Chavez foes say barring of candidates is government attempt to hurt opposition in election

Chavez foes rap barring of opposition candidates

CARACAS, Venezuela — Government foes accuse President Hugo Chavez of being behind the barring of several prominent candidates from Venezuela’s congressional elections, saying he is trying to undermine the opposition’s chances.

The country’s top anti-corruption official, Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian, recently blocked six anti-Chavez hopefuls from the September ballot citing suspicions of possible involvement in graft.

One of the barred candidates, Ernesto Paraqueima of the left-leaning Podemos party, who is popular in eastern Anzoategui state, was disqualified for allegedly failing to present documentation of his financial assets after serving as mayor.

Paraqueima denied any wrongdoing Wednesday and called the prohibition “a trap that was set a long time ago.” He said Russian’s office announced the step last week in an attempt to hurt the opposition.

“This is another example of persecution,” Paraqueima said.

Russian denied the sanctions are politically motivated.

“We don’t have a list of people registered in one party or the other,” he said, pointing out that two pro-Chavez candidates — Numa Rojas and Jorge Luis Diaz — have also been barred from running due to graft suspicions.

Russian argues Venezuelan law allows him to impose such restrictions based solely on suspicion of corruption, with no need for hard evidence or for a candidate to have gone to trial and been convicted.

Russian hinted more candidates could be barred from running because investigations are still under way. “I can’t tell you if a name is going to come out today or tomorrow,” he told reporters.

Chavez has not commented on the latest disqualifications, but has expressed support for Russian’s actions in the past as a means of fighting corruption. Chavez denies Russian is conspiring with the government to weaken adversaries.

The September elections will determine whether Chavez and his allies hold control of the National Assembly. Chavez has warned that an opposition victory would be a devastating blow to his efforts to transform Venezuela into a socialist state.

The president’s supporters now have an unbeatable majority in the National Assembly after most opposition parties boycotted the last legislative elections in 2005.

The opposition this time aims to field a single candidate for each of the 167 seats up for grabs.

“The objective is to remove candidates who could be winning candidates,” Juan Francisco Contreras, a representative of the main coalition of opposition parties, said in a telephone interview.

He noted some candidates were barred just days before the National Electoral Council began allowing parties to register candidates.

The opposition figures banned also include former state governors Manuel Rosales and Ramon Martinez as well as three imprisoned former police commissioners considered “political prisoners” by many Chavez critics. The government denies it and says the three were convicted of conspiracy to murder for their roles in violence that preceded a short-lived 2002 coup against Chavez.

Gustavo Azocar, a journalist-turned-politician who plans to run, said he fears he could meet the same fate. Three months ago, he was sentenced to more than two years in prison for alleged fraud involving his publicity company and a state-run lottery. He denies any wrongdoing and has appealed.

“For me, the intellectual author of the restrictions (on candidates) is Hugo Chavez,” Azocar said in a telephone interview. “It’s a state policy.”