Chavez the democrat! Not!

The defensive myth that pro Chavez folks always advance in the US or Europe to excuse all of his excesses is that he is so democratic, that he subjected himself to so many elections, that it would be great if certain Western leaders were to face that many elections, etc... Never, of course, inquiring really in which conditions these elections took place. Anyway, today Chavez himself took great care in killing that myth. From his very own mouth, now that polls are highly unfavorable to him, well, he announces that he will not tolerate that his successor is not a "revolutionary".

"Lo que tenemos que garantizar es que si a Hugo Chávez le toca entregar el gobierno el 10 de enero de 2013 no sea a un contrarrevolucionario porque vendría la guerra aquí"

Those were his words in his Sunday show. Translation: What we must guarantee is that if Hugo Chavez has to give up the presidency on January 10 of 2013 that it is not to a counter revolutionary because war would come here.

I am sure that there is some context and that some will claim that he did not say/mean what he did say. Except that it is a repetition, that he has been saying that if the opposition wins some of the keys states in November that it will be destabilizing, bring war, etc, etc... this is no accident, no lapsus brutis, this is what he thinks, what he plans to do, why he is bringing it back to the table again and again, the only thing that really interests him: a change the constitution to allow him to serve past January 10 2013, his very own dies irae.

When we hear Chavez we stop wondering about the brain drain in Venezuela, exquisitely reported by El Nacional today (subscription only). Who wants to put up with a creep like Chavez forever? No wonder that in the last two years at least 2,000 MD have left Venezuela, to be replaced in part by sub-par Cuban medics. Or does anyone think that Castro sends his best and brightest? No wonder that 8,000 Venezuelan are estimated to be working in US research organizations. Not to mention that about 10,000 expensively trained oil workers of Venezuela are now working for foreign oil companies around the world. No wonder that the Australian embassy in Venezuela advertises in Venezuelan papers to attract immigrants from here. How much the babble and threats of Chavez has cost the country in educated professionals and expert entrepreneurs leaving us? How many are going to seek visas tomorrow after Chavez new threats for 2013?

-The end-