The homes of the fatherland
Let's not get into the detail that the regime is breaking all electoral rules by launching strong its campaign for December municipal elections. Dictatorships follow the electoral flow chart they chose and change at will. Instead let's look at the message exposed today.
#ChávezVivelaPatriaSigue Vamos tod@s a inscribirnos y participar en la Red de HogaresPatriotas,Bolivarianos yChavistas para Gobernar Junt@s.
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) August 24, 2013
#ChavezLivesTheFatherlandContinues Let's go all to register and participate en the Network for Patriotic Homes, Bolivarian and Chavista to rule together.
In short it means that if you do not go an sign up your home in this new registry, then you are a traitor.
Translation: they certainly are not going to come and knock at my door. This is a measure to strike fear in popular districts where increasingly people are daring to vote against the regime. The published electoral results may be a manipulation but the regime knows the real numbers. In addition in popular districts where there is a certain flux of inhabitants, this creates a new up to date registry of voters, listing the many ways they can be threatened if they do not vote (by belonging to any of the various Misiones, or having their relatives in one of those). The way the state TV reports it includes a video where the ghost of Chavez floats over these Patriot Homes. Interestingly Diosdado Cabello was campaigning in Anzoategui, which in theory should be a lost cause for chavismo, with a surprising inclusive message of bringing solutions for all, regardless of their party affiliation......
Not only this is dictatorship, but it is also fascism.
Amuay revisited
You may remember the Amuay disaster of one year ago. In spite of all sorts of blockades set by the regime so we do not know what caused the accident, the opposition representatives at the National Assembly did try to conduct an investigation and got some results that they tried to deliver at Amuay Plant Management. Who refused to receive them, not even accepting the bound report. While PDVSA workers were conveniently set outside to heckle the representatives.
Well, at least they got a result. The regime decided suddenly that it will "soon" reveal the evidence that Amuay was an attack from the opposition, a sabotage to ruin the reëlection campaign of Chavez. Maduro, of course, just states that he has the evidence but he is unable even to give a hint. Nor, that we know of, is anyone already under arrest or something. Just like the myriad of assassination attempts against Chavez that have yet to yield an actual picture of the would be assassin, and even less of a trial......
Now, I am not going to put it past from some oppo loonies to set Amauy on fire. After all, next door in Colombia, the FARC is tired to blow up pipelines and electric transmission towers. So the inspiration would come directly from Maduro's pals in Colombia. However it is inexcusable that if the regime had any evidence of such a sabotage we are only told now, AFTER the opposition presented a serious paper on the matter, that the regime will not as a matter of principle even try to refute. Well, they cannot, but that is another story.
This is how a dictatorship replies to criticism, by counter attack in an outrageous manner, to drown the noise from the other side. And a little fascistic in the threats implied and vocabulary used.
Movie censorship
And to finish this on a lighter note of sorts. The latest state sponsored movie is about a moment in the life of Bolivar who is played by Roque Valero, one of these artists who after 14 years decided to come out for Chavez in last year campaign. The critic has not been good, but was not bad either. At any rate, there seems to have been a snafu in the distribution of the tracks and the regime has taken it as a personal offense, as censorship of its voice. This for a regime that has just closed down Globovision and does not allow a single opposition figure to be featured on any of the state media. Note the aggressive attack of Maduro
"¿De quién es Cinex? Porque se niegan a pasar la película Bolívar. Hay que abrir una investigación porque la censura es delito en el país y quien comete censura lo tiene que pagar caro."Who is the owner of Cinex [theater franchise]. Why do they refuse to pass a film on Bolivar[?]. We need to open an investigation because censorship is a crime in this country and the one who commits censorship needs to pay big for it.This said of course with a total lack of self consciousness. On the fascist side, no?
By the way, Maduro wants his followers to jump on Facebook and Twitter to harass the opposition participants there. Maybe I should expect more harassment? Kind of a form of censorship if you ask me. Do they read English?
Le prix d'honneur, mon cher ami, just for keeping up directly with the bilge, as in vtv.
ReplyDeleteLove Maduro's "blankie", the object with which he cannot do without: el micrófono, even when the televised scene takes place in someone's living room. His idea, to govern electronically is not like el método burgués del pasado (...) but as Chávez would wish it (fade in transparency of el mico over shack-filled hillsides). Cilia's bovine stance, at the end, and her nods wraps it up ... en papel dorado.
Dictatorships do not realize that they are their very worst enemies. Once free of the need to debate, of the need to pay attention to criticism because there is none openly visible, they become dumb in their presentation. Globovision may be closed but in coming months regime's videos are going to get worse, and they will be totally unaware of their ridicule. Small comfort for us in the trenches, deprived of information, but we get all what we can.
DeleteLook forward to your future finds. I predict that even though audio transmission equipment gets smaller and sleeker, we won't see this evolution presented in the microphone use by Maduro, who probably will retain his need for, dare I say it, a phallic symbol as his batuta.
DeleteI wonder if Cabello wants to strangle el ilegitimo, and puts the blame to someone. Every now and then he warns people who wants to kill the Bigote.
ReplyDelete