Tweet of the day

Last night I was writing about laws voted that displease chavismo. Here is the tweet of the National Assembly chair, Ramos Allup.

Bufete inconstitucional malandro reunido emergencia hasta madrugada preparando anular ley bcv y amnistía(ya aprobadas AN) y tsj aprobada 1a.

— Henry Ramos Allup (@hramosallup) March 30, 2016

The unconstitutional thug law firm gathered past midnight preparing the annulment of the central bank reform and amnesty law, as well as first draft of High court reform

Such is the rush of the TSJ that they cannot even pretend to follow normal legal decorum and in a rush they are trying to make up rulings that will make no sense, at least legally and constitutionally. But give an excuse to Maduro for propaganda.

The problem with that strategy for the regime is that it cannot keep annulling everything parliament sends its way. At some point the legal crisis will be such that the country will enter into utter paralysis as no one will sign any deal with the country, no matter what.
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Note: observe that the Chair of the National Assembly is calling the TSJ thugs (malandro, no exact translation but that is what it means, street thugs, without any racial connotation US style). The partiality of sides make it possible that Ramos Allup tweet raises hardly an eye brow. So low as fallen the political discourse in Venezuela....

Just imagine Obama calling Scalia a scoundrel, or Bush calling Bader Ginzburg a bitch. I thought so....

Onward the final constitutional crash: amnesty law and high court reform

The Easter lull came and went without making much of a difference.  The "calima" suffocated us in Caracas while the country went on a standstill to try to spare a few meters from the water gauge of the Guri dam, before El Niño, and regime's utter incompetence, forces a shut down of 50% of the country's electricity.

This is not Beijing, it is today over Caracas. You cannot even guess that there is a 2000 meter mountain range in the background. I have NEVER seen it that bad. The air stings slightly when you breathe.

Una foto publicada por daniel duquenal (@duquenal_at_vnv) el 21 de Mar de 2016 a la(s) 2:14 PDT

But the country is back at work, as much as it is possible, and the National Assembly has started the road to open confrontation not only with the executive, but on the true meaning of the Venezuelan constitution, as this one may be.


A few minutes ago the National Assembly voted the final version of the amnesty law which aims, among other things, to free political prisoners incarcerated in kangaroo courts. An amnesty is needed since there is no way to get a truly fair trial in Venezuela these days.

Aprobada en 2da discusión la #LeyDeAmnistia pic.twitter.com/2ztnDWC7aq

— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) March 30, 2016

But this law, which intents is also the start of some form of national reconciliation by forcing every side to face the reality that justice is in the hands of the executive (even though this cannot be said in the law), is far from being applied and Leopoldo Lopez is not out of jail yet. Maduro's regime has announced that he will not sign the law, that it will not be applied. Presidential veto power is limited in Venezuela, at best a delaying tactic. Thus within days, with or without the signature of Maduro the law will become the law of the land. Maduro can only stop this law application if the high court TSJ rules it to be unconstitutional. This is certainly the case as the TSJ has always managed to find any "unconstitutional" way to make a given an unconstitutional one, even if the means used is itself unconstitutional. Repetition intended.

Which brings us to the second point of this entry: after the vote the national Assembly went straight ahead in the modification of the  laws describing how the  TSJ is designated.  The aim is to find a way to go around the latest crop of appointees who got their job through unconstitutional ways to allow for the pre-electoral packing of the court.  Yes, it is that naked but then again the TSJ submission to the regime is that naked: nobody remembers when was the last time that the state/regime lost a case in court.

In short, the regime is going to be placed in front of this dilemma: either accept the revision of the latest appointments so those can be made according to the original intent of the law, or accept an expansion of the TSJ members so that there is at least dissenting opinions. A dilemma the regime will refuse by declaring that legal reform unconstitutional, even though it will violate the very own regime jurisprudence that was itself a constitutional violation. This is how things work in Venezuela: several wrongs are required to improve the odds of making a right.

In a way it is irrelevant whether the regime will release Lopez from jail, or allow for a limited dissent at the TSJ. It is quite clear now that the regime faction aligned around Maduro and Cabello will go out of its way to avoid any move that could undermine its power and drive through regime change, a change that would find soon in jail Maduro, Cabello, Ramirez and scores of other corrupt and abusive office holders.

The regime has made it abundantly clear that it will not let the new National Assembly function as it should be. The TSJ has already gutted its control authority. It is finding a way to avoid votes on financial resources (which may be difficult at the Assembly has already stated that credits not approved by the Assembly do not put the state under the obligation of repaying them). More blockades to the Assembly are not obvious yet as its election is, after all, still recent. But the tone is set: the TSJ will provide what the regime cannot get through the Assembly.

Since the regime has embarked into such a course to void the National Assembly then this one has no choice but to face down the confrontation by voting on legal laws (redundancy intended) to dismantle the regime. Either the regime will have to back down or it will have to come up to terms with its own dark intentions and, well, proceed once and for all to the "autogolpe", self-inflicted-coup á la Fujimori once upon a time in Peru.

For the regime going all the way to a constitutional crisis is a gamble. Not only the Amnesty Law and the TSJ reform are politically unacceptable for the reduced chavista hard core, but more laws in the work (on recall elections and referenda) are even less acceptable. The political cost, here and abroad, maybe simply to high for the regime to pay. Times are changing, Obama visited Cuba, Argentina is gone and Kirchner is not able to make the opposition that some thought she would be able to do. In Brasil the corruption of Lula is now public knowledge. Talk of applying the democratic charter agaisnt Venezuela is now open talk. But what is worse for the regime is that there is no food nor medicine, and soon there will be no electricity besides providing homes with a very few hours a day, forget about energy for production. Amen of the political capital lost abroad: the regime has no political capital left to spend at home.

Common sense would make the regime start negotiating a political solution to start taking measures to avoid the nation's collapse. But it seems that Maduro et al are seeking actively such collapse as there last desperate gambit to retain power.

La politique du pire, they called it in the agonizing French Ancien Regime.

Karadzic para luminarias chavistas

Hoy nos enteramos que el serbiobosnio Radovan Karadzic ha sido sentenciado en la corte internacional de La Haya por crímenes de lesa humanidad y genocidio en las matanzas de Srebenica. La justicia tardo 20 años en llegar para los musulmanes de Bosnia, pero llegó. Amen que la sentencia coincide con una era de injustificada ira contra los musulmanes decentes por parte de gente como Trump y Cruz, o los políticos populistas de extrema derecha en Europa. Es justicia para los musulmanes de Bosnia que eran en esa época, posiblemente, los mas civilizados, los mas a tono con los valores de democracia hasta que un nacionalismo de corte fascista se empecino en destruirlos. Los crimines de Karadzic contribuyeron en algo al extremismo actual del islam radicalizado.


Pero más allá de la condena de Karadzic, sin querer hacer paralelos ridículos con la situación en Venezuela, buena es la ocasión para que algunos personeros del chavismo entiendan que crimines contra la humanidad no prescriben y que en algún momento la justicia llegará. No se puede robar tanto, arruinar tanto a un país, abusar tanto de su gente sin que en algún momento hable la justicia. Y si la justicia de Venezuela no habla, la de La Haya lo hará en su debido tiempo.

Todavía está a tiempo la jerarquía chavista de tomar los correctivos que sean necesarios para evitar que la justicia los condene a cadena perpetua como pasó hoy con Karadzic. Me conformo con listar abajo crimines potenciales o ya comprobados de algunos chavistas que deberían permitir entender la situación en la cual están, desde ya.

No voy a hablar de los narco traficantes de peso, casi todos militares, porque el volumen de tráfico de drogas por Venezuela solo fue posible por la aquiescencia del estamento militar. Para ellos ya hay cortes actuando. Pregúntenle a Carvajal que ya no podrá más nunca salir de Venezuela. Pregunten a los de la lista de Obama quienes según la miserable propaganda del régimen serian patriotas corderitos de dios, sin que nadie nos explique con veracidad como es que un vuelo de Air France cargo con centenares de kilos de cocaína, algo imposible sin fallas gravísimas de la seguridad de Maiquetia en manos de los militares.

Tampoco voy a hablar mucho de corrupción y de lavado de dinero. De eso también hay cortes pendientes. Preguntarle a Rincón en Houston a quien le fue negada la fianza porque se podía dar el lujo de perder los millones que tiene en EE.UU. ya que tiene aún más millones fuera de los EE.UU. Preguntarle al que está ya sentenciado por desfalcar a PDVSA por los ahorros de sus empleados. Y así muchos mas en la mira.

Los que vienen al caso son los que serán condenados por permitir, crear, impulsar una situación política que nos está conduciendo hacia una represión masiva, o a una guerra civil.

Por ejemplo tomemos a los jueces alcahuetas y corruptos del TSJ. Empecemos, hay que empezar en algún sitio, por Luisa Estela Morales, culpable de tantas violaciones constitucionales que permitieron establecer la actual dictadura. ¿No sabia ella lo que estaba haciendo? Recordemos que esa mujer tuvo la desfachatez de decir que la separación de poderes era un mal asunto. Sumemos los jueces ya huidos a EE.UU (¿dónde más?) y que han revelado diáfanamente la corrupción moral de la justicia en Venezuela. Agreguemos a jueces ya con prontuario policial y que apenas designados ya presiden la sala de casación penal, en un claro signo que la justicia será lo que decida el régimen, jueces que ya no tienen nada que perder y que por lo tanto se prestarán a firmar la sentencia que sea para permitir al régimen durar un día más. ¿Justicia y derechos?

Prosigamos por los aupadores de oficio, los que tienen una carrera política dedicada a crear divisiones, a amenazar a quien no comulgue con el régimen. Muchos hay allí pero tomemos dos en particular. Uno es un psiquiatra ya reconocido como psicópata y alcalde de Caracas. Otro que además de estar señalado en corrupción y narcotráfico también es el responsable de organizar agresión a diputados en el propio recinto de la Asamblea Nacional, llamar a la violencia y tener un programa televisivo done agrede verbalmente, difama, ataca y amenaza con toda impunidad. Gente como Rodríguez y Cabello ya tienen su puesto asegurado en la lista de los que tendrán que rendir cuenta más temprano que tarde.

Hablemos de los que por su empeño en ocultar su mala gestión están condenando el país a una posible hambruna, a un posible colapso epidemiológico. Si bien mala gestión se detecta hasta en los países mas desarrollados, lo que denota en Venezuela es la saña que agregan esos personeros a sus actuaciones. Tengo en mente ministros de Sanidad o alimentación.

Hablar de la violación de los derechos humanos seria ya tarea demasiado larga para esta entrada. Con solo mencionar la Lista de Tascón y la represión del 2014 ya tenemos con que enjuiciar a varios civiles y militares.

Hablando de militares el caso de Vladimir Padrino es interesante. Todavía no se puede decir si sus actos justificarían denunciarlo en La Haya. Pero de lo que si estamos seguro es que de apoyar la represión solicitada por el régimen el podría encabezar la lista con sobrados méritos. Otro veredicto de culpabilidad pocos días antes de el de Karadzic fue en contra del jefe militar congoles Bemba. Es notable que en este caso Bemba fue condenado a pesar de que el no estuvo presente en el lugar de los hechos. Solamente por mandar tropas a la República Centroafricana y desentenderse del potencial de violencia fue suficiente para condenarlo. Es notable también que Bemba fue arrestado cuando ya estaba en el exilio, demostrando que ganando o perdiendo el juego politico no ofrece protección alguna contra delitos que no prescriben. Así como Padrino hay muchos jerarcas del ejercito que deberían pensarlo un poco mas antes de seguir ordenes indebidas, que posiblemente ni siquiera vienen de nuestro pais.

Acortemos esta lista mencionando al que dirige al circo aunque no sea su dueño. Al rechazar la ayuda de la OMS frente a la crisis de salud de Venezuela el presidente Maduro ya se pone a pie de cruzar la línea entre la incompetencia criminal y el genocidio. Y no es lo único que ameritaría un juicio en contra de él que sin duda alguna resultaría en una sentencia de muchísimos años en alguna cárcel del mundo.

Sugiero que los que pueden hacer todavía algo para detener la marcha a la catástrofe, lo hagan. No tienen por qué pagar las culpas de estos irresponsables hundiendo al país tratando de salvar su vil pellejo. Los únicos que pueden hacer eso son la porción del PSUV que no quiere terminar de hundirse en la infamia para salvar a los que cometieron crimines que esos chavistas no tienen por qué pagar. Incluyamos los pocos militares que robaron poco y no se metieron en narcotráfico y que no desean mancharse de la sangre de la represión que se les va a pedir, sangre que no se puede lavar nunca de las manos. No nos olvidemos de los funcionarios públicos que todavía pueden renunciar estrepitosamente y hablar aunque sea desde el otro lado de la frontera. Todavía está en esos grupos la posibilidad de hacer algo para no entrar en las listas que se mandarán algún día hasta La Haya. Esperemos que traten de evitar un viaje a La Haya, aunque sea solo como testigos vergonzosos de la infamia.

Chiming on Brazil [file under "famous last words" section]

This one is short.


Anti Corruption justice is circling closer and closer to Brazil's ex president Lula and his designed and failed heir, Dilma Roussef. This one, to protect her mentor, has just named him minister. Such position in Brazil, unaccountably for, gives the holder some form of immunity and while s/he holds the office as s/he can only be investigated and prosecuted through the high court of the land.

This maneuver is of course and admission of guilt. Lula should face judicial proceedings like any citizen now that he is "retired" from politics. If he is innocent, the alleged "persecution" would make of him a martyr and push him back to office as if nothing. The hysterical part of it is that Lula is on record for having say that in Brazil when the poor steal they go to jail but when the rich steal they become ministers. In 1988. In 2016 he becomes minister.

#LULA
1998: "Los pobres van a la cárcel. A los ricos los nombran ministros"
2016: A Lula lo nombran ministro... pic.twitter.com/FuV9rYlJYN

— Efecto Naím (@EfectoNaim) 17 de marzo de 2016

You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

Goes to show you that the left in LatAm has turned out to be even more corrupt than the right. We know now why Lula was the great enabler of Chavez.

Chiming on US primaries

Every 4 years I write something about the US election for which I get a lot of flack, in particular from the right (you know who you are). But since I am used to it and since US election does affect Venezuela, I will go ahead any way (disclaimer: already in 2008 I was with Hillary, so there; keep reading at your own risk).

To say that the primary season this time around is dismal is not saying it all. Populism of the cheapest form is assailing both parties, and in one case, for now, winning. One could make the case that the slow recovery of the 2008 crisis, the wave of economic refugees everywhere, tribal politics, etc, should not have spared the US, albeit a nation of immigrants. But in the US, at least in the case of the Republican party, they had it coming.

I lived in the US when Clinton was president, and I never liked him; though I like Hillary, being well aware of her faults. But she is a policy wonk and she understand that one cannot get everything. That Clinton cheated on her certainly helped her realize that. There is no absolute for her and that is perhaps why people perceive this as sleaze (which does not mean she is exempt from sleaze too).

I remember how the republican party vilified Clinton. Going as far as to impeach him over a peccadillo. Anyone would have lied about being found out receiving blow jobs from Monica, let's face it. He should have been impeached for bad taste rather than being a liar, which all politicians need to be. Well, with Obama it got worse, tinged with such racism and xenophobia that the mind shudders.  How can you not expect that the guy who lead the "birthing" movement and the bigot one of the fundamentalist branch would not become the "leaders" of the Republican party?

I have known long ago that Marco Rubio was not going to change anything. After all I did receive a lot of flack when I complained that Rubio decided to question evolution and grant at least equality to creationism. As a scientist this was unacceptable for me, that a well educated politician would say such thing just to court electorate was simply not acceptable. True, Rubio had been a strong advocate for freedom in Venezuela but you cannot question science, 2+2 will always give 4. If you question the most objective of discourse we have how can I trust you when you will have to discuss the mine fields of subjective policies? If you do not like science then do not mention it in your speeches. It was a sign that Rubio was a weather vane trying to please everyone. And last Tuesday he not only he failed to carry his home state, but he lost it abysmally, probably ruining his political future. Too bad, it was the type of Republican who on paper I could have voted for him, but I had given up on him before Iowa.

Trump reminds me of Chavez and Marine Le Pen in France, except that Le Pen is far more knowledgeable on polices than the first two clowns. But all are histrionic politicians and unfortunately in an age where media is ONLY seeking headlines, they have a tremendous advantage. Such politicians attract red necks, white trash, low life, uneducated, low self esteem folks. And the ones with education that tag along do so because they know that they will be cashing in big time if their man/woman makes it to the top. such leaders have a very low follow up talent, always looking toward the next show they can lead. And thus they can only be bad managers of the res publicae.

The problem here is that the last anti Trump alternative, Ted Cruz, actually scares me more than Trump. First, his way of speaking, the way he unfolds his arguments is supremely irritating for me, rings truly false. That holier than thou is just unacceptable in a politician and, believe it or not, also reminds me of Chavez if he had gone to the UCAB in Venezuela for his college degree instead of the barracks. Ted Cruz love of the constitution as his, as HIS interpretation, makes him a plain reactionary, not a conservative.

Fortunately for us I think that any one of Trump or Cruz would be defeated by Hillary because neither one is really able to go beyond the White Male electorate. The Republican party has not learnt from its 2008 and 2012 failures. And that is pathetically shown again in the looming Supreme Court battle. That the republican leader McConnell is so willing to trample the constitution just because Obama has only 10 more months to serve is not only a confession of his bigotry and personal hate towards Obama but also of his rigid stupidity and intolerance. After all, he has the mean to not only delay, and delay, the process of confirmation but after all in the end the Senate could vote no. There is a Republican majority last time I checked. No? If this is one of the main leader of the GOP, what can you expect from the rest?

Once upon a time there were Republican Senators I could have voted for like Monyham, or Weicker, or Sarbanes but today.........

Unfortunately Hillary Clinton is looking more and more like a lesser Evil, and it is not me that says it: even our friends at right wing conservative take no prisoners Babalublog are facing down the option of having to vote for Hillary. Her rival Sanders makes her even more electable. After all Sanders is dragging with him an independent populist base who wants all for free, chavista style. Never mind that he refuses to condemn Castro and that Venezuela human rights violations are inexistant. Well, to be fair, for these people Venezuela does not exist. Hillary had no problem dispatching Sanders at the Florida debate over a Castro question which I am sure was the reason not of her victory but of her lopsided victory. She got the Cuban voters, Rubio did not although he certainly deserved it more than Hillary. The unfairness of it all.

So there we are, as I type it is more than likely that Hillary Clinton will be elected US president even though her own personal messy affairs could play bad tricks on her once in office. But then again, even with that baggage she is the better option. She knows what the business government is all about; her tenure at State and on the Senate was not bad, and certainly better than her potential rivals; she can think and does not run her mouth like Trump who is always selling something, himself preferably.

The real problem in all of this comes from the degradation of the American Political system. How is it possible that last year the two front runners were relatives of two living ex-presidents? When the Republic starts indulging in dynastic politics you know that it is in trouble. And that is that.

Back to the XIX century

Regular readers may remember that often I wrote that chavismo was a mere reactionary movement, harking back to an ideal time of macho caudillos and independence wars. That violence and poverty ruled over Venezuela from 1805 until Gomez established the first stable regime of our history is apparently not an historical fact that chavistas can be bothered with: all that is wrong in Venezuela comes exclusively from the 1958-98 period and the evil empire up North.

Well, chavismo should be delighted because we are getting back to these halcyon days of robber barons (cheap ones, not rich ones as in the US) and grinding poverty. Four items to frighten you.


No tests

My brother went to get his normal blood work before his annual date with his cardiologue. What was his surprise that this huge private clinic, very well known, could not test for hemoglobin (nor three other items of the 20 that include that test).

My SO, also this week, needs a test for the marker of his disease. I had to spend three hours to find finally a lab that could still perform that test.

I suppose that if there are no tests for diseases then there will be no disease and like in the XIX century we shall rely some herbal stuff for pretty much any ailment. I watched in horror the other day as a show on public TV had a kid vaunting herbal medicine saying it was a way for us to "free ourselves from the negative influence of the traditional scientific capitalist medicine".  There you go: got cancer, get a plaster of gamelote on your ulcer. Traditional science, whatever that moronic oxymoron may mean, is bogus, what our ancestors did more than a century ago is the way to go.

Robbing animal feed

As I have reported before the situation in battery raised livestock, representing 80% of the protein consumed of Venezuela is going down hill because the regime monopole on grain import and distribution is not working. Note: organic food is the privilege of the very, very rich in Venezuela. Well, now this scarcity is made worse by the increasing robberies in animal feed plants. A customer told me that there are gangs now that break in the storage aras of animal feed plants to steal vitamins, amino acids, antiobiotics, etc...  They can steal trucks of stuff and curiously, in spite of the multiple check points held by the Nazional Guard on all Venezuelan rodas, these trucks never seem to be inspected, and even less stopped. Imagine that!?

Thus we are back tot he XIX except that cattle stealing has been replaced by feed stealing, with the same impunity as before when the local caudillo helped himself to whatever it needed and that was that. The caudillos have been replaced by caudillos in military uniform as this type of robbery can only take place with support from the people inside the army, be it drug traffic or feed traffic. Needless to say that such robberies may cause feed plants to be stopped for days.  Too bad for the animals counting on that. And further scarcity on markets.

Squatters rights

Apparently now consejos comunales, that ersatz local power soviet invented by Chavez for political control and patronage, have the right to seize any property that they deem under occupied.

A friend of mine has a small week end farm in Carabobo. For a variety of reasons, insecurity being one, he has stopped visiting it with the frequency he used to. Still, he or a relative or someone goes at least once a month to aerate the house, pick up the garbage, etc so the place does not look abandoned. That is not enough, he has to sell it now because he has been informed that the local consejo comunal has an eye on it even though his neighbors are defending him, that he has all property rights, all taxes paid, etc. never mind that the neighbors are scared about what lumpen would the consejo install there, probably the real reason why they defend my friend against the consejo... Note that the existence of a consejo in an area by itself make property lose up to half its value in the area as a consejo can butt in on anything they want.

We are just back to the XIX century when a torn down village during one of our numerous civil wars was simply occupied by a group of people because, well, it was abandoned. That was no expropriation or agrarian reform, it was just a "look, there is no one there, let's move in" moment.

I would like to note that if the regime was indeed building ALL THE HOUSING it claims to be inaugurating, why would any consejo comunal have the need to steal somebody else property? But I suppose that I am digressing, that I do not understand that such things are done for the good of el pueblo.

Your local pig

When I was a child, and we went on the adventure tourism that Venezuela was then in the 60ies and 70ies, small villages had pigs used as garbage disposal units. That is right, villagers would bring their garbage to a dump at the outskirts and a couple of pigs would come regularly to forage. Eventually those pigs were killed and eaten or sold on the road side surrounded by a significant amount of flies. That was, well, the only source of meat sometimes. Fortunately by the 80ies animal farms and sanitary controls and distribution chains and refrigerated facilites had set and thus Venezuelans could buy fresh or frozen meats prepared with all the desired hygienic standards.

This is over. With food scarcity and creeping poverty not only backyard chickens are back but your foraging pig is making a return. Well, not quite as the pig can now be stolen so you better lock it up....  So in the country side some are now having a pig or two in their back yards.

Why would that be wrong, you may ask? Well, the veterinarian and health official support for such activity does not exist anymore in Venezuela. That is, the pigs raised this way will have no veterinary supervision even if the owner could afford it anyway. And there is very little medicine available for livestock, by the way.

That new backyard livestock activity increases dramatically the probability to revive parasitic diseases due to the proximity of animals, without counting on well known plagues like the flu associated with apartment raising chickens in China.

There also we are enjoying a return of the halcyon unsanitary days of yesteryear.

That is chavista progress for you.

Tumeremo

The story that has been unfolding in the mining region of Bolivar state is yet a new low for the bolivarian regime. all corruptions, all abuses, all cruelty seem to have somehow managed to meet there.

I am not going to go into details. the executive summary is as follow.

Legal mining in Bolivar state has been progressively edged out under Chavez. What should have been organized gold search production ended up as illegal mining controlled by mafias and protected by the corrupt military of the area (who among other business controlled supply, gas contraband, etc.). And possibly Colombian guerrilla in Amazonas state.

The result has been what could one expect, and worse.

First, the are has become an ecological disaster as once pristine rivers straight out of the jungle where only a handful of natives lived are now containing mercury. The deforestation over a soil which has a difficult regeneration because it is a thin narrow layer of biomass (old ancient rock hard terrain) has been denounced repeatedly without any response form the authorities while the regime promoted its ecological brand, supported by many idiots in Europe and the US. Amen of the damage to the terrain itself through reckless wash out without any attempt as consolidation of the remains. Even the great national park that contains the highest water fall of the world is under threat.

Second, the human cost has been terrible. Never mention the garimpeiros coming from Brazil. Let's just focus on what has become a mere form of XXI century indented labor of all of these people forced to purchase supplies from military/gangs approved suppliers. It has been years since the locals and the Native Americans have been protesting, sometimes very actively. But no matter what may have been agreed the army went back to all its associations with thugs for their common racketeering business.

So, it thus came to pass. As the level of oil went down, so went down miscellaneous subsidies and so went down revenues from the illegal mining area.  Gang wars got worse and last week relatives reported the disparation of 28 miners, yet to be found. But tales of massacre by some survivors are now vox populi. The regime through its governor delayed quite a lot in accepting that there was a problem even going as far as saying that it was yet another media manipulation, even though the relatives were blocking in anger the main road to the South of the country.

The political problem here is that beyond the almost certain fact the the gang of El Topo did the deed, the ultimate guilt rests squarely at the feet of the Venezuelan Army for allowing all that traffic and to the feet of Bolivar governor, former military pal of Chavez, Rangel Gomez.

So, since this is now a political problem the regime has done what it knows best, condemn in another kangaroo trial the editor owner of the lone opposition paper of the area, Correo del Caroni, which has been following closely all the violence and corruption in the state. It is noteworthy that the trial had been dormant for months and suddenly in a couple of days it was revived and a sentence emitted against the paper in the middle of the night. Note that the people suing the paper for defamation, even though they actually served jail for corruption, are not linked to the mining violence. As it is always the case in Venezuela against the press a case is held languishing until the regime needs a favorable verdict at a given time.

That is why I wrote at the beginning of this blog entry that the mining situation in Bolivar is a microcosm of all that is wrong in Venezuela, from thug gang wars to extortion, from freedom of expression to an official lies system, from corruption to approved genocide.  Human rights violations in Bolivar may be the worse in Venezuela, and that is already saying something.

I cite a verse of French poet Aragon

[Tumeremo]
Là-bas où le destin de notre siècle saigne
(over there where our century's fate bleeds)

Mid March, and the march to abyss continues

Regular readers might be wondering about the sparse recent posting compared to the flurry early this year. Many reasons but it is not the point. Time to update things a little

Cruelty of the regime

My personal experience last week should make it clear that no one can escape the trained violence that the regime has sponsored, trained by Cubans, of course, as it has not been in the nature of Venezuelans whose earlier dictators would rather dispatch people and only torture for information, never for sport as it has become the case here, in particular since 2014 under Maduro (who hopefully will meet the fate that escaped Chavez, to sit in an international court of justice for crimes against humanity). If a simple particular, out of nowhere, can experience such psychological violence I wonder what people from Lopez to Afiuni have truly experienced. Even, if it were possible, more respect from me now.

But the cruelty is not only there, it reaches genocidal levels with the refusal of the regime to face down the health care crisis, one that could not be solved fast but could be attenuated fast with very simple measures, if the regime decided to try to steal a little bit less than what they are doing. When I hear Sanders at this point in time vaunting the Cuban health care system, in ruin and that ruined the Venezuelan one, I can only be aghast and and say that I feel the burn. How can a US presidential candidate with real aspirations can be so ill informed?

Corruption keeps apace

These past couple of weeks my business has been confronted with two direct extortion attempts by public officials that have become mere racketeers. One succeeded because we had no choice. We are tired to receive the visit of "brokers" which are people that miraculously have access to dollars and can import what we cannot do.  But at DollarToday rates. However they do offer a valid bill of purchase so we can put the goods into our accounting. If we were importing them on our own, without going through the currency exchange of control, the USD bill would be recognized at 10, not at 1100 as DolarToday has it. Imagine the taxes we would pay that way.

Meanwhile, of course, the barrening process of grocery store shelves keeps apace. Not even my blackmarteers can provide me with what I need, even at a ten fold increase of the official legal price.

Meanwhile the devaluation of a few weeks ago has already failed. Far from calming the country the black market rate registered a further 10% loss since the devaluation. So there.

The National Assembly under siege, literally

Videos show how chavista colectivos can post graffiti over the hallowed walls of parliament under the eyes of the Nazional Guard that remains nearly motionless.  The chavista whip takes to the barricades to ask paid for chavista "supporters" to storm the Assembly to which he was elected.

These are just a sign of the times, as judicial decision after judicial decision the regime is starting to rule through the high court, TSJ. But even that will not be enough soon. The Assembly spokesperson has said that any new debt secured without passing through the National Assembly risks not been recognized by a future government. Can the TSJ get the country into more debt as if nothing? Will someone be stupid enough to trust their money to these TSJ/Maduro racketeers? Me thinks not. Thus the regime will have to find a permanent way to neutralize once and for all the Assembly.

The Assembly tries what it can

Even though people disagree with the way the Assembly is proceeding, I beg to differ. First, I do not think it can do more than what it does now. Differently perhaps, but more I doubt. Second it has exposed clearly that if the crisis continues, and even worsens, it is because the regime is refusing to discuss ANYTHING. Compromise with these people is, well, impossible. Surprise!

So the Assembly has decided in earnest to do the last thing it can do : to take out Maduro. A multi pronged approach is necessary since the regime is already putting obstacles to any electoral test that they know they will lose. And the TSJ will, of course, annule anything they want because a comma is not exactly where it should be, even though their own sentences are usually ill written. Something that a ridiculous journalist, from Time no less, qualifies with the worst humor possible as a peaceful coup . As I was commenting, too many journalists still see Venezuela as a reality show.....

At any rate the Assembly has decided to try to oust Maduro in all possible ways: recall election, constitutional amendment, street protest and the ultimate nuke, constitutional assembly. It will fail of course because the regime CANNOT surrender power because they know what their fate will be: jail. They will sabotage, repress, annul even basic common sense. But something will get started and people will be hungry. And international narco justice and money laundering cannot be avoided for ever. All is thus possible. The question is when.

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There you have, a summary of the 4 posts I should have been writing if I had time on my hands.

I faced fascism

I have been the victim of a robbery. I am physically fine but morally deeply wounded. Not from the material loss, although my wedding band was stolen as my partner faces deadly cancer, which by itself is enough to send me to a dark place.

What truly did me in was the way it happened.


I was driving, exiting the Carcas main highway at the El Recreo level. To avoid a pot hole as I slowed down I swerved somewhat and I scared a motorbike that was passing me at full speed on the left. The guy honked pissed off and I had the misfortune to raise my hand (no flip) in a "what have you me do?" gesture. That was too much for him. He blocked me and forced me to pull on the side in an area which unfortunately has no pedestrian traffic.

He acted very much like a police officer and I thought that I was going to get a fine, or would have to bribe him. But something was different. The guy was dressed all in black, including gloves, kevlar like coat, with the thickness that bullet proof gives you. A helmet that looked particularly sturdy. And no badges on him nor plates on his bike. So the thought that this was something else crept fast.

He made me open the passengers window and the conversation that followed was all about terror. I just cannot remember exactly such was the impression but this is the content.

First he said that he was "un funcionario" which in the context means that he was some kind of guy working in state security. Then he said that he could shoot me if he wanted and asked me if I knew that, if I was truly aware of that..........

Three times during the conversation, for lack of a better word, he would remind me that he could shoot me at will, implying clearly that this would not affect him in anyway.

He tried to figure out who I was and what I did but I choked on words so afraid that he could kidnap me of threaten my loved ones.

Then he said, "you know what, give me your ring". All always with a monotone cool voice, with a good choice of words. The guy had some education, he was not just a "malandro" or a "colectivo". In fact, as I thought later, part of his terror tactic was actually to speak to me with respect as he threatened me.

He could have asked for my cell phone, a major source of robbery these days. Or taken the three packs of dearly bought powder milk that I had on the seat and was taking to my SO. Or he could have called a pal to steal my car.

No, he was thinking about a way to hurt me and when he asked for my ring he knew he had me as IMMEDIATELY I thought about my SO. I tried to mumble something, to negotiate something else as instinctively I realized that this was not about robbery. He just became sterner, more icy cold. I had to hand him the ring and then he extended his hand forcing me to shake it as if we were good friends.

Then he left. And my car would not start... Finally it did, I made my way to the SO place where the nervous breakdown took place as you may expect. Me first apologizing in tears about losing the ring, until I realized that was exactly what that criminal wanted me to do, to feel guilty. Which made me recover fast.

Now, this was what we can call a clear fascist act, of the most abject totalitarian nature. A brutal show of force, for the sake of it, through crafted psychological torture. I use deliberately fascist over communist because if in the end the terror and the pain are the same, in a commie torture there is always a hint of legality, a hint of speaking in the name of someone else. For example when the guy started to talk he could have said that I should be more careful about annoying a Representative of "el pueblo" and then do the same threats and steal the ring. Or add a plain "you do not deserve that ring, you escualido".  No, this was just a "I am pissed at you and I could do things to you just because I can and nothing will happen to me even if you were to be able to report me. You are mine, kneel. And be thankful that I will only do this to you today".

I will go one step further. Since Hannah Arendt the concept of totalitarianism has somewhat evolved in an era of mass communication which makes psychological manipulation easier. What I saw was how communism has morphed into a special type of fascism, perhaps the truest form of totalitarianism. This comes from the Cuban training, I have no doubt. This is what happens in Cuba for those that are willing to see it as it is, a fascist country where terror is the glue. It is also what happens in Burma, or in some African states through a dose of tribalism. This, I am willing to bet, is not how things were managed in Chile or Argentina. Again, the end result is the same, the victim is fucked up. My point I guess is that more than killing, the real terror is in the idea of the possibility of killing at will and no one will care.

No one.

Having people like me walk around, or luminaries like Yoani Sanchez able to talk a little bit only reinforces the point: we are there at their suffering.