The Devil's Excrement

If you want to assume a high official position you have to be able to
answer these ten questions according to the official line, just in case
a reporter should ask you. That is, you have to be able to lie through yout
teeth.

–Why was
it illegal for Sumate to receive $30,000 from the National Endowment for Democracy
but not for Chavez’s presidential campaign to receive US$ 1.5 million from
Spanish Bank BBVA?

–Why have
they charged a couple of hundred people for rebellion for going to the
Presidential Palace on April 12^th. 2002 and not charged General
Lucas Rincon for announcing to the country that the President had resigned?

–Why is
poverty up in Venezuela
since Chavez took power seven years ago?

–Why is
children malnutrition up since Chavez took over seven years ago?

–If oil
production is at normal levels, how come oil GDP is going down despite higher prices?

–Why isn’t
anyone in jail for corruption since Chavez took over seven years ago?

–Where
are the US$ 3 billion missing from the Macroeconomic Stabilization Fund?

–Why has
this Government been unable to build as many houses in any of the past six years, as the previous Governments
were able to in any given year?

–How many
attempts have there been on Chavez’ life?

–Why was
Danilo Anderson assassinated?

And today Petkoff comments on the fact that VP Rangel approved the illegal procedure at the National Assembly:

Silly Putty
parliamentary regulations by Simon Bocanegra in Tal Cual

The
statement by VP Rangel, validating the designation of a parliamentary commission
that “would evaluate” the report by the Interior Policy Commission about
Manuitt reveals that this is an order from above. Dirt has to be thrown on the
Manuitt case. Order form the boss. You can bet that that evaluating commission will
find one of two things: 1) It will declare that the report from the Interior
Policy Commission (CPI) is a piece of junk and should not be presented to the full
Assembly, with which the investigation dies; 2) extend it in time until it dies
from exhaustion and the case falls out of the political and media radar. Why
didn’t they do what the regulations say, which is to bring the report by the CPI
to the full plenary session of the Assembly, so that it decides on the matter? Obviously
because they fear that debate for the things that may be aired in it and
because Chavista institutionality is like silly putty, then they simply
liquidated it by means of abuse and arbitrarity. In this way, the possibility
of verifying if there exists or not responsibility of the Governor in the extremely
grave cases of human rights violations occurred in Guarico have been sacrificed
for cheap political reasons , in the selfish altar of party convenience. The “reasons
of Party” are above the citizens and their rights.

Humorist Laureano Marquez writes a very funny and cynical piece in today’s Tal Cual Editorial

The Sacrifices of a leader by Laureano marquez

If it was for me, I would live in a shack…nice!, no running water,
carrying my can of water from the bottom of the hill and going up in a
Jeep, with my office under a very hot sheet of zinc, dirt floor and
rope soled sandals. But because they want to kill me, I feel forced to
protect myself, to remain in this repugnant palace walking over very
expensive rugs and sleeping in air conditioned rooms…I don’t know how I
can stand it. Bathrooms with ceramic tile, hot water and expensive
porcelains. It’s so disgusting I am that close to vomiting every time I
take a shower.

I
have to move around in a car with 500 bodyguards, sacrificing the dream
of my life: To go around in a run down VW beetle without brakes, but,
because of the conspirators, I have to go around the way you see me.

Do
you think I like to go around in an armored limo in which I can stretch
my legs and even lay down for a while and take a nap, with a
refrigerator with cold water to refresh myself alter the hot contact
with you, my people, and little bottles of Evian water to wash my
hands, just in case imperialism has hired some old lady to give me a
magni-infection? No, I detest this shit, but I have to go around like
this for security. Each time I give up a piece of pork rind with hairs, I
am not thinking about bad cholesterol, but what would happen to the
people if I get a heart attack, because I imagine that you all know
that pork rind is a CIA strategy to screw our people.

I
would love to carry a Casio with a plastic band on my wrist, those that
street vendors sell batteries for in El Silencio. But since the
attempts on my life began, I have been forced to carry a Vacheron
Constantin whose precision allows me to know the exact time of a
possible attempt on my life.

Its
mechanism, sensitive to my pulse, helps my bodyguards know, at certain
times of doubt, if I am still alive. It has a mini sphere in one of the
quadrants that allows me to know the exact time in Washington D.C., where our biggest enemy lives and a pure leather band that avoids allergies or poisoning via the epidermis.

Do you think that I like these suits of high French couture? The truth? I
find them repugnant… What I feel is repulsive, those suits that have an
implacable line, the perfect adjustment to the shoulders, tight fit
around that waist that styles the figure and the wide and flirting lapel.

And let’s not talk about the silk Italian ties, so soft…

What
a pain in the b…, my friend. My dream is to go around with khaki pants
and a white t shirt. But of course. Since they want to attempt against
my life , I feel obligated to carry these expensive suits, because it
is a demand of the company that makes the bullet proof
vests, that told me: “With Monte Cristo (a local brand) it is going to
be noticeable, It’s like the gold cuff links: F….Can’t they tie these
things with string? I tell them.

No, my security advisers tell me, because those they claim they have a GPS to know my exact location in case I am kidnapped.

And let’s not talk about the food. That
is truly a sacrifice. There is nothing I like more that a plate of
pasta with ketchup and a Pepsi wetted in casaba bread and an avocado
arepa at 2 AM. But we had to hire cooks of our highest trust and those
guys don’t know how to prepare that shit, only foreign dishes, salmon
fume, entrecote, escargots.

How I miss my salads with Corona Vinegar and Vatel oil, not this shit that what it has is olives and balsamic acetto from Modena, to prevent possible poisonings.

All
of these sufferings and many others that I don’t want to tell you
about, but I prefer iif they remain forgotten, with the humility that
characterizes me, I do it for you. And I take care of my life not for
me, I am just a twig in the wind, what do I matter and the sacrifice
that I do to withstand the sacrifices I have described? Nothing! Absolutely
nothing. I resist all of these sufferings stoically for you, my people,
so that you can maintain that revolutionary lifestyle that I, sadly,
can not have.

To have “riñones” (kidneys) in Venezuela means to have audacity,
gall. I was going to write about the CNE and what they handed over to the
political parties in terms of voter data, but Petkoff in today’s Simon
Bocanegra couldn’t have said it better.

The “kidneys” of Jorge Rodriguez

The CNE decided to hand over to political parties the
electoral registry. It was an act of exquisite cynicism. What the parties
received was a list of 14 million people, without any other data accompanying the
names. Nothing. Not an address, nor location and number of voting booth, nor members
of that voting table. In other words, what was handed out is useless. It not
only violates the Suffrage law (art. 95), that taxatively establishes what the
electoral registry is and the data that should compose it, but at the CNE they
must think we Venezuelans have never voted.

We have been voting here for half a century and always,
always, the electoral register had the essential data of the voters, the
diffusion of which, moreover, does not damage neither the honor nor the reputation
of anyone. But the most shameful part was the argument used to justify such an
arbitrary act.

There is, according to the CNE, a decision by the Supreme
Court that orders protecting the data of citizens that it can not be handed
over to anyone without the authorization of those affected. Thus, the same CNE
that was itself dauntless in the face of the Tascon list and that even has not
been able to demonstrate that it did not come out of its womb, now is the jealous
guardian of the privacy of the voters. The kidneys of Jorge Rodriguez are such that
they should be preserved at a museum.

Chavez’
Bolivarian revolution has always managed to disguise the lack of ethics and
scruples of their leaders by always twisting or hiding the reality of what they do. They
manipulate justice by following procedures, bending the rules, pressuring the
judges and handpicking prosecutors. If the case is against their own, it gets
shelved. If an opposition figure bothers them, they find something to charge them
with. After that, you delay the trial, that way you can always call accuse these people of being corrupt,
coup plotters or whatever, because in the Bolivarian Justice system you are
guilty until proven innocent. Unless you are part of the process…

For
months, the Governor of Guarico state, a Chavez supporter from the Patria Para
Todos party has been accused of using his political police to kill, torture and abuse innocent civilians. We
are not talking corruption here. We are talking outright murder, torture under
the impassive eyes of Governor Manuitt, who directly managed and led the
political police of Guarico state, which is accused of committing the
atrocities. The case became such a political hot potato that nobody wanted to
touch it. But the case was so outrageous, so monstrous, that it was pro-Chávez
Deputies who brought it to the National Assembly and called for an investigation.

A few
times it looked like the case would get nowhere. Some asked for the Governor’s
resignation. There was even an announcement that there could be a meeting
between the Governor and Chavez to look for a “solution” to the problem. But the
the committee of the National Assembly that was considering the case refused to
budge. Under the leadership of pro-Chavez Deputies it continued investigating
the charges. Two days ago, the final report concluded that Governor Manuitt was
at least politically responsible for the human rights abuses and should be tried.
The next step? A vote by the full National Assembly on the report by the
committee.

But it was
not to be. Using the same obscene and immoral style that has characterized
Justice in the Bolivarian revolution, the President of the National Assembly
Nicolas Maduro, created another committee to review the report because
according to him “there was hate and
animosity” on the part of some members of the committee. That from a man
who only speaks with hate and animosity anytime he refers to somebody even
remotely connected to the opposition. Similarly his wife (or whatever), Deputy Cilia Flores said
the results of the report were “contaminated” and its results were not
impartial. I guess she is impartial, simply parroting all the time whatever her hubby says.

Well,
first of all, there is no such procedure in the laws and bylaws of the Assembly, the report has
to be considered by the full Assembly, and nothing else has validity. Second,
the report was approved by a vote of 14 to 1, with three members of the 18
member committee not being present. The lone dissenting voice was a member of
Manuitt’s political party. The other fourteen, were both MVR and opposition
members, all of which voted in favor of the report. Imagine what grotesque
evidence there was in the information gathered by the committee that there
could be agreement, for once, between the two political sides which are always disagreeing with each other.

But
Nicolas Maduro, the MVR President of the Assembly has acted in the same
autocratic style that Chávez and his cohorts have been acting like in the last six
years. If they don’t like the outcome, they interfere with it and change it, even
if it violates the law.

But if
this was not disgusting enough, they do not even have the decency to hide why
they object the report. It is not because they disagree with it or they have
evidence which favors Manuitt. No, it is because this is “bad” for the
revolution or this damages a “true” revolutionary or is bad for the image of the “process”. Chavista after Chavista came
out today saying such incredibly unscrupulous things like:

Deputy
Ismael Garcia (Podemos): “This is a very negative precedent… political
passions should not affect a consummate revolutionary like Manuitt”

Jose
Albornoz (PPT); “This is an attack against the revolutionary process”

Meanwhile
the Governor himself said
he “accepted with respect” the decision by the “National Assembly” as if
Maduro’s abuse of power could even come close to representing that body.

With this
case, justice in the revolution has reached a new low. Even when powers
controlled by the revolution reach a decision against one of their own, the
case is interfered with and short circuited by those at the highest levels of
power.

Meanwhile,
you wonder what the surviving victims of the abuses and the relatives of those
killed are feeling or thinking. They largely come from the lowest strata of the
Venezuelan population. The same ones that thought that the “process” would
bring more justice and prosperity to their lives. “El pueblo”, that we hear so
much about, but who continues to be the victim of those that claim to love them
so much. But the truth is that only the “process”, the “revolution” and its
leaders really matter. The rest, be it justice, morality or pueblo, is largely
irrelevant.

In this screwed up country two Ministers (here and here) gloat over the supposed victory of Venezuela at the OAS (which is just spinning) while another headline says :

A kid dies everyday as a consequence of malnutrition.

Guess who the real losers are….

While Government officials say that there is a free press in Venezuela,
in the sense that people say what they want, the truth is that there is
a self restraint by the media since the so called “muzzle” law was
approved. A few weeks ago, the media failed to report demonstrations in
downtown Caracas because they could have been interpreted as creating
“uncertainty in the population” as the muzzle law states.

Today around noon, there were protests in a suburb of Caracas. The tax
office tried to shut down a supermarlet, closing the doors while there
were still shoppers inside. People were upset and there was a protest
with about 100 people surrounding the supermarket with the tax office
representatives inside. The National Guard sent a contigent,
threatening to use tear gas and tempers flared. Streets were blocked
for a couple of hours.Tax office signs were taken down and things got
very heated as metropolitan police showed up to help the National
Guard.

I just checked Globovision, Unionradio El Nacional, Tal Cual and El
Universal and there is not a single word about this spontaneous
protest. This is the type of self censorship that takes place daily as
the media fears sanctions by the Government.

(There are also no published reports of the Chavista Governor of
Tachira state saying on the radio (I heard him) that the Minsiter of Defense ordered the army not to
pursue the Colmbian guerillas from the ELN earlier this month as had
been rumored)

Normally, the resignation of the President of Fogade,
the fund that guarantees bank deposits in Venezuela, who was reportedly
fired, would not be news. But in this case it is, because it shows once
again the lack of ethics of this Government and explains why corruption
runs ranmpant under Chavez.

Caldera Infante was probably the Government official that made the most
extensive use of the Tascon list in order to persecute the workers of
Fogade that had signed agaisnt President Chavez, firing over one
hundred career employees of that institution, but protecting his
buddies from the social christian party COPEI. He ahd been an actove
member of this political party and had occupied important positions in
Government during the
Caldera administration, before he saw the “light” of the process.
Unless, of course, he only saw an opportunity to profit personally.

Caldera Infante will obviosuly not be prosecuted or charged for these
political crimes and human right abuses as he will be protected the
same way this Government protects all of those that serve it.
Destroying careers, lives and people for political gain, is not a crime
under this administration. On the contrary it is a credential of fidelity and loyalty to the almighty leader.

But neither is corruption for those that work for it. Last Fall in the
transcript of the now infamous meeting in Fuerte Tiuna, Chavez
fustigated corruption, but did admit that nobody has been charged with
it in the six years he has been in office. Which is not strictly
correct, as he and his then buddy Miquilena were accused of receiving
illegal political campaign contributions in the millions of dollars, for which there was and there is
very precise and public proof. But these accusations by the opposition
never went anywhere. Miquilena was absolved by the Supreme Court and
the case agaisnt Chavez is stuck in a black hole in the drawer of the
Prosecutor’s office with so many others.

But the Government has always found reasons to accuse opposition
figures with corruption, such as acccusing Chacao Mayor Lopez of
illegally changing funds from one line item to another in order to pay
salaries, when Chavez increased them by decree three years ago. This is in a country where billions of US dollars are still
missing from the FIEM fund, where the difference between what PDVSA has
given to the Central Bank and what it should have, is also in the billions
and where it is still unclear whether the development bank did or not
spend the full US$ 2 billion in social programs last year. Or how it
was spent.

But corrupt Govrenment official after corrupt Government official has
been removed from office and not one has been charged by the
Prosecutor’s office. One can go back to the infamous Bolivar 2000 project
where mid-level officers would have hardware stores issue fake receipts
for tens of thosands of dollars. And nothing happened. Or more
recently, the President of PDVSA fired 24 managers in the Western part
of the counry for “corruption”. Buf not one of themhahs been charged,
or investigated. In fact, they were fired, their severance pay
cancelled and they have all shown the letters used to get rid of them,
in which no mention is made of theit supposed corruption.

Or we could point to the thosuands of buses used each time Chavez
decides to have a march, even if he does not show up. Who pays for
that? The Prosecutor or the comptroller have never even bothered to ask
such simple questions. Or the finances of food program Mercal. Does it
make sense to the Prosecutoir and the Comptroller that this
not-for-profit program, imports with official dollars, uses military
personnel
and facilities to transport foodstuffs, pays no taxes, no custom
tariffs and prices are just 15% below market prices? Yeah, and I
believe
in Santa Claus too.

But the Caldera Infante case is emblematic of the cesspool of
corruption this Government has become and the total impunity that
surrounds it. He was not only accused over and over of direct and
indirect corruption and mismanagement as Head of Fogade, but he ahs admitted wrongdoing in public. He has been
accused so many times, that even the National Assembly invited him to
testify to “clarify” some of these accusations. And in one of the most
irrelevant accusations, Caldera Infante demonstrated clearly his lack
of ethical and moral values when he justified the use of Government
planes for himself and his family “because I am a busy man”.

Busy trasnferring Government property in suspicious ways, busy firing
workers for political reasons, busy doing private deals, but apparently
not busy enough in protecting the financial integrity and property of
the many companies that Fogade has run since the financial crisis of
the mid-90’s. And he was fired, but he will not be charged. He was
careless. He was too open. He made them look back, but he will be
protected like so many others.

I could make a long list of all the corruption cases, those accused,
those fired by Chavez, those declared innocent. But I will make a
simpler list:

Name of those Government officials of the Chavez administration formally charged with corruption:

None

Name of those convicted:

None

Do I need to say more?

Our
illustrious Foreign Minister said the “people” have the mechanisms to control democracy
and, of course, we don’t need any new mechanisms from the OAS to observe
democracy in our countries,

Umm…I
wonder what he means. Let’s make a check of the newspapers of just today in Venezuela:

1) A
group of lawyers denounces that 1% of the prosecutors have all of the
political cases by the draw of the luck. One prosecutor has 43% of the cases,
another 32% and a third one has 25% of them. This in a country with 1,200
prosecutors! Moreover in 76% of the cases, you find the same Prosecutor, taking
the case to the same judge and later to the same Appeals Courts. In the case of
the 19 people who died on April 11^th. 2002, people have been charged
in only two of those cases, where the Prosecutor determined that the victims
were shot by police bullets and it has therefore jailed the Heads of the police
at the time, who are “opposition”. Note that the cases are supposed to be
assigned to Courts randomly; therefore the “blind” process is clearly being
interfered with.

Conclusion: The Prosecutor’s Office is suspect, guilty of
bias, something we have known all along, since it does not prosecute any
pro-Chavez Government officials for corruption, but opposition Mayors have been
accused of even allocating funds from one part of the budget to the other
following “irregular” procedures, while, for example, billions of US$ are
“missing”, “unaccounted for” and/or not exchanged for local currency via the
Central Bank. Way to go Isaias!

2) The People’s Ombudsman, a new position in the new
Constitution, which was supposed to defend the interests of the people, blasts
without any investigation charges by the US Government
that trafficking with human beings is still a problem in Venezuela.
Curiously, Venezuelan authorities told the US Embassy that they had taken
measures to fight it, admitting its existence. But to Mr. Mundarain who seems
more interested in defending the Government, the charges are simply political.
Meanwhile, he has said nothing about the fact that a prisoner dies every day in
a jail in Venezuela
(yes, they are Venezuelan too, even if criminals)

This is the same cynic who did nothing about the Tascon
list or proposed last week to introduce a Bill so that NGO’s can not receive
foreign funding, but failed to accuse President Chavez for receiving millions of
US$ from Spanish banks for his political campaigns, something which has been
proven in Spanish Courts and people have been jailed for. (Why wasn’t this
included in “The Chavez Code”?). This Bill is aimed at stopping Sumate from
receiving miniscule amounts in comparison. Mr. Mundarain clearly cares little
about those killed in marches either, as he has never shown up in any when
there have been problems. Typically, he is traveling with public funds, a
curios conception of his sadly useless position.

Conclusion: The People’s Defender or Ombudsman seems to be
concerned about defending the President as if he did not have enough people
sucking up to and defending Chavez. There is little the people can do to change
that. Two weeks ago there was a march to protest political prisoners and the
Ombudsman was not only not there to receive the document, but had his
headquarters surrounded by the National Guard against a harmless march.

3) Last Friday, a Judge ruled that the fine imposed by the
telecom regulator on TV channel Globovision was illegal and ruled that Conatel
had to pay legal fees in the case. That judge was removed today, much like
every judge that rules against the Government’s desires. Even Supreme Court
Justices have been removed for ruling against the Government’s whims. This has
gotten so ridiculous that
85% of the judges in the country are now temporary, meaning they have no
job security and better follow the party line.

Conclusion: The Judiciary is totally controlled by the
Government as shown by this point and 1). Those few judges that rule with their
conscience are removed expeditiously.

Finally, not from today’s news, the Electoral Board,
questioned by everyone for its acts, was hand picked 18 months ago by the
Venezuelan Supreme Court which also named a new member of that Board when one
of them resigned. This does not follow the Constitution in how such a Board
should be elected. This requires 66% of the Deputies of the National Assembly.
The current Board is composed of four pro-Chavez members who are party hacks and
one opposition member. Its Director, for example, blasted Sumate for meeting
with Bush, proving he is not independent and has no respect for others.

This Electoral Board has now redesigned voting districts
without approval of the National Assembly and without waiting the twelve months
for the new districts to go into effect, both of which are required by law. It
has accepted, without the fulfillment of the legal conditions required, a new
pro-Chavez political organization which will be used by Chavez’ MVR to
manipulate the results of the election by fielding two separate parties: One
for the candidates elected on their own right under their name and another for
those elected by party slate. In this way, the principle of proportional
representation guaranteed in the Constitution will be bypassed, Chavez will get
a majority of the National Assembly and then elect an Electoral Board with five
of his supporters and thus preserve forever the “origin” of this “democracy”.

So, I ask our distinguished Foreign Minister: How can the
people do anything, as
you claimed at the OAS, about this autocracy that you and your kind have
established in our country? Do you sleep at night? Is this why you were in the
guerillas for over thirty years? To lie, manipulate and violate the rights of
your fellow countrymen? To assume the role of wise man that “knows better than
the people” so it is OK for you to think for them and manipulate them? You
should simply be ashamed of what you are, but especially of what you have
become.

Because in the end, the excuses are the same ones always argued
by totalitarian regimes: Respect for our sovereignty, we can solve our
problems, give us self-determination, do not intervene in our affairs and the
like. The truth is that not only can the excuses be recognized, but the tools
are also the same. These states tend to be belligerent, create external enemies
and use money to attract allies. As we say in Venezuela, we have seen this movie
before, both here and abroad.

How were the following pictures ordered in the post below? Reading from left to right and down. By:

1) The meeting I would feel most comfortable at
2) The meeting where I would be able to talk the most
3) The meeting I would most interested in being at
4) Highest democratic score on any scale for those in the picture
5) The meeting where I know personally the people in the picture
6) Fewer people killed by those pictured
7) Fewer people persecuted by those pictured
8) Nicest sandals
9) Nicest smile
10) Highest level of education in the picture
11) Least Corrupt
12) Least Ugly
13) Least fascist
14) Weight of those in picture
15) Wealth of those in picture at highest point in their lifetime
16) Size of Picture

Winner gets a one year subscription to TDE

Bonus question: Why are Venezuelans always on the left, except with Castro?