(I voted for HIM, precisely so that this would not happen to me)
If there was ever a subject that Chavismo has trouble dealing with, its crime, also known by now as Pudremorgue. Clearly, Chavismo has not been able to BS its way out of this problem, seems to have problems dealing with it and it sounds infantile in its excuses for the magnitude of the problem.
From Chavez, to Jaua, to Navarro, the discussion is simply Bizantine. Crime is, after all, the number one concern of every Venezuelan, each and everyone one of us is touched weekly about it, more so if you are poor or live in a barrio, but during the last two weeks, someone close to a coworkers was killed and a coworker managed to weasel out of being kidnapped last Friday, when his car was hit by another one and three armed thugs came out ready to take him, his friend and the car. Some quick reflexes and luck and he is telling us about t. This, by the way, happened not a mile from my home.
And that is why Chavista excuses are so lame. The crime problem has been there for all of Chavez’ eleven years and he has never acknowledged it and as his popularity drops, I am glad he is addressing the problem, because there is no way to address it.
Thus, it was fun to watch Ambassador to Washington Alvarez, trying to sweep the problem using arguments like ” it is a difficult reality” or “the Venezuelan Government has been making efforts” or “the drastic expansion of social services …has played an important role to attack the fundamental causes of criminality”
Hello! Where have you been the last eleven years? Oh! Yes! Washinton D.C., it shows. Because it has always been a difficult reality and homicides and crime have soared under Chavez and the revolution, leaving no trace, proof or evidence that either the Chavez Government is doing anything or the social programs have helped reduced criminality. In fact, if anything, it may be that the Chavista giveaways provide free time for the criminals to spend doing their thing rather than being dutifully employed and thus busy.
And the Director of Communications and Propaganda (!) of Chavez’ PSUV party was simply laughable today, when she criticized the New York Times for its factual article saying “where he dares to compare in immoral and criminal fashion, Venezuela with Iraq”
I wonder what Iraq’s Ambassador to Venezuela thinks about that pearl of a statement. I guess PSUV is not too concerned about diplomacy right ow, with its life at stake.
And if this was not enough, Ms. Eekhout then talks about the “extraordinary efforts” the Government has made to confront violence, which is, of course, a capitalist problem.
According to Eekhout, violence in Venezuela arises from the 80’s when “young people were capable of killing for a pair of shoes, due to to extreme poverty and the lack of opportunities.
Funny, these same kids kill today for a beer or a cheap cellphone and with informal unemployment at 50% plus and crime having tripled, it is not clear what has changed.
The thing is Ms. Director of Propaganda for PSUV, on this issue, you can’t fool people into blaming capitalism, the Empire or the New York Times. This is about a reality that you used to care about (or so you say) but are so far removed to it and so powerless to fight, that you and your boss resort to convoluted arguments that may work with Pudreval, military spending or people trying to kill Hugo, but the “people” know all about crime and how things have deteriorated since you guys took over.
Which is why the Opposition, the MUD and everyone that wants the Dictator out of power should keep hammering the issue, talk about crimes, there is no defense, there is “yo no fui”, there is no excuse, there is no explanation.
And it is killing us all.
The Devil's Excrement 