: threats and extortion to cancel business and employment, sometimes seen in El Chiopo's abandonment of principles in favor of personal income producing capability to those such as Mr. Noboa who sold out his own nation while pretending that he and his wife will have some Correa-granted immunity for Correa's intended seizure/caducidad against Noboa's billions during the time that Noboa sits in Montecristi watching all that he should be defending....fall away while watching all liberties end under Correa.

These are the two most egregious sins of self serving reprehensible judgment that we can proclaim. We have heard all the excuses as to why one and all must abandon democracy and sell out to Correa-Chavez, ranging from "the U.S. embassy told me to do this" to overt and covert threats from Chavez-Correa's managers, minders and police with tax seizures, full seizures and all ends to due process. None of these threats are legitimate and should have been stopped and condemned. Of course that would require Ecuadoreans demanding their rights that all courts and all legislators actually NOT be kangaroos for Correa and Chavez. With the end of independent justice, there is no rule of law in Ecuador and no justice to protect the private citizen at all for the last year. Nothing of their highly vaulted manipulations has or will pay off. In the end, no one manipulates Chavez who only acts, as all addicts, and all manipulators do, with a `one way or the highway'/my way or else mentality. Rafael Correa is identical in this and of course has a bond in blood plan with Chavez to install the regional bloc of one government, under Chavez, where many nations stood before.
 
As to the Chavez so called constitutional plan, it will take a miracle to secure a legitimate vote in Caracas and harder yet to defeat the mind numbing graft already built in to the Chavez vote buying scheme. Notable in all this is the fact that Correa found his own citizens so easy to buy off and buy out that he did not have to succumb to the Chavez vote buying ploy of federal work force give aways of lots of salaries for no work. Shamefully, Ecuador already has a huge governmental labor union in play and they are happy with matters as they are....as long as no one looks at their books and no one questions their massively corrupt labor union endeavors.
 
All of these Chavez-Cuban constitutions need legitimate constitutional law review, comparing and contrasting law with nations that function and nations that deliver freedoms. Ridiculously, Ecuador only talks to or listens to the most reprehensible and irresponsible "advisors" in this and has foolishly failed itself by not demanding what is a standard in law: comparative analysis, relying on self serving dribble from badly educated NGOs of the most unacceptable training and political persuasions. Lawyers in Ecuador, often the first to move massive law suits in to the functional USA courts, have foolishly abandoned any review of the U.S. constitution or even the EU treaties which may become a constitution. The globe has many excellent constitutions in play. For starters, take the top 20 nations today and look at their legal skeleton. But with no backbone, Ecuadoreans instead look at the worst constitutions, rivaling Zimbabwe and Burma to enshrine Cuban self imprisonment, cheerfully lying all the way that paradise will soon be upon all.

The art of manipulation by Ecuadoreans has just run its course and has reached the end of its capacity: there is no way out under the harsh repressive Cuban model where free speech, free media, free thought is non existent and harshly punished. But Ecuadoreans are so addicted to manipulations today that they seriously pretend that they can manipulate their way out of totalitarianism and that Chavez's uber plan applies to everyone else...but them. We suggest a stroll though Cuban, Venezuelan and Ecuadorean prisons today. Visit with prisoners of conscience. Visit with humans living in hell with no daylight. This is what happens when rule of law is abandoned for the replacement theory to install non-rule of law...what do they call it? `helping the poor' and the `urgency of destroying the oligarchy'- surely two of the most ridiculous excuses for destroying democracy ever heard. There are no excuses and no manipulations for those beaten daily, starved daily, and suffering no rights at all in these prisons.  Selling out has helped nothing and only insures the swift, sure evil that descends.
 
Maybe after touring Castro and Chavez and Correa's prisons, you will think twice about all your excuses for refusing to stand on principle. Maybe you will stop self delusional, albeit lazy, excuses that those in prison could never be you and as such, who then cares? That is their bad luck. With not one effort to alleviate the overwhelming suffering of those wrongly imprisoned for merely having moral standards, we remind what is at stake here when good men and women simply do nothing: societal collapse and the unending unwelcome that Ecuadoreans now receive because of their own irresponsible behavior. Ecuadoreans are only welcome by the worst scum on earth today. No decent, law abiding groups welcome the dishonest and aberrant Ecuadoreans any more because there is nothing positive to welcome when principles are gone and morals abandoned for self serving ends.
 
The HERALD repeats texts of Chavez's key provisions to have and hold all powers in Venezuela here, here and here.  
 
Take a moment to actually read this: it is your future. Do not take our advice ever but stay well informed and make your own analysis and reach your own conclusions. Each should contact their local newspaper and ask them to reprint this helpful side by side of the Chavez and Cuban 'constitutions." Attendant should be the question as to why this information was not already shared. More to the point is to do the same side by side with Correa's so called "constitution."

And then follow up with the same question to every person who has told you that Ecuador is doing great and is an ally for freedom, a partner in progress, when nothing but crime, loss of jobs, loss of income and loss of freedom in before all now. It is your right to ask for better informed analysts and to insist that truth tellers....tell the truth and not sell out for so called political or short term monetary expediency, whatever that means to them for the moment.
 
The Chavez-Correa- Cuban constitutions do indeed and irrevocably hand the uber leaders, now merged with the Chavez-Castro Plan and even more reprehensibly with the Iranian banking systems for terrorists, full powers over all facets of what we call life. Chavez is marrying his banking foundation with Iran's "banking system" and if you think this is a good idea, you will be happy to know that Rafael Correa is doing the same thing. No one will be victimized by voting "yes" however foolishly to install these criminal regimes: they do so with eyes wide open as members of a self restricting suicide pact cult. It does not have to be this way. Human nature seeks freedom against the oppression of tyranny. 
 
 
Rowan in EL UNIVERSAL, read it here, on Chavez accurately says, “To the great misfortune of Venezuela, the vote of December 2 is a foregone conclusion no matter how people vote. If a majority votes against the referendum for a constitutional dictatorship as polls indicate they might, the votes will be counted secretly and Chavez will get the numbers he wants reported. Elections have not been transparent in Venezuela since before the 2004 Recall Referendum when Jimmy Carter certified in the middle of the night an election he did not observe and which was not independently audited and for which no recount was ever possible except by Chavez's military henchmen.

Nothing has changed since then. The voter roll is still opaque. The electronic voting machines are still a sham.

Having the government and not the voters count the votes still obliterates electoral transparency...And in terms of what Chavez does, none of it matters. He is going to do exactly what he wants in any case. Chavez is the last chapter in a sad story of national collapse. .. Any hope for a sustained economy will be gone. Any dream of a democracy will be dashed. And any reason for the young to stay in the country will have disappeared as well. “Ecuador’s Correa offers the identical dream-dashed desert. Insulza calls this democracy-free, non-democracy...democracy. We call this a lie and we continue to call its leaders...criminals.
 
An exemplary use of the power of truth telling was known to any who listened to the heroic Venezuela's Cardinal Castillo Lara who passed away on October 16, 2007. The Cardinal [read the analysis here] stated one year ago about Chavez, " “A government democratically elected seven years ago has lost its democratic way and shows signs of dictatorship, where all powers are in the hands of one person who exercises them in an arbitrary and despotic way, not for the purposes of bringing about the greater common good of the nation, but rather for a twisted and archaic political project: that of implanting in Venezuela a disastrous regime like the one Fidel Castro has imposed on Cuba, at the cost of so many human lives and the progress of his nation,” he said.

“If the Venezuelan people fail to grasp the seriousness of the situation and fail to categorically speak out in favor of democracy and freedom, we will find ourselves subjected to a Marxist-style dictatorship.” Further, the article details, "Earlier this month, a pro-government student leader said that Chavistas were waiting for the call to “take” Andres Bello Catholic University. On Friday, El Universal reported that the National Assembly directed its committees on Domestic Policy and Education to launch an investigation into Venezuela’s Catholic schools for supposedly fomenting rebellion against Chavez’s constitutional reformation.

But the Church would be falling down on the job if it didn’t be a strong, good shepherd in the face of the wolf.

The archbishops and bishops of Venezuela issued a statement on Oct. 19 entitled “Called to Live in Freedom,” taking such a stand against Chavez’s shameless initiative. “The proposed Reform excludes political and social sectors not in agreement with a Socialist State, restricts freedom and represents a retrocession in the progress of respect for human rights,” the bishops’ conference wrote. As “the proposed Reform violates the fundamental rights of the democratic system and of the person, threatening freedom and social harmony, it is morally unacceptable in the light of the Social Doctrine of the Church.” The Council of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences expressed solidarity with the document, as did Venezuela’s National Council of Lay Catholics.

“The alarm bells should not only be ringing in our neighboring countries, but Venezuelans must wake up to face the prospect of constitutional reform,” said Archbishop Roberto Luckert Leon." Will the church, as with so many institutions over the last several years and so many civic leaders and businesspersons, fall down on the job and not serve as a `good shepherd' in the face of the Chavez-wolf?  What do you think? Contrary to what we hear that is wrong, what happens in Venezuela does indeed directly impact half of Latin America, if not more, ripping the continent in half now. And if the church is part and parcel of its members, what do the members think about abandoning their god-given lives and surrendering to deceit, craft and corruption? And if you agree with Cardinal Castillo Lara's well informed and inspiring words, how will you honor this brave man of conviction?
 
-Pedro Camargo for ECrisis