The Devil's Excrement

It is Christmas. Venezuelan Christmas is different. Weeks before Christmas you may think you are in a war zone as fireworks go off at random in a crescendo that increases progressively until a huge explosion on New Year’s Eve. I have always wondered how people can afford the continuous explosion that one hears. I live next to a barrio that is a constant source of bangs since mid-November to the consternation of my dog. Fireworks are expensive and illegal, but that does not seem to limit explosive capacity of my neighbors.

Symbolism is all over the place. Even though we have no snow and pine trees like Christmas Trees they are all over the place, both natural and artificial. The natural ones are advertised as coming from Canada, but if you read the label they come form the US. As a little kid, it somewhat confusing to understand where Christmas presents come from. We have el Niño Jesus (Baby Jesus), Santa Claus and San Nicolas used roughly in that order interchangeably to make the mystery almost as confusing as the Holy Trinity.

Nativity scenes are everywhere and most homes have one, even if only small. Other deploy huge nativity scenes at home by covering boxes up with painted burlap and deploying even whole cities around the nativity scene.

The weeks prior to Christmas, kids go roller skating at night as part of the Christmas season. They also assemble either parranda groups, which sing traditional Venezuelan Christmas songs, or Gaita groups, which sing the traditional Christmas music from Maracaibo. Traditional Christmas songs are also a mixture of foreign songs, such as Holy Night, The little Drummer Boy or some locally made with parts as strange as:

I do not understand, I do not understand

How the parrot

Having a  hole under its beak

Can eat

Which is followed by a Christmassy chorus. Go Figure…

Gaitas are a whole different story and have overtaken the traditional songs. They are salsesque mixture of drums, guitars and horns, with words that may or not have anything to do with Christmas. The biggest expression of Gaitas in Venezuela is Guaco, with dozens of records and years under its belt.

There is of course food, led by the Hallaca a corn flour concoction that wraps in it’s inside a mixture of hen, meat, and various other ingredients with regional variations and looks something like this:

The left shows the inide of the hallaca as it is being eaten, the right how they are wrapped in plantain leaves, tied with string and cooked by boiling. Then you open it up and eat the tamale-looking inside on the left. It used to be that families got together a month before Christmas to make the family hallacas. As a kid I remember a sort of assembly line of Hallacas where the corn flour dough was laid on the plantain leaves and the hallaca moved done the assembly line and each person was in charge of adding one part. I loved to be in charge of placing the olives, so that I could eat dozens of them as the day progressed.  Hallacas are eaten almost every day, at all Christmas parties until the point you just don’t want to see another one. Pork, hen salad, black cake, Spanish nougat, turkey and pan de jamón complete de menu. Pan de jamón is bread made of special dough inside of which one finds ham, olives and at least two types of raisins.  

The best part is Christmas Eve, the most important celebration on the 24^th. Whole families get together to celebrate, eat, dance, sing and drink in a very festive atmosphere. The best part is how happy everyone is, whole families together, three and four generations at a time, music in the background, some fireworks and sharing presents.

The next day the party goes on, as kids receive their presents from El Niño Jesus. After going to bed late, kids wake you up too early for any of the adults in the anxiety to open their presents. You spend the rest of the day recovering from not sleeping well and picking up wrapping paper and gathering your gifts.

It is indeed a very delightful time where everyone forgets about personal problems and everyone from all social levels follows similar customs, eats the same food and shares presents. In my family, we have dinner and I stay with some of my siblings (I come from a large family)  at one home, where we sleep in beds, couches, even sleeping bags, so that we can all see the little kids open their presents in the morning. Afterwards, we have a huge breakfast together and everyone goes home to rest and sleep it off the rest of the day. It is indeed special. This year, it will all take place at my home, so it will be doubly special.

I hope all of you have as wonderful a time as I have every year in this very special holiday. Merry Christmas to all!

It is Christmas. Venezuelan Christmas is different. Weeks before Christmas you may think you are in a war zone as fireworks go off at random in a crescendo that increases progressively until a huge explosion on New Year’s Eve. I have always wondered how people can afford the continuous explosion that one hears. I live next to a barrio that is a constant source of bangs since mid-November to the consternation of my dog. Fireworks are expensive and illegal, but that does not seem to limit explosive capacity of my neighbors.

Symbolism is all over the place. Even though we have no snow and pine trees like Christmas Trees they are all over the place, both natural and artificial. The natural ones are advertised as coming from Canada, but if you read the label they come form the US. As a little kid, it somewhat confusing to understand where Christmas presents come from. We have el Niño Jesus (Baby Jesus), Santa Claus and San Nicolas used roughly in that order interchangeably to make the mystery almost as confusing as the Holy Trinity.

Nativity scenes are everywhere and most homes have one, even if only small. Other deploy huge nativity scenes at home by covering boxes up with painted burlap and deploying even whole cities around the nativity scene.

The weeks prior to Christmas, kids go roller skating at night as part of the Christmas season. They also assemble either parranda groups, which sing traditional Venezuelan Christmas songs, or Gaita groups, which sing the traditional Christmas music from Maracaibo. Traditional Christmas songs are also a mixture of foreign songs, such as Holy Night, The little Drummer Boy or some locally made with parts as strange as:

I do not understand, I do not understand

How the parrot

Having a  hole under its beak

Can eat

Which is followed by a Christmassy chorus. Go Figure…

Gaitas are a whole different story and have overtaken the traditional songs. They are salsesque mixture of drums, guitars and horns, with words that may or not have anything to do with Christmas. The biggest expression of Gaitas in Venezuela is Guaco, with dozens of records and years under its belt.

There is of course food, led by the Hallaca a corn flour concoction that wraps in it’s inside a mixture of hen, meat, and various other ingredients with regional variations and looks something like this:

The left shows the inide of the hallaca as it is being eaten, the right how they are wrapped in plantain leaves, tied with string and cooked by boiling. Then you open it up and eat the tamale-looking inside on the left. It used to be that families got together a month before Christmas to make the family hallacas. As a kid I remember a sort of assembly line of Hallacas where the corn flour dough was laid on the plantain leaves and the hallaca moved done the assembly line and each person was in charge of adding one part. I loved to be in charge of placing the olives, so that I could eat dozens of them as the day progressed.  Hallacas are eaten almost every day, at all Christmas parties until the point you just don’t want to see another one. Pork, hen salad, black cake, Spanish nougat, turkey and pan de jamón complete de menu. Pan de jamón is bread made of special dough inside of which one finds ham, olives and at least two types of raisins.  

The best part is Christmas Eve, the most important celebration on the 24^th. Whole families get together to celebrate, eat, dance, sing and drink in a very festive atmosphere. The best part is how happy everyone is, whole families together, three and four generations at a time, music in the background, some fireworks and sharing presents.

The next day the party goes on, as kids receive their presents from El Niño Jesus. After going to bed late, kids wake you up too early for any of the adults in the anxiety to open their presents. You spend the rest of the day recovering from not sleeping well and picking up wrapping paper and gathering your gifts.

It is indeed a very delightful time where everyone forgets about personal problems and everyone from all social levels follows similar customs, eats the same food and shares presents. In my family, we have dinner and I stay with some of my siblings (I come from a large family)  at one home, where we sleep in beds, couches, even sleeping bags, so that we can all see the little kids open their presents in the morning. Afterwards, we have a huge breakfast together and everyone goes home to rest and sleep it off the rest of the day. It is indeed special. This year, it will all take place at my home, so it will be doubly special.

I hope all of you have as wonderful a time as I have every year in this very special holiday. Merry Christmas to all!

It is Christmas. Venezuelan Christmas is different. Weeks before Christmas you may think you are in a war zone as fireworks go off at random in a crescendo that increases progressively until a huge explosion on New Year’s Eve. I have always wondered how people can afford the continuous explosion that one hears. I live next to a barrio that is a constant source of bangs since mid-November to the consternation of my dog. Fireworks are expensive and illegal, but that does not seem to limit explosive capacity of my neighbors.

Symbolism is all over the place. Even though we have no snow and pine trees like Christmas Trees they are all over the place, both natural and artificial. The natural ones are advertised as coming from Canada, but if you read the label they come form the US. As a little kid, it somewhat confusing to understand where Christmas presents come from. We have el Niño Jesus (Baby Jesus), Santa Claus and San Nicolas used roughly in that order interchangeably to make the mystery almost as confusing as the Holy Trinity.

Nativity scenes are everywhere and most homes have one, even if only small. Other deploy huge nativity scenes at home by covering boxes up with painted burlap and deploying even whole cities around the nativity scene.

The weeks prior to Christmas, kids go roller skating at night as part of the Christmas season. They also assemble either parranda groups, which sing traditional Venezuelan Christmas songs, or Gaita groups, which sing the traditional Christmas music from Maracaibo. Traditional Christmas songs are also a mixture of foreign songs, such as Holy Night, The little Drummer Boy or some locally made with parts as strange as:

I do not understand, I do not understand

How the parrot

Having a  hole under its beak

Can eat

Which is followed by a Christmassy chorus. Go Figure…

Gaitas are a whole different story and have overtaken the traditional songs. They are salsesque mixture of drums, guitars and horns, with words that may or not have anything to do with Christmas. The biggest expression of Gaitas in Venezuela is Guaco, with dozens of records and years under its belt.

There is of course food, led by the Hallaca a corn flour concoction that wraps in it’s inside a mixture of hen, meat, and various other ingredients with regional variations and looks something like this:

The left shows the inide of the hallaca as it is being eaten, the right how they are wrapped in plantain leaves, tied with string and cooked by boiling. Then you open it up and eat the tamale-looking inside on the left. It used to be that families got together a month before Christmas to make the family hallacas. As a kid I remember a sort of assembly line of Hallacas where the corn flour dough was laid on the plantain leaves and the hallaca moved done the assembly line and each person was in charge of adding one part. I loved to be in charge of placing the olives, so that I could eat dozens of them as the day progressed.  Hallacas are eaten almost every day, at all Christmas parties until the point you just don’t want to see another one. Pork, hen salad, black cake, Spanish nougat, turkey and pan de jamón complete de menu. Pan de jamón is bread made of special dough inside of which one finds ham, olives and at least two types of raisins.  

The best part is Christmas Eve, the most important celebration on the 24^th. Whole families get together to celebrate, eat, dance, sing and drink in a very festive atmosphere. The best part is how happy everyone is, whole families together, three and four generations at a time, music in the background, some fireworks and sharing presents.

The next day the party goes on, as kids receive their presents from El Niño Jesus. After going to bed late, kids wake you up too early for any of the adults in the anxiety to open their presents. You spend the rest of the day recovering from not sleeping well and picking up wrapping paper and gathering your gifts.

It is indeed a very delightful time where everyone forgets about personal problems and everyone from all social levels follows similar customs, eats the same food and shares presents. In my family, we have dinner and I stay with some of my siblings (I come from a large family)  at one home, where we sleep in beds, couches, even sleeping bags, so that we can all see the little kids open their presents in the morning. Afterwards, we have a huge breakfast together and everyone goes home to rest and sleep it off the rest of the day. It is indeed special. This year, it will all take place at my home, so it will be doubly special.

I hope all of you have as wonderful a time as I have every year in this very special holiday. Merry Christmas to all!

I guess Teodoro Petkoff agrees with my feelings about Chavez’ calls for the resignation of the President of the Venezuelan Central Bank in today’s Editorial in Tal Cual: 

Banco Chavista de Venezuela by Teodoro Petkoff

The way in which Chavez addressed the Board of the Central Bank and in particular his President Diego Luis Castellanos, telling them to resign and making clumsy personal allusions to the last one, define with clarity not only the autocratic nature of his personality, his absolute scorn for democratic values, but also his total lack of consideration, in the pure human plane, with his collaborators. Power has gone to his head.

Chavez can not conceive any relationship with him other than subordination. He does not want collaborators, he wants servants. The slightest whisp of autonomy in his surroundings drives him crazy and he rapidly draws the pistol of his insults. Castellanos as well as the rest of the members of the Board of the Central bank were appointed by Chavez. But it was enough for them to contradict him, for them to fall in disgrace.

Chavez says that the Central Bank is not Castellanos. Of course not. Neither is Chavez.

These gentlemen have a criterion, different from that of the President on the topic of the foreign exchange earnings. Whether they are right or not is not the problem, because that is not the essence of the problem. The essence is that Chavez does not tolerate that anybody differ with him, nor is he capable of debating calmly and persuasively with those that differ with him. He loses his cool and releases things as coarse as the allusion to Castellanos’ age which, according to him, is already a “little old man” who should go home and wear slippers, instead of resisting his requests. Indelicately and threatenly he pointed out that if he had to be jailed, he would have his home as prison, given his age. (By the way, with that type of disqualification, old man Jose Vicente Rangel with his 75 years and the elderly Governor of Barinas (Chavez’ father), to name only two cases, should also be asked to retire). Chavez does not assume himself as a democratic governor-who is always the first among equals-, obligated to respect opinions different than his and, in the case of officials designated for fixed term periods, organizations which are autonomous, with more of a reason, even if they were wrong about their positions. But that intolerance, as an example, is what is behind the brutal grab of the Supreme Court. Chavez does not make the laws, he is the law.

Moreover, much as Bush, he has elevated to the level of policy the fundamentalist slogan that those who are not with him are against him. Moreover, without any scruples, he asks fidelity to his persona, not to a project or some ideas. He is the project and towards him he asks submission.

In all personalistic regimes the collaborators of the caudillos become more and more mediocre and more willing to adulate. And also more fearful. Nobody with a minimum of his own personality resists for very long next to a caudillo that ratifies his power crushing the dignity of those that surround him. For those types of governors the loneliness of power is more accentuated, but the obsequiousness and the servility do not allow them to perceive it.

The foundation of the relationship with them is hypocrisy. When they lose their power they discover how vast and deep the pharisaic ocean that surrounded them was and how lonely they always were.

I guess Teodoro Petkoff agrees with my feelings about Chavez’ calls for the resignation of the President of the Venezuelan Central Bank in today’s Editorial in Tal Cual: 

Banco Chavista de Venezuela by Teodoro Petkoff

The way in which Chavez addressed the Board of the Central Bank and in particular his President Diego Luis Castellanos, telling them to resign and making clumsy personal allusions to the last one, define with clarity not only the autocratic nature of his personality, his absolute scorn for democratic values, but also his total lack of consideration, in the pure human plane, with his collaborators. Power has gone to his head.

Chavez can not conceive any relationship with him other than subordination. He does not want collaborators, he wants servants. The slightest whisp of autonomy in his surroundings drives him crazy and he rapidly draws the pistol of his insults. Castellanos as well as the rest of the members of the Board of the Central bank were appointed by Chavez. But it was enough for them to contradict him, for them to fall in disgrace.

Chavez says that the Central Bank is not Castellanos. Of course not. Neither is Chavez.

These gentlemen have a criterion, different from that of the President on the topic of the foreign exchange earnings. Whether they are right or not is not the problem, because that is not the essence of the problem. The essence is that Chavez does not tolerate that anybody differ with him, nor is he capable of debating calmly and persuasively with those that differ with him. He loses his cool and releases things as coarse as the allusion to Castellanos’ age which, according to him, is already a “little old man” who should go home and wear slippers, instead of resisting his requests. Indelicately and threatenly he pointed out that if he had to be jailed, he would have his home as prison, given his age. (By the way, with that type of disqualification, old man Jose Vicente Rangel with his 75 years and the elderly Governor of Barinas (Chavez’ father), to name only two cases, should also be asked to retire). Chavez does not assume himself as a democratic governor-who is always the first among equals-, obligated to respect opinions different than his and, in the case of officials designated for fixed term periods, organizations which are autonomous, with more of a reason, even if they were wrong about their positions. But that intolerance, as an example, is what is behind the brutal grab of the Supreme Court. Chavez does not make the laws, he is the law.

Moreover, much as Bush, he has elevated to the level of policy the fundamentalist slogan that those who are not with him are against him. Moreover, without any scruples, he asks fidelity to his persona, not to a project or some ideas. He is the project and towards him he asks submission.

In all personalistic regimes the collaborators of the caudillos become more and more mediocre and more willing to adulate. And also more fearful. Nobody with a minimum of his own personality resists for very long next to a caudillo that ratifies his power crushing the dignity of those that surround him. For those types of governors the loneliness of power is more accentuated, but the obsequiousness and the servility do not allow them to perceive it.

The foundation of the relationship with them is hypocrisy. When they lose their power they discover how vast and deep the pharisaic ocean that surrounded them was and how lonely they always were.

I guess Teodoro Petkoff agrees with my feelings about Chavez’ calls for the resignation of the President of the Venezuelan Central Bank in today’s Editorial in Tal Cual: 

Banco Chavista de Venezuela by Teodoro Petkoff

The way in which Chavez addressed the Board of the Central Bank and in particular his President Diego Luis Castellanos, telling them to resign and making clumsy personal allusions to the last one, define with clarity not only the autocratic nature of his personality, his absolute scorn for democratic values, but also his total lack of consideration, in the pure human plane, with his collaborators. Power has gone to his head.

Chavez can not conceive any relationship with him other than subordination. He does not want collaborators, he wants servants. The slightest whisp of autonomy in his surroundings drives him crazy and he rapidly draws the pistol of his insults. Castellanos as well as the rest of the members of the Board of the Central bank were appointed by Chavez. But it was enough for them to contradict him, for them to fall in disgrace.

Chavez says that the Central Bank is not Castellanos. Of course not. Neither is Chavez.

These gentlemen have a criterion, different from that of the President on the topic of the foreign exchange earnings. Whether they are right or not is not the problem, because that is not the essence of the problem. The essence is that Chavez does not tolerate that anybody differ with him, nor is he capable of debating calmly and persuasively with those that differ with him. He loses his cool and releases things as coarse as the allusion to Castellanos’ age which, according to him, is already a “little old man” who should go home and wear slippers, instead of resisting his requests. Indelicately and threatenly he pointed out that if he had to be jailed, he would have his home as prison, given his age. (By the way, with that type of disqualification, old man Jose Vicente Rangel with his 75 years and the elderly Governor of Barinas (Chavez’ father), to name only two cases, should also be asked to retire). Chavez does not assume himself as a democratic governor-who is always the first among equals-, obligated to respect opinions different than his and, in the case of officials designated for fixed term periods, organizations which are autonomous, with more of a reason, even if they were wrong about their positions. But that intolerance, as an example, is what is behind the brutal grab of the Supreme Court. Chavez does not make the laws, he is the law.

Moreover, much as Bush, he has elevated to the level of policy the fundamentalist slogan that those who are not with him are against him. Moreover, without any scruples, he asks fidelity to his persona, not to a project or some ideas. He is the project and towards him he asks submission.

In all personalistic regimes the collaborators of the caudillos become more and more mediocre and more willing to adulate. And also more fearful. Nobody with a minimum of his own personality resists for very long next to a caudillo that ratifies his power crushing the dignity of those that surround him. For those types of governors the loneliness of power is more accentuated, but the obsequiousness and the servility do not allow them to perceive it.

The foundation of the relationship with them is hypocrisy. When they lose their power they discover how vast and deep the pharisaic ocean that surrounded them was and how lonely they always were.

City councilman Carlos Herrera in today’s El Nacional accuses lawyer Socrates Tinaco of stealing a billion bolivars from Danilo Anderson’ apartment. Herrera says Socrates distributed this cash among some workers of the Attorney General’s office. He also says they took other property from Anderson’s home.

Now, what I would like to understand is how Herrera finds it perfectly natural that Prosecutor Anderson had some US$ 520,000 at home. How can he even say that those that took the money should be charged for theft? How can he even suggest that Anderson’s house was “dry” of money after four days? Can he explain why there was so much cash at Anderson’s home? Can he explain where he got it from? Are these numbers just the usual in the “robolucion”? Were Bermudez’ $37,000 just small change?

Herrera once again blames bankers for Anderson’s death, makes the Vice-President responsible for his safety and says that on Monday he was going to be taken away by the investigative police and a grenade was going to be planted on him, but his call to Globovision stopped the plan.

Understand, this guy is pro-Government, not opposition. Try figuring that one out!

City councilman Carlos Herrera in today’s El Nacional accuses lawyer Socrates Tinaco of stealing a billion bolivars from Danilo Anderson’ apartment. Herrera says Socrates distributed this cash among some workers of the Attorney General’s office. He also says they took other property from Anderson’s home.

Now, what I would like to understand is how Herrera finds it perfectly natural that Prosecutor Anderson had some US$ 520,000 at home. How can he even say that those that took the money should be charged for theft? How can he even suggest that Anderson’s house was “dry” of money after four days? Can he explain why there was so much cash at Anderson’s home? Can he explain where he got it from? Are these numbers just the usual in the “robolucion”? Were Bermudez’ $37,000 just small change?

Herrera once again blames bankers for Anderson’s death, makes the Vice-President responsible for his safety and says that on Monday he was going to be taken away by the investigative police and a grenade was going to be planted on him, but his call to Globovision stopped the plan.

Understand, this guy is pro-Government, not opposition. Try figuring that one out!