A few years ago, Chavez would give the word and organizers would go out, buses would come in and a decent showing would be made to celebrate Ezequiel Zamora’s circumcision if that is what he wanted.
But no more.
On Saturday, Chavez decided to hold his rally in the El Valle area of Caracas, a popular lower middle class area that is the residence of many of his Cabinet Ministers. Unfortunately, not only was attendance poor to commemorate the people’s revolt at “The Caracazo” 21 years ago, as seen in the picture above, but while giving his speech, Chavez was given the biggest live “Cacerolazo” he has received since he held a parade in la Carlota in the summer of 2002. (This blog did not even exist then)
Chavez shortened his speech and promised that the next day in his Sunday program Alo Presidente he would announce further measures against those responsible for the “Caracazo“.
But the program was canceled, using as an excuse that Chavez was travelling, something he knew on Saturday when he spoke..
And while Chavez tried to steal the remembrance of the Caracazo, from ONG’s to FARC-related groups, we were reminded that the deaths from that day 21 years ago, reamin unpunished with not a single person convicted for a single one of the hundreds of deaths that day. Because Chavez only remembers the Caracazo when it serves his purposes. And after 10 years of the IVth. Republic and eleven of the Vth. Republic under his own personal supervision, impunity remains the order of the day, no matter what Chavistas may want to say.
And more Cacerolazos are on the way, as the 10% salary increase of today, will be accompanied by price increases in 19 basic foodstuffs (all needed)
The Devil's Excrement 
March 9, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Why do you guys even bother with Adolfo? Once you ignore him and not engage him in conversation he’ll go away just like all the other trolls that have come and gone. He’s not worth he energy you spend typing his name.
He has no idea what Venezuela is like nor has he been affected by the crime/violence that defines our society.
Let him “blah blah” away and soon he’ll disappear….
Bye Bye Adolfo!
March 3, 2010 at 10:31 am
Well, at least most Venezuelans will not swallow Hugo’s crocodile tears over the Caracazo’s dead. He depends wholly on the Fuerzas Armadas. At the very least, some of his buddies were involved some way or the other in the indiscriminate shooting.
Then, if he cared about the loss of Venezuelan citizens life and limb, he would spend all his time, and most of his money on trying to reduce crime, which has killed a fifty to a hundred times more people than the wildest estimates of the Caracazo’s death toll during his tenure.
I recently read in a newspaper that Chavez and family have something like 2529 military personnel assigned to their security details. What’s this, apart from a big middle finger to the Venezuelans who actually die on the streets? Man, this is regiment-strength force for people who have never, ever been attacked violently. Carlos Andres Perez would have had a better justification for keeping a regiment around him in 1992.
Adolfo is waaay off topic and off line… Apart from being extremely obnoxious. Spreading what (he should know now), is lying propaganda, and calumny against a dead man who died at the hands of a totalitarian government carrying on a pacific protest. He is the kind of troll that should be canceled once and for all.
March 2, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Look it up in Unodc.
Also, here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
But those are “optimized” for Venezuela.
Venezuela stopped sending stats there in 2002 as the regime realised it was a shame. It had climbed from 19 to 36 back then, now it is over 6à (in Wikipedia 58). Still, we can get good numbers based on regional police and morgue reports and a little bit of extrapolations.
I have written an awful lot about murder in Venezuela (look for the tag crime).
You cannot make up so easily the number of murders: there are the list with names and ages and all, the morgue reports, etc.
Arturo, you are a bloody troll. Please, if you want to continue this conversation, tell me your original nationality and how long you have been living in Venezuela.
Else, I suppose you are asking all these silly questions so that we waste time and don’t inform the world about the bloody farce that is the regime that is paying you.
March 2, 2010 at 7:21 pm
you are starting to overstay your welcome, the rate in Venezuela you ignorant fool is 0.316 murders per 1,000 in the US 0.042 per 1,000
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
as to orlando zapata:
Zapata was arrested on December 6, 2002 by agents of the Cuban police on charges of contempt, for which he was imprisoned for over three months. On March 20, 2003, 13 days after he was freed, he was arrested for a second time during a crackdown on dissidents and sent to the Kilo 8 prison in Camagüey.
as to the sentence:
http://www.elmundo.es/america/2010/02/24/cuba/1266967804.html
so, go away, learn to read, learn spanish and stop your garbage
March 2, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Re Zapata ver Yoani.
March 2, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Kepler? What is the rate per capita in the USA and Venezuela?
March 2, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Adolfo: are you pretending to be that stupid or what?
Venezuela has by far the highest murder rate in South America. This “crime is everywhere in the world” is just so silly.
The murder rate in the US is less than a tenth that of Venezuela. That of chile is even much lower. Whom are you trying to kid?
March 2, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Adolfo:
Crime is a universal problem. Not just in Venezuela.
It is more universal in some countries than in others.
16,272 murders in US in 2008. Population: 304,059,724
16,000 murders in Venezuela in 2009. Population: 28,000,000
794 murders in Germany in 2005 Population: 82,000,000
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
http://devilsexcrement.com/2010/02/26/homicides-in-venezuela-eleven-years-of-neglect-and-incompetence/
March 2, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Which is another reason this blog is so great, you stand up to the trolls and correct the dis/mis informed.
Your international audience is appreciative.
March 2, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Crime is a universal problem. Not just in Venezuela. Zapata a petty criminal in Cuba(fraud, break and enter, assaults) is your example!!!
March 2, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Frank: re: the death toll. But isn’t that typical? “Caracas es Caracas, y ¿lo demás? Monte y culebra.” It happens everywhere.
March 2, 2010 at 2:00 pm
11 women and children:
Click to access Caracazo%20case.pdf
very probably the truth is in the middle. For me it is apparent the whole thing had little to do with spontaneous. Then there was a showdown.
March 2, 2010 at 1:39 pm
The term massacre is incorrect. What happened was out of control looting and rioting and thugs shooting everywhere. Martial law was decreed and those caught in the streets where subject to get shot. CAP ordered troops to take control… not to kill. Criminals where in control and control had to be taken back. Lots of subversive activity took place that encouraged looting and rioting… lots of misinformation regarding these events.
March 2, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I guess there will be plenty of time – and chances – to examine popular reaction to a 10% wage increase while at the same time, the foodstuffs mentioned will increase a minimum of 11% all the way up to 40%.
This coming on the heels of, what was it, a 50% devaluation?
The chickens are coming home to roost. The faster things deteriorate, the sooner Chavez will be gone. That’s the reason that I keep encouraging everyone to “support” him. Right now, he’s walking towards the cliff. I say, help him to run there.
March 2, 2010 at 11:49 am
It would be interesting if we could collect and assemble the hard facts about that event. As I have written in other places, some people think some communists played a key role in promoting, organizing the riots. It seems there was a showdown. As Gweh said, a lot of the people doing the shooting were military…Hugo’s pals.
March 2, 2010 at 11:35 am
Interesting too, GWEH, that it seems the military learned a lesson form the Caracazo.
CAP ordered pretty much a “Plan Avila” which Del Valle Alliegro carried out.
When Hugo tried to do the same in’02, they showed him the door.
From all I heard back then, there were several cleansing operations directed at the barrios, taking advantage of the suspension of rights that was decreed then.
That Chavez’ pals were a part of this should be no surprise, they could not disobey direct orders without consequences. Whether they agreed or not would be interesting to know.
March 2, 2010 at 9:37 am
Regarding Caracazo, it was the military responsible for most deaths. The same military in power today. Remember MBR-200 founder Acosta Carles gunned down during slum repression operations. These where CHavez’s pals directing the massacre.
March 2, 2010 at 9:35 am
OT: Carvajal, the most powerful man in the regime (10+ years with Chavez) has just been made a fool of with the release of Luis Correa.
The assasination of the editor of regime controlled 2001 newspaper is not a coincidence among the various experts consulted.
Luis Correa is a time bomb and he has the goods on Chavez. I say Luis is a walking dead man.
March 2, 2010 at 9:19 am
“I just read a tweet from ravel stating 841 violent deaths so far in 2010”
This is the number that has been received at the Bello Monte morgue, which probably means this number reflects only Caracas.
March 2, 2010 at 6:03 am
They are also are requesting Carlos Andrés Pérez extradition, what a bunch of idiots.
March 2, 2010 at 5:44 am
Instead of investigating unpunished deaths from 27 years ago, We should be more concern on what is going to happen with our country, I just read a tweet from ravel stating 841 violent deaths so far in 2010. At this rate, government can only expect an extermination of venezuela population by 2021.