While all of these events were taking place this week, the Andes University was electing its student organization. Remember? The election that was canceled by the high court, TSJ, without any ground? Probably against the constitution by the way. And which was supposed to be won by Nixon Moreno, now hiding at the Nunciature?
Well, if the government was hoping to gain some time so it could bolster the election of its supporters it did not work out. The results are in and at the ULA chavismo has been trashed (as it is always trash in ANY university that is not "bolivarian", the universities where to get in you basically need only to wear a red shirt).
The results are lapidary for chavismo: the opposition got 26,832 votes and chavismo got 8,514. That is right, for every vote chavismo was getting, the opposition students were getting 3 votes. In some faculties the rate reached as high as 10 to 1. Of the 26 seats at stake chavismo got only 4 seats. Then again, you know, the CNE was not directing these elections. Results taken form El Nacional, subscription only.
So, what does this tell us?
The immense majority the future managers, technicians, professionals of Venezuela, at least the quality ones since bolivarian universities do not seem to be graduating anyone outside of social work and propaganda/education careers, will not share Chavez socialist nincompooperies. Even more damming since the students that were voting got into the ULA AFTER Chavez became president. These results appear everywhere in more or less the same margins, from 2 to 1 to 3 to 1. Bolivarian university elections are not reported so we do not know what is going on there but I doubt the opposition is even allowed to offer a list of candidates, at least as far as I know and I would be delighted to stand corrected.
How is Chavez planning to build a country with social workers form the UBV and the Cubans that crawl everywhere? The best and brightest that Venezuela is forming at UCV, ULA, UCLA, UDO, USB, UC (I am not even getting into private universities) at great cost will eventually find their way out of the country, supplying for cheap with qualified personnel anything from Burger King franchises in Florida to technical staff in Manhattan.
And of course it does make us understand much better why we see huge students protests while chavismo attempts at counter protest are limited and paltry. Even the UBV students that got into the UBV because they could not get anywhere else want at least rudimentary education so that they could get a job in some business where they might make a better life for their children. But the way things are going, with the slow strangulation of the private sector, even the UBV graduates will not find enough janitorial jobs in the public administration. These students are not stupid: they might not dare to join the protesting students associated loosely with an anti Chavez feeling, but they are not militantly hitting the streets in favor of Chavez either.
I suppose that there is a lesson for Chavez in those results but we know from experience that he will not even look for it. What we know is that he will do his best to end the university autonomy which for all its fault has managed to still semi educate students in Venezuela, and create a few brilliant ones as we are seeing these days. Under any circumstances chavismo will always prefer red dressed mediocrities.
-The end-
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Breaking news: the N.A. ambush of yesterday further exposed
Globovision has just revealed the social security sheets of some of the "students" that went to the National Assembly yesterday to defend Chavez side. At least four of them are public sector employees. That does not mean that they are not students, you can hold a job and be a student. But the jobs were quite telling: one in TeleSur, the chavista CNN, one in RNV, the state Chavez controlled radio, one at some social "foundation" chavista controlled of course and one at the USB. That last one, from the numbers shown does not seem to be some kind of work study student thing, she seems to have quite a job there.
In other words, those "students" sent yesterday to "debate" were no neophytes: they were perfectly trained propaganda machines. No wonder they did not need to hold a piece of paper in front, the indoctrination was deep enough that they know all the pre recorded sentences and sayings that they need to know.
Not only it was a total ambush set, but it was lousily set at that and it is blowing on their faces!!!
How low will chavismo crawl?
-The end-
In other words, those "students" sent yesterday to "debate" were no neophytes: they were perfectly trained propaganda machines. No wonder they did not need to hold a piece of paper in front, the indoctrination was deep enough that they know all the pre recorded sentences and sayings that they need to know.
Not only it was a total ambush set, but it was lousily set at that and it is blowing on their faces!!!
How low will chavismo crawl?
-The end-
Friday, June 08, 2007
What a trashing!!!
Busy day today. But until I have time to write something tonight there is always Petkoff through Simon Boccanegra in Tal Cual to give me a hand.
The Original Spanish first, for those who have no access to Tal Cual and then, later, the translation.
¡Qué paliza!
Para ver quién ganó en el episodio de ayer no hay sino que fijarse en la reacción de los hombres y mujeres del poder. Si se hubieran sentido victoriosos, a Cilia Flores no le habría dado esa pataleta; si supieran que habían ganado, las patotas de Lina Ron no habrían actuado tan cobardemente como lo hicieron; pero, sobre todo, si supieran que habían ganado el round,Yo-El-Supremo no se habría sentido compelido a montar una cadena precisamente para ocuparse de unos muchachos universitarios y tratar de elevarle la moral a los suyos. El balance del episodio, más allá de lo que cada bando pueda atribuirse, está en el lenguaje político y gestual del régimen. Los carajit@s se la volvieron a comer. Creyeron los paniaguados de Chávez que los podrían emboscar, pero salieron trasquilados. Creyeron que los habían llevado a su terreno y se cayeron de un coco.
Con firmeza y serenidad los universitarios dijeron -muy brillantemente, por cierto- que para debates el escenario es la universidad y la calle y no ese chiquero en que se ha convertido el Capitolio; que allí habían ido a hacer valer sus derechos y no a discutir sobre ellos y que tampoco iban a pelear en el terreno del gobierno.Y con las mismas se fueron, después de ganar esa otra pelea simbólica que fue despojarse de las franelas rojas.
La cadena de Yo-El-Supremo fue un gran fin de fiesta. Quién decía que águila no caza moscas, bajó del pedestal que le han construido los diversos jalabolas que lo rodean, para tratar de remendarle el capote a sus “representantes” -que con excepción de una de las chicas, que mostró tener algo en la cabeza, no hacían sino repetir la chuleta de los rancios y acartonados textos de las cartillas ideológicas cubanas. Esos muchachos y muchachas que representaban al régimen deberían reflexionar sobre el triste papel que los ponen a jugar. Llevarlos a un “debate”, con la calle tomada por agresivas patotas de matones y negada policialmente a los compañeros de sus adversarios, no es como para enorgullecerse. Eso no sólo es ventajismo sino pura cobardía. Construir un movimiento estudiantil apoyado por la policía y por mercenarios tarifados es, en sí mismo, una aberrante negación del espíritu juvenil.
English Version [note, many expressions with no equivalent translation]
What a beating!
In order to see who won in the yesterday's episode it is enough to watch the reaction of the men and women in power. Had they felt victorious, Cilia Flores would not have given that tantrum temper; if they knew that they had won, Lina Ron thugs would not have acted as cowardly as they did; but, mainly, if they knew that they had gained the round, I-The-Supreme would not have felt compelled to mount a cadena to take care of his bruised university boys and to try to elevate the moral of his troops. The balance of the episode, from which each side can pick, is in the political and gestural language of the regime. Carajit@s [cute pun on kids] won all the way. The lackeys of Chavez believed they could ambush the students, but they left with nothing but one hand in front and one on the back. They thought that they had taken them on their own turf and it is them who fell from the branches.
With character and serenity the college students said - very brilliantly by the way - that for debates the scene is the university and the street and not that sewer which the Capitol has become; that they had come to reclaim their rights and not to discuss them, and that they were not going to fight by the rules of the government. And with that they left, after gaining yet another symbolic point when they removed their red shirts.
The I-The-Supreme cadena was a great end of festivity. The one who said that eagles do not hunt for flies, climbed down from the pedestal that the diverse boot-lickers surrounding him had erected for him, to try to fix up the mess left by his “representatives” - who with the exception of one of the girls, who showed to have something in her brain-, that did nothing but repeat the Cliff Notes of the rancid and stiff texts of the Cuban ideological cue cards. Those boys and girls who represented the regime would have to reflect on the sad role that it put them to play. Bringing them to a “debate”, with the street taken by aggressive thugs and killers who blocked access to the companions of their adversaries, is not something to be proud of. That, not only is unfair advantage, it is pure cowardice. To build a student movement supported by the police and paid mercenaries is, in itself, an aberrant negation of the spirit of youth.
-The end-
The Original Spanish first, for those who have no access to Tal Cual and then, later, the translation.
¡Qué paliza!
Para ver quién ganó en el episodio de ayer no hay sino que fijarse en la reacción de los hombres y mujeres del poder. Si se hubieran sentido victoriosos, a Cilia Flores no le habría dado esa pataleta; si supieran que habían ganado, las patotas de Lina Ron no habrían actuado tan cobardemente como lo hicieron; pero, sobre todo, si supieran que habían ganado el round,Yo-El-Supremo no se habría sentido compelido a montar una cadena precisamente para ocuparse de unos muchachos universitarios y tratar de elevarle la moral a los suyos. El balance del episodio, más allá de lo que cada bando pueda atribuirse, está en el lenguaje político y gestual del régimen. Los carajit@s se la volvieron a comer. Creyeron los paniaguados de Chávez que los podrían emboscar, pero salieron trasquilados. Creyeron que los habían llevado a su terreno y se cayeron de un coco.
Con firmeza y serenidad los universitarios dijeron -muy brillantemente, por cierto- que para debates el escenario es la universidad y la calle y no ese chiquero en que se ha convertido el Capitolio; que allí habían ido a hacer valer sus derechos y no a discutir sobre ellos y que tampoco iban a pelear en el terreno del gobierno.Y con las mismas se fueron, después de ganar esa otra pelea simbólica que fue despojarse de las franelas rojas.
La cadena de Yo-El-Supremo fue un gran fin de fiesta. Quién decía que águila no caza moscas, bajó del pedestal que le han construido los diversos jalabolas que lo rodean, para tratar de remendarle el capote a sus “representantes” -que con excepción de una de las chicas, que mostró tener algo en la cabeza, no hacían sino repetir la chuleta de los rancios y acartonados textos de las cartillas ideológicas cubanas. Esos muchachos y muchachas que representaban al régimen deberían reflexionar sobre el triste papel que los ponen a jugar. Llevarlos a un “debate”, con la calle tomada por agresivas patotas de matones y negada policialmente a los compañeros de sus adversarios, no es como para enorgullecerse. Eso no sólo es ventajismo sino pura cobardía. Construir un movimiento estudiantil apoyado por la policía y por mercenarios tarifados es, en sí mismo, una aberrante negación del espíritu juvenil.
English Version [note, many expressions with no equivalent translation]
What a beating!
In order to see who won in the yesterday's episode it is enough to watch the reaction of the men and women in power. Had they felt victorious, Cilia Flores would not have given that tantrum temper; if they knew that they had won, Lina Ron thugs would not have acted as cowardly as they did; but, mainly, if they knew that they had gained the round, I-The-Supreme would not have felt compelled to mount a cadena to take care of his bruised university boys and to try to elevate the moral of his troops. The balance of the episode, from which each side can pick, is in the political and gestural language of the regime. Carajit@s [cute pun on kids] won all the way. The lackeys of Chavez believed they could ambush the students, but they left with nothing but one hand in front and one on the back. They thought that they had taken them on their own turf and it is them who fell from the branches.
With character and serenity the college students said - very brilliantly by the way - that for debates the scene is the university and the street and not that sewer which the Capitol has become; that they had come to reclaim their rights and not to discuss them, and that they were not going to fight by the rules of the government. And with that they left, after gaining yet another symbolic point when they removed their red shirts.
The I-The-Supreme cadena was a great end of festivity. The one who said that eagles do not hunt for flies, climbed down from the pedestal that the diverse boot-lickers surrounding him had erected for him, to try to fix up the mess left by his “representatives” - who with the exception of one of the girls, who showed to have something in her brain-, that did nothing but repeat the Cliff Notes of the rancid and stiff texts of the Cuban ideological cue cards. Those boys and girls who represented the regime would have to reflect on the sad role that it put them to play. Bringing them to a “debate”, with the street taken by aggressive thugs and killers who blocked access to the companions of their adversaries, is not something to be proud of. That, not only is unfair advantage, it is pure cowardice. To build a student movement supported by the police and paid mercenaries is, in itself, an aberrant negation of the spirit of youth.
-The end-
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Today's best moments
Best Line: Geraldine Alvarez, from the UCAB.
" We reject the cadena of today. We reject that the country was forced to watch us at the National Assembly. We support that people watch us if they want or not."
Or something like that. They APOLOGIZED for the National Assembly making a cadena of the show!!!!!! Beautiful!
Best Image: When the students removed their red shirts in the middle of the National Assembly. They all came in with a red t-shirt above their clothes and at some point Douglas Barrios said they should not be required to wear a uniform to speak up. And then, they removed their red shirts. (video here, hat tip B.; you need top wait for the very end when the red shirts are removed)
Scariest moment: one of the students carried a video camera and she filmed her exit from the National Assembly. She filmed the people insulting her, threatening her, throwing things at the trucks she was put in for protection. And yet she filmed and filmed.
Best shock expression: too many to decide but all from Cilia Flores. The petard she planned to throw today blew on her face. Oh, sure, chavismo will accuse the students from cowardice to anything lower and claim victory. But the grimaces of Cilia Flores, the N.A. president, tell us that in spite of her intellectual limitations she knew quite well what happened and that she blew it.
Best new leader: well, so many keep appearing among the protest movement that one has a hard time to follow up. Today it was the turn of Douglas Barrios and Geraldine Alvarez. But more important perhaps was that the leaders of last week are able to share the spotlight. It is nice to see that Yon Goicochea or Stalin Rodriguez have no problem sharing the center stage. No chavismo autocracy here, plenty of fresh new voices coming. There is no rush to the microphone.
Best sign that chavismo is hurting after today: at 18:03 a new cadena is starting, to silence obviously Globovision (how long until they close it? should we make a poll?). And guess what, the cadena opens with the national anthem while the camera pans people dressed up with a red shirt which has printed on it UBV for the chavista university. and guess waht? the excuse is the "aldeas univesitarias", proving if need be, that all of today was staged by the government, hoping to crush the students this morning and then pretending to prove that students had no reason to protest. Heck, he is buying them with scholarships and "aldeas", so it is a small price to pay but to lose a little bit of freedom of expression, no?
Most cynical moment of the day: a tough decision since we must chose between Tascon saying that he has nothing to apologize for, and Chavez current cadena. I am sure that by the end of the cadena Chavez will have won handsomely. So, the cadena excuse, inauguration of some "aldea univesitaria" is all bull shit. To begin with, an inauguration from inside Miraflores? Gimme a break! But guess what, Chavez took the speech of Douglas Barrios and attacked him! The president of Venezuela dishing the speech of a student!! Amazing. Bull's eye for Barrios!
But that was not all: the students of Chavez that were at the N.A, this morning are in the attendance and Chavez is congratulating them individually. Now, does anyone at this point thinks that the event of today was not a trap? Was not organized for pro Chavez propaganda purpose? It did not work out quite well for chavismo but they have at least the merit of forging ahead with their agenda.
PS: 19:29, the cadena still goes on. Clearly designed to shut up Globovision and any of todays students to be interviewed. since it started I did my exercises, watched the French news and will go now to take my shower. Meanwhile all of Venezuela is subjected to the cadena, we cannot escape it. Did Chavez hear the best line of today? Or is he doing his cadena to piss her off? Where is freedom of expression when the freedom of information is grossly and vulgarly killed through constant cadenas?
Worst creep of the day: no contest, Hugo Chavez. It is 20:07 and the cadena keeps going on, now shutting up Grado 33. I name the Globovision shows because they are the only ones on TV where today's event would be given a fair presentation. And Chavez gets the top creepiness award of the day because of his two cadenas and because he called the students that refuse to submit to his will "peons of imperialism". Now, how much more creative can Chavez get? So, what is he planning to do with the students? Will he go to the logical end of his thoughts and jail them? I mean, if he has the evidence to prove their association with the "imperialism", Chavez has to arrest them, has to repress them. So when are you going to do your work Hugo?
-The end-
" We reject the cadena of today. We reject that the country was forced to watch us at the National Assembly. We support that people watch us if they want or not."
Or something like that. They APOLOGIZED for the National Assembly making a cadena of the show!!!!!! Beautiful!
Best Image: When the students removed their red shirts in the middle of the National Assembly. They all came in with a red t-shirt above their clothes and at some point Douglas Barrios said they should not be required to wear a uniform to speak up. And then, they removed their red shirts. (video here, hat tip B.; you need top wait for the very end when the red shirts are removed)
Scariest moment: one of the students carried a video camera and she filmed her exit from the National Assembly. She filmed the people insulting her, threatening her, throwing things at the trucks she was put in for protection. And yet she filmed and filmed.
Best shock expression: too many to decide but all from Cilia Flores. The petard she planned to throw today blew on her face. Oh, sure, chavismo will accuse the students from cowardice to anything lower and claim victory. But the grimaces of Cilia Flores, the N.A. president, tell us that in spite of her intellectual limitations she knew quite well what happened and that she blew it.
Best new leader: well, so many keep appearing among the protest movement that one has a hard time to follow up. Today it was the turn of Douglas Barrios and Geraldine Alvarez. But more important perhaps was that the leaders of last week are able to share the spotlight. It is nice to see that Yon Goicochea or Stalin Rodriguez have no problem sharing the center stage. No chavismo autocracy here, plenty of fresh new voices coming. There is no rush to the microphone.
Best sign that chavismo is hurting after today: at 18:03 a new cadena is starting, to silence obviously Globovision (how long until they close it? should we make a poll?). And guess what, the cadena opens with the national anthem while the camera pans people dressed up with a red shirt which has printed on it UBV for the chavista university. and guess waht? the excuse is the "aldeas univesitarias", proving if need be, that all of today was staged by the government, hoping to crush the students this morning and then pretending to prove that students had no reason to protest. Heck, he is buying them with scholarships and "aldeas", so it is a small price to pay but to lose a little bit of freedom of expression, no?
Most cynical moment of the day: a tough decision since we must chose between Tascon saying that he has nothing to apologize for, and Chavez current cadena. I am sure that by the end of the cadena Chavez will have won handsomely. So, the cadena excuse, inauguration of some "aldea univesitaria" is all bull shit. To begin with, an inauguration from inside Miraflores? Gimme a break! But guess what, Chavez took the speech of Douglas Barrios and attacked him! The president of Venezuela dishing the speech of a student!! Amazing. Bull's eye for Barrios!
But that was not all: the students of Chavez that were at the N.A, this morning are in the attendance and Chavez is congratulating them individually. Now, does anyone at this point thinks that the event of today was not a trap? Was not organized for pro Chavez propaganda purpose? It did not work out quite well for chavismo but they have at least the merit of forging ahead with their agenda.
PS: 19:29, the cadena still goes on. Clearly designed to shut up Globovision and any of todays students to be interviewed. since it started I did my exercises, watched the French news and will go now to take my shower. Meanwhile all of Venezuela is subjected to the cadena, we cannot escape it. Did Chavez hear the best line of today? Or is he doing his cadena to piss her off? Where is freedom of expression when the freedom of information is grossly and vulgarly killed through constant cadenas?
Worst creep of the day: no contest, Hugo Chavez. It is 20:07 and the cadena keeps going on, now shutting up Grado 33. I name the Globovision shows because they are the only ones on TV where today's event would be given a fair presentation. And Chavez gets the top creepiness award of the day because of his two cadenas and because he called the students that refuse to submit to his will "peons of imperialism". Now, how much more creative can Chavez get? So, what is he planning to do with the students? Will he go to the logical end of his thoughts and jail them? I mean, if he has the evidence to prove their association with the "imperialism", Chavez has to arrest them, has to repress them. So when are you going to do your work Hugo?
-The end-
The Students leave the National Assembly
[final update done 8PM]
The cadena finished at 2:45 and immediately Globovision (the only news channel left with independent coverage) showed what happened when the protesting students left. They had to be loaded in Metropolitana armored police trucks and in Nazional Guard trucks, just as criminals, so they could leave safely the National Assembly area. Why? Because chavista hordes were waiting outside screaming and throwing things at anything looking like a student, or looking not quite chavista, or looking like a press journalist.
The brave students did not blanch, they climbed in the trucks and kept holding through the interstices of the iron bars their messages of peace and freedom. A stunning image!!!!!!!!
It is fit to remember that while all of this took place, outside of the National Assembly that is supposed to be the assembly, the place of meeting for ALL Venezuelans, the pro Chavez students were having their sycophantic display where their hate for the near lynched brethren was hardly concealed.
Thus, the foreign press in Venezuela could see first hand the level of hatred that chavismo has created in 8 years. It was for all there to see, and more than anything else it justified why the students decided to leave early.
This did not stop one of the main student leaders, Goicochea, to remind the country that the National Assembly is not representative of the country, while he was walking out of the Capitolio. Thus he said that the only thing the assembly deserved was to be read a statement, in consideration of their legal status, but no debate. Debate will take place outside, directly with the people. A la Chavez? :-)
Kudos to these kids! The most bravery we have seen in years!!!!
Addendum: Later took place in the USB gardens an open air press conference where we heard more complete information as to why they stepped out of the National Assembly.
1) they had asked for a right to reply to the insults that had come earlier from the National Assembly. They never asked for any debate of any sort.
2) The National Assembly did reply but it is the one who had the initiative of a debate. Not only that but they set the way it woudl be held, etc... Students were simply notified.
3) Thus the protesting students did not want to play the game of the National Assembly which was to politicize the student marches and rallies by pitting a "them against us" scenario, by clearly separating the good students (the bolivarian ones) from the bad students paid by Bush... the same old story upon which chavismo builds its strength, division and more division.
That is why they left and refused to stay. They stated clearly that any student debate must be held among students, chavistas or not, in student assemblies, far from any political limelight. I wonder how many bolivarian revolutionary students are going to show up at those debates...........
No wonder Cilia Flores blanched.
New Blogs (in English) following the situation
Julia tells us about her won experiences goign to marches and stuff.
Eric is a gringo who happens to be around during all of this mess.
A certain Tank gives more pictures.
New Addendum: Tal Cual was already reporting today that the N.A. was stting a trap at its meeting this morning, BEFORE the students showed up. I am putting the text below in Spanish.
-The end-
The cadena finished at 2:45 and immediately Globovision (the only news channel left with independent coverage) showed what happened when the protesting students left. They had to be loaded in Metropolitana armored police trucks and in Nazional Guard trucks, just as criminals, so they could leave safely the National Assembly area. Why? Because chavista hordes were waiting outside screaming and throwing things at anything looking like a student, or looking not quite chavista, or looking like a press journalist.
The brave students did not blanch, they climbed in the trucks and kept holding through the interstices of the iron bars their messages of peace and freedom. A stunning image!!!!!!!!
It is fit to remember that while all of this took place, outside of the National Assembly that is supposed to be the assembly, the place of meeting for ALL Venezuelans, the pro Chavez students were having their sycophantic display where their hate for the near lynched brethren was hardly concealed.
Thus, the foreign press in Venezuela could see first hand the level of hatred that chavismo has created in 8 years. It was for all there to see, and more than anything else it justified why the students decided to leave early.
This did not stop one of the main student leaders, Goicochea, to remind the country that the National Assembly is not representative of the country, while he was walking out of the Capitolio. Thus he said that the only thing the assembly deserved was to be read a statement, in consideration of their legal status, but no debate. Debate will take place outside, directly with the people. A la Chavez? :-)
Kudos to these kids! The most bravery we have seen in years!!!!
Addendum: Later took place in the USB gardens an open air press conference where we heard more complete information as to why they stepped out of the National Assembly.
1) they had asked for a right to reply to the insults that had come earlier from the National Assembly. They never asked for any debate of any sort.
2) The National Assembly did reply but it is the one who had the initiative of a debate. Not only that but they set the way it woudl be held, etc... Students were simply notified.
3) Thus the protesting students did not want to play the game of the National Assembly which was to politicize the student marches and rallies by pitting a "them against us" scenario, by clearly separating the good students (the bolivarian ones) from the bad students paid by Bush... the same old story upon which chavismo builds its strength, division and more division.
That is why they left and refused to stay. They stated clearly that any student debate must be held among students, chavistas or not, in student assemblies, far from any political limelight. I wonder how many bolivarian revolutionary students are going to show up at those debates...........
No wonder Cilia Flores blanched.
New Blogs (in English) following the situation
Julia tells us about her won experiences goign to marches and stuff.
Eric is a gringo who happens to be around during all of this mess.
A certain Tank gives more pictures.
New Addendum: Tal Cual was already reporting today that the N.A. was stting a trap at its meeting this morning, BEFORE the students showed up. I am putting the text below in Spanish.
Emboscada en la AN
En vez de prestar su tribuna a los estudiantes universitarios para formular sus reclamos desde la sede del Poder Legislativo contra el cierre de RCTV, los diputados rojos-rojitos de la Asamblea Nacional, decidieron jugar posición adelantada y sacaron bajo la manga un debate con supuestos delegados del movimiento chavista de educación superior.Por añadidura, varios diputados comenzaron ya a reinterpretar el sentido y propósito de la presencia estudiantil en el hemiciclo, esbozando explicaciones sobre la naturaleza política de su lucha, mientras otros voceros gubernamentales se esfuerzan en aclarar que se trata de los estudiantes de las universidades privadas.
Por si fuera poco, la vicepresidenta de la AN, ya definió de antemano el temario de la jornada prevista para hoy, que a su juicio versará sobre los modelos de país que quiere cada sector.
-The end-
The students go to the National Assembly
[final update done 4 PM]
Right now I am listening to yet another cadena, except that this time it is the student intervention at the National Assembly. Well, in fact the speeches of the "bolivarian" students as the students who are protesting in large numbers in the streets made a statement and left the room.
I am not too sure exactly what happened and why the students decided to leave the ring. After all, this is what happens when you have a cadena, you have to wait until the abusive power finishes the blackout on news that a cadena means so that the normal media can come back in the air and tell you what happened.
But I have a pretty good idea of why the protesting students left the arena: the students felt that a trap was set up at the National Assembly, that they were going to be used so that the scandalously monochromatic assembly could pretend that it is a democratic one. They were not going to play "tonto util", useful fool, and let the totally discredited N.A. win easy points at their expense. Cilia Flores, who probably panned the trap, was duly upset and showed yet once more how much she is lacking in everything that should be required in the chair of a National Assembly. As the emcee of the event she did not mis a chance to drip her anger and resentment at any chance, even if only through the tone of voice.
So far their move looks brilliant. Why would it look brilliant for them to step down form what is supposedly the most august tribune of Venezuela? Listen to the speeches of the pro Chavez students that remained. The National Assembly is giving them all the time they want to speak, and on cadena. And what are their doing with their time? Attack the other students, discredit them, offer no novel proposal, read lists of the "revolution achievements" (that was particularly pathetic coming from a high school student that reminded me some of those kids trained by Castro to sing his lauds; he even ended his intervention with the now infamous "patria socialismo o muerte"). And along the way they show what happens to students when they submit themselves to the ideology of power. No originality there, just mean and vicious attacks, coupled with the bolivarian cassette that is now firmly ensconced in their brains and which allows them to repeat the same old message with the same old and stale words, picked directly from any of Chavez rant.
It is in fact, as I keep watching, a truly sad spectacle, to see how the regime is preparing its lame nomenklatura of the future.
I am putting below the main speech in Spanish of the representative of the protesting students, as I have already received it. Later, if I have time, I will put an English translation (some of the other speeches are appearing here, or at least excerpts):
Douglas Barrios, Universidad Metropolitana
(Primera intervención)
"La bandera de RCTV la mantendremos hasta que la señal del canal 2 vuelva a su frecuencia".
"Los estudiantes no somos socialistas, somos seres sociales. No somos neoliberales, somos libres. No somos oposición, tenemos proposición".
"Hemos conquistado una voz plural en la AN".
"No luchamos por intereses de grupo empresarial o tendencia politica".
"Promovemos la reivindicaron de derecho civiles".
"Exigimos y promovemos la reconciliación nacional".
"No criminalicen de antemano la protesta".
"Que se dé respeto a quienes han sido perseguidos y vejados públicamente, como es el caso de Nixon Moreno".
"Que se garantice el derecho a elegir".
"Los jóvenes estamos armados con conciencia, garra, solidaridad, optimismo, humildad".
"Estamos en la calle haciendo política sin los políticos tradicionales".
"Nuestras medidas de calle responden a la amenaza a la libertad de expresión que representa la medida sobre RCTV (…) Responden a la apropiación indebida de las antenas de RCTV".
"Estamos convencidos de que todos los venezolanos deberían ser tratados del mismo modo, sin discriminación".
"Consideramos que todos los venezolanos tenemos el derecho de ir a Miraflores".
"Consideramos que se debe rechazarse cualquier injerencia internacional venga de Nicaragua, Estados Unidos o Cuba".
"No creemos en el autoritarismo ni en la hegemonía de las minorías ni las mayorías".
"Reprochamos toda forma de gobierno pasado o presente que atente contra el derecho de la ciudadanía a vivir".
"Permítannos expresarnos y manifestarnos libremente".
"Tomen en cuenta nuestra propuestas en temas de interés nacional porque es nuestra generación la que enfrentará las consecuencias".
"Que no se menosprecie ni insulte la iniciativa estudiantil".
"El derecho a elegir es lo que hace al hombre verdaderamente humano".
"Llévamos una lucha sin pretensiones golpistas ni desestabilizadoras".
"Soñamos con un país donde podamos ser tomados en cuenta sin tener que estar uniformados".
"Sin más nada que decir nos retiramos ¡Por ahora!"
PS: earlier on today I had the following exchange with a reader.
[reader]
do you think the students will be given a fair chance at the AN?
J. W.
[me]
9:24 am
of course not but i do not think it matters much. if the assembly does not treat them well, it is the assembly that will suffer most.
Premonitory no?
-The end-
Right now I am listening to yet another cadena, except that this time it is the student intervention at the National Assembly. Well, in fact the speeches of the "bolivarian" students as the students who are protesting in large numbers in the streets made a statement and left the room.
I am not too sure exactly what happened and why the students decided to leave the ring. After all, this is what happens when you have a cadena, you have to wait until the abusive power finishes the blackout on news that a cadena means so that the normal media can come back in the air and tell you what happened.
But I have a pretty good idea of why the protesting students left the arena: the students felt that a trap was set up at the National Assembly, that they were going to be used so that the scandalously monochromatic assembly could pretend that it is a democratic one. They were not going to play "tonto util", useful fool, and let the totally discredited N.A. win easy points at their expense. Cilia Flores, who probably panned the trap, was duly upset and showed yet once more how much she is lacking in everything that should be required in the chair of a National Assembly. As the emcee of the event she did not mis a chance to drip her anger and resentment at any chance, even if only through the tone of voice.
So far their move looks brilliant. Why would it look brilliant for them to step down form what is supposedly the most august tribune of Venezuela? Listen to the speeches of the pro Chavez students that remained. The National Assembly is giving them all the time they want to speak, and on cadena. And what are their doing with their time? Attack the other students, discredit them, offer no novel proposal, read lists of the "revolution achievements" (that was particularly pathetic coming from a high school student that reminded me some of those kids trained by Castro to sing his lauds; he even ended his intervention with the now infamous "patria socialismo o muerte"). And along the way they show what happens to students when they submit themselves to the ideology of power. No originality there, just mean and vicious attacks, coupled with the bolivarian cassette that is now firmly ensconced in their brains and which allows them to repeat the same old message with the same old and stale words, picked directly from any of Chavez rant.
It is in fact, as I keep watching, a truly sad spectacle, to see how the regime is preparing its lame nomenklatura of the future.
I am putting below the main speech in Spanish of the representative of the protesting students, as I have already received it. Later, if I have time, I will put an English translation (some of the other speeches are appearing here, or at least excerpts):
Douglas Barrios, Universidad Metropolitana
(Primera intervención)
"La bandera de RCTV la mantendremos hasta que la señal del canal 2 vuelva a su frecuencia".
"Los estudiantes no somos socialistas, somos seres sociales. No somos neoliberales, somos libres. No somos oposición, tenemos proposición".
"Hemos conquistado una voz plural en la AN".
"No luchamos por intereses de grupo empresarial o tendencia politica".
"Promovemos la reivindicaron de derecho civiles".
"Exigimos y promovemos la reconciliación nacional".
"No criminalicen de antemano la protesta".
"Que se dé respeto a quienes han sido perseguidos y vejados públicamente, como es el caso de Nixon Moreno".
"Que se garantice el derecho a elegir".
"Los jóvenes estamos armados con conciencia, garra, solidaridad, optimismo, humildad".
"Estamos en la calle haciendo política sin los políticos tradicionales".
"Nuestras medidas de calle responden a la amenaza a la libertad de expresión que representa la medida sobre RCTV (…) Responden a la apropiación indebida de las antenas de RCTV".
"Estamos convencidos de que todos los venezolanos deberían ser tratados del mismo modo, sin discriminación".
"Consideramos que todos los venezolanos tenemos el derecho de ir a Miraflores".
"Consideramos que se debe rechazarse cualquier injerencia internacional venga de Nicaragua, Estados Unidos o Cuba".
"No creemos en el autoritarismo ni en la hegemonía de las minorías ni las mayorías".
"Reprochamos toda forma de gobierno pasado o presente que atente contra el derecho de la ciudadanía a vivir".
"Permítannos expresarnos y manifestarnos libremente".
"Tomen en cuenta nuestra propuestas en temas de interés nacional porque es nuestra generación la que enfrentará las consecuencias".
"Que no se menosprecie ni insulte la iniciativa estudiantil".
"El derecho a elegir es lo que hace al hombre verdaderamente humano".
"Llévamos una lucha sin pretensiones golpistas ni desestabilizadoras".
"Soñamos con un país donde podamos ser tomados en cuenta sin tener que estar uniformados".
"Sin más nada que decir nos retiramos ¡Por ahora!"
PS: earlier on today I had the following exchange with a reader.
[reader]
do you think the students will be given a fair chance at the AN?
J. W.
[me]
9:24 am
of course not but i do not think it matters much. if the assembly does not treat them well, it is the assembly that will suffer most.
Premonitory no?
-The end-
Settling into a protest routine, Venezuela style
The Chavez administration probably hoped that after a week end of partying students would finally go back to school and study for their finals. Not only it did not work, but the protest increased to a huge march today, now with faculty included. And what is even worse for chavismo, all in a peaceful mood which has forced the near brutal repression to downgrade itself to your average normal order service.
Oh, there were a few glitches of course. For example, now that we are under a not that veiled military regime, some stupid Captain, thinking he had more power than he really did took upon himself to stop buses coming up to Caracas full of students wanting to join the march. So, this lout thought he would scare students but these just decided that if they could not go up to Caracas no one else could. Soon, as the ARC was falling into a deadly lock everyone was allowed to Caracas. I wonder what that Captain learned today: democracy or shooting first? And that sad scene repeated at many exits of the ARC. Funny detail: Iris Varela claims that the students were sabotaging, "esos niñitos" she said, while Globovision showed the Nazional Guard trucks blocking highway access! Then again Varela has been living in a parallel universe for quite a while.
Creativity has been marking this week. Students do not have the hang ups of traditional political parties, which by the way are not only told to stay away from them, but seem to be as creative as chavismo in dealing with the situation. Some students decided that the downtown areas of Caracas could not be “chavista only” areas. So they started haunting the subway stations with placards and taped mouths. The picture I chose is just of many doing the rounds, and even made as a section in El Universal here and here.
And speaking of uncreative measures. Today to counter the huge, beautiful and successful student/faculty march Chavez could not find anything else but to call for yet another cadena. Even the little bit of Globovision that reaches the country is too much for him now. Chavez cannot tolerate to be upstaged by anything, not even students who paint their hands in white so that the word peace shows better. In this cadena he announced the same old, old canard with a slight new twists: now Bush is making a slow motion coup against him. I agree, it is obvious that through e-mails George Bush spends his days telling students what to do and when. Apparently these students are just something before something bigger comes in two weeks. Or some other crap that only the pro Chavez lunatic fringe is able to swallow bait, hook and sinker. Someone should check out the medication dosage of Chavez.
But chavismo is not doing much better. The faces of chavistas officials and their inner contradictions show every minute as they switch positions not knowing well what to do. Of course it might be all a strategy to gain time while they come up with some credible option. But right now they seem to be realizing that their own staged pseudo student defense rallies, all red shirted, singing the new version of Heil Hitler, “Patria, socialismo o muerte”are failing to convince the opinion when multicolored students place flowers on the weapons of the Metropolitan Police.
Clearly , on the image war chavismo is losing big time these days. And it certainly does not help when COFAVIC trashes the nation’s Ombudsman who refuses to act his part in protecting civilians by daring to say that whoever Chavez government jails is no one else business. I can see Mundarain in some choice seat someday at the International Court of The Hague.
And let’s not even touch the trashing received by chavismo after the fact finding mission of Reporters Without Borders, exposing clearly the strictly political motivations in closing down RCTV. That report is sure to rouse soon another set of insults from a discombobulated Chavez. A little paragraph is worth quoting, just to give you the idea (my emphasis):
"Widely condemned abroad, RCTV’s closure was much more than just an administrative measure. It was a political move without precedent in Latin America, a key element in a government takeover of the broadcast media that is part of a determined effort to control and occupy the entire public arena."
All quite fascinating. I am not sure if this will be enough to unseat Chavez anytime soon, even though something new has started. After all when you read what some of his supporters in public offices are capable to say, geeeee, you wonder how come they have not shot students yet. These people are rally losing all sense of measure. The question is: are there enough people with common sense left inside chavismo to stop the extremes before something terrible happens? Sometimes I am afraid not…
-The end-
Oh, there were a few glitches of course. For example, now that we are under a not that veiled military regime, some stupid Captain, thinking he had more power than he really did took upon himself to stop buses coming up to Caracas full of students wanting to join the march. So, this lout thought he would scare students but these just decided that if they could not go up to Caracas no one else could. Soon, as the ARC was falling into a deadly lock everyone was allowed to Caracas. I wonder what that Captain learned today: democracy or shooting first? And that sad scene repeated at many exits of the ARC. Funny detail: Iris Varela claims that the students were sabotaging, "esos niñitos" she said, while Globovision showed the Nazional Guard trucks blocking highway access! Then again Varela has been living in a parallel universe for quite a while.
Creativity has been marking this week. Students do not have the hang ups of traditional political parties, which by the way are not only told to stay away from them, but seem to be as creative as chavismo in dealing with the situation. Some students decided that the downtown areas of Caracas could not be “chavista only” areas. So they started haunting the subway stations with placards and taped mouths. The picture I chose is just of many doing the rounds, and even made as a section in El Universal here and here.
And speaking of uncreative measures. Today to counter the huge, beautiful and successful student/faculty march Chavez could not find anything else but to call for yet another cadena. Even the little bit of Globovision that reaches the country is too much for him now. Chavez cannot tolerate to be upstaged by anything, not even students who paint their hands in white so that the word peace shows better. In this cadena he announced the same old, old canard with a slight new twists: now Bush is making a slow motion coup against him. I agree, it is obvious that through e-mails George Bush spends his days telling students what to do and when. Apparently these students are just something before something bigger comes in two weeks. Or some other crap that only the pro Chavez lunatic fringe is able to swallow bait, hook and sinker. Someone should check out the medication dosage of Chavez.
But chavismo is not doing much better. The faces of chavistas officials and their inner contradictions show every minute as they switch positions not knowing well what to do. Of course it might be all a strategy to gain time while they come up with some credible option. But right now they seem to be realizing that their own staged pseudo student defense rallies, all red shirted, singing the new version of Heil Hitler, “Patria, socialismo o muerte”are failing to convince the opinion when multicolored students place flowers on the weapons of the Metropolitan Police.
Clearly , on the image war chavismo is losing big time these days. And it certainly does not help when COFAVIC trashes the nation’s Ombudsman who refuses to act his part in protecting civilians by daring to say that whoever Chavez government jails is no one else business. I can see Mundarain in some choice seat someday at the International Court of The Hague.
And let’s not even touch the trashing received by chavismo after the fact finding mission of Reporters Without Borders, exposing clearly the strictly political motivations in closing down RCTV. That report is sure to rouse soon another set of insults from a discombobulated Chavez. A little paragraph is worth quoting, just to give you the idea (my emphasis):
"Widely condemned abroad, RCTV’s closure was much more than just an administrative measure. It was a political move without precedent in Latin America, a key element in a government takeover of the broadcast media that is part of a determined effort to control and occupy the entire public arena."
All quite fascinating. I am not sure if this will be enough to unseat Chavez anytime soon, even though something new has started. After all when you read what some of his supporters in public offices are capable to say, geeeee, you wonder how come they have not shot students yet. These people are rally losing all sense of measure. The question is: are there enough people with common sense left inside chavismo to stop the extremes before something terrible happens? Sometimes I am afraid not…
-The end-
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