Luis Tascón
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Luis Tascón Gutiérrez (Capacho, Táchira) is a Venezuelan politician and member of the Venezuelan National Assembly. The son of Colombian-born parents, Tascón studied Electrical Engineering at the Universidad de los Andes in Mérida, Venezuela. He was a member of the political party Desobediencia Popular (Popular Disobedience) of Mérida from 1986 to 1992, and in 1998, founded the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) chapter of the Táchira municipality, Independencia.
He has been a member of the National Assembly since 1999, and became regional director of the Táchira state MVR in 1999. Tascón became a recognized public figures of the MVR after the events of April 11, 2002, when he helped charge some of the suspects in the Assembly with participation in the brief ousting of Chávez.
He became part of a national scandal when he published on his website the signers of 2004 referendum to recall Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Luis Tascón was re-elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly in the Venezuelan parliamentary election of 2005, representing MVR and the Communist Party of Venezuela of Táchira state.
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[edit] The Tascón List
In February 2004, during the TV program Aló Presidente No 180[1], President Chávez announced that he had signed a document requesting the National Electoral Council (CNE) to provide copies of signatures of petitioners for the Recall Referendum. [2] Luis Tascón, as the representative of the Comando Maisanta, was in charge of collecting the copies of the signatures, to prove Chávez's suspicion of fraud. [3] [4]
Weeks later, Tascón published on his website a database, based on the list provided by the National Electoral Council, of over 2,400,000 signers of the constitutional petition for a recall referendum against Chávez, including their national identity numbers (cédula). Tascón defended his action by saying that he was providing a means for people who had not signed the petition, yet appeared on the list, to register a complaint with the CNE. The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela reported that there was a public outcry over alleged violation of privacy and electoral laws, in particular by the organization Súmate, and reports that people who worked for the government were fired, denied work, or denied the issuance of official documents because of their appearance on the list.[5]. In July 2004, access to the database was restricted to members of the "Batallones Bolivarianos (BBI) por Internet (Internet Bolivarian Battalions)" which previously had to resgister on Tascón's website to gain access under the strict requisite that they had not signed the petition for the referendum.[6]
On April 16, 2005 Chávez declared the "Tascón List must be archived and buried" and continued, "I say that, because I keep receiving some letters, among the many I get, that make me think that, in some places, they still have the Tascón List on their tables to determine if somebody is going to work or not". [7] Tascón's actions were condemned by both the National Electoral Council and by Marisol Plaza, the Chief Public Prosecutor.[citation needed]
On 20 April 2005, Antonio Ledezma, chair of the political party Alianza Bravo Pueblo, sent a petition to Luis Moreno Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to open an investigation in relation to the case[citation needed]. A case was also opened on the Venezuelan Supreme Court against Tascón in May 2005. [8] [9] However, as an active member of the National Assembly, Luis Tascón has parliamentary immunity and cannot be tried while he is in office. During the same year, Tascón made comments disagreeing with President Chávez[10], which led to a temporary suspension by his political party. [11]
In March 2006, three former Venezuelan government employees introduced a case against the Chávez's administration at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, arguing that José Vicente Rangel, the country's vice president, ordered their dismissal because their names appeared on the Tascón List and, therefore, were victims of discrimination for political reasons. A decision on the case is expected to be reached in October 2006. [12]
[edit] External links
- Official Luis Tascón Website (Spanish)
- Official Luis Tascón Official Webpage from the National Assembly (Spanish)
- Official Results of the 2005 Parliamentary Election
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Ojeda Reyes, Yolanda (2004), ""Firmar contra Chávez es un acto de terrorismo"", El Universal.
- Morales Flores, Miyeilis (2004), ""Diputado Tascón inició registro de Batallones Bolivarianos por Internet"", Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela-Radio Nacional de Venezuela.
- Rojas, Alfredo (2004), "Chávez espera copia de planillas para mostrar fraude en cadena", El Universal.
- 2004, "Tascón: Comenzó fotocopiado de planillas de la oposición", El Universal.
- Chávez, Hugo (2004), "Aló Presidente 180", Ministerio de Comunicación e Información de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela.
- Da Corte, Maria Lilibeth (2005), "Chávez exigió enterrar "la famosa lista" del diputado Luis Tascón", El Universal.
- Lopez, Edgar (2006), "La lista Tascón llegó a la CIDH", El Universal.
