[R-G] Chavez Revising, Not Revoking Venezuela's New Intelligence Law

[Anthony Fenton]

Chavez Revising, Not Revoking Venezuela's New Intelligence Law

June 10, 2008 By Stephen Lendman

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticlea/17883

Over the weekend, Chavez showed his mettle as a democratic leader. He  
acknowledged "errors" in the newly enacted Law on Intelligence and  
Counterintelligence and will fix them to assure it fully complies with  
Venezuela's Constitution.



He gave examples and cited Article 16 that cites the possibility of  
prison terms for persons not cooperating with intelligence services.  
It's a "mistake," said Chavez and "not a small (one)." The new  
intelligence services won't oblige anyone to inform on others. Doing  
so is "overstepping," and "I assume responsibility" for the error and  
will fix it.



He continued: "Where we make mistakes, we must accept this and not  
defend the indefensible....I guarantee to the country, in Venezuela  
(this law will assault) no one! And no one will be obliged to say more  
than they want to say....(We) will never attack the freedom of  
Venezuelans, independently of their political positions. Liberty....is  
one of the slogans of our socialism."



Other articles will also be amended:



-- Article 19 prohibiting non-state agencies from using spy  
technologies;



-- Article 20 regarding search and wiretap provisions; and



-- Article 21 regarding secret evidence.



The new law will be reviewed in its entirety. Whatever is potentially  
unconstitutional will be removed or amended. Chavez guarantees it.  
He's a man of his word, but the corporate media took full advantage of  
the moment to jump all over him. As usual, The New York Times' Simon  
Romero led the assault.



He headlined: "Chavez Suffers Military and Policy Setbacks" with the  
front end of his lead referring to Colombia's (unsubstantiated) claim  
about capturing a Venezuelan national guard officer carrying assault  
rifles "believed to be intended for leftist guerrillas."



Once again Romero fumbles with the facts as he always does on  
Venezuela. He now states: "President Hugo Chavez....said Saturday he  
would 'withdraw' a decree overhauling intelligence policies that he  
had made earlier that week." He called it "a rare act of self- 
criticism" while hammering on the "capture" issue and filling  
paragraphs with inaccuracies.



Even Al Jazeera got it wrong on intelligence law changes. It  
headlined: "Chavez revokes controversial law." Near the end of its  
report, however, it acknowledged that Chavez promised to "rewrite the  
law (after) listening to the criticism."



AFP also misreported by stating "Hugo Chavez on Saturday revoked a law  
he decreed last month creating four spy agencies and a Cuban-style  
national informants' network, saying the measure contained errors."  
Errors - yes, revocation - no, revisions - coming before the new law  
is implemented.



For its part, AP was more accurate but barely in its headline stating:  
"Chavez backtracks on Venezuela spy law." The report's lead does say:  
"President Hugo Chavez said....that his government will rewrite a new  
intelligence law to calm fears....that (it) could be used to stifle  
dissent."



BBC was more accurate than usual in its headline: "Chavez agrees to  
change 'spy' law." It continued: "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez  
said he will amend a controversial new law that would have required  
people to co-operate with intelligence agencies." BBC's report was  
mostly critical, but it ended on a high note with an accurate Chavez  
quote that "No one will be forced to say anything (to authorities)  
they don't want to."



For his part, Romero wasn't as gracious. He stressed how Chavez is  
"Reeling from the defeat of a constitutional reform in December (and)  
is facing multiple challenges as a reinvigorated opposition fields  
candidates in (November's) regional elections and Venezuela's economic  
growth slows despite record oil prices." Slower growth - yes, still  
impressive - very much so. Where does Romero acknowledge this - nowhere.



He and others in the dominant media never miss a chance to misreport  
on Venezuela and attack its model democracy. Try imagining George Bush  
admit an error and promise to fix it. Try imagine George Bush promise  
anything except continued war and maybe more of it. Try imagine if  
America had a leader like Hugo Chavez. Try imagine if Romero & Co.  
might imagine it.





Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net 
. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.