Por: Aporrea.org.

38 years ago, at the age of 28, I wrote:

"... Thus 20 per cent of the population - mainly Boer farmers - own 86.3 per cent of the land.

 Still more accurately expressed: the total area of South Africa is 472,359 square miles; whites own 416,130 square miles, the remainder - some 56,000 square miles - comprise the „Bantu homelands“.

 Even among the white farmers the land is not equally distributed, since 63 per cent possess 12 per cent of the total land area; 27 per cent possess 32 per cent; and 10 per cent possess 56 per cent.

 As the Africans in the reserves have no modern agricultural implements, their economic status grows worse year by year. The primitive methods of their forefathers were economically supportable when the Africans still had the whole of South Africa to themselves.

 As a result of the ten „Wars of Dispossession“ - so-called Kaffir or Xhosa Wars (in South African and even international history books) - ranging from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century - the Africans were forced into the „Native Reserves“ of South Africa and the three „British Protectorates“ which, climatically and economically, are far from the best areas.

 Thus pastoral farming and animal-drawn ploughs became uncompetitive. On top of this, heavy taxation was imposed on the Africans; the poll tax, for example, is raised whenever the demand for cheap labor increases. Other taxes are the „Union Tax“ and the „Bantu Authorities Tax“.

 It was not only the ravenous expansionist drive of the whites that led to expulsion of the native peoples from their ancestral lands.

 A system was developed to force them to accept low-paid jobs outside their “labor concentration camps“ - the reserves (the Transkei, Zululand, Zeerust and Sekhukhuniland being the largest).

 Dispossession transformed independent African farmers into „squatters“ - having no legal title to land originally belonging to them - tenants and migratory laborers on white farms; and drove others through hunger, poverty and heavy taxes to the industrial towns and mines in search of work.

 The „Border Industries Project“ of today intends shifting the Afrikaander industries nearer to the reserves, but the capitalist exploiting system and its compulsions remain fundamentally unchanged.

 The social and judicial position of the African farm laborer is inconceivably bad. Working 60 hours and more a week, he often earns scarcely enough to clothe and feed himself in meager fashion. He is legally subjugated to a system that parallels, if it does not surpass, slavery in brutality. "

South Africa: Farmworkers murdered by employers

By our correspondent
3 March 2004

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The murder of two farmworkers by their employers has placed the spotlight on the awful plight of this section of the South African working class.

On February 19, a white South African farmer was convicted of culpable homicide after dragging a Mozambican labourer to death. The farmworker, Jotham Mandlazi, died of multiple internal and head injuries after he was dragged for 70 metres behind a pickup truck by the farmer, Gerrit Maritz, on February 8 of last year. Maritz delayed reporting the incident to police for 17 hours and attempted to sneak Mandlazi’s body into a local mortuary.

According to testimony from farmworker Isaac Ngwenya, Maritz arrived at a labourer’s compound on a farm near the town of Komatipoort on the South Africa-Mozambique border, looking for truant workers.

Mandlazi was called over to Maritz’s pickup truck, whereupon Maritz grabbed him by his clothing and sped off in the vehicle, dragging Mandlazi behind him. Mandlazi fell under the vehicle and the wheels went over him. Maritz came to a stop about 70 metres later and ordered other workers to load Mandlazi’s corpse onto the back of the truck, indicating that he was taking him to hospital.

Maritz initially pleaded not guilty, but after hearing the testimony of eyewitnesses to the murder changed his plea to guilty on the reduced charge of culpable homicide.

Judge Johan Els stated that he was satisfied that the killing was not racially motivated and fined him R36,000 (approximately $6,000) and imposed a two-year suspended sentence.

A Congress of South African Trade Unions official, Patrick Craven, condemned the sentence, stating, “This case is typical of the contemptuous way employers and the courts continue to treat black farm workers as if their lives are worth nothing. Over and over again, courts have reduced charges of murder to culpable homicide, and employers have been given minimal sentences, for the most horrendous crimes against their employees.”

Fed to the lions

On February 31 of this year, Limpopo farmworker Nelson Shisane, 38, a father of three, was brutally beaten and strangled by Mark Scott-Crossley. Shisane was then loaded onto the back of a pickup truck and driven to the Mokwalo White Lion Project, some 15 kilometres away, where he was thrown into a lion enclosure.

Scott-Crossley, who runs a construction company based on his brothers’ farm, and three of his employees allegedly watched as a lion mauled Shisane, and then dragged him into the bush. Several days later, parts of Shisane’s skull and other remains were discovered in the lion enclosure. It is not clear when Shisane died.

According to reports, Shisane had been embroiled in a labour dispute with Scott-Crossley after having been dismissed last year. Shisane returned to Scott-Crossley’s farm on January 31 to collect his belongings. This was the last time he was seen.

Police investigations commenced after Shisane’s family became concerned about his disappearance. On February 10, Scott-Crossly and three of his employees were arrested and charged with murder.

Robert Mnisi, 34, was released by police after he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. He told CNN that Scott-Crossley strangled Shisane (who is here referred to as Chisale).

“Then he say to me, ‘Doctor pick it up [Shisane/Chisale’s body] and throw it in the lions.’”

Scott-Crossley is alleged to have put a gun to Mnisi’s head when he objected: “He say, ‘Hey, if you don’t want to listen to me, I’ll shoot you. Get inside there.’”

A South African Human Rights Commission report last year noted the terrible living and working conditions faced by black farmworkers on land that is still mostly owned by white farmers. It condemns a culture of violence against black workers, compounded by high levels of alcoholism and poor education.

Over 1,500 white farmers have been murdered since the end of apartheid a decade ago, primarily, the report claims, as a result of crime. But there is a large degree of hatred of the farmers amongst black workers because of the gaping social inequalities that continue to exist.

In some provinces, such as Mpumalanga and Limpopo, assaults against farm workers are so common that they appear to be the norm. The report states that land owners operate outside the labour laws and child labour still occurs. It explains, “In some provinces...the incidences [of assault] are of such a nature and frequency as to indicate that there is a culture of violence in which acts are perpetrated in an environment of impunity.”

Farm workers do not usually report assaults to the police, and often, in cases where assaults are reported, the police fail to investigate. Even when investigations do take place, judges and magistrates frequently reduce charges and impose lenient sentences.

Given the furor that has been whipped up against the regime of Robert Mugabe by Britain and the Western powers, it is noteworthy that it is far more dangerous to be a white farmer in South Africa than in Zimbabwe.

Ten years after the end of apartheid, the slayings of Jotham Mandlazi and Nelson Shisane by their employers demonstrates that the ANC government has done nothing to ameliorate the brutal conditions that exist in the South African countryside—or to fundamentally challenge the domination of society by a largely white capitalist elite that apartheid was meant to defend.

See Also:
South Africa: report reveals dire conditions facing farm workers
[2 October 2003]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/mar2004/safr-m03.shtml

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As Marines occupy Port-au-Prince:

Reign of terror follows US-backed coup in Haiti

By Bill Van Auken
3 March 2004

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The US ouster of President Jean Bertrand Aristide and Haiti’s occupation by a US-led military force have set the stage for a bloody wave of repression in the impoverished Caribbean island nation.

By means of covert subversion and overt military intervention, the Bush administration has overthrown a popularly elected president and resurrected political forces linked to decades of dictatorship and counterrevolutionary terror in Haiti.

The landing of the first contingent of several hundred Marines and the hustling of Aristide out the country aboard a US aircraft provided the signal for the “rebels” to enter the capital and set themselves up as a domestic security force.

Led by former death squad members and soldiers linked to previous coup attempts, the well-armed thugs quickly took over the barracks facing the National Palace and declared their intention to reconstitute the Haitian Army. This corrupt and brutal force—a legacy of the first US occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934—was disbanded by Aristide in 1995. According to some reports, the army’s former commander, General Herard Abraham, is preparing to return from exile in Miami to resume his post.

Among the first acts of the right-wing gunmen was the storming of the penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, freeing some 2,000 prisoners. Apparently, the main aim of this action was to liberate a number of notorious killers from previous dictatorships, including Prosper Avril, who headed a military junta that ruled the country from 1988 to 1990 and was convicted on charges of illegally imprisoning and torturing political dissidents. The action also provided a fresh group of recruits for the terror squads from among the criminals who were let loose.

Guy Philippe, a former army officer and police chief who was charged with drug trafficking and conducting summary executions, is a leader of the “rebels.” On Tuesday, he proclaimed himself Haiti’s “military chief” and announced his intention to arrest Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who has remained effectively imprisoned in his office. Other members of Aristide’s cabinet fled Haiti, seeking asylum in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

In a telling indication of the political forces unleashed by the US-backed coup, Haiti’s former “president for life” Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, who has lived in exile in Paris since 1986, announced that he intends to return to Haiti as soon as possible.

Duvalier, whose regime was responsible for killing tens of thousands of Haitians, welcomed the landing of US Marines. He told an interviewer from Miami’s WFOR television news that the conditions were emerging for his return. “I think I’m getting close and that I will soon have the opportunity to go back to my country,” he said.

On Monday, leaders of what have generally been described in the US media as the “rebels” and the “democratic opposition” met at one of the most luxurious hotels in Port-au-Prince. Previously, the “democratic” political opposition had claimed it had no links with the armed “rebels.”

Working together, with backing from a group of right-wing ideologues in the US State Department, these forces engineered the ouster of Aristide. The “rebels” include such elements as Louis Jodel Chamblain, who led the Tontons Macoute death squads during the waning years of the Duvalier dictatorship in the 1980s and then returned as one of the heads of the Haitian Front for Advancement and Progress, or FRAPH.

The FRAPH, a paramilitary group formed under the military regime that took power when Aristide was first overthrown in a US-backed coup in 1991, received financial support and political guidance from the US Central Intelligence Agency and is blamed for the murder of at least 3,000 Haitians.

The “democratic opposition” consists largely of political parties and business groups representing the tiny privileged elite that formed the real base of support for the Duvalier dictatorship and subsequent military regimes. With financial and political backing from the US National Endowment for Democracy as well as from the Chirac government in France, it has worked for the last four years to mobilize international support for the removal of Aristide.

It seized on alleged irregularities in the 2000 legislative elections to portray the elected government as illegitimate, though there is no dispute that Aristide and his supporters would have won overwhelmingly no matter what procedures were used. Even polls commissioned by Washington have shown the opposition parties of the ruling elite enjoying the support of no more than 20 percent of the Haitian electorate.

The Bush administration—which stole the US election that same year—cynically used alleged irregularities at the polls in Haiti as a pretext for continuing an aid embargo on the country. The embargo, denying Haiti $500 million in humanitarian assistance from multiple lending organizations, was first imposed by President Clinton,. It made the convening of new elections a precondition for resuming the aid. While Aristide agreed to another vote, the opposition rejected all proposals, effectively blocking desperately needed funding and further deepening the country’s economic and social crisis.

Killing Aristide supporters

From the outset of the armed wing uprising last month, the Bush administration signaled that it was prepared to tolerate a wave of counterrevolutionary violence to meet its objective of installing a puppet regime committed to defending US interests and those of the native Haitian elite. The Toronto Globe and Mail Tuesday cited Canadian diplomatic officials describing Washington’s attitude when it was supposedly attempting to broker a power-sharing deal between Aristide and his political opponents. “US officials made it abundantly clear to their counterparts in Ottawa that Washington had a ‘high tolerance’ for further Haitian bloodshed and would not be pressured into defending Mr. Aristide in order to prevent it,” the report said.

While rejecting any military intervention to halt the armed overthrow of the Aristide government, once the coup was completed, a waiting US expeditionary force was rushed to Haiti to consolidate an un-elected regime formed by Haiti’s privileged elite.

In its report on Monday’s meeting between the gunmen and the political representatives of the Haitian elite, the New York Times identified one of the “rebels” as “Faustin,” describing him as “a well-spoken man...with an M-4 assault weapon strapped around his neck.”

“Right now it’s very euphoric; everybody’s happy,” he told the Times. “But behind the happiness, look out.” The report added: “He said he had killed former Aristide supporters in the streets of Port-au-Prince, and would kill again in the name of the new government if so ordered.”

This is precisely what is happening with the tacit support of the Bush administration and under the gaze of US-led occupation troops. According to press reports from Haiti, the right-wing gunmen have rampaged through the Port-au-Prince slums of La Saline, Cite Soleil and Belaire, hunting down Aristide supporters and carrying out indiscriminate killings.

Interviewed on CNN Monday, Secretary of State Colin Powell made it clear that Washington was in close contact with the death squads. “We have ways of talking to the various rebel leaders, and [we’re] pleased that at least so far they’ve said they are not interested in violence anymore and want to put down their arms,” Powell said.

This is one more lie from an administration that has dismissed Aristide’s charge that he was forced out of Haiti at US gunpoint as “nonsense.” The so-called rebels—whom Powell himself was referring to as “thugs” just two weeks ago—have indicated no intention of laying down their weapons, and violent reprisals are sweeping the capital.

The Boston Globe on Tuesday carried a revealing report by Steven Dudley on the activities of paramilitary killing squads in the Port-au-Prince slum of Cite Soleil. “They are upper-class, urban paramilitaries who say they are protecting their property, families and country,” Dudley wrote, referring to a squad of over 20 men who were scouring the shantytown, “M-4s, M-14s, Tech-9s and 9mms at the ready.”

“These paramilitary volunteers are businessmen,” according to the Globe article. “Nearly all of them speak English from time spent in Miami or New England. Most are from Haiti’s light-skinned elite, the tiny fraction of the population that actually owns something. Some of them have military training; a few were army reservists in college. All of them have weapons.” Most, the article states, had come down to the slums from the upper-class hillside neighborhood of Petionville.

The report quoted one of the gunmen: “We went down every alley, every street. We’re cleaning up the neighborhoods.” Scores of suspected Aristide supporters have been reported killed in the area. The paramilitaries, it added, were working in close collaboration with the police.

Col. David Berger, the commander of the US Marine force that has secured strategic points in the Haitian capital, told reporters Tuesday, “I have no instruction to disarm the rebels.”

Meanwhile, already miserable conditions of life for masses of Haitians are deteriorating rapidly. Food stocks are exhausted and the country’s hospitals have largely shut down because of lack of power and potable water, according to a report from the Pan-American Health Organization. The eight most important hospitals in Port-au-Prince have stopped admitting patients.

According to the International Red Cross, the only functioning medical facility in the capital was an emergency field hospital set up by a group of Cuban doctors, who attended to scores of gunshot victims.

While officials in Washington indicated that the Marines’ rules of engagement do not encompass defending Haiti’s civilian population from armed violence, a principal mission of the US-led force is halting the flight of refugees from the strife-torn nation.

Coast Guard vessels have been deployed off of the Haitian coast and already close to 1,000 “boat people” have been sent back. Only last week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued a formal statement calling on countries in the region to suspend the forced repatriation of Haitians fleeing the humanitarian crisis there. Washington ignored the call.

“Given the violence and disorder reigning in Port-au-Prince, the Haitians should never have been returned there,” said Joanne Mariner, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas Division. “With people being shot dead in the street by gangs of criminal thugs, it was unconscionable for the United States to dump entire families into this danger zone.”

See Also:
US Marines occupy Haitian capital amid charges Aristide was kidnapped
[2 March 2004]
The overthrow of Haiti’s Aristide: a coup made in the USA
[1 March 2004]
US and France target Haiti's elected president for removal
[28 February 2004]
Does Haiti’s “non-violent” opposition want a bloodbath in Port-au-Prince?
[26 February 2004]
Washington utilizes rightist terror to effect “regime change” in Haiti
[25 February 2004]
Haiti: Washington gives greenlight to right-wing coup
[23 February 2004]
An exchange on Haiti: Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the dead end of “left” nationalist politics
[18 February 2004]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/mar2004/hait-m03.shtml

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Jesse Chacón: “En Venezuela no se va a desbordar la violencia”

Prensa Vicepresidencia

Señaló que estas acciones de violencia "no son ni espontáneas ni esporádicas, este es un plan preconcebido para llenar de focos de violencia a Caracas y ciudades del interior para lograr en Venezuela lo que ocurrió en Haití".

Mostró su preocupación por el rol que vienen desempeñando los medios de comunicación social actualmente y los exhortó a dejar de incitar a la violencia"porque una vez que la violencia se desborde yo no sé cómo la vamos a parar".

Dijo que" los que crean que derrotarán al presidente Hugo Chávez de esta forma, están equivocados" El Ministro de Comunicación e Información, Jesse Chacón, como vocero de la reunión del gabinete político efectuado este martes en la sede de la Vicepresidencia de la República pidió en nombre del Gobierno Nacional el cese de la violencia fomentada por grupos de la oposición y exhortó a los medios de comunicación social a no continuar incitando a la violencia.

"Quienes están manifestando en Altamira y muchas partes del este ni siquiera viven en esa zona, son vándalos que han sido pagados por Primero Justicia, Acción Democrática para precisamente generar este tipo de acciones" alertó a la población. De la misma manera afirmó "hay gente armada en las trancas que están haciendo y le están disparando a la Guardia Nacional. Hagamos memoria que la actuación de esta guardia nacional no se parece en nada a la de los tiempos de Betancourt y de Caldera".

Advirtió que "tal vez el este de Caracas no ha sabido lo que es realmente la violencia y por eso no la han comenzado a combatir, pero una vez que se desata es difícil detenerla". Aseguró que los organismos de seguridad están tomando todas las medidas necesarias para mantener la paz en el país.

"En Venezuela no se va a desbordar la violencia, los organismos de seguridad tienen todas las condiciones para frenarla en los sitios que se ha focalizado porque hoy la ultra derecha aprendió de un mal ejemplo de la izquierda venezolana en los años 60, que decidió en ese tiempo no seguir la vía política y se fue a la clandestinidad y recurrió al foquismo, que es lo que está haciendo la ultra derecha en este momento" comentó.

Incitación a la violencia por los medios Mostró su preocupación por el rol que vienen desempeñando los medios de comunicación social actualmente. "Hemos visto con preocupación como de los medios privados de comunicación social se ha estado incitando a la violencia. No se ha dado cobertura periodística, es decir, no solamente se da la noticia si no que se reitera las imágenes, se ponen a cámara lenta para crear un clima de desasosiego en la sociedad y hacer sentir un nivel de intranquilidad". Recordó que en este sentido, existen los canales regulares y los utilizarán a fin de llevar estas denuncias ante instancias internacionales con respecto a la conducta de los medios.

Jesse Chacón le pidió a los medios informativos a deslastrarse de la incitación a la violencia "porque una vez que la violencia se desborde, yo no sé donde la vamos a parar. Yo creo que los medios tienen una gran responsabilidad en esto. Ya vasta de atacar al CNE, las instituciones, las Fuerzas Armadas, a la Guardia Nacional que están haciendo un trabajo dentro del marco de la Constitución. Hemos escuchado hablar de marchas pacíficas, pero cuando uno ve las escenas uno se pregunta ¿donde está lo pacífico de la marcha o manifestación? Criticó el comportamiento de los alcaldes de los municipios donde se han registrado los disturbios. "Vimos ayer como la Plaza Altamira fue arrasada, todos los avisos, semáforos, cercas, rejas, pacíficamente como lo dijo el alcalde Leopoldo López. Señaló ayer que no podía actuar porque era una manifestación pacífica, pues no fue la Guardia Nacional, están las imágenes de los terroristas que actuaron en Altamira con la complicidad del alcalde de Chacao".

Detenciones por irregularidades Reveló también que la prueba de ATD fue hecha a los dos escoltas del alcalde de Baruta, Enrique Capriles Radonsky, que fueron detenidos el viernes durante la marcha de la oposición y dio positiva en la manipulación de armas, por los restos de pólvora encontrados en sus manos.

Manifestó que fueron arrestados dos policías más de Baruta "el día de ayer en El Valle se enfrentaron dos policías de Baruta y una comisión de la Disip y fueron detenidos con 2 armas 9 milímetros".

En este sentido, afirmó que estos hechos que se están presentando en Caracas son planificados y terroristas y no escenarios espontáneos de la población, confirmó la detención de un dirigente de la oposición, Carlos Melo. "Fue ayer detenido por una comisión de la Disip y poseía en el momento de la detención dos fusiles automáticos livianos, conocidos como FAL, que poseen o utilizan cartuchos 7.65 milímetros que ya ni siquiera los ejércitos del primer mundo los están utilizando, porque un cartucho de ese calibre es capaz de partir una persona en dos. Por eso me pregunto ¿hasta dónde la Coordinadora Democrática está jugando a la democracia y hasta donde están apostando a la violencia?".

Aseguró que se encuentran apostados francotiradores en varias partes de la ciudad "en Altamira, en Caurimare, tenemos dos guardias nacionales heridos y anoche tres policías del municipio libertador fueron heridos en un enfrentamiento con unos manifestantes de la oposición" El Ministro Chacón informó que en el gabinete se abordaron dos puntos más además de la serie de acciones que calificó de "terroristas" que se están llevando a cabo en Venezuela, sobre todo en el este de Caracas. Dijo que tocaron los aspectos relacionados a las conclusiones de la décima segunda Cumbre del Grupo de los 15 celebrada en caracas la semana pasada, y el tema del referéndum revocatorio presidencial y la decisión que se espera del CNE.

Sobre este último punto, Chacón ratificó la postura del Gobierno Nacional con respecto a que respetarán la decisión del Consejo Nacional Electoral sobre el referéndum revocatorio "Si el CNE no anula las firmas y decide pasarlas a reparo, sin estar nosotros conforme con la decisión, la respetaremos porque para eso hay un árbitro. Nosotros hemos aprendido que si no se respeta el árbitro no es democracia. Aceptaremos cualquiera que sea la decisión, las reglas que adopten en la segunda fase de la recolección de firmas".

http://www.rebelion.org/venezuela/040303chacon.htm

Ayúdanos a aporrear más duro a la contrarrevolución y a defender con este medio alternativo nuestras libertades democráticas URGENTE: Aporrea necesita más donativos para reforzar su labor a favor de las fuerzas revolucionarias y para combatir el saboteo en las redes de la oposición golpista Por: Aporrea.org Publicado el Miércoles, 03/03/04 05:06pm				imprímelo mándaselo a tus panas

http://www.aporrea.org/dameverbo.php?docid=14522

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Ministro Cabello: La oposición no alcanzará suficientes firmas en los reparos Por: Prensa Presidencianl / RNV Publicado el Miércoles, 03/03/04 04:45pm				imprímelo mándaselo a tus panas

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"En la fase de reparo la oposición no logrará alcanzar la cantidad de firmas suficientes para activar el referéndum revocatorio contra el Presidente de la República, Hugo Chávez Frías, quien culminará su primer mandato en el año 2006, según lo establece la Constitución Bolivariana."

Esta aseveración corresponde al ministro de Infraestructura, y candidato a la Gobernación de Miranda, Diosdado cabello, quien asegura que la dirigencia oposicionista tratará de huirle a este compromiso, “ellos no van a ir reparo, y no irán a reparo porque simplemente están en evidencia”.

_En estos momentos no se le está negando el derecho nadie, se está dando la posibilidad, a estas personas que dicen que firmaron, de que se les respete la buena fe, pero ellos saben que están entrampados porque ellos hicieron trampas, dijo.

El ministro Cabello felicitó “al pueblo venezolano que se ha mantenido estoicamente, que se ha mantenido en sus casas, alertas y pendientes de un pequeño grupos de venezolanos que han creído que la vía de la violencia es la forma más rápida de salir de Hugo Chávez”.

Detalló que este miércoles “vimos un acto lastimoso cuando los voceros de la Coordinadora Democrática jugaron a la ruleta rusa a ver quién salía a declarar, le tocó a (Julio) Borges y le tocó a (Antonio) Ledezma. Mala suerte para ellos porque tuvieron que asumir la responsabilidad; estos señores que salieron a hablar en nombre de aquellos que verdaderamente salieron a firmar contra el Presidente no asumieron ninguna responsabilidad, por ejemplo Borges no sabe lo que ocurrió el Chacao, no sabe de los desordenes, Ledezma tampoco sabe nada, cuando ellos fueron los principales incitadores a la violencia”.

“La gente que adversa al Presidente no tiene un líder, estos señores no representan a quienes ellos dicen que representan, hoy lo que hicieron fue escudarse detrás de la OEA y el Centro Carter. El centro Carter no es quien decide sobre los procesos electorales, ellos son observadores, eso le corresponde al CNE, que es un poder autónomo en Venezuela, un país soberano”, puntualizó.

CD en contra de reparos

La Coordinadora Democrática rechazó más temprano las condiciones del CNE para reparar un millón de firmas para solicitar el referendo revocatorio presidencial y que se mantienen bajo observación.

Julio Borges afirmó que se trata de "un examen prácticamente imposible (de cumplir) y por ello nosotros estamos negados a los reparos tal como están planteados".

Borges dijo que consideran las llamadas firmas con la misma caligrafía o firmas "plana" -que suman 876.017 firmas- , como "recolectadas válidamente" e insiste en que se respete "la buena voluntad del elector".

Antonio Ledezma, líder del partido oposicionista Alianza al Bravo Pueblo, llamó a la población "a mantener la lucha en la calle no sólo esta noche y mañana, sino especialmente el próximo jueves" para cuando están convocando a una marcha en Caracas y en el resto del país.

Su objetivo es protestar y presionar al CNE  

http://www.aporrea.org/dameverbo.php?docid=14519

• During the signature collection process, we observed that some collection agents assisted signers in good faith by filling in their basic data.

• Contreras says the clandestine meetings are proof of United States interference in the internal political affairs of Venezuela and shows up an opposition that has lost legitimacy and resorted to deceit and traps."