I am back, with a travelogue from a US trip

Well, I am sort of back.

The deficiencies of the Venezuelan structures were waiting for me, and arriving home on Saturday I had some problem with my communication system. This being the Carnaval holiday there is little I can do but to resort to cyber cafes to get on line. Hopefully Wednesday I will at least be able to use my work station until they fix my home problem.

However, for once I come back not as impressed by the US: there service keeps its steady decline. For example, it is becoming more and more difficult for a foreigner to travel inside the US, and I am not talking about the security check ups! Never was I asked as many questions in a nastier way at immigration!!! In spite of a passport loaded with in and outs of the USA for the last two decades! But I digress.

What I was alluding to is that the proliferation of cel phones has had the side effect to increase the number of public phones out of order, concurrent to a decrease of calling cards selling points. Arriving at a given airport if you must make a call you might have to cart your luggage from one floor to another in search of that calling card because the one you bought two days earlier is not recognized by the company holding the phones at your new destination. I probably shall have to rent a cel phone next time, even if expensive: the savings in anger management will justify it.

Another item becoming more difficult are taxis. They are prohibitively expensive for those coming from a country on the fast track to pauperization. I suppose that the folks from the regime who have no restriction to dollar access probably do not care, but for those of us who must travel at least three times a year for business and who count for that of a total of 4000 USD, airport taxis are a real problem. Now, some could retort that there are limousines and other type of semi collective transport. Well, when you carry a suitcase and a bag and a cabin luggage, public transportation is pretty much off limit. The shared taxis are a pain because they only will be going so far and you will still need to get a cab for your very final destination. And they wait for up to half an hour to try to get one or two more passengers. Not much time you might said but late on a winter evening after a long trip, well, these 30 extra minutes are a pain in the neck.

But by good fortune I had a very nice African America Lady to share the cab with. And since our ride took almost half an hour I did manage to describe to her the most unkind aggression of El Supremo to the new Secretary of State. Interestingly and to my very great satisfaction, both the passenger and the cab driver, also an Africa American, were both outraged, though both liberals and non Bush voters. I must say that this experience made me forget the lousy public phones and the exorbitant cab fares: it was all worth it to see that Chavez really hurt his cause with his racism, macho stance, not to mention reverse bigotry.

The work experience was also rewarding. All Latin business folks I met were consternated and almost willing to tap my shoulder in sympathy. Colombians were particularly nice though we played the "game" of welcoming each other as if we were hiding, least pro Chavez informers might report me from talking with the enemy. What was worrisome in that game was the easiness in which Colombians entered it, showing that they know what is really going on in Venezuela, and that they are sorry for us as they see us entering unnecessarily in the same violence spiral that they have endured for now 40 years themselves. At least the Brazilians this time were much more relaxed from the last two years, having accepted Lula reformism and starting investing again. Argentineans seemed also more upbeat but still few are traveling compared to previous years.

So now I am back and trying to think about ways I can keep all these foreign obligations with my partners, exhausted to have to explain once again that we are under a useless currency exchange control system, etc, etc... Not to mention having to fend off all the questions that come naturally to people who see land invasion and other forms of economic violence. Certainly, they might still be willing to do business in Venezuela with survivors like my business, but forget about asking them for joint investment schemes....

And I do not even want to think about what I will have to explain next year about the "creative" initiatives of El Supremo....

I suppose that instead of worrying about these things I should finish my holiday resting from the trip and preparing also myself to regain control over my blog, so nicely maintained by two great ghost writers. But that recovery will come late this week, courtesy of the own inefficiencies of our Venezuelan utilities, getting worse every year. Maybe it is the only form of globalization that Chavez allows? Lousy utility companies?