Yesterday, there were many protests against the Government as usual, what is different is the rage of the people and who they are. These are not opposition members as Chavez tries to portray, these are “pueblo” the very supporters of Chavez that seem to be getting tired of the lies and promises that never materialize.
I found two protests that were interesting, in part because the images are quite powerful. One is by people who were left homeless in the 2010 floods and are still living in temporary housing, despite promises that their problem would be resolved soon. The result? Well, the nice policemen tear gassed the protesters and some were injured:
The second case took place in Carabobo, near Moron, where people were protesting the fact that they had spent 24 hours without electricity and blocked the highway. The traffic jam was gigantic and as night fell, the protesters started looting the trucks that could not move on the road as seen in this picture:
As you can see this was not just a few people, but everyone seemed to be participating.
And I found this image quite dramatic, a barefoot guy trying to put a stolen pig on his motorcycle to carry it away after taking it from some poor trucker nearby:
Yeah! Hugo is widely popular and a hero to the “people”. Maybe that was the only reason to try to advance the election, the problems will get worse and worse as time goes by…and they know it!
The Devil's Excrement 
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September 18, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Isn’t that motorbike registered in Miranda?
September 16, 2011 at 3:06 pm
There is a joke circulating that goes like this…What are the three things that can survive chemo?
1. cockroaches
2. earthworms
3. chavez’s eyebrows
I read the explanations about the hair loss, and you may be right. But it is still funny.
September 16, 2011 at 2:02 pm
Maduro can’t even pronounce “corrutos”:
September 16, 2011 at 1:25 pm
To me his physical evolution shows that he has got something and I dont think it’s very nice what he has.
September 16, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Hair loss explanation from the Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hair-loss/CA00037
Chemotherapy may cause hair loss all over your body — not just on your scalp. Sometimes your eyelash, eyebrow, armpit, pubic and other body hair also falls out. Some chemotherapy drugs are more likely than others to cause hair loss, and different doses can cause anything from a mere thinning to complete baldness. Talk to your doctor or nurse about the medication you’ll be taking. Your doctor or nurse can tell you what to expect.
Fortunately, most of the time hair loss from chemotherapy is temporary. You can expect to regrow your hair three to 10 months after your treatment ends, though your hair may temporarily be a different shade or texture.
September 16, 2011 at 2:02 pm
I wouldn’t make much of the fact that his eyebrows appear intact. The drugs usually damage tissues with a high rate of replication. Not the case with eyebrows. We don’t need to trim our eyebrows periodically, do we?
September 28, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Once one reaches a certain age…. eyebrows also need trimming.
September 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm
There is a theory that he might have muscle-invasive bladder cancer, that is, a bladder sarcoma. The photo you send me shows that he has an overall skin discoloration, although not very evident. If he has this type of cancer, he could die in a short time, depending on the stage of the tumor and the success of treatment. However, it would be unlikely that he will be alive on October 2012.
In an old comment, I failed to mention that one of the drugs used to treat bladder tumors is very toxic to the kidneys. Thus, if he has kidney failure, the bloated look may be due to generalized edema. Kidney failure, an infection, anything – you name it – could kill him very easily. Also, if this is an advanced stage bladder sarcoma, then it has metastasized to distant sites: here survival is very low. Overall, chances are he could die from metastatic disease, an infection, or organ failure. Let’s hope so; the sooner the better.
September 16, 2011 at 2:12 pm
The skin discoloration may be due to renal failure (most likely) or to the chemotherapeutic agents. At this point, I am inclined to believe that the former is the cause.
September 16, 2011 at 2:10 pm
The problem that the country will face is that if Chavez dies before the election, then chavistas will be highly tempted to seize power and install a real dictatorship “a la cubana.”
September 16, 2011 at 2:23 pm
I agree although I think that is the end game no matter what happens.
September 16, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Well, I think that as long as Chavez is alive, they can continue with the charade of elections based on his popularity with the “cerricolas” (a.k.a. the ones who loot private property). This is something they would not be able to do if he dies soon, hence, the need to grab power by any means.
September 16, 2011 at 1:12 pm
“Somebody needs to tell Chavez to shave his eyebrows to complete the charade. They don’t normally survive chemo.”
Is that true?
Remember he shaved his head before the hair started falling out.
Does all hair fall out?
The reason I ask is that there has been all this speculation that this is all a shame & that something else is going on.
It would be nice to have some solid proof that he’s not being honest about this illness. As it is now no one really knows other than the changes in his appearance.
September 16, 2011 at 12:40 pm
From Veneconomy:
“(15/09/2011 04:55:34 p.m.) Ahmadinejad is coming… again!
President Chávez said he would be meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next week who would visit the country after attending the UN General Assembly in New York. This will be their first meeting after Washington enforced santions against PDVSA for doing business with Iran.”
Does anyone else get the feeling that Chavez is trying to pick a fight by forcing increased sanctions and creating a much needed diversion from the daily problems. Sanctions that would affect most people other than himself. What a predictable, selfish piece of crap.
Somebody needs to tell Chavez to shave his eyebrows to complete the charade. They don’t normally survive chemo.
September 16, 2011 at 10:27 am
Believe it or not, I think there are actually two guys on the motorcycle with the pig in between them.
September 16, 2011 at 11:10 am
Ha, ha. I think you’re right.
September 16, 2011 at 10:25 am
I in no way condone the looting of the helpless individuals stuck in the traffic, and anyone that would take part in the looting is worse than the pigs in the truck. But I have to admire the determination of the guy to throw a pig on a motorcycle. It is a shame that he can’t focus that energy into a positive venture…maybe the circus.
September 16, 2011 at 10:24 am
I don’t know if there will ever be a solution for a country with so many people that have no qualms about getting something for nothing and with many expecting the government to give them everything they need.
September 16, 2011 at 2:24 pm
It couldn’t have been stated better. Recently, I saw a documentary on South Korea. By the time Medina Angarita was president of Venezuela, South Korea only had 2 important corporations that at the time only could make cosmetics, plastics, and some textiles. Two generations later and a major war that has not ended but only interrupted by a very fragile cease-fire, South Korea occupies the 7th place in the roster of the economies that export most goods to the world. The corporations? Samsung and LG. Go figure. I guess we also are NOT South Koreans (To paraphrase that infamous statement made by a 4th republic politician that we are not swiss).
September 16, 2011 at 8:48 am
Kepler:
I’m not supporting CAP. I’m questioning us for doing too little to end this hell on earth.
We were right when condemned CAP from a moral point of view (probably we were wrong from the strategic point of view, who knows and who cares at this point). We considered him the worse thing in the world, but even him was not so bad to openly recognize that he was destroying our sovereignty…. and we made CAP to pay a very high price for his fault. But now… it looks like nobody gives a sh@t!
Be honest: Do you really believe that a country that is not able to cure this illness will be able to make its own way? I really don’t know.
September 16, 2011 at 12:24 pm
Dry,
Don’t get me wrong. I think Hugo Chávez Frías is the most pernitious thing that could have happened to Venezuela at least since the Federal War, if not since earlier times.
He is a lethal TB. As I said earlier, the problem is Venezuela has sociopolitical AIDS. That’s why it got TB in the first place.
September 16, 2011 at 7:43 am
animals
September 16, 2011 at 7:40 am
Jeffrey, Lacteos Los Andes was expropriated by Chavez a couple of years ago so now everything that comes out of the plant is “Hecho en Socialismo”
September 16, 2011 at 8:49 am
thank you!
September 16, 2011 at 7:36 am
Pookeye,
China nice?????????? Tell that to the Tibetans.That is one of the most bizarre statements I have heard in years, and the way they treat N Korean women who escape? What a cynic to call them nice!
China is literally the stuff Orwellian nightmares are made of.
September 16, 2011 at 7:20 am
Can anyone explain the sign’ s apparent reference to milk and socialism? I lack context here in Toronto.
September 16, 2011 at 7:13 am
We start this morning with new protests.
Damnificados trancan la Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho para exigir sus viviendas
Where the hell is my house?
http://www.globovision.com/news.php?nid=202740
September 16, 2011 at 3:07 am
Pookeye,
Education in the broader sense is the issue.
Venezuelans have
1) no sense of identity or history (all the history they have in their heads is this pseudo-historical Independence soap opera with Bolívar as centre figure)
2) a fundamentally feudal society (even before Chávez came to power) with just a barnish of modernism
3) a very deep rooted sense they do live in the richest country on Earth and if things are screwed up, it’s because someone else is distributing badly or stealing
4) a belief in the cargo cult
In that sense Venezuela has a lot in common with Africa.
Why? It always was the forgotten child of Spanish America. It was in Venezuela that the myth of El Dorado appeared.
I wouldn’t be sure China is a nice super power. No super power has ever been nice. We should be careful about believing what any one side says about the intentions of the others or about its own intentions.
China may not intend to do what some in the US or Europe think, but neither will it do what it claims. The same goes for every major player. Countries are not people. They are more complicated beasts and individuals may have difficulty controlling those huge beasts.
September 16, 2011 at 12:34 am
You can lose Cuba’s hold, but China’s? I don’t think so.
September 15, 2011 at 6:58 pm
hey I’m chinese, and venezuelan and I find this crazy unacceptable. I mean seriously, when is Venezuela gonna realize that to help the people, giving hand outs wont help, it just makes inflation worse and it makes it worse for the poor, also importing products using an artificial cost to try to fix inflation artificially wont work either… at some point people will realize they are screwed, and what i dont understand (since I havent lived there since I was a boy) how in the world do the people not understand that all the government is doing is screwing their future….. i just dont get it… saddens me to be venezuelan too… china is a nice big power, but you should let them pay for your resources, and pay handsomely, as chinese are not ones to not be willing to pay when they want something… they will try to swindle you when possible, if you let them… how in the world is venezuela letting this happen?!?! I live in the states now, but i still have many great memories there… but seriously… wtf…
September 15, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Wow, just wow!
What else could that be other than his tumor?
The man is genuinely mentally unbalanced.
I also agree – no other Venezuelan president would be capable of publicly acknowledging such a plan in the hands of a foreign power.
Maybe the tide is turning.
There should be a public outrage against this.
First the Cubans & now the Chinese.
September 16, 2011 at 5:28 am
According to Daniel the unidentified jar is Chinese traditional medicine.
Makes more sense.
September 15, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Chavez proudly carry a “book” called “Advisory Report about Development Planning of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” prepared by CHINA (see lapatilla.com: http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2011/09/15/el-detallito-la-paranoia-con-el-agua-del-presidente-foto/).
I do not have words to describe the size of the treason that this “Mamarracho” is committing: Just imagine CAP in a picture holding a report with the same name prepared by the WB, or the IDB or why not: USA… What happened with us in these 12 years?, How we allow this?, Where are our leaders?
Lapatilla.com additionally highlighted the cover that “Mamarracho” used in his glass during the event…….Also, a container with something that looks like a tumor…….yes a tumor!!
September 15, 2011 at 5:17 pm
By the way: I do not use CAP as a high standard, quite the contrary.
September 15, 2011 at 5:31 pm
My God! This is beyond scary stupid-horrible-evil.
Treason yes.
Chavez should be arrested, trial and spend rest
of his life in prison or death sentence.
September 16, 2011 at 2:49 am
Bloody Mary,
Actually:
CAP and the others may not have been carrying a book with “Advisory Report” prepared by the USA, but they were more often than not carrying out the suggestions in like manner.
We should learn from what Japan did in the XIX century. Firstly it was forced by way of cannon to open up as the Western powers wanted and misery ensured. It was only because they decided to take their own approach, take what was good and reject what they thought was bad, that they developed. Had they simply followed up the “one-way free market” policies and other similar things, they would have become like the Philippines.
September 15, 2011 at 4:40 pm
WSJ article makes for interesting reading:
If Chavez Loses Venezuelan Election, Transition May Be Rocky
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110915-714833.html
One interesting quote:
“The probability for a peaceful transition is much, much higher than the market is gauging,” said Alejandro Grisanti, an analyst at Barclays Capital.
September 15, 2011 at 3:41 pm
“Looting-as-a-form-of-political-protest “-this really disgusts me.
I am all for peaceful protests- carrying signs, speaking out
against injustice. But- no violence. No burning things,
No breaking glass. No looting.
Mob insanity is not excusabe.
Where is Chavez’s famous Bolivarian Security Forces?
September 15, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Oh, I forgot- they are busy destroying the tons drugs they
took from el pueblo…
September 15, 2011 at 1:30 pm
This is yet another example of how successful the “divide y venceras” policy of Chavez has been. There might be thousands of protests with thousands of protesters each, but each one happens in a different place for a different reason, so they all look like small “guarimbas” where a handful of people are doing more to annoy other people than forcing the government to do anything.
If they all actually got together and went to the AN or (gasp) Miraflores, and got the actual government officials to notice them, they might accomplish something.
And of course, the Looting-as-a-form-of-political-protest that started with El Caracazo is probably the best indicator of why things are the way they are in Venezuela.
Nothing will ever get better in Venezuela until the day venezuelans realize they shouldn’t be looting the truck carrying pigs or the small mercado owned by that old lady who lives upstairs, but instead they should be looting La Chavera, and the (many) houses of Diosdado, Mario Silva, Izarra, “Marciano” and company.
September 15, 2011 at 2:58 pm
… “divide y venceras” … is one way of looking at it.
On the other hand, you’d think the country is becoming more and more like a barrel of powder waiting to go off. Or it is not?
September 15, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Even pre-Chavez, Venezuelans didn’t understand the concept of “waiting in line” to be served, regardless of the venue. I was shocked and disgusted by Venezuelans’ total lack of manners in waiting their turn to be served when there was a line involved.
So why does stealing a pig from the back of a truck shock anyone here?
September 15, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Saw a proto-riot yesterday in downtown PLC where people were in line to buy powdered milk. Every so often part of the line would breakdown in a rugby scrum with lots of yelling. The guardia national kept their distance across the street. Just as we were leaving by taxi, I heard sirens pulling up, not sure who or what showed up, but we didn’t stick around.
September 15, 2011 at 11:49 am
Sorry to hear you were robbed again. Be safe.
And no, he won’t be arrested.
September 15, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Actually I wasn’t personally robbed, it was just an example of friends we have from Caracas.
September 15, 2011 at 11:28 am
Incredible photo of the guy with the pig.
His licence plate is clearly visible.
Let’s see how long it will take for him to be arrested?
🙂
I mentioned yesterday that the country is heating up with people getting more & more angry at the empty promises.
Where are the houses?
Where is the food?
Why are 80% of the schools in the country in need of urgent repairs?
Why do the hospitals not work?
Why is the electricity off?
How come my road is closed & I can’t get to work?
Why do I have to line up for more than an hour to do a simple bank transaction?
Why was I robbed yesterday for the 3rd time in 3 years?
Why was my neighbor killed for his cel phone?
Why are their no parts for my car?
Why have I got 3 compressors burned out in my A/Cs with no one to complain to?
This list could continue for hundreds of additional examples.
The protests will get worse as we get closer to the election as people try to wring benefits out of the government who will throw money at problems to make them go away.
September 15, 2011 at 3:23 pm
“Let’s see how long it will take for him to be arrested?”
No more arrests, remember?? so, hte guys is in no trouble at all. ESO SI QUE ES LIBERTAD “A LA CHAVEZ”!!! todos hacen lo que les da la pu!a gana!!!
September 15, 2011 at 4:24 pm
And under what premise do you assume that that is a valid license plate, and not a stolen one?
VZ is basically fucked up beyond repair, and regardless of who wins or doesn’t win the coming election, it will continue to be fucked up.
The country is finished for the foreseeable future. Even many of the intelligent have became greedy morons and voted for Chavez–and they’re going to pay this price for years to come.
Venezuelans have historically (recently historic, anyway) been viewed as acting as superior a-holes compared to the rest of Latin America. They are generally disliked by most of Latin America, and this goes to pre-Chavez.
What goes around, comes around–and it looks like all the oil in the world can’t help them.
September 15, 2011 at 11:03 pm
“and it looks like all the oil in the world can’t help them.”
I beg to differ; cash distribution of the oil revenues could help everyone.
—
September 15, 2011 at 11:26 am
After living abroad for a few years I’ve commented in this blog a number of times that people in Venezuela are apathetic. I’ve to admit this is not completely true. There may not be massive protests (“marchas”) like the ones in April 2002 that led to the brief ousting of HC, but yes, when I do read Venezuelan news from local newspapers (El Universal, etc.) there always seems to be localized protests going on. This seems to have become normality in Venezuela (along with “la inseguridad”, etc., etc.).