Position of the representatives of the Democratic Coordinator
This document states the position of the representatives of the Democratic Coordinatoropposition coalition members of the Negotiation Table before the nation and theinternational community in the face of the grave incidents that have occurred in the lastfew days
1) On Monday Feb. 17 both parties signed the “Declaration against Violence for Peace andDemocracy” whose application - more than as simple witnesses - was guaranteed by theOAS, the Carter Center and the UN Development Program.
2) A few hours following the approval of said declaration, the government unleashed a waveof repression, previously announced by the very president, that violates the terms ofsaid declaration. Both the hostile tone of the presidential discourse, the renewed aggressionagainst the municipality of the Greater Caracas Metropolitan Area and theviolence used against the medical staff of the Domingo Luciani Hospital flagrantly contradict saiddeclaration.
3) The arrest order and the oppressive pursuit and harassment of Venezuelan WorkersConfederation (CTV) President Carlos Ortega and Juan Fernández, one of theleaders of the civil organization Petroleum People (Gente de Petróleo) amongst a numberof Venezuelans who play a relevant role in the democratic resistance, has sparked aclimate of dangerous social and political volatility just as the Declaration against Violencefor Peace and Democracy was being subscribed.
4) The arrest of the president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry(Fedecámaras) Carlos Fernández constitutes an act of grave and transcendental importanceof strict government political nature for the following reasons A) The arrest took place in the late hours of the night without the presence of arepresentative of the Attorney’s Office.
B) Judge 34 of the Caracas District, Mikael Moreno, who issued the arrest warrant, was thedefense attorney of one of the gunmen of the Llaguno Bridge who participated in the onApril 11 (2002) massacre and who has yet to be prosecuted. Both this judge and thegunman are well-known government supporters.
C) The Fedecámaras president remained incommunicado for several hours in theheadquarters of the political police and in violation of his human rights was additionallydeprived of possibility of getting in touch with his lawyer and his family. InclusiveAttorney General representatives were not allowed access during a critical period oftime.
D) Fernandez’s arrest warrant was issued on the ground that a civic stoppage constitutes anundefined violation of the law which per se opens the door to possible violations offreedom applicable to the millions of Venezuelans who have also participated in peaceful,political and democratic demonstrations against the government. The warrant ofarrest issued against the president of Fedecámaras establishes the modality of quickfabrication of almost any kind of reason to excuse retaliatory government measuresmost of which have no legal penal support.
5) Because of all the above reasons, we invoke the operative agreements that regulate theNegotiation Table, resolution 833 dictated by the Permanent Council of the OAS and thedeclaration of the Group of Friends and hereby request ONE: The urgent presence of OAS Secretary General César Gaviria and the representativesof the Carter Center and the United Nations Development Program toguarantee the compliance of the Declaration against Violence for Peace and Democracy.
TWO. The urgent presence in out country of the foreign ministers of the Group of Friends toverify the charges we have exposed above and to help convince the government to complywith the Declaration against Violence for Peace and Denmocracy.
THREE. That the international community urge the government to define, once and for alland without delay, its position in relation to the proposals of electoral solutions introduced byformer President Jimmy Carter in view of the fact that an urgent electoral solution of theprofound Venezuelan crisis is a mandate contemplated by the different formal instrumentsthat regulate the negotiations.
We issue the above statement considering the urgency of the situation.
Caracas February 20, 2003