To US readers still haunting this page I wish them a happy, loving Thanksgiving,
I have been out of Venezuela for urgent major family matters and blogging on what I cannot properly follow seemed pointless. That the dollar is worth ten times more today than 6 months ago summarized it all perfectly.
So, I will not have turkey today but where I am staying they are starting to try out that "black friday" thing. Except that it is an all week event, where everyday there are deals of the day. I am not complaining, I got an S6 for less than 300. With still an extra 10% when I return to Venezuela and go through customs. That duty free thing, you know....
Do not overeat, no food to waste, think about those Venezuelans who have no thanks to give as they cannot properly feed their families. Otherwise enjoy for me my favorite of T-day, caramelized sweet potatoes and corn bread.
Happy T-Day to you too.
ReplyDeleteNow I am totally confused, on the one hand we get how terrible it is to live in Venezuela, no toilet paper, no medicines, no money.
On the other hand we get: "Hi gang, i am travelling abroad -some family matters- and guess what? I just got myself an Iphone for under 300 bucks. And by the way I am listening to Beethoven 17th in F minor while I am writing this."
What gives? Are you an "enchufado" or things are not as bad as they seem from the outside?
Your comment indicates that when it comes to Venezuela, you don't know an arepa from an aardvark.I suggest that you inform yourself about Venezuela by reading some of Danie's postings on Venezuela. He's been at it for years and year. Ciao.
DeleteThanks Boludo
DeleteDog barks, vans pass by.
The identification of a country's plight to a single individual is a common strategy to disqualify arguments. I shall not bother replying. However I would point that were mhb knowledgeable about Venezuela and this blog he would know that owning a cell phone is about the only way to get reliable information, away from regime control. Getting a half price S6 is not just a fancy, it is also a good investment to be able to maximize your reception in a country with lousy internet and lousy cel service. The more so that the choice of cel phones is now dismal in Venezuela. But back, I just live there, what do I know.
Happy Thanksgiving to you too! A am a gringo, but living in Ecuador, no Thanksgiving here...live goes on.
ReplyDeleteBen,
ReplyDeleteDaniel has written of his business in this blog, so you can safely assume that he has accumulated some capital over his professional life. That he has bought a consumer item doesn’t change the fact that there is a active famine in the country.
Writing this, I begin to think yours might not be a sincere a comment as I thought initially. Are you a leftie sympathiser by any chance, Ben?
Back in the days after RR when Chavez considered his e-stolen (smartmatic) vote a mandate that Venezuela and PDVSA were his to do with what he wanted I, recall posting here and/or The Devils blog, one Thanksgiving, that Chavez and his cronies, would kill, cook, eat and pick the bones clean the Golden Goose called PDVSA, the greatest wealth in LatAm. Well its done! Except for the Corruptos who continue to suck on the bones, everyone else, from Don to Crillio is doing their best to survive and change things. Let me remind all that, The I-Phone, is much more powerful than the Pen when you have to deal with machine guns rather than swords!
ReplyDeleteAlso, allow me to say how much I miss The Devil being a part of this effort and wish other learned people would pick up the I-Phone and continue what, most latin's know can take generations.
If Gringos are haunting this blog then I must be the ghost of liberty lost. Though I long ago returned to the empire from Venezuela (thanks to Chavez) I will always wish the best for that paradise lost. One day we'll be able to say happy Thanksgiving to our Venezuelan friends but not yet.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm at it here's a Thanksgiving lesson for socialist Venezuela. The Pilgrims tried socialism & starved. Then they moved in another direction. From Gov. Bradford's diary:
ReplyDelete"...every man for his owne perticuler, and in that regard trust to themselves…. And so assigned to every family a parcell of land, according to the proportion of their number for that end, only for present use (but made no devission for inheritance) and ranged all boys and youth under some familie. This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corne was planted then other waise would have bene by any means ye Govr or any other could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble, and gave farr better contente. The women now wente willingly into ye feild, and tooke their little-ons with them to set corne, which before would aledg weaknes, and inabilitie; whom to have compelled would have bene thought great tiranie and oppression."
https://fee.org/articles/our-first-thanksgiving/#axzz2lrr6Szbu
What most people do not understand is that even with abundant money in your bank account life is very hard in Venezuela. You need cash to buy food but you are limited in the amount of cash the bank will give you. Then once you get the cash you still need to search for the food to buy. It is quickly becoming a case of “nothing to buy” rather than “cannot afford to buy”
ReplyDeleteI am thinking that Ben's Mile High handle may refer to a drug induced mental state rather than possibly being a resident of Denver, Colorado which is commonly referred to as the mile high city although both references may be accurate since Colorado has legal recreational marijuana. Either way, it is a very stupid, uninformed comment but I guess I will let it go because, as we all know, Time wounds all heels.
ReplyDeleteDaniel- thank you for all you do for your readers and I hope and pray that by the time the next Thanksgiving rolls around there will be more to be thankful for in Venezuela.
Daniel - Happy Thanksgiving to you and your S.O. Thank you for your continuing commentary on long-suffering Venezuela - a country I hold close to my heart.
ReplyDeleteOne good thing this US Thankgiving is watching the infighting within the regime as they arrest their own cronies. Not so much to go around anymore so likely they will rob from each other.
ReplyDeleteDaniel: Good to have you back. Was starting to wonder why you hadn't posted for while. You could do something on the happy downfall of Africa's Chavez, the loathsome Robert Mugabe
ReplyDelete...hope you're doing well. Glad to see a post!
ReplyDeleteThanks daniel! This is my favorite holiday in the US, as gratitude, when actually exercised, crowds out bickering and complaining and unhappiness and political angst, etc, even if just for a moment. The respite is always good for my soul and psyche. I am am grateful for the work you've done for well over a decade. Wishing you and your partner and all of your loved ones love and cheer even if the material world around you is chaos and mayhem. This bite of leftover sweet potato soufflé is for you :-)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Thanksgiving, here is a message from our friends at Telesur.A Thanksgiving Letter to Our Wealthiest 1%.
ReplyDeleteAs this Thanksgiving holiday comes to an end and the Xmas season approaches, let’s not forget to give thanks to our richest 1 percent fellow Americans and their corporations
As this Thanksgiving holiday comes to an end and the Xmas season approaches, let’s not forget to give thanks to our richest 1 percent fellow Americans and their corporations. Thanks to all 1.25 million of you from the 130 million of us 99 percenters....
Telesur is a creature of the Chavista government of Venezuela. The 1% in Venezuela are mostly those connected Chavistas plundering the public monies or collecting bribes from the drug trade.
Nice to get preached at from those folks.
Enter this in the entertaining headline department, from Vox.Venezuela is collapsing. Why is its president messing with the one thing that works?
ReplyDeleteThe article isn't that bad, but the headline ignores the fact that Chavismo has been messing with PDVSA for the last 15 years.
I hope Daniel is okay, he hasn't posted in a while.
ReplyDelete