The reason why Cuba was the ONLY choice for Chavez is several fold:
- Only in Cuba chavez and the Castro brothers can control to a large extent the flow of news, decide what picture is released and when. After all, with Fidel diseases they have gained ample experience on how to manipulate public opinion with morbid imagery.
- Since no more surgery is expected for the time being, Cuba has at least one world class facility which is reserved to the high ranking Cuban officials (the rest of Cubans can go to their rotting health care centers). What Chavez needs that is not in Cuba is medicine which can be bought from anywhere it is needed (for that he has the Venezuelan checkbook of state); he can bring in any doctor he wants (for the right amount from the same check book he can get 90% of the specialists in the world who cannot pass on the opportunity of adding his name to their client list while touring Cuba for the kick of it).
- Since Chavez is now pathologically insecure about his surroundings he can only trust the Castro brothers to cover for him since he knows that they are the most interested people in the world that want his recovery so he can remain in office and keep sending the stipend.
Thus anyone who entertained the idea that Chavez would go to Brazil was deluding himself and ended up a fool, including the Brazilian hospital of Sao Paulo who was hoping for a big publicity stint.
In a way I am not going to begrudge the right of Chavez to get treatment wherever he wants to. I am not even going to question the expense since it is international practice that the head of states tabs is picked by tax payer, in Washington DC, Paris or Caracas. I would still point out that Chavez could have received health care in Caracas of at the very least the same quality than in Cuba and probably at a much lower cost, with 99% of world specialists willing to go to Caracas.
No, the problem here is not what Chavez does for his recovery which I hope will succeed so he gets one day to face trial for his crimes. The problem here is that leaving Venezuela he went yet further in demonstrating to us that Venezuela is a mere Cuban colony. Two items for my point, the second one infinitely worse than the first one in its symbolism.
The succession internal war seem to have started big time inside chavismo. Thus there is a definite need for the Cuban masters to put an end to it, least they lose control of the situation as Chavez starts suffering from the secondary effects of chemotherapy. Of all the few things Chavez did or said during his rather breif return the most important one must be a warning to his PSUV followers that local "caudillismo" had to be erased in full. In fact, the limited powers he delegated to Jaua and Giordani (V.P, and finance minister respectively) seem to be enough to bring back to order potential dissidents while he is away, much more than for effectively running the country during what we assume will eb an absence of several weeks. For example Jaua can continue on his own expropriation. The symbolism is clear, whichever does not toe the line of waiting patiently and calmly for the return of Chavez, be it opposition or chavista, will be expropriated on the spot. Let's be clear on that, any expropriation in the next month will not affect in any way the economy of Venezuela which is already a wreck, only the political effect of expropriation matters today.
Also, in the same announcement Chavez insisted on the need of ideological training for anyone within the PSUV who wants to go any higher. In other words, the transformation of the PSUV into a bona fide communist party is retaken and reinforced, a sure sign of orders from Cuba who understands that a solid communist party in Venezuela is the best way to ensure its interests if Chavez croaks, in 2 months or 2 years.
The second thing Chavez did that is truly shocking for me, is that he discarded the constitutional provision that Caracas is where laws are made in Venezuela. Not only he said that going to Cuba was not going to another country but to "la patria grande" (the enlarged fatherland?) but he created an electronic signature that he will use from Havana to make legal any law or decree issued during his absence. That is right, an electronic signature that can be manipulated by anyone while he passes out during chemo, manipulated by anyone from his entourage, the Castro brothers or any Cuban officials the Castro brothers may use to that effect.
Does anyone has still a doubt as to whom is ruling Venezuela? That we are are a self declared Cuban colony?
Does anyone has still a doubt as to whom is ruling Venezuela? That we are are a self declared Cuban colony?
Daniel, you take everyone by the hand and you nailed it!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is so clear and important(-I am so impressed with your writing)
Please,everyone-read and understand this. Thank you, Daniel -again.One of your best and most important posts. Great!!!
I don't mean to distract from the message-
"... assume will ebb an absence of several weeks. For example Jaua can continue on his own expropriation. The symbolism is clear, whichever does not toe the line of waiting patiently and calmly for the return of Chavez, be it opposition or chavista, will be expropriated on the spot."
and-your mentioning of the "coming out"-of PSUV-
"...the transformation of the PSUV into a bona fide communist party"
)Last night I was reading about the Red Brigade in Italy)-
Daniel-this is reality now.
There is no small saving. Hope they sent him to Cuba with a one way ticket in case he doesn't make it back home in due course.
ReplyDeleteWhy, exactly, is the health care system that Hugo has built in Venezuela not good enough to care for him? Perhaps he should speak about this before departing?
ReplyDeleteIs he flying the poor of the country to Cuba, too?
"Does anyone has still a doubt as to whom is ruling Venezuela? That we are are a self declared Cuban colony?"
ReplyDeleteI do. You're probably trespassing into hyperbole spheres there, mon cher Daniel. A "colony" is an utterly dominated region, hardly what Cuba has in relation to Venezuela. Economically (oil rules, so Cuba would be Venezuela's economic "colony");
Culturally: (we've always liked the salsa and the merengue and the gringo music in Venezuela. It's not like Cuban "Danzon" has invaded Caracas just yet. Are they talking Cuban in the streets like they do here in Miami "p'a resolber"? I doubt it..)
Ideologically... that's where most of the influence you refer to comes from.. socialismo, comunismo y toda esa vaina. Still, there are several main differences between Cuba's totalitarian regime, and Thugo's crap in Venezuela. Thankfully, Venezuelan don't have to get on inflatable boats to escape.. The press is far less restricted. The influence of Capitalismo and the USA, Europe and all is still huge, much larger than Cuba's influence with a bunch of phony doctors going to the ranchitos.
So, let's not exaggerate here. Little Cuba, poor and broke doesn't call the shots. Grandpa Castro doesn't order Thugo around. He can barely walk or speak. Cuba is just another tool for el Chavismo, a peculiar brand of 21st century political crap bombarding our country. If Chavez ever was remotely right about anything, we are still much more of a "colony" of the US and Occidental world, Capitalism, than we are of little Cuba. And thank God for that. Even Chabruto loves Twitter and stuff.
Good take on the reasons why Thugo goes to Cuba for treatment. I hope even the illiterate and uneducated masses in Venezuela, who worship Chavez, also wonder about that..
ReplyDelete"Porque se va pa Cuba a que le den cuidao medico??"
Sera que Simon Bolivar era un Doctor Cubano?
Daniel, many thanks for your effort, but the reason Chavez is not doing is treatment in Venezuela is far simpler; he is afraid nurses will steal his chemo apparatus to sell it to other oncology units in the country.
ReplyDeleteSledge, you suffer from something -have you got "rojito fever"?Maybe you look into one of those mirrors that distorts everything..
ReplyDeleteC'mon, Sledge. I thought I heard a who? If "if" Daniel-speaks in the extreme -you speak the opposite extreme-but, I will not even give you credit for that. Frankly, you are wrong-dead wrong.
It's no joke. The situation is seriously dangerous and if you believe you still live in a free, democratic Venezuela, then you are asleep, medicated, or you are not there and haven't been for a while..
Wake up, and get serious.Honestly.
Charley-I like humor, but,
ReplyDeletedon't you think these are
serious times and it is time
for people to wake up and
wake your friends and family too..
Venezuelans, don't tell me you want Chavez to come back, don't tell me you need Chavez.
ReplyDeleteDon't lie. Stand up.Wake up.
You don't need Chavez-You hve no more time for Chavez- you want to breathe fresh air-tell the truth-you want him gone NOW!!
Don't tell me you are happy with
Chavismo-it is a lie I know it. It's NO GOOD.
Sledge-did you read the speech Chavez gave to the Military before leaving for Cuba-what was/is
ReplyDeleteyour take on that? I await your
reply?
Rabbi, sober up.
ReplyDeleteSledge, I honestly believe you -like so many -tune out to what Chavez is saying- or you only hear and remember bits and pieces- is that the case?How can you keep forgiving and forgetting every time you get robbed and humiliated..
ReplyDeleteAre you satisfied with being "one country" with Cuba, sledge?
What is it going to take for you to see what is going on ,sledge?
How can you let these things go by with no reaction-wake up.
Sledge- you did not answer my question-I suggest you find out what Chavez told the Military before leaving for Cuba,or,
ReplyDeletejust say "I don't care, or doesn't matter"-if that is the way you feel. Othewise, answer the question..what do you think about what Chavez told the Military just before leaving for Cuba?????
Sledge-read:
ReplyDelete"It was a state of Cold War, exactly the kind of cold war that Adolf Hitler referred to when he coined that term. The play by Hugo Chávez, himself a quisling of Fidel Castro, was as taken from the playbook of the Führer: Take over a foreign sovereign nation without using military force, simply by intimidation, bribes, and lies. But after having used the strategy successfully in a handful of Latin American countries, the Hondurans had taken note that many tracks led into the lion’s lair, but none led out.'
from Ulf Erlingsson.
Sledge-now Phase II is beginning.
Re. Chavez "speed up the process'
Does this compute in your brain?
"The threat that Trotskyist Communism poses to Latin America, and thus to the rest of the world through their methods. These methods include infiltration (taking power in democracies under false flag and then converting them to communist dictatorships), terrorism, and drug violence (spreading chaos and havoc in democracies to make them ripe to fall for their manchurian candidates).
ReplyDeleteTrotsky clearly promoted lies and crimes in order to take power in all major nations first, and then to introduce communism with all that it entails in the form of getting rid of private ownership. Hugo Chávez is a confessed follower of Trotsky, whose vision is the ultimate tyranny, with absolute world-wide concentration of power." more from Ulf Erlingsson.
Sledge-I guess you are happy about the situation in Bolivia, Nicaragua,Ecuador, and a real pal of Zelaya...(I wonder if Zelaya is still receiving a paycheck from Chavez- and I suppose he is still using the free plane..but, you have no problem with that either, do you?
rabibulla
ReplyDeletei will engage you to read again the comment rules of this section. in particualr rule #1.
RabbiBulla, this is not humor, it is sarcasm, my way of acknowledging these are serious times. Everyday, in a Venezuelan hospital, a patient or another gets robbed of his/her medecine by indelicate nurses who then sell it to another. Would love to see Chavez face if he was robbed of his chemo. That is all I am saying.
ReplyDeleteThanks Charley-go it.
ReplyDeletePeople are saying "Chavez's face looks sad, his eyes look aged". I don't care. I don't care if Chavez starts dressing and acting like Karl Lagerfeld.
I agree with what Alek Boyd said today-"the opposition, instead of what to do, where you have to go, go playing dead, wishing him a speedy recovery to the leader,counting and arranging pieces on a board on which no election has minimal control, ie. pregnant and thinking about birds allowing Chavez to continue his insane megalomania under the influence of the Cuban dictator."
Daniel: As you often do, you have hit the nail again with a simple summary of events and the obvious conclusions to be drawn from them.
ReplyDeleteThere are essentially two possibilities for the future. Either the conspiracy theories (very well-founded theories in this case) are correct; Chavez is desparately ill and will die or be terminally incapacitated; or he is, somewhat unusually for him, telling the real truth about his illness, the chemo will elimate possibilities of recurrence of the cancer, and he will live. If the former, Venezuela is in for a rocky road in the next few months or years, to say the least. If the latter, then truly the luck of the devil is with Chavez. The sympathy effect that he will get from going through this illness will be massive. He will join the ranks of the immortals in some people's eyes, and I strongly suspect that it may be enough to cement his dictatorship in Venezuela for a lifetime, however long that is, and we'll be left to hope only that he doesn't have the longevity of a Castro, a Gadhafi or a Mugabe. Sorry for the pessimism of this post, but that's truly my belief.
Martin,
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you say.Would only add:
It is only my intuition- which is one of my strongest assets though- that tells me that Chavez will not live a long life.Not that I know when he will die, of course not, but my perception of his energy, body and general countenance, his personality and his illness( both mental and physical) give me a feeling that even if he were to overcome his first bouts with cancer, he will be left severely weakened.
There are other factors that come into play regarding his hypothetical demise, but you would have to know popular Venezuelan culture to understand...but there are many people who are afraid of his esoteric " power" and should he pass on, that fear would vanish.
"there are many people who are afraid of his esoteric " power" and should he pass on, that fear would vanish." Yes. Firepigette,
ReplyDeletehave you heard of the supposed "voodoo powers" of Chavez's grandfather (name?) and Chavez claims to have "inherited"
those "powers"?
mainsanta? -I heard it, but
ReplyDeletedon't know how it is spelled..
Anyway-there is something there.
As Bones would say to Capt. Kirk-
"There's something-"that thing" is out there, Jim!!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjGO0xf9IJ8&NR=1
ReplyDeleteCould it be -that people are "under a spell" of Chavez?
In modern times?
"maisanta" -Pedro Peres Delgado, great-grandfather to Chavez-
ReplyDeletedied at age 42 in prison-
(A friend of young Chavez said they "admired this character very much" when they were 16 years old)-Chavez said then"he wanted to famous like him"..
In reality-some doubt Chavez is a descendent.
This is Chavez's dream character of himself>
This explains why Uribe was such a threat to Chavez. When Uribe challenged Chavez "to come and face me like a man", Chavez ran away-scared. (Chavez is NO Pedro Peres Delgado!) Pedro Perez Delagado would fight for honor..
ReplyDeleteAnd, Castro's Cuba -remained neutral when Colombia went after the FARC in Ecuador...Uribe would have responded likewise to Cuba!!!
This is a quote from Roy on this blog back in May- same words can
ReplyDeletebe applied to Venezuela-
In the case of Syria, we are already seeing defections from their armed forces. An army, as a weapon of subjugation, is only effective, so long as the soldiers are willing to continue killing civilians. Continued protests in the face of brutal repression wears down the will of an army to continue being an instrument of that repression.
Any dictatorship can only continue with the collaboration of a significant percentage of the population. When the population becomes so fed up with the status quo, that they prefer to risk death than continue as before, even the best armed dictator is at risk.