An article in the Miami Herald describes well what has happened to the Government’s intelligence police under Chavez. While it may seem funny at first glance, it becomes tragic when one realizes that this is just one example of what Chavez has done to the Government structure in Venezuela.
Archive for November, 2002
Good quantitative article on Digital vs. Film and camera resolution
November 14, 2002Very good article in Adorama about when does a digital camera becomes as good as a 35 mm camera. More importantly, the article is not qualitative but actually quantitative, for those like me that are scientifically inclined. Additionally, there is a very good discussion as to how pixels in a digital cameras work and why there are artifacts. The discussion includes the Foveon technology that I have posted on before. The conclusion is that digital cameras are already as good as a 35 mm film camera, but those that are that good are very expensive. You can actually see the correlation between resolution and price. There is a very good link to a japanese website that compares pictures taken with the top of the line Canon EOS digital cameras where one can see that the quantative results correlate with the quality of the pictures.
First violent day while Cesar Gaviria is here
November 13, 2002Up to now, the Chavez Government has been careful in controlling violent outbursts while OAS Secretary General and mediator Cesar Gaviria has been here. This has been part of the two-faced strategy of promoting the Chavez administration as a good citizen of the international community. Well, the strategy lasted until today when very violent demonstrations took place in downtown Caracas which resulted in one person dead and ten injured. This is an indication of the deterioration of general conditions as well as the apparent loss of control by the Government over the Bolivarian circles.
It all began in the morning, when cops from the metropolitan police who are striking blocked the main access to the city council building. A group of 25 people took over the building where the Mayor of the Metropolitan area, the Governor of Miranda state Enrique Mendoza and other members of the democratic coordinating committee were meeting. According to former Governor of Merida state William Davila, all was well while tear gas was being used but suddenly shots were fired from outside the building forcing the police and the National Guard to act. Demonstrators moved their protest to other areas of Caracas where violence continued until sunset. The Government was quick to blame the Mayor of the Metropolitan area in another attempt to blame violence on the opposition, but it was clear that shots were fired by the violent demonstrators and not the police or the National Guard. The Mayor said that when he went to the local hospital where many of the injured were taken, he was almost lynched by a crowd led by opposition deputy Iris Varela. As usual the Government said it would investigate fully the violent acts of today.
Gaviria was forceful today in condemning the violence while being diplomatic about it. Said Gaviria: “a certain level of impunity is being planted in Venezuela with respect to some violent events and a custom that such events sometimes are never clarified”. Clearly, he was putting the Government on the spot. The Government accused the opposition of playing a double game while appearing to be doing the same when it wrote a letter to the UN General Secretary criticing the opposition. Such a strategy takes away from the dialogue being promoted in Caracas by Gaviria and may represent a strategy of eventually disqualifying Gavirai as a mediator if talks fail or if Gaviria begins criticizing the Government’s negotiating position.
Meanwhile the negotiations seemed to be stalled somewhat today as the Government continued to make accusations against the opposition while the opposition mantains its stance that the only negotiations are about the elections as the Nov. 4th. request for a referendum is a process based on the Constitution and can not be stopped. Apparently the Government has even questioned the Declaration of Principles signed by Vice-President Rangel in October which set the stage for the negotiations.
The Failure of the left
November 13, 2002While many countries in Latin America turn to the left, I have always found it intriguing that the so-called neoliberal policies are criticized as having failed, but little mention is made of the success of economies like that of Singapore, Malaysia, Korea or closer to home, that of Chile. I have written a couple of articles pointing this out in El Universal, a Caracas daily on my impressions on Malaysia as well as the success of dollarization in El Salvador. Below, I translate freely a good article by Luis Henrique Ball “The Failure of the Left” which in very clear and succinct fashion points similar concepts out:
Since 1958 Venezuela has not had anything but left-wing governments. The ideas of Romulo Betancourt and Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo dominated the national political agenda during the first decade of democracy and state capitalism, oil production limits, price controls and protectionism made their appearance in our country. During the seventies, the social justice of Rafael Caldera came accompanied by more controls, more protectionism, the nationalization of foreign-owned electrical and telecommunications companies and the limitations to foreign companies in the banking business. Then came Perez I and left us with labor legislation copied from Peronismo, a Central Bank and an oil industry in the hands of the state, with both local and foreign capital expelled from all the profitable areas of the economy and planting the bases for the fiscal drain of the Guayana companies. Herrera and Lusinchi practically eliminated free trade with Recadi (the office that managed exchange controls) and controls of all kinds.
Perez II was the first Latin-American politician to attempt the juggling which since then many have imitated: a market economy with a controlled society. Perez, much like later Menem, Cardozo and others did, tried to obtain the benefits of the capitalistic system without dismounting the cronyism of a regulated economy and fundamentally leaving intact the capitalism of the state. Caldera II emulated Lusinchi during his first years, while later trying an about face without conviction.
Thus, we arrive at Chavez who never hid his political tendencies or his revolutionary fervor. In only three and a half years of his Government he has increased poverty and street-peddling to levels never thought possible as recently as five years earlier, and even worse, has presided over the disassembling of the productive fabric of the nation to such levels, that it will likely take a generation to recuperate it.
This is the legacy of a shared vision of society, a vision that has been more radical in some cases than others, but that in its origins it all originates in Marx.
In this moment, when Venezuela may be seeing some light at the end of the labyrinth, it is worth analyzing which have been the successful countries during the last forty years, which countries have been able to generate wealth and more well-being to their populations. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia were dirt poor nations compare with Venezuela in 1958. Today they are richer and more prosperous nations than ours, and coincidentally, in those countries academics and intellectuals were never seduced by socialism. Chile, the most successful nation in Latin America, was the only one to completely disassemble the legal and institutional structure that the left had built during decades and Great Britain, which thanks to Margaret Thatcher; the same was done and is a symbol of European prosperity.
Today, Venezuelans should be attentive and insure that once the current nightmare is overcome we will not return to the past.
Corruption in Chavez’ time by Agustin Beroes
November 13, 2002I received today a link to this web site “La corrupcion en tiempos de Chavez” (Corruption in Chavez’ time) which contains a very complete and well documented set of most of the accusations of corruption against Chavez’ Government. The site is written by Agustin Beroes who used to write for El Nacional and wrote a book about the exchange control office Recadi, one of the biggest corruption cases in the history of Venezuela. The site contains a lot of information and apperas to be very complete and the compilation alone is fantastic. Anybody who ever believed in Chavez’ revolution can only be convinced that it is a “robolucion” (robo means steal in Spanish). It is sufficient to say that nobody has been jailed on corruption charges during the Chavez administration and that many of the principals in these stories still occupy important positions in the Chavez administration.
First impressions upon coming back to reality
November 12, 2002While it is difficult to reach conclusions based on a few conversations and observations after being back for a full day, here are my most relevant first impressions:
- While I was gone for only a week, there seems to be a clear change in atmosphere. The Government appears to be more incoherent than ever., having suffered a considearble loss of face after last Monday’s march. Clearly there is a considerable amount of bickering within the Government as to how to proceed from here.
- Monday Nov. 4th. did not become another April11th. for a number of reasons. First of all, people were better prepared, as demonstrated by the fact that the AP reporter hGovernment continued to attempt to show that it was a good citizen of the world. This time, it was hard to fool everyone all the time. Finally, the fact that some of the leadership of Chavez’ MVR tried to stop the violent attempt to block the march, limited the violence to the group already there since the morning and the presence of teh police and National Guard definitely helped.
- That Venezuela is clearly headed for an election is clear now. The opposition now has the upperhand after handing in the 2 million plus signatures last week (even if only 1,5 million are validated). Reprtedly Chavez may call for a general election, which would imply he does not want to particvipate in any procvess which he may lose. (If he called for elections, he could not run), while Vice-President Rangel denies this, the strategy is to try to field a candidate less identified with MVR (El Universal suggests today it may be Claudio Fermin).
- The opposition seems to be focusing its strategy on the referendum leaving details aside such as who the Government’s representatives are and whether Chavez formally named them or not.
- To complicate matter further Chavez vetoed the electoral bill which was approved with the votes of only his MVR majority in the National Assembly. This has not set well with some of his supporters who see it for what it is: another maneuver to delay the possibility of an election.
- PDVSA may now be back into the picture as there were protests there today and some are scheduled for tomorrow. The issue was an MVR event held in PDVSA over the weekend which went against company policy of not involving the corporation with politics. To make matters even worse, the President of PDVSA reacted badly initially when he was welcomed by pot-bangers, he later apologized but a protest against him will take place tomorrow.
- The protest in Altamira continues, diminished, but very much alive. This is in itself a problem for the Government as everyday there are events that take place there that are widely covered by the media, contributing to wearing down the Government.
Thus, a lot has happened, time is compressing fast. Chavez appears to be running out of options, but somehow, he still holds on……
Two million signatures handed in
November 7, 2002Press reports indicate that at least ten people were injured today when supporters of Hugo Chavez attempted to stop the march that was going to the Electoral Commission to hand in two million signatures to ask for a referendum. In the best democratic spirit, the Chavistas threw rocks and burned tires to block the demonstration. The National Guard used tear gas to stop them and the march reached the CNE succesfully. Once again, the true colors of Chavez and his supporters comes through. Anyone that has doubts as to who was responsible for the deaths in April should just look at the events today and think back. It is crystal clear. Now we have to sit back and as General Medina said, see what type of legal maneuvering Chavez does to stop the opposition.
Bolivarian low lifes
November 2, 2002Hugo Chavez created the so-called Bolivarian circles two years ago, claiming they would be civil organizations that would do social and community work. With time, the opposition has accused these Bolivarian circles as being paramilitary groups who would be used to violently defend the Chavez presidency if necessary. In the past, they have taken over the surroundings of the presidential palace, Puente el Llaguno (a bridge in downtown Caracas from which the shots that killed most of the people that died on April 11th. were fired) and attempted to take over a university. Bolivarian circles have also attacked a number of opposition politicians and have rioted, for example, when the Supreme Court made its decison on the Generals that refused to obey orders on April 11th. Despite this, Chavez and his collaborators defend them as peaceful organizations.
That these circles are low life’s was demonstrated tonight. Mohamed Merhi, the father one a high school student shot to death on April 11th. declared himslef in hunger strike two days ago in front of the Supreme Court. His protest was over the fact that it is the Court that has to investigate the charges of Crimes agaisnt humanity agaisntt President Chavez for the deaths on Aoril 11th. However, the Court has delayed the case and the Attorney General has made many manuevers that have delayed the case, so no investigation has been made.
Mr. Merhi, a small framed quiet guy, has been staying for two days in front of the Supreme Court with freinds and sympathizers of his cause. Well, today the Bolivarian Circles arrived in front of the court. They began by insulting Mr. Merhi, but the situation turned violent and the National Guard had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd Mr. Merhi tried to seek refuge in the Supreme Court building but the National Guard did not allow him to do it. As he was rejected, he was gassed and injured by stones thrown by the despicable members of the bolivarian circles, there have been shots fired but no injuries from handguns. At this time the police have surrounded the building and Mr. Merhi says he will not be intimidated by the circles and his hunger strike will continue.
What the Bolivarian Circles have done tonight is a despicable and cowardly act that shows what low lifes they are. Tomorrow that other low life called Hugo Chavez and his Vice President will appear on TV condenming the attack, but they are the fathers of this monster called the Bolivarian Circles. The international press or human rights organizations will say little about this hedious act. To me Mr. Merhi is the embodiment of the tragedy of this country and the hypocrisy of the Chavez Government.
When things like this happen, I want someone to come up to me and justify that Chavez should stay because he was democratically elected. As I always say: So was Hitler!
(In another despicable subject, the second in command of the office of the People’s Defender, who defends only the Government, criticized Mr. Merhi for pressuring the Supreme Court. There are no words to qualify this statement)
Off for a while: Will I miss something big?
November 2, 2002I will be going away for ten days. While I can keep posting while I am gone, it certainly is not the same to talk about what is happening from afar. I will only post if something which appears truly important happens.
The number of people in Plaza Altamira decreased significantly in the last two days. On Monday, there will be the march to hand in the signatures for the referendum. Thus, next week should be quite interesting. Chavez does appear to be willing to negotiate, buit this is not thefirst time this has happened so it might be meaningless. A reputable poll came out yesterday saying that in the question proposed for the refrendum 73% of the people would vote against the President and only 17% for him. Doesn’t sound good for him.
The Statements of the Dissident Military
November 2, 2002The Government and the OAS continue to paint the dissident military and Plaza Altamira as coupsters. All one can say is that they have used a much different language in their statements. They either say Chavez should resign or that we should have elections. I have created a new category with the original statement of the dissident military as well as their statements to the Secretary General of the OAS Cesar Gaviria.
The Devil's Excrement 