Monday, July 01, 2013

The fascist methodology in mind games: Jose Vicente Rangel

It is one thing to read the everyday fascistic acts the regime resorts to on a daily basis, it is another to live through it and to watch how the minds are affected.

Today, at my occasional week day brunch joint, they were out of the papers I read. Only Ultimas Noticias was available. So, to eat my early arepa lunch washed down with fresh squeezed OJ, I had to buy Noticias de lo Ultimo Ultimas Noticias. It is not that this paper is bad. Although indulgent with the regime we need to keep in mind that it is not written for people like me: it is a tabloid and not the NYT. The news are thus short, analysis is brief, when available, the concerns are of everyday life, dressed in man on foot vocabulary. Just reading the everyday needs of the population is, by the way, condemnation enough of the regime which explains why Ultimas Noticias has come under fire on occasion. (1)

Still, Ultimas Noticias by its circulation has always attracted some noted writers for its OpEd pieces. That does not mean they are good, it just mean that people in the know are supposed to read them. On Mondays Jose Vicente Rangel signs a piece, and thus for the first time in years I read it. With difficulty. (2)

Certainly JVR has lost any credibility in public opinion. Besides his sting in several government positions under Chavez, he has gone from pseudo investigative journalist (he was already of the type to throw a stone and hide the hand well before Chavez) to chavismo cheer leader and political "negotiator". Apparently that "negotiator" position has faded some lately, as Chavez is gone and the opposition is refurbished and breathing on chavismo's neck. This certainly goes a long way to explain some of the silly to hysterical unfounded accusations he has proffered such as the opposition buying 18 fighter planes to attack Venezuela from Colombia.

What I am going to discuss below are some excerpts of his column today. There is nothing newsworthy, my aim is to try to make understand the reader that people like JVR are trying to fill up the head of the chavista hoi polloi with garbage, of a fascist nature. (3)

The first part of the piece is an all out attack on Capriles, rehashing once again the post April 14 events. That what JVR writes (about the deaths and damages) has been mostly disproven since does not seem to affect him. For JVR Capriles became mad through his defeat (enloquecio, violento, desconsiderado, la desesperacion lo desbordo). Observe that JVR puts all the blame on Capriles, is careful to sugar coat is depth charges by recognizing a honorable score upon which to build, but of course sweeping aside all the fraud charges that are of the public domain now, such as "voto asistido" and the death voting. (4)

Once JVR has done his character assassination of Capriles (again, not the opposition, which I am sure will get its own OpEd any time soon), the rest of the article is just praise for Maduro. What is more interesting is that JVR accompanies his articles with a few comments on other matters, as is the usage in Venezuela for some OpEd writers. Of course his additional comments are also designed to trash Capriles further.

JVR blames Capriles for hunger in Guarenas as him being the local governor. Certainly if Capriles had access to his full legal budget he would have dealt with hunger in Guarenas but JVR conveniently forgets to mention that roughly half of the states budget is robbed by the regime. Amen of the recession in Guarenas, caused by the regime.

But the most illustrative example is when JVR tries to trash the electoral observations of IAEE. Without any evidence he claims that the IAEE is financed by "powerful economic interests of Colombia and Spain" without naming a single one (of course, they would sue him whereas Capriles cannot sue JVR in Venezuelan courts because it is a waste of time). But that is not the best part: JVR claims that IAEE is a mickey mouse institution, forgetting to mention that the CNE invited them because it was prestigious and fair..... But now that IAEE has revealed the hard truth, they are in the dog house and will not be invited again.

I trust that with these simple examples you will see how sordid people like JVR have become (well, he was always a piece of work, but now he is unfettered).  The problem with people like JVR is that inside the regime too many take him at face value, finding in him an excuse to continue operating as they do. And this, my friends, is how fascism works, feeding the feeble minded and the corrupt with what is passed as intellectual work.

NOTE: some may object at my usage of fascist on JVR for someone who was, after all, the standard bearer of the left in some pre Chavez elections. But if JVR was writing from the communist totalitarian angle he would have bagged together Capriles and the opposition; he would have trashed the IAEE as enemy of the people and not just sold out; and such. But JVR chooses to part things in a more analytic or intellectual way, trying to pretend to occupy the high ground, which is what fascists do when they try to prove that communists are inferior beings. He represents now a cause, not a people; and that is why I write he has turned fascist.

------------------------------------------------
1) Ultimas Noticias has been bought by a still mysterious group so it is to be expected that it will start additional self censorship.

2) For full disclosure I need to remind the readers that JVR hacks have had him cite my name in his Sunday garbage show. Thus I have no qualms trashing him the way he trashed me, though I certainly have more evidence against him than he had against me.

3) By the way, this is not my first attempt at exposing the creep that JVR is. You may want, at random, read that 2007 entry were there was already an invasion from Colombia in the works. Now we assume it has 18 planes.

4) Two fraud charges that the regime cannot get rid of, no matter what the CNE and courts decide is those people that were accompanied to the voting machine by a PSUV agent (videos available) or those voting centers where 100% participation was reported even though some of the voters were dead. Whether these actions are enough to reverse the results is a matter of discussion but that they took place should be a matter of grave concern for all, starting with the CNE.

7 comments:

  1. Charly8:02 PM

    I thoroughly enjoy reading JVR and his alter ego Marciano. JVR is the good cop, Marciano the bad cop. His method is very simple, when the going is good, trash the oppo, when the going gets bad, plead for negotiations to be delivered by the oppo at the government doorstep. He has been looking for a long time for a "responsible" opposition, i.e. one that will act like the oppo in Switzerland, after all we are all decent and respectable people. As for Capriles trashing, since JVR is or thinks he is Machiavellian, the trashing I suspect is just to tell the oppo how good a job HCR is doing as their head, look we hate him so much he must be doing a good job. In fact the government will never get better than HCR as oppo leader, they will not find anyone more tame than this kid. There are now quite a few dissenting voices from various corners. Here is the latest, worth a read:

    http://noticias24carabobo.com/actualidad/noticia/21422/pablo-aure-este-modelo-de-gobierno-nos-esta-convirtiendo-en-un-pueblo-miserable/

    I think JVR should spill more bile on HCR, because if HCR goes then who knows what is going to happen, they might eventually get the oppo they deserve not the one they wish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will note that I did not comment on Marciano, nor I speculated on how effective JVR. My point is to show how one of the main "operarios" of the regime operates. Thank for the supplement!

      Delete
  2. margareth7:45 PM

    Can't they keep Maduro in that teatre? A place where he belongs....Maybe JVR can join him too.......

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R2XY9mHji4M

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:12 PM

    If only Venezuelans would rally the same way Egyptians have, perhaps they would have a chance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not a fair statement . . . Venezuelans do no have a military that will stand up for them

      Delete
  4. Anonymous3:59 PM

    Daniel, do you know if sicad will be available to the public?

    http://www.bcv.org.ve/ley/convenio22.pdf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I read such an inappropriate comment for the topic of this entry is know that indeed fascism is winning, people are accommodating and are more worried about a handful of dollars through SICAD than what is happening to the country.

      Delete

Comments policy:

1) Comments are moderated after the sixth day of publication. It may take up to a day or two for your note to appear then.

2) Your post will appear if you follow the basic polite rules of discourse. I will be ruthless in erasing, as well as those who replied to any off rule comment.


Followers