An editorial to illustrate with facts fascism in Venezuela

I rarely translate stuff now, courtesy of Google translate, but this editorial of Cesar Miguel Rondon in his own web page (built when he was banned from TV) is worth commenting. Keep in mind the post on Maria Corina Machado being stripped of parliamentary immunity. Note, the editorial is strictly for Venezuelan use so I will need to explain a few things. The main interest is that it reflects the mood of horror setting among us. and as things are as I was working on there I learned the arrest of San Cristobal mayor, Daniel Ceballos. Quite the timing.

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It seems impossible but every day one is more struck by horror, struck by indignation. I read full of stupor what is on the front page of El Nacional (1): The seven students arrested in Ciudad Guayana monday were hospitalized becasue of the abuse they suffered during her arrest - that strong must have been the beating up that they had to go to the hospital afterwards - they were also forced to eat excrement, and they were also robbed. Yesterday in a tweet they were talking about a girl, who besides this unacceptable torture, the humiliation that resides in being forced to eat excrement, shit, they also tried to rape her. In the middle of this horrific scenery the National Assembly decided to name a Commission for Truth.


Now, who presides that Commission? Diosdado Cabello (2). Who compose that Commission? Elvis Amoroso, Tania Diaz, Robert Serra and Earle Herrera (3). Well, that Commission does not even need to open sessions because we know perfectly what conclusions it will reach. For example, Diosdado Cabello yesterday submitted to vote the proposal of Tania Diaz  - that we see disguised as military on the front page of VEA - What does Diaz want? To remove parliamentary immunity from Maria Corina Machado. They want to jail her for "terrorism and murderer". This is what they said. That is, there is no gradation in the sanctions, there is no gradation in torture, there is no gradation in ideas. We are talking about something that escapes the most basic concepts of what it is to be a human being.

Meanwhile we already see the real intent of the decision of the Hih Court against the mayors. In El Periodiquito of Maracay we read : "Police against Guarimbas" The minister of interior and justice, Miguel Rodriguez Torres stressed that they will study the matter of the High Court decree that forces town halls and their police to fight peacefully the street protest. The minister indicated that if the decree is not applied  there will be an intervention of the security corps of a given area where public order is troubled. We already know that it is about the prominent town halls of the country: Baruta, EL Hatillo, Maracaibo, San Cristobal, Lecheria.  thus we know what the intent is, to take over control of local police. And alter to take over the mayor office itself (4).

Decentralization is over, the rule of law is over, the country as we knew it is over as we have known it for so many years.
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An I cannot remove from my mind the image of the girl that forced to eat excrement, besides being threatened with rape. This speaks volumes of the people we are trying to deal with. My God!
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Let's start with the explanatory notes:
1) Cesar Miguel Rondon AM radio show starts with a press review and thus his "editorials" are a comment on what he reads. Kind of a glorified blogger, you know....

2) Diosdado Cabello, head to the National Assembly, is the one that had among other things M.C.M and Borges assaulted in the National Assembly. He is accused as being one of the most corrupt members of the regime. His heavy dossier from his tenure as Miranda governor keeps gathering dust. And he is, physically and mentally, a fascist pig. Thus an unacceptable member for any truth commission of any type.

3) These characters are not acceptable either. Amoroso is already on record saying that the weaponry and funds for the Guarimbas comes from the US. Tania Diaz posed yesterday in a tight military drag and has been for years one of the biggest propaganda makers of the regime, with a stone face. Serra is a bird brain, but a mean one, photographed with armed colectivos and often mentioned in this blog.

4) The police law of Chavez stripped town hall police, if they have one, from any significant public order role. For this they are lightly armed and have little means. They are unable, no matter how willing they may be, to do crowd control outside of entertainment areas and traffic. The regime knows that of course but the High Court ruling is specious and is already being challenged. To no good use of course but at least it contributes in exposing the ruthlessness of the regime and its absolute lack of any scruple.

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Thus we must put together what Rondon writes with the arrest tonight of Ceballos.  The meaning is quite simple, the regime is in dictatorial mode, it needs to provoke the opposition so that it can justify repression. This is of course impossible because after 1 month and a half of protest, even the best allies of the regime cannot ignore that such a protest is meaningful and that naked repression is not going to do any good. Look at what happened in the diverse Arab Spring movements, or in Ukraine, or in Thailand. When a people is pushed too far, something has to break.

What is more worrisome is that we have now plenty of evidence that the regime had being preparing for the moment. The way tortures are exacted, the way the judicial power is used, the narrative of the different regime individuals, all point out that they have known for a long time that they would have to resort to such measures.  The terrible thing here is that they are not acting like wounded democrats that have to be rough for a short while, say, like in Thailand. They are acting like true criminals, from their disregard to law to the way they trained scum to act for repression and come up with rape and shit eating as torture actions.

This is not all about ideology. This is about a gang of criminals that made out with power and that are using crime methods to retain it. Fascism has always been linked with crime, organized crime. Methods of drug cartels come to mind, you know...

That much is clear now.