Stopping Guillermo Vargas Habacuc

Comment

Comment by Chad Albus on May 20, 2008 at 4:46pm

WHAT IS THE ASPCA DOING ABOUT THIS?

Comment by Chad Albus on May 20, 2008 at 4:45pm

I wish I could do something to stop this abomination. Why is this allowed. Who considers this art? Some people are simply husks and empty voids.

Comment by Georgia Shawver-Marchal on May 20, 2008 at 4:00am

I know it's horrible, but instead of name calling and repeating how sick this is, why not use this forum to come up with ideas to send to the artist to stop people dumping animals...(as that is one of the reasons he states that he did the exhibit.) I would say to Mr. Vargas....round up as many stray animals as you can in the community. Take them with a large group of protesters and concerned citizen to the health Ministry in his local village and camp out in front of the building until they get a response and some action from the government! In the meantime, feed the animals you are using for the protest! Maybe I'm crazy, but this seems a more effective and humane way of getting a governments ear than some lousy, weird, cruel exhibit seen by a few elite, socially neurotic snobs?

Comment by shauna on May 18, 2008 at 8:35pm

ROT IN HELL GUILLERMO. If I could see the man die the same way I would happily pay the admission price.

Comment by Andrea on May 18, 2008 at 5:05pm

This is SICK!

Comment by Chiefy's Mommy on May 18, 2008 at 2:55am

How would this jerk like to have food out of his reach and people watch him starve to death? this has me crying and angry at the same time

Comment by The Pawz Cauze Show on May 15, 2008 at 1:37pm

Here is the information site about Vargas and him being banned. I am the USA Representative for OIPA and this is the information we have received in regards to Vargas and his "art":

http://www.oipa.org/animalabuse/news/gallery.html

thank you.
Pawz Up,
Leigh

Comment by Alex on May 14, 2008 at 3:18pm

Here is a correction to the information on this site:

"Please let the ASPCA know that their information is
inaccurate in that Vargas HAS been invited to exhibit and to represent Costa Rica, but NOT to repeat the same act of cruelty in the biennale. In fact the rules have been modified to prohibit any artist using an animal.

However, this does not in any way excuse him, or negate the fact that we need to have him banned from participating."

Comment by Liz S on May 13, 2008 at 10:17am

Somebody should starve him to death and put him in an exibition to see how it feels! That is the saddest thing i have ever heard! There has to be something wrong with this guys head!

Comment by Alex on May 13, 2008 at 2:46am

I have contacted those who are active outside the U.S. I just received this e-mail.

Here is an update on the Vargas atrocity. . . . .

(Anyone who feels like writing letters, there is one at the bottom that you can simply sign and mail. I hope everyone here will do that.)


====

Dear Alexandra

As far as I understand it, unless we can get the authorities nervous enough to ban him before the show, a group of lawyers will officially present the petition at the opening. I will double check with Jaime on this. I should explain I am Cindi Scholefield and I help Jaime, the petition author, with translations into English.

To give you a little update, we understood that the original problem was the lack of a cruelty to animals law in Nicaragua (where the show took place), and that is why nothing was done. Apparently a few people during the show asked for the dog to be released and the 'artist' refused. Most people, however, merely looked and walked on. The terrible irony is that the title of the 'work' was written on the wall by gluing tiny circles of dog food to shape the letters, just above where the dog could reach, and the local newspaper (La Nación) reported that he died of starvation the following day. Without any shadow of a doubt the man is a sadist.

After this show, Vargas was chosen to represent Costa Rica in the prestigious Central American Biennalle to take place in November in Honduras. The petition is to try to have him banned from participating.

We have notified the major institutions looking after the interests of animals in the world, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (in USA), and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (England), but they haven't followed through as we would have wished. They seem to think that as long as he does not kill another dog in the next show it's alright, and we TOTALLY REJECT this notion. He will NOT be showing another dog in Honduras, but this is not the point. Allowing him to be in the show at all gives artists carte blanche to commit any kind of atrocity on an animal, just so long as they promise not to repeat it. NO! And we maintain that it is not enough to protect the living, we must do all we can to protect future generations of animals.

Actually we have recently found out that THERE IS, in fact, a law to protect animals in Nicaragua, which makes the lack of follow-through of the local authorities, as well as PETA and WSPA all the more reprehensible, although when I confronted WSPA with this fact I was told that 'since 1941 when the document was signed they have had revolutions, the constitution has been re-written and the law is no longer enforceable'. We are presently trying to find out how much truth there is in this.

Here is a link to an interview that Jaime did with a reporter from the Daily Express in London (in translation) which gives a very clear overview of where we are at the moment and what we are up against.
Interview with Polly Buchanan:
http://fon.gs/interview

With over 3.5 million signatures we still have not got Vargas banned from the November Biennale, so we are now working from another angle, targeting the authorities of Costa Rica who are promoting this artist and have invited him to represent his country in the prestigious Central American Biennale in November. Our letters are to the Ministry of Tourism, telling them that if they promote people who abuse animals, we will not go to Costa Rica on vacation. We want to deluge them with letters, to make them think twice about what they are doing. If you would like to send a letter, a text follows below, you can send it or use it as a model. The other two cases mentioned in the letter have also gone unpunished.

We are also asking people to contact their respective Ambassadors in Costa Rica ( Vargas' sponsor to the Biennale) writing letters in the same vein. The US has a brand new Ambassador, Peter Cianchette, just sworn in last Thursday 8th May.
Unfortunately they don't give out an email, but the rest of the details are:
Street Address: Calle 120 Avenida 0, Pavas, San José, Costa Rica
Local Mailing Address: 920-1200 San José, Costa Rica
U.S. Mailing Address: US Embassy San Jose, APO AA 34020
Telephone: [506] 2519-2000 From the U.S.: 011-506-2519-2000
After Hours/Emergencies: [506] 2519-2280 or [506] 2519-2279
From the U.S.: 011-506-2519-2280 or 011-506-2519-2279
Embassy Fax: [506] 2519-2305 From the U.S.: 011-506-2519-2305
Consular Fax: [506] 2220-2455 From the U.S.: 011-506-2519-2455



In spite of it all, we still believe that with the help of good people like you we will achieve our goal.

If you have any other ideas, do let us know.

Blessings

Cindi

This is the address to send it:
info@tourism-costarica.com

Dear Sirs:

I am sure you are aware of the uproar all over the world demanding the removal of the Costa Rican national Guillermo Vargas as a representative of his country to the VI Biennale of Visual Arts of the Central American Isthmus, to be held in Honduras.

More than 3.5 million people have signed the petition, and the numbers increase every day. We are requesting that the Costa Rican authorities intervene, because of the continually negative response from the body which is sponsoring Vargas in the event – Art Impresarios, whose president is the prestigious architect, Mr. Ronald Zürcher.

You should know that we who care about animals take very special notice of countries who do not respect the rights of animals, and we bear that in mind when we chose a vacation spot. In your country right now we know of three glaring cases which have not yet been resolved:

1. The case of Vargas
2. The case of Barahona (the cat-eater)
http://ea6gk.blogspot.com/2008/01/come-perros-y-gatos-vivos.html
3. The case of Isla Cocos
http://ea6gk.blogspot.com/2008/01/pas-en-guerra-contra-especies-invasoras.html

This global campaign is having a very negative collateral effect on Costa Rica's image, and in particular it affects how the world views your tourist industry. For this reason, we urge you to intervene to put an end to the bad publicity, which is very damaging to your beautiful country.

The way to do it is to stop Guillermo Vargas representing Costa Rica in the Biennale this coming November.

Yours sincerely
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