I have been watching mesmerized the recent nightly rioting in mostly Parisian mid suburbs. Tonight I was watching on cable a debate on a show called “Ripostes”. TV5 is a French channel destined for overseas consumption and which integrates the “best” from France and other French speaking areas (last night a Canadian team made a report on Telesur and, well, they did not buy the official “impartiality” line).
What was striking to me was the quality of the debate that was held. The host had invited specialists from rundown suburban areas, and an assortment of public servants from all political sides.
First, the tone was clear, all tendencies were equally aware of the social gravity of the situation and none were trying to pin the blame on the other side. That is, both sides realize, fully I will dare to say, that the problem was born 30, 40 years ago, not under Chirac presidency. Perhaps French are so used now to political rotation that they have become gifted in recognizing such structural patterns, but the tone was sincere, these people were not posturing, they were trying to understand, they were listening to each other.
It went even far enough that a leftist person did not criticize interior ministry Sarkozy, saying that he was obviously doing his job and the social eruption was not his fault. Another one admitted that Sarkozy strong language was reaching some of those suburban people who are losing their cars, who feel in danger and who want law and order even if they tend to vote socialist.
But from the right the language was equally penetrating. There was genuine concern for these humble workers who need their cars to go to downtown Paris to work, or safe and abundant public transportation to reach their jobs, or that indeed the school system and economic integration was failing and that the present government response was not enough.
This did not stop them for an occasional heating up of the debate, from trashing Sarkozy trying to make some political gains in front of the cameras, to denounce some of the socialist polices that have not worked. Still, a democratic debate that would make proud any society that could nurture such a group of people.
Today in Venezuela it was a whole different scene. Chavismo called for a vigil to honor Anderson memory, just as apparently more and more unreasonable accusations and motives are floated around. Yesterday Isaias Rodriguez was declaring that he would not lose his dignity by going to Globovision to be interviewed. Cilia Flores and Nicolas Maduro from the National Assembly or the vigil denounced the sabotage, the media conspiracy, the same litanies to protect Isaias reputation sinking to new lows, as if it were possible.
Yet, tonight Globovision played the almost complete 1 hour interview that Isaias gave last night. Its arrogance did not require any commentary from the Globovision staff: Isaias revealed himself the petty arrogant hack he has become. Yet Ramos Allup was asking the Maduro and Flores to give hard data on the Anderson case, to jail whomever it needed but at least on legal basis and real proof that can be revealed to the public. Ramos Allup and Globovision were expressing what a real democratic government should naturally do.
The gaping divide was for all to see. Within the Venezuelan opposition there is still a certain taste for debate, even a certain desire to listen, to reach the other side, to chavismo. To reach over and try to agree at least on some common objectives for the country. Is it unreasonable to demand that a public servant, of the judicial branch, declares to ALL the media instead of pretending that Globovision has no audience, or not one worth going to talk to anyway? Is it unreasonable to expect the president of the National Assembly to have a discourse to explain what is going on with the country instead of repeating endlessly the now very worn out lines of the permanent attacks to the opposition, the constant equating of this one to terrorism, betrayal to the country and other assorted crimes?
Tonight as I was watching that small group of French people I realized how impossible it is to have such a debate in Venezuela. Chavez is indeed killing any weak democratic instinct that we might have left. His Manichean approach to life has forced his followers to wear blinders, to demise any opposing view, and slowly but surely to start wishing for the actual elimination of the opposition. If anything to be relieved from the constant urging to go and crush it. Chavismo, at least the one sector effectively holding the levers of power, has embarked in the task of reducing the opposition to nothing, of castrating the country of any original thought. It can express meekly with articles such as the weekly column of Mari Pili Hernadez in El Nacional who has reached a new height in imbecility when she describes what the opposition should do to become a good opposition. Or it can be the teeth grinding determination of the CNE to control the electoral process to discourage the opposition to even think about perhaps going out and vote.
When chavismo refuses to acknowledge that it has been in office for 7 years and that it must stop blaming everything in the past, you do realize that this is not accidental and that in ten years from now all that is wrong will still be blamed on the pre 1998 years. You also realize that it will be impossible to start any dialogue as long as some responsibility is not assumed by the Isaias and Maduro… It would be very easy to blame the opposition equally for that lack of dialogue. But my question is: in which terms could the opposition accept to dialogue with the government when any dialogue agenda is imposed by the government. The recent reception of FEDECAMARAS by Chavez was not a dialogue; it was recognition of the might of Chavez, a surrender, not to democracy but to the power of Chavez, by the private business leaders who are now even willing to accept the arbitrary actions perpetrated by the government on private business.
No, Chavez does not want to dialogue. His followers are forced into not wanting dialogue. Thus democracy dies.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Grado 33 Video on Anderson case Investigation
In the preceeding post I mentioned the Carlos Herrera video on the Anderson case. Stig, from my favorite Norwegian blog :), has posted the video. I watched it again this morning, and it is so compelling, so telling how low Venezuelan justice as fallen, how much of a set up is Isaias Rodriguez pseudo investigation that I am making a post just to stress this video. Not to be missed!!!!!
http://www.albacom.no/video/g33_071105p2_all.asf
http://www.albacom.no/video/g33_071105p2_all.asf
Chavez making mistakes?
What has been happening these past days leaves anyone wondering what is really going on. Already in early September I was observing the sudden and apparently unnecessary acceleration in the leftward push of Chavez. All seemed to indicate in July that Chavez would coast quietly until December, get a 2/3 in the new National Assembly and then change the constitution early in 2006 to nail down everything once and for all. “Everything” being of course his personal unlimited power.
Not only he kept the pace, but this week-end botched Mar del Plata adventure and the Anderson case unbelievable manipulation make one wonder what is going on, really, behind closed doors. There must be some pressing issue that scares/bothers Chavez for him to reach for such provocations. I think it is too early for this blogger to speculate on what is going on, though a possible illness of Castro and the ardent wish to ensure the ideological succession, if not even the actual Cuban succession for Chavez, is a lovely idea to toy with.
The Mar del Plata summit
No matter what Chavez stated when he came back, he should not be claiming victory for the Mar del Plata fiasco. That he was the great saboteur, there is no question. That he gained something from it remains to be seen. A simple list of a few observable facts are enough.
1- His big show in the stadium did not attract anyone of importance, unless junkie/ex-junkie/junkie-to-be Maradona counts for something of substance. Even Manu Chao refused to sing for Chavez, according to the Tal Cual gossip column, “por mi madre”. However allowance must be made that Chavez did not want to share the limelight with anyone. In character.
2- The summit split alright on the free trade issue. But this is far from being a Chavez victory. The Mercosur had always been angst ridden about joining the US anyway and had been wanting to position itself on a hard bargain seat. It would be a mistake to see Chavez prodding the Mercosur. In fact, trying to pretend it did could backfire badly as Lula and Kirchner are certainly not going to like to be seen as Chavez puppets, no matter how many bad Argentinean debt Chavez buys.
3- But it gets better, almost 5 times as many countries signed to keep Free Trade talks going than to suspend them (well, actually Mercosur did not suspend the talks, just put them on the back burner). So, the legitimate question here is: all the oil spent on the small Caribbean nations through Petrocaribe promise, did it gain anything for Chavez at the summit? None signed with the Mercosur. In fact Peru, Colombia and Ecuador seem everyday closer to sign some bilateral pact, and a new non-Morales Bolivian government would join them fast.
4- The only thing that Chavez seems to be achieving is an ever deeper division of Latin America, something that he might find difficult to live with sooner than later.
5- And, does any of this benefit Venezuela? No. Any possible benefit, if you look at the chavista point of view was achieved before the summit. This one in fact could be argued to have detracted from previous supposed advantages gained.
6- And what about the troubles he brought to some countries, for nothing? Who thinks that Kirchener is going to host any important summit in the near future? It will be years before Argentina gets any really important event. Chavez rotten attitude probably forced in part the strong stand of Fox, which in turn could affect negatively his likely successor Obrador by forcing to take a position on free trade before he gets elected. This is relative as Mexico is now too tied to the US and Canada for Obrador to do much (see the EU to understand what happens when free trade starts reaping benefits). In fact, it might be an excuse for Obrador to distance himself more and more from Chavez. Rumors are that Peru’s Toledo also had a spat with Chavez. How will all of these free enmities collected play in the long run is anyone guess.
In fact Chavez pathetic attitude coming back trying to put up a winner mask reminds me of a famous La Fontaine poem, Le Coche et la Mouche, where a pesky fly thinks that her harassing of the horses and the people in the cart are what drove it out of the ditch (in English here) (1)
The Anderson murder manipulation
This is really getting out of hand. The more the General Prosecutor, Isaias Rodriguez, speaks the more ridiculous he looks, and the more he comes across as a liar. Simply put the official story is making water from all sides.
Carlos Herrera, an Anderson pal, was brilliant today when he said during an extensive press conference that Mezerhane would have to be really stupid as an owner of Globovision to promote that one’s campaign to uncover the murder of Anderson if he was himself involved in said murder (video) (2). He also stated in a very humorous but popular and direct way that the meetings to plot the murder of Anderson where so many people went were just beyond belief. According the sole eye witness of meetings where dozens attended, a Colombian citizen who apparently had no reason to be there, people did all to identify themselves but wear name tags and sign the attendance book. A cornered Isaias, hit from all sides limited himself to go to the state TV, be interviewed by a very compliant journalist and announce that he would not be caught dead facing real inquisitive journalists, say, at Globovision. In addition of being another one of Chavez’s whores, he revealed himself a total coward: if you have the real truth and the proofs in hand, no journalist will scare you! Of course the MVR went out with the now worn out line: “it is a media attack on the Prosecutor!”, Lara, the biggest whore of them all taking the lead in not worrying about the evidence. But thus works fascism.
SUMATE forbidden to leave the country
And speaking of fascism. 4 directors of SUMATE have just been barred from leaving the country (they had announced for months that they had no plans to “escape”). Why would Chavez order such a thing one month before the election befuddles me, just as international observers are arriving and will meet with SUMATE as one of the main representatives of the opposition parties.
Does it make sense?
Is Chavez strategy paradoxically to have the opposition withdraw all its candidates from the December elections? Indeed, in such conditions it is impossible to lead a campaign. Not only the noise of Anderson and other scandals will drown anything else, but how can you mount an effective defense of the voting act in such a situation of open judicial prosecution?
Is Chavez trying to provoke the opposition into yet another suicidal act? Can the opposition even do such a suicide if it wanted to? We are not in 2002 anymore, times have changed!
Add this to Mar del Plata, the silly socialism of the XXI century and all the things I have been reporting on for the past two months and you should start worrying about what is really going on in the halls of Miraflores. Those mistakes might be too obvious to be mistakes. Or is there something else, the acknowledgement that Chavez will not get his 10 millon voters and, trapped in a ridiculous self imposed challenge, decided that an “alternate” way should be attempted?
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1) Thus some people meddle,
Right smack in the middle
Of other people's business, acting as though
It is they who run the show.
Someone should tell them, "Just buzz off! Go!"
2) the video of Herrera interview can be found in the page of Globovision at the Grado 33 page, but by subscription. If anyone can post a free video, it would be really worth your time to watch it. It is the one dated Grado 33 07/11/05 - Parte 2
Update: Stig has posted the video at Albacom.
Not only he kept the pace, but this week-end botched Mar del Plata adventure and the Anderson case unbelievable manipulation make one wonder what is going on, really, behind closed doors. There must be some pressing issue that scares/bothers Chavez for him to reach for such provocations. I think it is too early for this blogger to speculate on what is going on, though a possible illness of Castro and the ardent wish to ensure the ideological succession, if not even the actual Cuban succession for Chavez, is a lovely idea to toy with.
The Mar del Plata summit
No matter what Chavez stated when he came back, he should not be claiming victory for the Mar del Plata fiasco. That he was the great saboteur, there is no question. That he gained something from it remains to be seen. A simple list of a few observable facts are enough.
1- His big show in the stadium did not attract anyone of importance, unless junkie/ex-junkie/junkie-to-be Maradona counts for something of substance. Even Manu Chao refused to sing for Chavez, according to the Tal Cual gossip column, “por mi madre”. However allowance must be made that Chavez did not want to share the limelight with anyone. In character.
2- The summit split alright on the free trade issue. But this is far from being a Chavez victory. The Mercosur had always been angst ridden about joining the US anyway and had been wanting to position itself on a hard bargain seat. It would be a mistake to see Chavez prodding the Mercosur. In fact, trying to pretend it did could backfire badly as Lula and Kirchner are certainly not going to like to be seen as Chavez puppets, no matter how many bad Argentinean debt Chavez buys.
3- But it gets better, almost 5 times as many countries signed to keep Free Trade talks going than to suspend them (well, actually Mercosur did not suspend the talks, just put them on the back burner). So, the legitimate question here is: all the oil spent on the small Caribbean nations through Petrocaribe promise, did it gain anything for Chavez at the summit? None signed with the Mercosur. In fact Peru, Colombia and Ecuador seem everyday closer to sign some bilateral pact, and a new non-Morales Bolivian government would join them fast.
4- The only thing that Chavez seems to be achieving is an ever deeper division of Latin America, something that he might find difficult to live with sooner than later.
5- And, does any of this benefit Venezuela? No. Any possible benefit, if you look at the chavista point of view was achieved before the summit. This one in fact could be argued to have detracted from previous supposed advantages gained.
6- And what about the troubles he brought to some countries, for nothing? Who thinks that Kirchener is going to host any important summit in the near future? It will be years before Argentina gets any really important event. Chavez rotten attitude probably forced in part the strong stand of Fox, which in turn could affect negatively his likely successor Obrador by forcing to take a position on free trade before he gets elected. This is relative as Mexico is now too tied to the US and Canada for Obrador to do much (see the EU to understand what happens when free trade starts reaping benefits). In fact, it might be an excuse for Obrador to distance himself more and more from Chavez. Rumors are that Peru’s Toledo also had a spat with Chavez. How will all of these free enmities collected play in the long run is anyone guess.
In fact Chavez pathetic attitude coming back trying to put up a winner mask reminds me of a famous La Fontaine poem, Le Coche et la Mouche, where a pesky fly thinks that her harassing of the horses and the people in the cart are what drove it out of the ditch (in English here) (1)
Ainsi certaines gens, faisant les empressés,
S'introduisent dans les affaires:
Ils font partout les nécessaires,
Et, partout importuns, devraient être chassés.
S'introduisent dans les affaires:
Ils font partout les nécessaires,
Et, partout importuns, devraient être chassés.
The Anderson murder manipulation
This is really getting out of hand. The more the General Prosecutor, Isaias Rodriguez, speaks the more ridiculous he looks, and the more he comes across as a liar. Simply put the official story is making water from all sides.
Carlos Herrera, an Anderson pal, was brilliant today when he said during an extensive press conference that Mezerhane would have to be really stupid as an owner of Globovision to promote that one’s campaign to uncover the murder of Anderson if he was himself involved in said murder (video) (2). He also stated in a very humorous but popular and direct way that the meetings to plot the murder of Anderson where so many people went were just beyond belief. According the sole eye witness of meetings where dozens attended, a Colombian citizen who apparently had no reason to be there, people did all to identify themselves but wear name tags and sign the attendance book. A cornered Isaias, hit from all sides limited himself to go to the state TV, be interviewed by a very compliant journalist and announce that he would not be caught dead facing real inquisitive journalists, say, at Globovision. In addition of being another one of Chavez’s whores, he revealed himself a total coward: if you have the real truth and the proofs in hand, no journalist will scare you! Of course the MVR went out with the now worn out line: “it is a media attack on the Prosecutor!”, Lara, the biggest whore of them all taking the lead in not worrying about the evidence. But thus works fascism.
SUMATE forbidden to leave the country
And speaking of fascism. 4 directors of SUMATE have just been barred from leaving the country (they had announced for months that they had no plans to “escape”). Why would Chavez order such a thing one month before the election befuddles me, just as international observers are arriving and will meet with SUMATE as one of the main representatives of the opposition parties.
Does it make sense?
Is Chavez strategy paradoxically to have the opposition withdraw all its candidates from the December elections? Indeed, in such conditions it is impossible to lead a campaign. Not only the noise of Anderson and other scandals will drown anything else, but how can you mount an effective defense of the voting act in such a situation of open judicial prosecution?
Is Chavez trying to provoke the opposition into yet another suicidal act? Can the opposition even do such a suicide if it wanted to? We are not in 2002 anymore, times have changed!
Add this to Mar del Plata, the silly socialism of the XXI century and all the things I have been reporting on for the past two months and you should start worrying about what is really going on in the halls of Miraflores. Those mistakes might be too obvious to be mistakes. Or is there something else, the acknowledgement that Chavez will not get his 10 millon voters and, trapped in a ridiculous self imposed challenge, decided that an “alternate” way should be attempted?
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1) Thus some people meddle,
Right smack in the middle
Of other people's business, acting as though
It is they who run the show.
Someone should tell them, "Just buzz off! Go!"
2) the video of Herrera interview can be found in the page of Globovision at the Grado 33 page, but by subscription. If anyone can post a free video, it would be really worth your time to watch it. It is the one dated Grado 33 07/11/05 - Parte 2
Update: Stig has posted the video at Albacom.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
The Danilo Anderson investigation: trumped up cards
I have been trying to make some sense of all that has been going since Friday when the fearlessly servile Isaias Rodriguez, the prosecutor general of the nation, finally made public a long list of people involved in the murder of Danilo Anderson. It is not easy, though perhaps quite clear to perceive where this is headed. I think it would be good to look first at the obvious inconsistencies of the Friday announcements; then we could look at who might the crime have benefited and them perhaps, be bold enough to venture some conclusion.
However, no matter what I write, the gentle reader should always keep in mind that in the present state of justice in Venezuela any investigation that is carried in ANY political case is carried in such a way as the following priorities are strictly respected:
1- spare the beloved leader of the revolution of any direct or even far removed appearance of involvement (even if we ALL know that nothing of importance happens in Venezuela that is not of his knowledge or inspiration). This explains for example why the revelations were carried while the beloved leader was in Mar del Plata talking of more lofty things than a mafia murder investigation
2- damage as much as possible any person that dares to express a slightly different opinion as the one held by the powers in place. This could also explain the timing, just as the electoral campaign starts, to distract from any campaigning the opposition might be doing. Not to mention that knocking off a few oppo leaders cannot hurt the chavista cause.
The inconsistencies
According to Rodriguez, there will be a long list of people indicted at different levels for the murder of Danilo Anderson. The plot, apparently, involved dozens of people from those who executed it to those who thought about it, not forgetting those who financed it. Thus the first incongruence: with so many people involved in such a conspiracy, how come the investigation took so long?
The second inconsistency is that some of the very strong revelations that occurred in the first weeks of the investigation seemed curiously to have led nowhere, at least for the time being. I am referring here to words said by Anderson own sister and his supposedly best friend Carlos Herréra. Clearly, there was a ring around Anderson that used his investigations for extortion of some of the investigated parties. There is no doubt of that as people complained, people saw large packages of money, Anderson apparent standard of living was higher than what his paycheck would have let us suppose, and more. The incongruence here is that these facts were not duly investigated and brought up Friday, yet they have certainly not been officially dismissed, that this blogger knows of. Why?
There also some other inconsistencies but for the time been those two are enough to worry about.
Who could benefit from Anderson assassination
The worn out cliché is “look to whom the crime benefits”. Before we get into a rather long list, let’s first remind ourselves of what was Danilo Anderson up to fourth quarter of 2004.
Danilo Anderson was a radical left activist who somehow managed to get a law degree allowing him to become a prosecutor of the republic. He was named as an “environmental” prosecutor but soon became the darling of all the political prosecutions. In fact, his caseload grew to be quite impressive, making one wonder how come a single prosecutor could handle so much. Obviously since most were political cases, the hard work of objective investigation case instruction was not a major concern in a regime that was bent in destroying the opposition muscle in order to survive a problematic recall election.
But after the August referendum Anderson services were not as crucial. Still, he kept at it, open to the cameras that sought him more and more. His strange looks, one would even say sickly erotic in its coldness, confessed love for weapons and expensive sartorial habits made him a media fixture. But the fact of the matter is that Anderson had become over 2003 and 2004 the person in Venezuela who knew the most about almost anyone else that had something to hide. That also was his main appeal to the media.
How could Anderson amass such knowledge? It is not only because of the volume of cases he was managing (he had plenty of help at the office for that). It was by the importance and interconnectivity of the cases he was handling. Becoming the official investigator of the people involved in signing the infamous Carmona decree made him have access the private lives and connections of the ‘who’s who’ in the world of finances and media of Venezuela. Including many pseudo Chavez sympathizers that did not cry much on April 12 2002. It is useless to pretend at this point that he was not aware of the extortion ring that developed around him. If anything this was a useful tool for an ambitious prosecutor that came from low middle class background to accelerate his rise to the top and the riches he openly wished for. There is nothing new there, this type of situations have happened all through history. What was new here is that the Bolivarian revolution allowed it to happen. Sooner or later Anderson would get wind of all the deals that were made between the government and the collaborationist financial system of the country.
This being recalled, we can see that there would be people in both sides of the political spectrum that were interested in the elimination of Danilo Anderson. But who were they?
The Carmona decree signatories
Obviously many a signer of the Carmona decree would seem to benefit from Anderson removal. But would they, really? If they signed or were shown on TV that day, killing Anderson would at best give them some time: soon another prosecutor would charge them. No. I do not think that this is where to look for. With or without Anderson they were doomed to endure the wrath of Chavez sooner or later.
Other political players
SUMATE? Newspaper folks? Opposition leaders? The same goes for them, with or without Anderson, the Chavez courts would get them sooner or later. Not been associated with the Carmonazo was just dropping them down in the list. In Venezuela today you are either 100% with Chavez or you are a potential enemy. Thus is the nature of these regimes.
The extortion ring
This, in my modest opinion, is where we must look for. When there is an extortion system whose origin is political we do in fact have two guilty parties: the one doing the extortion and the one that for some reason accepts to be blackmailed. As we all know, once you fall into blackmail there is no telling when it will stop. Thus we could have someone who paid bullion to Anderson or his acolytes and got pissed off enough when asked for yet more money. Or we could have infighting among the extortionist as to who was going to get what. Or we could even have some governmental officials that were benefiting from or were trying to protect some of the people subjected to blackmail. This people could in turn be blackmailed, afraid that Chavez would learn about their activities and be subjected to his ire and revengeful nature. And more combinations that one can think off. A whole literary genre exists based on such situations…
The actual accused
Patricia Poleo? I doubt it. She does not have the kind of money that could be interesting to get through blackmail. Nor does she have the kind of money to pay for such an assassination. Nor is she the type of person to be involved in such thing as her life work is to uncover such political activities. In fact, that she might have been on the trail of the truth could have been enough of a reason to implicate her on trumped up charges, if anything to bar her from further digging. I am not writing this to defend Ms. Poleo, for all that I know she might have been the one that triggered the remote control of Anderson’s bomb. But simple logic makes her one of the least likely suspects or beneficiaries of such a murder.
Nelson Mezerhane? Not likely either. He did apparently have run in with Anderson on some environmental affair which was eventually dismissed. Certainly not enough to make him wish the death of Anderson. Besides as a member of a family part owner of Globovision, banks and other interests it is difficult to see how he would jeopardize such a fortune on such a murder. He could have been blackmailed by the extortionist gang but one does not see a priori how since he was not part of the Carmona adventure. And his personal fortune would certainly not have been made any safer through the murder of Anderson, in particular with a murder where we are told dozens of people are involved.
General Escalante? As a military officer that has served well the regime and who has reached high positions under Chavez, one would wonder in which way the assassination of Anderson might have benefited him, except for being handsomely paid to facilitate the explosive material used in the bomb. But are there no other ways, much safer, for a Venezuelan general to make a lot of money in these highly corrupt times? Was even general Escalante investigated in ANY of the multiple Anderson cases? Not likely as the army has its own judicial system thanks to the 1999 constitution. And if Escalante wanted to get rid of Anderson, well, as an army chief he certainly had easier means to do so than a complicated blow up downtown setting.
There is no need to proceed with this list, even as new names might come to the front. The smart reader will realize that the list is by itself incongruent with the case. And to stress that, all have announced their intention to surrender to the justice once their lawyers know what is in the dossier.
Conclusion
At this point it is dangerous to make any conclusion. After all, maybe Rodriguez did his job, no matter how much I doubt that he did an honest job. However, just the timing is suspicious by itself. Making this a big issue one month before elections is not a coincidence, in my opinion. With these people put under investigation the regime threatens directly: 1) the press, 2) the financial groups that might be considering financing an opposition campaign, 3) any sector of the army that might think about protesting what is going on in the country, 4) the civil disobedience sector (article 350!) which might be scared off or be provoked in a reaction that could only favor the regime. In addition the regime can project an image of action to its electorate which shows increasing signs of dissatisfaction.
We need to wait some more, but this blogger thing that this is only a construct, a smoke curtain, destined to hid the real truth of the Anderson murder, in the hope of mobilizing the chavista electorate for the election by giving them yet a new reason to hate the opposition. I hope to be proven wrong but I am pretty sure I am right.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Note: this article is written without links. I can provide links to everything I have written above, even my opinions which are not particularly original and have been expressed by other people in more or less similar terms. My role here is to simply put it all together to help the reader make some sense of it all. I will only limit myself to put up in my other blog the interview of Patricia Poleo and her father appearing today in El Nacional and El Universal respectively, not because they bring that much new information, but because they are the only people so far in declaring extensively. They also show how much of a political manipulation the whole thing reeks of. I did translate also part of the Rafael Poleo interview where he explains why Chavez is a Nazi. Strong stuff.
Note 2: Added in proof. Aporrea even publishes the picture of Mezerhane as a vulgar "wanted" criminal. He might be guilty, for all that I know. But the haste of Aporrea in circulating a picture of someone not well known through the media, with a "que no se escape" is telling of the mentality that reigns in that web site. Nazism as Poleo says in his interview. I wish Aporrea would show as much enthusiam in pursuing all the corruption that is present within chavismo, with pictures.
However, no matter what I write, the gentle reader should always keep in mind that in the present state of justice in Venezuela any investigation that is carried in ANY political case is carried in such a way as the following priorities are strictly respected:
1- spare the beloved leader of the revolution of any direct or even far removed appearance of involvement (even if we ALL know that nothing of importance happens in Venezuela that is not of his knowledge or inspiration). This explains for example why the revelations were carried while the beloved leader was in Mar del Plata talking of more lofty things than a mafia murder investigation
2- damage as much as possible any person that dares to express a slightly different opinion as the one held by the powers in place. This could also explain the timing, just as the electoral campaign starts, to distract from any campaigning the opposition might be doing. Not to mention that knocking off a few oppo leaders cannot hurt the chavista cause.
The inconsistencies
According to Rodriguez, there will be a long list of people indicted at different levels for the murder of Danilo Anderson. The plot, apparently, involved dozens of people from those who executed it to those who thought about it, not forgetting those who financed it. Thus the first incongruence: with so many people involved in such a conspiracy, how come the investigation took so long?
The second inconsistency is that some of the very strong revelations that occurred in the first weeks of the investigation seemed curiously to have led nowhere, at least for the time being. I am referring here to words said by Anderson own sister and his supposedly best friend Carlos Herréra. Clearly, there was a ring around Anderson that used his investigations for extortion of some of the investigated parties. There is no doubt of that as people complained, people saw large packages of money, Anderson apparent standard of living was higher than what his paycheck would have let us suppose, and more. The incongruence here is that these facts were not duly investigated and brought up Friday, yet they have certainly not been officially dismissed, that this blogger knows of. Why?
There also some other inconsistencies but for the time been those two are enough to worry about.
Who could benefit from Anderson assassination
The worn out cliché is “look to whom the crime benefits”. Before we get into a rather long list, let’s first remind ourselves of what was Danilo Anderson up to fourth quarter of 2004.
Danilo Anderson was a radical left activist who somehow managed to get a law degree allowing him to become a prosecutor of the republic. He was named as an “environmental” prosecutor but soon became the darling of all the political prosecutions. In fact, his caseload grew to be quite impressive, making one wonder how come a single prosecutor could handle so much. Obviously since most were political cases, the hard work of objective investigation case instruction was not a major concern in a regime that was bent in destroying the opposition muscle in order to survive a problematic recall election.
But after the August referendum Anderson services were not as crucial. Still, he kept at it, open to the cameras that sought him more and more. His strange looks, one would even say sickly erotic in its coldness, confessed love for weapons and expensive sartorial habits made him a media fixture. But the fact of the matter is that Anderson had become over 2003 and 2004 the person in Venezuela who knew the most about almost anyone else that had something to hide. That also was his main appeal to the media.
How could Anderson amass such knowledge? It is not only because of the volume of cases he was managing (he had plenty of help at the office for that). It was by the importance and interconnectivity of the cases he was handling. Becoming the official investigator of the people involved in signing the infamous Carmona decree made him have access the private lives and connections of the ‘who’s who’ in the world of finances and media of Venezuela. Including many pseudo Chavez sympathizers that did not cry much on April 12 2002. It is useless to pretend at this point that he was not aware of the extortion ring that developed around him. If anything this was a useful tool for an ambitious prosecutor that came from low middle class background to accelerate his rise to the top and the riches he openly wished for. There is nothing new there, this type of situations have happened all through history. What was new here is that the Bolivarian revolution allowed it to happen. Sooner or later Anderson would get wind of all the deals that were made between the government and the collaborationist financial system of the country.
This being recalled, we can see that there would be people in both sides of the political spectrum that were interested in the elimination of Danilo Anderson. But who were they?
The Carmona decree signatories
Obviously many a signer of the Carmona decree would seem to benefit from Anderson removal. But would they, really? If they signed or were shown on TV that day, killing Anderson would at best give them some time: soon another prosecutor would charge them. No. I do not think that this is where to look for. With or without Anderson they were doomed to endure the wrath of Chavez sooner or later.
Other political players
SUMATE? Newspaper folks? Opposition leaders? The same goes for them, with or without Anderson, the Chavez courts would get them sooner or later. Not been associated with the Carmonazo was just dropping them down in the list. In Venezuela today you are either 100% with Chavez or you are a potential enemy. Thus is the nature of these regimes.
The extortion ring
This, in my modest opinion, is where we must look for. When there is an extortion system whose origin is political we do in fact have two guilty parties: the one doing the extortion and the one that for some reason accepts to be blackmailed. As we all know, once you fall into blackmail there is no telling when it will stop. Thus we could have someone who paid bullion to Anderson or his acolytes and got pissed off enough when asked for yet more money. Or we could have infighting among the extortionist as to who was going to get what. Or we could even have some governmental officials that were benefiting from or were trying to protect some of the people subjected to blackmail. This people could in turn be blackmailed, afraid that Chavez would learn about their activities and be subjected to his ire and revengeful nature. And more combinations that one can think off. A whole literary genre exists based on such situations…
The actual accused
Patricia Poleo? I doubt it. She does not have the kind of money that could be interesting to get through blackmail. Nor does she have the kind of money to pay for such an assassination. Nor is she the type of person to be involved in such thing as her life work is to uncover such political activities. In fact, that she might have been on the trail of the truth could have been enough of a reason to implicate her on trumped up charges, if anything to bar her from further digging. I am not writing this to defend Ms. Poleo, for all that I know she might have been the one that triggered the remote control of Anderson’s bomb. But simple logic makes her one of the least likely suspects or beneficiaries of such a murder.
Nelson Mezerhane? Not likely either. He did apparently have run in with Anderson on some environmental affair which was eventually dismissed. Certainly not enough to make him wish the death of Anderson. Besides as a member of a family part owner of Globovision, banks and other interests it is difficult to see how he would jeopardize such a fortune on such a murder. He could have been blackmailed by the extortionist gang but one does not see a priori how since he was not part of the Carmona adventure. And his personal fortune would certainly not have been made any safer through the murder of Anderson, in particular with a murder where we are told dozens of people are involved.
General Escalante? As a military officer that has served well the regime and who has reached high positions under Chavez, one would wonder in which way the assassination of Anderson might have benefited him, except for being handsomely paid to facilitate the explosive material used in the bomb. But are there no other ways, much safer, for a Venezuelan general to make a lot of money in these highly corrupt times? Was even general Escalante investigated in ANY of the multiple Anderson cases? Not likely as the army has its own judicial system thanks to the 1999 constitution. And if Escalante wanted to get rid of Anderson, well, as an army chief he certainly had easier means to do so than a complicated blow up downtown setting.
There is no need to proceed with this list, even as new names might come to the front. The smart reader will realize that the list is by itself incongruent with the case. And to stress that, all have announced their intention to surrender to the justice once their lawyers know what is in the dossier.
Conclusion
At this point it is dangerous to make any conclusion. After all, maybe Rodriguez did his job, no matter how much I doubt that he did an honest job. However, just the timing is suspicious by itself. Making this a big issue one month before elections is not a coincidence, in my opinion. With these people put under investigation the regime threatens directly: 1) the press, 2) the financial groups that might be considering financing an opposition campaign, 3) any sector of the army that might think about protesting what is going on in the country, 4) the civil disobedience sector (article 350!) which might be scared off or be provoked in a reaction that could only favor the regime. In addition the regime can project an image of action to its electorate which shows increasing signs of dissatisfaction.
We need to wait some more, but this blogger thing that this is only a construct, a smoke curtain, destined to hid the real truth of the Anderson murder, in the hope of mobilizing the chavista electorate for the election by giving them yet a new reason to hate the opposition. I hope to be proven wrong but I am pretty sure I am right.
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Note: this article is written without links. I can provide links to everything I have written above, even my opinions which are not particularly original and have been expressed by other people in more or less similar terms. My role here is to simply put it all together to help the reader make some sense of it all. I will only limit myself to put up in my other blog the interview of Patricia Poleo and her father appearing today in El Nacional and El Universal respectively, not because they bring that much new information, but because they are the only people so far in declaring extensively. They also show how much of a political manipulation the whole thing reeks of. I did translate also part of the Rafael Poleo interview where he explains why Chavez is a Nazi. Strong stuff.
Note 2: Added in proof. Aporrea even publishes the picture of Mezerhane as a vulgar "wanted" criminal. He might be guilty, for all that I know. But the haste of Aporrea in circulating a picture of someone not well known through the media, with a "que no se escape" is telling of the mentality that reigns in that web site. Nazism as Poleo says in his interview. I wish Aporrea would show as much enthusiam in pursuing all the corruption that is present within chavismo, with pictures.
The summit of the Americas
There is really not much I can write after reading the excellent summary of Andres Openheimer. I think in the long run there will be a block of countries that will go with the free trade and the US and a block that will remain isolated and probably stagnant. In other words, Chavez spoiled brat tantrums and the Mercosur bluff will end up benefiting the US even more in the long range. I am sure that eventually the Mercosur will find a way to deal with the US sooner or later as dealing with Europe will not be any easier. If Lula is not reelected, Chavez and Kirchner will be left holding the hat. You read it here first.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Hot Friday evening
Well, I had a very busy day and finally coming back home at 7 PM I see that a lot of things are going at the same time. Let's focus fast on the two main ones.
Chavez and Bush in Mar Del Plata
The Americas summit is being held in that Argentinean resort town. Bush, everyday more and more contested in Latin America, even by many who oppose Chavez vehemently, is meeting with protest in Argentina that are surprisingly more violent than expected. Unfortunately the politics of Argentina with the "piqueteros" fringe has become quite troubled, with basically Kirchner being a semi hostage from their constant road blocks and other disruptive activities.
Chavez, fishing as usual in troubled waters, has managed to have a "counter summit" meeting held. The whole thing smacked of a set up for grabbing headlines and one wonders how come the local host let it go that far. Is Kirchner in trouble in spite of rather good electoral results a week ago? Is Kirchner blackmailed by Chavez through SIDOR, bonds and what not? One does not what to think but one cannot help becoming suspicious. Interestingly only two figures were in attendance at that meeting where Chavez wailed for over two hours. Evo Morales of Bolivia and Maradonna where the only "luminaries", one because he does as Chavez and Fidel say in order to try to win Bolivia's coming elections and the other just because he is certified crazy. But do not think that other leftist leaders were not in attendance because they disapproved of Chavez (though I am pretty sure that Lula or Lagos would never be caught dead in such a Latin trash rally). I know the man well enough that he probably arranged things and put the stakes high enough to be sure he would be the only one on stage. He has stopped long ago sharing stages, even with Fidel Castro who is letting him take the front line more and more!
You doubt me? I have further evidence.
Yesterday I watched VTV for a few minutes (something I do no more than once a month). Well, they were calling for a support march for Chavez as he would be attacking Bush a continent away. It was a bust, El Universal reporting around 2000 people at Plaza Morelos and a friend of mine mailing me that even VTV did a very discreet coverage of the event, a sure sign that even their expert cameras could not create the illusion of enthusiastic crowds. The good news is that with a few million dollars Chavez can still get the adoring response his megalomaniacal personality does crave so eagerly: in Mar del Plata there were indeed several thousand of people cheering (while here we were stuck with another endless cadena). (1)
Indictments in Caracas
What surprised me more than this Argentinean only too predictable show was that the general prosecutor office chose today to release the first "serious" indictments on the Anderson case. I write "serious" as I am far from convinced that at least 2 of the 4 named ones had any reason to kill or help in killing prosecutor Anderson one year ago. I mean, why would Patricia Poleo want to kill Anderson, or even need to kill Anderson? She might, but really, I would want to see the proof! This is something that I have a hard time believing, and I am not the only one as Gerardo Blyde was already publicly visiting Poleo at home and declaring that this was just a whole bunch of trumped charges to try to find fall guys where other should be the ones indicted. It is to be noted that Isaias Rodriguez is on record saying that Patricia Poleo was out of the investigation, about two weeks ago.
But let's look at another declaration of Isaias. "A lot of people are involved". Huh?! So, a notorious prosecutor is killed, a lot of people are involved and only now, one year after, some apparently ludicrous charges are brought forth? Ludicrous enough that they surely could have been brought up much earlier than today? Adding further that his dispatch "cannot prove the guilt of so many people"? Does Isaias realize how his own words establish HOW INCOMPETENT his office is and what a liar he has become?
Yes, I think Byde is right. The morochas. The Halloween arrests. The Isaias out of the blue indictments. It only makes sense if we see that as a desperate last minute electoral ploy. Look at the meager crowds in Caracas today and you will know why the government is so frantically trying to create some emotion.
Surprising footnote: of all people, Carter was the one lamenting Bush bashing. He even said that Chavez was a "demagogue" and that he had no reason to attack Bush the way he did. Does Carter know more than what he tells? Nah... He was such an impartial observer in August 2004!
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1) Update: a friend of mine who works downtown Caracas, the one that serves me of guide when I must venture in this living hell, wrote me to tell me that the chavista rally was a sad drunken affair. They set up some stage with loud music (on a working day!) to try to attract people. The only result was that all stores and business around closed as they simply could not work with the racket, and the insecurity. He had to cross the area on an errand, not aware that the rally was on his path. But that did not deter him as he quickly saw that the rally was only about a block long, almost everyone in the red shirt of circumstance (read: the regular paid for attendance, not enough "spontaneous" to dilute that impression). Many, too many were drinking, some even making out, noone really paying much attention to whatever was coming from the stage. As the Latin trash rally (expression that has been much appreciated in another blog) in Mar del Plata was going on, downtown Caracas had a real trash rally of its own....
Chavez and Bush in Mar Del Plata
The Americas summit is being held in that Argentinean resort town. Bush, everyday more and more contested in Latin America, even by many who oppose Chavez vehemently, is meeting with protest in Argentina that are surprisingly more violent than expected. Unfortunately the politics of Argentina with the "piqueteros" fringe has become quite troubled, with basically Kirchner being a semi hostage from their constant road blocks and other disruptive activities.
Chavez, fishing as usual in troubled waters, has managed to have a "counter summit" meeting held. The whole thing smacked of a set up for grabbing headlines and one wonders how come the local host let it go that far. Is Kirchner in trouble in spite of rather good electoral results a week ago? Is Kirchner blackmailed by Chavez through SIDOR, bonds and what not? One does not what to think but one cannot help becoming suspicious. Interestingly only two figures were in attendance at that meeting where Chavez wailed for over two hours. Evo Morales of Bolivia and Maradonna where the only "luminaries", one because he does as Chavez and Fidel say in order to try to win Bolivia's coming elections and the other just because he is certified crazy. But do not think that other leftist leaders were not in attendance because they disapproved of Chavez (though I am pretty sure that Lula or Lagos would never be caught dead in such a Latin trash rally). I know the man well enough that he probably arranged things and put the stakes high enough to be sure he would be the only one on stage. He has stopped long ago sharing stages, even with Fidel Castro who is letting him take the front line more and more!
You doubt me? I have further evidence.
Yesterday I watched VTV for a few minutes (something I do no more than once a month). Well, they were calling for a support march for Chavez as he would be attacking Bush a continent away. It was a bust, El Universal reporting around 2000 people at Plaza Morelos and a friend of mine mailing me that even VTV did a very discreet coverage of the event, a sure sign that even their expert cameras could not create the illusion of enthusiastic crowds. The good news is that with a few million dollars Chavez can still get the adoring response his megalomaniacal personality does crave so eagerly: in Mar del Plata there were indeed several thousand of people cheering (while here we were stuck with another endless cadena). (1)
Indictments in Caracas
What surprised me more than this Argentinean only too predictable show was that the general prosecutor office chose today to release the first "serious" indictments on the Anderson case. I write "serious" as I am far from convinced that at least 2 of the 4 named ones had any reason to kill or help in killing prosecutor Anderson one year ago. I mean, why would Patricia Poleo want to kill Anderson, or even need to kill Anderson? She might, but really, I would want to see the proof! This is something that I have a hard time believing, and I am not the only one as Gerardo Blyde was already publicly visiting Poleo at home and declaring that this was just a whole bunch of trumped charges to try to find fall guys where other should be the ones indicted. It is to be noted that Isaias Rodriguez is on record saying that Patricia Poleo was out of the investigation, about two weeks ago.
But let's look at another declaration of Isaias. "A lot of people are involved". Huh?! So, a notorious prosecutor is killed, a lot of people are involved and only now, one year after, some apparently ludicrous charges are brought forth? Ludicrous enough that they surely could have been brought up much earlier than today? Adding further that his dispatch "cannot prove the guilt of so many people"? Does Isaias realize how his own words establish HOW INCOMPETENT his office is and what a liar he has become?
Yes, I think Byde is right. The morochas. The Halloween arrests. The Isaias out of the blue indictments. It only makes sense if we see that as a desperate last minute electoral ploy. Look at the meager crowds in Caracas today and you will know why the government is so frantically trying to create some emotion.
Surprising footnote: of all people, Carter was the one lamenting Bush bashing. He even said that Chavez was a "demagogue" and that he had no reason to attack Bush the way he did. Does Carter know more than what he tells? Nah... He was such an impartial observer in August 2004!
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1) Update: a friend of mine who works downtown Caracas, the one that serves me of guide when I must venture in this living hell, wrote me to tell me that the chavista rally was a sad drunken affair. They set up some stage with loud music (on a working day!) to try to attract people. The only result was that all stores and business around closed as they simply could not work with the racket, and the insecurity. He had to cross the area on an errand, not aware that the rally was on his path. But that did not deter him as he quickly saw that the rally was only about a block long, almost everyone in the red shirt of circumstance (read: the regular paid for attendance, not enough "spontaneous" to dilute that impression). Many, too many were drinking, some even making out, noone really paying much attention to whatever was coming from the stage. As the Latin trash rally (expression that has been much appreciated in another blog) in Mar del Plata was going on, downtown Caracas had a real trash rally of its own....
Friday, November 04, 2005
The politics of cultural ridicule in Venezuela
A political culture based on sycophancy degenerates fast. Predictably Venezuela is taking the path to adulation of El Supremo, and his sayings, as the only valid form of cultural expression, and I am being lax with the use of the term "cultural". Thus what better way to start this article but by posting now a familiar sign in the highways of Yaracuy, where governor Gimenez, barely a year in office, is creative enough to use Chavez to promote his own self image. Living around here I can assure that Gimenez needs all the placards he can post around to stop the fast degradation of his image, as he is revealing himself as lousy a governor as he was a mayor. But Chavez wanted him and that was that.
Observe the appropriate propaganda items. Chavez is on top of the mountain, modern day Moses, pointing the right way from his left hand. The choice of the Venezuelan flag colors for the welcome message. The recovery of the statue of the Yaracuy cacique with the faded colors of the PODEMOS party of Gimenez. The Bolivariano in red as the Bolivar aristocrat is now equated to a Lenin precursor. The rural suggestion of the background (not even the emblematic Sorte mountain of Maria Lionza!). And of course the element that cannot miss from the wardrobe of any self respecting Venezuelan: the heavy jacket in a tropical country, harking to the Mantuano past! (1) I wonder if Gimenez realizes how much of himself this billboard reveals.
But this new cultural revolution creates some other weird items. For example the new logo of the revolution: "Venezuela now belongs to all".
If you visit the pages of the Communication Ministry, one of the names that a propaganda ministry might want to use, you will find at the bottom a few tabs. One of them will lead you to a PDF file where you will learn all the ways to use properly the revolutionary logo, color systems, proper ministerial positioning of legends around the logo, all… It does make for quite a fascinating read to see how propaganda is made technical, how the little people are not allowed to sway away of the "right" usage of the logo, a logo acquiring now biblical proportions.
But there are more and more laws voted or being about to be voted as to what is proper culture in Venezuela. I will pass over the "Ley Resorte" which I best refer to as the "gag law". One of its dark sides is that now all musical radio stations must present half of their music coming from Venezuelan sources, and the rest from the rest of the world except that 20%, I think, must come from Latin America. The first result is that all the radio stations that I used to listen to for their mix are now boring, resorting to top international 40 and more and more obscure Venezuelan productions whose obscurity was well deserved.
I am not opposed, mind you, to the promotion of Venezuelan music. But successful Venezuelan music usually had managed to peak through no matter what. Outside of Caracas you could find, in pre "resorte" times, quite a few radio stations that had 90% and more of Venezuelan music ("llaneras", for example, audio here). Indeed, why not give a 10 or 20% of peak hour music to Venezuelan bands? I am all for it. But when 50% of all broadcasts must be Venezuelan? Please! It is only a 25 million people country and no matter how artistically and musically gifted we are, well, it just ain't enough quality musicians hanging around.
But the obsequious bureaucrats, not realizing that the real objective of the "ley resorte" is to promote, and successfully at that, self censorship of the press, are taking seriously that quota system. The other day I heard of a proposal for forcing the broadcast everywhere of native American Venezuelan tunes. I find this simply anthropologically racist. Why not give the natives the means to buy modern and performing instruments so that they can transcribe and enrich their tunes in the this brave new world of electronics? Or is it, like the Nuevas Tribus cases, that the bolibanana revolutionaries are seeing the natives as "good savage" having to live as natives with little skirts in a semi zoo atmosphere? I am pretty sure that the Yekuanas of the Amazonas would very much like to have TV and refrigerators to come back home after a day out in the jungle. (You can read the official lengthy and highlighted version of this affair here, and a different version here, and the protestation of some of the natives here)
But the ultimate in ridicule was the announcement published September 30 in El Nacional that the Philarmonic Orchestra would follow the 50-50 distribution of music mandated by the "ley resorte". At least someone realized that Sojo might not be enough to fill up 50% of the concert programs and the 50% of Venezuelan classical is understood to include Latin America composers. We are in for overexposure to Villa-Lobos and Ginastera. Really, one thing is promoting new Venezuelan talent but when the Philarmonic equates the three B to XXth century Latin America composers you start wondering about the cultural integrity of the whole business. I quote the director Martinez:
But plastic arts are probably not far behind in getting their own creativity burst. In addition of all these new political posters now the Latin Parliament offices in Caracas are sponsoring a graffiti contest (they call it "mural", sounds better, as they bravely assert that graffiti will not be allowed) where Chavez must be the central figure. 5000 dollars will be spread among the best three entries which must measure AT LEAST 1.5 meters high by 2 meters long. So we will not be able to miss this developing cult to Chavez while we drive by. I can hardly wait…
So, where is the root of all this mediocrity? With the mediocre Supremo himself who is reported by CNN as bashing the Halloween celebration which has been slowly creeping in Venezuela (no word about closing McDonalds yet, something that I actually would think about supporting!) According to Chavez Halloween is part of the US culture of terror.
Which as usual is totally false, one of the now innumerable Chavez lies. I could point out to the world famous festival of Yare (scroll down for the English text story).
Politically Correct ghoulishness?
You can see clearly that the masks worn are the devil imaginary in Venezuela which in my humble opinion is pretty much the same as the imaginary evils that are represented by Anglo-Saxon witches (which by the way have long been adopted in the Venezuelan imaginary).
This display of bad taste, bad culture, general ignorance, would not be so bad if it were limited only to what we can get as of now on walls and air waves. The perverse effect of these initiatives will be the same observed everywhere, from the Buena Vista Cuban music long forgotten, to the book burnings of Germany circa 1935. Any good Venezuelan production will be shun: the ones that will get promotion are the mediocre efforts of the ones who wish to flatter Chavez with their works or those who are already recognized as Chavez supporters. Unfortunately it certainly will not stop that as the cultural utterings of the Supremo might have weird and dangerous consequences as people going to jail for Halloween political pranks (here and here).
When mediocrity leads mediocrity it can be scary when that mediocrity has shooting power.
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1) In colonial times only the rich were allowed to wear a coat, manto, for some obscure reason. Thus the term "mantuano", coat wearer, a spiteful way to call the rich. But no politician would be caught dead without a coat except Chavez who is like Churchill in his wearing of all sorts of disguises.
Hat tip to the reader who sent me the CNN article. I looked and looked but could not find the original mail to post the proper acknowledgmeent. You know who you are!
Observe the appropriate propaganda items. Chavez is on top of the mountain, modern day Moses, pointing the right way from his left hand. The choice of the Venezuelan flag colors for the welcome message. The recovery of the statue of the Yaracuy cacique with the faded colors of the PODEMOS party of Gimenez. The Bolivariano in red as the Bolivar aristocrat is now equated to a Lenin precursor. The rural suggestion of the background (not even the emblematic Sorte mountain of Maria Lionza!). And of course the element that cannot miss from the wardrobe of any self respecting Venezuelan: the heavy jacket in a tropical country, harking to the Mantuano past! (1) I wonder if Gimenez realizes how much of himself this billboard reveals.
But this new cultural revolution creates some other weird items. For example the new logo of the revolution: "Venezuela now belongs to all".
If you visit the pages of the Communication Ministry, one of the names that a propaganda ministry might want to use, you will find at the bottom a few tabs. One of them will lead you to a PDF file where you will learn all the ways to use properly the revolutionary logo, color systems, proper ministerial positioning of legends around the logo, all… It does make for quite a fascinating read to see how propaganda is made technical, how the little people are not allowed to sway away of the "right" usage of the logo, a logo acquiring now biblical proportions.But there are more and more laws voted or being about to be voted as to what is proper culture in Venezuela. I will pass over the "Ley Resorte" which I best refer to as the "gag law". One of its dark sides is that now all musical radio stations must present half of their music coming from Venezuelan sources, and the rest from the rest of the world except that 20%, I think, must come from Latin America. The first result is that all the radio stations that I used to listen to for their mix are now boring, resorting to top international 40 and more and more obscure Venezuelan productions whose obscurity was well deserved.
I am not opposed, mind you, to the promotion of Venezuelan music. But successful Venezuelan music usually had managed to peak through no matter what. Outside of Caracas you could find, in pre "resorte" times, quite a few radio stations that had 90% and more of Venezuelan music ("llaneras", for example, audio here). Indeed, why not give a 10 or 20% of peak hour music to Venezuelan bands? I am all for it. But when 50% of all broadcasts must be Venezuelan? Please! It is only a 25 million people country and no matter how artistically and musically gifted we are, well, it just ain't enough quality musicians hanging around.But the obsequious bureaucrats, not realizing that the real objective of the "ley resorte" is to promote, and successfully at that, self censorship of the press, are taking seriously that quota system. The other day I heard of a proposal for forcing the broadcast everywhere of native American Venezuelan tunes. I find this simply anthropologically racist. Why not give the natives the means to buy modern and performing instruments so that they can transcribe and enrich their tunes in the this brave new world of electronics? Or is it, like the Nuevas Tribus cases, that the bolibanana revolutionaries are seeing the natives as "good savage" having to live as natives with little skirts in a semi zoo atmosphere? I am pretty sure that the Yekuanas of the Amazonas would very much like to have TV and refrigerators to come back home after a day out in the jungle. (You can read the official lengthy and highlighted version of this affair here, and a different version here, and the protestation of some of the natives here)
But the ultimate in ridicule was the announcement published September 30 in El Nacional that the Philarmonic Orchestra would follow the 50-50 distribution of music mandated by the "ley resorte". At least someone realized that Sojo might not be enough to fill up 50% of the concert programs and the 50% of Venezuelan classical is understood to include Latin America composers. We are in for overexposure to Villa-Lobos and Ginastera. Really, one thing is promoting new Venezuelan talent but when the Philarmonic equates the three B to XXth century Latin America composers you start wondering about the cultural integrity of the whole business. I quote the director Martinez:
What we want is for the Philarmonic to identify with the majorities and these majorities identify with the Philarmonic.Last time I read this type of language was when Nazism thought that the three B and the W were enough for the Reich.
But plastic arts are probably not far behind in getting their own creativity burst. In addition of all these new political posters now the Latin Parliament offices in Caracas are sponsoring a graffiti contest (they call it "mural", sounds better, as they bravely assert that graffiti will not be allowed) where Chavez must be the central figure. 5000 dollars will be spread among the best three entries which must measure AT LEAST 1.5 meters high by 2 meters long. So we will not be able to miss this developing cult to Chavez while we drive by. I can hardly wait…
So, where is the root of all this mediocrity? With the mediocre Supremo himself who is reported by CNN as bashing the Halloween celebration which has been slowly creeping in Venezuela (no word about closing McDonalds yet, something that I actually would think about supporting!) According to Chavez Halloween is part of the US culture of terror.
Chavez called Halloween a "gringa," or North American, custom.
"Families go and begin to disguise their children as witches," Chavez said. "That is contrary to our ways."
Which as usual is totally false, one of the now innumerable Chavez lies. I could point out to the world famous festival of Yare (scroll down for the English text story).
Politically Correct ghoulishness?You can see clearly that the masks worn are the devil imaginary in Venezuela which in my humble opinion is pretty much the same as the imaginary evils that are represented by Anglo-Saxon witches (which by the way have long been adopted in the Venezuelan imaginary).
This display of bad taste, bad culture, general ignorance, would not be so bad if it were limited only to what we can get as of now on walls and air waves. The perverse effect of these initiatives will be the same observed everywhere, from the Buena Vista Cuban music long forgotten, to the book burnings of Germany circa 1935. Any good Venezuelan production will be shun: the ones that will get promotion are the mediocre efforts of the ones who wish to flatter Chavez with their works or those who are already recognized as Chavez supporters. Unfortunately it certainly will not stop that as the cultural utterings of the Supremo might have weird and dangerous consequences as people going to jail for Halloween political pranks (here and here).
When mediocrity leads mediocrity it can be scary when that mediocrity has shooting power.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1) In colonial times only the rich were allowed to wear a coat, manto, for some obscure reason. Thus the term "mantuano", coat wearer, a spiteful way to call the rich. But no politician would be caught dead without a coat except Chavez who is like Churchill in his wearing of all sorts of disguises.
Hat tip to the reader who sent me the CNN article. I looked and looked but could not find the original mail to post the proper acknowledgmeent. You know who you are!
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