Having been born in Cuba, my family left the Castro communist regime and fled to Venezuela in 1961. Venezuela, itself, has had a history of oppression by the military dictator, Marcos Perez Jimenez (1952-1958). Even after, right-wing governments ruled the country. Although hopes for the future of Venezuela seemed brighter a decade ago, the promises to the poor were not fulfilled and those hopes were crushed by the left-wing oppression of the Chavez government.
The filmmaker, Oliver Stone, has taken his considerable talents and crafted a work entitled South of the Border -- a travelogue with Hugo Chavez and the various South and Central American governments he supports. Beyond the many inaccuracies and distortions in the film, Mr. Stone does not speak with any Venezuelans who offer a very different view of life under Chavez.
Since Oliver Stone wouldn't, I spoke with a few people to get their perspective. In September, there will be elections for the National Assembly. The outcomes of most of the races are foregone conclusions, to many.
So, I started by speaking with Juan Francisco Mendizabal, a respected technology expert who created a system to verify voting records and was threatened, harassed and intimidated until his life was in danger, and left his homeland for the US, where he is seeking asylum:
What would you tell Oliver Stone if he interviewed you for his film?
Elections in Venezuela are not free, nor fair or transparent. To claim that elections in Venezuela are "Free" is an insult for the victims of the Chavez Regime, the Venezuelan people, who suffer the worst consequences of this dictatorial regime. Venezuelans are victims of 24 hours of Government propaganda. Public employees are threatened with termination from employment if the Government finds that they are voting for a different candidate other than Chavez. Your vote is not secret. They created "La Lista Tascon," which is a political Apartheid, with the names of all those who voted against the Chavez government. Lower income people are forced to wear red t-shirts and march in Pro-Chavez rallies or face dismissal of the government programs (denied basic access to food, education and healthcare). Free and fair elections are only a dream for Venezuelans. I have spoken with many Venezuelans about the election process. What would you want Americans to know about elections in Venezuela?
Democracy is more than elections. Under Chavez, Venezuela's government was transformed into to a grotesque "Orwellian" state feared by everyone. The Venezuelan election is a fraudulent process comprised of a complex machinery of intimidation that coerce Venezuelans to vote for Chavez or face terrible consequences. Fraud is present in every aspect of the electoral system, from a corrupt national electoral registry to the gigantic, abusing Government propaganda to food-for-vote social bribery for low-income communities. The Venezuela's electoral system was designed not to record the people's will but to create the impression of a modern Democratic state. Similar to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Venezuelan electoral system is completely flawed only intended to maintain dictators in power with a light flavor of Democracy. I know you have been threatened and intimidated by the pro-Chavez activists. Can you tell me about the calls you received?
I receive all sorts of threats from the "Defenders of the Revolution" as they call themselves. The Cuban-led Venezuelan intelligence was able to track me at every level imaginable. My efforts to build a parallel vote-counting system intended to demonstrate fraud immediately got the Government's attention. I suffered all kinds of verbal and material repression from Chavez and his organized gangs. When I decided to help the opposition build a fraud detection computer platform, I never conceived of the ruthless, brutal attacks they were capable of inflicting on me and my family. Verbal attacks via phone calls, physical punishment attacks in which a gun was pointed at my head and I was told that the revolution had already sentenced me to death, beating and incarceration attempts, financial, moral and religious destruction were launched at me from the Government.
As you can see, this is why Oliver Stone didn't speak with everyday Venezuelans on the street and, instead, merely gave Hugo Chavez a platform. Movies are powerful things and serve as a record long after the headlines have faded.
You can also follow the Twitter feed, VzlaAwareness, as we confront the truth about Venezuela and the Chavez government.