The Devil's Excrement

Anti-Chavez banner at Rosales rally in Unare, Anzoategui State, Venezuela

What a cretin!
After you made us fight brother against brother, father against children and Venezuelans against Venezuelans, you ask for my vote for love. What balls! Because I am pissed I will not give it to you. Vote Popular Force

Things
have turned certainly strange in Venezuela in the last few days. First, where is Chavez?
For a man running for President he has been almost invisible all week, as rain and mudslides have caused havoc in most of the country. Add to that
rumors that the Governor of Merida state, a Chavista, is not allowing Chavez to
campaign there, as well as reports that Chavez is traveling to destinations unknown, as he
has been essentially invisible for three days, while Rosales marches on.

But even
stranger is the behavior of the Armed Forces, particularly the Minister of
Defense, who in the face of scandal after scandal, involving the Armed Forces,
whenever he shows up to make a statement, it is a more about the imaginary
pseudo asymmetrical war Chavez is staging now against the world. Because now
they seem to be mad at former allies such as Spain,
since the announcement that not only is that country not voting for Venezuela, but it will not provide Venezuela with
the military planes it wanted. You
would think that would be it, but instead Baduell says he wants a letter from
the Spanish Government confirming the announcement.

And Baduell
shows up again to make a statement. Everyone wonders: Is it about the 26 kilos
of gold missing (stolen?) from La Paragua? Is it about the
displacement and deaths of Venezuelans in Alto Apure by the Colombian
guerrillas? Or is it about the artisan fisherman injured in the port of Guiria.

Surprisingly,
it is none of the above, Baduell is
replying to the Head of the South Command of the US, saying the General’s comments
were out of place. Very important indeed!

So, whatever happened to these people that cared so much for Venezuelans and “el
pueblo”? Are they so isolated that they do not even notice these things?The 26
kilos of gold were stolen by military from common miners, not precisely
oligarchs or Chavez’ enemies. But nobody seems to care. Yeah, some lowly
soldiers have been jailed for the killings, but as of yet, the gold has been missing
for three weeks, is still missing and nobody seems to care and it is not being investigated by anyone, least of all the military.

Same thing
with the Alto Apure murders and displacements. As far as I am concerned the
only possible role of the military in a poor country like Venezuela
should be protecting its borders and maintaining internal order. Well, we hear the
FARC and the ELN are coming into Venezuela, killing people,
displacing people, abusing people, and nothing is said or done. The missionary
groups that denounced the latest case have not even been contacted by the
military! What is going on here?

Curiously,
whenever the military Generals are asked about Venezuela spending so much money
for military equipment always reply that it is all for internal use, but
whenever there is an internal “problem” it seems that it is largely ignored or
the weapons are used to repress Venezuelans.

The
Venezuelan military toy soldiers seem to care more about the Bolivian border,
where Venezuela is financing
and building 2, 10 or 20 border posts, depending on who you talk, than the
daily kidnappings along the border or the regular incursions by guerrilla
groups into Venezuela.
So much for the revolution even defending our sovereignty

And in
Guiria, truly ordinary citizens, most of them former Chavistas, are
repressed by the National Guard on orders from the Chavista Governor, who
accuses the oligarchs from wanting to generate unrest in order to muddy up the
upcoming Presidential election. Some oligarchs! I guess the revolution has been
so successful that poor artisan fisherman who live in the poorest region of the
country are now considered oligarchs!

The truth
is that what is happening in Guiria is simply a fight between the ideologues of
the Vth. Republic, who want the ports concession
revoked and the bolibourgeois who want it revoked so they can take it over and
get richer. The result? Seven poor fishermen hurt by the National Guard, the
port is shutdown by the fishermen who now block its entrance and after 17
fishermen are hurt, all the Minister of Defense does is to tell the military assigned there “not to be provoked by the protests”. I guess it would be really scary, given the
repression that has taken place and they have yet to be provoked.

And then
of course there are the very important events of the United Nations in New
York, which have become a sort of sports event for the Government, which daily
reports about the improved performance of our team, high fives at the UN by our
representatives and calls for “whipping the empire soon” as we are told we are
winning, it is just a matter of time until the “evil empire” is pressured into
not intervening, while Chavez throws around a billion dollars and a few pretty
girls that are much better looking than Ambassador Bolton to “induce” other
countries to vote for Venezuela. Yes, we are winning, much like Bush is winning the war in Iraq. (Last time I mention the US President in this blog)

It would
indeed be poetic justice if the UN vote distracts the Venezuelan Government
past the December election, Rosales wins and the deadlock is resolved then. A
man can dream, no?

Meanwhile,
I can’t help but wonder what is it that makes people in power believe they are
doing so well, that they even forget the main reason they are where they are.
The same people they used to claim they “loved” and strived for, appear now
secondary to almost every single public servant and how all Government initiatives
have little to do with the daily life and difficulties of the average
Venezuelan.

And
curiously, as the wrath of nature is once again being discharged over Venezuela and its citizens,
Government officials appear to simply have disappeared and only unknown
Antonio Rivero, the Head of Civil Defense, has shown himself around since the
crisis caused by flooding began two days ago. People dead, houses destroyed by water and mudslides
and the question, who is in charge here?- simply lingers in my mind

But nobody
seems to be in charge of the real Venezuela. While the Minister of
Defense defends the
purchase of weapons by the Venezuelan Government, the People’s Defender talks about his initiative
to stop the sale of fireworks at Xmas time, while the Committee that
investigates the La Paragua events meets with some Ministers,
but has yet to meet with the affected miners, a recently inaugurated bridge is carried away by the flood waters in Barquisimeto and the former star
Prosecutor of Isaias Rodriguez accuses
a Justice of the Supreme Court of forging the file on the Anderson case. Way to go, Hugo!

And we go
back to where we began: where is the President. With a National tragedy six weeks
before the election, he is missing a very impacting photo opportunity. He could
go to the affected areas, kiss some baby’s, and offer some houses, food, aid comfort and the like.
Instead, he cancels his
presence and rally in Petare in Caracas today,
where the rains have had little effect, and barely rained today, while pro-Chavez transportation workers
still
carry out their plans for a rally all over Caracas in support of Chavez.

But not to
worry, as
a pro-Chavez weekly says the race is 45% for Chavez, 38% Rosales, which I
would be really scared of if I was in the Government. This implies Rosales has moved up 23% in a scant two
months, with six weeks to go and Er Conde ready
to withdraw. Do the math.

What is
clearly is that the Chavista leadership is eerily out of touch with the country for reasons
unknown. Long gone are the days of being with the people, talking about the
people and working for the people. They are all now involved in higher tasks, either promoting the autocrat,
getting rich or spending their money.

So much
for a revolution.

Eight years of Chavez’ love in eight minutes of pictures with the song “Por Amor” in the background.

It’s in Spanish, but it shows Chavez insulting people (Fox, Calderon, Bush, Alan Garcia, a reporter) at will from all over, including Venezuelans.

Chavez’
foreign policy is simply a reflection of what Venezuelans have felt and suffered from their Government in the last
few years: Either you are with him, or you are a lackey of Bush or some stupid
thing like that. That is how Chavez has divided Venezuela
in two and now is proceeding at least to distance Venezuela
from a number of Latin American countries that have always had excellent
relationships with Venezuela
and its citizens.

In fact,
the previous times (four) that Venezuela
was a member of the Security Council of the United Nations, it received over
90% of the votes and was always elected in the first round. This time, it
appears that of the 19 “friendly” countries of Latin America, only seven are
currently supporting Venezuela and twelve have decided to distance themselves
from Chavez and his Government, more than from Venezuela.

And Guatemala, a
small country that had been planning to run for the Security Council a year and
a half before the autocrat had his whim, has now also been moved to the side of
the enemies, accused of being a lackey of the Empire, as if Guatemalans and their
leaders had no dignity or no pride. As if Guatemala had not decided two years
ago that it deserved to hold the position, because it has always been the type
of country Venezuela used to be, a serious and democratic country who is wiling
to talk to everyone and defend and represent anyone in the Security Council
that needs a voice in that world body.

This is
simply typical Chavez. This is why he will never be able to construct anything
positive because he is incapable of holding even a conversation with someone that
disagrees with him and why he makes an enemy of anyone that dissents from his view. It is why so many Venezuelans
want him out, not only because he has been a terrible President, but because he
has introduced a negative level of divisiveness that Venezuelans do not want or
deserve.

And just
think of all the effort, both material and emotional that Venezuela and its diplomats have
spent to obtain a position that carries not vote, only voice. In fact, the big
bad enemy of the US
not only has a vote, but also a veto in that body. So, what’s the big deal? Calling Bush the devil every week should not cost so much.

So, Chavez
has by now not only lost the friendship of those countries that he had bickered and distanced himself from, but now seems to be finding new ones to fight with. Spain
and Chile,
two countries that had shown an unusual and sometimes inexplicable support for
the autocrat, have now also distanced themselves from our Government in the UN case. And even
Lula, Chavez’ old buddy has stated via Itamarati, that he will do nothing to
get Venezuela
elected.

Thus, Venezuela
isolates itself more and more as it allies itself with the least democratic countries
of the world. The Mugabes, Kim Il Sungs, Lukashenkos, Castros and Ahmadinejads
of this world are all clearly aligned with Chavez’ cause, as are all of those
Arab states for which freedom and democracy and rights are simply obscene four
letter words, even if none of them are that short.

And still
some people want to contend that the militaristic coup leader, the
autocrat that holds control of all powers in Venezuela, the man who decides not
to recognize any elected leader of another country that does not have his
sympathies is a true democrat. Being a democrat is not having an election any
however many years. Being a democrat is having the respect for others and their rights,
it’s listening to them to understand their problems and their worries, not sacrificing
everything for a political plan that does not benefit anyone but the leader. But
as Venezuela
loses all of its friends, one country at a time, it is siding with those
countries where democracy and rights are simply secondary. Countries with which
Venezuela
has little, if any, affinity, other than the autocratic nature of its current
leaders.

That is what the democratic world is slowly realizing, Venezuela is no longer a functional
democracy and they all want to distance themselves from its Government. And indirectly, from all of us. How terribly sad.

Democracy at work: On the right, typical Chavez campaign poster “The brave people are with you”. On the left, the opposite voice, that of the people who are “bravos” (mad in Spanish): “Chavez, thief, out”

Marino Gonzalez is a specialist on public policies. He is a medical doctor who
later got a Ph.D. in public policies. Talking to him is incredible because he probability
knows health numbers in Venezuela
better than the Minister of Health himself. Talking to him can be quite
depressing. When you learn that the Government has no clue how many HIV cases
exist in Venezuela, or that most Barrio Adentro patients are simply given
dipirona, a drug discontinued everywhere in the world for regular analgesic
prescription except in Cuba and North Korea.Or how the loving Government of
Hugo Chavez will spend four times more money on military equipment than health
care. So much for love…Here is Marino’s article I  today’s Tal Cual

Love for
illnesses and deaths by Marino Gonzalez in Tal Cual

After
eight years of authoritarian and incompetent Government, President Chavez
speaks of love. This sudden manifestation contrasts with the results of his administration
that has only brought more illnesses and deaths to Venezuelans. There can not
be any love when one has allowed the deterioration of health in the country.
The Government of President Chavez has represented the most roaring failure in health
care in Venezuela
since 1937. Two reasons back this assertion. The first one is his disappointing
accomplishments. The second reason is its great incapacity to undertake the
fundamental changes that our healthcare system requires.

From the first year of Chavez’ administration, the health of
Venezuelans has gotten worse. This deterioration is expressed in a convincing
manner in three aspects of current health conditions in Venezuela:
maternal and child care, control of endemic illnesses and the prevention and
control of chronic illnesses. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health has yet to
publish the mortality figures for 2005 (It already has a four month delay).
That is why the analysis can only be done up to the year 2004.

9,272 kids younger than one died in the year 2004. 80% of these deaths
were due to reasons that were completely avoidable. This means those 7,417
deaths in kids less than one year, are approximately 20 deaths per day. The
child mortality rate in Venezuela
is twice that of Chile.

The larger number of avoidable deaths are related with illnesses of
infectious origin or related to the condition of poverty in the kid’s lives.

In 2004 there were 685 deaths due to diarrhea in kids less than one. In
that year, 274 kids (between one and eleven months) also died of malnutrition

In the case of maternal mortality there has been an increase of 20% between
1998 and 2004. That is, in 1998, 51 women out of every 100,000 live births died
and are recorded for causes related to the pregnancy, birth and the post-partum
period. In the year 2004 60 women for every 100,000 live births were recorded.

This means
that in 2004 one woman died each day due to causes related to maternal
mortality.

In the
case of endemic illnesses, the failure is expressed in the current malaria and
dengue epidemic the country is involved in. In the year 1998 we had 21,863
cases of malaria. In the year 2002 the total number of cases increased to
29,337. In 2004 we closed the year with 46,244 cases the second highest number
since 1937. In 2005 we had 45,328 cases.  of malaria. In the case of dengue, the number
of cases in 2005 was 12% higher than that of 1998. In the last weeks reported
this year we have more cases of these illnesses than last year

The Government of President Chavez has also failed to pay attention to
people who have illnesses that require care for decades.

These
illnesses are quite common but can be controlled. In the case of the care of
patients with diabetes or hypertension there is evidence of the worsening. According
to official figures, in the years of this Government the probability ahs
increased for people with hypertension or diabetes, especially in the elderly. If
we compare the values between 1998 and 2003 the results are disheartening. In the
specific case of diabetes, in the period noted mortality has increased in all
of the groups comprised between 50 and 74 years old. In the group between 50
and 79, mortality has increased by 25%. In the group between 50 and 59 years
old mortality ahs increased by 29%. A similar situation is observed in deaths by
hypertension. In all of the groups mortality has increased due to these causes.

It is clear that this purported love what has brought us is
more deaths and illnesses to all Venezuelans.

It is also clear that reelecting the Government of Hugo Chavez is the
biggest risk to the well being of Venezuelans.

The recent
tale of IVIC,
persecuting
Physicist Claudio Mendoza for writing an opinion article under his own name
and using his right to free speech, contrasts with another case, which Chavez
and his Government turned into a free speech issue, but was simply an academic
issue.

In 2002,
Felipe Perez (who later became Minister of Planning) was under contract at
IESA, Venezuela’s
premier business school. The way I remember it, he had been in a tenure track
position, but failed to have even close to an adequate level of productivity
while a Professor at IESA for three years. Thus, his contract was not renewed and
he was given a temporary contract until he found a job. Right about that time,
Perez made some statements to the effect that the Government should nationalize
the banking system or something like that and Perez’ contract was not renewed when
it came due.

The
Government made a big issue of this. It used all of its influence on the Board
of IESA, where the Government holds quite a number of positions and eventually
led to the resignations of a number of important figures at IESA, including its
President and the Dean of the Graduate School who felt the Government was
intervening on academic matters and they would not compromise their academic
integrity over the issue.

The
Government simply turned the whole thing into a freedom of speech issue, which
it was not, in contrast to Claudio Mendoza’s case, which it certainly is. The
whole thing was so ridiculous that Chavez in his Sunday Alo Presidente program
actually talked about it and here is what
he said:

“On
November 15^th. this economist made statements making a series of
criticisms about certain private sectors calling them to reflect, specially the
banking system. And I salute my friends the bankers, but we continue to call on
them. I join the call that Felipe Perez is making and IESA can not kick me out”.
Chavez criticized the decision against Perez and congratulated him saying he
wanted to talk to him personally. “I think we have to reivindicate people, I
think it is an abuse of IESA, where they speak of freedom to be critical, and
we should welcome it, but this a call to reflect on it.

As I said,
because Perez was pro-Chavez, IESA was pressured and forced into hiring him
back, forcing the resignation of many of that institutions authorities.

You can be
sure, that if anything, Chavez will celebrate Claudio’s firing from IVIC since I have
information that it was Chavez himself that was behind the letter Dr. Mendoza received.

That is
what cynicism and freedom of speech mean in the stupid revolution.

This is Venezuela’s Ambassador to the UN today, calling Hugo Chavez “a sick man” “a bandit” and “an assasin” four years ago on April 12, 2002

Today he says with the same outrage, that Bush is calling President’s to vote for Guatemala. Well, Chavez visited some of these same Presidents and offered them presents, contracts and gifts. Essentially, he tried to buy them out, Al Capone style. This guy simply shows that this revolution has the moral consistency of tapioca. He was one of the four leaders of the 1992 coup and was the man who ran against Chavez for President in 2000. He had been trying to get a position back with Chavez since 2002 and held a job with Caldera from 1995 to 1998. What a jerk! What a disgrace!