Those pesky dissident students troubling chavismo

Me gustan los estudiantes
porque levantan el pecho
cuando le dicen harina
sabiéndose que es afrecho,
y no hacen el sordomudo
cuando se presenta el hecho.
Caramba y zamba la cosa
¡el código del derecho!

Violeta Parra

You might want to listen to the song while you read the post.

Yesterday scenes where the government tried to suppress a student march that they totally underestimated is sure to make a few ripples. It might as well all started last night when in total astonishment I watched for a few minutes of the National Assembly debate. Ismael Garcia was refuting the arguments advanced by the government to suppress the autonomy of the Central Bank. Carlos Escarra, the evil mind behind most of the constitutional changes, the lawyer who perhaps has the most crawled in front of Chavez and who has received the least rewards when you consider how much crawling he has done, replied. Well, the first thing he said was that Ismael had now joined the opposition has shown in his betrayal of helping the students to reach the National Assembly (1). So, now Escarra is all out saying that any popular petition that displeases the government is treason.

Escarra might want to read the words of another representative, who has crawled quite a lot too, Calixto Ortega, who said on TV that the students were exerting a right in trying to reach the N.A. That he was forced by events to say that is possible, but he said it. Is he also a traitor? Will Escarra become the grand inquisitor of the Revolution? I am afraid so, as often such inquisitors, as well as the concentration camp wardens, come from those who had a hard time to please the beloved leader and thus decide on their own to go the extra mile in violating all sorts of rights to be forgiven of any fault they might have in the eyes of the beloved Supremo.

Or the ripples might have started when one of the "nice pro Chavez" students had no other arguments but stating that the opposition students were violent folks, crass opposition straight from the hellish days of April 2002. Of course, the sweet thing is used to go from adoring crowd to adoring crowd during the junket trip across Venezuela and has probably started to believe that these students represented only the remaining 1.3% (that much left? think of "carlos" who wished all of us would join the PUS to "debate" from the inside -2) of the Venezuelan folks that still do not support Chavez and the constitutional "reforma".

By the way, isn't it lovely to hear now famous protest songs of the 60ies used so effectively by dissenting students while the pro Chavez students, lonelier everyday, are defending the Chavez status quo? Since when students are supposed to defend the government, any government for that matter? Ah! It is a good thing that ridicule does not kill.

Meanwhile some of the videos are starting to come out.

The moment when the Metropolitana Barrier was broken is seen here. If you bear up with the poor quality, probably a video from someone taping the live Globovision broadcast) you will observe how the break took place, how the police had to regroup further back in a narrower passage, how they obviously had lost control of the opposition, how the chavista hecklers (hordes?) were behind the police and quickly retreated, and more interesting moments such as the first tear gas. If you have time on your hands you can watch this video taken by someone on the ground. Quality is poor but you might feel the tension of the moment.

Another not very good video but telling is the one taken at the highway toll in Maracay when the Nazional Guard refused to let a few dozen students pass to go to Caracas. What you can see is how stupidly the Guard operates, when stopping a handful of students they do block hundreds and hundreds of cars of people needing to go to work, on errands and what not. when you look at the pictures of the Caracas events, you can see that these Maracay students were not missed at all but the ones who paid for this are the locals, victims of chavista military stupidity (apologies for the redundancy).

But of course, all of thsi is probably just more media manipulation, just as the lack of milk. FOR THE RECORD: today is the second week anniversary of that last time I saw fresh, skim, or powdered milk for sale anywhere. Gosh! That is a heck of media manipulation!!!!

1) For the record. He eventually addressed the issues of Ismael Garcia as for the independence of the Central Bank because Venezuela had to free itself form the Washington Consensus. Showing a the same stroke that he is either stupid and ignorant or that he has chosen to become stupid and ignorant. No matter what out of place reply Escarra gave, after he finished his truly embarrassing peroration ("pena ajena" we call the feeling in Venezuela when you see someone make an ass of himself for no good reason) Cilia Flores closed the debate and the amendment was promptly voted. Showing us clearly that the government has absolutely no intention to do a real debate in anywhere and that any criticism that you do against Chavez these days is just betrayal of the revolution. Period. Lat night was yet another abject lesson on the method.

2) "Carlos" is chavista reader of this blog, silent for a while after every one of his mutterings was properly dismissed by other readers. In his brief passage he has revealed to us how intolerant and sectarian and authoritarian is the mindset of chavismo today.

-The end-