As Chavez and his cohorts celebrate the 20th. anniversary of this shameful day, there is simply nothing to celebrate of that coup against democracy, on the contrary, this is the anniversary of a day of shame for Venezuelans. The histrionics are there for all to. see, what “Bolivarians” and “Chavistas” are celebrating is the cult of Hugo Chavez. He has said it many times over the last few days: The Armed Forces are “Chavistas”, not “Bolivarian”, not “Revolutionary”, but his own, the serve only him, not Venezuela. It is all about the cult of Chavez. And today, drunk in his own power, Hugo Chavez talked about “Fidelismo” and “Chavismo” on the same footing, another sign that all that matters is the cult, the rest, is just simply irrelevant.
And while “Chavismo” has left a trail of death and victims, from the Tascon list, to 120,000 murders with total indeffirence, to those fired from PDVSA, to those murdered in opposition marches, the real forgotten victims are those of 20 years ago. More than one hundred people murdered for a project that led nowhere. They were mostly civilians, caught in the cross fire of soldiers who were defending the democratically elected Government, including the President, his wife and his daughters, and soldiers who were led to the coup under false pretenses. Very few of the latter knew even why they were there. The page of a newspaper above tells the forgotten and very shameful story that Chavez claims to celebrate today, as if it was an epic battle. He did not even fight. He failed at his military objective of killing the President, he was pardoned and this allowed him to embark in his very personal project of “Chavismo”
And don’t believe for a minute that he is improvising, as documents captured that fateful day twenty years ago show, among the tactics was “to stimulate hate between classes”, “establish links to the FARC” and as this other document shows, the goal was to establish a Marxist Leninist domination, a socialist society, without “any rush”.
But the cult has left a country in shambles, full of corruption and dysfunctional institutions, a decimated infrastructure and the penetration of the country’s armed forces by Cubans and the oil industry by foreign Governments, whose only objective is to take over much needed hydrocarbon resources, when PDVSA can no longer expand production because Chavez destroyed it.
It is a day of shame, as well as the anniversary of a day of shame, with the Autocrat/Dictator inviting others like him to this so called celebration. The democrats of the region stayed away, while Hugo Chavez tries to instill fear in his own citizens.
There is still hope that things may change this year, either by vote or by fate, Chavismo may simply wither away in Venezuela some time soon. Hopefully, its trail of shame and blood will not be forgotten.
The Devil's Excrement 
February 7, 2012 at 3:21 am
[…] February 4th. 1992: A Day Of Shame For Venezuelans […]
February 6, 2012 at 1:05 pm
[…] February 4th. 1992: A Day Of Shame For Venezuelans […]
February 6, 2012 at 6:09 am
Chavez is against business- small and larger. What I don’t understand is why people don’t say “What, Chavez are you nuts!?”
Even Cubans are starting to realize that businesses must be allowed…
February 5, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Arguably Germany was the most advanced and civilized nation on earth by the end of the 19th. Century. That Germans could succumb to Hitler shows just how thin the veneer of civilization really is. As much as I dislike both Hitler and Chavez, birds of a feather, I would not be too hard on Venezuelans for falling for Chavez’s “labia” (charisma) considering the conditions created by the previous pseudo-democratic demagogs.
There is an anecdote I like to tell. Back in the days of Pedro Pablo Perez Alfonzo, of Excrement of the Devil fame, AD’s battle cry was “Fifty-fifty!” The oil companies used to get 60% of royalties and Venezuela the other 40%. “Fifty-fifty!” would rectify the injustice being done to the people of Venezuela. Fast forward to CAP and the “voto uninominal” initiative. People wanted to vote for their candidates by name, not by list because the list is what gives the political parties their power over the ballot box. Guess what CAP responded when asked about “voto uninominal.”
“Fifty-fifty!”
Earlier “Fifty-fifty!” was meant to defend the Venezuelan people against the capitalist imperialist dogs. With CAP, “Fifty-fifty!” was meant to defend the political parties against the Venezuelan people they were supposedly representing.
I would not shed a single tear for the 4th Republics and its demagogs. They are the cause for the rise of Chavez. History will not forgive Adecos and Copeyanos for their misdeeds. Some years ago I got an email from Claudio Fermín asking for my support. I replied that if his name showed up on the ballot list I would vote for Chavez. Crazy? Maybe. But I really can’t stand these people trying to get back into power. Good riddance. ¡No volverán!
Politics creates some strange bedfellows.
February 5, 2012 at 2:27 pm
I don’t know how many lies have been spoken the past few days
by Chavez- it is many, many…
For example, Chavez blamed the difficulties starting auto business in
Venezuela with Iran on the “sanctions” come now- they have nothing to do
with that. And, Chavez- how about the bicycle factory (Iranian) in VZ-how’s that going? Sanctions hurting that too,. ANd, of course, the tractor company from Iran-
hurt by sanctions…Not to mention house-building by Iranians in Venezuela- hurt
badly by sanctions..C’mon Chavez- I know I heard a who?
And- here’s a big one- Chavez dedicates 1% of GDP Venzuela to ALBA. Yes,
To Banco de ALBA and promises more in the future…
First, CHavez giving away more and more even to the Venezuelan people proves
one thing- Chavez steals everything he can-because he gives away what is NOT HIS
-even if you give something away after you stole it-doesn’t change the fact that you stole it..
February 5, 2012 at 4:21 pm
It is not only Chavez that lies constantly-take a look at Rangel’s statement
to Cuban news -(Castro mentions Rangel in his memoir)
Rangel dijo que ese apoyo, “viniendo de un soldado y un estadista de la talla del comandante Fidel, constituye una fortaleza infranqueable y una exacerbación de mi voluntad de lucha”.
Castro, amigo personal y mentor político de Chávez, consideró en ese artículo que en “Venezuela se libra hoy un gran combate” y que “los enemigos internos y externos de la revolución prefieren el caos”.
Rangel -is a sick, lying traitor.”General” Rangel resign!
****Just think if suddenly some of the people around Chavez were to start
defecting and confessing…
February 6, 2012 at 11:02 am
“Just think if suddenly some of the people around Chavez were to start
defecting and confessing…”
Nice thought, but these are not the types of people that are suddenly going to grow a conscience. It will only happen if/when it is the only way they can save their own asses.
February 5, 2012 at 10:32 am
Miguel, thank you for this balanced view.
Question: what is the source (who produced) the “documents captured that fateful day twenty years ago”?
February 5, 2012 at 10:43 am
I first saw them in one of Agustin Blanco Mugnoz’ book many years ago, these copies are from Sexto poder, an article by Patricia Poleo.
February 5, 2012 at 2:55 am
“Por ahora”
February 4, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Note the photo of Chavez with Raul Castro of Cuba, Martelly of Haiti, Ortega of Nicaragua, Morales of Bolivia watching the military parade.What a horrible group-(to be joined by one more -Correra of Ecuador) plus some from the small Islands in the Caribbean.
Venezuelans -open your eyes. See who is visiting and why. They are not your friends- neither was Quadaffi or Ahmadinajad and so many others who come to embrace and kiss Chavez- THEY ARE YOUR ENEMIES. Chavez sleeps with the nastiest, stinking animals on the planet. Venezuelans -say no to this
treason.
February 4, 2012 at 9:33 pm
ALBA means-
Already Lost my Bolivarian Arse.
February 5, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Big question, Mr. Diablo.What happens to
ALBA when there is a change of government in Venezuela?
February 5, 2012 at 6:54 pm
It reverts to BLAA, BLAA
February 5, 2012 at 10:24 pm
I’ll vote for that!! Cheers!!
February 4, 2012 at 8:38 pm
They will not be able to erase history.
My post:
http://www.cuentosintrascendentes.blogspot.com/2012/02/veinte-anos-de-luto.html
February 4, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Venezuelans have none to blame but themselves, they treated Colombian sand other immigrants with scorn and contempt, they felt superior because God had blessed the country with immense oil wealth.
When the wealth had gone they looked to blame everyone but themselves,
along comes Chavez who told them what they wanted to believe, that corruption was the reason for their downfall. crooked politics. not that everyone had their hand out and the oil money divided by the population comes to just a few dollars
a day, the Saudi Arabia of Latin America? Saudi Arabia is 10 million people by 9 million barrels day, Venezuela is 27 Million by 3 million production at best, not counting domestic oil consumption.
So the myth of the wealthy country that just needs a strong hand and the happy day are here again, goes looking for a Messier and Chavez is happy to oblige.
Now Colombia has the well-run country, and Venezuela is the basket case.
What comes around goes around
February 5, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Albionboy, Saudi Arabia’s population is about 26 million, close to Venezuela’s. But your point is taken, their production is still three times higher. And it is higher-value crude, lighter and sweeter.
February 4, 2012 at 6:52 pm
This would be like celebrating John Brown’s Harper Ferry massacre in the states. Unbelievable.
February 4, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Goes to show why there should only be one acceptable punishment for treason…
February 4, 2012 at 6:45 pm
I agree, day of shame. But there is an undertow seldom recognized among democratic sectors: why was chavismo possible and why, after so much evidence to discredit it so many Venezuelans claim to adore this man? When these questions are posed the typical response is: “the supporters are stupid or masochist.” That silly response doesn’t cut the mustard.
And therein lies the societal problem. What sociological forces, what psychological traits make make a person like @Tomas1966 (a few words about this character later) support Chavez? And there are millions like @Tomas1966.
I have referred to the previous regimes as the ADemocracia, using the prefix A as the negation of what follows, and playing with the acronym of the most important representative of that fraudulent period. Remember Lusinchi, Blanca Ibañez, Sierra Nevada, Recadi, módulos de Apure, Minas de Naricual, and on and on. Grandiose personages and projects that cost the nation billions of dollars and failed miserably. If social development had succeeded when there was so much money and we had a so-called “democratic” government, there would not be a chavez today. He would be a buffoon not only in the eyes of the Devil’s readership, but also in the eyes of @Tomas1966.
The failures of chavez’s government are more dramatic and more costly that those of ADemocracia, but misteriously they appear less offensive to a large number of Venezuelans on both sides of the political divide. Yes, chaves is a SOB and chavismo is a gigantic fraud, but why it appears so seductive to so many? If we had good answers to those questions–not the silly ones–we would be better prepared to change the game.
@Tomas19676 is a loyal chavista that became homeless when the rains destroyed his shack. He has two beautiful daughters that he had to give up because he could not care for them. He lives in an expropriated warehouse that serves as temporary refuge for the newly homeless. He constantly ask Diosdado, chavez, Tarek, Aristobulo and any other big wig for help and he endures the silence his pleas generate. And he adores chavez.
February 4, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Like @Tomas1966, how many people don’t pray to dozens of gods and never get their prayers answered but they keep right on praying? Fools!
February 4, 2012 at 10:37 pm
It is dangeros to try to answer in a short space, but I will. First,the democracy after Perez Jimenez provided something better and started well. People prospered (roads, schools, hospital, water,electricity were brought to all) education prospered (from 10,000 university students, we went to 700,000 in 15 years) and democracy prospered. Then, AD used to democracy to select its candidate and did not like the result. And it seems as if things went downhill from there. Because after that came Caldera who did not use democracy to establish a successor, many of you may not remember the “hombre del maletin” buying votes at the convention.
Then, there was a lack of respect for institutionality. Presidents began massaging institutionality for their own goals, while politics meant that there was no meritocracy. Strike 2, thousands of people were sent to study abroad, they came back, but could not find the right jobs, because politicians held them.
So, you had little democracy in the parties, institutionality was flimsy at best and then education began going downhill too.
And the absence of meritocracy meant that economics was being mishandled. Venezuela seldom had Finance Ministers who knew Finance and the average Venezuelan, whether they are poor or rich fails to understand that economics is the management of scarce resources. People justify cheap gas, cheap lunches at universities, subsidies of all sorts and expensive pensions for Professors, in no particular order. The point is that Venezuelans have never liked realistic economic policies. They dont like to pay for what they get. Even Cadivi has become some sort of acquired right by now.
And Chavez is all of that, but on steroids. Give away everything. Arbitrage everything. Destroy the institutions, Destroy education. And tell people they are right, gas should be free, electricity cheap and I will even pay you minimun salary for doing nothing.
But throughout all this, Government has tried to “organize” the economy and it has been a gigantic failure. Take cars, every Government tried to invent rules, laws and the like to make cars “affordable”. After forty years, they are still not affordable. Why? Because Government has intervened too much. If cars were expensive and private companies were allowed to sell whatever they had, at whatever price, some company would figure out that selling many cheap cars make you more money than a few expensive ones. But when the Government makes rules, there is always an opportunity to make more money based on those rules. Rule #2, Government rules allow you to make money, after Rule #1, economics is the management of scarce resources.
This is getting long and I have barely scratched the surface, but you get the picture. In fact, it is called the Devils Excrement, in the end it explains it all.
February 5, 2012 at 12:01 pm
“Cuando advierta que para producir necesita obtener autorización de quienes no producen nada; cuando compruebe que el dinero fluye hacia quienes trafican no bienes, sino favores; cuando perciba que muchos se hacen ricos por el soborno y por influencias más que por el trabajo, y que las leyes no lo protegen contra ellos sino, por el contrario, son ellos los que están protegidos contra usted; cuando repare que la corrupción es recompensada y la honradez se convierte en un autosacrificio, entonces podrá afirmar, sin temor a equivocarse, que su sociedad está condenada.”
Ayn Rand (1950)
nuff said.
February 5, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Excellent comment Miguel.
It would appear that for many Venezuelans, price controls are they way to go to make products accessible to the public, but they don’t grasp the simple fact that you can’t force a producer or a retail intermediary to sell products for less money than it costs them.
February 5, 2012 at 3:30 am
You’re not giving stupidity enough credit.
February 5, 2012 at 12:11 pm
My problem with the stupidity argument is manifold. It is self-serving because it makes the “judge” looks smart since it is the other guy who is stupid. It does not contribute to solving the problem because it offers a dead end and does not provide any view of causes or processes that can be attacked. And it is a confession of total ineptitude: if the other guys are stupid how comes you cannot overcome them? The only reasonable answer to that question must be because the judge goes one further in the scale of stupidity.
Consider depression. To the naive outsider, the depressed person looks pretty stupid. To the professionals it looks like a disease that needs treatment. Step back from the Venezuelan case and take a look at how Germans viewed Hitler
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ahvolk.htm
That is not stupidity, it was a social pathology that engulfed a highly intelligent people.
February 5, 2012 at 1:24 pm
@CarlosElio; I took a look “at how Germans viewed Hitler” and found a propaganda essay by Dr. Otto Dietrich, Hitler’s press secretary, from a 1936 illustrated Nazi coffee table book on Adolf Hitler.
I would hardly use that information as a barometer of how (all) Germans viewed Hitler.
February 5, 2012 at 2:39 pm
What did he write, Syd?
I was by chance listening today to Radio Wissen and there as a programme about how the Federal Republic dealt with the theme of the very few members of the resistance, how lawyers and judges and many CDU/FDP/CSU politicians protected Nazis for a long time and how it was a Jewish survivor and a few social democrats who had to push forward the rehabilitation of those killed because they wanted to get rid of Hitler.
A large segment of the German population in 1949 was still thinking Claus von Stauffenberg and people like him were traitors.
The change didn’t come overnight.
The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergangenheitsbew%C3%A4ltigung took a long time…
February 4, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Miguel, I have been unsuccesfully looking all day for a list of those dead, specially the civilians. Do you know if there’s such thing?
One victim that comes to my mind every 4F is the post gard at VTV. A simple man doing his job who was killed on the spot. He wasn’t caught in the fire, he was assessinated by Chavez’ group in order to enter the tv channel, as I recall.
February 4, 2012 at 6:42 pm
*guard.
February 4, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Was that Feb. 4th. or Nov. 27th.?
Here is the list:
http://www.marthacolmenares.com/category/golpe-4-de-febrero92/lista-muertos-4f/
February 4, 2012 at 6:55 pm
I don’t remember, that’s why I asked.
Thanks!
February 4, 2012 at 10:49 pm
Thanks for the link to the list. I’ve been looking for it.
February 6, 2012 at 8:55 pm
I wasn’t aware the Tupamaros were already operating then (see the “José Aldana, Cabo II” entry, in the list of deceased in the coup, by Martha Colmenares). It sent me a chilling feel down my spine, to think they’ve been around, and “impunes” for so long, particularly during the democracy years from the 1992 coup to early 1999 (when HC became president). I know the Tupamaros are not necessarily gerilla (or, are they?), but, just like the guerrilla, even in the best case scenario (the oppos win the October election, and the Government agrees to step down, which I think is highly unlikely) they would be “atornillados” and present for years to come. I really think Venezuelans (count me as one) don’t really appreciate the depth of the abyss they’re in.
February 4, 2012 at 6:05 pm
20 years ago the “golpe” FAILED. Chavismo is celebrating failure!
February 4, 2012 at 6:26 pm
They always do that…. they are socialist.
February 4, 2012 at 5:58 pm
Miguel,
The consequences of Chavez’s attempt to overthrow the legitimate Venezuelan Government far worse. At the time the country had the highest rate of GDP growth, very low unemployment and inflation was beginning to settle at an acceptable levels. Chavez killed the opportunity to have sustainable economic growth in Venezuela. This is something Chavistas do not understand even today and do not how to do.
As always good job!
Paul