To Kika, with all our cariño
What’s up with Fidel Castro and Hugo, really? They have been sending mixed signals in the last few days that would make a Chavista squirm.
I mean, to have Fidel say the Cuban model has failed, while Huguito is trying to imposed an oil rich based version of the Cuban model in Venezuela, must be somewhat unsettling to those peddling (or attempting to peddle) XXIst. Century Socialism and the Chavez revolution here.
In fact, The Simpsons thought Fidel doing this would actually be funny:
But nothing funny to local Chavistas about the old man reneging.
This is worse than the Venezuelan communist party suing the opposition for accusing the Communist party of…
being communists.
And just when I learned that the Jerusalem Post has called Jews in Venezuela “the most embattled Jewish community in the world“, with half its members leaving the country in the last ten years, here comes Huguito’s mentor Fidel, father-image and all and goes and questions the anti-Semitism of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and urged him to recognize the Jewish Holocaust and Israel’s reasons to fear for its existence.
What is going on here? Is the man senile or doesn’t he know Hugo is running for his life?
And just as fast as you can say Ahmadinejad without stuttering, Hugo himself comes out and says “We respect and love the Jewish people” and that he has been unfairly painted as being anti-Semite.
Jeez, I wonder who talked about the “descendants of the killers of Christ controlling the world” or even being responsible for Simon Bolivars death. Was that you Hugo or your alter ego? Remember Norberto Ceresole? Remember the raid on Hebraica? Wasn’t that your police? The desecration of the synagogue?
How come you never questioned these events and now you are buddy-buddy with the Venezuelan Jewish community?
What changed? or is this just posturing by the old man and yourself Hugo?
The truth is, the whole thing must really confuse Chavista purists, those that chant the party line day after day.
Maybe tomorrow they will say Fidel is getting old. But I would bet this will only happen after the election, you don’t want to embarrass Hugo.
Por ahora… For now…
But the truth is that half of the Venezuelan Jewish community which was welcomed to Venezuelan society in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s has now left the country in fear, despite their magnificent contributions to this country.
You will all be missed, thank you for all you did, but who can blame you for leaving…
The Devil's Excrement 
September 16, 2010 at 12:53 pm
I read through a few of the posts here. I found a number of them to be disturbing and off the mark. Fidel has a long history of supporting the Jewish communities of Cuba, the USA and Israel. He does not agree with many of our policies but he spoke up a number of times. He said, on numerous occassions, that he is Jewish. He is friends with several members of the Israeli Knesset. He spoke out on anti-semitism, the holocaust, his Jewish ancestry and more.
Chavas on the other hand..well…he is a schmuck.
September 12, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Ok, I meant a flat-out prohibition not based on zoning considerations. Though, mostly, to me, private property is private property is private property is private property. To dispose of as the OWNER sees fit. I suppose we have to allow for public infrastructure overuse, given that there are important (and mostly artificial) restrictions on building privately owned and managed infrastructure like roads, utilities, bridges or railroads, for “general public” use.
“Anyhow, the point has to be driven home to some people that they cannot (no how, and no way) enforce their own views on the holiness of a prophet or of a book on other people, who might just as well view them as controversial or hateful. It is the only road to moderation and good Public Relations, and Islam needs to walk it desperately.”
And I thought this was strong enough. Offending and outraging fanatics without violence is virtuous, it is an exercise of THE HIGHEST MANNER OF CIVILIZATION, meant also to TEACH said fanatics to behave like DECENT HUMAN BEINGS for a change, though at first they might react BEASTLY AS USUAL. Islamic sensitivities NEED SERIOUS TRAMPLING. Like the good old trampling done by courageous individuals with Christian and Catholic sensitivities in the last two centuries of history of the West. Just to teach moslems the same lessons christians learned.
And coming back to Venezuela. I feel that Venezuelans also need some trampling of their most cherished beliefs about society, their relation with the State and State oil revenue. Though, in my opinion this trampling will come about naturally and in a practical manner, from the acute, multiple organ failure of the State. We need to have it proven that Socialism, even the watered-down version of the era before Chavez, cannot possibly work here. We need to have it proven that the Venezuelan State can only serve very limited purposes (if any at all), and that elsewhere it can only provide corruption and tyranny, no matter who manages it. We need to have it proven that we are not a “rich” nation.
September 12, 2010 at 11:50 am
loroferoz
I don’t see a threat in “Cordoba House”. A greater threat, to my eyes, would be a flat out prohibition to building religious centers in some places.
I take it then that you consider zoning laws a threat, as zoning laws have flat out prohibitions about building certain building types in certain places, and about building sizes and functions.
In my opinion the only thing wrong about the Quran burnings is that they are done by another fundamentalist out of spite or desire for attention; who would literally squeal if somebody began to burn Bibles
The USG is already burning Bibles. Find out what is the reaction to that. To give you something to ponder- not to engage in further discussion on the issue- Belmont Club has an interesting view on the issue:
Comparing Jones to Imam Rauf reduces President Obama’s defense of the Ground Zero mosque to absurdity. How could an administration which ordered Bibles sent to Afghanistan burned and endorsed the right of the Ground Zero mosque builders to proceed with their construction turn 180 degrees on the matter of Koran burning without spinning like a top? They were hoist by their own petard.
Also, from a CNN interview(link not included to stop spam filter).
RAUF: As I just mentioned, our national security now hinges on how we negotiate this, how we speak about it, and what we do. It is important for us now to raise the bar on our conversation–
O’BRIEN: What’s the risk? When you say “national security,” what’s the risk?
RAUF: As I mentioned, because if we move, that means the radicals have shaped the discourse. The radicals will shape the discourse on both sides. And those of us who are moderates on both sides — you see Soledad, the battle front is not between Muslims and non-Muslims. The real battle front is between moderates on all sides of all the faith traditions and the radicals on all sides.The radicals actually feed off each other. And in some kind of existential way, need each other. And the more that the radicals are able to control the discourse on one side, it strengthens the radicals on the other side and vice versa.
There are already about 80 mosques in NYC. According to Rauf,”moderate” Christians support building another mosque in NYC, at Ground Zero. Bits from the planes hit the proposed mosque property. There are no non-Muslim religious buildings in Saudi Arabia. Does Rauf mean that “moderate” Muslims would support building a church or synagogue in Saudi Arabia ?
Again: my posting is not done to engage in further discussion, but to give you something to ponder. After all, this is a blog on Venezuela.
September 12, 2010 at 10:24 am
“We saw how Venezuela got taken advantage by the fascist double-talking chavistas”
Venezuela was taken advantage of because it was not exactly an open society. Maybe it started with political democracy. But the economy was controlled by the State using oil revenue, and politics followed. Corruption and petty (or gross) tyranny by government officials was and is the norm. This country was only waiting for someone unscrupulous and astute enough to take advantage of the situation and of the flaws in thinking that it produced in Venezuelans.
“open societies like america and others are full of vulnerabilities the product of our ‘open’ system”
In my opinion there is more vulnerability and more damage has been done by the aspects of open societies that are not open and contradict their basic nature. That specially includes every “War” fought against enemies that either do not exist or are unidentifiable.
If there is an “enemy” there is a war. If the “disinformation” takes, it also means a good thing, that everyone involved has to explain themselves and their actions thoroughly, and probably they have to because they have also shoved some disinformation themselves. It’s called freedom. War is never desirable. Open societies have to important things to offer to the world that are inseparable: Peace and Freedom. Which includes public review of matters public. Like peace and declaring war.
I don’t see a threat in “Cordoba House”. A greater threat, to my eyes, would be a flat out prohibition to building religious centers in some places. Or a flat out prohibition to questioning the wisdom of such a building.
In my opinion the only thing wrong about the Quran burnings is that they are done by another fundamentalist out of spite or desire for attention; who would literally squeal if somebody began to burn Bibles. Anyhow, the point has to be driven home to some people that they cannot (no how, and no way) enforce their own views on the holiness of a prophet or of a book on other people, who might just as well view them as controversial or hateful. It is the only road to moderation and good Public Relations, and Islam needs to walk it desperately.
September 11, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Gerry well said. Hell is yet to come. Unless the the guy keels over, it’s not going to be brief!
September 11, 2010 at 1:22 pm
The way I’m seeing things now is that Chavez doesn’t have the patience for politics, the skills for management, and he doesn’t have a clue about economics.
September 11, 2010 at 1:20 pm
GWEH,
How correct you are.There is so much memetic thought out there being piped in( for political purposes) that people are beginning to feel ashamed of real thought and their own good or correct feelings.All countries are vulnerable and can be corrupted through political memes.
To those who think Chavez is an atheist or a Christian:
Chavez practices animism which can hardly be reconciled with Christianity or atheism.He tries to pretend to do so, and so do many others do also too but it is stretching things so far as to be laughable.Narcissistic gluttons want to claim they have it all.All the powers from” los 4 vientos” are theirs for their protection.
Atheists by the way are no less and no more inclined to peace than God fearing folks.
September 11, 2010 at 12:28 pm
La Alcaldía de Píritu recibe entrenamiento paramilitar
With a photo:
http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2010/09/11/la-alcaldia-de-piritu-recibe-entrenamiento-paramilitar/
September 11, 2010 at 12:22 pm
GWEH,
Please do not forget that in political structures there also is the “Darwinian” effect.
This is very true in Venezuela. But the ability to re-produce a product in the medium to long term is without ‘fertilized eggs’.
The inbreeding started about five years (or more) ago.
((A sterile Cuban egg)) – Planted in a very gullible lieutenant colonel.
There is no life here, only a Lord of the Ruin.
Our purgatory has been very bad.
Our hell has yet to come – and yet hope springs eternal.
Hopefully the hell time will be short and not too bloody.
P.S. I have always respected your comments – Thanks, Gerry.
September 11, 2010 at 11:31 am
correction: “let’s NOT give Castro accolades….”
September 11, 2010 at 11:29 am
Loro, open societies like america and others are full of vulnerabilities the product of our ‘open’ system. We saw how Venezuela got taken advantage by the fascist double-talking chavistas. The US has more protections built into its system but it’s being challenged every day just look at “Cordoba House”. That’s like putting a japanese temple next to the Arizona memorial. Many think the US is strong enough to weather this but the challenges are there. Today the ‘enemy’ can pipe their disinformation staight into american living rooms unfettered. Goebbels would have never dreamed of this. Lets not forget that the Cuban are deeply involved in this so lets give Castro accolades for talking nice about jews.
September 11, 2010 at 10:16 am
Roy, Chavez is a syncretist (fusing different religions) and a neo-pagan, according to a Danish cultural anthropologist, himself a non-christian, who was studying Chavez’ beliefs from an academic standpoint.
For Hugo Chavez, the only value of Christ and Christianity are as sources of Marxist imagery. Chavez views himself as a type of Christ.
September 11, 2010 at 10:08 am
Castro made several admissions. He fesses to screwing up with Nikita… this one is big in my opinion for this had Fidel branded as apocalyptical. However, Fidel is not absolved for his Cuban apparatus is also playing a hand in the Venezuela-Iran relationship. A relationship whose true goals are not yet fully known. Fidel knows Iran is going for the bomb and is helping them then he turns around and preaches armageddon. In some ways, Fidel has not changed at all… he just put his foot in his mouth that’s all.
September 11, 2010 at 9:14 am
OT: Patos y pargos no mueren ahogados
September 10, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Why do these guys do such about faces and leave even the naive among their believers wondering?
The only answer that makes sense to me is the title of a book.
The open society… and it’s enemies.
Yes, open like being able to say what you mean. Like open and peaceful, where you are able to openly say what you are about, because it’s not war. Like openly being able to disagree with others. Like openly being able to call someone a liar and a hypocrite if he says one thing and does the opposite.
And it’s enemies, among others, Fidel and Hugo.
These are anything but open or transparent, even to themselves. They try to create closed societies, they deal in misinformation and vague threats and insinuations, even when the threat is deadly serious. Riddles , enigmas, some pundits would call them. Con men and hypocrites to the core, more likely, who want to keep faking forever without having to face questions.
September 10, 2010 at 6:42 pm
No coincidence before election. The move turns out to be more convenient for him than for the Jewish community.
Its a shame that such a successful religious and cultural group has been reduced in those numbers.
As a jew and college student I can observe how this emigrating pattern is just a scale model of what is happening to the rest of venezuelan well educated society. Generally speaking, this is perhaps the worst leak of talent Venezuela has ever experienced, and the big impact is yet to be seen.
September 10, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Here is one link for the Fidel retraction.
http://www.abc.es/20100910/internacional/castro-recula-201009101901.html
September 10, 2010 at 5:31 pm
OT:
Wow, the WSJ is really on top of things these days:
Venezuela’s Chavez Admits Not Funding Opposition-Led Regions
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100910-711731.html
In local news Spanish here:
http://www.noticierodigital.com/2010/09/chavez-a-la-gobernacion-de-miranda-habra-que-recuperarla-mas-pronto-que-tarde/
September 10, 2010 at 4:57 pm
It may be that Castro knows Chavismo is a disaster in its final throws. Maybe Chavez knows it as well. Maybe its time for Cubans and Iranians to abandon the sinking ship!
I just read this: http://www.fride.org/download/IBOpenDemocracy090807.pdf.
What do you all think?
September 10, 2010 at 4:48 pm
FIDEL + CHAVEZ = “Chickenbrain”
September 10, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Castro’s father was from Galicia. The doctor that keeps him alive is a Spaniard (no barrio adentro medic in sight). He has been giving land to Spanish companies to get the tourist business (some of this land had been expropriated from Cuban owners). I think he should be burried in the motherland: he is not Cuban enough. I wish Europeans would leave us alone for a while, and keep their models to themselves. Cuba´s model soesn´t work anymore? Of course not: it is not Cuban.
September 10, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Maybe they just changed his medication… Lol
September 10, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Fidel is selling his book, that is all. Stir up a few controversies on the release of your book and you sell more copies. That is all.
September 10, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Firepigette,
I am kind of hoping that Iran will come back and insult Castro. Then Chavez will have to dump Iran.
The Castros are scum sucking bastards and even lipstick (or one good thought) will not help.
September 10, 2010 at 2:36 pm
So Castro admits that he said those words. He was “misinterpreted”. He was really talking about capitalism :
“al ser preguntado sobre si Cuba podría exportar su modelo de Estado, dijo: “El modelo cubano ya no funciona ni para nosotros”.
He’s lying. His defence mechanisms were turned off, and he said what he thought.
This retraction certainly shows that he wasn’t “helping Chavez” though.
September 10, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Miguel, i thought of writing a post myself when I read both news (Fidel’s and Chavez’s)
What is amazing is the influence Fidel TRULY has on Chávez! He is literally dictating Venezuela’s policy. This is the confirmation of what we have been saying.
As for why Fidel is talking now about the Holocaust…I don’t know. It might be coincidental, it might be he wants to ingratiate himself with the US and Israel..some people even suggests that his father was a sepharade jew from Spain, I have no idea if that is true.
In any case, my answer to him is “que tarde piaste, pajarito!” The holocasut has been there for more than sixty years and has been the most mounstrous event against a group of people in recent history and this guy just woke up and found out!
September 10, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Oh! Oh!
Fidel Castro says he was misunderstood and ” it is capitalism that no longer works ”
See El National.
Flip flop for Fidel – new life for “The Lord of the Ruin”
September 10, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Fidel wants to know “how much” will Venezuela pay to Cuba to take Chavez (to Cuba) and rehabilitate him.
30 billion dollars’ at least, with a minimum 30% commission to the Castro brothers.
I think the offer is very clear.
September 10, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Deana,
Castro was and is an atheist. However, you may be right in that even atheists, at the end, need to make peace with themselves.
LHB,
You may be right, time will tell. But, I see an old man just trying to make sure that his legacy is not that of a monster.
Roberto N.,
I think you are correct. Any back-pedaling or weakness from Chavez, will be his political and personal downfall. Even he can understand the lesson of Gorbachev and Perestroika. He can only move forward and consolidate total power. He has nothing to lose at this point. It is all, or nothing.
September 10, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Fidel’s backtracking is too good to be true. For fifty years he has outsmarted almost everyone, damaging badly the hungry and suffering citizens. This is a game, and old and senile as people think he is, he still can play a mean game of chess. I am betting there is another move in the board. And chavez being a silly pawn is part of it.
September 10, 2010 at 9:49 am
RWG,
Gee, in just a few moments you gave us a perfect example of my point.50 years of sociopathic behavior and you are applauding him:
“I actually applaud Castro for speaking out against Iran and its hate. Castro is still one scum sucking bastard, but he did this right.”
Don’t waste your applause on the likes of him
September 10, 2010 at 9:33 am
What do you expect from Chavez?. He does not have character nor personality. All in his soul (if has any) is occupied by the hunger for power. He will say whatever in pursuit of that.
September 10, 2010 at 9:26 am
I actually applaud Castro for speaking out against Iran and its hate. Castro is still one scum sucking bastard, but he did this right.
I feel that Chavez’ antisemitism is largely from Amendinejad of Iran. In fact, the Iranians in Venezuela are the most likely source of Chavez decision to attack Jews and Jewish property. Iran is pushing its agenda where ever possible and Chavez is a willing follower.
The closing of LaFrancia can be added to the list of antisemitic acts by Chavez. Quite a few Jewish businesses were closed that day.
September 10, 2010 at 9:15 am
I agree with Roberto N. Chavez is going to punch the accelerator hard on the 27th and drive Venezuela off the cliff Thelma and Louise style.
September 10, 2010 at 9:02 am
The failure of the Cuban economic system has been extremely obvious for decades. Fidel Castro is extremely late is admitting this failure. Fidel Castro knew for 50 years what he was doing to Cuba. History will not forget this delay.
September 10, 2010 at 8:47 am
Here we see the delicate ego of Fidel when he said:
“Condemn me, it does not matter, history will absolve me.”
September 10, 2010 at 8:23 am
This is both Fidel making it easier for Chavez AND paving the way for Raul Castro to further “open” Cuban Soceity to a little bit of “free market” ideas.
Don’t expect wholesale change overnight in Cuba, or Venezuela.
As others have pointed out, this is a temporary softening of Chavez’ in the face of poll after poll that shows a huge part of Venezuela wanting nothing to do with Communism.
Whatever happens on the 26th, you can bet Chavez will turn the screws hard on the 27th in order to implant his cockeyed philosophy.
September 10, 2010 at 8:09 am
Hugo the chupamedia has always had it in for the Jews as close to 70 % of the Jews have left Venezuela and most of those remaining have had to combine synagogues to keep on functioning.Conservatives with Orthodox, just imagine.
But one thing I have clearly observed in Chavez is that he uses mafia techniques.When something is super unpopular he goes backwards for while to convince people he is reasonable and then inches forward again while people keep the impression that he is open minded.2 steps forward one step back.etc.
It is a well known trick that all Mafiosos know instinctively: people will forgive you and follow you more when you are mostly bad but confess and make concessions at times than when you are always attempting to do the right thing but suddenly fail.It is the kind of sympathy people feel for the confessed sinner.Just look at the popularity of the’ Sopranos’.
Chupamedias and mafia Dons are kissing cousins, or better put: just 2 peas in a pod.
September 10, 2010 at 6:55 am
My own take on this is: Fidel is fearing the end of his life and he has to make sure that the God of the Jewish people (and ours) receives him in heaven. Honestly, I agree that this is all an electoral ploy, including the meeting that Hugo is going to have with the Jewish community. And Cristina Kirchner should be ashamed of herself, connecting herself with a person that has denigrated the Jewish people and agreed with Ahmedinejad’s hate of Israel and the Jewish people.
September 10, 2010 at 6:53 am
With respect, the idea that Fidel is campaigning for Chavez is way too Venezuela-centered. Although not yet officially reported inside Cuba, it is already causing a stir there, as exiles pass the message back to family members, even party members. In a country where people were purged for believing in Gorbachev and perestroika, Fidel starts to look like a heretic, with consequences for his image and the legitimacy of the Revolution.
In the rest of the world, where the Cuban model was once a model for some, the Castro comment is completely disheartening and tends t o demobilize the troops. Even in Venezuela it may have that effect.
Fidel is playing a bigger game than the Venezuelan midterm elections offer.
He is trying to make sure that history really will absolve him.
September 10, 2010 at 5:04 am
Perhaps, Fidel is foreseeing (i.e., “in the know of”) Iran taking action against Israel and doesn’t want Israeli/USA retaliation to include him.
—
September 10, 2010 at 4:55 am
Setty is right on spot.
September 10, 2010 at 3:09 am
This is Fidel campaigning for Chavez!!! A kindler, gentler Fidel out and about trying to sell Hugo as Fidel 2.0. As a media campaign it is brilliant! If the oposition’s main argument is fear of Cuba, then let’s bring the real scary dictator out in the open and have him get all mea culpa even admitting his system’s shortcomings only to reassure us that Hugo is really new and improved.
September 10, 2010 at 2:18 am
As always I thank our host. Next – I LUV the Simpson thing… to bad it’s so short.
I have a theory.. here goes.. Fidel was visited by his Ghosts of X-mass past, present and future. For him this would be Freddy Kruger, Chucky and the Reaper. I dare say he was glad he had his Depends on that day. This was the Day the Campaign started and Huggi was there for a visit. Just in time to change the Diaper. WELL! Wasn’t that a day. They
have both now seen the light and both Cuba and Ve will live happily ever after.
However, the reality is they are both back peddling because they have a bad feeling ( dont know how they got it ) HCF is going to get slammed… YEHA! Either version will do for me. Amazing what I come up with when I can’t sleep…
September 9, 2010 at 10:25 pm
This is pretty transparently part of the election campaign. Chavez always tacks right in the campaign, and Fidel is helping him out. Where was Chavez on the first official day of the campaign? Remember?