Did they meet? Church and tHUGOcracy meeting?

I alsmot posted on it last night but it was too late and too many hours on the road.  But the news was the unconfirmed report that the higher echelons of chavismo met with the higher echelons of the catholic church of Venezuela.

Globovision seems to stand by that scoop today, at 10:23 AM at least, while no one else around says so, and twitter gossip cannot make up its mind on the subject.

So let's assume they did meet and let's look at what it means.

The opposition finally condemns strongly Chavez pro Assad policies

I am pleased to announce that the Venezuelan opposition has finally condemned unambiguously the support of Chavez toward the Assad regime.  You can read the communique here.

About time!

No political trouble that cannot be solved by a tiny constitutional amendment

What to make of Chavez dernière boutade?  He simply just thought of it, an amendment to enshrine the Misiones into the Constitution.  That is right, all the social programs that he has been doing more or less legally since 2003, which have been his political lifeblood, suddenly he fells like he should put them inside the Constitution (1).  There is no need to discuss whether they should be enshrined: a mere law would suffice to make all of these Misiones legal.  The interest is elsewhere.

Archetypal TV: Chavez at King's Landing

I have never been much of a ran for medieval fantasy epic.  Science Fiction I did better until I realized that taming wormholes for intergalactic travel was not compatible with my increasing knowledge of science.  But at least science fiction holds the promise that one day, maybe....  True, I did enjoy the Lord of the Rings, but then again these books were also literature. But mass market?  No thanks.  And this has not much to do with a French Cartesian approach to life: after all, we may be the ones that wrote the first drafts of La Morte d'Artur.  Nor is Gothic my cup of tea: I could not get past Interview with the Vampire.

¿Seguira el silencio de la MUD sobre la masacre Siria?

Niños y adultos en la morgue de Al Hula, Siria, ayer y hoy

Es triste en verdad ver lo bajo que está cayendo la revolución bolivariana, ahora empeñada en apoyar regímenes renegados que se dan el lujo de matar niños y echarle la culpa a al Qaeda sin aportar la mas mínima evidencia de que eso pueda ser cierto. ¿Será por eso que Chávez y Asad se entienden tan bien? Pensándolo bien, Asad aplica la metodología de magnicidios en contra de Chávez por los cuales al momento de escribir estas líneas todavía no hay ni un chinito de RECADI a juicio. Aunque tenemos que ser justos, Chávez no tenia genio para inventar ese tipo de metodología: eso es invento del otro asesino de Fidel.

La pregunta que tenemos que hacernos NO ES ¿Hasta cuando Chávez va a seguir escupiendo boberías, recordando al hermano asesinado de Gadafi y defendiendo Asad? No, la pregunta es hasta cuándo van a seguir en el chavismo callando, sin amarrar a sus locos. Otra pregunta viene al frente: ¿Sera que la Unidad democrática no va a tomar posición en el asunto y exigir el fin del apoyo de Venezuela al régimen sangriento de Siria? Ya es hora de la Unidad democrática haga una marcha de protesta sobre el apoyo de Siria y amenace al gobierno de llevar el dosier a La Haya si no paran sus ventas de diesel a Siria. ¿O es que la Unidad cree que la credibilidad internacional de un gobierno se hace después de las elecciones? ¿Quien va a defender fuera de Venezuela la Unidad por un eventual fraude electoral si esta no se solidariza desde ya con otros pueblos oprimidos?

Ya es tiempo que la Unidad empiece a actuar en ciertos asuntos como un movimiento que merece formar gobierno y no solo como una agencia de empleo para políticos desempleados.

PS: nota a los chavistas que me leen. Esa foto es de trabajadores de las Naciones Unidas investigando en Siria, en la morgue de Hula. Cualquier reporte emitido tendrá el aval de las Naciones Unidas. ¿Será que ustedes piensan ignorarlo desde ya? Les recuerdo que los crimines de lesa humanidad no prescriben y que ya Chávez tiene un dosier en La Haya y que con su apoyo público a enviar diesel a Siria Rafael Ramírez ha hecho meritos para ser juzgado como criminal. ¿Cuantos más de ustedes están dispuestos a acompañarlos en las cortes internacionales?  ¿Vale la pena asociarse a algo así?

Chavez's cadena on Tuesday night.

After more than a week's absence Chavez came back on TV for, what else, a cadena.  And an illustrative one it was.  I will not go into the details on how Chavez held for two hours ALL of TV and radio networks of Venezuela.  For that you could, if you read Spanish, read some of my tweets of May 22 as in a masochistic exercise I followed the whole thing.  But there are two aspects I would like to share.

Caracas, ciudad de despedidas

There has been a social phenomena to which I did not pay much attention, but when I saw that even Milagros Socorro felt compelled to write on it, I had to pay attention.  In short, it was a video about the angst of a certain subset of Venezuelan youth who are considering leaving Venezuela.  Apparently it went viral and the kids were cyber hate bombed on Twitter.  I suppose I was spared that disgrace because of my limited use of Twitter.  But our local blogsphere also wrote on it, from serious and thoughtful Miguel or Bruni, to Quico who wrote what can only be qualified as an undignified crass piece of mean, the more so living outside of Venezuela.

My take is very simple: whether these kids are justified or what their social standing endows them with is nearly irrelevant.  The video, technical and artistic merits put aside, is about the angst of a group of people and it is a valid statement for that group, no matter whether that groups is 0.0001% of the population or 10%.  For those who do not understand this I suggest that you brush up on the likes of Kerouac or Rimbaud before you decide to evaluate how justified these kids are in wanting to be allowed to live on their terms.  We were all young once, weren't we?

The video after the jump in case you have not seen it yet.

Tweets on jails and delusions of the chavista aristocracy

Looking through twitter for actual quotes is an ungrateful task, but it can pay off.  On last Friday I heard in Alo Ciudadano that the science minister, Jorge Arreaza, was congratulating Iris Valera as the "FIRST" person with the courage to tackle the jail problem.  Well, even though Globovision was wrong (it was a re-tweet) it is still a faux pas from Arreaza who of all people should have known better.

The retweet

Claudia Salerno ‏@cscaldera

Mi solidaridad y apoyo a la Ministra @irisvarela, por ser la primera con el VALOR de destapar y resolver el prob de las cárceles. VALIENTE

Retweeted by Jorge Arreaza

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•  Reply 
•  Retweet 
•  Favorite

• 32RETWEETS
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1:56 PM - 17 May 12 via web · Details

It says:

La Planta as theater of the absurd: bringing out the inner criminal in the regime

The missing AR-15 of La Planta?

La Planta jail riot and eventual closure keep revealing the inner workings of the regime.  And it is not flattering.  After all, when you accept to "negotiate" with hard criminals, when you allow them to take their goodies with them, when you allow them to pick the seclusion center where they will be transferred, you only acknowledge one thing: you are of the same nature than the criminals you are "negotiating" with.  This was not a negotiation between the judicial system of the republic and inmates that may or may not have justified demands.  This was an agreement between two type of gangsters so as to diminish the public impact, in order to keep doing business.

And today the regime keeps giving evidence of being such a gang.  Not only with La Planta sequels but with the return of Loyo to office!

Sometimes you need to read stuff three times to acknowledge the text

There is an article in El Universal today about the debacle of the La Planta Caracas ex-(?)-jail that defies any common sense.  Here, the excerpts:

Apologies to the Syrian people

To the brave people of Syria fighting for its freedom.

Disculpas al pueblo sirio

Al pueblo alzado de Siria

Yesterday in Caracas

We saw these:

Venezuelan overseas: a maracucho at the helm of MIT

What would be Venezuela today if it had managed to hold to its brain power, and the one of its immigrant children in particular?  Today, Rafael Reif, the son of Jews escaping Eastern Europe, born in Maracaibo, educated in Caracas, has been elected president of MIT  That is right, president of  THE MIT, the one and only.  On the other hand, Pastor Maldonado, quite a criollito, has won a Formula 1 this week end and that is celebrated by all, even by those who should know better.

Does Capriles matter?

There are many reasons for which I have not said much about the Capriles campaign for October.  I did not bet on the winner of February, so what could I write about?   Another reason is that I do not like his campaign.  That is, there are blogs that like Capriles prowess and readers are better served reading them. Also, having bet on the wrong horse, since last February I have had zero contact with anyone associated with the campaign (nor I sought it).  I suppose my uses were over after the primary.  Fine with me; I understand; thus work politics; cool; really; when they'll need me they'll know how to find me.  Thus, avoiding redundancy and lacking time, I moved to other topics.

But things have changed lately and I have wondered whether what Capriles is doing has any real worth.

Mensaje a Pastor Maldonado

Pastor

Permítame felicitarlo por su primera victoria en Formula 1. Como dijo el asturiano, esa emoción no se le olvidará nunca.

Pero permítame explicarle la razón por la cual no puedo compartir su triunfo, y créame, no es por razones políticas aunque existirían si no fuese por las que a continuación le comento.

No puedo aplaudirle porque usted representa un deporte decadente, de ricos tíos, contaminante, machista, inútil. No se preocupe, su deporte, para llamarlo de alguna manera, no me ofende mas que los motoskis que nos agobian en las playas, o las lanchas súper veloces preferidas entiendo por los traficantes de droga, o la carreras de motocicleta. Tampoco me ofende mas que las carreras de curiaras en el delta del Orinoco que rasgan de muerte las toninas a su paso.

El crucigrama pirelista: las otras claves

Pues bien, les revelo que el crucigrama de Perez Pirela tenia un doble código.  Nuestra "gente", esa de la conspiración imperial que me paga un sueldo que nunca llega (¡es que Ipostel es una vaina!) lo analizó muy bien y tambien consiguió 8 claves en el mismo cruci, igual que las 8 contundentes claves de Pispireto Pirela.  Sin mas, dándole razón a JVR que me acusó de todo, se las doy a continuación.

Las claves secretas, esas si están en rojo-rojito

ORTOGRAFIA: lo que no se enseña en la Misión Robinson. Para detectar claves en crucigramas (el SUDOKU y sus códigos numéricos se enseñan en la Ribas)

Some rats are making sure to be seen leaving the ship, even if it is a few years late

After Aponte^2 bel canto feat, another judge who escaped Venezuela long ago decided to sing.  At least this one at the end of the interview had the good sense to express his regrets which we have not seen in Aponte^2 interview.



What to make Luis Velazquez Alvaray later day saint confession?

The full chavista paranoia package

Courtesy of blogs who love to follow such things (bless 'em), we are pointed to this video shown prime time in the official state TV of Venezuela, VTV.  There is no point in translating it but just with gestures and attitudes you an get the point that this guy has mental problems associated with paranoia and a fear of being left alone as soon as micomandantepresidente'ta'curao croaks.



For those who do not understand Spanish, a summary next:

Gay marriage right versus rights, period

Obama just announced that he was in favor of gay marriage.  He probably has been all along but politics is a repressive mistress.  And yesterday North Carolina, where I lived 5 years, decided overwhelmingly to include a ban on gay marriage in its constitution.  I do not even have the heart to call my friends there who have been together for more than two decades.

Be the occasion good enough for some worthy considerations.  Even though I have just reached 13 years with the S.O., we have never considered marriage.  It is a non issue for us unless eventually some insurance benefit would be required.  Since I am French, we can consider using the French PACS system if necessary because of course in revolutionary bolibananarian Venezuela there is no provision for gay rights.  But does it matter?

La Planta: more Venezuelan jails in trouble....

La Planta aflame in tear gas, from a reader's window

Oh dear....  I am getting tired of having to report on the dismal situation of Venezuelan jails.  Now, even after a year with a special minister for jails, things do not seem to be improving.  Of course, for Iris Varela to have any chance of success at her job would require a true political will to not only spend for building jails where a minimum amount of humanity exists, but also the will to force the judicial power to do its job and stop processing only those who can afford to go to trial, and blocking the Nazional Guard mafia allied to the warden ones, which is the only reason why so many weapons and drugs find their way inside jails.

But the regime has other priorities for its cash......  corruption surely trumps humanity.

The French vote: electoral maps wet dreams

Long time readers of this blog must recall my love of maps and charts, and the electoral ones best.  The French are truly the masters of the genre.  In a previous post I pointed out the ones from Liberation which I judged in the past easiest and best.  But this time around Le Monde came back swinging and bringing some real great stuff, not only to analyze the result of last Sunday but also to start looking at the implications for the legislative vote of June.  Oh dear...  if in Venezuela we could get something a quarter that good...  but then again, what for?, considering the elector motivations in this joint.....  So, for those of you nerdy enough to love such stuff, click on and enjoy.

La République

Needless to say that today I am intensely proud of also being French.

Carta abierta a los cara dura de Chavez y Diosdado

Es que en verdad hay que ser cara dura para identificarse con socialistas democráticos como ustedes trataron de hacer ayer.  Pero ya los demócratas les dieron su bofetón, ni siquiera 24 horas después de las barbaridades que dijeron ustedes dos.  Y no hablemos del tontín de Nicmer que les sirve de intelectual de tercera.  No son ustedes los que tienen que enseñarle a Francia lo que la multipolaridad es, no les toca a ustedes dar lecciones de socialismo y de capitalismo: aprenden de las fotos que pongo abajo, fotos que describen lo que es una democracia verdadera y no un gobierno de malandros y ladrones como el que ustedes presiden.

En esta primera foto, ni siquiera 48 horas después de la elección de Hollande, el presidente Sarkozy lo invita a presidir junto a el las conmemoraciones del 8 de mayo en Francia, el día que termino la segunda guerra mundial.  ¿ Díganme, cuando fue la ultima vez que ustedes permitieron el pase a alguien de la oposición en un 19 de Abril, o en Carabobo?  ¿No les pica la curiosidad de saber porque un presidente recién derrotado hace un gesto de esa naturaleza, y un presidente recién electo lo acepta con toda la cortesía y amabilidad posible?

¡Pero miren esta segunda foto!

Hollande wins in Paris, loses in Athens

Less votes than Hollande but, more clout?

The important electoral result yesterday is not the one in France (although a lot can be said of Hollande winning by less than all polls were saying).  No, the result that is sending Europe into convulsion (even if no one is ready to quite admit it publicly) is the one in Greece where not only a bona fide truly Nazi party made it to Parliament (next to Golden Dawn Marine Le Pen is your garden variety democratic right wing), but the parties that refuse to abide by European conditions to the rescue of Greece got at the very least 60% of the vote and enough in Parliament to block a grand coalition between Pasok and NeoDemocracia.  Not that the expected grand coalition, forced upon the Greeks, had much hope of success in the best of cases.

The French second round ballot: stormy skies ahead for France and Europe

Useless vote getter

So tomorrow Saturday I have to cast my second round ballot at the French embassy of Caracas.  I will vote for Sarkozy but I can assure you that I am not doing it happily.  He will lose the election and he deserves to lose: he made too many P.R. errors in the earlier part of his term that he was unable or unwilling to amend for, he wasted precious time to push critical reforms and the crisis caught him  pants down, depriving of real reform options.  Truly he managed the crisis rather well, but electorates rarely understand such subtleties.

Then the second round campaign was nasty.  I do understand that he had no other choice but to court the National Front (FN) voters of Marine Le Pen who came at a surprising and astounding 18%.  Sarkozy personally has demonstrated that he is a democrat, a gruff one maybe but a real one.  So I never believed his posturing, but I also expect that for opposite reasons fewer than he needs in that 18% will buy it (according to some polls up to a third may end up voting for Hollande anyway, preferring to sink the democratic center right at any cost believing that it will open the door for their control of the opposition to Hollande).  Still, his courting of FN voters was often unbecoming and thus probably counter productive even among his own UMP party.

Of dropeth shoes and rats out of ships: et tu Hugo Carvajal?

Well, looks like the "apontiada^2", famous epic poem on corruption and abuse of power is just starting.  Through a tweeeet, representative Ismael Garcia tells us that not only a second high court Judge has left the country (should we start using words such as defected?), but a famous drug trafficker suspect has just left.  Seeking the witness protection program?  Since it is a mere tweet we shall wait more until commenting on Marco Tulio Dugarte defection and even more, Carvajal escape..... Yet Globovision feels confident enough to put it on its website page. See you later.

Update 1: good thing I have a limited trust in tweets: Dugarte is reported to be in Venezuela by El Universal. Ooooh...   This is going to be so much fun to watch! Garcia lied? Was he hacked? Dugarte missed his flight?

The S.O. was drafted to the chavista May 1 march

The old US of A embassy, now the tourism ministry 

 As a public employee he had no choice but to show up for at least an hour.  Before he found a was to sneak out he managed to take a few pictures and there you have some for your enjoyment.  By the way, the regime did pull all the stops and plugs and it was one of the best rallies it made in months.  Then again chavismo only marched in Caracas while the opposition workers did dare to do a few rallies outside of Caracas.

General comments: you will notice how red is the whole thing and how often they try to compensate for the absence of Chavez.

So many chavistas are idiots...

... and Weil nails them today.

Screaming Pro Chavez Marcher (May 1st parade?): In the other governments we had no right to housing nor to jobs
Anchor Person: Do you have housing?
SPCM: No
AP: A job?
SPCM. Neither

This is the result of 12 years of brain washing: utter disconnection with reality.

Things that go bump in cadenas: Chavez leaving the IACHR

[Post scripted] Certainly it was not the most important announcement of the day by Chavez, just before he took of for Havana again.  But it may have been one of the most telling moments of his presidency in recent months.  After signing the new Labor Law, Chavez decided to activate finally the "Council of State" and ask from it as a first mission to study ways that Venezuela can exit the Inter American Court for Human Rights.