Observations focused on the problems of an underdeveloped country, Venezuela, with some serendipity about the world (orchids, techs, science, investments, politics) at large. A famous Venezuelan, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, referred to oil as the devil's excrement. For countries, easy wealth appears indeed to be the sure path to failure. Venezuela might be a clear example of that.
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Even form afar, it is very exciting to watch today’s rally in which Capriles is closing his campaign in Caracas. Gigantic crowd! Capriles speaking well! Very emotional, very exciting! Wish I could be there! (I will be there to vote next Sunday!)
More here.
The Devil's Excrement 
September 30, 2012 at 11:34 pm
About Mr. Henrique Capriles Radonski in Vietnamese.
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles_Radonski
October 1, 2012 at 7:43 am
That’s sweet.
October 1, 2012 at 8:38 am
Boat People rock!
Cám ơn, by the way.
September 30, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Oh, my Jeebus! She actually mentioned that “people were transported in from other parts of the country”! Really? Like Thugo hasn’t done that HUNDREDS of times!!!
October 1, 2012 at 7:48 am
I didn’t see the number of buses being the same amount as those of the government, which has used that tactic and more for so long. Nor do I know from where those buses originated — from nearby cities, or from far away.
September 30, 2012 at 10:28 pm
i told my wife six years ago that the salvation of venezuela is that we are silvestre, como venados, not sheep.
we, unlike other peoples, do not readily accept orders.
the speech was incredible. i would have liked to see figured and to whom displayed on the wall.
a study on the hudson river???? i think the u s has probably done that…
mi voto es secretronski
October 1, 2012 at 7:44 am
you’re right, mi. No obedecemos — a ningún loco. Espero que escuchemos y obedecemos al flaquito.
October 1, 2012 at 7:45 am
the monies for the hudson river study came out of vz accounts. the US did not hold a gun to the government’s head to ‘aflojar esos reales.’
September 30, 2012 at 9:11 pm
It was certainly an enormous rally, the crowd took 3 hours to pass by my apartment in Chacaito on their way to Av. Bolivar.
September 30, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Not according to VTV:
Words escape me.
September 30, 2012 at 9:43 pm
That would explain the out of focus and shaky camera.
September 30, 2012 at 10:05 pm
seee, lo ocservé bien. Y lo que ví me olía a Manny Puleo.
October 1, 2012 at 7:58 am
She just couldn’t say a continuous phrase! “Aqui observamos como tal en vivo esta senal le gente no se ha llenado se regresa, observen y tal”.
Que dice Larry, que dice?
September 30, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Slightly O/T-an editorial in La Patilla today:
Here’s something we have been “living with”and much too silent about.
“Allí están, por ejemplo, los préstamos chinos que ha estado recibiendo el país – o mejor dicho, el presidente- y que superan ya los 40 mil millones de dólares. Estos préstamos, obtenidos con el compromiso de pago a futuro en petróleo, son ilegales porque constituyen endeudamiento externo y, por tanto, el Presidente requería aprobación de la Asamblea Nacional para hacerlo, que no la tiene.
Este sería un tema de obligada investigación para la Asamblea porque es incluso su propia potestad la que ha sido violada. Nunca antes nos habíamos endeudado sin autorización del poder legislativo. Además, nunca antes habíamos tomado dinero prestado a cambio de petróleo a futuro y nunca antes nos habíamos endeudado tan aceleradamente. Pero no es solo que los recursos son obtenidos ilegalmente; es que además, son gastados sin ninguna transparencia, al margen del Presupuesto Nacional. Son fondos que el presidente maneja como si fueran suyos y que ha utilizado intensamente en los últimos meses para su campaña electoral; por ejemplo, para regalar electrodomésticos en busca de votos. Caldera recibió dinero de un privado para pagar por gorras y afiches para su campaña.
El presidente endeuda el país para comprar lavadoras para la suya. La Asamblea, bajo control del gobierno, decide investigar solo a Caldera. Una razón más para votar masivamente, el próximo 7 de Octubre, por un cambio radical en la dirección del país”
I have been saying this stuff forever-” Chavez is doing illegal things. Big stuff!”
September 30, 2012 at 8:58 pm
http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2012/09/30/gerver-torres-de-los-40-mil-bolivares-de-ruperti-a-los-40-millardos-de-los-chinos/
September 30, 2012 at 8:54 pm
being there was very emotional. It has been a while since that feeling that something big is going on. His carisma amaizing and magnetic. It was truly emotional. Hopefuly, this will be last “marcha”
September 30, 2012 at 7:07 pm
Nicacat,
His lack of hatred is a breath of fresh air in a country that has been breathing it for so long.Let’s hope it becomes contagious among the people in general and a country based on mutual respect despite differences can be built.
September 30, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Hopefully some of the “young chavistas” will decide to get some education
and clear their minds of the nonsense put there by Chavez.
I hope the military -on their own, decides to CLEAN THEMSELVES UP
from within to show the country and the world that they are better than
this garbage they are doing and saying these past years.
Stop those rediculous slogans. Take down the cuban flags, paint over
those rediculous murials…
October 1, 2012 at 12:34 am
Out of all Venezuelans, besides the Castro-and-Che-Loving communists, theres nobody as apatrida as the Military.
September 30, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Listening to HCR today was like feeling a breath of fresh air. No vitriol, hatred, mocking, epithet-laden, blaming speech coming from him! He sounded (besides hoarse!) wonderfully upbeat.
September 30, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Not only that, he was direct and accurate in his talking points. Half an hour. That’s all it took. And every minute was rich in content for the target audience. There was no beating about the bush, no vagaries, no meanderings, no non-sequiturs, no flights of fancy, no dreamscapes. In a country that desperately needs to get out of the quagmire, Henrique Capriles applied the appropriate pre-medicine to a public hungry for solutions and a way out.
Tomen nota soñadores.
September 30, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Henrique Capriles Radonsky: Commitment and integrity
God bless him,!
September 30, 2012 at 4:49 pm
WITH MUCH HOPE AND MANY PRAYERS MAY CAPRILES WIN THIS PRESIDENCY. WITHOUT HIM, VENEZUELA IS LOST!!
September 30, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Amazing photos!!
OT- didn’t Chavez promise to build housing in the Mercado de La Hoyada? I don’t see anything happening there.
September 30, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Also amazing–no incidents with Chavistas, huh?
Looks like these numbers of Capriles supporters has them scared.
It’s a beautiful thing. A good thing. A justice thing.
And as much as “our” side condemns the bullying tactics of Chavismo, might is still a pretty important thing..
September 30, 2012 at 3:30 pm
My nephew in Calgary planned his trip to VZ next week in order to vote for Capriles.
He’s a brilliant kid, but I will NEVER let him live down the fact that he voted for Hugo the first time.
September 30, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Go easy on him, please. He was a kid, and kids are easily led. Remember, too, that at multiple points in world history, conditions bring forth the “right” man for the job and the time. What these men do with the trust invested in them, depends on their level of commitment and integrity. Chávez was ushered in because during the last decade of the IVth republic, poor economic decisions were taken that mired the country in chaos, corruption was rampant (though nothing like today), and the politicians had run out of both ideas and steam.
When I first heard Ch. over internet radio, I knew he was not balanced, but I remember thinking that a few sentences that he said, here and there, made perfect sense. I never voted for him. For I could not forget the instigator of all the bullets that flew, in 1992, near the ancestral family home in a sector of Caracas, where a dear, ageing aunt gained a cerebral hemorrhage, from all the fear.
October 1, 2012 at 7:14 am
I guess as an American, I can’t understand his perspective–but this is a guy who attempted a military coup, so how in the world is he deserving of ANY governmental office?
My nephew is a college educated guy, very smart, had great accounting positions with Coca Cola, and then Exxon-Mobil, and as part of Exxon-Mobil, he voted for Chavez?
It doesn’t compute. As Latin America’s oldest Democracy…and as an educated Venezuelan…how could he make this leap of faith and logic to vote for a coup monger?
September 30, 2012 at 5:33 pm
Ira, lots of well meaning people voted for Chavez as late as 2006. I know at least 10 who are now Capriles supporters. The only bad apple in the basket is my wife’s mother who was trying to convince us today that Globovision was cheating by showing old videos to increase the number of people in their TV shots.
The terminally deluded will not change. Fortunately they only represent a small % these days. The end for Chavez is 7 days away.
Hay un camino!
September 30, 2012 at 6:42 pm
I just read this “Chavez, mi pana, te queda una semana”
September 30, 2012 at 8:09 pm
and how about this, written with magic marker on an official poster by “la señora Carmen, una ama de casa robusta de 71 años”:
“Si este es el corazón de la patria, necesita un trasplante ya”.
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/09/30/actualidad/1349032493_046479.html
September 30, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Gracias al “Flaquito” por permitirme cerrar el dia de hoy con fe y esperanza, y a uds. dos la nochecita con una carcajada!!!
Creatividad y sentido del humor criollos…unicos y a/norados.. como mi Patria! : )
September 30, 2012 at 3:29 pm
dont know what to think. I am confident but I dont trust cne.
September 30, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Excellent speech, tremendous emotion, I’m convinced of a Capriles victory.
There are still 4 (5?) days of appearances to come.
He said today he will visit 12 more states.
A Herculean effort.
Every time I see him going through the crowds my heart stops.
He should be more careful but I understand the need to be close to the people.
7 days more. Don’t know if I’m going to survive. Awaiting more dirty tricks or worse. Let’s just get this show over & get to the next step. 3 months of agony!
September 30, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Island, I had watering eyes at the end. I must admit that I never thought that he could deliver such a speech, you were right, the connection was there. he was able to connect with the people, with us.
Regardless of the outcome of the election, we are in debt with him. He carry out the best campaign in many many years.
September 30, 2012 at 3:13 pm
I hope Capriles is wearing a bullet-proof vest under that shirt.
September 30, 2012 at 2:49 pm
I hope you come and stay, we need people like you!
September 30, 2012 at 2:33 pm
I am listening to Capriles on-line. He is making a fantastic speech. Clear, concise, direct. Amazing.
September 30, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Y Amen! He is nailing it…..No-nonsense and spoken from the heart…. Regardless of the outcome, this man has changed history for all of us…”Que Dios bendiga a Venezuela! “, indeed!
September 30, 2012 at 3:06 pm
agree. when has there ever been a candidate that speaks to the crowd as friends, as family, imparting vital knowledge for their decision-making, rather than dishing out partisan pap?
What an incredible breath of fresh air — so needed, for so long.
P.S. So glad you provided the link to N24, Miguel, worried about the hyper-compressed jpeg below your headline. Outstanding aerial photos!!
September 30, 2012 at 3:10 pm
I chose that one because of size and aspect ratio to my blog, that is why I put link so people can see many difference reference points.
September 30, 2012 at 3:41 pm
yours looks painterly, though, and most of those on N24 were probably taken earlier in the afternoon, for they make the crowd look, as one commenter put it, like iti has alopecia. jajaja.
October 1, 2012 at 7:06 am
Um Syd, that would be the early version of Chavez, circa 1997. Only not really. Yes, he was speaking from the heart (as a friend, even a family member), but to a different audience:the pueblo. He was imparting vital knowledge but they were too uneducated to really get his point. Everyone else got it, but were so fed up with A/D, Copei, et al, that they pulled the lever for Chavez anyway.
Once he had power, he wasn’t, hasn’t, and won’t let it go.
October 1, 2012 at 7:39 am
Um, no, deananash. I listened to Chavez, early in his campaign, in 1998. And some of things he said were right on the mark: the need to get rid of corruption, the need to focus on the poor. I bought those statements. But there was an awful of nonsense fillers that didn’t quite hinge together. So from early on, I decided that this was not a balanced man. That became much clearer during a pre-election interview conducted by a Mexican television reporter (can’t recall his name, but he was outstanding). Chavez was so damned squirrelly and evasive, that I knew he would not be a good candidate for the future of the country.