海角大神

Venezuela: Why a government petition against US sanctions has some shaking

In 2003, the opposition signed a petition to recall Ch谩vez, but many later faced government repercussions. Now, a similar idea has been proposed for Venezuelans who don't sign a petition against US sanctions - and people are falling in line.

鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's blog,听. The views expressed are the author's own.

A few years ago, Hugo Ch谩vez enacted one of his most vile yet brutally听effective political strategies: the Lista Tasc贸n.

When the opposition began collecting signatures to recall his mandate in 2003, Ch谩vez demanded that each and every signature be counted and verified by the Electoral Council, the CNE. They proceeded to do just that, with the CNE even听asking people whose signature was in doubt to come and verify it听was actually theirs.

The whole process听took months of political and bureaucratic wrangling, and it was a brutally efffective stalling tactic. But听the biggest听effect of this move was to allow the government to make听a digital version of the list, one that Ch谩vez听subsequently used to punish his opponents.

Appearing in the听, named for听, became a mantra. 鈥�Como yo firm茅鈥︹�� became the explanation for many of life鈥檚 misfortunes.

Some people claimed you couldn鈥檛 get a passport or a simple permit if your name appeared on the list. Many were fired for signing. Members of my own family were denied employment in private companies that did business with the government just because they had signed. Why, there were听听written about the economic impact of appearing in Chavez鈥檚听list 鈥� appearing on the list meant, on average, a 5 percentage drop in earnings, and a 1.3 percentage drop in employment rates.

It is no exaggeration to say that the list destroyed some people鈥檚 lives.听The whole thing was so traumatic that even the government saw it, and they decided to听听after a certain point. Their goal had been reached: people were now terrified of ever signing anything against the government.

Years have passed, as have Ch谩vez and Tasc贸n, but their ideas are alive and well.

A few days ago, [President of the National Assembly] Diosdado Cabello brought up the idea that anyone who refused to sign the petition drive demanding Obama repeal his Executive Order 鈥� would be听. And just to underscore his point, he said that no, that this would be听. Today, we learn that the Electoral Council听, certifying听who has been naughty and who has been nice. Because听听鈥�

Venezuelans may be brave, but they are not idiots. Refusing to sign this petition will bring terrible consequences, and we all know it. We鈥檝e all heard the stories of public servants听, of听, of chavistas petitioning听听lines, or听,听or when people听. Spanish daily ABC claims听people are being asked to sign听. Why, even some of Caracas Chronicles鈥� bloggers have been 鈥渃onvinced鈥� to sign the list!

Nicol谩s Maduro has听to bring ten million signatures to the Summit of the Americas next week [in Panama] and hand them over to President Obama personally. I really hope he does 鈥� the whole charade promises to be a spectacle unlike any other (Will they be digitalized? Will he bring a wheelbarrow? How much space do ten million signatures occupy? Oh, the possibilities for satire are endless鈥�).

I truly hope President Maduro monopolizes the Summit with his antics. Our听spineless Presidents deserve Maduro ruining听their precious Summit.... Chavismo has already destroyed the hemisphere鈥檚 circumstances, he might as well do the same with its pomp.

But when he does it,听let鈥檚 not fool ourselves: this is just bad theater. The only goal here听is听to increase the fear in Venezuela鈥檚 population, and heighten the repression of听.

鈥� Juan Nagel is a writer for听, the place for opposition-leaning-but-not-insane analysis of the Venezuelan political scene since 2002.听