Happy Birthday Leopoldo!

Today, after soon three month in jail and no trial in sight, Leopoldo Lopez, political prisoner of the regime has his birthday. With the added bonus that his wife has been banned for visit for a while because the regime did not like an interview she gave to ABC in Spain.

So, has Leopoldo Lopez self sacrifice been worth something?

Hace 15 años votaba NO y NO

La efeméride de hoy nos lleva a 1999, hace 15 años, cuando Venezuela selló su destino con su más desatinado referendo "por ahora". Hasta Wikipedia tiene una pagina, escrita probablemente por algún chavista pagado para eso desde alguna sala situacional.

Vamos a asumir que la información de Wikipedia es mas o menos correcta, no tengo paciencia para indagar en fuentes mas confiables como los archivos periodísticos. Wikipedia, el opio del flojo. Total, bien me acuerdo de ese día para no depender ni siquiera de Wikipedia si no es por los numerosos que me imagino son sacados del CNE y que concuerdan con mis recuerdos porcentuales.

El referendo que llamo Chávez era ilegal. La constitución de 1961 en sus artículos 246 y 249 era clarísima en eso de modificar la constitución y eso no se cumplió, con la complicidad de la Corte Suprema, cuya presidenta entonces, Cecilia Sosa, se las hecha de anti chavista férrea. Algo mas de hierro hubiese sido bueno en 1999.

Peaceful protests bother you? Just ban them. And force punitive delation.

Once again today we have proof that the judicial system is totally at the service of the executive, that separation of powers is a concept of the past in a revolution where even a dead Chavez seems to be the lone ruler. In an unanimous decision (does anyone remembers a time when a chavista high court ruled with at least one dissent voice?) the constitutional hall has decided that article 68 of the constitution does not apply and that now any protest, ANY, must get a permit.

How to admit failure in Venezuela: by threatening further and blaming others

I have to start with my own admission: for the past few weeks I have watched no Venezuelan TV, I have read papers at best every three days, and besides a little bit internet, not much else...  But in all honesty I have also written less than usual and watched out on what to write. But Maduro gave me a pearl too good to pass on. The more so that it is in my field....

I have written several times already on how the regime has tried to control the distribution of ANY agricultural products through SADA, SICA and what not. In short, for those late in the show, in theory in Venezuela you cannot move a truck load of food, or ingredients needed to prepare food without a government permission that includes all, even the license driver of the trucker. For example, about a third of what I sell falls into that category and before we ship them we need to await for a government permit processed through Internet but that may take quite a few hours to be delivered. Sometimes forcing me to suspend shipment until the next day so I have to pay an extra day, and night, to the chauffeur forced to wait, notwithstanding the client having yet to suffer one more delay.... You get the picture.

Stand offing happily in Venezuela

Easter week came and went without anything being solved in Venezuela.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The man died yesterday and has been today's news. I am no going to write much about it but I need to acknowledge that he was a rather poor politician, a maybe not so great human being, but one of the most stupendous writers ever. I have already written in 2007 a homage to Cien Años de Soledad, mentioning Love in the Time of Cholera and Chronicle of a Death Foretold, three essential books, to which if you are Latino American you should also add El General en su Laberinto.

One thing I have noticed it is the attacks made against him for his friendship for Fidel Castro. I want to make two comments on that.

The US of A has a hard time to understand why South of the Rio Grande we have problems with them

This is one example, on Google news tonight.

Moises Naim explains how Fidel and Cuba took over Chavez and Venezuela

It is Maundy Thursday and I am tired after a very difficult week. Fortunately Moises Naim publishes a complete and brief summary on how Fidel Castro sucked the brain out of Chavez making this one transform Venezuela into a Cuban colony. Long time readers of this blog knew that, of course, but it is the first time I see this so explicitly printed in major media, title included: "Cuba fed a president’s fears and took over Venezuela".

Mientras Dudamel sigue vendiéndose a la represión Montero nos da un himno libertario

Gabriela Montero nos da una combinación de la Polonesa Heroica de Chopin con el himno nacional de Venezuela.

El único problema es que el chaburrismo ni sabe, ni le interesa, lo que Chopin y Polonia representan. En fin, que se hace .....

Close to Easter the Guarimbalogue starts laying empty eggs

I am going to be brief: the vaunted results of last night "dialogue" leave me cold. True, Aveledo announces that a better truth commission WILL BE named, that an amnesty law has been rejected but that other ways WILL BE tried, that the opposition WILL BE able to offer suggestions to the fight against crime plan, that the many public officials that should have been chosen long ago WILL BE picked according to the law.

Am I the only one detecting a pattern of wishful thinking? Can I trade 4 WILL BE for a single IS?

See, when Patiño, the Ecuador foreign minister and maybe the biggest fan of chavismo inside UNASUR expresses wonderment at how much was achieved in a single session, well, I am suspicious.

There has been so many WILL BE in the past that went absolutely nowhere, that ended up favoring the regime, that I shall be excused to express my doubts.

That UNASUR was prompt in abandoning the opposition in April-May 2013 makes me doubt very much that this time around that they may be more serious.

That the people who made possible through gurarimba pressure that the regime accepted to sit down with the opposition are not present at the table makes me doubt that the results will be received with elation by the hoi polloi on the barricades, or not.

I think we should forget that, keep protesting as long as the regime does not throw at us a real bone; and for good measure actually challenge Aveledo to force him to bring him on the bacon or step down along with Capriles.  I am sorry but for all their merits they did lose in October 2012, the "lost" again in April 2013, they lost a lot in December 2013. How can I believe that this time around they will get something out of the regime? Just my opinion, what do I know.

La MUD está, en verdad, meando fuera del perol

Y en particular AD, Copei y Primero Justicia que, bueno, ¡se vayan pa'l carajo!

Estoy leyendo que en San Cristobal quieren primarias para el 5 de mayo para poder sustituir a Ceballos a finales de mayo. Eso debe ser una de los más grandes desatinos políticos que yo haya leído en años. Y valga Dios que hemos leído cualquier tipo de barbaridad.

Munich versus Londres

Talking at the EU parliament. 

No, the spelling "mistake" in the title is intentional, I know how to spell London.  The point here is that catching up with my reading I came across a surrender article of Luis Vicente Leon on El Universal Sunday and a the account today of Maria Corina Machado exposing the Venezuelan situation at the European Parliament, that weeks before its election finds the time to receive her. The first is Munich, the surrender of democracy to a form of Realpolitik and the second is the courageous appeal to resist like de Gaulle in London in 1940 when all seemed lost. Thus French Londres.


I read twice the infamous article of Luis Vicente Leon and I really, really want to believe that it was ill edited and thus he did not mean what he meant.  In short, no need to elaborate, from reading the article you gather that not only resistance is futile, that the opposition is lost forever and that the best we can hope now for Venezuela is a corporatism state system, that is, a state that controls pretty much everything and considers interest groups and the private sector as mere contractors for its needs.

A footnote on guarimbalogue

Just to let you know that last week exercise has disliked the regime and that I am pretty sure nothing will come of it.

Si a cada 11 le toca su 13, pues a cada 13 le toca su 12

El chavismo está hoy ¿conmemorando? ¿celebrando? o tal vez ¿añorando? el mes de abril de 2002, un desastre que les sirve de Playa Girón. Porque otra cosa no tienen para su épica sino ese desastre del cual se salvo Chávez de carambola. Bueno, cuando escribo "se" salvo quiero decir "lo" salvaron porque el estaba lloriqueando en sotanas y en la playita de la Orchila donde lo habían puesto su incompetencia y su inconsciencia. Pero por suerte para Chávez, la incompetencia del otro lado fue mayor, demostrando que las Fuerzas Armadas de Venezuela ya no son ni capaces de hacer un golpe, sea en 1992 o 2002.

El chavismo tiene un problema de épica ya que solo cuenta con los estentóreos intestinales de su héroe en el Museo Militar o en aquel túnel de tren del cual no quiero acordarme. Ni siquiera en su muerte pudo el líder crear un momento de épica, entregándose como lo hizo a unos extranjeros que lo aislaron antes de matarlo. Con el circo del funeral, sus poco iluminados lugartenientes no mejoraron el asunto, pasando luego directo a un trágico vodevil fascista que nos tiene a todos en ascuas, chavistas y no chavistas.

How much "save Castro!" is part of the agenda about Venezuela?

I have written on and off about how vital Venezuela has become for the survival of the Castro brothers, and maybe their system. In the latest mention of this I was listing LatAm countries whose leaders cannot bear the fall of the Cuban regime as it would be a blow of their raison d'être.  I need to come back on this with more emphasis after the words of Brazil's ex president Lula calling upon Maduro to create a "coalition" government to bring Venezuela out of its current crisis (in English here).

Dialogue, monologue or guarimbalogue? Venezuelan political discourse peculiarities

UPDATED.

I am not only a little preoccupied about personal matters but to tell you the truth from the start I lost any possible interest in the "dialogue" attempt last night at Miraflores. See, the regime is so predictable, such a permanent rehash of old grievances that one could have easily guessed the discourse.

The monologue

Comunicado de la MUD sobre las elecciones anunciadas para San Cristóbal y San Diego

En el día de hoy la señora Tibisay Lucena ha anunciado que el CNE convocará a elecciones para nuevos alcaldes en San Cristóbal y San Diego. Con toda responsabilidad la Mesa de la Unidad Democrática no reconocerá dichas elecciones y hará todo cuanto esta en su poder para evitarlas.

La señora Tibisay Lucena peca de dos maneras graves en su anuncio.

Monday blues on a blackmailed Venezuela

In the wee hours Saturday morning the Nazional Guard and Nazional Police decided to attack the barricades in Caurimare. As a consequence there has been a locking up of streets all around the area from Chuao to Macaracuay, throwing quite a lot of distress in my plans to take care of the sick.  Since I am trapped and forced to think a little I though that it may be a good time to consider at where is the country standing at.

El facilismo intelectual de Carlos Raúl Hernández

Hay un artículo de opinión en El Universal de hoy que quisiera comentar de manera breve. Se trata de un escrito de Carlos Raúl Hernández donde lo que choca es un facilismo intelectual para evitar sus responsabilidades, algo mas bien indigno del momento que vivimos.

Carta abierta a la ministra Meléndez, a la FANB y a la FAN

Señora ministra.

El puñito de la amenaza

Hace unas semanas había leído con mucho interés su defensa de la GNB y del ejercito en El Nacional,  EL Universal y VTV. También en AVN para que no digan que no me informo. Permítame hacer unos comentarios.

Primero, usted debería empezar por botar a quien sea que la esta asesorando porque esa persona no sirve. Para que esa persona le haga hacer hincapié sobre las bajas y heridos de la GNB cuando el otro lado reclama números 10 veces mas altos es una torpeza.

Announcement

Dear readers.

Gwareembah! And more to come with Maria Corina Machado out

Today was a recrudescence of barricades in some areas. Protests are not dwindling. I was surprised this morning at 7 AM with all roads blocked out of El Cafetal on my way to medical appointments. I had to escape through Macaracuay. Later I learned that for once the regime decided to scare El Cafetal barricades ignored until now by sending what has been reported a fake funeral of "motorizados" which was an excuse for colectivos to come and shoot their guns in the air.