The Devil's Excrement

Good editorial in today’s front page of El Universal entitled “Another Stage”. I particularly enjoyed the comparison between the effort by Venezuela’s opposition to gather the signatures and that of Californians, since one still hears people both here and abroad (and in this page!) trying to minimize the meaning and magnitude of the democratic effort by the Opposition in Venezuela. The numbers are indeed impressive. Here is the translation of that particular paragraph:

If anyone had doubts about the dimension of this democratic success, sufficient to compare those 3.5 million signatures subscribed in four days under all forms of obstacles and intimidations, both physical and material, as well as formal-read the CNE regulations-with the 1.6 million signatures, that a well financed and organized opposition like that in California, gathered in a universe of 15 million registered voters (12 million in Venezuela), in three and a half months of uninterrupted effort to summons and succesfully recall former Governor G. Davis.

Well said!

The signatures for Chavez’ recall were succesfully handed in to the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) this morning. There was no attempt at violence and everything went very smoothly with heavy security in the early hours of the morning. The CNE now will have thirty days to say whether the 2.4 million valid signatures are there or not.

The signatures for Chavez’ recall were succesfully handed in to the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) this morning. There was no attempt at violence and everything went very smoothly with heavy security in the early hours of the morning. The CNE now will have thirty days to say whether the 2.4 million valid signatures are there or not.

I love regularly reading  Scott’s Burtonterrace blog (the only blog by a non-Venezuelan under “For a better Venezuela” on the left) there are always interesting links, stories and articles and he does have a genuine interest in the problems of Venezuela. In the last few days he has had a number of interesting posts that I enjoyed:

-It does give you perspective to read the letter by poet Manuel Vasquez from jail in Babalu blog, posted by Val Prieto. All of those that admire the Cuban revolution should pause and read this sentence in Vasquez’ letter:

“Of paradise, Cuba has only had the perilous passage, a danger-strewn Styx, that daring navigators have desperately discovered in the Straits of Florida, in which they envision the promise of a better life after having faced Cerberus”

or this one

“Thousands pay with their imprisonment the quota of suffering that periodically punishes the nation. Faced with the impossibility of lowering social pressures through another massive exodus, the regime has been forced to substitute imprisonment for migration”  

Follow the links and you will enjoy the reaction by Little Tiny Lies blasting the pro-Castro apologists or Chicago Boyz blasting tourist ads by Cuba.

-There is also a link to Haitipundit, a regular blog from that island which is so close yet so far.

-Or a link to the cult to that strange Venezuelan deity “Maria Lionza”.

and you have to love Scott’s question:

Neo-conservative-liberalism?
Is it just me, or have the poles flipped? Right is wrong, and up is down. Just decades ago, mention Pinochet and the left would tremble with indignation. But today, they coddle Castro, cheer on Chavez, oppose overthrowing Saddam and think we should give Kim Jung Il whatever he wants to keep to himself, no matter that he’s starving his own people. Who’s really liberal and or conservative anymore? Seems the left is suddenly for “status quo”. Conservatives now are for overthrowing the old paradigms and creating a huge swath of self-determined peoples, free from the shackles of tyranny. Free speech, basic human rights, government by the people were once hallmarks of the liberal intellectual. It was conservatives who installed and coddled dictatorships. Why the sudden seismic shift?

Think about it, I do all the time…

In a suprisingly strong statement Bishop Porras replied to the statement by Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel I blogged about last night. Porras said that “it was pathetic  to hear the things that Rangel had said, which were nothing but an expression of the huge irresponsability of someone who everyday has less credibility”. Porras added that “the least that any authority may do in its own country is to condemn the barbaric act of decapitating religious images related to the country’s primary faith”. Strong words by someone who usually tries to be diplomatic in his relations with the Government. I guess I was not the only one that was outraged by the Vice-President’s statements and cynicism.

No, it is not German thanksgiving, it is simply that last night I closed my post by saying that Goebbels would have been proud of the ability to lie of Venezuela’s Vice-President and today Goebbels seems to have been all over the place. The first place was in the usual mini-Editorial in Tal Cual by “Simon Bocanegra” (Teodoro Petkoff) which roughly translates as:

Goebbels?

The qualification of “Goebbelian” to define propaganda politics based on great lies,in reality has become more or less metaphorical in current (local) politics, but the propaganda procedures of this Government and its party force us to reexamine certain versions that years ago circulated about the presence of Mein Kampf, Hitler’s book, in the nigh table of the man himself or the enthusiasm with which some of his collaborators referred to it. Because the way in which this Government and its party use advertising appears to be inspired by the criteria of the limping Goebbels. The campaign about the “megafraud” based in pure affirmations without support in the facts, starts, there is no doubt about it, in the Goebbelian saying that a lie repeated a thousand times will end being believed. The “Comando Ayacucho” has insisted that the opposition delays handing in the signatures because it either does not have them or is making them up.

It does not matter that Ismael Garcia and his group of “useless people”, as Chavez calls them, have yet to complete handing in their signatures. They have taken six days longer then the opposition to hand it theirs, but you know, Goebbels also used to say that a lie, the bigger it was, the more credible it would be.

The second one comes from the more mundane radio program that Chavez holds every Sunday:

As part of the “evidence” of the megafraud Chavez offered a conversation between two lawyers, father and son, who have little to do with the signature drive, talking that one of them had heard while the drive was still going on, that only 1.9 million signatures had been gathered. The second one was even more anecdotal, when Chavez said that a person from Tachira state named Yerson Giovanni Medina, a minor not old enough to vote, was actually one of the many signatures faked by the opposition. (Curious, what would they gain by that, if you are not in the electoral registry your signatures can not count). Unfortunately for President Chávez, Mr. Medina showed up in the last two days all over the media asking for more respect from Chavez. First of all, he said, he is not a minor, in fact, he claimed, he is married and has two kids. But he then proceeded to say that he had signed with “a lot of pride” and asked others that may be accused to be brave, face the media and not fear any revenge. According to a report in today’s El universal, the worst part was that Mr. Medina was a witness during the opposition Reafirmazo for the Chavistas, placed there by MVR Deputy Luis Tascon. If the last part is true, then the story is even better than I thought. Goebbles Revenge?

I never liked now Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel when he was a reporter. He would sometimes use his column to vent personal issues with people and would make outrageous accusations using his “sources” but never would provide proof about anything. Curiously, he made his career and reputation blasting the military for corruption and later became great friends of the same people and as a member of the Government has done nothing but defend them against all charges of corruption. While he blasts the “oligarchs” he fails to mention how rich he is, his immense art collection and the fact that he has always drawn a salary from the state and got to where he is today thanks to the space given to him by the major media outlets.

But I never believed he would be the great cynic that he has proven to be. In a post last Thursday I showed pictures of Rangel in Plaza Altamira (Francia) the day the pro-Chavez march went by, invaded the Plaza, took over the whole area and proceeded to destroy what was there, including an image of the virgin that was beheaded and another that was painted over with graffiti and desecrated. The picture is very clear; Rangel is looking towards Plaza Altamira and applauding. There is no other possible interpretation to what he is doing, he is encouraging, approving what the Chavistas are doing, and he can not be applauding the dissident military in the Plaza. Whether at that time the religious figure were being abused or not is irrelevant. He was there, the Vice-President of Venezuela, approving the invasion of the Plaza by political thugs . That is not what civilized people do, his role should have been the opposite, he should have tried to ask the Chavistas to follow the path of the march, avoid confrontation, violence and respect private and public property. That is what leaders are supposed to do, lead by example. Instead he encouraged the destruction and it went overboard.

But his cynicism today was simply too much. In statements made to the press, he asked the Catholic Church leaders to be more “responsible” questioning how Bishop Porras could even look towards the Government and blame it for recent attacks on the church. He said there were millions of Catholics in Venezuela, many of them Chavistas and they should be respected. The climax was when he denied that Chavistas have participated in attacks on the church in Caracas or Falcon state. (The only attack in Caracas was the one from which the pictures below were taken). He finally suggested that the church leaders look to the dissident military of Plaza Altamira for the blame in the violence against the church. Ummm, the same ones that placed the altar and the images in Plaza Altamira and have been there for over a year. I guess Goebbels would have been very proud of him.

I never liked now Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel when he was a reporter. He would sometimes use his column to vent personal issues with people and would make outrageous accusations using his “sources” but never would provide proof about anything. Curiously, he made his career and reputation blasting the military for corruption and later became great friends of the same people and as a member of the Government has done nothing but defend them against all charges of corruption. While he blasts the “oligarchs” he fails to mention how rich he is, his immense art collection and the fact that he has always drawn a salary from the state and got to where he is today thanks to the space given to him by the major media outlets.

But I never believed he would be the great cynic that he has proven to be. In a post last Thursday I showed pictures of Rangel in Plaza Altamira (Francia) the day the pro-Chavez march went by, invaded the Plaza, took over the whole area and proceeded to destroy what was there, including an image of the virgin that was beheaded and another that was painted over with graffiti and desecrated. The picture is very clear; Rangel is looking towards Plaza Altamira and applauding. There is no other possible interpretation to what he is doing, he is encouraging, approving what the Chavistas are doing, and he can not be applauding the dissident military in the Plaza. Whether at that time the religious figure were being abused or not is irrelevant. He was there, the Vice-President of Venezuela, approving the invasion of the Plaza by political thugs . That is not what civilized people do, his role should have been the opposite, he should have tried to ask the Chavistas to follow the path of the march, avoid confrontation, violence and respect private and public property. That is what leaders are supposed to do, lead by example. Instead he encouraged the destruction and it went overboard.

But his cynicism today was simply too much. In statements made to the press, he asked the Catholic Church leaders to be more “responsible” questioning how Bishop Porras could even look towards the Government and blame it for recent attacks on the church. He said there were millions of Catholics in Venezuela, many of them Chavistas and they should be respected. The climax was when he denied that Chavistas have participated in attacks on the church in Caracas or Falcon state. (The only attack in Caracas was the one from which the pictures below were taken). He finally suggested that the church leaders look to the dissident military of Plaza Altamira for the blame in the violence against the church. Ummm, the same ones that placed the altar and the images in Plaza Altamira and have been there for over a year. I guess Goebbels would have been very proud of him.

Ah! I almost forgot, but Pedro reminded me of this article in today’s New York Times about Venezuela. Just to be fair, I have to say it is the first article by Juan Forero which I don’t get mad at, even if it is quite negative.

Ah! I almost forgot, but Pedro reminded me of this article in today’s New York Times about Venezuela. Just to be fair, I have to say it is the first article by Juan Forero which I don’t get mad at, even if it is quite negative.