(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 
September 1, 2010 at 7:14 am
So as a 22 year old living in Venezuela I can honestly tell you: nothing’s going to happen.
The problem I see (mainly in my age group), is the fact that the country is completely divided: The people who still, support the gov. Which is basically the people who struggled with pass presidents and still can’t let go of it. And the others who are so against Chavez and hate him soooo badly that they can only think of how good pass gov. were because they still can’t let go.
And then there’s us, the 20 something kids who don’t really remember the pass all that well. We didn’t live in it. We don’t want to vote so that it comes back and it’s just because we don’t know it. We want someone new and there aren’t that many choices. No one in their right mind would consciously vote for Chavez. The opposition is full of dinosaurs who were once powerful and sound dreadfully fake. There’s no one out there who can represent us and just fight for what’s right regardless of whether it favors the opposition or the gov.
We need someone who knows what’s best for us as a country, not someone who’s permanently thinking about his best interests like Chavez is, or someone who is so full of hate that cannot recognize one good thing about the gov (granted there aren’t many, but not everything is black and white).
Seeing as there’s really no one like that, is not that surprising that so many people stay away from voting polls or haven’t even registered. And whenever someone tries to come up with some solution or a small plan he’s immediately shut down by both sides. Not voting is not exactly about being a coward or so apathetic that you don’t care about your country, is more about sitting there watching everyone fight a useless fight instead of doing something or helping those that are actually trying.
So everyone’s still caught up in the pass, and on top of that every serious issue is turned into some sort of shallow emotional show (by Chavez and the opposition alike). We can still survive. We can still buy stuff. We still have malls. We still drink every weekend. And as long as we can still “have fun” and enjoy ourselves every now and then, reality is not going to hit us. It almost seems as we need to be broke, starving, and homeless so that everyone finally reacts.
August 29, 2010 at 10:09 am
Here are some Gringo thoughts on this dilemma http://bryanjohnsonblog.com/2010/08/29/hugo-chavezs-answer-to-violence-its-the-damn-yankees-fault/
August 27, 2010 at 2:42 am
The remarkable stupidity and ignorance of a Ms. Eekhout, and her fatuous “argumentos,” is not the arguments themselves, but that she seems to think well-informed, educated people will simple hear her words and say, “Well, yes, of course the present problem, small as it is, issues from 25 plus years ago and simply is the fallout of Capitalist residue.”
This shows pretty tellingly just how little the Chavistas know about the world they live in and the people listening in. Eekhout is viewed as a stooge, a hick and a simpleton with a red sash, fobbing off real and tragic problems with glib lies and plain foolishness.
It is not possible that a Venezuelan native should not know the gravity of the crime problem, as virtually every family has been directly affected. Hence the larger question is: If Eekhout and cronies actually know they are spewing lies, what is the point other than to sustain the Chavis power structure, and if said structure has fashioned the very mess we are now in, what does that say about motives. It’s insane, really.
Dios . . .
Juancho
August 25, 2010 at 11:03 pm
If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.
Ben Franklin
Up until this last crusade about crime, Chavez has been manipulating the emotions of poor and the opposition has been trying to push logic and facts.
It is time they fought fire with fire, and charged up the issues…corruption and incompetence causing rising crime, inflation, job losses, drugs, electrical shortages, food shortages, coffee shortages, and a decaying economy.
August 25, 2010 at 3:56 pm
It seems that Venezuela is following in the footsteps of its model in Europe.
One Viktorov, Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs in the USSR, said in 1972 that “the complete extirpation of criminal behaviour appeared to be a lengthy and complex process. The most immediate reason for criminal acts in the Soviet Union was mental retardation or an inadequate adjustment to life caused by serious shortcomings in family and school education. Many people were still under the influence of the views and habits characteristic of [capitalist] ideology and psychology…” He said this in 1972! The revolution was in 1918!
In the same year, the CPSU Central Committee expressed dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, blaming crime on the feeling that as products (e.g. building materials) had no visible owner they were there for the taking”. Others blamed crime on alcohol consumption among youngsters. No shortage of excuses. The USSR had 0.5 % of its population in captivity at the time. “It will take 20 years to finally erradicate crime”, some said. Prophetic words: the USSR disappeared around 20 years later.
I don’t like dictators of any kind. I never liked Chavez. not even when he tried to get rid of Carlos Andress in his caracteristically incompetent style. But at least Mi General had crime largely under control. But right wing dictators are bad (according to the left wing ones).
Veinte años no es nada. Take heart.
Antonio
August 25, 2010 at 3:20 pm
I agree stressing crime works because it changes the basic message of the opposition from one that says ours is a more intelligent/rational/efficient option to ours is a more morally acceptable/just/ethical option.
So far the opposition’s discourse has been one based on rational superiority as opposed to moral superiority (the stronghold of chavismo). This gets the opposition absolutely nowhere. NOW, things are changing. Pudreval distributing rotten food makes the regime immoral. The government allowing the population to die in massive numbers of crime and disease makes the regime immoral. Forcing communism down the people’s throats makes the regime immoral. Not just inefficient. However, the discourse of the opposition in terms of inefficency continues. It is pathetic.
August 25, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Other than severe repression which Chavez might try to justify soon,and or stronger and stronger lies and propaganda, I don’t see the crime rate going down too much anytime soon.
Too many criminals are armed and on drugs, too many drug interests that are SO hard to leave behind going on- not to mention the fact that most criminals now feel justified in their behavior because Chavismo has convinced them that they are victims and have NO responsibility for their own behavior( how convenient for political sociopaths)..
and then white collar criminals continue profiteering el maximo .
Chavismo does NOT have the capacity to resolve this issue in a good way.It is now an entrenched and psychologically complicated problem that will take years for a decent government to solve.The whole mind set of many people has to be turned around.
August 25, 2010 at 9:51 am
Excellent post MO. And excellent post island canuck. Many Venezuelans (obviously not all)can be easily bought and will readily give up their freedom of speech, human rights, and future for promises that come with cash and handouts. BUT they will not change….. Their society will be a criminal society. They can be bought and controlled but not changed. Crime has to be confronted and destroyed. Chavez has not been motivated and his government is unable because of its corruption and incompetence to deal with crime.
August 25, 2010 at 7:03 am
I had a “socialist/communist” guest stay with us in the early stages of Chavez.
He said something that now rings very strong.
A true revolution reaches all levels of society &, if the belief is there, then things like crime will be very low because the people believe in the process.
He had just come from CCS & further said that he didn’t think that the Chavez revolution would succeed because the level of crime was too high & wouldn’t change.
August 25, 2010 at 5:39 am
MO, I feel you with a tiny patience, after all, Chavez said that in 20 year there will be no crime. 😉
I will find in 20 years, most of Venezuelans waiting in total comfort, lie down, 3 feet under the ground.
I find curious the phrase: “you can get shot while you get (another) shot”
And I am sorry, trying to be funny with such a tragedy.
August 25, 2010 at 4:54 am
The opposition should be genuinely alarmed by crime. Save open ended civil war, nothing spells National Failure more clearly than uncontrolled crime with death tolls on the scale of civil war.
That said, it should work intensely in getting this reality across to Venezuelans. There will be no country left to live on.
August 25, 2010 at 2:49 am
You know,i love seeing the government’s minions stuttering when they talk about crime,specially in Caracas.But the truth is,chavistas have been already brainwashed by the over-patriotic, insulting, and “everything is going to be alright” propaganda. The opposition(we) need votes,and strong leaders that say what has to be said.So, when anybody like The Director of Propaganda or that nervous fella Izarra,comes and say something like “a lot of work has been done” or “crime rates have never been so low since Chavez is here” or some other Bullcrap,people will applaud and be convinced of this,even in the barrios where you can get shot while you get shot. It is a carefully planned manipulation, propaganda controls the low classes,and the medium and high class is controled by a juicy hipocrite check. There is no pride and no morals. Even the opposition will shut up and vote just for money. Im really looking forward to september 26th. because i really think the opposition will be crushed,and that thought scares me…