The Devil's Excrement

As you know, CADIVI, the foreign exchange control office,  will now ask people to justify how they spent their cash advance or withdrawals while traveling. The law currently places no restrictions whatsoever on what you may spend the cash on or not and does not specify you have to get receipts for this expenditures, Below, the Devil’s Excrement, as a public service, takes a bold prediction for the top ten excuses found in the CADIVI files of how Venezuelans spent their $500 after one year. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

(Amounts may vary according to the age and sex of the recipient of the $500 in cash)

10) 25 cents when I bought a newspaper at a machine on the street

9) Bought a $5 pen from a blind man at the airport

8) Gave $ 10 to a homeless person on the street

7) Paid the valet $5 at a Restaurant

6) Gave a $10 tip at the airport

5) Bought some hot dogs at the ball game

4) Bought $50 in lottery tickets

3) Gave 20 bucks at church

2) Spent 100 bucks on a prostitute

1) Gambled away 500 dollars at an Indian casino

The US Department of Justice announced
today that three Venezuelans and one Uruguayan were arrested yesterday on
charges of acting and conspiring to act as agents of the Venezuelan Government
without notifying the US Attorney General as required by law. A fifth person is
being sought in connection with the charges. They face up to ten years in
prison and up to US$ 250,000 in fines. The Venezuelans are Antonio Jose Canchica Gomez (at large), Moises Maionica , Franklin Duran and Carlos Kauffman. The Uruguayan is Rodolfo Edgardo Wanseele Paciello.

—On Aug 29, 2007 Duran spoke with Antonini on the phone and asked for a power of attorney and told hyim the matter was being handled at the top of the Venezuelan Government.

—On Sept. 16, 2007 Mainioca spoke with Antonini and told him that his involvement in the case began with a three way call between the office of the Vice President of Venezuela, the DISP and Mainioca, at which he was assigned this mission.

—On Oct. 4th. 2007, Mainioca told Antonini that an emissary was being sent to him and he should personally tell the emissary what Antonini required to participate in the conspiracy. Later he gave him the code word for identification.

—On Oct. 28th.2007, Rodolfo Wanseele drove Antonio Jose Canchica to a meeting with Antonini at which the latter acknowledged the code word and told Antonini that he would be helped. Antonini was told he was the last link in the chain.

—On Nov. 6 2007, Mainioca advised Antonini that a man from DISIP named Arvelo would call him. On the same day Arvelo called Antonini and told him Antonini’s concerns were being addressed.

—On December 11, 2007 Mainioca, Duran and another individual met with Antonini and held discussions on how to create a false paper trail to conceal the true source of the US$ 800,000 in cash.

Clearly, Antonini was cooperating with the FBI throughout all of this.

Very interesting and damaging stuff indicating the levels of corruption in Venezuela, this goes all the way to the top as expected.

Somebody sent me this, telling me it was published in a newspaper in Argentina. It was too good not to translate and reproduce in Spanish too, even if it contains the forbidden B.. word a few times. If anyone knows the source, would love to give credit where credit is definitely due.

The Idiot (Anonymous)

Not anyone
is an idiot Sir. You need vocation and training. No matter what the packaging.
Because there are different classes of idiots: The invisible ones and the
flashy ones. Those that are odorless and those that stink. The tasteless ones
and the ones too rich to eat. There are idiots with cap and gown and idiots
with boots. There are idiots of recent harvest and aged idiots. There are
idiots by conviction and idiots of convenience.

Any idiot,
however has his basic equipment: a series of peculiar features, which define
them and separate them from the rest of the species. The typical idiot, for
example, does not distinguish colors or shades. He sees the world in black and
white. He fills his speeches with dichotomies. Poor and rich. Patriots and
lackeys of the empire. Good and bad. Capitalism and socialism. Bush and the
other one. The idiot practices self-denial. He thinks he manipulates others and
others use him. They put him up, for example, to insult the gringo in a far
away land, while the host turns his crossed eyes to wash his hands. Or an
illiterate President, stuffed in his poncho, organizes for him an act of
adulation to empty his purse while he speaks.

The idiot
does not know what he is saying. He uses his tongue, but not his brain. He pays
homage to slogans. He calls to create one, two, three Vietnams, without remembering the suffering that
one Vietnam
gave the world. Or he shouts with all his lungs: “Fatherland, Socialism or
Death” as alternative options for the future. Like a threat waved at the four
winds, that leaves no room for those that believe in humanity, freedom and
life.

The idiot
does not know arithmetic. He looks at himself in the mirror and shouts: There
are two of us! The idiot, in fact, associates his country with three small and
poor countries and believes the Empire is trembling. Venezuelan, Cuba, Bolivia
and Nicaragua
have embarked in that little adventure called ALBA. Together they add up to 50
million inhabitants. Half of what Mexico has. A fourth of Brazil’s the
sixth part of the population f the Empire. Bush has not even noticed that ALBA
breathes.

The idiot
does not know that others can see. He chases the man of his dreams (if Bush did
not exist, he would invent him) throughout Latin America
and later says it is the other one that is looking for him. He stages a show in
a Buenos Aires
barrio and then goes to sleep at the Sheraton.

The idiot does not have political identity. In Argentina he proclaimed he
was Bolivar‘s, San Martin’s and Tupac Amaru’s, Che Guevara’s and Peron’s son.
In Peru
Velasco’s. In Nicaragua,
Sandino’s son. In China Mao’s. That mixture of such dissimilar parents is
perhaps responsible for the ideological disorder that the poor idiot carries
between wart and forehead.

The idiot
prefers uniform things. He is afraid of diversity. That is why he wants a
unique party where everyone pleases his every whim. And a unique thinking that
avoids the itching of dissidence. And a unique and eternal leader, whose finger
will decided the course of the country. The idiot assumes no responsibilities.
It is always someone else’s fault. Of neoliberalism. Of the oligarchy. Of the
media. Even of his Ministers. He is an expert on washing his hands.

The idiot
thinks he is great because others applaud him. The idiot things he is a steel
tiger. The idiot does not know that steel also melts.

The Venezuelan
opposition should do its own thing and try to ignore Chavez, as he will
do whatever he decides to do and it has been clear that he will not
limit himself in anyway, just because someone in the opposition is
against it.

The opposition has many problems, one of them the fact that it
has no obvious leader to counteract Chavez. Some think this is not a
problem, but in fact last Sunday’s vote showed that Chavez can be
beaten and one of the reasons he has never been beaten directly is that
no opposition figure has been able to grab the attention of the so
called Ni-Ni’s like the reform did on Sunday. (Ni-Ni’s are those that
are not the hardcore supporters for Chavez and who mostly abstained or
voted No on Sunday.)

I believe there is an opportunity right now for those that
want to lead the opposition in the future, it is very simple: Don’t go
on vacation! Yes, you can bet most opposition leaders are getting ready
to take off for Christmas vacation, but not Chavez. Much like last
year, he will stay and work hard through the New Year, trying to figure
out what he will do next.

In fact, General Baduel has already mentioned this in one of
his press conferences. After all, he understands it from within. He was
Minister of Defense last year when after Rosales’ defeat, all of the
opposition leaders disappeared until mid January, days after Chávez had
already made some dramatic announcements, such as nationalizing the
electric companies and the telephone company, the Enabling Bill and the
proposed Constitutional reform. You can be sure this year will be no
different.

At least General Baduel understands this and says he plans to
spend the holiday season going around the country promoting a
Constituent Assembly. Baduel clearly made a very calculated decision to
split from the revolution and attempt to become the leader of Chavismo
without Chavez. The opposition runs the risk that he will back into
being their leader, out of sheer attrition by what people call the
traditional opposition, which has little of traditional, as by now it
includes everyone that opposes the autocrat, including dozens of groups
from extreme left to right, as well as dozens of others that backed Chavez at
one time or another.

Chavez is likely to continue pushing Constitutional Reform.
Deputy Carlos Escarra, a constitutional lawyer has already spelled it
out clearly, Chavez will go the route of a Constitutional reform
promoted by the “people”. This is at this time the safest route for
Chavez. Another proposed reform may be defeated, but will not imply the
end of Chavez’s Presidency. By contrast Baduel’s proposal of a
Constitutional Assembly could end up like in 1999, forcing Chavez to
run for President again, a huge risk despite his still high popularity
at a time when economic problems are increasing. That is why Baduel
proposes the reform and Chavismo has so far clearly stayed away from
that idea.

While the Constitution bars the presentation a proposed
reform more than once, sufficient changes can be made to some of the
proposals made and rejected Sunday to be able to say that the new proposal
is quite different and does not
represent a revision, which is what the Constitution bans from being
presented twice.

To understand that, think about Chavez’ main objective with the
proposal rejected last Sunday: His indefinite reelection. A new
proposal could simply say that no President could be elected for more
than three terms in a row, allowing Chavez to run one more time in
2012, be President until 2020 and use that Constitutional period to
propose a new reform that will allow his indefinite reelection, if
conditions allow for it. Clearly such a proposal could not be legally
blocked because it is a revision of the old one. it is not indefinite reelection anymore, and it could be
accompanied by some other proposals using different names.

Baduel’s position in favor of a Constituent Assembly is
somewhat inconsistent, as he continues to defend the 1999 Constitution
but sees a Constituent Assembly as a way of balancing the National
Assembly and even getting rid of Chavez if economic conditions
deteriorated sufficiently before a final vote came to pass on its
proposal. This would take close to a year total, more so if the
opposition had a significant representation in the Assembly, which can
not be ruled out given the results of Sunday’s referendum and the
attempts by the Government to create a new discriminatory list by
finding out which members of Chavez’ new party PSUV abstained from
voting. This combined with Chavez lack of grace in accepting defeat may
create in the end a bigger backlash that he may imagine.

But is not clear what the opposition plans to do, unless you
find yourself in Baduel’s camp, as he is clearly part of the opposition
now, and while I applauded the role he played in helping the No win on
Sunday, he does not represent the future I want for my country.

Who does? Really nobody so far, since so little is being said of
substance in terms of alternative programs for our beleaguered country.
Most opposition groups are saying little different than Chavez is, as
they feel people want populism, which while correct, does little to
improve the level of debate in Venezuela. Thus, at the time, I may have
to be content to have a leader whose economic an political ideas
disagree with mine, as long as he has a track record, however short, of
respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

For now, that would be a giant leap in improving conditions in Venezuela.