The Devil's Excrement

For a Government that has had many types of fundamentalists in their midst, it is curious that up to now, none have been of the religious kind. It is only fitting then, that Hugo Chavez will name his first Bible toting fundamentalist to Head the newly created office to manage the exchange control system to be created this week. The office will be run by Edgar Hernandez Behrens, a former military officer, who participated in the 1992 coup attempt with Chavez by leading a column of tanks and soldiers from Guarico state, south of Caracas. While barely known, Mr. Hernandez has been President of Banfoandes, a state bank. He has said in interviews that following the principles of the Bible has made Banfoandes prosper and obtain some of the best indices of the Venezuelan banking system. He has said “When one acts with love, you look for what people need…..we looked for change based on biblical values”. He also says his confidence in God has been fundamental to capture new clients and return confidence to depositors. He believes in tithing like the Bible commands and Banfoandes will contribute 10% of its profits to local communities. Hopefully, those asking the Central Bank for foreign currency will not have to pay a “tithe” to obtain it. In fact, even if the do, they may not get anything as Hugo Chávez announced today in his usual democratic way “Not one dollar for the coupsters”. Since all of the opposition is supposedly part of the plot to overthrow him, and 4.7 million people signed Sunday’s El Firmazo in favor of the opposition, maybe the militaristic/bible toting/fellow loving Mr. Hernandez will be using those lists to determine who should or not get foreign currency.

This entry was posted on February 5, 2003 at 12:26 am and is filed under Venezuela.