The Devil's Excrement

Incredible how the language of Cuban intellectuals is the same as that of the Chavez administration, they defend the recent crackdown saying ”the distance, the disinformation and the traumas of failed socialist experiences”. It is not a problem of distance or disinformation, 75 members of the opposition were jailed and sentenced to up to 28 year in prison, and 42 of them were part of the Varela project, the most significant opposition project in Cuba in the last 40 years. The Varela project delivered over 11,000 signatures in a petition to the Assembly in Cuba and by now has grown to over 30,000. With the crackdown the project is simply halted. You have to love how the Libyan-led United Nations Human Rights Commission has failed to condemn the crackdown. Additionally, once again Jimmy Carter fell for the charm of Fidel Castro much like he did with Hugo Chavez. He is simply a naïve fool with a Nobel Peace Prize!

Note added: I also learned that Venezuela was the only Latin American country to vote against the motion to censor Cuba on Human Rights at the United Nations. Not unexpected, but I am definitely ashamed of this.

Tony sent this link to an article in today’s Boston Globe talking about the fact that oil is indeed The Devil’s Excrement and how oil is more of a curse than a blessing.

Chavez does not own Venezuela                            Chavez go to Cuba

The money belongs to the people     Chavez agenda: Pretty October, hairy November, very tough December

Interesting article in Spain’ newspaper La Vanguardia on Venezuela

Venezuela at the economic abyss by Joaquim Ibarz

 Parallel with the war in Iraq which induces massive protest in the whole world expressing solidarity with an invaded nation, Venezuelans suffer their own war, not because of the attack of an enemy country, but for the violence and the destruction generated by  a president turned autocrat that, in increasing fashion, is assuming dictatorial practices.  Historians coincide that this is the most dangerous moment in the last hundred years for Venezuela, each day that the confrontation from the Miraflores palace continues instigated by President Hugo Chavez, it will become more difficult to reconstruct and reconcile a country in the midst of a paralysis which in accelerated fashion  is on its way to its ruin.

1,500 days have already gone by of a regime that was born in the hope lit by dreams and promises. After wasting and embezzling one hundred and ten billion dollars of oil income, the ship of the “Bolivarian revolution” is sinking.

From the beginning, President Hugo Chávez played the polarization hand. The only thing that he has had success with is in his policy of confrontation, carrying it to an extreme that it loses rationality. It may be that during decades the blame and causes of the current ruin will be discussed. But when you reach such a dangerous point, all sensible Governments open the dialogue, the negotiations and an electoral way out. On the contrary, in Venezuela disqualification is fueled daily, blocking any rational way out. The Presidential finger, with pretensions of divine will, decrees that the opposition is fascist, coupsters, oligarchic and, as such, has no right to exist.

Venezuela is facing the dramatic effects of a war economy without precedent in Latin America, with inflation predictions near 100% and a drop in GDP above 25% this year. The analysts of the great financial institutions of the country pick up this pessimism; Banco Provincial, property of BBVA, predicts in its last report a decline of the economy of 40% in the first quarter of 2003, while Banco de Venezuela, owned by Grupo Santander expects a decline of 42%. Previewing the consequences of the crisis, the Secretary General of the OAS, Cesar Gaviria, said that he has not been able to find “an economic contradiction of this size in any country, note even in a civil war” ………Full article here

Louisa F. from San Diego, California, points out this presentation about our protests called “This is Venezuela” by Vicente Behrens (has sound!). Even if you don’t speak Spanish, the images are excellent and powerful, mostly from last April 11th. (my favorite word lately).

Very powerful article by an Iraqi of why the war was needed. Good reading for potential human shields. Arguments are easy to understand from the point of view of the Iraqi people, at least to me.

Picture taken minutes before the deaths, Carlos Ernesto left right before the shooting, but went back teh next day to take pictures of the somber faces (right) of the people during a mass honouring the dead.

People listen intenly to the mass honoring those assasined the day before in Plaza Altamira. The mood was very somber indeed

People with Chavez’ masks on during the December megamarch. It was indeed a huge march

One forgets the impact of the huge crowd during our marches.

Carlos Ernesto Figuera has some pictures that are complementary to mine and he has begun to send them in. While I get organized, I will post them here before I put some in the main page. Thanks!

The Government has started planting vegetables in downtown Caracas, in the planters next to the walkways along a Boulevard called Vargas. The report says that the crops will be sold in the markets nearby. Now, in country with no follow up or maintanance and where even the expansion joint of highways get stolen at night (to sell the metal), I wonder how they plan sustain the crops or stop people from stealing them!

I have been reading Baghdad blogger Salam for a few weeks and should let everyone know about his blog Where is Raed?, where he gives us a day by day account of what is going on there. Fascinating to see all of the preprations both official and unofficial for the war. I certainly don’t envy him, even with our problems we appear to be much better off. It is very interesting to “feel” how normal everyday life still is over there. I am certain that if the war erupts (and it appears inevitable) that this blog might give us better information than CNN.

Interesting article from Val Dorta’s website on whether Chavez is or not a communist. I definitely agree on Chavez and have said it here in my website, but was surprised by Val’s quote of Gabriel Garcia Marquez a close friend of Fidel Castro:

“Fidel is not a communist, he is a typical Latin American dictator who has conveniently chosen to wear a communist mantle.”

A similar point about Chavez is made by Francisco Toro of Caracas Chronicles in the first of his five not-so-easy pieces. Francisco can definetly write up a storm, check it out!