Evidence of meeting #12 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was media.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Stéphanie Vaudry  Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela
Maria Páez Victor  Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands Off Venezuela
Alex Grant  Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands Off Venezuela
Camilo Cahis  Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands Off Venezuela

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

I call this meeting to order.

Let me start with an apology. I was in a committee that was running late and I somehow managed not to realize that I was to be coming here to the West Block, so I went to our usual room. My confusion has caused us to lose a bit of time.

We have two groups of guests with us today. We have the Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela, and then we have the Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands off Venezuela. My understanding is that only two of the witnesses will be doing opening remarks. They are Stéphanie Vaudry for the Société Bolivarienne du Québec and Dr. Maria Páez Victor for the Bolivarian Circle Louis-Riel.

Why don't we begin with Madame Vaudry? Then we'll turn to our other witness. After that we'll go to questions from the members. Thank you.

1:10 p.m.

Stéphanie Vaudry Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela

I am president of the Société Bolivarienne du Québec. In our work, we are affiliated to the international Hands Off Venezuela campaign. Our goal is to raise awareness, especially amongst workers and students, about what happening in Venezuela. Our main task is to promote the social benefits of the Bolivarian revolution and the mobilization to counter the attacks of imperialist forces against Venezuela.

Recently, Hands Off Venezuela and our NGO, the Société Bolivarienne du Québec, merged. Our movement includes workers, students, Quebeckers, Canadians, immigrants and aboriginals. Many languages are spoken in our diverse organization. I will read from our mission:

The Société Bolivarienne du Québec/Hands Off Venezuela is a non-profit, intercultural and independent organization dedicated to information and emancipation of the people, and guided by the liberator Simón Bolívar, and to an internationalist fight against new liberalism which is inspired by the ideals of self-determination for Latin American peoples, social justice, Latin American integration and respect for the ancestral rights of aboriginal peoples and the environment.

In broad terms, this is what our organization is about. Our main area of activity is to circulate information.

I would like to sketch out rapidly the context of the situation in Venezuela. In that country, the Punto Fijo pact was signed 40 years before Hugo Chávez was elected. Two political parties, COPEI and AD, were sharing the power in alternation every four years. In the 1980's, there was a major uprising which led to the events in Caracazo. A strong military repression left 3,000 dead.

Shortly after that, Hugo Chávez Frias stood for election, and he was elected in 1998. Hugo Chávez and his government recovered the natural resources of the country, especially oil, in order to fund social programs, among other things, in Venezuela. After he came to power, the opposition tried several times to remove him. In 2002, a coup lasted for three days. It had been fomented by the Venezuelian elite and funded by the American CIA. The coup was widely supported by the opposition media which were broadcasting cartoons while the events unfolded.

In 2002, a sabotage attempt targeted the oil industry. There was also a destitution referendum in 2004. Part of the Venezuelan people submitted a petition signed by more than 10% of those on voters lists. They were requesting a referendum in order to destitute the president. They failed, the president being supported by 58% of voters. Since 2004, the media, mainly, are trying to suggest the Venezuelan government lacks legitimacy, and they are supported by several countries, including Canada and the United States.

The movement in Venezuela is now striving to improve life conditions for the majority of Venezuelans. The people wrote a Constitution in 1999, and it was supported by a large majority. Several bilateral agreements have been signed with various Latin American countries. It led to the creation of ALBA, which is in fact an agreement between countries that share their knowledge on integration, solidarity and reciprocity. It is not a military or economic agreement, but rather a social agreement and a knowledge sharing agreement. It is a matter of sharing and not competition, as opposed to the FTAA which our governments recently tried to put into place.

Thanks to all of this, many improvements were achieved in Venezuela. From 1997 to 2009, the level of extreme poverty went down from 20.3% to 7.2%, and the poverty rate dropped from 50.4% to 28.5%. UNESCO tells us illiteracy disappeared from that country since 2008.

The Constitution of the Bolivarian revolution provides many rights for the Venezuelan people. The Venezuelan State is required to respect and protect human rights by doing what is needed to make them a reality and providing the related services. After that, various missions were undertaken in Venezuela.

I will enumerate a series of rights and give a few examples of missions and statistics on results that have been achieved.

We have the nationality and citizenship rights. As a matter of fact, 70% of Venezuelans did not have any identity documents, and 90% of those without them were part of the working classes. Through the Identidad mission, Venezuela distributed 8,710,404 identity cards to people in the country, which allowed them to vote and do their civic duty.

Then we have civil rights. The government made massive investments in community media in order to compensate for the opposition monopoly of the media. In Venezuela, 90% of the media are privately owned. Something is changing, and communities are being empowered. They can broadcast information on what is going on in the community, take part in public debate, and affirm their presence in the public sphere. Training is being provided to use cameras and radio equipment. They also have more and more radio stations and community space.

As concerns sexual orientation, a bill on gender equality is being examined in parliament. It provides for same-sex marriage and inheritance between partners of same-sex couples.

And now, political rights. Since 1998, there have been 14 electoral processes, including several presidential, municipal and legislative elections. They also had several referendums, including one on the new Constitution and one on the destitution of the president, which was voted down. Later on, there was a referendum on constitutional amendments. The people voted no a first time, but agreed the second time. As concerns elections and referendums, Venezuela accepts its mistakes, and then corrects them or tries to improve.

The present government in Venezuela is a majority government, with 60% of the vote. To promote peoples' involvement in politics in Venezuela, community councils have been set up, meaning that people in a municipality meet and act as a political entity, that they interact with other communities and the Venezuelan State, the government of Venezuela. Decisions are made. They also have budgets. These councils are almost like parallel town councils. This is meant to empower communities.

Concerning social and family rights, the Barrio Adentro mission, amongst other missions, is very popular in Venezuela. Thanks to this mission, Cuban physicians, especially, have been sent in poor wards in Venezuela to provide health care that is free, universal, specialized and modern to the Venezuela people. They also have the SUMED mission, which provides free pharmaceutical products. Thanks to the Miracle mission, people with vision problems could be operated on. The Negra Hipólita gave some support to drug users and the homeless. The Madres del Barrio mission brings economic help to single mothers by giving them food.

In Venezuela, the infant mortality rate dropped 7.7% since 1998, and life expectancy gained 1.7 year. Other missions were undertaken after the food crisis in 2008. The MERCAL mission, for example, and the public concern PDVAL distributed food to over 8 million people. The Bolivar plan uses Venezuelan soldiers to build schools and houses, distribute food and provide vaccines to the Venezuelan people. For example, the percentage of those with access to drinking water was raised from 82% to 94% between 1998 and 2009. The percentage of people with access to the water distribution service went from 64% to 84%.

As I said earlier, Venezuela has eradicated illiteracy since 2008. The graduation rate increased to 60% at the preschool level, to 91% at the primary level, and to 58% at the university level. Education is free, universal and compulsory at the primary and high school level.

Economically, as I said earlier, the level of extreme poverty has been very much reduced. The human development index went up from 0.6798 to 0.8263 since 2007. Also, the Gini coefficient measuring the gap between the rich and the poor has dropped from 0.98 to 0.393. Compare this with 1999. It was 0,572 in Colombia and 0.98 in Venezuela. In 2005, the Gini coefficient was up 0,184 in Columbia, which means economic disparity had worsened.

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Ms. Vaudry, you have now been talking for almost 11 minutes, and we will not have much time left for questions. But if you want to add something important, you may

1:20 p.m.

Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela

Stéphanie Vaudry

Does this mean they have lost their speaking time.

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Yes, maybe.

Are you done?

1:20 p.m.

Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela

Stéphanie Vaudry

I have more to say, but I do not what to take all the time for myself.

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

All right.

1:20 p.m.

Bloc

Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Your brief has been tabled.

1:20 p.m.

Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela

Stéphanie Vaudry

I can hand you my brief.

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Yes, with regard to the document, you did give a document out. It covers much of this stuff.

Our rules do not permit us to circulate documents that are in only one of the two official languages until they are translated, so the clerk hasn't been able to distribute them. But for any member who wants to come up to see one of the documents, they are here. You are free to see the document that was given out.

That being said, perhaps we can go to Dr. Victor, please.

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON

Mr. Chairman, if we could mention to the witnesses that they might just slow down a bit, I think that would help the translators.

1:20 p.m.

Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela

Stéphanie Vaudry

I know I speak too fast.

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

I think the translators are feeling a little bit...

All right.

1:20 p.m.

Dr. Maria Páez Victor Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands Off Venezuela

Greetings to the honourable members of Parliament. It's an honour to be here to be able to address this committee. Thank you very much for this opportunity.

We understand that this parliamentary subcommittee is conducting a study of the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is a difficult task for any country to get a fully accurate view of the human rights situation in any other country, as statistics are not always available or comparable, and anecdotal information is unrepresentative. This situation is not helped by a national media such as exists in Venezuela, which is largely controlled by admitted opponents of the elected government and is connected to the international media.

Even reputable Canadian newspapers have succumbed to their campaign of misinformation. For example, the Toronto Star was disciplined by the Ontario Press Council for publishing articles on Venezuela that had “significant deficienc[ies]” in terms of the standards of good journalism.

Due to this intentionally biased campaign, it is understandable that Canadians and their honourable representatives may have an insufficient and inaccurate picture of the state of human rights in Venezuela. We have come here to share with you information from a variety of sources and our first-hand experience on this issue, because the decision that the Parliament of Canada may make regarding human rights in Venezuela could have important ramifications for both countries, and even Latin America as a whole, and we would not want this august body to fall prey to media distortions.

I'd like to tell you a little bit of background. Although Stéphanie has covered it, I do want to mention that the last Constitution of 1961 was practically irrelevant for the practice of government. Torture, censorship, disappearances of opponents, killings, use of secret police, and suspension of civil rights were all commonplace in the administrations of the four previous presidents, most notably in 1989, as 3,000 people were massacred on the streets by the army when they spontaneously protested sudden price hikes instigated by the World Bank. The international community and the media scarcely paid any attention to these events; nor did they defend the human rights of the Venezuelan people at that time.

The Venezuelan people who have lived through all of this are judging the Chávez administration based on what went on before. Numerous recent polls have shown that Venezuelans have a high regard for their democracy and for its capacity to solve problems and its very high happiness rate.

It all started with the Constitution of 1999, which placed human rights at the very core of law and politics, an emphasis that was not there before. Why? Because those who were tortured and jailed by the previous governments became supporters of President Chávez and helped write the Constitution and made sure that human rights had a central place in the rule of law and the practice of government. The word “justice”, for example, appeared about three times in the previous Constitution. It appears 30 times in the new Constitution.

Stéphanie has talked about the civil rights and the social rights, the rights to food and housing and employment and a clean environment and health. The Constitution is not a boring topic for Venezuelans. On the contrary, it's sold in the streets, and people carry it around with them and discuss it. It is held in high regard, and even now the opposition is taking it very much into consideration. In contrast, hardly anyone read the last previous Constitution.

As one constitutional expert has said:

There is a large consensus both within Venezuela and among foreign observers that Venezuela now has one of the world's most “advanced” constitutions...provid[ing] for some of the most comprehensive human rights protections of any constitution in the world.

There are some key issues. One is the media. The history of Latin America is full of the fact that the media has been in the hands of oligarchies that did not allow its use by ordinary citizens. This was especially the case in Venezuela, and since the election of the present government, the private media abandoned all attempts of balanced reporting and journalistic standards.

In Venezuela, the great majority of radio and TV outlets are owned by the same people who had a pivotal role in the 2002 coup d'état that overthrew the elected government for 48 hours, kidnapped the president, and were within minutes of assassinating him.

The private media in Venezuela is the opposition. It has displaced the regular opposition parties. This is why the coup of 2002 was considered as the first media coup. In my own experience, every Spanish speaker I have taken to Venezuela to visit has been dumbstruck by the amount of criticism, indeed, by the vitriolic criticism of the government that appears in newspapers and on TV and radio, and there is full freedom of expression to do so. The government has not forcibly or illegally closed any TV or radio stations. The only TV station that has been closed was the one that was ransacked and closed by the coup supporters in 2002.

Ninety-five percent of the TV and radio is in private hands, but instead of censoring them or closing them down, the government amplified freedom of expression. Today, community radio and TV is numerous in areas where it would not have been dreamed of, in urban poor areas, in rural towns, and most importantly, in indigenous villages.

There was a new telecommunications law that was enacted, and it was based on the same laws that we have in Canada, the United States, and Europe. It regulates the time and content of children's programs and adult programs. It enables community media, and it prohibits racist, sexist, inflammatory content, and incitement to violence or hatred. This was not there before.

The opposition opposed this law vehemently and made demonstrations in which two students were shot dead by unidentified snipers. They were both supporters of President Chávez. It is deeply disappointing that there is scant international attention to the violence in Venezuela when the opposition perpetrates it.

The issue of Radio Caracas is already solved. This is a company that refused to register, to pay its fees, or to follow the telecommunications laws; however, in February it registered.

I'd like to go to the judicial system. In the past it's had the worst reputation. Previous governments refused to reform it, even though the World Bank pressured them to do it. With President Chávez, there was a series of stepped reforms in 1999, 2004, and 2005. It's a very hard thing to transform a judicial system and take away the corruption. Before, only those who could afford it were able to study law, and only those who could afford it were able to get a lawyer. This is not the case now.

On the issue of the judge, it's unheard of in Canada for a judge to be jailed, so it's understandable that this case may have been important here, but I would like to point out that the judge has been legally held in custody. Unlike in former times, the law is the law, and it applies to all, even judges. Article 266 of the Constitution expresses how a judge is to be charged with a crime. They can be suspended if the attorney general, the human rights ombudsman, and the comptroller general unanimously declare there has been a fault by the judge. Then it goes before the national assembly, which can remove the judge with two-thirds. What's important to point out here, and I would like you to note this, is that neither the judge nor the banker who stole millions were opposition members or even politically active.

As for the police, there has been a reform of the police, which has been very important, because crime is a problem all over the region. I would like you to know that for the first time in 40 years there is no secret police in Venezuela. With the new national police force and the new law, the police force has been modernized with education on community policing, professional ethics, knowledge of crime prevention, and human rights training. In October 2008, for the first time, 5,000 policemen were specifically trained in human rights during a two-year course. I would also like to mention that the police force is forbidden from having live ammunition during demonstrations or strikes.

I would like to also address the Inter-American Press Association, which issued a report last month denouncing violations in Venezuela. This is the same association that did not condemn the coup d'état in 2002, nor the closing of the TV station. The Latin American Federation of Journalists--

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Dr. Victor, I'm going to advise you that you're up to ten minutes now. I'm just a bit concerned with having time for questions and answers.

1:30 p.m.

Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands Off Venezuela

Dr. Maria Páez Victor

Can I finish with one last sentence?

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Please do. Yes.

1:30 p.m.

Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands Off Venezuela

Dr. Maria Páez Victor

I'd like to conclude that it was with dismay that we noted that a member of Parliament called President Chávez a brutal dictator. We want you to know that Latin Americans are well acquainted with brutal dictators who waged wars against neighbours, made thousands of people disappear, displaced indigenous peoples, kept secret police, tortured, imprisoned, or killed at will, and utterly disregarded the rule of law.

None of these things are happening in President Chávez's Venezuela. Venezuela is not a dictatorship, and we have never known a brutal dictatorship to accept losing a referendum by 1%.

We would very respectfully suggest that to gain appreciation of the human rights situation in the region, this committee also study the human rights records in Colombia and Honduras.

Thank you very much.

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Thank you.

I'm going to suggest that because of the fact that we started late--and not through the fault of the witnesses nor indeed the members, but because my late arrival--that we also allow this meeting to go a little bit later than 2 p.m. But I need in particular to find out if Mr. Hiebert, who I think would be asking the last question, is okay with that.

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON

He'll be asking first, so I think it's all right.

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Okay, Mr. Sweet. All right. Good. Thank you.

I'm assuming everybody else is cool with that.

We have time for seven-minute rounds of questions. It will be just one question per party, but you're free to divide your time as you see fit.

We'll start with the Liberals.

1:30 p.m.

Liberal

Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON

Thank you.

I think in approaching issues of human rights it's usually true to say that all countries have issues of concern. But I'm a little bit concerned by the fact that the overwhelming presentations by witnesses today have been so much part of the Chávez fan club that it's very difficult to ask questions of substance.

There have been numerous reports from several credible human rights organizations complaining about the concentration of power of Mr. Chávez and also the shrinking of space for the opposition. And there's the closing of the opposition radio and television. The intimidation of dissent is taking place as well.

These are also the words that were uttered by one of the respectable members of DFAIT who came to make a presentation before us, and also several witnesses on the ground. Yet I have not heard any comment about that whatsoever. So it's very difficult to ask questions when the picture is so rosy about Venezuela.

Is there anything you see at all that's happened, other than from the opposition? Because it seems that all the problems seem to come from the opposition, not from the government. But is there anything you see of concern, both on the issue of concentration of power and about the fact of the intimidation of the opposition?

1:35 p.m.

Bolivarian Circle Louis Riel / Hands Off Venezuela

Dr. Maria Páez Victor

You know, there are very serious problems in Venezuela. It's a developing country. There are problems with crime. That's why I talked about the police. There are problems with Colombian paramilitaries; they regularly cross the border and commit atrocities, and they are working with criminal gangs. There are terrible problems with drug dealing. Recently the United Nations said that Venezuela is one of the countries that has the most confiscated drugs from these thugs, these murderers who bring drugs into the country.

But what I am trying to convey to you is that despite all these problems it may have, this is a government that's actually trying to solve these problems, not a country that is turning a blind eye to them. Every country has problems of one sort or another, even Canada. We could talk about things that are irrelevant for us to bring out here, but what I am trying to convey to you is that this a government that... In the past, the governments were quite terrible to their population, but this is a government that is really trying to solve the problems of the country.

I would also like to say that I disagree that some of the organizations that have brought reports against Venezuela are credible. The Inter-American Press Association is not an association of journalists, it's not an NGO, and it's not an academic organization. It is an organization of the owners of newspapers, and they are very powerful.

I would like you to listen to what the Latin American journalists say. The Latin American Federation of Journalists has stated that IAPA “has been an accomplice in barbarity and has fathered the derailment of democratic processes... It has no moral authority, having endorsed some of the most bloody coups d'état in recent decades.”

IAPA has never condemned the coup in Honduras, nor the killing last month of the six journalists in Honduras.

As for Human Rights Watch, a recent Human Rights Watch report spurned an open letter by 100 of the most distinguished international experts on Latin America in North America and in Europe, who had issued an open letter stating that Human Rights Watch “does not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or credibility".

You can see that there are some very powerful people stacked up against Venezuela. We greatly fear that this is very similar to campaigns that have occurred in other parts of the world before very terrible conflicts were unleashed against those countries.

Yes, there are many problems related to the same things that all developing countries are facing, but we believe what the Venezuelan people believe and what they have shown in elections and what they have shown in polls. Over and over again, international polls have shown consistently that Venezuelans are among the Latin Americans who most highly regard their democracy, and they have the highest rating in the region in believing that their government has the capacity to solve their problems. In the end, that's what's most important: what the Venezuelans believe, what they vote for, and what they express through these international polls.

1:40 p.m.

Société Bolivarienne du Québec / Hands Off Venezuela

Stéphanie Vaudry

May I say one more thing? It will not be long.

1:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Scott Reid

Go ahead, Madame Vaudry, s'il vous plaît.