Flights of fancy through the beautiful revolution

Sometime in the bolibanana revolution truth is stranger than fiction.

The ad on the right was published today in El Nacional. It is a half page ad, vertical. And it promotes some kind of frequent flier plan. However, something is not quite right. But first let's present CONVIASA, the airline of the Venezuelan government.

Conviasa was established in 2004, as yet another one of those retrograde if not reactionary elements that spice so much the alleged revolution. Viasa used to be the Venezuelan airline that went bankrupt through a variety of reason, long before Chavez came to office. This one decided that it was all some capitalist ploy to ruin Venezuela and he decided that the state needed again its own airlines. When even countries like France have sold their state owned airlines one wonders what need had Chavez to create an airline that by definition favors more the rich than the poor. To confirm that it was just some silly nostalgia he managed to name it almost the same as Viasa....

The excuse for Conviasa was that it would promote popular tourism. That is, it would be some sort of solidarity based travel system where good revolutionaries would be able to travel. You know, just as only chavistas seemed to have access to Copa America tickets. But I digress.

Conviasa started flying to Margarita, not necessarily the most affordable destination for "popular" strata even though definitely a popular destination for its cheap booth and sundries. So we can assume safely that the first beneficiaries of Conviasa were public servants out on a shopping spree to Margarita Island. But of course, with the help of a few petrodollars and a the possibility to travel strictly among chavista far from the prying eyes of indiscreet opposition the airline kept growing.

And now Conviasa is even emitting a frequent flier card. In fact TWO of them, a gold and a silver, because you know, some revolutionaries are more equal than others. The ad comes with everything, even the red revolutionary star (also on the web page of the airline). It also carries the words "privileges", "advantages", and tucked at the bottom left, "the people", the one that is supposed to rule through Chavez (click to enlarge).

And then they want us to take this revolution seriously. Pleaaaase......

PS: do they get pasta for lunch on flight?


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