Churum Meru: Another great Chavez project
This is the slow season of the year. Politicians go away and not much happens in Venezuela, except that Chavez does stay. But if he can merge together three failed banks due to the negligence of his administration, put them together with another Government Bank, rename it Bicentenario and have a nationwide televised address to hail the opening of the new Government bank, I can write a Seinfeld post, a post about nothing. Or is it?
I mean, he had another “Cadena” today, because the Government bought a storefront from a fast food chicken franchise, they repainted it and opened a “Socialist Arepera” whatever the Hell that means other than arepas are cheap, for now…Because in a couple of months the Government is going to forget that Chavez liked this project and these guys are going to either have to increase prices or shut down. Of course nobody noted that the “cheap” Bs. 5 arepa, buys you over 50 liters of gasoline in revolutionary Venezuela, but who was asking anyway? Now, that gas is really cheap!!! Ask anyone in the world, even in Nigeria. Pass the arepas…
But the best news was that the Head of the Consumer Protection Agency (Indepabis) Saman, said he would work for free four hours a week at the Socialist Arepera. Well, good for him, Saman is another one of these Chavez fanatics, who before Chavez discovered him who knows where, paid no income or social security taxes, so now, at last he will do an honest day’s work, even if only four hours a week. Well, he has to start somewhere like everyone even if he is past forty, no?
And in another Chavista strategy of let’s attack the effect, rather than the cause, shopping centers will only be provided with electricity from 11 AM to 9 PM to save energy, killing movie theaters late at night. I do wonder what will happen to my place of work, which is in a shopping mall, how do you distinguish electrons going to the shopping area or to the offices? At the same time, being a night owl, would love to get in at 11 AM every day, but I bet this is just wishful thinking.
And I am sure than in a couple of months we will see Chavez inaugurating the military bridge to replace that one between Merida and Tachira that collapsed today. It will be another wonderful testimony to the inability of the revolution to plan anything or do anything before there is a problem.
But, of course, the Minister of Public Works and Housing is more concerned about establishing rules such that RCTV, whose license was illegally revoked in 2007, will be forced to carry Chavez’ nationwide speeches like today with its limited cable programming, rather than being concerned with falling bridges or housing or public works. The new rule is simple, if you carry more than 70% of programming made in Venezuela, you have to provide Chavez’ speeches I am sure that if RCTV had 60% of its programming made in Venezuela, the rule would be different. Or 45%.
Oh yeah, and according to today’s El Nacional, if you had money in any of the “refloated” banks, Confederado, Bolivar or Central, you could not take more than Bs. 2,000 out yesterday (About US$ 300 at the parallel rate). I have not been able to confirm this information, fortunately I only had Bs. 1,000 at one of these intervened banks and owed more than that in my credit card, which I promptly paid today.
But to give you some good news and make the post about something, Daniel of Venezuelan News and Views is back! Read his story carefully, he made it, he survived, but he could have easily have not, because he happens to be middle class and informed, he was transported to Caracas and given some of the best care available in the land. He is in the minority. He made it. But dengue fever is here to stay and to kill many Venezuelans every month, but it is given the same priority as crime: as long as Globovision does not report on it, nobody will know what is happening. Just the way Chavez wants it. Same as the strikes that take place daily, the protests that take place daily, the press conferences that take place daily. Soon, none of it will be happening, as the Government shuts down Globovision and thus, no dengue, no strikes, no protests.
And soon RCTV will be forced to carry Chavez live, direct from the top of Angel’s Falls as he announces the reopening and renaming of the waterfall to its rightful Indian name Churum Meru.
Thanks God there is a water shortage, otherwise he may decide to add water to Angel Falls to make it look prettier.
A post about nothing, just another boring day in the Chavez revolution.
The Devil's Excrement 