Saturday, May 15, 2010

The Human Drama of the Venezuelan Country side: Plain Robbery, Ruining Lives

Crying over her job
The drama of La Carolina keeps unfolding.  The cover of El Universal Thursday (1) carried the picture of the former manager of La Bodeguita in tears, praying while her boss (former?) was taking a stand, publicly calling Chavez a thief and risking to go to jail as he was also stating clearly that Chavez crimes were worth of international courts. A life work destroyed.


Thursday news had two facets.  The first one, as you can see from the cover, is the human drama that the former employees are living.  Their jobs have been lost.  Their personal belongings have been taken away, to the tooth brushes.  And any hope of recovering their jobs fast is all but lost as they learn that even the horses have been taken away without anyone knowing where they went.  What would they do back in a property without working instruments, cattle, crops?.  The government is simply taking away all the possessions inside La Carolina, from the ones of the employees residing there to the souvenirs and art work of Diego Arria.  In front of the state sponsored looting no one is safe, from the boss to the day worker.  The blackmail is simple: those who do not want to work for the government will lose it all.  And who would want to work for such a cruel boss as the thuggish INTI representatives, unless they partake in the cruelty? A lose/lose situation if any.

The second facet is the deliberate intent of the regime to destroy anything that stands in its way or that demonstrates that the regime's way leads nowhere.  For all the farms that have been seized (or should we say now STOLEN?) for the past few years I renew my challenge of a previous post to any pro Chavez reader: show us one, a single one farm taken away which today produces as much in value as it used to produce.  One success story, just one, please.

Today on my way back home I drove in front of La Carolina.  Nothing has changed from last week except the workers have stopped their protest and that at the entrance porch the regime has raised two tall and expensive flag posts.  It is an incongruous view, flag posts on the side road, on some porch leading to fields.  It was drizzling and gray and the flags were wet, huge and ridiculous in their limping down.  A perfect symbol.

Meanwhile after I came back hone I could not find milk to put back  in my empty refrigerator....

PS: I cannot leave this sad note without praising the courage of Diego Arria in his adversity, defending his workers and challenging Chavez as no one has done in recent memories.  He even said that he would be bringing the proof of his property titles and the legality of his land tot he Cuba embassy, rightly pointing out that since Venezuela is a colony of Cuba there is no point waiting time with the hired thieves of the INTI or their gang leader Chavez.  He is thus going directly to  the person with real power in Venezuela, the Cuban ambassador.

Needless to say that chavismo is not amused.  The ineffable Carlos Escarra, a groveling slime if any at the Nazional Assembly, has demanded investigation on Arria.  This one has welcomed it as an opportunity to tell Escarra in public and to his face that he is a vile liar

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!) sorry for the picture, El Universal does not preserve its old covers and I had to take a pic of the worn out cover.



7 comments:

  1. Europe and America also have looter governments thse days, ours are just a little more subtle about it.

    I knew when I first read your post last week what would happen. I think its all too predictable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hola, me voy a respirar aires más sanos que los de aqui. Ya no soporto tanta vaina. Un poco de vacaciones me harán muy bien para recuperar fuerzas y votar el 26-9.
    La Maga Lee

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1979 Boat People6:54 AM

    This reminds me what the Communist North (Viet Cong)did to the South after 1975. They were a bunch of theives.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sad


    outside La Carolina
    near the hills of Nirgua
    the rain drizzles into puddles
    As they taunt us with , "next time
    will be altogether new", and slowly grimace

    up in the nearby bar a few jokers hang out
    calling themselves Chavista
    as they slammed us into corners
    and banked us into sides
    like pool hustlers from hell

    you stopped for a minute
    and heard the rain drown the music from the bar
    but you could hear those clowns whooping loudly
    all laughing and whooping to beat the band;
    I wonder who can accept this ' here and now'
    without fear ?

    You heard her name Carolina
    Did you see that ?
    Did you hear that?
    The red smoke from the fires of hell were as thick as fog
    But you remember the code of her always

    You remember the joys of deep green
    the colors of exotic birds
    and the taste of heavens,
    as the sweetness of the kindly breeze
    blew good wishes for you at day break
    and the rainsplash of happier times was upon your face

    When you slowly drive
    beside her once fertile gates

    ReplyDelete
  5. torres5:08 PM

    Regarding your challenge, I think there is a communication breakdown between an extreme chavista and the premise of your challenge.

    They imagine a slave run cotton farm. They would argue that taking the farm away from the slave-owners is much more important than any personal or productive measures regarding the farm.

    So, to them, the La Carolina farm story is, by their definition of removing heirs of imperialists from these stolen lands, a success. The land is back in government hands. That's it. Success. How can you even talk about jobs and production, when it was in " foreigners' " hands.

    --

    ReplyDelete
  6. firepigette

    it has been a long time you did not leave us a haiku. that long poem will compensate.

    thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Daniel,

    Well you are welcome but your posting on this issue inspires.I see the poems that you yourself (as an imagist) write .

    The inception of lucidity into this theme evolved in such a direction that brought us closer to truth and in such a way that is both memorable and deep.Your vision of what happened and what is happening is not anything fanciful or vague,rather it is a powerful clear vision with a glow and a bite.

    ReplyDelete

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