(The regime wants to monopolize falsehood)
Tonight that illustrious (but not illustrated) body, the Venezuelan National Assembly (formerly known as Congress, which never imagined we would remember fondly) decided to create a commission to investigate the “administrators” of webpages, based on the fact that Article 58 of the Venezuelan Constitution guarantees free speech, but they seem to like more Article 108, which says media should contribute to citizens education and public peace.
While I know it is presumptuos of me to pretend that I will be part of the investigation, since I am not a “portal”, nor do I have the ranking of ND or Noticias24, nor the humor of the Chiguire, I would like to emphasize the following points:
1) I do not administer this page. I write it. I allow free comments, as long as people don’t try to ignore what is said in it, come to fill my bandwidth or those who try to “outblog” me by writing comments that are longer than the post. I have banned one person (SteveH) and sometimes have erased comments for a variety of reasons described here, but these incidents have been quite rare. I even allow lies (they can be shot down easily) and adoration of Chavez to be expressed, but I also call a troll a troll when it needs be.
2) Since my webpage is in English (even if it has a sister Spanish page, which contains 20% of the same content in Spanish and nobody seems to care for or even read it) it was not my aim to comply with Article 108 of the Venezuelan Constitution to “contribuir a la formacion ciudadana” (contribute to educate the citizens). You see, when I began this blog, I was trying to educate the citizens of other countries about the fake Chavez robolution, which at the time it still began with rev-. In fact, I sort of like Article 58 much more, because it is a right for all Venezuelans., while Art. 108 seems narrower and less important as it applies to the “media”, whatever it may be. As Chavez would say, Article 58 belongs to the “pueblo”, the “people”, Art. 108 seems more for the oligarchs, the “media” of any sort, or side. But what do I know.
3) Before the Assembly begins investigating I would like it to clarify whether if someone reproduces a Government lie, such as “It is not my fault if there is an electric problem’ or “the swap rate is going to Bs. 4.3per $” or reproduces a list that promotes hate like the Chavez/Tascon list, whether it will be the source that will be charged or those putting it up in Internet. This would be very important going forward, particular for those that use Twitter and hashtags (Chavistas: Look it up!), as we could create hashtags such as “Tasconslistpromoteshate or #ifnotchavezfaultwhoseisit?
4) Finally, I inform my readers that tonight I will proceed to erase all of the IP numbers and emails of everyone that has ever posted a comment in my blog. If you did not know it, every time you post a comment, your data is recorded. Given this threat to your privacy and your right to say what you want, I will help protect your rights as best as I can. (Including those that support the Dictator). I hate to see that database go…
Thanks for reading…
The Devil's Excrement 
May 2, 2010 at 3:48 pm
I have visited your blog before. The more I take in, the more I keep coming back! 😉
March 22, 2010 at 8:00 am
m_astera, I understand your argument, in the abstract at least. The problem is, it can never be put into practice. It’s an idea that sounds nice when one describes it, but will necessarily fail because of human nature. (Put it this way – what gives you the right to any recourse – except more violence – when your neighbor ignores that last question and takes something of yours by force?) Kind of like socialism.
March 21, 2010 at 1:21 am
“ANSWER: To become a tool that will make its wielders rich, or at the very least, economically stable for the rest of their lives.”
Then, the Venezuelan State is a worse than a organized crime syndicate (read Mafia).
The Mafia extorts money, forces people to buy their “protection” under threat of harm, and works to make their heads rich.
They do not state that their mission is guaranteeing justice or liberty (or happiness, or paradise, or whatever) for their subjects, whereas the State tells that to us unendingly.
The Mafia will insure that there is peace among its subjects, and that some rules are followed. The Mafia will use force to defend them, and will punish anyone harming them in a harsh manner. The Venezuelan state fails at protecting ANYONE.
March 20, 2010 at 4:30 pm
I quote loroferoz: ” If the State fails also at that, what use has it?”… ANSWER: To become a tool that will make its wielders rich, or at the very least, economically stable for the rest of their lives.
Please bear in mind that all “human rights” were created as controlling instrument for the working masses in order to maximize production efficiency. Without the economic component there is no need for human rights or social considerations.
March 19, 2010 at 7:47 pm
What I meant is that the State has no business legislating the life and activities of someone who is not embarked in any manner of violence, robbery or fraud. In that sense, I stated that I need no laws for those activities.
If something irks me that is not definitely a crime and does not injure me, I would try and convince, buy, protest, boycott, preach, whatever, not go crybaby asking for people to be spanked by Papa government.
Well, I thought I explained what I did not expect from the State, if it should exist, in the last two paragraphs I wrote. How it would become illegitimate, how rights and liberties would be debased and made privileges, unequal and granted by fiat, based on ideology rather than a notion of justice that could be agreed upon because it was reciprocal.
I did explain what use (minimal though) the State might have. That was to ensure that bare, understandable, explainable, just standards of behavior are observed by all. Persons who do not are not fit for civil society and should be forced to pay compensation and/or suffer punishment.
In that sense I say that Venezuela fails and is going to be a failed country if it keeps going like that. If the State fails also at that, what use has it?
March 19, 2010 at 1:49 pm
AIO-
Let’s say a person chooses to be governed by some other person. Voluntarily, they say “I will follow the rules you make for me”.
How does that give them the right to then impose those rules on others who have not voluntarily agreed to be governed by those rules?
“We say you can’t smoke that, you can’t eat that, you can’t drink that, you can’t go there, you must do this”
Give us your money and follow our rules and we will protect you. Don’t give us you money, don’t follow our rules, and we will destroy you.
Such a deal. Do you know any governments in the world today that don’t work that way? I don’t, and I have lived in the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela.
I never agreed to give any government my money, or to follow anyone’s arbitrary rules. I would choose not to give them my money, and I don’t need anyone to give me rules to live by. And just because you may like and agree with some rules gives you no right to impose them on me.
One can’t really understand Lysander Spooner’s anarchy (sinarchy might be a better term) based on reading part of one essay. Spooner wrote at least as much as Jefferson or Paine, and his work is just as well thought out. There is a good reason that we weren’t introduced to Lysander’s writings in government schools (and only the safe parts of Paine and Jefferson).
Here is my basic question, me to you: “What gives me, Michael, the right to tell you, AIO, what you can or can’t do?”
And another: “What gives me, Michael, the right to demand your money property, and labor, and that of any of your descendants, forever, under threat of force?”
March 19, 2010 at 11:58 am
So you’re a “selective anarchist”? 😉 We’re getting into areas of semantics, and perhaps philosophy, that I’m not sure I want to delve into on a day when I’m thinking clearly – and this isn’t one of them. As far as the applications of that philosophy, I think we generally agree, even though it seems the way I’m saying things isn’t always getting across very well.
March 19, 2010 at 8:54 am
“Anarchy” in at least one part of our lives does not imply disorder necessarily. It only means lack of impositions coming from people with authority. For disorder you need people unwilling to respect others, and a majority willing to suffer arbitrary and violent behavior without raising a finger.
Venezuela is about disorder and confusion maintained by badge bearers of every kind and sealed by armed robbers and racketeers that overlap with the former.
Count me as an anarchist regarding internal and foreign trade and commerce, immigration, emigration and travel, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, transportation, sex, reproduction, computers, communication, speech, religion and most other things in life.
I might not be convinced about being an anarchist with regard to the enforcement of basic laws about the defense of life, limb and property and the punishment of crimes. Not at least in a place where you can be pretty sure that your property will be where you left it and where you can be pretty sure that no harm will come to you from taking a stroll. But Venezuela!!!! The Venezuelan government does not only fail! It goes beyond the other side of failure into making your life miserable while you wonder if that life will not be shortened by their incompetence at ensuring a semblance of law and order and specially, by their vaunted “monopoly” on that nonexistent condition. Every time I have to do with a Venezuelan civil “servant” or with an “officer” charged with our protection, I wonder if I could do without…
Well, there are different opinions about the origin of individual rights.
BUT. Most people who consider the fundamental will tell you that these rights are whatever a private individual will do, alone or in partnership, that does not contain violence or fraud or injury to others. And everyone except for some religious or political fanatics would agree that for rights to work there must be at least the obligation to be reciprocal in their respect.
The blind spot in most moderate and almost moderate and well-intentioned persons (left and right) is that they do not see the government as a part of society like all others, that should BE BOUND STRONGLY AND FOR BETTER REASONS THAN OTHERS by the same rules, to the maximum extent that is possible, if government is to exist. Otherwise, every form of abuse will be committed through it. That it should have the one priority of institutionalizing the respect of rights and the compensation for wrongs if it’s to be legitimate.
These persons think that the government is there also to advance their vision of society through new laws and policies, because it is the correct one. But that negates the reciprocity in the respect of rights, between those that support the policies and those that do not and are “targets” of policy, the people likely to feel the claws of the law grasping their shoulder. That also destroys it’s legitimacy with the same “intensity” with which the policy tells a part of society that they are now disadvantaged comparatively, reviewed with suspicion, or treated like felons by “their” government.
March 19, 2010 at 8:06 am
Adolfo:
I will buy shares of your company.
If you built a plant in 6 years, only in deviation changes or costs they can double the cost of the plant. Even if the project is overall cost or keys in hand. What a chollo!!!!
March 19, 2010 at 7:30 am
loroferoz, can anarchy ever be simple and pure anarchy? That actually implies a degree of order. Your description of Venezuela matches what I was thinking of as I wrote those sentences, so I think we do agree. The abuses you describe spring in large part from a lack of overarching authority, which an enforced Constitution provides.
‘Some people call these rights “natural”. I prefer to think of’
Not everyone agrees on what those rights are – as the beginning of your next sentence implies. One reason why Spooner is off base.
I agree emphatically with your last paragraph, and have said similar things several times on blogs like this. The Venezuelan Constitution is a wish list, and therefore so watered down as to be borderline irrelevant. That is one large reason why nearly every President feels the need to rewrite it, treating it like toilet paper and discarding the old, which thoroughly reinforces the disregard for it by the public (and public sector) and, even worse, essentially institutionalizes disregard for the Magna Carta. This is true for much of Latin America, not just Venezuela under Chavez. And that is precisely why (though not the only reason) rule of law is so elusive.
March 19, 2010 at 1:39 am
One year?? OK small plants of say 50 MW, of course if you have a pila de china quizas!
March 19, 2010 at 1:36 am
I build only power plants for Babcock and Wilcox, of course I do not know of what I write. Of course!
March 18, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Greg wrote: “. . . a poor lower class that seeks revenge, not development.”
On a psychological level, that is exacly what is happening. Many don’t mind riding the country into the toilet so long as the rich go down the drain as well.
The problem for the poor lower class is that they don’t have a model or sound understand of developmental process, which begins with maintaining what you already have (such as power grids etc.).
JL
March 18, 2010 at 9:31 pm
YOUR RIGHT AND DUTY…
Thomas Jefferson included this gem in the 2nd paragraph of the American Declaration of Independence:
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
– Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 2nd paragraph.
Unfortunately, even in America, such responsibilities have been ‘outlawed’: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081017091551AAoluva
March 18, 2010 at 7:12 pm
I see some parallels between Vzla and Egypt after its revolution. Recent immigrants and investors were chased out of Egypt; the result has been decades of socialist poverty. Why would any government do this? I think the answer is in a poor lower class that seeks revenge, not development. To illustrate this let me ask: Is there any meeting place in Vzla between well-to-do brokers and poor Maria Lionza worshippers? Or is Vzla warring between different classes & educational backgrounds?
This is a terrific blog, one of my daily stops trying to grasp Vlza. Nice work.
March 18, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I addition to the comment of MO.
If Chavez’s regime can not built the houses they promise.
Can they built the plants they promise, in one year?.
Where are the 58 refineries he promises, to countries around the world?
Give me a break!.
March 18, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Adolfo:
Simply, you are ignorant.
If you built a pre-engineering plant already installed in any place of the world, you can built a plant of 4000 MW every 2 or 3 years, with the same constructor.
A nuclear plant every year.
I Mechanical Engineer.
March 18, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Adolfo you are a liar.
March 18, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Adolfo
2003?? …..What are you talking about
Adolfo, perhaps you should hide your ignorance under a bushel basket. They all knew about electrical woes for at least 7 years.
March 18, 2010 at 1:14 pm
2003?? Only 8 years?? Costs billiones to build a power plant of reasonable size.
I quoted one for Iran of 4000MW based on oil without air pollution control and it was in the 2 billion range and would of taken 6 years to build.What are you talking about.
March 18, 2010 at 10:10 am
The control of internet and any other media will interpreted the Constitution this way:
1) Citizen education: Only educate in ideology accepted, that is revolutionary socialism only as Chavez said, and Chavez as eternal and unique authority in all.
2) Public Peace: Any critics to regime are an attack to public peace.
3) Any media that not complied with points 1) and 2) will be persecuted and close, they are “imperialistic”.
MO, thanks for all, you are very valiant
March 18, 2010 at 9:15 am
“Really, Venezuela provides the example of what might happen if Spooner’s thoughts became reality. If the Constitution is optional – which is the case in Venezuela – then it invites all kinds of abuses.”
Sorry, but I do not agree. I have maintained, for all my adult life, that Venezuela is a fake, incomplete kind of anarchy. If it were anarchy, simply, you could find ways to simply go around (or defend yourself from) the class of corrupt nincompoops from the national government that are supposedly charged with maintaining law and order. Yes, military, fiscales, bureaucrats in a ministry. But it is not, so they act like the mafia and worse, and extract money (or apply arbitrary rules) from the citizen under threat of making her life miserable, for no service, or flat out disservice and interference, and specially for no protection at all. I would wish that I could find alternatives to them, at least in decentralized government!
“That last statement implies a rule that he thinks all should live by – but under what authority? Without a Constitution, what happens to those who do not leave the other persons in peace? That’s the fundamental flaw in his argument, because many will not leave others in peace (again, see Venezuela), and without rules for dealing with them (like a constitution – and one that is actually upheld), there is anarchy.”
The Constitution deals, mainly, with the organization of the government. It puts limits and prohibitions on the government’s powers and establishes its obligations. For the private person that will not let others be, there is a civil and penal code, I believe. Both the Constitution and the codes should be congruent and based, if anything, on sound legal principles, and on the recognition that adults have rights, are to be respected and should not be subjected to needless (or useless, rather) obligations and impositions.
Some people call these rights “natural”. I prefer to think of the peaceful and voluntary relationships between people as quid pro quo, and based mainly on the Silver Rule, a bit on the Golden Rule.
If Venezuela is a total mess, it’s because we are far from having a society, a Constitution and a code of law that is on respect for your fellow’s life and property. It dreamed that it could be Social Democratic (now Socialist, sheesh, what crap are WE smoking, or mainlining?) and ended being a mess, with government officials arbitrarily enforcing useless, wishful and cumbersome laws at their whim for their own aims, or helping themselves to resources set aside for equally fantastic projects.
Then, if the Constitution IS a real contract: Wishful thinking, hopeful language and outright BS about “Social Justice” and about intangible, unverifiable and unattainable standards, goals and aspirations have no place in a Constitution, or for that matter in any other law. Our constitution is seriously flawed, then.
March 18, 2010 at 7:01 am
You are in my prayers.
March 18, 2010 at 6:49 am
m_astera, that’s an interesting POV from Mr. Spooner – at least the part I actually read. Certainly a minority view, and while I see his logic, the alternative is anarchy. I would add that, where there are clear means to alter that Constitution (and that such means are possible to achieve), then not seeking to change it is tacit acceptance. (In Spooner’s words, that would form the “voluntary accession of new members.”) A contractual agreement, if you will. Don’t know how to argue the unborn children part, except as it depends on their parents.
But like I said, it’s a two-way street, and Venezuela raises the question about what happens when one party – in this case, the government – fails to live up to their end of the deal, while freely accusing others of doing the same, no less. At that point, I think the issue of whether or not it’s a contract is rather moot. It’s like arguing whether to call Chavez a wannabe dictator, an authoritarian, or whatever. No matter the term, he’s got too much power and he’s abusing and misusing it. Same with the Constitution – contract or higher authority, the government is not fulfilling it.
Really, Venezuela provides the example of what might happen if Spooner’s thoughts became reality. If the Constitution is optional – which is the case in Venezuela – then it invites all kinds of abuses.
Spooner: “If any considerable number of the people believe the Constitution to be good, why do they not sign it themselves, and make laws for, and administer them upon, each other; leaving all other persons (who do not interfere with them) in peace?” That last statement implies a rule that he thinks all should live by – but under what authority? Without a Constitution, what happens to those who do not leave the other persons in peace? That’s the fundamental flaw in his argument, because many will not leave others in peace (again, see Venezuela), and without rules for dealing with them (like a constitution – and one that is actually upheld), there is anarchy. There are no consequences for violating the rights of others – because there is nothing that gives anyone any rights at all, save the whim of those who have more power at the moment. Like in Venezuela.
March 18, 2010 at 5:34 am
Heh Kepler, I just go just for the snake handlin’, I’m addicted to foreign blogs and cheap thrills.
🙂
March 18, 2010 at 3:05 am
Half,
Are Primative Baptists those of a new branch coming from the Primitive Baptists but who have no problem with the evolution and know they are related to other primates?
;-p
Miguel,
It is amazing how fast all those focas are censoring themselve so fast: aporrea closes its forum.
March 18, 2010 at 2:30 am
Dear Miguel:
I now you do not need me to tell you this but anyway; just as Ira and though I concede it is easier said when you do not live in Venezuela; please do not worry about errasing my IP address I have no problem with being identified by Chavez and/or the Cuban security “apparatus” that is taking over Venezuela from Venezuelans.
Been there and done that before; it did not scare me then and it does not scare me now.
March 18, 2010 at 1:02 am
Nasi
go to londonmutual.co.uk and email me- lots of Venezuelan friends here.
christ that blew my cover 🙂
March 18, 2010 at 12:39 am
Hello AIO-
“you can’t debase a constitution by comparing it to a contract. It is a far higher authority, and citizens ascribe to it by simple virtue of their nationality. If they don’t want to abide by it, they can renounce their citizenship”
We are getting pretty far off-topic here, but I would ask you “what right do I have to obligate someone’s unborn children to a lifelong obligation?” And yes, a constitution is a contract. If one has no choice, or only the choice of losing all one has, then one is not a free entity, one is a slave.
But rather than my amateur attempts, better that Lysander Spooner make the point as he did it so well in “No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority”:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/spooner1.html
You might appreciate his characterization, 135 years ago, of those calling themselves the government.
March 17, 2010 at 8:29 pm
We have been here with this threat several times in the past. This I assume is more serious but it still seems to directed at those who post or comment with un-substantiated accusations which border on libel or slander both of which are serious crimes in Spanish Civil law. While it seems to me that in Venezuela and some other LatAm countries a Caballero(s) in now just a place to take a piss! Still what you say about another man (I don’t Know about women) regarding is Honor, Machisimo and so on is a big deal and in the case of Kings and presidents, a little two letter word like “tu” is a big deal.
The rule of thumb has always been ” All I know is what I read in the newspaper” There is no disclosing of State secrets from the press or government releases. I think many new rich in Venezuela find this site a great source of free investment information. Somebody has to make sense of all these great investments.
To me the big problem here and at other Venezuelan sites are those who make irresponsible comments. If you need to do that take it somewhere else outside of Venezuela.
March 17, 2010 at 6:34 pm
And feel free to leave my IP intact. I want the a-hole to know that there’s at least one little Jew in South Florida who’s waiting to see him rot in hell.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^That
Albeit in North Florida, not small and a Primative Baptist.
🙂
March 17, 2010 at 5:11 pm
You are so clueless it is pitiful, this crisis was forewarned in 2003, the Government did nothing, so what the f… are you talking about?
March 17, 2010 at 5:07 pm
So the government is responsible for rainfall now!(hydroelectric power) If the rain stopped in British Columbia(Canada) and the glaciers stopped melting our power generation would drop to nothing. Do we have thermogeneration? Not much. At least Venezuela is planning such generation even with the air pollution.
March 17, 2010 at 9:55 am
“but they seem to like more Article 108, which says media should contribute to citizens education and public peace.”
whatever the devil that might mean. Probably what the government wants it to mean, along the “impartial, timely, truthful” bit.
Which means that our Constitution is seriously flawed as it is if some standard is imposed by the Constitution and then the State claims it is solely charged with imposing it. A recipe for authoritarianism if there is one.
I guess that wishful thinking is just as out of place in the Constitution (if that’s what it was) as it is in scientific and engineering results.
March 17, 2010 at 9:42 am
Miguel:
Thanks for keeping up the fight. This nightmare has to end sometime. The question is will we learn like the Chileans and the Spaniards or jump to the next flavor of Dictator?. The principled opposition from society of 7-8 years ago has given away to complacency, (except for the students who where not a factor 7-8 years ago, go figure), and that worries me.
March 17, 2010 at 8:06 am
My dear Miguel,
thanks for being here every single day, for your hard work.
You are so right… no blogging = real trouble = time for plan B.
March 17, 2010 at 7:25 am
I will keep blogging and blogging, the day I can’t it’s time to hide or leave.
March 17, 2010 at 7:04 am
@Paul, I just moved to Sg, up for beers?
March 17, 2010 at 6:52 am
“Re the Constitution: Any such document is a contract under law”
m_astera, you can’t debase a constitution by comparing it to a contract. It is a far higher authority, and citizens ascribe to it by simple virtue of their nationality. If they don’t want to abide by it, they can renounce their citizenship – though I have no clue how successful such an effort would be in Venezuela.
The real problem is that the Constitution is supposed to be a two-way street, a list of responsibilities of citizens to their country and to each other, and of the government to its citizens. Those currently running Venezuela only see the first half of that as obligatory, and the second part as optional, to be applied when convenient and where – i.e., to whom – they choose. Not only that, but the whole document is so ridiculously extensive that it automatically creates apparent conflicts between principles within it, which the government chooses to apply in the manner most convenient to its ends, rather than with any sense of fairness or principle.
The real problem is not whether or not Miguel has agreed to the Constitution, but that the government adheres to some undefined higher authority and uses the Constitution as a tool in an attempt to achieve its goals.
March 17, 2010 at 6:36 am
We all knew that this was going to happen sometime because dictators will always try to suppress the freedom of people who want to say. However, that will not stop me from making my comments in your blog, even though it might endanger my possibility of staying in my house in Macuto. The internet is here to say and no matter how much some governments will try to control it, they will not succeed. There are always ways to get the word through!!!
March 17, 2010 at 5:47 am
First post here and sorry it took me so long. I’ve been too busy arguing with the Chavistas on the Miami Herald forums.
I’m a gringo, wife is native-born VZ, and I spent a lot of time in Caracas and Macuto in the late 80s. I can’t believe the path Stupigo has taken the country, and I thank you Miguel for your work here. I promise to not be a stranger.
Perhaps one day, we can all meet up on La Sabana Grande and toast the passing of this nightmarish period of Venezuelan history.
And feel free to leave my IP intact. I want the a-hole to know that there’s at least one little Jew in South Florida who’s waiting to see him rot in hell.
March 17, 2010 at 5:23 am
Again Venezuela chooses to join the lists of righteous nations:
http://www.dailybits.com/top-10-countries-censoring-the-web/
It is has long seized to be the country my grandparents were welcomed to decades ago as war victims. It is no longer the nation that allowed them and my parents to prepare themselves and work hard to blossom along with it. It began as a matter of practicality because life became increasingly hard with rising crime in the 90’s. It since morphed into something else and changed the very essence of the nation. One of which I no longer feel part of when I hear of how the general populace allows its leaders to act or when I feel the hatred in the midst of country’s neighborhoods, towns and cities between Venezuelan brothers and sisters.
How will this madness all end? Will the country become a completely destitute pariah like North Korea, Cuba or Burma? Will it forever turn into a lawless land where the political elite extract rents from the country’s natural riches and mafias of heavily armed criminals rule extensive swaths of land a-la Kazakhstan? Will the Venezuelans that have moved from the country in the past 10 years feel like the Cubans emigres of the 50’s and the Lebanese of the 70-80’s and always have to live in a foreign land with the memory of a country that no longer exists and whose very essence has been forever transformed? Or will we be like the Spanish of the 60’s, the Chilean of the 70’s and the Colombian of the 90’s who have their home to go back to?
March 17, 2010 at 5:05 am
I also side with Alek. What they will do is try to use the information packages sold by the Asians on to discover some patterns in communications: who is going to a march and sending messages to whom, who in the march is sending signals, etc, eventually trying to interfere in the sending of messages. Still, I don’t see there too much capacity.
The real control in Venezuela is with the guns. Did you see how the Ucv was attacked? And some thugs dressed up as “protesting students” in Naguanagua (Uc) raided a group of cars?
This is the first dictatorship I know that is using that kind of approach to gain control.
March 17, 2010 at 12:36 am
I side with Alek Boyd’s view on this. The internet is here to stay. Let them try to shut it down and control it; they will only fail, in the short, the medium, and the long term.
Re the Constitution: Any such document is a contract under law. Contracts are not legally enforceable unless they have been voluntarily agreed to with full understanding and disclosure. Where did M.O. sign and agree to article 108?
March 16, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I am a loyal reader, but only have occasionally posted (fear of being out-interlectualised). MO, we know you are still in Venezuela and have dear ones here and hence can be fucked by this current insanity. I respect your decision. I hope you keep blogging nonetheless while I try to get the woman I love out of this country and so I can teach my kids how men in power can turn into tyrants. Que Dios te bendiga and your orchids too (my grandmother was also into orchids)
March 16, 2010 at 10:54 pm
It is sad they will be cut, just to make them stay alive, I will be there in November 2011, if all works out for the World Orchid Conference.
I visited in April 2002, I celebrated Chavez’ departure in a Singapore Airlines tourism bus, going around downtown.
March 16, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Thank you Miguel
All ties cannot be broken with Venezuela so I am still not free
But slowly they are beeing cut
For the past two years I have lived in a small country that had nothing 40 years ago and is now the hub of the far east. An incredible country, no ranchos, nobody begging/ sleeping in the street, no corruption, super efficient, super clean, children and women can walk the streets day or night without fear. Totally capitalist, wealth cascades down, the deserving poor are cared for. An awesome little lion- Singapura.
But in my heart Venezuela will always be the raw rebelious beauty.