Has anyone heard of the Carter Center lately?

I thought of the Carter Center as I read this AP story about the CIA exposing its findings on electronic electoral fraud. I am not interested in revisiting again that story, nor in wondering why if the CIA knew such information they are/were not doing more about it (other countries are mentioned by the way). No, I am wondering what the Carter Center is up these days, whether it recovered some of its former prestige (in Venezuela it has stopped coming up in conversations completely except for the occasional curse) and whether on occasion they feel at least a little bit bad about having helped considerably the establishment of a particularly scruple free military regime.

But I do not think I should worry much about the Carter Center having afterthoughts or regrets. They would be the last one on that matter since even Cesar Gaviria has acknowledged publicly that democracy is problematicin Venezuela, nowhere else than at the latest IAP assembly. Interestingly in that assembly Venevision, property of Jimmy Carter good friend Cisneros, was duly questioned from having benefited from the misfortunes of its commercial competition and having caved fully to the Chavez line. The amazing thing at that assembly is that Venevision had the nerve to defend its untenable position, which of course made its case even worse and lost them any little bit of respect they might have left in that group. But the sad truth is that Venevision is the network watched only by chavistas who cannot stomach anymore VTV or ViVe, and those poor souls that cannot afford cable, or do not dispose of it in their area. Amusingly that branch of the Cisneros family is now a social pariah in Venezuela, who today prefers wisely to seek (buy?) friends in the US or elsewhere. Though I suppose Carter might still come here to fish for pavon in Apure courtesy of Cisneros who he helped talk to Chavez directly. Now that I think of it I do not recall Carter having tried to have Chavez talk to anyone else opposing him in Venezuela. He has no more friends worth his efforts I suppose.

Oh! and let's not forget about those who the Carter Center encouraged to seek an agreement with the government to hold the now officially fraudulent referendum of 2004. One is dead, one is in exile, one has lost a large chunk of its properties in Venezuela, and the other ones are faring hardly better. There again I do not recall the Carter Center having protested abuses committed against them.

But it would be unfair to only blame the Carter Center (though it has a commanding share in the business of destroying Venezuela's democracy). A few days ago in Salvador the ruling ARENA lost to the Farabundo guerrilla front.

Besides the fact that this opens the distinct possibility of a renewal of bloody conflict if Funes is unable to control his reconverted guerrilla (or in waiting?) I have not a single tear for ARENA. The outgoing president, Saca, pledged that its country would watch closely that Vivas and Forero would get a fair trial in Venezuela when they refused to grant them political asylum. It has been now three years of one of the worst travesty of justice that we were given to witness in Venezuela, with Salvador remaining awfully discrete as to their human rights commitment. When you think of it, very ARENA, is it not? No wonder people voted them out at long last. The only thing ahead for these two political prisoners might be a final arranged verdict around April 11 where Chavez rewriting Venezuelan history will make sure that they bear the guilt of all the crimes that he provoked himself that day in 2002.

I do not think that the Carter Center is going to lose any sleep over that. They might actually hope to be included in the great epic that Chavez is imagining for our official story. But guess what? That ingrate also seems to have forgotten Jennifer McCoy and her combo, preferring to hang out with Sean Penn and Oliver Stone.

I think the time is right to write the history of these enablers that allowed the madness of Chavez to take over Venezuela and destroy it, you know, before the blood that seems to be promised to us starts running. Thus we will know before hand who to put the blame on when we will need to leave Venezuela for our lives, if that fateful day ever comes.

-The end-