An emotional moment in Venezuelan history

Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate;
va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli,
ove olezzano tepide e molli
l'aure dolci del suolo natal!

For a long battered opposition it has been the sweetest of days, charged with promises as we have not had in a long time. And I am not minding merely a change of president. After more than a decade of serious punishment  where all received that curse, even those who received a prize, we have sensed this afternoon that we payed our dues, that we may have made penance for our mistakes and maybe we are ready for the promised land, for atonement.

Ledezma forever!

You have to admire the gumption of nearly destitute Caracas Metro Mayor, Antonio Ledezma. The guy went on a US of A trip where he nearly met with Obama, rumor having that Chavez avoided such an embarrassing meeting by calling US ambassador Patrick Duddy back. Si non e vero, e ben trovato.

Back in Venezuela, with many important endorsements from the US including from mayor's association, Ledezma has found a way to attract more attention to his plight, which is no other than our own plight since Caracas gauleiter Farias has proved herself totally unable to tackle the city problems since she was imposed on us, not even able to meet payroll for her public employees.

Taking advantage of going to the OAS office in Caracas to offer a a formal complaint about constitutional violations in Venezuela, Ledezma decided to stay and stage a hunger strike. You might think this slightly ridiculous but think again. At a time the OAS is all up in arms about alleged constitutional violations in Honduras, Ledezma points out to what are also real constitutional violations in Venezuela that the OAS under Insulza the clown is totally ignoring.

The OAS might or might not do something about it but at the very least it will be a possible embarrassment for Chavez if he keeps screaming a little too much at upcoming OAS meetings on Honduras. And certainly an embarrassment for Insulza since not only he did not do anything for the local election frauds in Nicaragua but he is not saying anything about the attacks on opposition duly elected officials in Venezuela. Wait until they receive him in Tegucigalpa and remind him of these things....

You can look at Google news and observe by yourself how effective is Ledezma in staying in the news. During last year elections in Venezuela I was the first one to predict that Ledezma could actually win the Caracas Metro office, and he did. I do not want to hazard further predictions on Ledezma but I am sure that we can all agree that 1) he is showing folks onw way Chavez can be tackled and 2) that it is a constant battle, not just a matter of appearances at Globovision talk shows. For this, even if he is not one of my favorite politicians, too linked to old AD practices, I must still admit my admiration for the man's fight. Half a dozen more Ledezmas and the Venezuelan opposition would not be in such a weak state.

-The end-

When the Caracas Metro is just a tinker toy for some chavista apparatchik

Some days when I see how out of touch with the common folk chavismo is becoming I get my hopes up. Surely, once looting is considered, a government whose plans for the country cannot go beyond Mercal and free aspirin cannot last that long. The case I have at hand is a double fold treat for you: corrupt incompetents at the Caracas Subway and plain corruption at the Caracas cable car (but that for a following post).

You will forgive me if I go into a very long post but the details are important here as Caracas will have to live forever with the consequences.

How the design of Metro Line 5 is changed as the crisis keeps evolving?

The Caracas subway system is in dire need of expansion, the more so that the centralization policies of Chavez are going to keep increasing the population of Caracas out of any measure. It is to be noted that in 10 years of rule Chavez has only inaugurated a short segment of 3 metro stations, all duly planned and contracted before he took office. We can also count an extension of Line 3 with 4 stations still not working fully (I think one is not open at all). For the record the other 38 stations were opened by 4 presidents, that is, an average of 9 stations by 5 year term, and all of these presidents with way less resources than Chavez has had.

But I am not going to get into the details on how incompetent chavismo has been in managing and building public transportation in Caracas and its far distant suburbia: I would need a full blog devoted to the topic. Instead, the president of Caracas Metro since last January, Claudio Farias, gave us this week a perfect symbol on all that is wrong with chavismo, as it is getting into its 11th year or "planification".

The work on line 5 has been advancing slowly. So slowly in fact that now that chavismo has run out of money. Seeing that Caracas is not voting for Chavez anymore, he is looking for ways to save money and screw us along the road. One simple way to do that is to remove two subway stations out of line 5.

Now, you can argue that well, we are in time of crisis, these stations could be built later, it is more important to do at least the line, and whatever other reasons as we find in countries even slightly less dysfunctional than Venezuela. But when you read the words of Claudio Farias you know that nothing of the sort was considered, that some late night in Miraflores, desperately looking for corners to cut, Chavez and his minions just decided to cut off two metro stations. I am putting the words in Spanish first, with the (sic) added by El Universal and then my translation.

"La línea 5 ha sufrido quizás un retraso. Pero las estamos replanteando, pues nos parece que es una línea que no tiene ningún sentido"; "Esa es una línea que beneficia a la oligarquía (...) Las Mercedes, hermano, la Principal de Las Mercedes va a tener dos estaciones en la propuesta cuando todo el mundo que va a Las Mercedes va (sic) en su carro a los restaurantes. ¿Se necesita que la Principal de Las Mercedes tenga dos estaciones? Ni siquiera, La Hoyada y Capitolio"; "La estación Bello Campo que está al lado del Gustavo Herrera. ¿A quién beneficia esa estación cuando tiene al lado Chacao y Altamira? Nosotros estamos planteando que esa estación sea eliminada. Esa estación no beneficiaría a nadie, en lo absoluto. Ya se hizo el estudio".

“Line 5 may have suffered a delay [talk about an understatement!]. But we are questioning it, because it seems to us that this line makes no sense”; “This is a line that benefits the oligarchy (…) Las Mercedes, brother, the Principal [avenue] of Las Mercedes is going to have two stops in the proposal when every one that goes to Las Mercedes go (sic) in his car to the restaurants. Does La Principal de Las Mercedes need two stations? Not even La Hoyada and Capitolio.”; “The Bello Campo Station that is next to the Gustavo Herrera [famous high school] who does it benefit when it has nearby Chacao and Altamira? We want this station to be eliminated. This station will benefit no one, absolutely. We have done the study” [a study which is nowhere to be found by the way]

There is so much wrong in this that feeble minds would be at a loss as to where to start. But I know my history, I know how traffic is in Caracas and I know how to use the Metro even if it has become an exercise I avoid as much as possible, if anythign for the Ali Primera music forced on us.



The first thing that Claudio misses is the original purpose of Line 5 , probably already under planning by the time Chavez was preparing his 1992 coup. Then Claudio was in all likelihood a small time neighborhood thug, a time from which he kept his speech ways. If you look at the Subway map above you will notice immediately the East West direction, to which lateral valleys are connected. The geology dictates that but the uncontrolled and unplanned growth makes this natural handicap a disaster. Note: line 5 is line 4 on this "official map" but chavismo loves to change names and numbers.

Soon after Line 1 was was opened there was an interesting phenomenon observed: whenever an "accident" happened in the Metro, everybody was late to work or for home. That is, a single East West line was very vulnerable to, say, a suicide, and all Caracas would be affected. Soon it became obvious that Line 1 was insufficient and that is when plans for line 5 and a still distant third parallel line were accelerated. It might seem crazy in a way to make so many parallel lines but the human circulation justifies them perfectly well. If you doubt me just drive around Caracas between 4 and 7 PM, East West, or North South blocked by East West, and get back to me.

The second thing is that Claudio totally misses the structure of the neighborhood where he decided to suppress a station. This is better explained looking at the map below lifted from El Nacional.


Claudio might be Metro director but he obviously does not take the subway to go home at night, and certainly not through almost any of the stations featured in this graph.

First, why Bello Campo should not be closed

True, Bello Campo RIGHT NOW would not be a major Caracas station, but that does not mean it is not important contrary to what our Amateur Metro president thinks. Chacao is another extremely busy station at rush hour and Bello Campo would be a nice option for the harassed office workers. And Bello Campo is close from a major shopping Mall and other commercial areas that depend on Chacao station, causing a lot of traffic congestion. Last but not least Bello Campo is one of the few neighborhoods in an area where there is possible business development that would happen for sure once a subway station is built, releasing the pressure on small areas like historical Chacao to survive as inhabited areas. Not to mention that Bello Campo would be next door to a lower class wedge between Altamira and Bello Campo! Are those not supposed to be chavista voters?

Chacaito Las Mercedes now

• Chacaito is the busiest station of the area, maybe Caracas, because form there leave all the buses that go South, to Middle Class Prados del Este as well as to Lower Class Las Minas. As such the Chacaito area is usually collapsed half of the day by buses parked in double and triple file.
• One or two of the Las Mercedes stations will pick up these bus traffic leaving Chacaito only for bus routes for Northern areas of Caracas or out of Caracas.
• If Las Mercedesi s eliminated, one of the arguments of Claudio falls down because the distance between Bello Monte and Tamanaco would be simply too long.
• Also the Principal de Las Mercedes is long enough to deserve two stations. Depending on where exactly the station is located the La Hoyada Capitolio dimwit statement falls flat on its face.
• South of Chacaito there is a lot of business and commerce and a Las Mercedes station would be a nice option for the folks working there, further decongesting Chacaito.
  

And more other arguemtns that I coudl write, but I have saved for the end the utter idiocy of Claudio argument.

He says that the only folks that go Las Mercedes are rich people hitting the dining/party circuit. I cannot think of a crassest statement, of a more horrifying nouveau-riche-let-them-eat- cake reason. What about all the waiters, the cooks, the bartenders, the garbage collectors, the sales clerk, etc, etc that work in Las Mercedes? Are they not entitled to a fast subway ride too?

What we see here is a got-fat Claudio Farias who now has a chauffeur, a Metro assigned car and possibly body guards and even a police or two on motorbikes stopping traffic to let him go through while the hoi poloi watches. This is how low the chavismo servants have fallen, how far from the needs of the people. Surely they will notice, won't they?

Note on Farias. He used to work with Diosdado Cabello who brought him to the Metro once he was unseated in Miranda State. He is a nobody but he is very willing to do all the dirty work and to suck up wherever it is needed. If we consider the amount of corruption reports on the Cabello tenure at Miranda's helm we can also assume that Claudio is a a "trusted" adviser of Cabello and thus a corrupt individual. The Internet on a quick glance reveals the following:

He used to be a Metro employee, even holding a station management, according to pro Chavez ABN. The lack of details leaves us to think that he went as far as he would have gone, thus not great management prospect to direct the Metro alone. But let's assume that I am wrong.

His mission is clear: further introduce politics into the Metro, as for example this inauguration of a Che Guevara center for Metro employees.

His initial promises that all would be better came to a crash landing within three months of his tenure. Apparently there is a witch hunt inside the Metro where people not solidly rojo-rojito are removed, and it started with his arrival.

His mismanagement goes from pretending to sign contracts that no one is clear about to organize the system in such an unsafe way that 80 Metro depending bus burnt a few days ago. Some people rumor that the fire was deliberate because these stocked bus were out of service due to very deficient maintenance and they wanted to avoid an inquiry. Not to mention possible juicy commissions to replace these buses. Note that he might have done that himself, but clearly he is not controlling his subordinates.

So you see it by yourself, the quality of public servants that Chavez is imposing on us, the kind of people that are making decisions about the future of Caracas. Guess who will pay the bills later? Not them, I can assure you, comfortably ensconced far from where justice can reach them.

-The end-

Out of the ghetto?

The best political article this weekend can be found in the fluff Sunday magazine of El Nacional. Rafael Osorio Cabrices meditates on how slowly but surely sectors of the Venezuelan society have allowed themselves to be trapped in new urban ghettos. He has in mind, in this very Caracas centered country, folks that live in some areas of Caracas Eastern Part and who spend their own lives in that area, except when they go on vacation one supposes. (1)

It is indeed a fact of life that all conspires for you to remain inside your own "safety" area, safety in this case meaning the area that you know best, rather than the area where you are actually can be safe. Be it from crime, or because of dirt and garbage everywhere, or because the side walks are often taken over by buhoneros, or simply because you do not want to get addressed by the political attitudes of some areas, most people seem to simply isolate themselves within a few neighborhoods where they know how to maneuver, how to hide, how to escape. If this phenomenon has been seen for the Eastern Part of Caracas where many consider Plaza Venezuela as a real border, it is also seen for folks in lower classes who limit themselves to outings at the few malls accessible by subway directly from Petare or El Silencio. These malls seem to have become the only modern Agora of Venezuela, the only arena where two worlds meet, even though their income differences are not necessarily so different, or even their political views are not that distant. We are talking here of a new cultural development of unpredictable consequences, and I suspect welcome by the chavista administration who has been busy trying any possible way to congeal its electorate.

I suppose that in a way I have escaped some of that self ghettoizing. After all in San Felipe there is no ghetto, all through Chavez years I have had to face the reality of the country day in and day out. Thus when I visit Caracas I have no major problem stepping past Plaza Venezuela for a Saturday lunch at a La Candelaria tasca. Still I must confess that if my mental border is not Plaza Venezuela, it is probably Plaza Bolivar as Catia has not seen me in 20 years except when I drive by on my way to the airport.

I will translate part of that Osio article:

But we almost do not see the city. And the city remains there. There is no wild forest past the EPA of Chacaito nor a sea of monsters beyond the B.O. Center. What there is is people. We are not necessarily going to be robbed when we cross the border that fear nailed between our eyes. We are missing the renovation of the historical district, that we must celebrate, and the recovery of Sabana Grande. Just as we are missing the Arab food joints of Catia, the guayaberas of Guaicaipuro market, the potters of Cementerio and El Pinar park.

We feel superior than those who live in the provinces when in fact we move aorund an area smaller than La Victoria.

I am not sure about the Arab food joints of Catia, after all I know of at least two great Lebanese joints in Chacao, but the point is well taken, in particular the second paragraph. I often get real angry when I start discussing politics visiting Caracas, as people think their, certainly justified, anger against Chavez and his government is shared as is by we, the provincials. We might dislike Chavez et al. a lot, but we do not do it with the same intensity as the Eastern Caracas ghetto, nor for the same reasons. The malls and movie theaters that have flourished in Eastern Caracas these past ten years, as chavista nouveau riche are trying to move in, have not reached San Felipe. After ten years we are still limited to a single Central Madereinse for our quality grocery shopping, while crime is now as bad as in Caracas.

My concern here is more direct than that: are Caracas politicians really aware of what is going on in the provinces? I mean, our local politicians certainly have a good sense of what is going on these days but the main political leaders still evolve in Caracas circles, and this surely gives them somewhat that ghetto mentality that some times we seem to see in them. Surprisingly it might be starting to affect some chavista politicians and Chavez himself, in his very own ghetto of Miraflores as he cannot attend any public event unless organized by and for chavistas. In a "participative democracy" rarely so few people have really participated, as we are observing today those that are where it really matters.


1) El Nacional is on and off by subscription only. Although the article was accessible today, just in case I have placed the original in Spanish here.

-The end-

Chavez new constitution: article 18

Preamble: While reading the text of the proposed amendment to article 18 I remembered a conversation once held with the elected President of a Latin American country who is now deceased. We talked about the sad role of some armed forces in Latin America and how they have become the nemesis of democracy and individual freedoms and in many cases the “jail keepers” of their people. He said that while the armed forces have a congenital tendency to misread the social and political expectations of the people and therefore, most of the time, end up in the wrong side of history, the good thing is that they are slow.

He liked to say that most people believe that bullets kill people when in fact they don’t. If I put a bunch of bullets in your hand they will not kill you. It is the combination of factors and “speed” what makes a bullet lethal.

This president was a retired General and what he basically wanted me to understand is that, at one time or another, every political force has knocked on the doors of the armed forces to buy their support. Throughout history some of those forces have succeeded, though temporarily, in getting that support but it could have been far worst if the armed forces were fast at deliberating instead of slow and had supported every political adventurer who came looking for them.

You can argue with the Generals’ reasoning and certainly with his sense of style. I, for one, never cease to be amazed by the crude use the military make of that elegant language artifice called “metaphors”.

He is definitely right in one sense though; in politics, “speed” is certainly a critical element and when combined with the wrong leaders and policies it can become, if not lethal, certainly extremely dangerous.

While the modifications to article 11 provides a way for the government to have absolute power over the people and the territory of Venezuela in case things go wrong, article 16 lays out a parallel and overlapping centralized and un-elective political structure to drive the Venezuelan Federal Government into political oblivion and replace it with a centralized national power. Accomplishing this, with or without constitution, will take time though and therefore the modifications to article 18 introduces that missing critical element, “speed”, which will most certainly make the policies in these three articles “lethal” for the Venezuelan federal democracy.

Original text: The city of Caracas is the capital of the Republic and the seat of the organs of National Power. The provisions of this article shall not prevent the exercise of National Power elsewhere in the Republic. A special law shall establish the territorial and political unit of the city of Caracas, incorporating into a two-tier system of municipal government the Municipalities of the Capital District and those of the State of Miranda. Such law shall provide for the organization, government, administration, competency as well as resources of the city, with a view to its harmonious overall development. In any case the law shall guarantee the democratic and participative character of its government.

Modified text: The city of Caracas is the capital of the Republic and the seat of the organs of National Power. The provisions of this article shall not prevent the said National Power from being exercised elsewhere in the Republic.

The Venezuelan State will develop an integral policy to articulate a national system of cities, structuring logically and reasonably the relationship between the city and its associated territories and unifying and supporting the local and regional scales in the systematic vision of the country. For that purpose, the State will confront every speculative action in regard to the economic return of the land, the economic unbalances, the asymmetries in the provision of services and infrastructure as well as the conditions of accessibility, physical and economic, of each and every one of the components of the national system of cities. Every citizen, without discrimination of gender, age, ethnicity, political and religious orientation or social condition, will enjoy and will be holders of the Right to the City, and that right should be understood as the equal benefit received by each one of the citizens as per the strategic role articulated by the city both at the regional urban context and the National System of Cities. A special law shall establish the territorial and political unit of the city of Caracas, which shall be called the “Crib of Bolivar” and “Queen of the Guaraira Repano.”

The National Power, through the Executive Power and with the collaboration and participation of all the entities of the National, State and Municipal Public Power as well as the Popular Power, its Communities, Communes and Communal Councils and other social organizations, will take all necessary actions for the urban reorganization, road restructuring, recuperation of the environment, attainment of optimal personal and public security levels, integral reinforcement of the neighborhoods, urbanizations, health, education, sport, entertainment and cultural systems, total recuperation of their center and historical sites, construction of small and medium size Satellite Cities along their territorial axis of expansion and, in general, to accomplish the most humanizing sum possible in the “Crib of Bolivar” and “Queen of the Guaraira Repano.

These dispositions will be applicable to the whole National System of Cities and their regional components.

Modifications and Comments: I am herein quoting both the text of the original article 18 and the text of the modifications being proposed by the government. The underlined part of the text is all that has survived from the original article 18. The rest has either been deleted from the original text or added in the new text of article 18.

From the reading of the original article 18 it is clear that the intention of the framers of the Bolivarian Constitution was to give Caracas a special status since it is home to the Federal (national) government. It is also clear that the framers of the Bolivarian Constitution were adamant in their intention of making sure that this special status would not jeopardize the right of the citizens to a democratic representation and/or the autonomy of the State of Miranda. So much so, that the city of Caracas was defined as a “Capital District” in article 16 of the Bolivarian Constitution as opposed to “Federal District” which was the status it had under the Constitution of 1961 (article 9).

The modified text of article 18 though moves away from what was originally intended by the framers of the Bolivarian Constitution and introduces new concepts that substantially modify the structure of the constitutional text. Modifications, that are in line and expand further those shady and unconstitutional amendments introduced to article 16.

Let’s start with what has been deleted from the original text of article 18. The paragraph that has been deleted basically indicated that Caracas was to have a two tier municipal structure of government that would protect both the city and the State municipal representation. It also indicated that a special law …"shall provide for the organization, government, administration, competency as well as resources of the city”… Finally, it stated that the …"law shall guarantee the democratic and participative character of its government.”

The first question that comes to mind when you look at the deleted text is, why has this paragraph been deleted?

It is clear that Caracas needs a special law to outline its organization and government since there is no reference as to the political structure of the “Capital District” anywhere else in the constitution. As for the democratic and participative character of the “Capital District” government, it is clear that this sentence is basically guaranteeing that such authorities would necessarily have to be elected.

So; the question stands; why has this text been deleted?

The only answer I can think of is the following. The modified text of article 16 introduces a new political division called “Federal City”. Federal cities are created by Presidential decree and their authorities are designated by the “National Power” (sic). Therefore, Caracas would not need a special law if it is going to be appointed a Federal City subject to the executive power. Its government does not need to be …"democratic and participative”… either, because, according to the modifications of article 16, all the authorities of Federal Cities and Federal Municipalities will be appointed by the National Power.

The modification to article 18 goes further and creates what it calls a “National System of Cities” that unifies and supports the …"local and regional scales in the systematic vision of the country.”…

The “systematic vision” of the country has been outlined in article 16 which creates a parallel and centralized political structure to compete and eventually destroy the federal structure mandated by the constitution.

In essence, every major city in Venezuela could be appointed a “Federal City” by decree. Further, all municipalities in the city, as well as in their ..." associated territories”…. can be appointed “Federal Municipalities” and hence, all their authorities would be appointed by the National Power.

To have an idea as to how in a very short period of time (speed) the whole landscape of the Venezuelan federal division of government could be destroyed and the right of the people to elect their local authorities eliminated, we are herewith including a table of the potential cities that could become “Federal Cities” within the “National System of Cities”. We are including in this table all the capital cities of each State as well as a group of large cities with populations over 300,000 inhabitants.



Bringing 45 cities into the so called “National System of Cities” would allow the National government to exercise direct political power without elections and/or elected officials over 47% of the Venezuelan population. As a matter of fact, starting with only 7 cities would give the national government that same power over 25% of the population. Of course it will also allow the national government to control any public gathering and/or legal demonstration against their policies since the federal municipalities would be the ones in charge of granting those permits.

The two last paragraphs of the modified article 18 basically give the National Power a blank check to take over, through the Federal Cities and Federal Municipalities, almost all the functions of the Municipalities and even some from the States. Of course, it also states that the National Power will exercise all these functions through the Executive Power and that this is applicable to all the cities that are included in the so called “National System of Cities”.

Overall, most of the modifications to the text of article 18 basically expand further what has already been mentioned in article 16.

There is though some intriguing text that has been included in this article. This text basically creates a new right called the “Right to the City”; a right that, by itself, seems to be a first in a constitutional text. What makes this concept so intriguing is the fact that this right is being defined as an “equitable benefit” that every habitant has the right to enjoy and further, hold title to.

Granted that the text is as confusing as they come, there are some concepts though that could give some light as to what this text means.

One concept that I believe particularly relevant is what should be understood by the term “city”.

In essence a city is basically a gathering of private homes, private businesses, public roads, public parks, public government buildings, private empty lots, public empty lots, private social, cultural and sport facilities, public facilities such as public transportation, bus/train/sub terminals and airports, public cultural and sport facilities and the power, communication, water and sewer infrastructure. There is really nothing else in a city.

Now, most of these elements are already public and everyone has the right to enjoy them. So, why is there a need to create a special new “Right to the City” when the people already have that right? It makes no sense, unless, the intention is to make public what is not public today. That is, private homes, private businesses, private empty lots and private social, cultural and sport facilities.

Could it be that this is what the phrase “equitable access” is referring to?

I can not answer that question but I can certainly say that the modification of this article is written in such a confusing and shady way that the possibility of an outrageous violation of private property using this article as an excuse is indeed a clear and present danger.

I can also say that giving the National Power and/or Executive Power the right to exercise their power at the State and Municipal level is unconstitutional because:

1) It violates article # 164, Title IV, Chapter III of the Bolivarian Constitution of 1999 that mandates: …"Is of the States exclusive competence: … (2) Organization of their Municipalities and other local organs and the territorial and political divisions between them"…

2) It violates Title IX, Chapter II, article # 342 of the Bolivarian Constitution of 1999 that mandates: …"The purpose of the constitutional reform is to effect a partial revision of this Constitution and replacement of one or more of the provisions hereof, without modifying the fundamental principles and structure of the text of the Constitution.”…
Giving power to the National Government to act at the Municipal and State level attempts against the autonomy of the States and the nature of the Federal Government and therefore violates the fundamental principles (Title I, article # 4 of the “Fundamental Principles” - …The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a …Federal State”…) and introduces a significant modification to the structure of the Bolivarian Constitution of 1999.

Mousqueton
venezuela.constitution.trap@gmail.com

Spanish language version of this post can be found at the following site: “No a la reforma constitucional de Chávez”

-The end-

Viva Bogota!

The last time I was in Bogota was 30 years ago. My souvenir is of a gloomy city, cold and wet. A city where people did not seem particularly happy and where we were assigned a "special" taxi to ferry us around for security reasons.

This is a totally different city. This week end, for starters, the weather was beautiful, clear skies, cool. Bogota, under a few enlightened mayors and presidents that let them be, has become one of the nicest cities to live in Latin America. And still, with up to 9 million people according to whomever you talk to.

Granted, I am here for work so I only had Sunday to cruise around some. And tired from my trip I limited myself to the Quinta De Bolivar, the country residence where Bolivar spent his time when in Bogota during his grand dream of Gran Colombia. One thing must be said for Colombians, they seem to keep things Bolivarian more authentic than in Venezuela. The current Caracas house is probably a grandiose reconstruction and re-imagination of what the Bolivar house must have really been. In Bogota you can still imagine Bolivar coming back there, in spite of the throngs of people visiting.

I also loved the posters which narrate the Bolivar life. This is no bolibanana hogwash coming from Miraflores palace. See, in Colombia they say that the Gran Colombia floundered because Bolivar had lost his political touch and wanted to create a life long presidency. For all the democratic safeguards he tried to place to convince people, neither Santander nor Paez bought it. Like Chavez underlings, they had ambitions of their own and a lifelong Bolivar presidency did cross their path. Maybe Chavez in his grandiloquence to recreate some Inca cosmogony might have this in mind. After all, if he fails, if he is killed, he thinks he would rise to the pantheon of heroes as a new martyr, his face replacing the face of Che on T-shirts. But I bet that history will not be very nice with Chavez, that he will come across as the fascist he is. It seems to me that Uribe is the real builder, not Chavez, because Colombia is being built: you can breathe it in the air!

After the Quinta I did went all the way walking to the Plaza de Bolivar. In true wonderment. Imagine that, the city has built an "ecological road" which is a walkers street, clean, well kept, well swept. There are even some small flea markets who look like classy affairs when you compare them to Sabana Grande buhoneros who reek of urine smell when you must walk around there.

The Plaza de Bolivar is now more handsome than before. All for pedestrians, with children aplenty chasing flights of pigeons. Not a particularly successful architectural arrangement, it still has two very handsome, even striking, Church fronts that are very much worth seeing. The Plaza Bolivar in Caracas can still be visited once you have run the gauntlet of buhoneros, traffic, garbage, foul smell. But if you reach it you will find its pleasant tropical feel to Bogota austerity. However there is a big difference: the Plaza de Bolivar is for the people to enjoy, the Plaza Bolivar has every corner busy with some cheap political/propaganda stall. The Plaza Bolivar know belongs only to chavistas.

But the big surprise was "la 93". This area, roughly comparable to Chacao municipality, is infinitely better. And Chacao is the best Venezuela has to offer. Around the square (where children play and lovers litter the grass) there are nice cafes and terraces. People walk all around the neighborhood even as late as 10 PM (Chacao is limited walking around restaurants, for people seeking their cars to go home). But it gets better: walking in the neighborhood, not many high walled houses to be seen. In Bogota in fact many apartments on the first floor have no iron bars, a common feature in Venezuelan apartment buildings where iron bars go at least as high as the third floor, even if there is guard on the grounds.

IT is not that Bogota feels safe, but the truth is that it feels much safer than Caracas. Cops on foot are often seen and they ask people to pick up the garbage they drop (I saw it happen!). In Caracas, when you see a cop, he is either escorting someone on his motorbike, or directing traffic at some intersection. For the rest you are on your own.

Talking to Colombians is also very interesting. Taxi cabs will tell you where to find good bookstores, something that would not occur to me asking in Caracas. None of them seems to be a particular fan of Chavez. Talking to the business folks I even met some guy who dislikes Uribe but still voted for him because it was plain for all to see that quality of life was improving for all in Colombia. I have yet to meet the first Venezuelan who dislikes Chavez but still voted for him for his achievements. And I mean it! Overall I get the impression that most people in Colombia are not buying what Chavez is offering. I suspect the embassy diligently reports this which would explain why Chavez is not spending too much time on Colombia.

Anyway, to finish this post, I am amazed at the difference between Bogota and Caracas. Oh, there is certainly decay here in there in Bogota, but Caracas seems to be crumbling almost everywhere. I understand that Bogota has not the space problems of Caracas, but, is this an excuse for the garbage piling high and deep everywhere in Caracas? Why is Caracas now the crime capital of LatAm (and soon the world?) while Bogota manages to have again aimless tourists stream around once forbidden areas for them?

It is poignant, it even hurts me to see that Bogota (and Colombia) seem to be pulling themselves up in spite of all the real problems they are facing while Venezuela keeps sinking deeper everyday. Caracas has become absolutely unlivable, but Bogota is becoming again gentile, a least for some. Colombia seems to have a future, I have lost mine.

PS: (added later) The financial debate here is how to stop the reevaluation of the Colombian Peso. In Venezuela the government seems not to care that the Bolivar has fallen so low that now we need 2 Bolivares for one Colombian Peso. Times have changed.

-The end-