In yet another violation of electoral law, with a totally mute CNE, Chavez again comandeers tonight all air borne media. The excuse is the end of some Iran Venezuela summit. Iran! Imagine that example of democracy!
Of course, the anti US discourse will find welcome ears in the audience. But tonight I am not covering, the readers of this blog know what to expect: insults, lies, manipulations and more. In front of the representants of a regime that still stones women for adultery, hangs gay people, restrains individual liberties, jails bloggers, etc... And as I trun off the TV, well, Chavez is praising the Iranian Revolution, for the modernity that it brought to the Iranian people. My goodness! Chavez praising a theocracy that wants to erase Israel, the Bahaist, the Sunni and what not...
I hope international observers are watching that. We learned today that the international observers received a copy of last night cadena with insults and all.
Meanwhile electoral violations continue and they want us to go and vote Sunday. Really, chavismo has to hurt real bad to go on such an all out offensive!!!!
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Friday, December 02, 2005
Shining moments in ignominy
Chavismo is running scared. I am barely back from work and I have already witnessed two moments where the only thing one can think is: whow! How abject can one be?
Moment 1: A mob scene. It is lead by Diosdado Cabello, dressed in red and followed from some of the gangster mayors of Caracas. They are doing a mob pressure moment, reminding more of the French Sans-Culotte storming regularly the Constituent assembly of 1793 Paris than any normal democratic manifestation. Their objective was to demand that Conatel, the media official watch dog, monitors the private media against a Media Coup. Of course the obsequious Conatel head agreed with everything. It has to be noted that there is campaign against the media, a virulent one even, and one wonders if chavismo is getting ready to dare shutting down some media, preferably Globovision.
Moment 2: The "Moral Power" comes to the CNE to support it. The Moral Power is one of the new two powers that Chavez pulled out of his rear in 1999. And as such they have remained. They include the Ombudsmen, the General Prosecutor and the General Comptroller. Their role is to protect the citizens from the abuses of the executive (a "power" for that?) but in fact they have been actively involved in protecting chavismo misdeeds.
Well, the three guys came to the CNE.
The Ombudsmen, German Mundarain, was the one that spoke the most. Among the many silly things he said, he explained that people should go to vote and that it did not matter that a "few" candidates had withdrawn, there were still plenty to pick from. I do not know about you, but my intelligence is rather insulted by that statement. Not for the nature of the idea, but from the obvious contempt that Mundarrain unwillingly (?) showed, meaning basically: do not worry, it does not matter who gets to the National Assembly, Chavez will do as he pleases anyway". Now we are fixed.
The General Prosecutor, Isaias Rodriguez, must have thought he was declaring for the nth time on the Anderson case. His voice was somber, his tone halting, he is obviously not in control of his mind. He went on some kind of political rant that made no sense. Pathetic!
The General Comptroller of the Nation, Clodosvaldo Russian, spoke. He speaks less and less these days, and his broken and barely intelligible voice hints that he is either getting senile or is not resisting well the pressure of his office, collapsing like Isaias is. His role is to investigate the fate of the nation's monies, but his real role is to hide all the gigantic corruption that the regime perpetrates. He certainly must have a heavy burden on his conscience if he has one. Well, the only think he had to say was to refer to abstention events of the past that did not bear much fruit. If he is basically right, his choice of examples was rather wrong or totally out of context. It was senile manipulation.
After seeing these three Stooges, one really can only think of those obscure officials that were sent forward in times of crisis by the holders of the real power to defuse with outright lies and manipulations, and inscrutable imbecility, the pressure. It usually works for a while as people are so flabbergasted that such people use such arguments that for a short while they are speechless. The Nazis were pretty good at that, but Castro also has a selected group uttering professional nonsense like Alarcon. Must be part of the system I suppose...
At any rate, a confident government, one that thinks it rides the good cause , does not need to resort to such low manuevers to try to convince public opinion.
Moment 1: A mob scene. It is lead by Diosdado Cabello, dressed in red and followed from some of the gangster mayors of Caracas. They are doing a mob pressure moment, reminding more of the French Sans-Culotte storming regularly the Constituent assembly of 1793 Paris than any normal democratic manifestation. Their objective was to demand that Conatel, the media official watch dog, monitors the private media against a Media Coup. Of course the obsequious Conatel head agreed with everything. It has to be noted that there is campaign against the media, a virulent one even, and one wonders if chavismo is getting ready to dare shutting down some media, preferably Globovision.
Moment 2: The "Moral Power" comes to the CNE to support it. The Moral Power is one of the new two powers that Chavez pulled out of his rear in 1999. And as such they have remained. They include the Ombudsmen, the General Prosecutor and the General Comptroller. Their role is to protect the citizens from the abuses of the executive (a "power" for that?) but in fact they have been actively involved in protecting chavismo misdeeds.
Well, the three guys came to the CNE.
The Ombudsmen, German Mundarain, was the one that spoke the most. Among the many silly things he said, he explained that people should go to vote and that it did not matter that a "few" candidates had withdrawn, there were still plenty to pick from. I do not know about you, but my intelligence is rather insulted by that statement. Not for the nature of the idea, but from the obvious contempt that Mundarrain unwillingly (?) showed, meaning basically: do not worry, it does not matter who gets to the National Assembly, Chavez will do as he pleases anyway". Now we are fixed.
The General Prosecutor, Isaias Rodriguez, must have thought he was declaring for the nth time on the Anderson case. His voice was somber, his tone halting, he is obviously not in control of his mind. He went on some kind of political rant that made no sense. Pathetic!
The General Comptroller of the Nation, Clodosvaldo Russian, spoke. He speaks less and less these days, and his broken and barely intelligible voice hints that he is either getting senile or is not resisting well the pressure of his office, collapsing like Isaias is. His role is to investigate the fate of the nation's monies, but his real role is to hide all the gigantic corruption that the regime perpetrates. He certainly must have a heavy burden on his conscience if he has one. Well, the only think he had to say was to refer to abstention events of the past that did not bear much fruit. If he is basically right, his choice of examples was rather wrong or totally out of context. It was senile manipulation.
After seeing these three Stooges, one really can only think of those obscure officials that were sent forward in times of crisis by the holders of the real power to defuse with outright lies and manipulations, and inscrutable imbecility, the pressure. It usually works for a while as people are so flabbergasted that such people use such arguments that for a short while they are speechless. The Nazis were pretty good at that, but Castro also has a selected group uttering professional nonsense like Alarcon. Must be part of the system I suppose...At any rate, a confident government, one that thinks it rides the good cause , does not need to resort to such low manuevers to try to convince public opinion.
Grado 33 and the vice
So, in prey of some insomnia (psychosomatic diseases have become general since Chavez reached office) I decided to wait for Grado 33 at 12:30 AM. It was worth it. Worthy enough of a cadena to hide it, I would almost dare to say.
The format was simple and effective. Grado 33 presented people explaining calmly, in great technical details diverse aspects of the problems of the electoral system of Venezuela, and what could be done to get out of this deep crisis. After each segment, the presenters of Grado 33 said “and this is what the government replies” followed by excerpts of the vice infamous press declarations which have as sole argument “It is an electoral coup, a conspiracy” plus some assorted insult. No argument, no explanation, no technical rebuttal, just raw emotional screams from the vice president. Exactly what you would expect from a spoiled brat caught with the hand in the cookie jar, as Quico reminded us a couple of days ago.
As I type that I was also realizing that today’s cadena which I reported extensively a few hours ago was actually a crime as many laws were broken by Chavez:
Surely the high court will investigate tomorrow morning first thing.
I have three little sets of questions tonight before going to bed.
Sobella Mejias, what is the deal? Why have you not resigned yet? What about showing some spine instead of waiting for your retirement? An informed source told me today that you are waiting for your retirement early next year. Is that the reason Sobruta?
And for the international observers. You saw the cadena. Aren’t you writing your report and packing your stuff to leave yet? Can you still in all conscience just “monitor” the Sunday election? Don’t you think that just leaving without a word would be the very best you could do for Venezuela? Would not that be the right message without even uttering a word? Do you think you can discuss seriously with a president who insults on prime time the duly elected governor of Venezuela’s mains state, after he made a serious and conciliatory speech? Are you going to let yourself Catercenterized by Chavez?
Has anyone noticed that the Carter Center is not mentioned anywhere, not even to criticize it anymore? How inconsequent can one become, no?
The format was simple and effective. Grado 33 presented people explaining calmly, in great technical details diverse aspects of the problems of the electoral system of Venezuela, and what could be done to get out of this deep crisis. After each segment, the presenters of Grado 33 said “and this is what the government replies” followed by excerpts of the vice infamous press declarations which have as sole argument “It is an electoral coup, a conspiracy” plus some assorted insult. No argument, no explanation, no technical rebuttal, just raw emotional screams from the vice president. Exactly what you would expect from a spoiled brat caught with the hand in the cookie jar, as Quico reminded us a couple of days ago.
As I type that I was also realizing that today’s cadena which I reported extensively a few hours ago was actually a crime as many laws were broken by Chavez:
- It was a political speech of two hours to defend his side in the middle of an electoral campaign.
- It is an attack of two hours against people that have no way to reply.
- It is a defamation, a public insult to elected officials that have shown much greater respect to Chavez than what he showed today when for example he treated Rosales of Coward, publicly, in cadena, repeated times.
- It is an economic loss inflicted on private property who are deprived of prime time revenue EXCLUSIVELY for Chavez personal interest.
- And a few more that any lawyer or any international observer could come up with on his own.
Surely the high court will investigate tomorrow morning first thing.
I have three little sets of questions tonight before going to bed.
Sobella Mejias, what is the deal? Why have you not resigned yet? What about showing some spine instead of waiting for your retirement? An informed source told me today that you are waiting for your retirement early next year. Is that the reason Sobruta?
And for the international observers. You saw the cadena. Aren’t you writing your report and packing your stuff to leave yet? Can you still in all conscience just “monitor” the Sunday election? Don’t you think that just leaving without a word would be the very best you could do for Venezuela? Would not that be the right message without even uttering a word? Do you think you can discuss seriously with a president who insults on prime time the duly elected governor of Venezuela’s mains state, after he made a serious and conciliatory speech? Are you going to let yourself Catercenterized by Chavez?
Has anyone noticed that the Carter Center is not mentioned anywhere, not even to criticize it anymore? How inconsequent can one become, no?
A evaluation of the situation
The cadena of chavez got the best of me. No energy to try to write an evalaution of the day, which might be uselss tomorrow anyway. All get that we are in trouble.
Instead I have posted here Teodoro's editorial today, and I apologize for not having the strength to translate it. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to do it and I will post it tomorrow? :)
Instead I have posted here Teodoro's editorial today, and I apologize for not having the strength to translate it. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to do it and I will post it tomorrow? :)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Cadena!
Sure enough, at 6:30 when the ratings of Alo Ciudadano go up, in particular on a day like this, Chavez just commandeered all TV and Radio stations to talk. The excuse is some silly ceremony at Miraflores. Within a couple of minutes of starting the cadena, he shifted to the political matter at hand. So, what does he do? He starts by rewriting history by denouncing how sullied were elections in the good old days. The best line so far: the political parties of the past used the funds of the state to pay for their campaigns!
For a connoisseur of history like me, the intensity of Chavez lies as I hear them while typing can only demonstrate how hurting is chavismo now that even Rosales is bailing out.
It is difficult for someone not living in Venezuela to appreciate how a president can lie so blatantly and get away with it. The press, the free press that is, the one that asks the tough questions is not allowed near the president, never in Venezuela, rarely outside of Venezuela. The opposition, or anyone else for that matter, is not allowed to read a statement after that (as is used in the US for example, after a state of the Union speech or the Saturday presidential message, a few minutes that are, or most often not, broadcast by the media). So we have here, Chavez, commandeering for as long as he wants the airwaves, reciting any inanity, any lie that crosses his mind and we are all muzzled, unable to escape such an invasion of our privacy, of our ideas, of our beliefs, unless we turn off TV or subscribe to cable.
PS1: It is 19:31 and the cadena keeps going on. By know of course anything that has gone wrong in Venezuela since one can remember, and in particular under Chavez, is due to the Empire, that is the good ole US of A for those not in the loop. Apparently no US president has been able to sleep soundly unless they found some way to screw Venezuela.
I will spare the reader of all the inanities and lies uttered: after all Chavez is talking to the "ignorant" masses that follow him to convince them to go and vote Sunday and he knows that none of them is going to hit any history book any time soon, but I could not resist one gem: Chavez dared Bush. He bet to him that he would remain longer in office than Bush. Of course he forgot to add that no matter what, Bush term ends in three years from now, no matter what, a blessed certainty that US folks have whereas in Venezuela we do not know anymore when Chavez term will end, and if it will end before his death.
And as a bonus I will add something which just left me speechless. According to Chavez in 1998 a group of military that included Rincon "la cual aceptó" were prepared to thwart a military coup that was rumored to take place in case Chavez got elected president. So, what did they do, they placed under some major bridge going to Caracas some explosives to blow it up, just in case. Lo' and behold Chavez won and power was given to him. In their happiness they forgot about the explosives. They remembered about it one year later. Ooops! But according to a hilarious Chavez, it was no more than a cute prank.
What is wrong with this picture? The incompetence of the military? That Chavez did not punish them as a president from forgetting such a dangerous thing? That it is all a lie anyway? That he makes fun of it?
And to think that some people want a military dictatorship to remove Chavez from office! Lord have mercy! You want people like that running the country? It is not enough to endure Chavez soldiery incompetence? Some people do still wonder how come I have become such a rabid pacifist and anti armed forces of any type...
PS2: At 19:54. Now he announces that he has proof that the CIA is behind everything going on right now in this political turmoil. I will advise against holding your breath while you wait for the evidence to be presented. Unless it is related with a Colombian fake paramilitary shrink.
PS3: At 19:58. All is the fault of the Mar del Plata summit where we all know Chavez magisterially trashed the US. That is why Rosales has been convinced by the Empire to do what he is doing. By the way, Rosales is the main target of all the attacks. His speech today has been particularly resented by chavismo it seems.
PS4: at 20:11. This is when you appreciate how unfair cadenas are.
Chavez just said that the congressmen who were denied deplaning in Caracas airport a few days ago, well, it is not true, It is just a media lie. Of course we will never see him having to defend that assertion. He just declared that it was a media ploy and that will be that. He knows that the congressmen are diplomatic, that by law in the US they cannot direct foreign policy and that if they were to be seen actively creating a diplomatic incident they could be reprimanded and even could face severe sanctions. Only if the State Department chooses to make an incident out of it will there be some problems for Chavez. But State has more important matters to attend than a handful of Congressmen, who by the way know very well that State has other business to do. But then again the US is a country where opposition and government can seat together and decide what is best for the country whereas in Venezuela and uncouth soldier goes as he pleases to Mar del Plata to shout diplomatic obscenities and decide on his own that Venezuela should get into the Mercosur, without consultation with the opposition, or anyone else but Castro.
PS5: It is 20:22, the cadena has lasted almost two hours. Alo Ciudano is shot. Now he is screwing Grado 33. By law Globovision cannot change schedules and we will need to wait for 12:30 AM to see the scheduled replay of Grado 33. There is no talk show scheduled until tomorrow.
PS6: It is 20:24 on my computer clock and Chavez has threatened the media. He has threatened with closing them if they discuss further the withdrawal of the opposition. He is desperate.
PS7: At 20:29 it is an "electoral coup". How original! The Empire! A coup! In addition the electoral coup will end in December 2006 after Chavez reelection. Of course, very modestly, he is ONLY a pre-candidate.
PS8: at 20:32 my computer clock it is finally over.
Truly, if people overseas were forced to seat through one of such cadenas, the opinion of quite a few about Chavez would change.
For a connoisseur of history like me, the intensity of Chavez lies as I hear them while typing can only demonstrate how hurting is chavismo now that even Rosales is bailing out.
It is difficult for someone not living in Venezuela to appreciate how a president can lie so blatantly and get away with it. The press, the free press that is, the one that asks the tough questions is not allowed near the president, never in Venezuela, rarely outside of Venezuela. The opposition, or anyone else for that matter, is not allowed to read a statement after that (as is used in the US for example, after a state of the Union speech or the Saturday presidential message, a few minutes that are, or most often not, broadcast by the media). So we have here, Chavez, commandeering for as long as he wants the airwaves, reciting any inanity, any lie that crosses his mind and we are all muzzled, unable to escape such an invasion of our privacy, of our ideas, of our beliefs, unless we turn off TV or subscribe to cable.
PS1: It is 19:31 and the cadena keeps going on. By know of course anything that has gone wrong in Venezuela since one can remember, and in particular under Chavez, is due to the Empire, that is the good ole US of A for those not in the loop. Apparently no US president has been able to sleep soundly unless they found some way to screw Venezuela.
I will spare the reader of all the inanities and lies uttered: after all Chavez is talking to the "ignorant" masses that follow him to convince them to go and vote Sunday and he knows that none of them is going to hit any history book any time soon, but I could not resist one gem: Chavez dared Bush. He bet to him that he would remain longer in office than Bush. Of course he forgot to add that no matter what, Bush term ends in three years from now, no matter what, a blessed certainty that US folks have whereas in Venezuela we do not know anymore when Chavez term will end, and if it will end before his death.
And as a bonus I will add something which just left me speechless. According to Chavez in 1998 a group of military that included Rincon "la cual aceptó" were prepared to thwart a military coup that was rumored to take place in case Chavez got elected president. So, what did they do, they placed under some major bridge going to Caracas some explosives to blow it up, just in case. Lo' and behold Chavez won and power was given to him. In their happiness they forgot about the explosives. They remembered about it one year later. Ooops! But according to a hilarious Chavez, it was no more than a cute prank.
What is wrong with this picture? The incompetence of the military? That Chavez did not punish them as a president from forgetting such a dangerous thing? That it is all a lie anyway? That he makes fun of it?
And to think that some people want a military dictatorship to remove Chavez from office! Lord have mercy! You want people like that running the country? It is not enough to endure Chavez soldiery incompetence? Some people do still wonder how come I have become such a rabid pacifist and anti armed forces of any type...
PS2: At 19:54. Now he announces that he has proof that the CIA is behind everything going on right now in this political turmoil. I will advise against holding your breath while you wait for the evidence to be presented. Unless it is related with a Colombian fake paramilitary shrink.
PS3: At 19:58. All is the fault of the Mar del Plata summit where we all know Chavez magisterially trashed the US. That is why Rosales has been convinced by the Empire to do what he is doing. By the way, Rosales is the main target of all the attacks. His speech today has been particularly resented by chavismo it seems.
PS4: at 20:11. This is when you appreciate how unfair cadenas are.
Chavez just said that the congressmen who were denied deplaning in Caracas airport a few days ago, well, it is not true, It is just a media lie. Of course we will never see him having to defend that assertion. He just declared that it was a media ploy and that will be that. He knows that the congressmen are diplomatic, that by law in the US they cannot direct foreign policy and that if they were to be seen actively creating a diplomatic incident they could be reprimanded and even could face severe sanctions. Only if the State Department chooses to make an incident out of it will there be some problems for Chavez. But State has more important matters to attend than a handful of Congressmen, who by the way know very well that State has other business to do. But then again the US is a country where opposition and government can seat together and decide what is best for the country whereas in Venezuela and uncouth soldier goes as he pleases to Mar del Plata to shout diplomatic obscenities and decide on his own that Venezuela should get into the Mercosur, without consultation with the opposition, or anyone else but Castro.
PS5: It is 20:22, the cadena has lasted almost two hours. Alo Ciudano is shot. Now he is screwing Grado 33. By law Globovision cannot change schedules and we will need to wait for 12:30 AM to see the scheduled replay of Grado 33. There is no talk show scheduled until tomorrow.
PS6: It is 20:24 on my computer clock and Chavez has threatened the media. He has threatened with closing them if they discuss further the withdrawal of the opposition. He is desperate.
PS7: At 20:29 it is an "electoral coup". How original! The Empire! A coup! In addition the electoral coup will end in December 2006 after Chavez reelection. Of course, very modestly, he is ONLY a pre-candidate.
PS8: at 20:32 my computer clock it is finally over.
Truly, if people overseas were forced to seat through one of such cadenas, the opinion of quite a few about Chavez would change.
Jose Vicente Rangel is a fascist
The Vice President of Venezuela made a speech today that I am listening in Globovision right now. His vulgarity, his agressive words, his hate, are for all to see and Globovision is doing a full coverage of that speech.
Jose Vicente Rangel, vice president of Venezuela, is a fascist. Any one can figure this out today. I sure hope that international observers are listening and wondering how elections can be carried when the second in command of a country acts as he did today.
We are in deep shit.
Jose Vicente Rangel, vice president of Venezuela, is a fascist. Any one can figure this out today. I sure hope that international observers are listening and wondering how elections can be carried when the second in command of a country acts as he did today.
We are in deep shit.
The morning after?
With the withdrawal of Primero Justicia the elections of next Sunday are a sham. This morning Gerardo Blyde had even strong words against Ruben Perina, the OAS delegate to monitor the Venezuelan election. I suspect that Perina actions have not been well received by the OAS secretary Insulza who indirectly detached himself from the delegation the OAS sent by reminding them that their role was to observe, only to observe. Interesting. At this time it would be best for the EU and OAS delegations to just leave the country and decline any further observation. What is there to observe, anyway?
We are still waiting to see if Rosales will withdraw in turn. But that decision will not modify much the current situation, he would be only the final nail. Of course chavismo state machinery is in gear trying to do damage control as for example the useless and sold out ombudsman self importantly announced that it will declare his position on the matter. Even the Pope had a word on Venezuela yesterday, showing that the Catholic church is not the passive body that chavismo hoped it would become after the recent nomination of the new Caracas Archbishop. In fact the declarations of the archbishop yesterday reminded my old father the words of the Catholic church in the last weeks of Perez Jimenez when it started pushing for the downfall of that regime.
The only reasonable solution would be to postpone the election until at least February to allow for a revision of the basic electoral problems. And, OF COURSE, the resignation of the actual CNE board. But the best we might obtain is simply the same board, postponing the election and adding some meager improvements. The worse? Holding elections next Sunday anyway. This would not be that bad. It would make official the entry of Venezuela in an authoritarian system, a one party state, as a previous stage to full dictatorship. At least the hypocrisy will be removed as Chavez leaves his authoritarian closet.
We are still waiting to see if Rosales will withdraw in turn. But that decision will not modify much the current situation, he would be only the final nail. Of course chavismo state machinery is in gear trying to do damage control as for example the useless and sold out ombudsman self importantly announced that it will declare his position on the matter. Even the Pope had a word on Venezuela yesterday, showing that the Catholic church is not the passive body that chavismo hoped it would become after the recent nomination of the new Caracas Archbishop. In fact the declarations of the archbishop yesterday reminded my old father the words of the Catholic church in the last weeks of Perez Jimenez when it started pushing for the downfall of that regime.
The only reasonable solution would be to postpone the election until at least February to allow for a revision of the basic electoral problems. And, OF COURSE, the resignation of the actual CNE board. But the best we might obtain is simply the same board, postponing the election and adding some meager improvements. The worse? Holding elections next Sunday anyway. This would not be that bad. It would make official the entry of Venezuela in an authoritarian system, a one party state, as a previous stage to full dictatorship. At least the hypocrisy will be removed as Chavez leaves his authoritarian closet.
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