The Elias Jaua ¨Nanny case¨ has so many edges, that I have been trying to establish a hierarchy of the many things wrong with this case. For those who have been living in the Artic Circle, here are the basic facts of the case: Jaua, a former Venezuelan Foreign Minister, now Minister for Communes, went to Brazil, on an official/unofficial trip, reportedly on a private trip, as he needed to have his wife treated at the Syrian-Lebanese Oncology Hospital in that city. Reportedly, he then had his mother in law flown in, with the family Nanny, in a PDVSA jet and on a special flight. As they went through customs on Sao Paulo, a gun was found in the Nanny’s briefcase and she was detained. Later, the Government of Brazil protested, via its Foreign Minister, for Jaua’s “unofficial” trip, which included the signing of agreements with various Government (City of Curitiba) and non-Government groups (Movimiento Los Sin Tierra). The Nanny has been released, but awaits trial. Jaua argues his trip was perfectly valid and he told the Nanny to remove the gun from his briefcase, which contained documents which had little to do with his trip to Brazil. The National Assembly refuses to investigate the affair. Nobody in Government really wants to investigate Jaua.
How many things are wrong with this picture?
Too many in my opinion. Just too many:
-The one a lot of people have focused on, has been the fact that Jaua used a PDVSA jet for his personal use, or at most an unofficial use. This is clearly corruption, but this has become normal during the years of Chavismo. PDVSA has a fleet of planes that has been ready to fly anyone from Antonini, to General Carvajal, to Cuban officials anywhere they want, upon demand. Yes, it is illegal, it is corruption, but in the end, nothing new there, La Carlota airport has been closed to private traffic for 11 years, but you see the planes (PDVSA and Government) take off and land daily from it.
-How about that gun in Jaua’s briefcase? To me, this is more interesting, a Government that claims to be disarming the population, because it is concerned with violence, but then a Minister carries a gun in his briefcase and it is hard to believe the Nanny, “forgot” or could not find the revolver in the briefcase. Hard to believe. What does this say about the mental and emotional state of these Ministers that not only go around surrounded by armies of bodyguards, but are also carrying? What for? What are they afraid of? Does Jaua know how to use the gun? Does he have a permit? Does he think nothing of bringing it to another country?
-The unannounced visit. This is also quite interesting. The trip became an “official¨visit, only after the Nanny was caught with the gun and jailed. Except that the Brazilian Government knew nothing of the trip and complained after that fact via diplomatic channels and publicly. Jaua apparently met with groups and signed agreements, but reportedly this was an excuse brought up afterwards to justify the “Nanny’s” trip. Jaua has said little of what ails his wife, but he has also said little of what the agreements have to do with his Ministry or his responsibilities in Venezuela. He probably never expected the friendly Roussef Government to complain about his trip.
-The Nanny. Some Venezuelans justify Jaua having a Nanny. Why should not he have one if it is so common in the country? Well, to begin with, it is not as common as it used to be, because it is no longer as cheap and only wealthy people can afford to do it. But more importantly, Minister Jaua is not a wealthy bourgeois oligarch ( Or is he?), but a supposed leader of a radical “revolutionary” process. He is a self-confessed “Tira Piedra” (Stone Thrower) who has become more radical with time. But wait. the “Nanny” is not a recent addition to the family. She has been with the family for about ten years, when Minister Jaua was barely beginning his revolutionary career (He was actually doing a Masters Degree at the time). But more importantly, the “Nanny” goes everywhere. She is not stay at home Nanny, but a frequent flyer Nanny, needed wherever the family may be.It makes life easier for everyone.
Because in the end, the new revolutionaries are as bad as the old ones. Jaua may have become more radical with time, according to his own words, but more of an oligarch and bourgeois as time went by. In fact, his kids go to a well known private school in Caracas, where they mingle with the upper classes and since it is a “foreign school” they also befriend the children of diplomats and expats. Thus, Mr. Jaua’s radicalism and revolutionary spirit seems to end at the door to his home. Like so many others in the Chavista Government he hires his wife. That gives them a double salary hosuehold and I guess in their mind justifies the need for a Nanny. Nepotism is not a word used by Chavismo.
And while Mr. Jaua keeps accusing Miranda Governor Henrique Capriles of neglecting his duties, he goes around the world promoting the Bolivarian revolution and not doing his job. This is nothing new, Argentina once refused to accept him as Ambassador, because he seemed to be interested only in promoting the Bolivarian revolution.It seems this is his life, holding positions, but always just dong politics and promoting the revolution. As Minister of Agiculture, Jaua did nothing more than expropriate, but little to promote the use of the lands he took over.
And the briefcase had little of interest to Brazil or the Venezuelan Government. Most documents were about how to win next years election, revolutionary processes, the Government’s political agenda in Venezuela and how to stay in power. I guess Jaua really worries about losing his status as an oligarch. But never mind, his kids are now fluent in another language and he can always send the Nanny to accompany them if necessary.
But the deeper question is how these guys mutate from revolutionaries to oligarchs so fast. At which point did Jaua start betraying those radical ideas that took him to such important positions? Shouldn’t the kids of a revolutionary go to public school with el “pueblo”. How did he get away with sending his kids to this foreign school, while the same institutions were under fire from the revolutionary Government? How do his kids (now adolescents) perceive the world and their father in this potpourri of conflicting ideas? How many nannies does the Jaua family have?
There is something profoundly wrong about this sordid affair. These are the “radicals”, the tira piedras, the encapuchados of the revolution. Their revolution has the consistency of tapioca and their world is a an incredible farce in which they have become the new oligarchs.
And they know it.
The Devil's Excrement 