Trouble in Yaracuy

Pictures at the end added later

Posturing is always what most politicians, and people associated with them, like very much to do. So In Yaracuy, we had today a pre-taste of what it is to live under a military dictatorship.

It is no secret for readers of this blog that I am anti-military and that I personally think that the military in Venezuela is already acting as if they were in charge of everything, dictatorship style. Well, they are in charge as a matter of fact, as Chavez always sends them on mission for this or that, while our borders have become a broad sieve. I have personally sensed it in May 2003 and felt it in the flesh in September 2003. Any delusion that I might have had is long, long gone.

For some obscure reason some military commander decided to take over the state offices building in San Felipe. Creating quite a commotion. When I found out about it I decided to try to go but when I went around 1:30 PM, it was just to see the army finally lifting the siege and packing 4 truckload of conscripts... Still, they left a couple of trucks behind with perhaps a couple dozens of military in full battle gear.

Now, whether Lapi lost the election is irrelevant: he is still governor for a few more days to finish his constitutional term. Even if he says that he will not surrender his office, that he is piling up water and salt crackers in his desk drawers, that he had a chemical toilet set up and an electric generator, etc, etc... The thugs in charge of the army have to wait until his term expires to storm the state building.

Pleaaaaaaase!

I was thus too late for a good picture though I took some that I will see later if they are worth posting.

I did go around to check other locations. The governor mansion was fine, not even a police officer outside... But the electoral delegation was surrounded. Or more exactly, the street at both ends was barred by two small armored vehicle and an assortment of battle geared soldiers. This did not stop the Gimenez people to mass at one end, preparing some rally, presumably to celebrate Gimenez victory once the pro Chavez CNE sub-rector Tibisay Lucena comes to town today to supervise the local counts. Interestingly this brings to mind an observation that I have made long ago: not only Zamora has not been replaced, but the sub-rectors affiliated with the opposition have not found an occupation within the CNE, while several of the pro-Chavez sub-rectors go around in all sorts of activities. This by itself should tell external observers volumes on the "impartiality" of the CNE, where all is made by chavistas with the single voice, now just ridicule, of Sobella Mejias.

But that is OK. I was ready for it, I have been convinced for a while that we are already in a dictatorship, although of the "legal" and "soft" type, as the Ecuadorian used to call their last one, "dictablanda" instead of dictadura.

More later.
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Here is the later

The first picture (2PM) is the Plaza Bolivar (a nice one by the way) with the state capitol and behind the state office building. These were the ones earlier on for some obscure reason were seized. The people in front (that were still hanging out in larger numbers at 5 PM) are now Lapi supporters. The Gimenez supporters left for the Yaracuy delegation of the CNE in the following picture.



This picture was at 2 PM one block down from the CNE. At 5 PM they had grown to perhaps 1-2 thousand (I could not see the side streets and I decided that I better not walk around with a camera in hand, considering that in August I was not already very welcomed at a much more relaxed chavista event). People seem to come mostly from the Veroes and Marin areas, known to be a chavista stronghold and the ones with the highest amount of Cuban doctors. Not that it really means much for the matter at hand, but this is an informative blog :-) . What is more relevant is that the people there come from lower classes (the ring leaders were all in nice cars and well dressed, no pictures taken for obvious reasons) who are gathering in the ritzier neighborhood of Yaracuy. I can imagine the stress in some of the nice houses... And I am pleased to see that no matter what the party is in Venezuela, the ring leaders have nice clothes and stay in the back, leaving the crowds under the direction of some handymen controlled through cel phone.



This last picture is a road block by the Army, with tank and all. Now, this makes no sense at all. There are at least 10 ways to get inside San Felipe and they chose this entrance for their road block just because there is a gas station (I did put some gas there so I had an excuse for a discreet picture). I can understand that as a serious military operation they want to secure one gas station, but why the need of a road block to check cars? To kill boredom? And what does Lapi have to require a tank? Geez....