(26 Feb 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sitting down ahead of press conference
2. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela:
"Don''t you see what the report from that terrible organisation says? It isn''t even worth responding to those people any more. For what? It''s pure rubbish. What we should do is get ready to denounce the agreement through which Venezuela joined that terrible Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and get out of it. It isn''t worth it. They are a mafia there."
3. Wide of media as Chavez speaks
4. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela:
"We are very willing to sit down with Colombia, as part of the efforts of a group of friends (referring to group of regional leaders assigned to mediate conflict), and with witnesses present, to have a dialogue, to put our cards on the table. One condition, however, is that the aggression against us end, sine qua non. All aggression from the government of Colombia towards the government of Venezuela must end. Anytime we have said something harsh against the government of Colombia, it has been in our own defence, even what was said during that lunch in Cancun. We were defending ourselves."
5. Close up shot of cameraman
6. Wide of news conference
STORYLINE
President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday that Venezuela should boycott the Organisation of American States'' human rights body, saying the panel wrongly accused his government of political repression.
Chavez took issue with a report issued this week by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which cited widespread human rights violations in Venezuela. The socialist leader called the 300-page report "pure rubbish" and described the commission''s president, Santiago Canton, as "excrement."
"What we should do is get ready to denounce the agreement through which Venezuela joined that terrible Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and get out of it. It isn''t worth it. They are a mafia there," Chavez said during a televised address.
Local rights activists applauded the account issued by the rights committee, saying it sheds light on widespread rights abuses.
The report, released on Wednesday at the OAS headquarters in Washington, complains of a lack of independence for Venezuela''s judiciary, the closing of news media outlets that are critical of the government, and political discrimination and repression under Chavez.
The report condemned the procedures for appointing and removing judges, saying the regulations "lack the safeguards necessary to prevent other branches of government from undermining the Supreme Court''s independence."
Government opponents have long complained that the Supreme Court - whose members are appointed by the predominantly pro-Chavez National Assembly - has been packed with the president''s allies, giving him nearly unlimited power. Chavez denies holding sway over justices.
The OAS commission also called attention to an increase in sanctions against news media, singling out the case of Globovision, a television news network that is fiercely critical of Chavez.
Globovision has been repeatedly fined for allegedly violating broadcast regulations, and Chavez has threatened to shutter the network.
The report strongly condemned what it called "a trend toward the use of criminal charges to punish people exercising their right to demonstrate or protest against government policies," adding that more than 2,200 people have been indicted on criminal charges stemming from their participation in protests in recent years.
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