Economy
Most of the cases of criminalization of labor protests involve the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) and Venezuela's largest steel mill Siderúrgica del Orinoco (Sidor), according to the number of cases filed with Venezuelan courts against workers who staged demonstrations.

The legal proceedings in the state-owned oil company affect 27 workers of operational areas in the Eastern and Western regions of the country, as well as some workers of the Gas Division, Petropiar, El Palito refinery and Gas Comunal (Community Gas).

The six workers who were recently arrested in Gas Comunal have been charged with boycott, a crime provided for under the Law on Access to Goods and Services, and which involves a prison sentence of six to 10 years.

In Sidor, 25 workers were indicted and have to appear in court weekly, fortnightly or monthly pending trial for having participated in protests to seek better labor conditions.

The Venezuelan courts have filed 91 cases against workers, most of them union leaders.

Dangerous regulations
The reform of the Crime Code of 2005 is used, along with the Organic Law on the Security of the Nation and now with the Law on Access to Goods and Services, as the legal instruments that criminalize labor union protests, as the NGO Venezuelan Program of Education-Action in Human Rights (Provea) alerted in its latest annual reports.

In the case of the Code, demonstrators who block roads are punished with four to eight years in prison. Further, it prevents the people convicted for this crime from enjoying the right to the procedural benefits provided in the law and from applying for alternatives to comply with the sentencing, by virtue of Article 357 of said Code.

Meanwhile, the Organic Law on the Security of the Nation establishes a prison term of up to 10 years for people involved in demonstrations near virtually all government offices, basic industries, military garrisons or any places where protests may disturb public services.

The Law on Access to Goods and Services prohibits boycotts. According to the law, a boycott is an action carried out by a group of people who directly or indirectly prevent the production, importation, gathering, transportation, distribution or marketing of goods that are considered essential.

Meanwhile, the International Labor Organization (ILO) is deeply concerned about labor discrimination for political reasons in the public administration, in addition to state companies and organizations.

This is one of the findings of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the ILO, which specifically refers to the case of the Tascón List (a list of the signatures of those who requested in 2003 and 2004 a recall referendum against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, which has been reportedly used by the government to discriminate the signers). According the Venezuelan Workers' Confederation (CTV), one of Venezuela's main unions, the Tascón List is still applied by government authorities.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Suhelis Tejero Puntes
EL UNIVERSAL