UPDATE 3
So today it is the swearing in of the new assembly and chavismo is already displaying its sectarian nature, and I will update this post as needed.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
A most undemocratic moment: a National Assembly passes the relay stick
There is so much wrong going on tomorrow National Assembly installation that one does not know where to begin with. We are leaving a Nazional Assembly that has been screwing the country for 5 years and in exchange we will possibly get what could be called soon the non-assembly since it has very little to do for at least 18 months. Let's try first with the incoming assembly and show how unrepresentative and how undemocratic this one is.
First it was elected under an obscene gerrymandering system coupled to an obscene electoral cheating before the election which made any real political campaign an uphill endeavor at best. To make a long story short (read the tag 2010 elections for detailed explanations) we just need to look at the graph below.
First it was elected under an obscene gerrymandering system coupled to an obscene electoral cheating before the election which made any real political campaign an uphill endeavor at best. To make a long story short (read the tag 2010 elections for detailed explanations) we just need to look at the graph below.
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| Click to enlarge. A partial summary of electoral inconsistencies in the September 2010 vote. |
Two steps back to allow people to forget the 100 steps Chavez took forward
Since last September 26 Chavez has been in a blitz of new legislation of a clear totalitarian bent. In fact most people consider that the what has happened in the past three months is a legal coup d'etat. But I can admit that I am impressed with him: he has managed today to go back on two measures that he can use to present hismelf as a democrat and thus surely the other 98 steps he took must be democratic ones. And I am sure that plenty of suckers will buy that!!!! Allow me to explain.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
A Stalinist Dinosaur is visiting Caracas
The government has just passed a law that basically forbids any NGO to invite guest speakers such as Nobel Prize Mario Vargas Llosa. But that will not stop the regime from inviting a Cuban vice-president, a dinosaur from the Stalinist past (and present?) of the island, so he can declare how wonderful is the enabling law voted last month. When you see murderer Ramon Machado declaring in favor of something that has been rejected by a majority of the Venezuelan population you need to retreat to the "truth is stranger than fiction" to retain some of your sanity.
Writing about Venezuelan economy for Western Canada
There is my second article, about the devaluation, with quite a lot of editing. My editor takes no BS, and he is probably right. Oh well.... If you are in facebook or something, press that button, will you? Pretty please?
Monday, January 03, 2011
The Chavez show in Brazil
Well, maybe Brazil inaugurated a new president yesterday but in chavistadom the news was of Hillary Clinton shaking hands with Chavez.
Now, a lot of tall tales seem to be sown here and there but form the picture above we can see a few clear things that cannot be hidden, at least to everyone that has a vague idea of what body language stands for.
Santos knows Chavez first hand and he knows how far in his clownishness this one will go to score a point valid at home (Santos also knows that Chavez does not care much anymore about points he may score for the foreign peanut gallery, too much trouble in Caracas to worry about that). In other words, Santos "been there, done that, hated it" moment is in the past and he is checking out the other three guys.
Hillary is of course the Secretary of State and she has been kissing enough frogs for the past 2 years that she will kiss that one too. But her face is a poem of surprise and disgust although she recomposes herself real quick. I was impressed at how quick, by the way. Whatever it is they say from the right, Hillary clearly looks like the entrapped one in this picture.
Piñera is in shock. He cannot believe what is going on, and possibly the rudeness that came before the scene and that cameras may have missed. He looks at the hands, wondering is Clinton will shake it after all. She will, of course, she has been around the block but we can understand Piñera moment of doubt.
As for the "payaso" according to Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad (see wikileaks), he is doing his show, oblivious of any ridicule he may encounter. After all he needs to prove to the world that it is the US that is threatening to break with Chavez and not the other way around. This is of course solely for at home chavista consumption as outside of Venezuela the dice have rolled long ago. So he sports a fixed smiling grimace that looks more like the spoiled brat that got away with a nasty trick than the responsible statesman that brought peace to two countries (though that faciès is better seen in other pictures that I will not bother posting). The left can say whatever it wants, we know better now.
But of the four of them I am sure that Santos had the better moment, as in "see Hillary, I get no respect from you and your stupid democrats and trade unions blocking my FTA treaty with you. That is what you get in return, bitch! Deal with him too! Mwahahahahah!"
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| Amused Santos, eeked! Clinton, shocked Piñera and Trinidad's "payaso" |
Now, a lot of tall tales seem to be sown here and there but form the picture above we can see a few clear things that cannot be hidden, at least to everyone that has a vague idea of what body language stands for.
Santos knows Chavez first hand and he knows how far in his clownishness this one will go to score a point valid at home (Santos also knows that Chavez does not care much anymore about points he may score for the foreign peanut gallery, too much trouble in Caracas to worry about that). In other words, Santos "been there, done that, hated it" moment is in the past and he is checking out the other three guys.
Hillary is of course the Secretary of State and she has been kissing enough frogs for the past 2 years that she will kiss that one too. But her face is a poem of surprise and disgust although she recomposes herself real quick. I was impressed at how quick, by the way. Whatever it is they say from the right, Hillary clearly looks like the entrapped one in this picture.
Piñera is in shock. He cannot believe what is going on, and possibly the rudeness that came before the scene and that cameras may have missed. He looks at the hands, wondering is Clinton will shake it after all. She will, of course, she has been around the block but we can understand Piñera moment of doubt.
As for the "payaso" according to Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad (see wikileaks), he is doing his show, oblivious of any ridicule he may encounter. After all he needs to prove to the world that it is the US that is threatening to break with Chavez and not the other way around. This is of course solely for at home chavista consumption as outside of Venezuela the dice have rolled long ago. So he sports a fixed smiling grimace that looks more like the spoiled brat that got away with a nasty trick than the responsible statesman that brought peace to two countries (though that faciès is better seen in other pictures that I will not bother posting). The left can say whatever it wants, we know better now.
But of the four of them I am sure that Santos had the better moment, as in "see Hillary, I get no respect from you and your stupid democrats and trade unions blocking my FTA treaty with you. That is what you get in return, bitch! Deal with him too! Mwahahahahah!"
Sunday, January 02, 2011
The 2011 New Year post
It would be hypocrite for me to just wish plainly a Happy New Year when we all know that this would not be the case for those of us living in Venezuela. Even if the new year wish of a majority of Venezuelans, that Chavez leaves office, were to take place in the next few days, the damage he has brought to the country is so profound that the year ahead would be very tough, no matter how elated the we could be at the prospect of a recovery.
Thus, in all honesty, I can only wish a Happy New Year for those of you who live outside of Venezuela where mundane issues are still a balm. For those of us inside Venezuela I can only wish, in all sincerity, that the coming year does not bring you any new degradation, any personal tragedy; because short of hitting the jackpot, it is as much as you can hope for the next year.
And not to sound as dark as I started, at least for us inside, next year we will be motivated because indeed we need to put an end to this regime before this regime puts an end on us. The real wish for us is that we may have the strength to deal with what is in store.
Thus, in all honesty, I can only wish a Happy New Year for those of you who live outside of Venezuela where mundane issues are still a balm. For those of us inside Venezuela I can only wish, in all sincerity, that the coming year does not bring you any new degradation, any personal tragedy; because short of hitting the jackpot, it is as much as you can hope for the next year.
And not to sound as dark as I started, at least for us inside, next year we will be motivated because indeed we need to put an end to this regime before this regime puts an end on us. The real wish for us is that we may have the strength to deal with what is in store.
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