Today, since all of his accusations have yielded no response from the US of A (at least none that he was looking for) Maduro decided to demand visas to US citizens who would want to visit Venezuela, that these visas will require payment of fees, and that there will be a list of people form the US that will be banned from coming to Venezuela. No visas for Bush, Rubio, Menendez, etc... Bland report from BBC here, as expected; heartier coverage here if you read Spanish.
For good measure Maduro demanded a reduction of US personnel in its embassy, bringing them down to what Venezuela has in the US. And while at it he demanded a world wide revolt against US imperialism.
There was no word about Maduro being coherent and stopping sending oil to the US.
As usual, a dog that barks rarely bites. Never mind that there is no reason in hell that US folks in the list would ever want to come to Venezuela, at least under the present situation. Oh, I forgot, if there is so "much" US personnel in the US embassy it is because people want to go from Caracas to Miami, not from the Us to Venezuela.
Move on, nothing to be seen here, just an idiot ranting. Care not.
Hey at least the imperialist have the US dollars to pay for visas..........
ReplyDeletei understand Nicholas is planning a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor too.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, one of the reasons for Japan attacking Pearl Harbor was that the US cut off oil exports to Japan, potentially crippling its war machine. So, your joke is not as absurd as you intended it. War and oil just go together.
DeleteMight I disagree here? I think there is something deeper going-on behind the scenes. In my opinion we may be seeing the first indication of things unraveling before our eyes. One can only imagine the heated discussions taking place amongst the Chavista's behind closed doors. Food imports. Budgets. Lack of foreign currency. Inflation. Food lines. Things may be coming unglued in private discussions, thus Maduro feels the need to lash-out. What you may be looking at here is a "Danse Macabre," a medieval death dance. You can smell the panic in the air....
ReplyDeleteSo does think this lady:
Deletehttp://abcblogs.abc.es/bochinche-venezolano/2015/02/28/el-chavismo-sin-maduro/
I spent years listening to Fidel and Raul, what Maduro is pure Castro chess moves. They are trying desperately to elicit a USA reaction, so they can blame the ongoing disaster on outside forces, conspiracies, and dirty war.
DeleteThe Castro mindset always involves two factors: use of secret intelligence and violence. The violence is both overt and covert. The intelligence can be used to manipulate, blackmail and block opponents' moves. Thus, when you see Maduro mouth off and act stupid, remember Raul Castro and his gnomes are pulling the strings.
Hopefully Obama will limit himself to a few homilies about the need for dialogue and give Maduro some open advice, for example tell him to be a bit more neoliberal and raise gasoline prices.
Cuba spent many years attacking the US Empire (verbally only, because the rockets with nuclear bombs were never installed). All this in exchange for Russian (and later on Venezuelan) cash. Now that the only likely source of income for Cuba seems to be the Empire itself, the Cubans apparently decided to pass the privilege of being the Empire Tormenter on to Venezuela, Maduro and Co. obliging. But who is going to pay for Venezuela's services? Putin perhaps?
ReplyDeleteThe order from Cuba seems to have come yesterday, because all the Chavista grandees began barking at the same time.
Antonio
Meanwhile the weakest president in US history wants to make friends with Cuba as they expand into Venezuela.
DeleteAs long as Obama limits himself to talking and opening diplomatic relations he is doing the right thing. Once a US embassy is open there would be a need for much longer talks regarding sanctions. The key is to choke off USA sourced credit. The cuban dictatorship is a social parasite, they shouldn't be allowed to free load using credit to buy food in the USA. They can pay cash, which is what they do now.
DeleteOver 20k protesting in Moscow today. Venezuelans getting in their queues, tweeting, instagramming and partying. Everything must be fine.
ReplyDelete"Maduro keeps trying tree after tree to see on which one he would hang best (French expression for which I do not know an equivalent off hand)"
ReplyDeleteI am curious. I can't think of what it is. Could we have it in French, please?
I have some questions:
ReplyDelete1. Is it possible to acquire Cuban citizenship while living in Venezuela?
2. If yes, then what is the cost?
I ask because Cubans get special treatment as immigrants to the USA.
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ReplyDeleteI think Cubans enter the U.S. as refugees, not immigrants.
ReplyDelete" No sabe en que palo ahorcase" In French? "cherche toujours l'arbre a mieux se pendre?"
ReplyDeleteOne of my fav. expressions has always been "see if I care", impeccable British wit. Much like " I couldn't care less" which has been butchered here in the US as "I could care less if.."
Also reminds me of "Que culpa tiene la estaca si salta el sapo y se insarta?"
DeleteFrench is better : " Ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre ". Let's see who can figure out what it refers to :-)
DeleteTres fin, mais si ca en touche une, c'est pas qu'on a rien a foutre!
DeleteThe first analogy I am thinking of is, throwing food at the wall to see what sticks. Supposedly, the way an Italian knows that their pasta has been cooked to perfection is that it sticks to the wall when thrown.
ReplyDeleteCastros through Maduro need to get Venezuelans to hate the USA in order to sell a communist gov't over a capitalist one. Since the USA is the ultimate poster child of a capitalist gov't Maduro will go to no ends to try and make the people of Venezuela hate the USA. He wants to blame all the problems of the people on the USA like the Castros have for decades. Same as the Germans did behind the iron curtain, same as Iran did and North Korea. In order to establish their crappy leadership they must make the alternative look worse. The poor and ignorant generally do not care and feel the current gov't at least tries to care about them whereas no one did before. If Venezuela could stop the crime and give out rations the poor would be happier. The 20 percent that support Maduro now have zero ambition to work and just want the basics handed to them. They choose to believe as the alternative will not let them sit on their asses and do nothing. As I said if the Castors/Maduro would have been a little more intelligent and if oil had stayed high the Castros would have conquered much of Latin America without ever firing a shot. Even here in Canada every 4 years the NDP stands up and makes a pile of social promises that would bankrupt the country and destroy its future and get all the poor and unions to vote for them, only difference is that our poor class is 20% of the people unlike most of Latin Americas 80%.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-02/the-15-most-miserable-economies-in-the-world
ReplyDelete"Maduro cuts his nose off to spite his face." (Translation: He Is so angry at his own ugly face that he cuts his nose to punish his face!)
ReplyDelete