The Devil's Excrement

There seems to be mostly confusion. The Government after saying after the shootings that it would sit on the negotiating table at 10 PM, never showed up. There is a rumor that one of the Chiefs of Staff, General Garcia Montoya,  has been jailed for refusing to obey orders to implement “Plan Avila” the repressive plan for civilian control which has been questioned by Human Rights organizations.

PDVSA appears to have shutdown by now. Tank trunks are not being filled at this time and all refineries are completly shut down. Commercial docks have also been shut down, including La Guaira and Puerto Cabello, through which most imported goods flow.

Last night Hugo Chavez said things were going back to normal(??) and the ships at sea would be recovered during the night, which did not take place.

There are two marches today. One, already in progress, is pro-Chavez and goes downtown, while the second one, by the opposition goes at 2 PM from “Meritocracy Square” to Petare in the extreme East of the city. Symbolically, Petare is a barrio which only two years ago fully supported Hugo Chavez.

An armed person with a gun and five packs of bullets has just been captured in Altamira square. Despite the call for people not to go back to Altamira, the plaza is fairly crowded for this time of day. Early in the morning there were two shootings at the plaza, one from a car and one from a motorcycle. People are outraged with what happened last night.

Two nights ago, an amateur caught the Mayor of the Libertador district, a Chavez supporter, arriving at 2:17 AM at the PDVSA headquarters, when guns were being moved around. The Mayor denied he had been there, only to change his story when he was shown the the video. Well, Globovision, the TV station, is now showing the frame from the video, together with the picture of the assasin who confessed shooting at the people tonight. Do you believe in coincidences?

This was shown just when the Minister of Interior and Justice was saying that the confession showed the Government had nothing to do with the events tonight. The assasin who confessed had a gun and had fired ten bullets, there are twenty eight people injured and three dead, but the Minister considers the case solved.

For completness, Chavez’ supporters were moved into the area adjacent to the PDVSA headquarters during the night two nights ago, after the opposition announced a march on Thursday which would end right at that building. The opposition march was eventually cancelled, as Mayors received intelligence that there were people in the area who might shoot at the protesters. Coincidence once again?

Except for the person that was named today to the Board of PDVSA, the full Board of the country’s oil company resigned today. This includes the external Directors who are Chavez supporters as well as Jorge Kampkof a highly regraded executive who was also considered to be pro-Chavez. No reason has yet been given as to the reason and or/if it is related to the events in Plaza Altamira.

This is the reality of what is happening in Venezuela, once again, the flag hides the horror, sadness and the shame of death, Two days ago I posted the pictures of the repression by the  National Guard saying this is the reality of what we are living with in Venezuela and it may yet get worse. Well, it just did and with this facist Government we dont know where it may end.

Sharpshooters began shooting minutes ago on Plaza Altamira where dissident military have been staying for one month. Roughly 15 people are injured and I see on TV what appears to be a dead person. The plaza is being evacuated as the police tries to capture the sharpshooters which appear to be located in two different buldings.

The Plaza was full of people as crowds continue to protest in both Chuao (Plaza de la Meritocracia) and Plaza Altamira. The TV is saying there are two people dead and El Universal is saying that two of the four shooters were captured.

To give people an idea of the type of inmoral and indecent Government that we have, 40 minutes after the attack on Plaza Altamira the Government’s TV station has yet to report it. At this point we are simply waiting for the Government to say the opposition planned it all.

Reportedly they were not sharpshooters, they were on the ground.

The Vice-President says it is “premature” to accuse the Government for the deaths and that a “serious” investigation has to be made. I wonder if what he has in mind is an investigation as serious as the one carrried out after the April massacre, the country is still waiting for the Chavez supporters in the National Asembly to vote in favor of creating a “truth” commission on what happened then.

Sadly, the latest report is three deaths and twenty eight injured. I have been warning in these pages since I began about the real Hugo Chavez. Gaviria, Carter and HRW have played into his hands. Only yesterday, the opposition had to cancel a march on fears that there would be a massacre.

There appears to be important divergences within the Chavez administration. Last night, Chavez’ negotiationg tema met with OAS Secreatary and made an announcemnet that they were going back to the negotiating table. Half an hour ago, one of them was on nationwide TV calling the strike “virtual” and saying that they were on their way to talk to Gaviria. A few minutes ago, a representative of the opposition came on TV and said that the Government was playing a media game as the talks were scheduled for this morning and the Government’s negotiators have yet to show up. Apparently, there are significant differences within the Governemnt as to whqat may or may not be agreed on the negotiationg table, so significant that the team has not even been allowed to go to the Hotel where the negotiations are taking place.

The General strike continued for its fifth day with mixed views. While banks, which had at least tried to open all week dor their regular schedule, opened only until noon, some stores did open and one could see more movement in the streets. Shopping Centers were closed, while bakeries and supermarkets opened in a limited schedule. The hero, once again, was PDVSA where activities are winding down very slowly. The three largest refineries are shutdown, including the largest refining complex in the world. There are problems with gasoline supply and the military claims they will take that service over. By now, eleven tankers have now shutdown. In a clear sign that the Government refuses to back down, it named to the Board one of those that were part of it during the April crisis. This has not sat well with oil workers to fuel the crisis.

On the political front, the oposition wants to set a date for a General election, while rumor has it that the US Government has given the negotiation table 72 hours or it will ask the OAS to invoke the Interamerican Democratic Charter of that organization.

Below is the picture/cartoon taken from Caracas’ Tal Cual newspaper with the Headline Shut up!, as Simon Bolivar puts his hand over Chavez’ mouth and a quote from Simon Bolivar: “It is a miserable mania to want to rule above everything else”

Funny how easy it is to fool the international media, if I look in Google News I find at least six references to the Venezuelan Navy retaking the tanker “Pilin Leon” which its crew achored in the navigation channel of Lake Maracaibo. Well my friends, I just heard on TV the Captain of the Pilin Leon saying that he talked to the Navy and he talked to his crew and they are staying put. Nothing has changed on the status of the tanker. Nice going AP, keep talking to the Governemnt news agency for your reports!!!

In a bizarre twist, the Government who has claimed that it will not go back to the negotiation until the general strike is over, announced that given the “failure” (its a resounding success!!) of the strike, it will go back to the negotiation table. The statement by the Government, which was highly critical of the opposition was read with the Secretary General of the OAS in the background. Mr. Gaviria did not look too happy with the wording of the Government’s statement.

The french organization Reporters sans frontières condenmed today the agressions against the reporters that took place on Tuesady and asked the Government to investigate and identify those responsible for the agression. Robert Menard said that for the Government to tolerate the impunity would be to show that they are accomplices to these acts who also said that the Government would have to send clear signals on the matter.