(Comrade, sorry to interrupt you activities, can you tell me where Oswaldo Alvarez Paz´house is?)
In another demonstration of long term planning, responsibility and caring for productivity and the values of hard work, President Hugo Chávez has just announced that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Easter week (next week) will also be holidays next week in order to save electricity. We have an eight day holiday for the whole country starting Saturday.
Everything is backwards these days in Venezuela.
Note added: After Hugo had his whim, the Government realized the announced “Feriado Nacional” could not be “Nacional”, it is end of the month, tax payments are due on Wednesday and a country can’t function like that for eight days, so we get the exceptions:
Electric companies, telephone, hospitals (??), banks, drugstores, Foods, Hotels (obvious), Restaurants (holidays don’t apply to them anyway), public transporation.
The Devil's Excrement 
March 27, 2010 at 1:59 pm
I think he’s just doing it to throw a bone to his lazy supporters, giving them a few extra days off so they can yell, “Gracias, Fidel!”
Ooops–I’m sorry. I meant “Chavez.”
It’s just another ignorant, meaningless example of Chavez “caring for the people,” while thousands of those people are being murdered and robbed.
Will be curious to see crime statistics for this period, as if accurate statistics exist in the first place.
March 26, 2010 at 5:23 am
thanks Juancho, my fault, I’m talking about the maintenance works, I have to use the thesaurus 😉
But I think this makes (as much as it can) sense. To do the maintenance works you have to shut the plants down for some time, allowing for cooling sometimes. Doing this on normal demand (if there is no surplus) would lead to blackouts. Probably they avoided to do this also to supply as much as possible thermoelectric energy. But doing so for long time you risk to have a failure.
I would expect some journalist asking this the minister, oh, wait, no interviews here.
March 26, 2010 at 2:07 am
The English word, “reparation,” means compensation (normal usage), and has nothing to do with “repairs,” which is what I think is meant here. As in, to repair = para reparar.
But the really interesting question is, WHO is actually slated to fix what? There has been an almost complete lace of credible journalism investigating the absolute incapacity of the Chavez routine to fix any goddam thing. So I’m thinking this this new talk about fixing something is all bullshit, unless someone is being hired in to do the actual job.
Again, most journalism looks superficially into the Chavez regime’s lack of planing and political will to maintain and fix the power grid, the Guri turbines, et al. But the truth might be graver: they canno fix anything whatsoever, regardless of their will or desire.
So just this once, perhaps someone can follow this and report what actually gets done on this “reparations” adventure.
I say nothing. Nada. Zero. But I’ve been here too long . . .
Juancho
March 25, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Gringo, normally yes (but I’dont have numbers here).
I think they have to stop several plants for the reparations and this could lead to black-outs (more if the demand is the normal). Better you have the people on vacation as this happens. Less traffic jam, no damage to the industry equipment…
A lot of plants was probably running 24/7 as the Great Leader demanded…(and nobody wanted to contradict him) only to get overused. If this is not done, then they would probably fail, leading to cascadating black-outs.
I think this is the reason for the measure, more than the couple of cm they could save in Guri (not needed anymore, wasn’t it?).
March 25, 2010 at 12:29 pm
This extended holiday is a evidence that the residential rationing is not necessary (and that Esteban takes decisions on the spot, without consultations)
March 25, 2010 at 9:08 am
Re LD’s: point about Guri: Is electrical use that much lower during holidays? Are the authorities fooling themselves?
March 25, 2010 at 3:16 am
Maybe this is a hint, Jaua says:
“Igualmente, destacó que durante los tres días feriados se realizarán trabajos de mantenimiento en el embalse de El Guri, Planta Centro y algunas termoeléctricas del territorio nacional, para detener la caída en sus niveles, actualmente, ubicados entre 13 y 14 centímetros diarios.”
So, they need to do reparation works on the electric plants, and the normal holidays would not be sufficient. Add this to the massive resignation of their management.
March 24, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Quit complaining and enjoy your holiday. Have a nice time working on your computer by candle light.
March 24, 2010 at 10:54 pm
I can’t agree more with Canuck.. they know something we don’t
Chavez announced the extra holidays during a TV program to cheer and support venezuelan atheletes.
Maybe something bold related with electricity shortage or something related to economy or..worse… September elections???????
March 24, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I just talk to a friend tht works in an Bank in Venezuela and she told me that only the government employer are taking the week of. She told me that her bank is working.
March 24, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Finally a good practical idea as long as everybody turns of their air conditioners before they go to the beach. However, I was thinking more about adding a day and praying a novena to save Guri! Now I spent a number of Holy Weeks in Venezuela and left on my own as nobody wanted to work. If you want to avoid beach crowds, church is the place to go in Venezuela. Not like other Latin countries that take Holy Week seriously.
I was also thinking something like this would help the ratings Alo Presidente. Si?
March 24, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Workers scheduled to work next Mon – Wed will now be entitled to double pay due to the newly announced holidays, further saddling small business owners with more costs… at the same time everyone should be paying taxes to Seniat while banks are closed for the holiday… and Nero fiddling while the country burns
March 24, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Arturo:
You listen to that AH Mario Silva?
What a loser!
Is RCTV laying off workers because they have been denied their right to broadcast?
March 24, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Arturo: Off topic as usual, what a record TROLL TROLL TROLL
March 24, 2010 at 5:49 pm
I second that Torres but not because Diosdado will pull the plug but because Globovision is on the verge of going bust. RCTV just fired several actors amongst them Norkys whatever her name is. Mario Silva hinted at big problems in Globo on his program last night.
March 24, 2010 at 5:16 pm
My crystal ball is hinting at a globovision shutdown.
—
March 24, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Maybe they want people paying attention to something else while they make some kind of announcement during these days. In any case, I agree with island cannuck: “The problem must be approaching the critical point very fast.”
March 24, 2010 at 4:58 pm
All I can think is that they know something we don’t.
It seems like a very desperate move & very expensive for businesses in tourism (like us), etc who will probably have to pay their employees double for these extra days.
The problem must be approaching the critical point very fast.
March 24, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Asi es que se construye (destruye?) un gran pais