April, 16 2013, 09:04am EDT
Election Analysis from Venezuela
Venezuela's electoral authority reported that governing party candidate and interim president Nicolas Maduro has won Sunday's special presidential elections to succeed the late president Hugo Chavez.
WASHINGTON
Venezuela's electoral authority reported that governing party candidate and interim president Nicolas Maduro has won Sunday's special presidential elections to succeed the late president Hugo Chavez.
MARK WEISBROT, via Dan Beeton
Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the recent op-ed "Chavez's Death, Like His Life, Shows the World's Divisions" published by Al Jazeera English.
Weisbrot said today: "Maduro's victory was most likely attributable in large part to the increase in living standards during the Chavez presidency, and support for the government's 'misiones' or social programs. Since the Chavez government got control over the national oil industry, poverty was reduced by about half and extreme poverty by 70 percent. Unemployment has fallen from 14.5 to 8 percent, and income inequality has dropped sharply. Add to that the enormous support for the misiones that provide free health care and expanded access to education, and it is not surprising that Venezuelans would vote for continuity."
ROBIN ALEXANDER
Alexander monitored Venezuela's elections on Sunday as part of a delegation from the National Lawyers Guild, and also monitored Venezuela's presidential elections in October. She is the author of the article, "Elections in Venezuela and Pennsylvania: Lessons in Democracy?" published in the NACLA Report on the Americas.
Alexander said today: "The six polls we visited in the state of Carabobo were calm and well organized and lines we short. New software and additional computers have virtually eliminated wait times. The U.S. would do well to incorporate some of the security checks and practices that are routine in Venezuela -- such as Sunday elections -- to improve both the level of participation and credibility of our elections."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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Amnesty International on Thursday called for a war crimes investigation into recent Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed dozens of civilians, as well as a suspension of arms transfers to Israel as it attacks Gaza, the West Bank, and Syria.
In a briefing paper titled The Sky Rained Missiles, Amnesty "documented four illustrative cases in which unlawful Israeli strikes killed at least 49 civilians" in Lebanon in September and October amid an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign of invasion and bombardment that Lebanese officials say has killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.
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The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
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"The youngest casualty was Aline, a 5-month-old baby who was flung from the house into a pickup truck nearby and was found by rescue workers the day after the strike," Amnesty said.
Survivor Jinane Hijazi told Amnesty: "I've lost everything; my entire family, my parents, my siblings, my daughter. I wish I had died that day too."
As the report notes:
A fragment of the munition found at the site of the attack was analyzed by an Amnesty International weapons expert and based upon its size, shape, and the scalloped edges of the heavy metal casing, identified as most likely a MK-80 series aerial bomb, which would mean it was at least a 500-pound bomb. The United States is the primary supplier of these types of munitions to Israel.
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Guevara Rosas said: "These attacks must be investigated as war crimes. The Lebanese government must urgently call for a special session at the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism into the alleged violations and crimes committed by all parties in this conflict. It must also grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes committed on Lebanese territory."
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians."
Last month, the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel's 433-day Gaza onslaught, which has left more than 162,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing in the embattled enclave.
The tribunal also issued a warrant for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes committed during and after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which more than 1,100 people were killed and over 240 others were kidnapped.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice is weighing a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. Last week, Amnesty published a report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The United States—which provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic cover—has also been accused of complicity in Israeli war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon.
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians," Guevara Rosas said. "The latest evidence of unlawful air strikes during Israel's most recent offensive in Lebanon underscores the urgent need for all states, especially the United States, to suspend arms transfers to Israel due to the risk they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law."
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