Friday, January 05, 2007

The Shake-up Continues…

by Alex Beech

Former Caracas Mayor Aristobulo Isturiz, who has been Minister of Education during the past five years, will be replaced by Chief Brother Ork himself, Adan Chavez. Since not a single Venezuelan remembers taking a class with “Profesor” Isturiz, teaching experience is not a requirement for being Minister of Education in Venezuela. The only requirement for the revolution is allegiance to the chief. Among key posts, Brother Ork has been Venezuela’s Ambassador in Havana, signaling that Chavez plans to take the country’s educational system in a radical new direction.

During a press conference announcing the change, outgoing Minister Isturiz said his current ambition is to host a TV show on the government-funded continental network, Telesur. The show format would be based on his former show, Blanco y Negro.

Thus far, eight changes have been made in the cabinet. (Which is really a musical chairs game…no one new and interesting has actually surfaced. Everyone just seems to be changing seat.) Since Chavez added thirteen or fourteen ministries to an already bloated cabinet, I don’t think we’ll mention every single change. Is there a Ministry of Bodegas?

In other news, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza expressed concern over the government’s decision to effectively shut down RCTV network. In a press release, Insulza said, “The closing of a massive media outlet is a very uncommon event in the history of our continent, and it doesn’t have a precedent in the last decades of democracy.” I’m not alone in my keen observations of the obvious…

-The end-

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