While a lot has been written about Chavez’ “Dedocracy”* and his choice for Governors, I am surprised how little has been said about Chavez’ choice for Guarico State, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, shown smiling for the first time ever above. Here is a case a candidate who fits the image of the perfect Chavista citizen that the revolution has promised to create in the future, a truly “nice” guy, tolerant, democratic, honest, above reproach. I mean, it is really hard to find anything to complain about in this choice. we find all the criticism simply jealousy, without foundation.
Why complain if he is not from Guarico? Born in Anzoategui, he has never lived in Guarico, but we are sure that he will learn fast and will even visit the State regularly once he is elected. He roamed the Llanos of Venezuela carrying out secret counter intelligence and military operations, so he knows his way around Guarico.
While many think that Rodriguez Chacin first came to public light for his heroic participation in the November 1992 coup attempt against Carlos Andres Perez, his earlier claim to fame was his leadership role in the El Amparo Massacre, where fourteen people died. Rodriguez Chacin was accused of being part of those that participated in the massacre and even formally accused, but once Chavez got to power, the case was never considered again.
And when Chavez won in 1998, Rodriguez Chacin was appointed to an intelligence agency and later, in 2002 became Minister of the Interior and Justice (nice, no?), where he could make sure that his case never resurfaced again.
Rodriguez Chacin was discovered to have two Venezuelan ID cards, his own, and another one in the name of Jose Montenegro. Montenegro had opened an account in Banesco and other banks and Congress investigated it, since it was Rodriguez Chacin’s picture on the cedula opening the account. There were a number of accounts opened by “Montenegro” and they had fairly sizable withdrawals and deposits regularly. The real Montenegro was actually quite worried about it. Never heard from him again.
Rodriguez Chacin became Minister of the Interior and Justice in 2002 and then again in January 2008, but was there less than nine months, just three weeks before the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ungratefully declared him as a “significant narcotics trafficker” under the Kingpin Act. It was rumored at the time that the US Government had given the Chavez Government advance notice of this and that led to his removal.
Later, Rodriguez Chacin’s name surfaced quite frequently in the captured computer at a FARC camp in Ecuador. Among the exchanges there was a generous offer (Told you he was a nice guy!) of a “loan” for US$ 250 million to the FARC guerrillas to buy weapons, which Rodriguez Chacin referred to as “don’t think of it as a loan, think of it as solidarity”. See what a nice guy he is? There was also an email in which Rodriguez Chacin was asking the FARC to train Venezuela’s military in guerrilla tactics, just in case the US invaded Venezuela.
He was also in charge of the humanitarian operation “Operacion Enmanuel” to retrieve three persons kidnapped by the FARC in a negotiation in which Chavez tried to get Ingrid Betancourt out of Colombia, but had to settle for Clara Rojas and her son born in captivity. Because of Chavez desire to promote his role in this, camera crews from Chavez’ Telesur accompanied Rodriguez Chacin in the rescue and he was taped during the exchange, expressing his solidarity to the guerrillas in no uncertain terms:
Rodriguez Chacin says in the video: In the name of President Chavez…we are watching your struggle. Maintain your spirits and you can count on us”. See the niceness coming through again?
For all his help, his record in all these dubious activities and having no experience running for office, running a municipality, let alone a State, President Chavez used his “Dedocracy”* to name him as PSUV’s candidate to be Governor of Guarico State, a State where Chavez won by 30%, insuring that even Rodriguez Chacin can win there.
And proving once again, that in Chavez’ revolution, nice guys like Rodriguez Chacin, do finish first.
*Democracy by Chavez’ finger
The Devil's Excrement 
November 27, 2012 at 5:27 am
“People get the government that they deserve.” I wonder on how many of Miguel’s posts I can write the same comment, and still be on topic. Let’s see.
November 23, 2012 at 6:16 pm
You forgot to mention that Chacín was the one that “negotiated”, as Interior Minister, a ransom payment to the FARC for the release of Boulton, who had been kidnapped smack in the middle of the country during his watch, while the latter was actually in the hands of paramilitary forces. And then there are the reports that he was incognito in Ecuador while Correa was campaining for his first election.
November 23, 2012 at 11:40 am
What is apparent is the way it looks like that smile is actually hurting him! Clearly not a normal expression.
November 22, 2012 at 11:18 am
I don’t like Chacin. He has the same thoughts of Chavez and he is destroying the country also.
November 21, 2012 at 6:30 pm
For anyone who has read this post on Chacin:
You MUST go over to Daniel’s blog and read his take on it. It’s brilliant.
November 22, 2012 at 4:01 pm
I agree with you Dr. Faustus. When you connect this post with Daniel’s, it is evident the reason why Rodriguez Chacin was “assigned” to Guarico. Who better than him to look after the FARC’s supply chain and their main distribution hub (Guarico)
November 22, 2012 at 6:45 pm
agree. http://daniel-venezuela.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-building-up-of-farcdrug-corridor-in.html
November 21, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Carolina,
When you say: “What makes me sad is that the majority of people knows it and dismiss it because it’s “normal”, or “there’s nothing we can do about it”, or “it’s all lies” (chavistas) even when they have the proof on their faces.”
I totally agree.My Chavista family and friends do not believe a word that contradicts what Chavez says, and my opposition friends have made up the saddest reasons for not caring.:
1. there is nothing we can do( which is an excuse not to do anything)
2. God wants us to be happy
3. never be a sore loser
4. We have to enjoy life and not ruin it with bitterness
5. If God wanted us to have a different life he would make it so
6. Chavez wants us to be negative, so we have to be happy to spite him
7.it is not God’s perfect time yet
8. negative people attract negative energy
and on and on….
I have noticed on my facebook page an almost total absence of complaining about Venezuela since the elections even to a point where they are complaining only about the conflict in Palestine now. When I point our there are more deaths in Venezuela than in Palestine, nobody seems the least bit interested in that one.
I think it is a form of irresponsible denial mixed with fear, mixed with a disposition towards the easy -happy -life….only they don’t know what awaits them.Everything has a price.
For me it is both infuriating and sad.
November 22, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Did you forget that this is about Rodriguez Chazin becoming maybe governor of Guarico? Not about Palestine and philosophical mambo chambo? And paaleeeze get your punctuation right. There is to be a space between a period and the next sentence! I guess you do it on purpose to annoy people but it takes away from the credibility of your post. After all, punctuation is learned in Kindergarden.
November 22, 2012 at 2:57 pm
What is “Kindergarden”?
It sounds like kindergarten or Kindergarten.
November 22, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Jardín infantil.
November 24, 2012 at 11:34 am
“Not about Palestine and philosophical mambo chambo?”
Your above ” sentence” is lacking a verb.Is this done to annoy as well? Remember in order to create a complete sentence you must contain a verb within it.
On the other hand,if I were to become anal about it, instead of trying to understand points, it would be all we would be talking about instead of the post, which is what your comment did not do as well.
November 20, 2012 at 9:26 pm
A new XXI century Che? Does he have T-shirts?
November 22, 2012 at 6:42 pm
nah. when chacín dies, he’ll be small potatoes in the arc of history. His looks don’t help him.
November 20, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Out of topic: What Venezuelan bond do you recomnend buying now?
November 21, 2012 at 8:36 am
Since I do not plan to hold them until maturity, I like PDVSA 2022 and Global 2022 because of their current yield.
November 21, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Thanks
November 20, 2012 at 10:30 am
What makes me sad is that the majority of people knows it and dismiss it because it’s “normal”, or “there’s nothing we can do about it”, or “it’s all lies” (chavistas) even when they have the proof on their faces.
Maybe it’s true: the moral decay is so embedded into the venezuelan society that there is nothing that can be done. very sad.
November 21, 2012 at 7:46 am
Carolina,
It depends on what you mean by “chavistas”. Do the middle rank Chavistas know about those things? Sure. The upper case Chavistas?
Definitely, they are mostly thugs.
But they are a minority, I’d say. 90% of people voting for Chávez wouldn’t know what Chacín and much less Róger Cordero were doing.
They don’t know in what century the independence was obtained.
Some NGOs have been talking about this and a few old commies who have a bit of ethics and who thus are not partaking any more in the piñata.
But Mary González Rodríguez from Punto Fijo? José García from Maturín?
They probably don’t know much about this and I think we have failed in taking this topic and going over it time after time.
Most Venezuelans have a mythical goulash instead of historic memory.
Actually: I think our deputies have failed to be talking time after time about people like Róger Cordero at the Assembly. It’s quite curious…several times
Chavista deputies have wasted time at the National Assembly discussing about the “crimes against humanity perpetrated by the IV Republic” …and nobody during those sessions, to my knowledge, has openly demanded for
Róger Cordero to be investigated…only people like Provea etc keep doing that.
Why haven’t they done that? Out of fear? I don’t know.
OT: the comandante-presidente hasn’t tweeted since 1 November.
This is, I reckon, one of the longest tweet pauses we have seen from him since beginning of last year. But in line with our Latino attitude, I’d rather be circumspect and not draw any conclusion just yet.
November 21, 2012 at 9:31 am
I mean your chavista aunt and my chavista cousin. If you show them that, they will say it’s all lies created by the media. They prefer to live in denial than to question their representatives.
November 21, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Ah, no, lo que es mi tía: esa escribe con una escoba y barre con un Paper Mate.
But I’d say those are the ones round the bend. They together with the Diosdados of the Land of Grace will probably make out 33% of voters.
I do believe there are a couple of million who are not like that and yet vote time after time for Chávez because a) after all, they have it better now than in, say, 2000 or 2003…and things get fuzzy before that for most people) and b) they haven’t got much contact with the oppo proposals…and for that it takes physical presence of our people in their places and a coherent discourse, not just slogans.
They are highly ignorant of a lot of things, but get put off by the lack of proper campaign.
November 21, 2012 at 1:33 pm
I get that and I think you’re right…to a point.
The “chavistas” on my side of what was my inner circle are smart people. Two of them, cousins of my ex, have been with the “process” since the beginning, since the movimiento bolivariano 2000 or whatever that was called. They have at least 2 careers and a doctorate, and yet, they won’t see it. I stopped arguing with them when Chavez blamed the Haarp for Haiti’s earthquake, when they really REALLY considered it was possible.
The third one, my own colleague, sifrina de Caurimare and educated in private schools, is the same. there is no way to argue. I have no explanation for this one, she doesn’t work for the government or has connections that I know of. Just a little bit of an idealist hippie back in the time and that’s it.
Those are the chavistas in denial I’m talking about.
November 21, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I saw Venezuelans at two different conferences lately. They were from the USB and from the ULA. They were qualified people and 2 of them were Chavistas. I think they are very much in the mood of credo quia absurdum.
And yet let’s remember: those who are around us or whom we meet are not necessarily the median Venezuelan.
As I said, the ones I am talking about are people like a former cleaning lady I know who lives in El Tocuyo, a farmer somewhere in Falcón…
I believe they are more open…and they are not stupid either, but it takes time to talk to them and before that happens it takes time to listen to them…and anyway: we are fighting against huge hurdles in these times when so much money was thrown at people.
The French Revolution, the Russian Revolution (the real one, not carried out by the commies) and all those movements didn’t come during years when people were still having it relatively easy. Countries had to hit rock bottom and we aren’t quite there yet, even if people see their cousins and friends getting shot at. It’s not them and it’s not their stomach. It’s depressing, I know.
Other revolutions, like the ones we saw in Eastern Europe, are of another kind…what happened in Czechoslovakia, in Poland, in Hungary, came about in countries where the opposition was ethnically very much the same thing as the ones in power, b) where the intelligentsia and big social leaders came out openly as from the opposition (we don’t really have much of an intelligentsia and you don’t want to talk about our union leaders) and c) Russians were clearly seen as a foreign occupying force…and even then there was d), which is a common factor with the first type: the place where power was centred, Moscow, was having serious economic trouble.
A few lessons I would say we can learn:
I) No revolution can be copied, every movement is different and one needs to be very aware of all the differences at historic, ethnic, economic level
II) Vaclac Havel didn’t really speak English when he gave his speeches and Walesza was not giving interviews in the West before Poland saw the change.
III) they had to wait, they had to spend years preparing people not only in the capital but everywhere
IV) the median voter has to start grunting
November 22, 2012 at 3:32 pm
nice comment, Kep. Good overview on other overthrows in history.
It never ceases to amaze me how some folks, who don’t even live in Venezuela and who didn’t even vote, want instant results.
Naive.
But I think a larger proportion of a given population, not subject to coercion or false promises, have some sort of clue that political shifts in amorally entrenched environments take a very long time to crystallize.
November 20, 2012 at 7:02 am
Rodríguez Chacín is really disgusting. According to a paper some years ago he bought thousands of hectares of land in Barinas in 2003 and then distributed the land to his daughter (don’t remember the name of the hacienda now, but it was something with Cristo in it.
Hugo had placed a civilian in charge of Guárico after William Lara drowned. I suppose he doesn’t feel too sure with civilians specially in the Llanos.
Another character who is representative of the “best of chavismo” is
Róger Cordero Lara
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B3ger_Cordero_Lara
And then Chavismo has the chutzpah to talk about human right abuses in the IV Republic…it actually picked up the worst of the worst from those times.
November 19, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Great entry Miguel! This guy seems like a perfect scumbag. Scumbags rule Venezuela