There was a large protest in Bello Monte and it was ruthlessly repressed. Apparently the Nazional Guard and related attacked without provocation. Paramilitary "colectivos" were observed watching and ready to intervene as needed. Many injuries including a journalist at El Nacional and as student leader.
Bello Monte when tear gas was dropped from far away the protest rally. |
A courageous patriotic |
Maria Corina Machado made it to Washington and had already her first event at a think tank, where she talked about an irreversible protest movement. Tomorrow she will be speaking at the OAS, fresh not only from her own disbarring procedure but also on the way mayors are removed from office in Venezuela. Today, by the way, the next mayor to be arrested is likely going to be Chacao's Ramon Muchacho. Maduro said so. A note on Muchacho. That the same yellow dog of San Diego will also win in Chacao is not the issue here. Chavismo has a special grudge against Muchacho because he was a close assistant of Alfredo Peña, the first chavista mayor of Caracas at large who is now in disgrace and exiled somewhere. Of course, Muchacho is a bright young thing, educated, capable, etc. etc, all that chavismo is not and thus he needs to be destroyed. And to add insult to injury he got an extensive interview with CNNE's Patricia Janiot where he clearly exposed how the regime misbehaves in the repression. For a vengeful and animalistic chavismo this is of course unforgivable.
But there are good news. One of the worst rats of these past years, Gustavo Cisneros who silenced any critical voice at Venevision and simply sold without qualms Venezuelan liberty to preserve his business interests (courtesy of a meeting with Chavez arranged by Jimmy Carter) has dared to write a mildly critical letter to the regime published in Spain's El Pais. Cisneros is a scumbag on so many levels that the only way to interpret this sudden appearance of scruples is that his information preview a demise of the regime and he is already trying to mend fences.
Another good news, in a perverse way, is that the nature of repression and provocation keeps being exposed. The question is now how much of the "crimes" that the regime tries to pin on the opposition are in fact originated by the regime itself. If yesterday we learned about the students of the school of architecture who were attacked in campus and robbed even of their clothes, amen of all the reports of Nazional Guard blackmailing families for large sums of cash to free their children, today we got the arrest in Barquisimeto of several members of INDEPABIS, the office in charge of price control. These guys were disguised as guarimberos, carrying equipment to furbish barricades and weapons. That is, ready to fabricate a provocation "from" the opposition. No wonder the regime wants to intervene municipal policies to avoid such kind of embarrassments...
And what about dialogue in all this mess? You would think that the regime would have the decency to "forget" about it since it started arresting right and left. You would be mistaken: in a dictatorship people are obliged to sit for a dialogue so they can accept the imposition made upon them. Maduro announced it so today. He said: "force the opposition to sit down to talk, to dialogue, to abandon its violent positions. We are going to have to force them in the best sense of the word". Besides noting that Maduro has added a new meaning to "force" which he claims it's good, we must wonder about his logical mental abilities. I mean, how do you dialogue with people that you are throwing to jail without even the appearance of a trial?
But thus are the ways of dictatorship and I suppose I should stop bitching and learn to adapt.
Care to comment about the implications of Walter Marquez' report?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Diputado-Walter-Marquez-Maduro-Bogota_0_376162530.html
Not relevant to this post! :-) Really, at this point, it only matters if chavismo were to want to replace Maduro. Once we are in a dictatorship who cares where the furhercito was born.... Marquez should have released the whole thing last year.
DeleteOnly one thing stands in the way of Fidel's dream of formally annexing "Cubazuela"---the pueblo. Resistance cannot stop until the Castro's are expelled. The opposition should keep critical focus on this issue. Enough repetition may wake the military that is patriotic.
ReplyDeleteMaduro is not a Dictator, in the historical Venezuelan sense. That would imply that he is autonomous. He is not. He is a Fascist Thug, but he is not autonomous. What he is, is a traitorous foot-soldier serving a foreign master. People should not think or refer to him in another way.
The reality is that independent Venezuela died 15 years ago. Cubazuela was born. What is missing is formal annexation by Cuba.
The pueblo can succeed in overthrowing the Castro's if it is clear about three things:
1. Always remember that the Castro' do not care if the violence kills both sides (protests need to avoid falling into traps where collectivos will begin shooting) ,all they want are Venezuela's natural resources to sustain their regime
2. Tolerance and cooperation will defeat the Castro's strategy of divide and conquer, the enemy is the traitorous thugs that serve the Castro's, not some idealistic Venezuelan socialist that drank the cool aid---for after all that person wants to be a Venezuelan, not become a Cuban.
3. the Faustian "survivors" of Fedecamaras, must be convinced that the opposition will create opportunities for the pueblo, as a wallowing whole (including them) to thrive.
Who will unite the pueblo so that it can get down to real work? Maria Corina? Henrique? Leopoldo? an unknown perhaps?; someone is needed to bring focus and inspiration.
"Maduro is not a Dictator, in the historical Venezuelan sense. That would imply that he is autonomous. He is not. He is a Fascist Thug, but he is not autonomous. What he is, is a traitorous foot-soldier serving a foreign master. People should not think or refer to him in another way."
DeleteCongrats: for me that is the best ever definition I have read. I share it completely.
"The protests are irreversible". This is fantastic statement from MCM.
ReplyDeleteIt counters Tibisay Lucena's statement seconds after the polls closed in April 2013 that "the results of the election are irreversible."
MCM has my prayers.
The fact that Ma Corina made her first stop at the Center for Strategic and International Studies is worrisome. It is US empire central:
ReplyDelete"The board of trustees includes many former senior government officials including Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, William Cohen, George Argyros and Brent Scowcroft. The board also includes major corporate business leaders as well as prominent figures in the fields of finance, private equity, real estate, academia and media."
"Within the intelligence community, CSIS is known for having "some of the most insightful analysis and innovative ideas for strengthening our national security," according to CIA Director John Brennan."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Strategic_and_International_Studies#Leadership_and_Staff
Don't get me wrong, I'm as anti-Chavismo, anti-Maduro, & anti-Cuban communism as anyone around here, but that doesn't mean we should blindly support US puppets either. I'm anti the above because I'm pro-liberty. "Leaders" like her will only bring Venezuela back into the US orbit. That may make things less bad than they are under present fools that mismanage the place but it isn't going to get Venezuela to where it should be. Not to mention, people like Ma Corina aren't helping the liberty activists here in the US by reinforcing the US empire abroad. Venezuela needs to chart its own course free of both the US & Cuba.
Darren, so what, it it about time people realize they have to figure out which side of the fence they are on if they don't want to end up impaled on it. As for Henry Kissinger he is a far more historical character than Chavez ever was. He assisted Nixon get out of the Vietnam pickle and open to China, not mean feats. And yet, the leftist progressive rats still claim he is a war criminal. What nonsense.
Deletei totally agree that Maria Corina is playing into the paranoia of USA mucking in other people's business, I had hoped that her statement would have been public in the OAS, but of course its sent to being private. alas, I hope that when she goes back to venezuela, and she does get arrested, cause its gonna happen, and the OAS realizes how incompetent in the face of democracy for not doing anything at all. and what a sham OAS really has become.. venezuela does need to fight for its liberty from Cuba and USA, and anyone else for that matter. and all of latin america should be ashamed of themselves to allow so much of this to happen
DeleteDarren, you may not be aware but the core ideological basis of chavismo is to be anti US.
DeletePerhaps you think that this is OK while the CSIS is not OK?
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/3/letter-to-john-kerryonvenezuela.html
Charly, Kissinger was a war criminal. The reason he & the gang ended the war in Vietnam was because it was leading to revolutionary conditions in the US, they couldn't sustain it. He has a lot of blood on his hands.
DeleteSo he got the Chinese to team up with the US against the USSR, so what? Just more of the imperial game.
Daniel, I'm well aware of what Chavismo is, thank you. What ever makes you think I favor it? One of the few things they get right is to want the US govt out of Venezuela. Bringing in the Cubans instead is one of their worst ideas.
One thing the opposition gets right is wanting the Cubans out of Venezuela. Bringing in the US instead is one of their worst ideas.
Perhaps a US troop build up in Guantanamo would be the right move to apply pressure?
ReplyDeleteSo while at work today my wife called and said the OAS banned all media from MCMs session today. Wow.
ReplyDeletescrap the OEA
DeleteFirepigette
Contra la sesión privada: Canadá, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Estados Unidos, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Panamá, Paraguay y el Perú.
DeleteTodos los representantes de la basura izquierdista sudamericano y de las repúblicas bananas del Caribe votaron a favor de la dictadura, incluso Barbados, que, valerosamente, abstuvo.
Re the vote in the OAS to keep the session private: This is one of the reasons this organization is so useless. How can the vote of St. Lucia be equal to that of the U.S.? The way it is set up, the smaller countries sell their votes to the highest bidder.
DeleteA few days ago, I wrote about a Mexican newspaper La Jornada firing any editorialist who did not support Maduro. Last night, Adela Micha and Televisa showed an hour and a half interview she did with Maduro. I don't know if that was a further sign that Mexico is standing behind Maduro or to show how utterly ridiculous the man is. I could give you many examples of the absurdity of the interview but I am more worried about where Mexico is leaning. We have our own little tyrant ready to follow the Chavez doctrine.
ReplyDeleteGrammar Alert
ReplyDeleteEither
First Day
or
Day One
You are an embarrassment to all North Americans if that is all you have to contribute.
DeleteReally Dave! You think people wouldn't understand it in context? You haven't considered that Daniel may be a little preoccupied at the moment?
DeleteBeing a smug pedant won't win you any friends. As an Englishman and a proud Brit it is appalling to see the bastardisation the Yanks have made of OUR language.
Be careful where you throw your stones. ....
Wow wow
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI4BEZMiWMQ
"Every time I see a large crowd of people on TV or in a newspaper, demonstrating against some autocratic government, I have mixed feelings: admiration for their willingness and bravery to take a stand, and a foreboding that nothing will come out of the effort."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/mar/21/betrayed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nybooks+%28The+New+York+Review+of+Books%29
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