The Devil's Excrement

In a few minutes RCTV International will disappear from the air in another arbitrary decision and ruling by the Chavez administration. It is another decision without legal foundation designed to persecute and get ird of someone who disagrees with it. Nothing new here.

The ruling hurts RCTV, because if it followed it, it would not be able to expand its markets, which is necessary since its market share via cable and satellite will be much smaller than what it used to have using the free airwaves which the Government arbitrarily took away from it.

It ius another attempt to muzzle free speech and silence criticism of the Government. It is another proof that there is no rule of law or checks and balances in Venezuela and that everything is slowly falling into the hands and control of Dictator Hugo Chavez.

Who is next?

Wisdom from autocrat:

—“The Transamazonic pipeline project is “cold”, attacks from within Latin America have done it…we want to share the wealth with other countries”

Jezz, my guess is the project was born “cold”. A US$20 (or is it 30?) billion project invented by Hugo himself to carry gas Venezuela does not have across the Amazon and all the way to Argentina. As for the wealth there are an estimated 350,000 shacks in Caracas waiting to “share the wealth”.

—Justifying his indefinite reelection: ” I only started raising the socialist flag two years ago…six years can go by like the first six”

Well, it is a pity you had no project and spent the first six years looking for one. But what happens if you change your mind and start a new one? Maybe Venezuelans would be better off with someone who has some idea as to where she or he is going.

—“The people need dignified housing…the housing problem is caused by capitalism”

It can also be caused by bad Governments, since Chavez became President the number of homes built every year has gone down to one third of what it used to be under this “less capitalistic system”

—“Cities like the one we are building in El Camino de Los Indios, will be the model for the socialist society we are building”

Well, it certainly starts badly, building a city in the middle of a National Park, but he never mentioned that. I thought the international left wanted to sell the world that Chavez is a “green” President. Maybe they realized what a stupid idea and hard sell this would be just by looking at the Transamazon pipeline idea above.

—“The continuos reelection is a mechanism like the one in France…”

I was going to explain the fallacy of saying this, but our friend Daniel did such a good job, why bother?

Constitutionalist Hermann Escarra gave a press conference to outline the changes the Commission for Constitutionla Reform will present to President Chavez. Esacrra claims to have a copy of the document (from his brother Carlos?) He has made the following observations:

Macro: The fundamental principles of the Constitution are outlined in the first 9 articles but are contained throughout the document. He mentions, as an example, Art. 19. which prohibits discrimination, to change it would require a Constituent Assembly because it is a fundamental right given to people. The same applies to articles like 152, which gives equality to all states, Art. 299 on social justice and democratization of the economic system or 339 on when the Government can declare a state of emergency. Thus, even if the first nine articles were not being violated, this would not imply that a Constitutent Assembly is not needed.

On the changes that will be proposed, he notes the following, which I have shortened, to note the most significant ones:

On the Political division of the Republic:

The Government creates communal cities and territories, special federal territories and the Head of State may at any time and by decree change the political organization of the States and municipalities without the people voting on it.

On Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties

–It establishes new limits to individual rights such as when they go agaisnt the general interest or against “constitutional rights”
–The hierarchy of international Human Rights Treaties of Art. 23 is removed.
–Retroactivity is eliminated for all but penal cases (Art. 24)
–Injunctions will not be allowed if a state of exception is activated.
–The right to access information is limited. People will now have to prove direct and legitimate interest to the inforamtion. (Art. 28)
–It establishes limits to international justice on Human Rights.
–It allows for revoking the nationality to those not born in Venezuela.
–It establishes a new crime when someone is being “persecuted by public clamor”
–A judicial order will no longer be needed to raid a home.
–The State no longer protects property (Art. 55) it now only refers to “possesions”
–Freedom of Speech is now limited (Srt. 57), introducing the concepts of “hate and promoting crimes”
–It limits parent’s rights over their kids, adolescents will have the right to decide who educates them.
–One will not be able to invoke freedom of conscience when it may affect society,a person or group of persons (Art. 61)
–The “people’s” sovereignty is now limited as a function of the needs to build a socialist state (Violation of Art. 5 of the Constitution)
–All requirements for referenda are increased.
–The health system will no longer be decentralized.
–Young people will have a duty to participate in the social transformation of the country.
–Freedom of work is eliminated (Art. 87)
–University autonomy is eliminated and Graduate Programs will be determined by the State.
–Limitations to the media are introduced in Art. 108.
–Only the State may have a monopoly
–Art. 115 creates the concepts of :Public property controlled by the State, Social Property controlled by the State, Collective property controlled by the State, Mixed property under the custody of the State and private property which may be confiscated when it affects the rights of third parties or society. Confiscation will be decided by the State itself, not a judicial decision.
–Public workers lose the right to strike.
–Communal Councils are created.

Organization of the State

–States will no longer be able to organize their municipal division
–States will no longer be able to exploit roads and highways commercially.
–The National Assembly will be able to remove a Mayor when the Communal Power requests it.
–The President will name “Territorial Vice-Presidents” for matters or sectors. He will decide their function, they will be above the Governors.
–The President can be reelected indefinitely.
–Qualifications to be a Justice of the Supreme Court are made easier
–Decentralization is eliminated.
–The Bolivarian Armed Forces are created.
–The Civil Registry is eliminated.
–Art. 299,302 and 303 define the Socialist State.
–Limits to the debt of the State are eliminated.
–The Central Bank will no longer be autonomous.
–The Armed Forces may assume investigative powers on penal cases.
–The fight against imperial States is introduced as part of the security doctrine of the country.
–Under a state of exception only the right to life communication and torture are left.States of exception will no longer have a time limit.

Changing the Constitution

–Number of votes required to change goes up.
–The article on Civil Disobedience (350) is now limited to approval by the Supreme Court.

From
December to January we heard all sorts of reasons why the Government had the
right to end the concession of RCTV, which it did on the end. From the public use of the airwaves, to the
right of the Government to manage the “Hertzian spectrum” in Chavezspeak, we
heard a convoluted and complicated logical sequence in order to justify what
could not be justified. We had seen it before. In fact, this is the way Chavez
has legislated since he became President in 1998, looking for ways to make laws
and arguments that suit him, rather than thinking about the way things should
be and being consistent.

We saw it
with the original referendum for the Constituent Assembly, with the way the
Constitution was stepped on to elect the members to that Assembly. We saw it
when the infamous and illegal Congresillo ran Venezuela for months, selecting a
new Supreme Court, the Prosecutor and other important “independent” political
positions. We saw it with the way the CNE legislated to block the recall vote
against Chavez as much as possible and the way the in which the number of
Justices was increased to 30 members by simple majority of the National
Assembly so that Chavez could regain a majority in the same Court he had appointed
in 2000.

And we saw
with the first RCTV battle and we are seeing it again now with the new argument
that pretends to force cable and satellite channels to carry Chavez’ “cadenas”
live, including now the revival of RCTV in the cable and satellite systems as
RCTV International. As RCTV began broadcasting via satellite and cable, the
Government first suggested that all cable TV and satellite channels should
carry Chavez live and once it was realized that this involves many technical
and legal difficulties, CONATEL ruled by whim that RCTV had to register as a
national broadcast channel, carry the “cadenas” as well as carrying other
institutional messages by the Government, including the National Anthem a few
times a day.

Many of
the earlier arguments given by the Government contradicted the new ruling. We
were no longer talking about the “free” and “public” frequencies of the
Hertzian spectrum that the Government had a right to regulate. Nor were we
talking about a Venezuelan company either. We were talking about the
reincarnation of RCTV as an international company to broadcast to all of Latin America, capturing the upper end of the Venezuelan
market and trying to capture other Latin American markets to compensate the
loss in market share.

As such,
it has to be given the same treatment as the History Channel, or more clearly
as the treatment given to Telesur, the Government’s attempt to create a
competitor to CNN in Latin America. You see,
Telesur is funded by the Venezuelan Government; it is run mostly from Venezuela, mostly produced in Venezuela and
is mostly watched by Venezuelans as its popularity has not been extensive due
to the somewhat boring programming. It would hamper this negligible popularity
is on top of that it had to broadcast Chavez’s long speeches, every time the
autocrat wants to celebrate something as irrelevant to Venezuelans as the birth
of the Cuban revolution. This is not an invention as last night Chavez forced
all TV channels to broadcast a speech for hours in which the origins of the Cuban
revolution received a lot of attention.

Thus, it
would be discriminatory to apply these new rules to RCTV and not Telesur, but
CONATEL has ruled that if in five days RCTV has not registered as a Venezuelan
station, cable systems and satellite systems will no longer be able to carry
its programming.

And it is
illegal because it goes into the realm of a private system in which those that
watch have to pay to watch and up to now, the only existing regulation was that
those TV channels that broadcast under the free and public service had to carry
the same programming and could not remove cadenas and the like.

But
clearly, the Government never expected RCTV to adapt itself to the ban, nor its
replacement to have such a small audience, nor RCTV to generate the excitement
it has. In fact, the banning of RCTV has been a boon to satellite systems and
cable systems that have began making special offers to the lower income segments
of the population who miss watching RCTV programming.

Thus, once
again the Dictator shows how naked he is, something that Venezuelans who
understand what a functional democracy should be. But we have nothing even close
to it as everything is done to satisfy every whim and desire of Hugo Chavez. We
have no rule of law, no rights, no transparency, no checks and balances and no
dialogue. The autocrat says and it is done as he wishes, and only the fanatics
that support him cheer.

While most
Venezuelans had understood this for many years, it was the removal of RCTV’s
concession which finally convinced them that Hugo Chavez was indeed wearing no
clothes.

By now,
politicians and the media abroad understand this quite well. No group
understands it better than Reporters without Borders (RSF), which has seen the
way the Chavez Government has always treated both the media and reporters for
the last eight years. This has led to that organization issuing exquisitely worded
press releases which simply undress the Government’s arguments.

This time
it was no different and as usual RSF’s wording had
little waste: The administrative maneuever happens to be somewhat crass, so as
not to think it is a new attempt at censorship. The Venezuelan Government
always defended the shutting down of the channel because it was excluding it
from the Hertzian network. What else could it be after if it can’t also appear in the
programming of Cable TV?”

By now, he has bared it all for everyone to see…

When I came back three weeks ago, I got the feeling that not much had changed while I was away but many people I respect told me otherwise. They suggested the student movement and the closure of RCTV had Chavez in check and this would force the Government to forget, reduce or minimize the reform of the Constitution, as well as removing autonomy from the university system.

Three weeks later, it seems as if my appreciation was unfortunately right. The committee that has been preparing in secret the changes to the Constitution continues to meet and change the project, the much rejected “indefinite” reelection has been re-baptized the “continuos reelection and the word autonomy is likely to be left in the magna carta adding to it words like democracy and participatory that ar sure to end autonomy as we know it (Even if I disagree with parts of it).

Thus, we will likely see the all-Chavista committee that is studying the changes to the Constitution, present its proposal to the all-Chavista National Assembly and by September 15th. the project is likely to be approved by that body in much the same form as submitted. Of course, they will claim that it was widely discussed, with teh full participation of all sectors of society. But we we all long for the bad old days of the IVth. Republic, when we had dissent, discussion, objections and even some filibuster of such discussions. But more important, political parties attempted to reach some form of agreement or consensus when differences were large.

In this case, all we will see is someone from the opposition ask for an injunction in the Supreme Court arguing that some of the changes are unconstitutional, which they are, but the Court will obviously reject the arguments, since its President is part of the Committee proposing the changes, thus all of the answers to this request will have been prepared and elaborated on by that time.

But you don’t have to be a lawyer to know that some of the changes being proposed do violate th fundamental principles of what Chavez himself used to call the best Constitution of the world, which it wasn’t. Thus, these changes will be approved without a Constituent Assembly and by December, as announced yesterday, we will have all of the changes approved wholesale by the population.

People will get excited that the reforms will not be approved, the day will come and thank to the magic of a rigged electoral registry and the use of the latest computer voting technology, the new Constitution will be in place before the end of the year. A new rape of the Venezuelan Constitution would have taken place, guaranteeing Chavez’ permanence in power for as long as he wishes, even if the “people” do not want it.

And much like in Heller’s Catch-22: So it goes…

A good one by Petkoff, as the robolution parties and persecutes at the same time.

The masks are falling by Teodoro Petkoff in Tal Cual

Costly, ostentatious and overflowing with prententiousness parties-many a week-, brutal forms of political discrimination in the oil industry-not because they repeat they become less hateful-, the unusual frankness of the high oil executive Luis Vierma undressing the disaster of the “new PDVSA”, the swan song of General Baduel, it all became in one week a true mudslide of information about the course of XXI st. century socialism and the self-destructive advances of the “Chacumbele effect”*

The stuff at Sincor is not a causal or isolated phenomenon; nor is it a personal initiative, which can be attributed to the policeman and inquisitorial zeal of one Jesus Ochoa, “Human” Resources Manager of the company. Of course, if the task was given to him to act as the executioner of his work mates, it must not be because he is a quiet angel. But that is irrelevant. All repressive regimes always encounter their dogs of war. That does not exonerate him, nor does it attenuate his individual responsibility, but that manager obeys and applies a line of action, a repressive conception designed in the high spheres of the Government-not even of PDVSA-, in the same place where the instruments for social and political controls of the population are cooked. The questions to which the workers are subject to, the swiny classification of “apt” or “not apt”, on the basis of a purely political measure, leave behind almost like a fairy tale the ineffable “IDocracy” of AD and COPEI of yesteryear.We are now in the presence of a sinister machination, of a “Current Operating Procedure”-to use military language-, advancing with cold and implacable determination, to break the will of the population, to tyrannize it, from a totalitarian perspective.

This is not the “criollo” sneakiness but the institutionalization of the political ghetto where they want to put their adversaries.

We are facing a state policy. Those that oppose the Government lose their rights, are transformed into non-persons. That is why it is not impossible to think in the Cuban/Fidel “advisers”.

The other side of the coin is the permanent party binge. The noveau rich that have risen out of the corruption of the dirty deals, of the use of the connections of power to steal, they devote themselves to imitate like monkeys the habits and cstoms that at one time they denounced “in the rich people”. While the jesusochoas and other individuals “apt” for the inquisitorial job do it, the josevicentes and pedrocarreños enjoy themselves. But not in the modest ways that you would assume from in careful listeners of Alo Presidente-from which the thickest streams of revolutionary morality are poured-, but from a cartoon of the most crass yuppism. They are pathetic, and deep inside what they inspire us disdain.

The masks are falling. This is an endless ash Wenesday, but not for repenting but so that everyone can see the repulsive face of power for the sake of power.

*Chacumbele killed himself by trying out his own poison, in this case it refers to Chavez

Yesterday was a bad day for the supposed democratic credentials of the
autocrat/dictator. His basic instincts betrayed him and he proved once again that he may be anything, but certainly not a democrat.

First, Chavez said that the indefinite reelection will be proposed only
for him, using the new euphemism of “continuous” reelection, which has been chosen
as the new term given the low popularity of the possibility of
“indefinite” reelection. Said Chavez: “No, no, no and one thousand times
no, if there is continuous reelection here, it will be for the
President”, proving that there is no philosophical basis for the
proposal other than perpetuating Hugo Chavez in power.

Then, using his
ability to lie, deceive and exaggerate, Chavez said :”I will do what the
“people” say…” as if the “people” had been consulted on the subject.
In fact, all that is known is that the “people” reject the concept of
indefinite reelection in polls and that is why the Government has begun
this campaign of promoting the new word “continuous”.

But the saddest episode occurred when Hugo Chavez did not allow a
community leader to tell him what he wanted, because he was telling
Chavez that he is being lied to, as shown in the video below.

First the
guy, who is pro-Chavez, tells him that he is being lied to and is
being misled about the need to move the barrio where he lives. Chavez responds by
telling him that he has been poisoned, stops him from talking and tells
the guy that he is wrong and that they will continue later.

Three hours
later (!!!), the guy is allowed to speak again and he tells Chavez :”How is it possible, that we as a community are being imposed what we
should say in “Alo Presidente” (Chavez’ program), we are in a free and democratic country, where we should be able to say what we feel. What we feel is that we want to be listened to as a community… and that no Vice-Minister should mistreat us”.

Chavez then stops him once more and says that what he is questioning is Chavez’ program and who knows what interests he is trying to defend. The guy was not allowed to say anything else. Some democracy or exchnage of ideas, no?

Can it be any clearer than this?

It makes you wonder what the last eight years would have been like, if the robolution went after and worked on the problems that affect the country with the same efficiency and intensity that it does when it comes to persecution and prosecuting its enemies. Case in point is the speed and efficiency with which the Government has attempted to deal with the “new” RCTV International, the monster created by them when they decided to cancel the concession of that broadcast station just because the autocrat/dictator felt like punishing what he considered to be his strongest enemy among media outlets.

No sooner had the Government realized on Monday that the new RCTV was not under its control and could continue its regular programming while the regulated stations would show Chavez’ speeches, that William Lara, who continues to retain his dual role as spokesman for Chavez’ party and Minister of Information, said that the Government will propose that all broadcasts via cable and satellite TV should carry both Chavez’ odious “cadenas’, as well as all institutional messages and advertising as I reported a couple of days ago.

But even faster than s speeding bullet was the “Board for Social Responsibility in Radio and Television” which, while seldom heard from, met on Monday and by Tuesday it had already managed to study the programming of RCTV and decided that while a foreign company, RCTV International’s programming was directed to Venezuela and mostly produced in Venezuela and thus should abide by Venezuelan laws. Thus, according to the infinite wisdom of the Board, RCTV International would have to adjust to legislation and , of course, broadcast Chavez’ cadenas.

The curious thing is that not only was the decision too efficient, but it is also discriminatory. You see, Chavez’ pet project Telesur, which is mostly produced in Venezuela and is also broadcast to Venezuela is not required by law to carry the Government’s transmissions, nor does it ahve to abide by the country’s laws. The reason? Simple, because if Telesur has had difficulties in penetrating the audiences of Latin America that Chavez thought would be ready to watch it, they would be instantly turned off by having to watch Chavez whenever he gave one of his long speeches, parades and institutional messages.

Once again, the Government wants to tailor decisions and make the laws so as to persecute its enemies much like it has done before. This is nothing new. While crime and corruption run rampant, the Government has gone after its enemies prosecuting them for even the smallest details, just to get them out of the way. Case in point was the charges yesterday against former judge Monica Fernandez for events during April 2002, while all of the deaths and injuries those days remain without a single person having been sentenced for any of them.

It is all part of the cynicism of the robolution and its actors. While PDVSA is called “in an operational emergency” due to inefficiency and corruption by one of its most important Vice Pesident and oil production is down significantly, while local consumption goes up, Chavez yesterday in Nicaragua starts the construction of an oil refinery in that country with Venezuela’s money, which will use 150,000 barrels a day of our own oil, of which that country will use 50,000 barrels a day and export the remainder 100,000 in another example of how Chavez appears to believe that Venezuela is his own personal hacienda at the service of the promotion of his image and leadership.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s main source of revenue is being destroyed by corruption, incapacity and cronyism, in the belief that the price of oil will never go down and will always save the day. However, at the pace the deterioration is going, by the time reality sets in, there may not be media or enemies around to point out that this is all the result of the autocrat’s idiocy, while he is likely to blame the CIA for all of his problems.

It is hard to foresee where this country may be going, but it ain’t very pretty, as Chavez’ closed circle is constantly reduced more and more and very few capable managers are part of it, since it is only the political and loyal operators who are constantly rewarded. This becomes a vicious circle of political hate and persecution, which guarantees the continuity of the autocrat’s misguided policies.

This column in Tal Cual was originally published in 2005. Note in particular the sentence about the fact that there is no censorship because not a single TV station has been shutdown. Humor is certainly necessary, the problem is when the humor only tells us how crude our reality is.

The History Chavez by Laureno Marquez in Tal Cual

As Poleo told someone: Everything has been said, but since nobody seems to pay attention, everything has to be repeated….Up to the end of history.

(Warning: Some things are written before their time. This article was already published in this page (2005, to be specific). I came back to it because I thought it recover its meaning in the light of the recent announcements that cable TV should also be in cadena (obligatory broadcast of Chavez’s speeches). If at the moment of its publication it seemed like an exercise in humor-fiction, now I think it can be a pathetic reality. Some names have been change or omitted to protect the innocent (that is, the author) because in 2005 on would not apply self-censorship as much, nor had the fear like we do now.
I have also cut it a bit, not so much because of fear, but because t at its time it was extensive, with this warning it may be insufferable.

Any likeness that remains, after the cuts, with circumstances or real names are purely coincidental (with the reality that insists in coinciding with what one writes and not the other way around)

20th Century Fo, Parameao Pictures and Endogenous Productions present the new subscription channel using cable that will change the way we look at history: The History Chavez

Weekly Programming

–Every Sunday at 19 hours (If we have time) Biographies

Learn the true history of Esteban de Jesus and change your image of this imperialistic manipulation has introduced in your mind. Follow the life story of this man who from his beginnings as a street vendor selling little spiders in Sabaneta de Barinas, up to the unquestionable Latin American leadership he has today.

—Every Monday at 18 hours: Mysteries of history.

What truly happened on April 11th? watch a group of fascist military officers and assasins, following the instructions of George. W. Bush, go after a Government that, more democratic, would simply be impossible. They claim tyranny But where is the tyranny. We have not shut down a single TV channel here… You can not miss this documentary.
Veracity guaranteed.

—Every Wednesday at midnight: Mysteries of the Bible

A passionate tale of the relationship between the church and the Government in thee apocalyptic times. Was Jesus a communist? Was his plan to multiply the fish and the loaves of bread the first endogenous process? Were the merchants of the temple the first neoliberal savages? Find out why our maximum leader carries a crucifix in the pocket of his jacket. Find out why Christ is the supreme commander of the revolution.
See the expulsion of the demons from the body of a pastor of the church during a rally in Agenda Bolivar… All of this and more in Mysteries off the Bible.

—Every Saturday at 7: Stigmata: Marked forever. Does the Tascon list really exist?

Learn the true story of the former workers of PDVSA, kicked out during the strike and understand why these dangerous criminal cannot be hired anywhere.
Judge by yourself the reasons that fired them to execrate those that had signed and see in detail how these undercover agents of the CIA work.
The History Chavez transmitted free and soberly by you cable operator. Coming Soon!

On the same day that The VP of Exploration and Production Luis Vierma said at the National Assembly that PDVSA was currently in an “important operational emergency” and that the Board of Directors as a whole was to blame, it comes out that this same bunch of incompetent fools are getting ready to destroy the country’s main source of revenue.

Vierma’s sharp criticism is the first attack from an insider on how the company is being run, while outside analysts all question the company’s production numbers. Vierma, who is being investigated for some reported monkey business in the hiring of some Chinese drilling rigs, using phantom companies, simple said the whole thing is a mess. Vierma seemed to have little memory of why particular companies were picked, other than the bidding committee recommending them. he then proceeded to tell the Deputies that oil is a difficult business and that it took 15 years to form a good oil engineer, thus, he said, PDVSA was in the hands of multinationals, until all those engineers could be trained. Vierma selectively forgot how his team fired thousands of such technically trained people in the name of ideology and politics, guaranteeing that PDVSA would be mired in the mess it is in.

And as Chavista fanatics still want to believe the fake numbers given out by Ramirez and his cronies, the truth is that not only is PDVSA dysfunctional in its operations, but its finances are now being compromised beyond repair.

But these guys, who can not even manage PDVSA properly, have an incredible ability to believe their own BS and now have come up with an even bigger scheme: Let’s have PDVSA get involved in a whole bunch of different areas, reviving the same Venezuela Inc. concept that failed so miserably in the 70’s for the same reasons, trying to do too much without the required managerial capability.

Thus, these guys have now come up with the idea that PDVSA will create eight companies called: PDVA Industrial, PDVSA Servicios, PDVSA Construction and building, PDVSA Naval, PDVSA Gas, PDVSA Urban Development and PDVSA and PDVSA Agriculture. An eighth company has yet to be approved called PDVSA Home (Hogar), the most ambitious of them, which will manufacture everything from lightbulbs to shoes.

Now, I will not bore with the details of what each company will do, but suffice it to say that it will be a sort of Everything Inc. taking over gas bottling and distribution from the private sector, house construction, shipbuilding, tools, matresses, shipbuilding, oilr services, refining design and whatever they come up with.

So, they can barely run the country’s most important industry and they want to do them all, guaranteeing that PDVSA will not make the investments it needs, because the funds will be used elsewhere, and that none of these new companies will do their job efficiently, since there is little technocal or managerial capability to do them.

But it is the financial part that is getting truly scary. As PDVSA is not making the investments required, its cash flow is being diverted to social programs, airlines and the like and now it will be needed to fund all of these grandiose plans. But even worse, PDVSA has committed to help build 14 refineries abroad, has to compensate its former and current partners for their stakes in the heavy crude companies and may even have to buyback some US$4 billion in bonds from these projects.

Clearly, not even at US$ 100 per barrel of oil, there is sufficient money to do all of this. In the meantime, attention is diverted from the focus of PDVSA and the future gets even murkier then. Of course, all of this plans assume that PDVSA has fantastic management and oil prices will hold up at current levels. This from the same people who can not even manage to keep up oil production or even guarantee that the country will have sufficient functioning oil drilling rigs to sustain oil production, a business which they are supposed to know.

It is all a gigantic circus where the lack of transparency and accountability does not reveal the extent of the damage that is being done to the country’s main industry. And with it, the damage will be done to the whole country. PDVSA and its clowns will subsidize competition with the private sector, which will suffer. Perfectly running private operations are being nationalized. Factories will be built that will never even open or sell anything. Money will be wasted. Corruption will be rampant. All in the name of the revolution.

Until one day it will all run out of money, gas and more importantly, all that hot air!