The Devil's Excrement

Chavez confirmed
tonight
that the military parade of June 24th. was cancelled for security
reasons. According to the President, the Army detected a plan to kill
him during teh parade. He
added that this is not the first time that the parade is cancelled,
which I do not recall ever being cancelled. Chavez even said that we
have too many parades. This from the
same man that loves to play soldier, wear uniforms and hold parades as he
did during the first few years in office, when
he was not afraid to go out in public.

Well, the June 24th. parade takes place in Campo Carabobo, some 30 Kms. away from the city of Valencia, and it is a monument built in remembrance of the last
battle for the independence of Venezuelawhich
took place right there. Now, this is the most unlikely place to attempt
an assasination.
It is essentially a park with monuments, mostly open air, explicitly
delineated which could be easily sealed
and surrounded by military a couple of days before. And nothing should
happen to teh President or those participating in the parade. You can
see pictures of
Campo Carabobo here
or here.

Of course, all of the above is true unless those trying to kill Chavez
will be
the same ones that are participating in the parade. Unless they are
themselves members of his beloved military, which nobody has said.
There are many problems within the military today. Some groups are
upset over the
cubanization of Venezuela,
others at the levels of corruption reached out and within the military, others at how PDVSA has been
weakened to what they think is dangerous levels and even some others at the destruction of the
military institution and the attempt to create alternate parallel structures like the
reserves. In fact, rumors are going around that over half of the officers in
the Chiefs of Staff course have resigned because of the imposition of Fidel
Castro as the Godfather/sponsor of their graduating class by Chavez himself.
This out of no more than fifty members, the cream of the crop of each year’s
military class. By resigning, you destroy your military career, you will never
go above the level of Lieutenant and you will likely be retired anyway.

You can do so much positive spinning of the news. But the stories are
getting
too implausible to be believable. This is very dangerous, there are
some real nuts (Yes, even more than the current ones, believe it or
not!) in the Venezuelan military. Very scary indeed!

–“Everything
is normal” and “the press has to be more responsible” says the Government in
trying to deny unrest within the military, but the Head of the Unified Command
of the Army (CUFAN), goes
to Bolivar State to talk to the National Guardsmen of the garrison that was
“disappeared” on Chavez’ orders. The problem seems to have been extortion by
the Guardsmen of the miner in the region. The Army came in and brutally took
over the garrison which is what has led to the protest by National Guardsmen across
the country. It is a true story, no matter how much the Government wants to
deny it.

–As
Venezuela complains about the extradition of Posada Carriles from the US to
Venezuela (Which it has
yet to request while its leaders accuse
the US of delaying it), narco-guerrilla FARC leader Jose Maria Corredor “El
Boyaco”, escapes from jail in the Headquarters of the intelligence police. The
Minister of Justice has said that
he received help form intelligence police member that aided in the escape. The US
requested the extradition of “El Boyaco” to that country last year and in
December the Venezuelan Supreme Court approved the extradition, but the Chavez administration
had not extradited him because he could receive a sentence of more than thirty
years in jail, the longest possible term in Venezuela.

–A sub
committee of the National Assembly continued its investigation of CITGO
Petroleum. The auditor for the company said that the company had
too many “black boxes”. Meanwhile, the former Vice-President of CITGO, Captain Antonio
Rivero
gave his testimony in which he gave a picture which in general conflicts
with the official view about the company. Rivero said that Citgo has
paid over US$ 2 billion in dividends to PDVSA since 1998. He defended
keeping the company as a strategic investment and compared it to the problems Mexico has
placing its heavy oils because it does not have its own refining capacity. He also
described a policy of funding
travel by Deputies from Chávez’ party out of Citgo, as well as jet
setting by Citgo and PDVSA executives and their relatives in PDVSA’s jets.
(Didn’t Chavez say his first day in office he was going to get rid of these
jets?). Rivero defended
the profitability of Citgo, which contrasts with the words of his mentor,
Hugo Chávez, as well as Minister Ramirez.

–Is it really International Bloggers day today, or just an excuse to party?

Today, local newspaper El Nacional reported
that “the professional troop” which is composed of the soldiers from Sergeant
down of the ninth command of the national guard in Amazonas State had taken
over the command center as a way of giving support to the national guardsmen of
the CORE-8 in Bolivar State which had been deactivated and who claimed they
have been abused and humiliated by the Army.

According to the report the troop even burned down a vehicle
before the army took over by assault the command center yesterday. The same
report said that a deadline had been given for the reactivation of the CORE-8
command of the National Guard. The same report says that similar actions are
being planned in Bolivar state and in Anzoategui state the troop is already in
control of the command of that state.

The report was denied
almost immediately y the Minister of Information saying this was once again
a “mediatic” attack on the army and the oil industry.

Later this afternoon, the Minister of Defense defended
the role played by the National Guard in protecting the country and recogned the fact
that that military body “fulfills the parameters of discipline and obedience”
and that the discipline problems observed in CORE 8 were only present there. He
called on the media to stop the campaign against the National Guard.Garcia Carneiro also said that the Army recommended the
cancellation of the traditional June 24^th. military parade in Campo
Carabobo because of the possibility of an attempt on Chavez’ life and “above all
one has to preserve the life of the Chief of State”.

All of this happens as Chavez confirmed yesterday that the
sponsor or Godfather of the current graduating class for the Chiefs of Staff
course will be none other than Fidel Castro, the same one that used to send
guerillas to kill Venezuelan soldiers not that long ago.

Are we to believe everything is norma, when a full National Guard comamnd is deactivated and taken over by the Army?

Aren’t they ashamed of not being able to protect Chavez at a
National monument with restricted access?

Or are they afraid that a member of the military parade
would be the one attempting to kill Chavez?

Are we to believe the graduating class decided to name
Castro or did the order come from above?

Are we to believe that the Venezuelan military has no
Venezuelan they admire to choose as their sposnor for their graduation?.

Are we to believe that this is not all related?

Among the
many innovations of the 2001 Bolivarian Constitution, was the possibility of
introducing legal bills by citizens if a certain number of signatures were
gathered. The bill would be introduced by a group of citizens and the National
Assembly would be obligated to consider it and discuss it during the first
period of sessions after the Bill was introduced. If it was not discussed, then
Article 205 of the Constitution says that the Bill would simply be
considered in a referendum during the next election.

Well, in November
2002, ONG Queremos Elegir (We want to elect) submitted a reform of the “Citizens
Power Bill” for consideration by the National Assembly. The Bill was never discussed
so that Article 205 would apply. But nothing has been done on it. Thus,
Queremos Elegir met one month ago with the Head of the Electoral Board (CNE) to
inquire about the peculiar fact that another referendum, that of a Constituent
Assembly for the Metropolitan area of Caracas,
was approved in only one month.

Rodriguez
was very polite and said that first he had to check whether the Bill had or not
been considered (which he has not done after one month) and the truth is nothing
has happened since the visit.

The
problem?
Easy, under this reform, the members of the “Citizens Power” the
Attorney
General-Prosecutor, the People’s Ombudsman and Mr. Rodriguez himself
would have
to resign and new members selected by the National Assembly. So, the
much ballyhooed “participative democracy” can be put on hold whenever
it is convenient to those
that proposed it to begin with.

Thus,
another “right” of the revolution bites the dust in the face of political and
personal reality.

Oh! The
pretty revolution!

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.