Cuba as a Venezuelan "chulo"

The Word "chulo" in Venezuela is a slang word that is used to describe all shorts of shades of the pimp activity. From the mild taking advantage of a friend or lover, to the outright pimp activities. Of course, for those who follow Castro and his desperate efforts to survive in Cuba, it has not escaped notice that Castro has become Chavez's chulo. Before Isaias Rodriguez, the general prosecutor sends a squad to get me, I suggest that he reads the following article published in Spain's ABC yesterday of which I translate some choice parts. In case ABC links expire I have placed this article of Montaner in my section "Documents on Venezuela".

EL CABREO UNIVERSAL
(The universal piss off, difficult to translate and keep the original flavor, sorry)


By Carlos Alberto Montaner

The brief Castro speech (barely four implacable hours) in commemoration of yet another anniversary of the Moncada assault of July 26 1953, has managed the strange miracle of pissing off everybody: the diplomatic representatives who were hoping, one does not know why, a sign of tolerance towards the democratic opposition, [...] and even the members of the apparatus, condemned to stay in the premises, to whom it had been promised that the speech would last only 45 minutes.

But those were the most upset were the Venezuelans and the Cubans themselves. The first ones because Castro announced that since 2004 a few mysterious Magi, that is, Chavez, who he did not mention, were subsidizing Cuba very generously, which now allows Havana to buy from China a thousand bus, restore and equip with sophisticated technology 50 large hospitals and more than 800 dental cabinets, while electric power plants are been rebuilt as well as a large section of the health structure of the country.

In total these Venezuelan donations to Cuba, masked as unrecoverable credits, are calculated at 4 to 5 million USD daily, a astounding number that can only be understood through the high oil prices.

At the same time, this help explains the scorn with which Castro treated the European Union and the US when they tried to offer help after hurricane Denis went by. Why a few USD or Euros when [Castro] disposes of the check book of Chavez?

Naturally Venezuela, where everyday there is more poverty, and where public services have an African level, the Venezuelans are asking themselves why do they have to be taxed by the Cuban disaster before solving first their own situation?

Within Cuba that speech was a stream of cold spit. Not a symptom of rectification or common sense: exactly the same ridiculous ritornello of almost half a century, with the same suspects ever (capitalism, the US and the democrats from the opposition).

Also, nobody believed that there will be relief to the infinite problems that the country suffers, because experience has shown [Cubans] that socialism is an implacable machine for destroying infrastructure and services.

Within a year and a half, all these structures now under repair will be again a dusty thing, destroyed by the neglect of the bureaucracy.

The unfortunate Soviets buried 100 thousand dollars along three decades for Cuba to go from one of the most advanced countries of the Americas [at the time] to one of the last ones. Unfortunate Venezuela will not fare better. Castro will end up tearing from Chavez even his loquacity of tropical parrot. He will leave him without feathers and without cackle.

A Venezuelan Army shame

Let's close this post with one of Thursday's news. Finally an armed force officer class (a sort of Masters for Majors and up only) did reach graduation, a class named after Castro who, it must repeated over and over, sent guerilla to battle the Venezuelan army in the 60ies.

To say that this is an outrage, an historical insult and a moral sin is understating the event. But when the new defense minister, Maniglia, comes along to minimize the insult to the good name of Venezuela one wonders if he is really thinking we are that stupid. Then again, the outrage imposed by Chavez (who else could have approved if not forced such an "honor" on Castro?) must have created ripples strong enough that Maniglia announced that he would not attend the ceremony, strangely trying to distance himself as much as possible from the event. Interestingly he "admitted" that ignored whether the graduates will receive a free trip to Cuba with 1000 dollars in hand, or whether Castro would attend!! The defense minister does not know whether Castro is coming? ¡A otros!

Meanwhile we are left pondering whether punishment severe enough will come to those who wasted our country resources on Castro and on those that let it happen. Because history teaches us something: punishment always comes, even if we have only their names left to execrate.