Tuesday, June 27, 2017

From official terror to article 350 - 3) the country chavismo wants

If chavismo is divided it remains nevertheless that they all share a common vision of the country: we will never be out of office; we will create an opposition we like; we will share only a few things with that likeable opposition; we will erase it as needed and start anew; 90% of power and money at the very least will always be for us.  Then again, when you look at the pictures from this week end military ceremony you do realize that "Caracas, we have a problem".



In here I have pointed out a few details on that picture. Maduro went to an army base, isolated from the general public as the crowd was selected (long gone are those Chavez ceremonies at the Carabobo battle field on June 24 when "el pueblo" was welcome with open arms).


First, look at the number of bodyguards. Just on that pic we can count at least 9 (red lightning). Let me see whether I get this right: Maduro claims that the army is devoted to him and the revolution and in a major military base, in a major military holiday he feels compelled to bring all these bodyguards? OK, let's move on.

Second, one of the bodyguards has a strange wallet circled in yellow. The nuclear code it ain't not. I inquired with a relative that used to be long ago in the army. That rectangular satchel can be open quickly and becomes a series of connected shields behind which the carrier (or Maduro in this case) can protect himself from bullets.  Trust issues anyone?

Third. Maduro carries around his wife, Cilia Flores, pink arrow.  She has no official function in the government. She has no function in the army. She does not even belong, that I know, to the National Assembly defense committee (and, anyway, she would not be the only one from that committee entitled to attend). Nobody else carries their wife/spouse to such a ceremony. What gives? Why is she most of the time next to Maduro in public appearances, and always in major ones?  Is she being groomed to become his successor? At this point in our tumultuous political climate I cannot see any other logical thought. This is becoming for real a Nicolae/Elena duo.

It is when you see such picture, betraying such a lack of trust, such a need to display what in reality does not exist that you understand better why the regime has convened a constituent assembly: the only not too bloody way to get rid of whomever you do not like or do not trust.  And of course, since a constitutional assembly cannot be trusted anyway, let see how the regime packed it to make sure that a majority will be held by the camarilla in office.

I am not going into details. Quickly. First, there should have been a referendum on whether "el pueblo" wanted a new constitution. There was not. Also that referendum should have been deciding how the assembly would be elected if a different method from the current system to elect the National Assembly was chosen. It was not. Moving on.

Once the constitutional assembly election is imposed, its electoral system represents a severe regression in human rights as the principle of "one man one vote" is dismissed. Just an example: a vote in some districts represent a dozen of votes in another district, preferably one where the opposition should win. A sort of apartheid vote where the majority of the country will get a minority of the elected. And if that were not enough, about 40% of the constitutional assembly will be elected through a corporatist system where groups of people, according to their occupation, get to vote again (and many who do not qualify for these will not have that vote).  The list of these groups is established arbitrarily by the regime. Like me you find out that you have been registered as X when in fact you should be in Y. But see, the X are the rump corporatist seats allocated to the opposition whereas the Y is where chavismo is pretty sure to get an ample majority since the rolls are linked to social programs that they control.

The whole set up is of a very fascist nature, as under Mussolini or Franco, where only males registered in certain groups could vote.

And what does that assembly wants to achieve?  Legality, human rights and the like not being, obviously, the prime objective.

At first it seemed that what the regime truly wanted was a way to get rid of the current National Assembly so that the constituent assembly could be the organism that would sign on new international loans that the current Assembly refuses to sign unless they have at least supervision right. Supervision is what this regime is toxically allergic too.

But as the "campaign" progresses it has become clear that the constitutional assembly will have other unholy objectives.

First there will be a purge of all that chavismo dislikes. This will start with the National Assembly, of course. But since then new targets have emerged. For example the Nation's Prosecutor, Luisa Ortega, has already been publicly named as one of the first officials to be fired. We can expect a lot more purges, in the best stalinist minus execution mode, from sitting mayors and governors to the army. The army in particular I suspect will have a reorganization that will reduce dramatically the numbers of generals, currently superior to the total numbers of generals in NATO (depending on how you count, but certainly more than the US who is at war right now). Since the army is corrupt the purge will have two intentions: eliminating a lot of corrupt simply because there is not enough money for bribes anymore; eliminating generals of dubious allegiance, those that are not willing to repress as ordered.

The second objective will be to create, let's not be afraid of words, a communist state. Soviets/comunas/consejos comunales will become the administrative structure. They are systems under social control where votes, if any, are with raised hands when possible.  Private property will probably be recognized but expropriation will be made easier through figures of "social interest". Also these "comunas" will be the ones supervising the good use of private property and thus decide if not ownership, at least what should be made with them.

Third, a legal way to restrict rights. We already saw how the principle of "one man one vote" will be killed by the mere election of that assembly. But we can be assured that new constitutional restrictions on media and Internet will be enacted.  Also, we can be assured that if the regime party may not become a one party state, the executive power will be even more reinforced as separation of powers will be struck from the constitution. As long as the regime can manage to elect the executive power through corporative voting, it will not matter much what the rest of the constitution states.

Let's add a fourth intent: change the legal/penal system so as to make lesser crimes people like Cabello or El Aissami are already accused of, and ban extradition under any term.  That is, in a hypothetical future you could only jail Cabello by changing again the constitution.

So that is the vision of the chavismo state, which should, up to a point, decrease the need for bodyguards for Maduro et all.  In case you still do not get the point there is that video of Maduro today, I think, where he says clearly that if he cannot achieve the revolution's goals through the vote, he will do so through the arms.



There you have it

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Bonus: a closer look of the scene that opens this post. Click for full splendor.



There you can appreciate the restoration of the national men's attire that Maduro wants to force on us. Except that that outfit is not for women but Cilia is now wearing such.

Also look at the cheap banners held by the soldiers. There is a certain cheap Nuremberg tawdriness to the whole thing, don't you think?

By the way, the fatness of Maduro is exaggerated by him wearing under some bullet proof shit.



11 comments:

  1. When I see this picture of that sorry lot, I can only but ponder about those words of abbot Arnaud Amalric: "Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius."

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  2. Boludo Tejano5:28 PM

    Second, one of the bodyguards has a strange wallet circled in yellow. The nuclear code it ain't not.

    Daniel, I'm going to have to bill you for the yerba mate I spitted all over my computer screen. (No I didn't actually do that, but your phrasing was one of the funnier phrases I have recently read.)

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  3. I don't envision the US assisting Venezuela in any practical sense, presently, as long as Trump moves the US closer to the Russians. It's a horrible state of affairs in the US, and a damn shame that Republicans give Trump so much cover. Your past columns have illustrated, for me, the slow deterioration of your beautiful country, which has now evolved into a quickened pace of destruction. The US Republican Party's Chavista like characters, could learn so much from your blog.

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    Replies
    1. Boludo Tejano7:45 PM

      The US Republican Party's Chavista like characters, could learn so much from your blog.

      Dixit Bernie Sanders, who rumor has it is NOT a Republican: Close The Gaps: Disparities That Threaten America.

      These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?

      The American dream is more likely to be realized in Venezuela than in the United States, Bernie Sanders tells us. As we all want to realize the American dream, we should emulate Venezuela, Bernie Sanders tells us. Just as Mayor Bernie told us that Sandinista Nicaragua should be a model for Vermont.

      BTW, while Venezuela is purported to have those GREAT inequality statistics that Three-House-Bernie adores, they don't take into account all the billions that the upper level Chavistas are skimming off the top. If that were reported in the income figures, the reported inequality figures for Venezuela would be a lot higher.


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    2. Anonymous5:59 PM

      To so called Freeman...

      I would quote you yet why waste bits.

      It is Democrats (Edward Kennedy, Barrack Hussein O., et al.)/Socialists (Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Daniel Ortega, et al.)/Progressives (Danny Glover, Oliver Stone, Sean Penn, et al.)/Communists (Fidel Castro, Xi Jingpin, et al.)/Dictators (Vladimir Putin, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, et al.) who loved Chavez and still love chavizmo. The proof is in international press for you to find at your leisure. That said, I doubt you will.

      There is very minimal cover of Venezuela in the U.S. leftist media. By omission through journalistic malpractice, U.S. leftist media has demonstrated their love of Chavez and continued love of chavizmo. They only cover Venezuela when they can not ignore/avoid it because of other media coverage. How many times have you seen articles on any U.S. main stream media regarding the disaster Chavez's policies were and have become under Maduro?

      BTW, Putin has been very cozy with Chavez and chavizmo for many years before Trump ever came on the political scene. Did you ever hear of TU-160 aircraft (nuclear capable Russian strategic bombers) which landed in Libertador Air Base in 2008? Yes, Barrack Hussein O. was President and did nothing, not even his usual meaningless "strongly worded warning." I can provide many other examples but again why waste bits on you. Perhaps others willing to be enlightened will seek some of the knowledge I write about. So, get educated and stop parroting leftist propaganda you hear in the fake news media.

      I lived under Chavez in Caracas and saw the Russian Sukois fly over my head on the way to Fuerte Tiuna, saw on Alo Presidente Kennedy, Glover, Stone and Penn kiss the Chavez ring as typical tools and useful idiots they are. I saw the blood of protestors on the streets after Chavez armed barrio tugs (consejos comunales and milicia bolivariana) assaulted citizens who tried to exercise their freedom of speech while the police sat on their hands. Hmm, sounds like the anti-fa tugs in California who want to suppress freedom of speech through violence; typical leftists.

      Oh well, HOPE your learned something AND CHANGE your ignorance.

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    3. Anonymous, or whatever you might be, THE PAST IS THE PAST. If you continue to make the past, your future, you will have no future. That's because you will miss what is really happening TODAY.

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    4. Your use of a faulty, past, political timeline, is absurd. That ignorance of yours then prevents you from seeing what is directly in front of you. Trump is a madman, and the Republican Congress, that protects him, is just as mad. You, Anonymous, whatever you are, you cannot see what is occurring today because you are so tied to your fake idea of what happened in the past. But whatever occurred in the past, to get us to the place that we're now at, in either Venezuela or the United States, is irrevelant. What is happening today, is.

      Delete
  4. Boludo Tejano12:02 AM

    The US Republican Party's Chavista like characters, could learn so much from your blog.


    Dixit Congressman José Serrano (D- NY 15): Serrano: “Chavez Changed the Conversation In Latin America

    “President Chavez was a controversial leader. But at his core he was a man who came from very little and used his unique talents and gifts to try to lift up the people and the communities that reflected his impoverished roots. He believed that the government of the country should be used to empower the masses, not the few. He understood democracy and basic human desires for a dignified life. His legacy in his nation, and in the hemisphere, will be assured, as the people he inspired continue to strive for a better life for the poor and downtrodden.”

    Last I heard Congressman Serrano was a Democrat. Funny thing- while it is not difficult to locate Hugo-love from Democrats, it is rather difficult to find Hugo-love from those so-called "Chavista-like Republicans."

    I am reminded of the famous Tom Wolfe quote: “The dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.” All those "Chavista like Republicans," but it's Democrats who had them a case of Hugo-love.

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  5. It saddens me to see how Venezuela has been transformed into hell-hole for the majority of its citizens. I cannot see a satisfactory end via peaceful protests.

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  6. Post the latest Daniel if yiu can find time please. Better then listening to the Trumo lovers fight the Socialites as is like listening to 2 idiots try and rationalize

    ReplyDelete

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