The Crackdown On Dissent In Venezuela Ramps Up Again: Alejandro Peña Esclusa Arrested Again

Things are not going well in Chavez's workers' paradise. The economy, frankly, sucks. Chavez is back in Cuba for more cancer surgery--that can't be good. There's a presidential election scheduled for October, and it appears folks can't wait to vote for someone else besides Chavez.

So, what's a harried dictator to do, poor chap? He can't escape to Libya, since his homeboy Mohamar came to such an unhappy end. Even worse, the pictures of how it all ended circulated widely--the folks at home could get uppity ideas about following suit, don't-cha-know. That hiding-out-in-a-drainage-culvert incident, just before the summary execution (with a bit of pre-execution torture thrown in for good measure) just doesn't sound like a good option.

Hmmm....what to do...what to do?

Of course! Ramp up a publicity campaign against 'enemies of the Revolution'! Damn, it's worked before, it's bound to work this time. After all, Fidel and his homeboys are eager to help, and we can round up people all over Latin America who think that life under Communism sucks, and are impertinent enough to talk about it in public!

Stage an 'extradition' to Cuba, with a 'stopover' in Venezuela, long enough to compose a 'confession' about local villains, and away we go!!!!

So, a North American reader asks, 'Why should we care? It's Latin America just being Latin America!'

Good question! The answers lie in the proximity and pattern of behavior.

Notice the silence in the media about this mess, taking place on the northern side of South America, where all sorts of bad actors like the Iranians and Hezboallah types are turning up? Notice the silence from the White House and the Secretary of State? A hostile state within reach of the eastern side of the Panama Canal could really create chaos.

Remember how The Left screamed non-stop about the ouster of Allende and the rule of Pinochet in Chile? For all its faults, Chile's stable and not broke. Why the lack of outrage from The Left, with Obama at the helm over Venezuela? Perhaps because they sympathize with him?

What might happen here, if things begin to go sour this late summer and fall, as they did in 2008?

What if we're next?


And, just for reference, you can read Peña's words from his previous imprisonment here.

Judge for yourself.

More News On Franklin Brito

It is a hopeful sign that this tragedy is not going unnoticed.

The Venezuelan Government came out swinging, blaming Mr. Brito for having the temerity to insist that he be restored clear title to the land his family owns.

CARACAS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Venezuela's government accused opposition parties on Wednesday of desiring the death of hunger-striker Franklin Brito to maximize political damage to President Hugo Chavez ahead of a parliamentary election.

"Like vultures, they desired and hoped for his death," a government statement said of the Brito case, which has stirred up Venezuelan politics before the Sept. 26 vote.

Critics have seized on the emaciated farmer's death, in a protest over land he says was seized illegally in south Venezuela, as evidence of Chavez's abuse of property rights and cold indifference to opposition.

But the government says Brito's complaint had no basis in law and that his ownership of 717 acres (290 hectares) in Bolivar state had been repeatedly ratified by land authorities.

"We are obliged to reject the Phariseeism of the rotten media, the electoral opposition and the Catholic Church who encouraged Mr. Brito's extremism with the sole aim of having a death for their dirty banners," the statement added.


Then, of course, we are treated to this classic piece of moral courage from the Obama State Department:

Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs, US Department of State, said on Tuesday that the United States is saddened by the death of Venezuelan farmer Franklin Brito, who had been on a hunger strike in protest for the expropriation of his lands by the government of President Hugo Chávez.

"We are saddened to hear of Mr. Brito's passing and we extend our condolences to his family," said Crowley, as reported by AFP. He stressed that Washington "did follow his case closely." But he simply added that the United States would "leave it to the Government of Venezuela to explain."

Given the other news that preoccupies us in the US, this may not rise far above the radar. But it is significant, as a regime fawned over by the Obama White House engages in blatant brutality with nary a murmur of protest.

The State of Arizona, on the other hand, is being hit with both barrels by the US Justice Department.

There is a terrible dissonance in all this. A terrible, tragic, disturbing dissonance.

Now, while we're on the subject of dissidents who have disappeared into the bowels of the Chavez regime, OS would be interested to hear news of the fate of Alejandro Pena Esclusa.

A recent statement was released by him from his jail cell.

Of course, our State Department stands by in silence.

And, in honor of President Chavez, a most appropriate portrait. Please feel free to distribute.

From Sister Jail: Alejandro Peña Esclusa

OS, not certain why this story hits his buttons the way it does, searched for more news of Alejandro Peña Esclusa, imprisoned by the Chavez regime in Venezuela.

He found this letter, dated 17 July, and attributed to Mr. Pena.

It is obvious that his arrest was not surprise to him.

For two years I have been waiting for my imprisonment, due to the effective work I have been achieving against Mr. Chavez and his allies of the Forum Sao Paulo. In the coming days and weeks, the extent of this work will be disseminated.

Friends and acquaintances, and even fellow UnoAmerica across the continent, insisted I had to leave Venezuela and work from abroad. “From the outside you can be more helpful to the cause, because in prison you’ll be will be given up for lost” they said.

However, I answered: “Venezuela needs leaders willing to sacrifice themselves for their country. So much disappointment and dejection is present that we must provide the country with proof of love for Venezuela. It’s the only way to boost morale among the people” I told them.

I have also restated to my colleagues, that this struggle is not only a political one, but primarily spiritual. A materialist and atheist model cannot be overcome with political recipes; but transcendent values and principles embodied in leaders who with their example instill optimism and hope, can.

There's more at the link--and versions in Spanish,English, and Portugese

OS thinks this merits attention, to see if pressure can be brought to bear. Also, it will serve as a litmus test of the Obama administration's commitment to human rights. Its silence in the face of the human rights tragedies in Iran and Venezuela is pretty deafening. However, on behalf of Gaza, run by Hamas, it is relentless.

Something is deeply amiss.

More On Pena Esclusa: Video Posted Shortly Before His Arrest

Evidently, he saw events coming.

OS doesn't pretend to be an expert in the politics of South America, but this incident is troubling.



Comments and insights welcomed, in both English and Spanish.

Links About the Alejandro Pena Esclusa Arrest: The Word Is Out

Latin America Herald Tribune


Associated Press

El Universal

VHeadline.com (appears to be a news and blog site about Venezuela)

And then of course, one can go to Google, type in the name, and watch the page light up.

So much for that 'dark of night' thing...

Let's see if the US MSM will bother to ask any questions of Chavez's fans in the White House. (..sound of crickets chirping...)

Chavez Begins Rounding Up The Opposition: The Arrest of Alejandro Pena-Esclusa

Somewhat below the US radar is news of the arrest of Venezuelan opposition leader Alejandro Pena-Esclusa.

This from CNN, yesterday:

Venezuelan authorities arrested an opposition politician and former presidential candidate on explosives charges Monday night, the government news agency reported.

Alejandro Pena Esclusa, a 1998 presidential candidate and political opponent of leftist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, was arrested at home by agents from the nation's intelligence service, the official ABN news service reported Monday. Pena was taken to the intelligence service headquarters for interrogation, ABN said.

Opposition groups say Pena was arrested for political reasons. Unoamerica, a group headed by Pena, said Tuesday his arrest "is part of a Cuban operation that looks to link opposition leaders with terrorist acts."

Chavez critics have said Cubans are heavily involved in the Venezuelan military and also are playing a key role in intelligence, communications and other areas.

Authorities say they found material of "an explosive nature" when they searched Pena's home in Caracas, Venezuela.

"We have obtained ... some small capsules, more than 100 capsules, which are presumed detonators, some thermal, some electric," ABN quoted counterintelligence director David Colmenares as saying.

Officials contend Pena has been working with Francisco Chavez Abarca, a Salvadoran resident arrested in Venezuela last week on charges that he was in the country to destabilize the government. ABN calls Chavez Abarca a "terrorist" and says he informed on some of his accomplices.

Pena is one of those accomplices, ABN indicated.

"Alejandro Pena Esclusa is a dark character of the Venezuelan opposition linked to fascist sectors and with a thick file of conspiratorial activities against the government of President Hugo Chavez," ABN said.

There will be other arrests in coming days as a result of the information Chavez Abarca provided, the news agency said.

Pena's strong opposition to the Venezuelan president has been lauded, even in the United States. The Alabama state legislature took up a resolution in March commending his actions.

"[A]t great personal risk to himself, Alejandro Pena Esclusa has stood firm in opposition to the spread of Marxism and totalitarianism in Latin America," the resolution states, adding that Pena "continues to serve as an ideological and symbolic counterweight to Chavez's grievance driven exploitation of the people of Venezuela and of broader Latin America in furtherance of the fomentation of authoritarian movements in the region."

Human rights organizations have frequently accused Chavez of intimidating or punishing citizens based on their political beliefs.

In June, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights sent a letter to Venezuela's foreign minister, criticizing the government on its record of freedom of expression.

In February, the commission issued a 319-page report accusing Venezuela of routinely violating human rights. The report said that a lack of independence by Venezuela's judiciary and legislature in their dealings with Chavez often leads to the abuses.

"The report finds that not all individuals are ensured full enjoyment of their rights irrespective of their positions on government policies," the human rights panel said. "The commission also finds that the punitive power of the state is being used to intimidate or punish people on account of their political opinions."

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an independent arm of the Organization of American States.

Chavez's opponents say his government represses political opponents and the expression of free ideas by jailing critics on trumped-up charges or pulling licenses for TV and radio stations and shutting down newspapers. There are about 40 such political prisoners in Venezuelan jails, the critics say.

Most of those prisoners, Chavez critics say, are journalists and former military and police officials and others associated with a short-lived coup against Chavez in April 2002.

Some of the prisoners have been held for long periods without trials or during proceedings that have dragged on for months and even years, the critics say, and they say other prisoners have received harsh sentences under questionable charges. Many of the detainees are held at the secret police headquarters rather than a prison.

"Attacks on journalists were widespread," said Amnesty International's 2009 Report on Human Rights in Venezuela. "Human rights defenders continued to suffer harassment. Prison conditions provoked hunger strikes in facilities across the country."

Human Rights Watch, an independent global organization, issued a 230-page report in 2008 that said Chavez has shown an "open disregard for the principle of separation of powers ... specifically, the notion that an independent judiciary is indispensable for protecting fundamental rights."

The Chavez government has routinely denied any allegations of human rights abuses, saying that authorities arrest citizens only on suspicion of breaking the law.

This matters to us, here in the US, a lot.

The Obama administration has tilted heavily toward Chavez. Not a peep about its seizure of foreign assets, human rights violations, its use of Cuban thugs as enforcers, chumming around with the Iranians, etc. etc. Obama and company have been vocal in their support of Chavez and company as they seek to hand the Falklands to Argentina.

More to come on this subject--in the meantime, for those who read Spanish, UnoAmerica provides more detail and support.

Also, the resolution from the Alabama legislature, praising Alejandro Pena Esclusa, and issuing him an invitation to address the body.

OS's Spanish isn't the greatest, but from what he's been able to gather, Esclusa is a faithful Catholic, and a tireless advocate of democracy, individual liberty and human rights.

For the simple reason that we need to stop this before it reaches our shores, OS hopes his readers will do what they can to contact their representatives and make them aware of the situation.

Sunlight is always the best disinfectant.

N.B. As CNN reports, Esclusa is only one example of the Chavez crackdown.