2014: the year all and nothing changed

In Venezuelan history books, when the real ones will be written, it is possible that 2014 will be qualified as the year as all changed and yet nothing changed. 2014 will be framed between 2013 the year chavismo became an outright dictatorship and 2015 the year when all went to hell.

I suppose that a long time blogger must cave in to the routine of writing a year in review post. So might as well get over with it, even before writing a Merry Xmas post. And yet 2014 may still be full of surprise in Venezuela like the regime shutting out the opposition from any of the administrative post it deserves in a normal democracy (1). But the essential has been done: short of a major earthquake, tsunami or meteor crash, the deed that matters is done for Venezuela for 2014.

The year started after the infamous "dakazo" of November 2013, where allowing "legal" looting the regime ensured a municipal electoral victory the following December.  The stage was set for a regime ready for any trickery to flatter the bulk of a populace just out to grab anything regardless of the consequences. The first consequence was that the regime entered paralysis in doing anything that was not a give away, without cash for it. The second consequence was a division inside the opposition, between those that were not going to keep taking abuse from the regime and those who, well, may be talked into tolerating such abuses.

January woke up with empty shelves in all electronic, hardware, furniture stores and the like. These shelves never got replenished.  Some stores on occasion got some shipments that usually were tightly controlled by the Nazional Guard, if anything for them to have first pick. Thus started the constant item of this year, random scarcity of goods. Paper toilet did come back on a regular basis but never did milk while toiletries and laundry detergent are now treasure troves.

Venezuela is done for; it is not me saying it, it is Raul Castro

The news today is of course Obama deciding to renew ties with Cuba after about 50 years of embargo and what not. I will not even bother to put up a link, just open your Google News section.

I am not going to argue the pros and cons. One thing is clear and it is that the embargo has not worked, has furnished the odious Castro criminals with an excuse that they have milked beyond the udder. Yet the failure of the embargo was not the idea per se, but the way successive weaklings applied it, speaking tough when the Miami Cuban vote was needed, forgetting about it as soon as they were sworn into some elected office. Clearly something had to be done and I am too busy, too overwhelmed by my own life and home problems to give you the opinion of my crystal ball about the well founded of that initiative of Obama, or any other possible one.

Mao's Beijing on the Güaire: the Grand Chavez ballet company

It looks like chavismo will never run out of idiotic ideas. Yesterday we saw how we paid for them with oil prices plummeting. Today journalist Andreina Marquez (@mintina)  attended a ballet performance.  Words fail common sense....  Here are some of her tweets.

Ballet de Arañero a Libertador pic.twitter.com/8QLH0KSMB9
— Andreína Márquez (@mintina) November 29, 2014

Nothing better to start the week but a little bit of chavista blasphemy

In the "believe it or not" series. We learn today that chavismo has created its own prayer to Chavez. Let's start with the crossing.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN HOW TO CROSS THEMSELVES AS CHAVISTAS
In the name of Chavez, Maduro, and the sovereign "pueblo", we shall live and win
NOW TEACH THIS TO YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS

And then with a new and improved prayer to the Lord, the lord Chavez that is.

Another "Oh Dear!" moment: Hugo Carvajal is arrested in Aruba

UPDATED AGAIN. Scant reports yet, little official confirmation but it seems that indeed Hugo Carvajal has been arrested in Aruba while he was awaiting his diplomatic placet from Dutch authorities to become Venezuela's consul in Aruba. This, my friends, can be a turning moment!

¿Marea socialista? ¿Salto atrás? ¿Despecho rojo?

No soy PSUVologo ni pretendo serlo. Seria pésimo en eso ya que no puedo entender la mentalidad de la gente dispuesta a entregarle todo a un líder aunque este diga burradas pasmosas (capitalismo en marte, el hombre tiene 4000 años, etc...). Y aun menos cuando esa gente es abiertamente caudillista y patotera militar. Pero en fin, el domingo tuvimos "elecciones" dentro del PSUV y nos toca a nosotros, pobres libres pensadores de la oposición, tratar de entender un poco lo que pasa en ese antro del PSUV (con todo el respeto para los que están dentro el PSUV de buena fe que me sospecho no son tantos hoy en día).

Aparentemente hay dos bandos.

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".

Chávez: un fraude sin fin

 Yo no voy a celebrar el primer aniversario desde que Chávez estiro la pata.  Realmente deseo que él estuviese vivo y tuviese que lidiar con el desastre que ha dejado atrás, uno de los mayores fraudes históricos que se han perpetrado y que se demostrará una vez que podemos hurgar libremente en lo que ocurrió desde 1992, e incluso antes.

2013 in review: the year we could not ignore anymore their "plan"

This year was quite rich in hints that not only the regime has no intention to ever leave office, but that it has a dark place in mind where it wants to take Venezuelan society. Even this blogger who thought that these guys were simply too incompetent to establish a "XXI century socialism", a.k.a. revamped communism, has to concede that they do not care about that because their real goal is clear and precise in their mind, though rather discrete in its public expression.

2013 in review: the year Leopoldo Lopez was man of the year

If I am going to indulge in "end of year" reviews I might go ahead and commit the biggest sin of all, decide who was man of the year in Venezuela.

To understand how degraded Venezuela is, travel by plane....

Registration under Chavez

I left for a short holiday to Margarita and truly, it is an awesome experience. Not for the adventure, good food, beautiful scenery, but for the lousy service, the degraded infrastructure, the lack of basic items such as milk....  So there, a little summary.

It all started with the difficulty in finding a plane ticket. In Venezuela now, if you want to have a choice of travel dates, you need to buy a month ahead, even in low season, which is my case. By trying to get my ticket with barely three weeks notice, I could not find the adequate dates and I lost one day of my "package" while having to pay the full price anyway.  Not to mention the aggravation of useless web pages of Venezuelan airline companies which forced me in the end to go to an agency....

Proof that Chavez was a reactionary

But I got my ticket and on the set day I went to Valencia to take my flight.  To decorate this entry I have a collection of the airport political propaganda that I had to endure while at the airport: I had to be there two hours earlier to make sure I would not be bumped for a "waiting list" and my flight was 1 hour and a half late without any explanation. Click the pictures to enlarge for details.

Chavez News and Views

Chavez ghost spoketh? Spooketh?

A little bit away of things I find out that this week end excitement has been a recording from Chavez still alive, or speaking from the nether world, or a fake, or something. To be fair I use an Argentinean link, INFOBAE, to report on the news (?) and the sound track.  Least I am accused to be a supporter @jjrendon who probably saw his Twitter numbers improve this weekend as the regime in full force attacked him on that voice over.

First week campaign round up: Chavez to the museum

We are Friday night and it is fair to evaluate how the first week for our flash elections went.

Needless to say that the marking moments have been the use of Chavez never ending funeral until today when he has been finally placed, for at least a few month, in a museum. How fitting for his backwardness of mind.....

Today images were quite disquieting as to the increasing fascist tone seen all around. I am parsing this post with a few images that show the clear Nurembergish concept,  including a very fascist arm band that even Tibisay Lucena, head of the electoral board CNE wore a few days ago. So much for an impartial umpire. You'll find her in a white shirt in one of these pictures.

Live blogging the last day (?)

As of now and through the evening I will be live blogging haphazardly  That is, as fancy and time allow me I will jot down news and thoughts as the evening progress. Come back on occasion and let's discuss it all together. (Final Update midnight)

La fea cara del fascismo Castro-chavista: atacando a Yoani Sanchez

Pues bien, por fin, después de años de lucha, a Yoani Sánchez se le permitió salir de Cuba para una gira internacional. Pues bien, apenas llegó al aeropuerto de Recife en Brasil salió una patota tarifada a agredirla. Ella muy valientemente dijo que le gustó porque en Cuba nadie tiene derecho a protestar libremente como ellos lo hicieron en Recife.

Towards the end of Chavez, and the beginning of the Maduro era?

Tonight we learned one thing: Maduro is the apparent winner of the succession war. That Chavez was sick and that his coming end was a reality we already knew.  When he tells us that it is only a "few malignant cells to be removed" but adds in the same speech that if worse comes to pass people should vote for Maduro we are confirmed in our strong suspicions that it is a metastatic condition that ails him and the prognosis sucks. A few preliminary comments while we await for the new show to unfold.

First we should sue Chavez for the fraudulent elections he had the country go through. Metastases do not appear out of the blue. Signs were all along. If Chavez real debilitating sickness had not been extreme narcissism he would have had Maduro run for last October vote and campaigned for him. With Chavez actively behind he may have won.

Believe it or not but Maduro is not a bad option to replace Chavez for chavismo. For the other side all are bad but for chavismo Maduro is vulgar, radical and from "el pueblo".  In addition he is the live embodiment of "social promotion" possible under Chavez. From bus driver trade union to foreign minister and vice president the message is clear: it pays to be an amoral chavista. Who needs a real degree and a productive career?

And since it is late and I just got the news coming back from a night out I will just add that it is not all over for Diosdado and that Maduro should not be planning redecorating Miraflores palace just yet. Even if Chavez has all but admitted that he will not be available January 10 for his swearing in the day he finally croaks is not the true date for Maduro ascent. First we need to see the results of next Sunday vote and see which side of chavismo can claim victory. Second, if I have a feel that the "civilian" and radical branches are indeed behind Maduro (and our colonial masters Cuba), the military is the real elector. For the time being I am sure that they said yes to Chavez naming Nicolas Maduro his heir. After all, why rock the boat while Chavez is alive? Trump cards are always played as late as possible, preferably once the strong players have been brought down.

My only regret is that it seems that Chavez will never find his way to a court of justice to account for his crimes though I have no doubt as to the harsh judgment history has in store for him. I certainly would never wish his death and even less in his current option but I have to say that his departure will be a relief for a country that has been in downward spiral for at least 5 years. His passing will not solve anything but his departure is a must as no side or country could prosper as long as he was allegedly in charge. For better or for worse we need him gone.

A Chávez lo volvieron vampiro

Dibujo bajado de Flicker, perteneciendo, creo, a
Tarlos Luz Martos Majenye

Con el regreso sorpresivo entre gallos y medianoche se van acumulando la evidencias que a Hugo Chávez los babalaos vudú de Cuba lo han vuelto un vampiro.  Veamos.

¿Cuando fue la ultima vez que usted vio al presidente a pleno día?  Ni siquiera durante la campaña presidencial donde la mayoría de sus pocas apariciones eran nocturnas.

¿Tiene usted evidencia de que Hugo come comida normal? ¿Cuando fue al ultima vez que lo vieron tomando café?

Observe que sus apariciones se están sincronizando con los menguantes de la luna.

Ahora viaja a Cuba solo de noche y sin que nadie lo vea. Es mas, este regreso tuvo una transmisión diferida porque en VTV querían estar seguro de poder ver la imagen de Chávez en la vídeo. A veces las imágenes vampiricas no salen en espejos o películas y hay que calibrar bien el lente.

¿No se parece la cámara hiperbarica a un féretro?

Y ya ni hablemos de su inmensa capacidad a chuparle la vida a nuestra pobre nación....

PD: El "coven" lo empezó Fidel. Le está gestionando un papel a Hugo para la próxima película de la serie Twilight donde se tratarán gaitas y amaneceres, con La Sayona de artista invitada.

Why Chavez succession has to be such a mystery?

Since October 7 Chavez has made only one single public appearance to receive his election certificate. He has done a half a dozen TV/radio appearances where he is either sitting or just in voice. He has been totally absent of the regional election campaign except for the decision process as to who is going to be candidate where. And since last week he is in Cuba where we do not know what is going on while the trip was made in the dark of the night. Amen of all the signs of pain pre October 7. Only one explanation can make sense for someone who never saw a camera he did not like to pose for: Chavez is either really on his death throes or he is so sick that recovery will be long and incomplete, at best. The end result is the same: there is a power vacuum and a struggle to fill it up.

If this is so obvious, why is there such mystery around it? Let ask a few questions.

Now what? The Venezuela that Chavez inherit

Fortunately this post is short because I just need to redirect you to a great article of Moisés Naím in El País of Spain. Spanish version here and English version there.

This article is remarkable not for its style, it is a list, nor for its writing, it is a list, but for the precision, concision and the "to the point-ness" you sense when you read it. Clearly Mr. Naím is past any illusion as to the future of Venezuela and what is actually scary in his article is that there is nothing that you can nitpick.

What I would like to underline is the last paragraph where Mr. Naím puts clearly part of the blame for the situation on Brazil who had no qualms in letting Venezuela deteriorate as long as it became its bigger provider of everything. I will add that Brazil has behaved towards Venezuela as any imperial colonial power had, using the weakness of the natives for its own selfish benefit. It is remarkable, for me at least, that such a notable intellectual from the center left in all of its modern meaning takes down Lula AND Rousseff the way he does, just after a campaign where Capriles failed even though they tried to embrace Brazil current model if it were the last life jacket available.

Nonplussed by US election

I have to admit that I am watching with little interest the US election this time around, even though it would be more momentous in its consequences than any in the last couple of decades.  The thing is that watching it from Venezuela we must conclude that the US really does not care about what happens here.  True, they should, they lost what should have been their main ally South of the Border.  But no one ever accused the US policy makers of actually caring about what happens south of the border as long as the help is cheap and docile.  there were some heartfelt attempts, by Democratic presidents mostly.  But where are the traces today as Brazil and China have no problems growing their influence in the area?  Let's look at the recent record with Venezuela, with pre-apologies on gross simplifications.