Archive for July, 2003

Fear and lack of dignity in a single image

July 7, 2003


When Generals allow themselves to be searched so they can be close to the President, it only proves that they have lost their dignity while Chavez is now full of fear of the same people he claims still love him. Ironic or simply pitiful?

The ultimate in bad taste an uncivilized behavior

July 7, 2003

Pro-Government supporters rioted today in a very organized attack throwing rocks, screaming insults and otherwise causing havoc in the area near the center of the city. The reason? Protesting the funeral of Cardinal Velazco  who had passed away during the night and whose funeral was being held at the Cathedral in the downtown area. This is the lowest Chavez’ supporters have fallen to, but is simply a result of their training. They have been trained to despise and hate everythi ng and everyone except their wretched leader. I wonder if the People’s Ombudsman will now come out and speak well of these savages. I am outraged!



I challenge anyone to defend this despicable revolution, its revolutionaries and its leaders

Some nice blooms

July 6, 2003



From top to bottom clockwise: A spectacular Cattleya Warneri given to me by RICSEL, Leptotes bicolor and a nice Laelia Purpurata.

Some orchid pictures

July 6, 2003


It’s been a while since I posted pictures of orchids, but they are blooming daily. Above Slc. Jungle Gem. More in the orchids section.

Chavez’ new plan to get rid of poverty

July 5, 2003

While nobody seems to have noticed the Chavez administration has embarked in a new plan to eliminate poverty in Venezuela. It is a very simple plan: Stop the National Institute for Statistics from releasing the numbers of how many poor Venezuelans there are and how the number has done nothing but increase in the five years of the Chavez administration. Indeed, as reported today in El Universal, Emiro Molina was replaced as the Head of the National Institute for Statistics for releasing such numbers. He was replaced by the former head of Customs at the Internal Revenue Office, which means we should probably not believe any of the numbers from that office on tax collection in 2003

Same place, different person

July 5, 2003

Hugo Chavez yesterday swearing in his new Minister of Information:


“Media owners should all be in jail”


What a coincidence, exactly where I think he should be for the April 2002 murders.

Same place, different person

July 5, 2003

Hugo Chavez yesterday swearing in his new Minister of Information:


“Media owners should all be in jail”


What a coincidence, exactly where I think he should be for the April 2002 murders.

Pitiful Mundarain

July 5, 2003

 


One of the most pitiful characters of this travesty of a Government has to be the People’s Ombudsman German Mundarain. The position, called the People’s Defender in Spanish, was introduced in the 1999 Constitution with the intention of providing an additional independent power that would protect the rights of the citizens. But Mr. Mundarain appears to have confused his role significantly, being practically invisible when he should be outspoken, but being surprisingly speedy and agile when it comes time to defend the Government. Case in point, the strong criticism by Human Rights Watch of the Venezuelan Government. While Mundarain did not defend the right of demonstrators of the Petarazo, while he said little of the bomb against Governor Enrique Mendoza or that against Marta Colomina, he quickly jumped yesterday on the HRW report. What would be funny, if it were not simply tragic, is that Mundarain became the defender of the Media content bill which HRW criticized and is being proposed by the Chávez administration. It is not even the law!. Thus, this tragicomic personality of the Vth. Republic is not even defending the law of the land, but coming out in defense of a propsed bill that has been strongly criticized by many human rights organizations, has been labeled as a possible violation of the country’s human rights treaties and is only being defended by Chavez and his partisans. In fact, Mundarain takes advantage of the occasion to blast the press and defend the Government.


 


What is even more remarkable is that the strong criticism of HRW of the Government should give food for thought particularly to Mr. Mundarain. Mr. Vivancos of Human Rights Watch was highly critical of the opposition and was a defender of the Government in 2002, his turn on the Government should give a warning to those that have been entrusted with defending the people’s rights. But not Mr. Mundarain, he was partial to the Chavez cause before he was nominated to the position and much like the traveling Deputies of our glorious National Assembly; he has no inkling as to what democracy and human rights are truly all about.

The genius of Weil revisited

July 4, 2003


No question in my mind that cartoonist Weil is a genius, for proof the last two cartoons in Tal Cual yesterday and today. On the left two huge cases filled with money and the Minister of Finance in the middle, in reference to the queationable transactions done by the Finance Minsitry. On the right, a guy is first thanking the Robinson plan for teaching him to read, until he gets to read the paper. Enough said.

Remember the date: On July 3d. the Government said it was on to something

July 3, 2003

The Minister of the Interior and Justice, Lucas Rincon, the same one that announced to the country that Chavez had resigned in April 2002, said today that “in the next few days we will reveal the results of the investigations into the bomb attacks against the Governor of Miranda State and reporter Marta Colomina”. He told some opposition Deputies from the National Assembly that “they already had some clues about the attacks”. We will regularly follow up on this promise. Remember the date: July 3d. 2003!