Having an arepa at my occasional hangout in San Felipe I was forced to read Ultimas Noticias as the last "national" paper still available. And I fell on this so telling regime propaganda that I could not resist to take a picture of the full page advertisement and deconstruct here for your pleasure. Click to enlarge.Let's start by the obvious: PDVSA, the state oil company is paying for that advertisement to glorify Chavez by attaching it tot he memory of Simon Bolivar, on the week of the anniversary. Of course, if Chavez was born late July it could nto be possibly for any other reason but to his link to Bolivar. Take that you other Leo babies! At any rate, PDVSA breaks the law but who cares at this point....
The message is simple: "In July dignity was born for ever". Of course, it means nothing, not even historically since Bolivar had nothing to do during the events of 1810 and 1811, the years when the idea of an independent Venezuela came to pass. But the message is elsewhere: it is the glorious army of Venezuela that made our independence, even if that is also historically false as Carabobo was won by "La Gran Colombia" forces in Venezuela. The point is to remind always that the army is top, very appropriate in our current corrupt military regime, where the new logo on the bottom left shows a red Bolivar with sword next to a brown shirted Chavez (the mistake in the scheme?). A Chavez which of seems more important than Bolivar if you ask me. But they are a "single heart", who cares?
But this is not all in the post Chavez propaganda concept. Now that Capriles and the opposition hover at 50% it is important to rally and radicalize the bases. As such the two people in the picture are not brown skinned, they are African America outright. Reverse racism for you, sir!
The regime also preys on the weakest link, the single mother who finally is getting a home. This is what is supposedly depicted in the back, with posters of Chavez duly plastered with "mision vivienda", the massive building program that bankrupted the country but got Chavez reelected last year even though it is still so far in solving the housing problem. Thus we have the "dignification" of the single mother who for all practical purpose is now wed to the memory of Chavez, the only man that cared for her ever.
I am sure I can come up with yet more subliminal stuff but that is enough for now, you get the point. From Chavez ghost floating all above us to such crass propaganda, it is only going to get worse as the regime has nothing to show for.
I've just tweeted this adding: If you don't laugh, you'll cry. For those that understand Spanish, another thing that will make you laugh or cry, depending on your state of humor, is this wonderful introduction of Bayly during his program last Tuesday talking about Maduro's meeting with Santos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdKEkl0Bwn8 At some point, Maduro goes to a supermarket with Diosdado and start buying and speaking about onions. For crying out loud!! hahaha It finishes off saying people in Venezuela are too passive and should go out to the streets in protest. What do you think? Are you beginning to accept having Maduro por the next 6 years?
ReplyDeleteBayly has been banging the drum of rebellion for the past several months. I'm in two camps. Part of me would like to blow the pop stand. But I know that I have nothing to risk by that wishful thinking, being so far away from the fray. It would be the height of hypocrisy for me to market rebellion. Capriles's approach is more responsible. Furthermore, he knows that his voter base rests in large part on Chávez sympathies. He has to tread on eggs. Overall, I think Venezuelan oppo society-at-large is caught between a rock and a hard place. Por ahora. I have no other answer.
DeleteRe the supermarket "visit" ... Cabello's presence and sound bytes are staged to dispel any rumors of antipathies between him and Maduro. Bolstered by Cabello and background henchmen, and surrounded by an otherwise softy setting, Maduro laces into the oppo from the produce aisle of the supermarket. In sum, this is Castro-Officialdom's cynical way of staging threats to both the "enemy" and its majority supporters.
DeleteAt a time when Africa is forging ahead thanks to the ingenuity of its entrepreneurs and micro credit, Latam in general and Venezuela in particular is getting more and more africanized 20th century style. Maybe that is what the above picture is all about.
ReplyDeleteAlways dignity, always dignity.Just as in Thugo's Yanqui de Mierda rant.
ReplyDeletedignity or false pride?
Deletefirepigette
PDVSA's money would be better spent educating petroleum engineers and technicians? Of course why would they want educated Venezuelans that might cause trouble when they can hire foreign workers and get a commission to boot?
ReplyDeleteWhenever I look at pictures poverty in the third world, I am reminded that brain power follows the same Gaussian (like) curve regardless of sex, race or social status (excluding the effects of lead paint, starvation and disease)! In places like Venezuela, it is more profitable to be a gangster!
Up there in the Ranchos are kids with a lot of brains. A good example... Benito Juarez.... Mexico's Lincoln.
The whole thing is a little like the situation in North Korea where the exaltation of the leader is to a point of worship. The way people speak of Chavez is almost to the point of a god of socialism. This is so messed up right now I can't believe it. People are just not educated in the alternatives and have had this crap shoved down their throats for so long now they actually believe their own lies. Que lastima.
ReplyDeleteVenezuela is becoming a stereotypical banana republic of the 1950's...
ReplyDelete