Ann Frisch: Venezuela's Referendum is Evidence of Participatory Democracy

WNPJ member Dr. Ann Frisch, of Oshkosh, sends us this editorial, published in the Oshkosh Northwestern on December 6.

The constitutional reforms proposed by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and those proposed by the Venezuelan National Assembly failed by less than 1.5 percent in their elections on Sunday. The propaganda machine calls Chavez a dictator…but dictators don’t lose elections. This was evidence of participatory democracy.

I am, however, ashamed that the US government has been using our tax money to destabilize a democratically elected government, artificially creating some of the opposition. The CIA’s Operation Pliers plan was to create rebellion among the armed forces, create phony polls to show that the “no” vote would prevail, releasing phony early report that the “no” vote was winning although against election rules. T-shirts with “fraud” had already been printed. Opposition advertising claimed that if the referendum passed, children would be taken away from their parents and businesses would be seized.

The media propaganda has not been limited to Venezuela. We have been drowning in assertions that are false and misleading.

The recent propaganda about press controls was the issue of RCTV, with 36 % ownership in the Venezuelan media. RCTV even before Chavez became president faced legal sanctions for sensationalist coverage, pornography and advertising cigarettes. It was an advocate of overthrow during the 2002 kidnapping of President Chavez. Five years later, President Chavez denied the station a license, something our own FCC has done. http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com/downloads/RCTV.htm

In spite of continual meddling by the US government, the government of Hugo Chavez has been successful in transforming Venezuela from being a virtual colony of the US to being a participatory democracy. Like other countries in Latin America, the Venezuelan government has refused to participate in the “free trade” agreements and has refused to send their soldiers to the notorious US Army School of the Americas (now called WHINSEC). The Bolivarian government (so named for Simón Bolívar, their hero) took back control over the national oil revenues from foreigners and returned it through loans and grants to small businesses, social security, and state of the art public health centers and increased wages to teachers and public health workers.

In 1999, the constitution that created a unicameral legislature, also created a National Election Commission and a Human Rights Ombudsman. The constitutional reforms at that time guaranteed citizens new human and civil rights, universal health care and free public education. Minorities (Afro Venezuelans and Indigenous people) were recognized and the work of home makers was considered a productive contribution to society meriting compensation. People all over the country were directly involved in the development of this constitution. It is considered to be one of the most comprehensive and progressive in the world. If you stop on the street to talk to Venezuelans, they will pull their personal copy of the constitution out of their pockets and read you their favorite sections. You can read it in English at: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Venezuela They consider it their constitution.

The current propaganda about the referendum characterized it as a road to dictatorship. In fact, what troubles the Bush administration and corporate execs is that it is just the opposite: it creates greater citizen involvement and government accountability. The proposed removal of the two-term limit does not change the fact that there will continue to be guaranteed open, free and fair elections. Our own Congress does not have term limits, nor do some European governments.

As we express our concerns about dictatorship, we need to tell our legislators to fill their duties to the US Constitution. It is being massively rewritten to favor corporate interests and government dictatorship. Our phone conversations and e mail are being read by bureaucrats and corporations are collaborating with the unauthorized searches. Habeas corpus has been denied. Local governments are seizing private property for tax revenues on more lucrative properties, and our elections are being manipulated. We must do something about dictatorship. We should start at home. Hands off Venezuela.


Ann Frisch is Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. She continues to teach “On Becoming a Global Citizen” a course in the Global Education Master’s Certificate Program at UWO. She is a Public Member of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. She served in Guatemala with Nonviolent Peaceforce, an international unarmed, nonpartisan peace keeping force and participated in a study tour of Venezuela with Marin (CA) Interfaith Task Force.