Based on the first reactions of the regime to
the IACHR ruling on the Lopez case the least we can say is that they are beyond miffed, they are pissed. That is not a surprise. However what is a small surprise is the infantile arguments they are advancing. Let's start
by the official communique from the foreign ministry which, we may assume, the official position of the regime. I am posting it below as lifted from their site. No translation, no time, use Google, but yes to the lies, contradictions and mistruths in it.
El día de hoy, la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos ha dado a conocer, a través de medios de comunicación, un pronunciamiento que había sido anunciado durante meses por voceros de la oposición política venezolana, y que recoge un conjunto de decisiones que el Gobierno de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela no duda en calificar de políticamente parcializado.
First lie: it happens that the IACHR first releases its rulings to the parties involved, and only when all have recieved the ruling and had time to read it it is published offically. That is, the IACHR is not making a media show the Venezuelan regime woudl like us to believe. That indeed the regime did not receive an official mail notice is possible, but the regime was notified at the very least through and e-mail and pleading ignorance only makes the regime look even more ridicule in front of other countries that do receive occasional rulings of the IACHR....
Este pronunciamiento, que presume la existencia de una jurisdicción extraterritorial al pretender imponerle a Venezuela decisiones que son de estricto orden interno, constitucional y legal, y solo dependen de los órganos del poder público nacional, será referida por el Gobierno de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela a los órganos del poder judicial, para que analicen su pertinencia constitucional, una vez que sea notificado oficialmente.
What we have here is a clumsy way to pretend that Venezuela is above the ruling while still sort of conceding that they need to review it. Constitutionally the argument does not stand as the constitution of Venezuela is precise on the constitutional prerogatives of foreign treaties (and this one was ratified again AFTER 1999, when the new constitution went into effect).
Como es sabido, la Contraloría General de la República, en aplicación de las leyes venezolanas en la lucha contra la corrupción, ha procedido durante varios años a aplicar sanciones de carácter administrativo a centenares de funcionarios públicos, por lo cual el Gobierno Bolivariano rechaza las pretensiones de quienes en Venezuela aspiran a tener una licencia abierta para violar las leyes, cometer delitos y ser protegidos o perdonados por el solo hecho de pertenecer a la oposición contrarevolucionaria.
I will pass on the argument that people like Lopez right to a fair trial is subordinated to an administrative decision. What is interesting here is that the bureaucrats and minsters could not resist to qualify the opposition as "
counter revolutionary" as if that had anything to do with the issues at hand. That is, if indeed Lopez is a
counterrevolutionary why is he not in jail, a concentration camp or even in front of a firing squad?
Es por esto que el Gobierno del Presidente Hugo Chávez, frente a esta posición política de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, exhorta a todas las instituciones venezolanas a ratificar el compromiso previsto en la ley para castigar la corrupción y actividades relacionadas con este delito, y rechazar las maniobras nacionales e internacionales que pretenden victimizar a dirigentes políticos señalados por hechos irregulares en la administración pública, con el propósito de presentarlos como perseguidos políticos.
Blah, blah, blah.... the government pretends to have demonstrated with the above paragraphs that it is a
poltical position of the IACHR. Maybe it is, but it is clear that the regime has yet to advance a single convincing argument of such a "political position".
Con este tipo de decisiones, como la adoptada por la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, se da un claro estímulo a los actos de corrupción, no sólo en Venezuela sino en cualquier país del mundo.
This one I translate because it is too good to be true!!! "With these types of decisions, such as this one of the IACHR, a clear stimulus to corruption is given, not only in Venezuela but in any country of the world". This for a country where corruption from the regime is front page news everyday, where the mere scandal of PUDREVAL shames any previous corruption scandal in our history (and of many other country history). these people really have no shame!
Igualmente, el gobierno venezolano procederá a seguir denunciando a la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos como un organismo que recurrentemente se extralimita en sus funciones y que, de manera regular ha tomado posiciones de parcialización política en contra de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela.
The IACHR has it against Venezuela, etc... Usual paranoia of the regime, go to the next part
Finalmente, el Gobierno Bolivariano quedará a la espera de las decisiones que de manera autónoma tenga a bien tomar el Tribunal Supremo de Justicia sobre este tema, en estricto cumplimiento de la constitución y las leyes de la República.
The Venezuelan high court will decide anyway. And since we know who is included in it, how they were named and how they announced their verdict in advance we know what Luisa Estella will say any time soon...