The Devil's Excrement

Yes, I went away for a few days taking advantage that Monday was a
holiday for certain parts of the Venezuelan economy. It was
just as well, probably as I was leaving the Supreme Court made its
ridiculous ruling which is really not worth commenting on as it was
simply a way of looking for an excuse to rule in favor of the morochas
using absurd argument. You want absurd:

–The decision only talked about candidacies, not how the vote is
applied to determine winners, so it concluded that the Constitution
does not talk about the proportional representation of minorities or
majorities. Huh?

–One Chavista group argued that no relationship could be proven between UVE and Chavez party MVR. Huh?

–Statements made by the President of the Electoral Board saying the
morochas were illegal but he could not do anything about it, were not
part of the arguments.

–The People’s Ombudsman argued that because AD fielded “morochas” for
the upcoming elections it was tacitly accepting the concept. Huh? He
also stated that what is not forbidden is not allowed and the morochas
were not forbidden by law. Using that logic, few things are actually
forbidden in Venezuela.

–But perhaps the highlights fo the day were the hugs between Lian Ron
and the Attorney General and the latter and the People’s Ombudsman
going to the Chavista celebration and even dancing in it.

And in the joy of the moment, the President of the National Assembly
tried to tell us how wonderful it will be not to limit terms for
anyone, suggesting that in the Constitutional reform if Chavismo gets 66%
of the Deputies, everyone will be eligible for unlimited reelection,
not only Chavez, but also great leaders, like the former bank robber
turned Mayor, or the crooks and hoods who run some of the states today.
Oh well!

In the end, it would appear if the Court admitting the case was just a
distraction. It will be a tall order to stop the Chavistas from getting
66% of the Deputies of the National Assembly. Ony low abstention on the
part of the opposition combined with a hig one on the part of the
Chavistas will make it happen, the latter will happen, but it is
difficult to envision the former.

Matt wrote this in the comments, I thought it was worth making it a post:

I grew up in Venezuela, my parents worked with New Tribes
Mission. I also went back under NTM and worked for 18 year in Venezuela
with the Ye’cwana. I grew up playing soccer, hunting and fishing with
them. I speak their language and know their customes. As do my wife
and children, (Three of them born in Venezuela)
I was disapointed in your lack of information on the mission. I have
lived in Tamatama since 1964 and know ALL the Indians, Piaroa, Yanomamo
& Ye’cwana. I’ve played soccer with all and the big division amonst
the tribes
is political. Don’t blame missions.
Also the Ye’cwana have not tried to oust the mission. The tribe as a
whole is very supportive. Look at Ayacucho last Friday.
The Guardia Nacional have had a presence in Tamatama since 1980. I live
two houses from the comando for years. If I was mining why didn’t they
know? The GN always used my boat motor to patrol the Orinoco river as
they don’t have one. They were in my house lots.
In Parima also where the mission has worked for years among the
Yanomamo the Ergesito have had a comando for about 13 years. Can we as
a nation (Venezuela) not trust our Fuerzas Armadas to pick out groups
that are a threat to our nation? So what is this about illegal planes?
We as a mission flew GN in and out of the Jungle.
I have liked you blogging but felt you were under informed in this area.
SALUDOS

Note: I did not claim to “know” about the issue, I just told what I
knew about it and I thought it should be the natives, not Chavez, that
should say whether they like or not the New Tribes near them.I also
said that Chavez should not (did not) have the power for such a
decision. Additionally, it is interesting than in the end, nothing has
happened, the Governor of Amazonas did not issue the decree and Chavez
has done nothing either, for the simple reason that he had no legal
instrument to do so. In fact, the tribes defended the New Tribes and
some Venezuelan missionaries started asking: Am I going to be kicked
out of my own country? Comments and posts that will enlighten us on the
subject are welcome (pro or agaisnt)