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[Chomsky has always been critical of Chavez's authoritarianism. It's not
like this should be surprising.--DC]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/03/noam-chomsky-hugo-chavez-...
Noam Chomsky denounces old friend Hugo Ch vez for 'assault' on democracy
Renowned American intellectual accuses the Venezuelan leader of
concentrating too much power in his own hands
by Rory Carroll in Caracas
The Observer
Sunday 3 July 2011
Hugo Ch vez has long considered Noam Chomsky one of his best friends in
the west. He has basked in the renowned scholar's praise for Venezuela's
socialist revolution and echoed his denunciations of US imperialism.
Venezuela's president, who hasrevealed that he has had surgery in Cuba
to remove a cancerous tumour, turned one of Chomsky's books into an
overnight bestseller after brandishing it during a UN speech. He hosted
Chomsky in Caracas with smiles and pomp. Earlier this year Ch vez even
suggested Washington make Chomsky the US ambassador to Venezuela.
The president may be about to have second thoughts about that, because
his favourite intellectual has now turned his guns on Ch vez.
Speaking to the Observer last week, Chomsky has accused the socialist
leader of amassing too much power and of making an "assault" on
Venezuela's democracy.
"Concentration of executive power, unless it's very temporary and for
specific circumstances, such as fighting world war two, is an assault on
democracy. You can debate whether [Venezuela's] circumstances require
it: internal circumstances and the external threat of attack, that's a
legitimate debate. But my own judgment in that debate is that it does not."
Chomsky, a linguistics professor at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, spoke on the eve of publishing an open letter (see below)
that accuses Venezuela's authorities of "cruelty" in the case of a
jailed judge.
The self-described libertarian socialist says the plight of Mar a
Lourdes Afiuni is a "glaring exception" in a time of worldwide cries for
freedom. He urges Ch vez to release her in "a gesture of clemency" for
the sake of justice and human rights.
Chomsky reveals he has lobbied Venezuela's government behind the scenes
since late last year after being approached by the Carr centre for human
rights policy at Harvard University. Afiuni earned Ch vez's ire in
December 2009 by freeing Eligio Cede o, a prominent banker facing
corruption charges. Cede o promptly fled the country.
In a televised broadcast the president, who had taken a close interest
in the case, called the judge a criminal and demanded she be jailed for
30 years. "That judge has to pay for what she has done."
Afiuni, 47, a single mother with cancer, spent just over a year in jail,
where she was assaulted by other prisoners. In January, authorities
softened her confinement to house arrest pending trial for corruption,
which she denies.
"Judge Afiuni has suffered enough," states Chomsky's letter. "She has
been subject to acts of violence and humiliations to undermine her human
dignity. I am convinced that she must be set free."
Amnesty International and the European parliament, among others, have
condemned the judge's treatment but the intervention of a scholar
considered a friend of the Bolivarian revolution, which is named after
the hero of Venezuelan independence, Sim n Bol var, is likely to sting
even more.
Speaking from his home in Boston, Chomsky said Ch vez, who has been in
power for 12 years, appeared to have intimidated the judicial system.
"I'm sceptical that [Afiuni] could receive a fair trial. It's striking
that, as far as I understand, other judges have not come out in support
of her that suggests an atmosphere of intimidation."
He also faulted Ch vez for adopting enabling powers to circumvent the
national assembly. "Anywhere in Latin America there is a potential
threat of the pathology of caudillismo [authoritarianism] and it has to
be guarded against. Whether it's over too far in that direction in
Venezuela I'm not sure, but I think perhaps it is. A trend has developed
towards the centralisation of power in the executive which I don't think
is a healthy development."
Chomsky expressed concern over Ch vez's cancer and wished the president
a full and prompt recovery.
Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global
Dominance became a publishing sensation after Ch vez waved a copy during
a UN address in 2006 famous for his denunciation of President George W
Bush as a devil.
Its author remains fiercely critical of the US, which he said had
tortured Bradley Manning, alleged source of the diplomatic cables
exposed by WikiLeaks, and continued to wage a "vicious, unremitting"
campaign against Venezuela.
The Ch vez government deserved credit for sharply reducing poverty and
for its policies of promoting self-governing communities and Latin
American unity, Chomsky said. "It's hard to judge how successful they
are, but if they are successful they would be seeds of a better world."
Leonardo Vivas, co-ordinator of Latin American initiatives at the Carr
Centre, said that Afiuni's case was the most prominent example of the
erosion of justice in several Latin American countries. The centre hoped
that Caracas would now heed Chomsky.
"He is one of the most important public intellectuals in the US and is
respected by the Venezuelan government."
The decision to lobby publicly was taken because quiet diplomacy had
limits, said Vivas.
Ch vez, who is convalescing in Cuba, has a reputation for lashing back
at criticism, raising the risk that the Afiuni initative could backfire.
"That could happen," said Vivas. "But that would mean recognition of the
problem."
Chomsky's letter
Judge Mar a Lourdes Afiuni has suffered enough
With this public letter I want to express my open support of the liberty
of judge Mar a Lourdes Afiuni, detained in Venezuela since December
2009. In November of last year I was informed of her situation by the
Latin American initiative of the Carr Centre for human rights policy at
Harvard University. Ever since, I have been directly involved in
mediation efforts with the Venezuelan government, with the purpose of
releasing her from prison through a gesture of clemency by President Ch vez.
Judge Afiuni had my sympathy and solidarity from the very beginning. The
way she was detained, the inadequate conditions of her imprisonment, the
degrading treatment she suffered in the Instituto Nacional de
Orientaci n Femenina, the dramatic erosion of her health and the cruelty
displayed against her, all duly documented, left me greatly worried
about her physical and psychological wellbeing, as well as about her
personal safety.
Those reasons motivated me in December 2010 to address, jointly with the
Carr Centre, a petition for an official pardon from the president in the
context of the yearly presidential amnesties.
In January I received with relief the news that Venezuela's attorney
general had suggested house arrest for judge Afiuni given her fragile
health condition, which ended up with emergency surgery. Being in her
house with her family and with adequate medical attention has been
without doubt a significant improvement of her situation.
However, judge Afiuni has suffered enough. She has been subject to acts
of violence and humiliations to undermine her human dignity. I am
convinced that she must be set free, not only due to her physical and
psychological health conditions, but in conformance with the human
dignity the Bolivarian revolution presents as a goal. In times of
worldwide cries for freedom, the detention of Mar a Lourdes Afiuni
stands out as a glaring exception that should be remedied quickly, for
the sake of justice and human rights generally and for affirming an
honourable role for Venezuela in these struggles.
For the above reasons I want Venezuelans to be aware of my total
solidarity with judge Afiuni, while I affirm my unwavering commitment
with the efforts advanced by the Carr Centre in Harvard University to
release her from imprisonment. At the same time, I shall keep high hopes
that President Ch vez will consider a humanitarian act that will end the
judge's detention.
--
Dan Clore
▲ 우고 차베스 베네수엘라 대통령은 지난달 30일(현지시간) 베네수엘라 TV에 방송된 연설에서 자신은 쿠바에서 암 수술을 받고 있다고 밝혔다. 차베스의 오른쪽 어깨 뒤로 남미의 독립 영웅이며 차베스가 가장 존경하는 인물로 꼽는 시몬 볼리바르의 초상이 보인다. ⓒAP=연합뉴스 |
다음은 촘스키 교수가 베네수엘라 정부에 보낸 공개서한 전문이다. <편집자> 아피우니는 충분한 고통을 받았습니다 이 공개서한에서 나는 2009년부터 구속돼 있는 베네수엘라의 마리아 루데스 아피우니 판사의 자유를 공식적으로 지지한다는 의견을 밝히고 싶습니다. 지난해 11월 나는 하버드대 카(Carr) 인권정책센터의 라틴아메리카 연구소를 통해 아피우니 판사에 대해 알게 됐습니다. 그때부터 나는 차베스 대통령이 관용을 베풀어 아피우니를 석방하도록 하기 위한 베네수엘라 정부와의 교섭 노력에 직접 관여해 왔습니다. 아피우니 판사에 대해 나는 처음부터 공감과 연대를 표해 왔습니다. 그가 체포된 방식이나 부적절한 수감 환경, 교도소에서 겪은 열악한 처우, 급격한 건강 악화, 그에 대한 잔혹한 행위는 모두 공식 문서에 기록돼 있으며 그의 심신 건강과 안전에 대해 나는 매우 우려해 왔습니다. 2010년 나는 이런 이유로 카 센터와 함께 행동하기 시작했고, 차베스 대통령이 연례적으로 행해지는 사면에 그를 포함시키도록 청원하기도 했습니다. 지난 1월 나는 베네수엘라 당국이 긴급 수술을 받아야 하는 등의 심각한 건강 상태를 고려해 아피우니를 징역 대신 가택연금 처분을 내렸다는 소식을 듣고 안도했습니다. 집에서 적절한 치료를 받으며 가족과 함께 지내는 것은 아피우니에게 있어 분명한 진전입니다. 그러나 아피우니 판사는 이미 충분히 고통받았습니다. 그는 폭력과 모욕적인 행위를 당했고 이는 그의 인간적 존엄을 손상시켰습니다. 나는 아피우니가 풀려나야 한다고 확신하고 있습니다. 이는 단지 그의 심신 건강 상태 때문이 아니라 '볼리바르 혁명'의 목적인 인간의 존엄성을 지키기 위해서입니다. 전세계가 자유를 열렬히 요구하는 시대에, 아피우니의 구금은 주목받는 예외 사례로 부각되고 있습니다. 정의와 인권을 위해서, 자유를 위한 투쟁에서 베네수엘라가 명예로운 역할을 하고 있음을 확인하기 위해 이 사태는 빨리 해소돼야 합니다. 위와 같은 이유로 아피우니에 대한 나의 연대의식과, 그를 석방시키기 위한 카 센터의 노력에 내가 동참하고 있다는 것에 베네수엘라 정부가 귀기울여 주기를 바랍니다. 이와 함께 나는 차베스 대통령이 아피우니 석방이라는 인도주의적 행위를 보여 주리라는데 대해 높은 기대를 갖고 있습니다. |
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