In light of the intimidation and harassment from several opposition figures in Venezuela, including Manuel Rosales, the newly elected mayor of Maracaibo, the Parliament expresses its “deep concern over the deterioration of the situation and the quality of democracy in Venezuela” that is under threat of collapse due to “the growing authoritarianism” of President Chávez.
The political situation in Venezuela has recently experienced an alarming slide toward authoritarianism, according to the resolution, marked by increased harassment, threats, intimidation, political persecution, and criminal actions directed at the opposition, students, elected officials, and journalists.
Call to End Political Persecution
The case of Manuel Rosales symbolizes these changes and the escalating political persecution in Venezuela. Rosales, former governor of Zulia state and democratically elected mayor of Maracaibo, has repeatedly and publicly faced threats of imprisonment from President Chávez.
As a result of this political persecution, he was granted political asylum in neighboring Peru, an act that led to the immediate withdrawal of the Venezuelan Ambassador to Peru. The charges against Rosales, regarding an alleged discrepancy in his tax returns while governor of Zulia, are clearly politically motivated, demonstrating the increasingly worrying trend of judicial power being controlled by the executive.
Members of the European Parliament express their solidarity with all those suffering political persecution in Venezuela, including Manuel Rosales and others mentioned in the resolution. The Parliament “strongly condemns the use of threats, violence, abuse of power, defamation, and the exploitation of the legal system as a political weapon designed to intimidate and eliminate opponents.”
Democracy involves respect for the rule of law and the right to political opposition.
The Parliament also notes that, under the conditions of the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the OAS, exercising power in a democracy requires “a legitimacy of exercise… founded on respect for established norms, the constitution, the laws, and the rule of law,” including respect for democratic political opposition.
In this sense, Members urge the President and authorities of Venezuela to respect the rule of law and constitutional legality, to show tolerance towards political opponents, to engage in political action through dialogue, and to fully comply with the international agreements ratified by Venezuela.
Below is the complete text of the resolution, adopted by 27 votes in favor, 1 against (one communist MEP from Portugal) with no abstentions:
The European Parliament,
– Having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Venezuela, particularly its resolutions of May 24, 2007, regarding the case of the television channel Radio Caracas in Venezuela
[1]
and of October 23, 2008, on political disqualifications in Venezuela
[2]
,
– Having regard to Article 115, paragraph 5, of its internal Rules of Procedure,
A. Given the tense political situation in Venezuela, a country that has recently undergone an alarming slide towards authoritarianism, reflected in harassment, threats, intimidation, and political and criminal persecution against the opposition and their democratically elected mayors and governors, student movements, and journalists, which imply changes in the rules of democracy, total lack of independence of the different branches of government, and minimal respect for the laws and the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
B. Considering the case of the former presidential candidate, former governor of Zulia state, and current democratically elected mayor of Maracaibo, Manuel Rosales, an opposition leader who President Chávez has repeatedly and publicly threatened with imprisonment, and against whom a judicial process was finally initiated based on a 2004 complaint regarding an alleged discrepancy in a tax return during his tenure as governor, a case that clearly appears to be politically motivated, without regard for due process and adequate judicial guarantees, and when the verdict has been pre-determined and is clearly politically motivated,
C. Considering that, as a result of this political persecution, Manuel Rosales has sought political asylum in the neighboring Republic of Peru, which has been granted by the Peruvian authorities in light of the political and humanitarian aspects of the case, prompting the immediate withdrawal of the Venezuelan ambassador in Peru,
D. Considering that these charges are clearly politically motivated and that the executive largely controls the judiciary and that the Venezuelan government is taking new measures that will further reduce the autonomy of the judiciary, making it difficult to expect a fair trial in Venezuela,
E. Considering that General Raúl Isaías Baduel, recently retired and former Minister of Defense under President Chávez, who has now joined the opposition, was arrested at gunpoint by military intelligence agents on April 2, 2009, and accused of allegedly embezzling funds from the armed forces during his tenure as Minister of Defense,
F. Considering that the opposition leader and mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, elected democratically on November 23, 2008, has been unable to assume his office because the Town Hall facilities in the Government Palace have been illegally occupied by bolivarian groups, with the Venezuelan Ministry of the Interior having made no effort to remove them; noting that President Chávez has recently enacted a law directly affecting the powers of the Mayor, appointing a superior chosen by the President of the Republic as the Head of Government of Caracas, thereby stripping the Mayor of virtually all powers, including the management of public finances, the formulation and execution of development plans, and supervision of institutions within the decentralized administration of the Capital District,
G. Considering that, in addition to being stripped of practically all of his powers, the Mayor of Caracas is subject to an aggressive campaign of harassment, threats, insults, and intimidation, orchestrated directly by the Presidency,
H. Considering that, during March 2009, on orders from the President of the Republic, numerous ports and airports were occupied by military forces, primarily in regions where the opposition is in power, as a result of a law restoring management responsibility of these facilities to the Venezuelan Government; the objective of this measure being the financial restriction and economic strangulation of political opponents; noting that, in accordance with Article 164(10) of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the administration of ports, airports, roads, and highways is the exclusive responsibility of state governments in cooperation with central authorities and in no case the exclusive responsibility of the latter,
I. Considering that, in an unprecedented political ruling delivered by the judge Marjori Calderón, wife of a top PSUV leader, police commissioners Iván Simonovis, Làzaro Forero, and Henry Vivas, along with eight metropolitan police officers, were sentenced without the slightest credible evidence to 30 years in prison, the maximum penalty under Venezuelan criminal law, after spending more than five years in preventive detention in police stations without natural light, following what was the longest trial in Venezuelan history, which was riddled with irregularities and where the most basic legal rights of the accused were flouted; noting that most of the 19 crimes committed on April 11, 2002, for which three of the accused have already been convicted without any evidence, remain unpunished, despite numerous testimonies, television footage, and documentary evidence demonstrating that identifiable bolivarian gunmen were clearly responsible,
J. Considering that on several occasions the President of the Republic has made offensive and insulting remarks against numerous foreign dignitaries and yet, when he himself is critiqued in his own country, has reacted by ordering the immediate expulsion of some foreigners who dared to criticize him, including the violent expulsion of an MEP from this Parliament,
K. Considering that in February 2009, President Chávez forced through a second referendum the approval of indefinite re-election for the president and all elected public offices, despite having lost the December 2007 referendum on constitutional reform that included the same proposal, thereby violating the Venezuelan Constitution, under which a reform proposal cannot be presented more than once during the same session of the Assembly,
L. Considering that the Venezuelan authorities found the presence of an official delegation from the European Parliament undesirable during its planned visit to the country in the first week of March 2009, following several unjustified postponements of the visit by Venezuelan authorities,
1. Expresses its deep concern over the deterioration of the situation and the quality of democracy in Venezuela, which is seriously threaten by the concentration of power and the growing authoritarianism of the President of the Republic;
2. Expresses its solidarity with all those suffering political persecution in Venezuela, a situation currently symbolized by Manuel Rosales; welcomes the decision of the Peruvian government to grant political asylum to Manuel Rosales; strongly condemns the use of threats and violence, abuse of power, defamation, and exploitation of the judiciary as a political weapon designed to intimidate and eliminate opponents;
3. Points out that, under the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), to access power in a democracy, in addition to clear legitimacy of origin, based on and obtained at the polls, there must also be legitimacy in the exercise of such power, which must be based on respect for established norms, the constitution, the laws, and the rule of law as a guarantee of the full functioning of democracy, and that this must necessarily include respect for peaceful and democratic political opposition, especially when such opposition has been elected and enjoys popular mandate;
4. Calls on the country’s authorities, particularly the President of the Republic, to pursue their political action through dialogue, adherence to the rule of law and constitutional legality, and tolerance towards political opponents, in order to ensure that the various political options taken and supported by the people of Venezuela enjoy adequate influence and representation in political life;
5. Further urges the Venezuelan government to comply with the international agreements signed and ratified by Venezuela, including the American Convention on Human Rights, with specific reference to the provisions on political rights established in Articles 23(1) and 2 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Mercosur Parliament, and the Government and National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.