I thought already when I was writing the communism decree that the regime wants to pass would be quite something already for a single day. I even started publishing it before I finished or corrected such was my state of discombobulation. But tonight there is yet two more news, maybe more important because that decree can still be rejected by the Assembly. But apparently there are bigger fishes to fry.
President Maduro finally came tonight for his state of the Union. The speech was long, vapid, misleading when not blurting outrageous lies when vaunting the "successes" of 2015. The excitement came through the fact that he showed up when a few days ago it seemed that the rebelliousness of Diosdado Cabello with the support of some judges could carry the day and send the Assembly into nothingness. This can still happen but I have big doubts tonight about it ever happening.
The Assembly "caved in" and suspended for a while the controversial representatives and thus Cabello and the Court had no other option but to recognize the validity of the Assembly for the time being. Thus showeth up Maduro.
All fine and dandy. The speech is given in cadena, that is, simultaneous mandatory broadcast on all audio visual media. ALL. Important detail for later. The speech lasted for over two jours but I only connected to it through the end, following it on tweeter before (see my time line for highlights in Spanish or English according to assumed public, on the right side of this blog).
Maduro said nothing besides his usual assortment of insults and what not. Yet he seemed rather subdued, a little bit lost. At the end, as expected, he handed the microphone to Ramos Allup as chair of the Assembly which we would have thought would limit himself to pronounce the protocolar farewell. It was not. Ramos Allup launched himself in a big speech.
Now, why was this speech so important, well managed by the way considering the ordeal that today must have been for him today?
You need to know that just like in the US, all powers are represented (5 in Venezuela, 4 of them clapping at any inanity of Maduro; in the US no Justice would be caught dead applauding a president at SOTU!). You need to know that when Ramos Allup took over the cadena continued and the state TV, VTV,which was the only one allowed to transmit live on airwaves remained fixed on Ramos Allup the whole time, probably waiting for the order to cut off, an order that never came. It was the first time in 17 years that the country saw a cadena by someone else than a chavista stating the official line. Thus the fixation and the novelty gave more reach to Ramos Allup than he may have deserved.
Of course the response of Ramos Allup was civil but frequently mischievous in pointing out the flaws in Maduro's speech. But what made the reply to Maduro a hit were the following, in no order of importance:
- VTV and state media attack him all the time, which is OK, he does not care (I have got my mileage he said). What is not OK is that he does not have the right to reply. VTV et.al. addicts cannot pretend to ignore that anymore. The more so that the biggest vilifier of Ramos Allup and the opposotion is Diosdado Cabello show "con el mazo dando".
- He looked at the other three powers and reminded them that the only two sovereign powers, those elected by the people were the president and the Assembly and thus the other three were "derivative" powers. That is pointed at a time when one, the judicial power, is trying to unseat representatives without even the semblant of a trial (never mind of the well documented treacheries of the other two)
- He addressed the attending military top brass and explained them that the Bolivar that Chavez invented IS NOT the historical one, helping his cause with pictures and quotes. He explained that there was no room for ANY president portrait in a National Assembly. He went ahead and told them that the army was not there to do politics and he finished by making it crystal clear that neither Maduro nor him wanted a coup of any type. Reminding them, by the way, that about two weeks before April 2002 he was on record that there was a military coup in preparation against Chavez.
Now, guess who was the real target of this speech? Maduro? Guess again.
I think that what happened tonight besides revealing to the hard core chavismo what parliamentary democracy is all about, is that Ramos Allup offered his hand to Maduro to deal with the economic crisis together AND, most importantly AND, get rid of Diosdado Cabello who is managing to put everyone against himself without solving a simple problem.
It is of course a big gambit if what I write is right. After all, a reader could reply, Ramos Allup is on record to want to remove Maduro from office in the next 6 months. But the difference here, clearly expressed tonight, is that Ramos Allup does not have any particular grief against Maduro, he just wants the system gone. So, he implies, we can either prepare an honorable exit for Maduro (resigning or constitutional shortening of the term, a mere referendum would suffice) or a nastier one. The villain here, for all, is Diosdado Cabello. And you could sense that the message had been received in the rather subdued declarations Cabello gave to the press when the ceremony was over.
And since I am speculating might as well go for it. Ramos Allup offer is that if Cabello tones down or retires he will not surrender him to the DEA. As long as he remains in Venezuela in quiet retirement he can enjoy his loot (though I am sure he will be asked to return a portion of the stolen one). The offer to Maduro is that the opposition will help him taking some hard measures but the condition is that power is shared. That is, the judicial illegal nominations be reverted and the electoral board becomes truly neutral. This is the red line. Then if Maduro cannot go all the way with the necessary economic measures he can resign and retire in Venezuela, at least for a while. Or have his term shortened through a constitutional amendment that can be voted on fast, without any campaign needed. And all of this gives time tot he army to clean up its act and pick among themselves the 2-3 generals that must be sacrificed to the DEA so the other can remain free, as long as they do not leave Venezuela.
You know, I have the nagging feeling that the whole show was sort of planned by Ramos and the new Vice President Isturriz...... And probably worked out much better than the two wily coyotes ever hoped it would.
Showing posts with label cadena. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cadena. Show all posts
Friday, 15 January 2016
Thursday, 7 January 2016
Tales of a military temper tantrum
What has inflamed the 2.0 tonight is the late afternoon address of Padrino Lopez, in cadena nonetheless. A quick video analysis follows.
The act at Chavez grave is a "desagravio", that is an act of redress, in this case of the memory of Bolivar, Chavez and the honor of Maduro. We get that in the first seconds. Of course this is a response of yesterday Ramos Allup iconoclast act or removing the images of Chavez and the fake Bolivar at the National Assembly. The fake Bolivar is a "reconstruction" based on the skull of Bolivar that Chavez got through profanation. So, from the start poor Padrino ends up being quite ridiculous defending a 200 yer old reconstruction which present Bolivar with more "negroid" characters than the portrait that Bolivar himself approved of. But this bolivarian Venezuela....
In all truth here the outrage is against chasing Chavez from the National Assembly hallways where he should have never been to begin with. So the alleged Bolivar insult is used as an excuse to justify the defense of 17 years of ideologizing Chavez demi-god status.
Observe the actual camera focus at 40'' on the red foulard with the 4F which is the apology of the failed coup of 1992. Right there this is unconstitutional, illegal, traitorous and what next. Objectively there is no need to listen to the rest of the Padrino crap, but we must.
1:09 Padrino places Cilia flores above all the other representatives of chavismo. Some pigs are more equal than others.
2:03 Observe the panoramic of a fat military. Priceless.
2:35 The idiot taking pictures behind Padrino in what is supposed to be a most solemn occasion. They really cannot behave. Ever.
3:09 According to Padrino the whole fatherland has been "ultrajada" insulted, violated, etc... So he is the avenger.
3:30 He insists on Bolivar being the one offended. Go and see the Ramos Allup video again and tell me about that.
3:50 We finally get to Chavez "hijo insigne de bolivar y de la patria también" notable child of Bolivar and of the fatherland too. Note the order.........
Follows an amalgam as to Ramos Allup "ultraje" to the armed forces. Sure, the idol was toppled! Including biblical references of Jesus saying that you do not fight Satan with Satan. And suddenly at 6:30 Padrino approves of this, that they will not fight Satan with Satan.
7:45 close up of the fake Bolivar as he is cited that good manners make good laws. Really? Under Chavez?
Follows a dissertation about the preservation of Venezuelan history. never mind that Chavez rewrote it.
9:09 Freeze there and notice that the 3 army stars and the title of the communique Padrino then reads. You can see the title there. By then you notice that the event has been very carefully planned.
Follows a series of banalities noting that Maduro is the embodiment of the state so he was also offended.
11;00 Padrino starts justifying the invented Bolivar of Chavez, starting that this image has been accepted by all (not by me anyway, but I do not want to make this post about me).
Follows more bullshit about how Venezuela became bolivarian.
11:35 Anti capitalist jab.
14:15 In defense of Misiones.
14:44 "Bolivar y Chavez", the amalgam is now complete. They cannot be separated and are both the embodiment of the fatherland. There you go!
15:33 The attempt at amalgam of Maduro to Chavez and Bolivar starts.
15:58 Padrino ratifies the army unconditional support to Maduro. Really? How often will that support need to be ratified? One wonders.......
16:59 "conciencia supraracional", supra rational conscience? What the f...? Is this the intellectual excuse for a coup?
And then, surprisingly, Padrino finishes this totalitarian speech with an olive branch of sort stating that all have Venezuelan best interests at heart and that such scenes should be avoided so as not to foster further divisions. I, for one, read into this that Padrino has not read the speech he truly wanted to read. As to what that speech would be, I'd rather not speculate.
I do not know what this all means. However there are a few things that I can advance without fear of beeing too far from the mark.
First, for the armed forces living in inbred chavista and Cuban propaganda the idea that some people actually did not like Chavez at all is a surprise. For some reason they have equated a heavy imposed silence on us as a tacit acceptation of Chavez grandeur. It is not, and they are in shock.
Second, the actions of Ramos Allup have hit at the center of chavismo core beliefs, all that was used to justify years of looting and human rights violations in the name of a higher cause. That mental idol has also taken a hit.
Third, the regime suddenly realizes that the opposition means business and that a confrontation of powers is not a sure success for the regime. A rule in warfare is that you need to know your enemy. Watching the reaction of chavismo it seems that the opposition knows its enemy plexus much better than expected.
Still, Ramos Allup wishes he would have had it as easy as Leo the Isaurian.
The act at Chavez grave is a "desagravio", that is an act of redress, in this case of the memory of Bolivar, Chavez and the honor of Maduro. We get that in the first seconds. Of course this is a response of yesterday Ramos Allup iconoclast act or removing the images of Chavez and the fake Bolivar at the National Assembly. The fake Bolivar is a "reconstruction" based on the skull of Bolivar that Chavez got through profanation. So, from the start poor Padrino ends up being quite ridiculous defending a 200 yer old reconstruction which present Bolivar with more "negroid" characters than the portrait that Bolivar himself approved of. But this bolivarian Venezuela....
In all truth here the outrage is against chasing Chavez from the National Assembly hallways where he should have never been to begin with. So the alleged Bolivar insult is used as an excuse to justify the defense of 17 years of ideologizing Chavez demi-god status.
Observe the actual camera focus at 40'' on the red foulard with the 4F which is the apology of the failed coup of 1992. Right there this is unconstitutional, illegal, traitorous and what next. Objectively there is no need to listen to the rest of the Padrino crap, but we must.
1:09 Padrino places Cilia flores above all the other representatives of chavismo. Some pigs are more equal than others.
2:03 Observe the panoramic of a fat military. Priceless.
2:35 The idiot taking pictures behind Padrino in what is supposed to be a most solemn occasion. They really cannot behave. Ever.
3:09 According to Padrino the whole fatherland has been "ultrajada" insulted, violated, etc... So he is the avenger.
3:30 He insists on Bolivar being the one offended. Go and see the Ramos Allup video again and tell me about that.
3:50 We finally get to Chavez "hijo insigne de bolivar y de la patria también" notable child of Bolivar and of the fatherland too. Note the order.........
Follows an amalgam as to Ramos Allup "ultraje" to the armed forces. Sure, the idol was toppled! Including biblical references of Jesus saying that you do not fight Satan with Satan. And suddenly at 6:30 Padrino approves of this, that they will not fight Satan with Satan.
7:45 close up of the fake Bolivar as he is cited that good manners make good laws. Really? Under Chavez?
Follows a dissertation about the preservation of Venezuelan history. never mind that Chavez rewrote it.
9:09 Freeze there and notice that the 3 army stars and the title of the communique Padrino then reads. You can see the title there. By then you notice that the event has been very carefully planned.
Follows a series of banalities noting that Maduro is the embodiment of the state so he was also offended.
11;00 Padrino starts justifying the invented Bolivar of Chavez, starting that this image has been accepted by all (not by me anyway, but I do not want to make this post about me).
Follows more bullshit about how Venezuela became bolivarian.
11:35 Anti capitalist jab.
14:15 In defense of Misiones.
14:44 "Bolivar y Chavez", the amalgam is now complete. They cannot be separated and are both the embodiment of the fatherland. There you go!
15:33 The attempt at amalgam of Maduro to Chavez and Bolivar starts.
15:58 Padrino ratifies the army unconditional support to Maduro. Really? How often will that support need to be ratified? One wonders.......
16:59 "conciencia supraracional", supra rational conscience? What the f...? Is this the intellectual excuse for a coup?
And then, surprisingly, Padrino finishes this totalitarian speech with an olive branch of sort stating that all have Venezuelan best interests at heart and that such scenes should be avoided so as not to foster further divisions. I, for one, read into this that Padrino has not read the speech he truly wanted to read. As to what that speech would be, I'd rather not speculate.
I do not know what this all means. However there are a few things that I can advance without fear of beeing too far from the mark.
First, for the armed forces living in inbred chavista and Cuban propaganda the idea that some people actually did not like Chavez at all is a surprise. For some reason they have equated a heavy imposed silence on us as a tacit acceptation of Chavez grandeur. It is not, and they are in shock.
Second, the actions of Ramos Allup have hit at the center of chavismo core beliefs, all that was used to justify years of looting and human rights violations in the name of a higher cause. That mental idol has also taken a hit.
Third, the regime suddenly realizes that the opposition means business and that a confrontation of powers is not a sure success for the regime. A rule in warfare is that you need to know your enemy. Watching the reaction of chavismo it seems that the opposition knows its enemy plexus much better than expected.
Still, Ramos Allup wishes he would have had it as easy as Leo the Isaurian.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Maduro: you stole my coke? I get a free Airbus from you!
 |
| Always in the shop..... |
The official version came in tonight in a cadena where Maduro surprised us with two things. First, he did not go to the UN because "they" were preparing offenses against him (that he will reveal when convenient). They being Otto Reich, Roger Noriega and Luis Posada Carriles, two passé out of jobs US operators and a near dead anti Castro warrior, none of them, if you ask me, able to do much against Maduro while in New York. The best way to establish that is that the new Iranian president had no problem going around town to make his speech today and he is a way bigger threat to the Western World than Maduro is. Then again that he is not taken as a threat may be what truly obfuscated Maduro.....
The other thing is that surprisingly he decided to explain why he was not travelling on the presidential Airbus, a plane that we see flying less and less. Capriles had asked about that, why Maduro flew in a Cuban plane instead of the presidential one, and Diosdado Cabello replied vulgarly as is his habit that it was none of his damn business. So we must be surprised that Maduro went back on that! Apparently Maduro discovered himself that there was a major flaw in the plane and he has decided to sue Airbus, basically implying that the corporation should be included in the "they" above.
You can imagine the flurry in the news and twitter.....
Let's see if I can come up with my choice of more likely speculations. Keep in mind that the Cuban G2 has taught the regime the technique of flying rumors, false truths, real lies and the like to confuse the adversary.
For the Airbus law suit I am almost tempted to see it as a tit for tat for the drug seized by Paris customs a week ago from the Caracas Air France flight. After all the street value is roughly comparable to a brand new Airbus and maybe Maduro had a stake in that shipment. Him or his associates, same difference. It is simply very unlikely that while an alleged refurbishing Airbus would have made such a crass mistake and even more unlikely that Maduro had an intuition on the technical aspects of the plane since he cannot even produce in public his birth certificate. I really cannot see any other explanation but a desire by Maduro to get back at president Hollande for wanting to bomb Assad in Syria and stealing his drug shipment.....
As for the sped up return from china, bypassing New York. Two possibilities, your pick.
First, the Cubans did not want Maduro to risk making a fool of himself in the UN. His defense of Assad and his own local crisis takes away any credibility he may have there and since he is prone to idiotic gaffes... Raul decided to send him on and mind the shop as things do not look good at all for the Cuban colony.
The other explanation is that taking advantage of Maduro's travel, some inner chavista factions started making some suspicious moves. You have everything there, from military upset that Maduro is a Colombian and wanting to make a coup to his rival Cabello trying to regain some of his lost ground. I personally do not think that a coup was planned, too crass, too cartoonish even for chavismo. But that some tried to take advantage of Maduro being away to shake a few things is not to be discarded. For example, they could have presented Maduro with a fait accompli of some economic decision that he was unwilling to take, or change some mayoral candidates, or.... Whatever it was, the sudden return of Maduro can only mean that he had a need to come back in a hurry for some major problem brewing.
Developing....
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
The ghost of Chavez over the Venezuelan fleet
Today is the birthday of Bolivar, and as a happy coincidence for some parties, the victory of Maracaibo lake which was the last "battle" fought against Spain for independence. Thus it is also the navy's day. We got a never ending cadena for idiot political speech and an even more idiotic naval parade. Among other things we could verify that indeed we have more admirals, vice admirals and counter admirals than serviceable battle ships. The naval parade had to include peñeros to bulk up some...
Normally I would not watch it but I was lazy in my hammock enjoying the fee afternoon and waited to turn off TV. When suddenly I saw Chavez ghost... Thus I grabbed my camera and made this 30sec clip for you....
Yes, they use the soundtrack of Chavez singing the national anthem to lead the navy officers and the public along. For the TV audience, mostly chavista lumpen at this stage and idiot bloggers with too much time on their hands, they appropriately fade in and out a ghost of Chavez, all well calculated. Observe also that they all wear the now standard fascist arm band of the regime.
I did not record it for you but later own they had the staging on a truck float of the alleged soldiers discussion at the Maracaibo battle, totally out of military context, totally out of historical record, pathetically silly.
And of course, besides rewriting history and using historical symbols for political partiality, the occasion was used to attack the opposition.
Fascism always evolve towards ridicule. It cannot be helped. But what is very dangerous is how the navy allows itself to be so politically manipulated, permeated......
Normally I would not watch it but I was lazy in my hammock enjoying the fee afternoon and waited to turn off TV. When suddenly I saw Chavez ghost... Thus I grabbed my camera and made this 30sec clip for you....
Yes, they use the soundtrack of Chavez singing the national anthem to lead the navy officers and the public along. For the TV audience, mostly chavista lumpen at this stage and idiot bloggers with too much time on their hands, they appropriately fade in and out a ghost of Chavez, all well calculated. Observe also that they all wear the now standard fascist arm band of the regime.
I did not record it for you but later own they had the staging on a truck float of the alleged soldiers discussion at the Maracaibo battle, totally out of military context, totally out of historical record, pathetically silly.
And of course, besides rewriting history and using historical symbols for political partiality, the occasion was used to attack the opposition.
Fascism always evolve towards ridicule. It cannot be helped. But what is very dangerous is how the navy allows itself to be so politically manipulated, permeated......
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Who minds the Realm?
The decomposition of the regime goes apace. These last couple of days we peeled off yet another myth: that Maduro had an inkling on diplomacy. After all, he had been Chavez foreign secretary for more than half a decade before been anointed. Surely he must have learned something. But after having clashed, unnecessarily with Spain, he clashed with even less reason and potentially more damage with Peru, ending today with a special cadena trying to clash with Obama and linking him to the Devil. (1)
In other words, Maduro was not a foreign minister, he was Chavez's errands boy. And this leaves us in a very dangerous situation. See, in serious countries, foreign policy is a state matter, directed by those in charge certainly, but always with a modicum of consult with the opposition since they could well assume the burden if they reach office. You certainly do not want to give them an extra blame against you, when they can claim to be cleaning your overseas mess, and you now in the opposition. Thus, the US president usually takes along a ranking Senator from the other side of the aisle in official state visits. And in parliamentary Europe, foreign minister go frequently to their parliament to account and explain. Even France's Sarkozy named a socialist foreign minister!
But in Venezuela foreign policy ceased to be a state policy around 2000-2002 and became strictly a policy to serve the interests of Chavez, in his dreams of continental grandeur and world epic. Foreign ministers came and went with a certain frequency until Chavez assumed it all in his hand, naming what was a mere errand boy for visits he could skip, Maduro. From then on there was no need to change foreign minsters anymore.
The problem is that now that Chavez is gone, nobody around Maduro remembers that Venezuela foreign policy should be a state matter, and nobody knows what to do with a system geared for Chavez interests when this one is not interested anymore. Maduro which was thought by many, never by yours truly by the way, to be a negotiating man, a polite and affable one, has revealed that he was a mere thug all along, to the point of being unable to call on Cabello after this one has had beaten up the opposition in Venezuela's National Assembly. No matter what power struggle may be going inside chavismo, Cabello offered a great opportunity for Maduro to score a point and this one instead decided to sink further in world opinion.
I have been watching this week the first season of Games of Thrones and there was a line from the Varys character that seemed appropriate When Ned Stark asked him who he served he replied that he served the Realm, "someone had to do it". And today I thought of it because truly, I wonder if anyone in office today is serving the Realm of Venezuela. I would even settle for knowing that at least someone has the sense to feel the need to do it.
I am at a loss since Chavez left (I am not going to discuss the before here) to find any action inside chavismo which goes beyond personal interest, personal ambition, personal preservation. From Maduro to Cabello, from Tibisay to Luisa Estela, all rule against the state, the law, the tradition, the people, the whatever. All have in mind, strictly, the "what's in for me?" No decisive economic measure has been taken besides a devastating devaluation done on the run to secure election funding. No new law has been offered except for a ruling on the work law which is going to slow down economy even further. No attempt at finding stability, any stability, has been done; unless you count repression as a road to stability. Nothing but pet projects and posturing.
And after the latest Maduro outburst to make enemies when what we need are friends, I truly wonder if anyone inside the regime is minding the country, if at least one of them is going to say "enough!". I suppose they all know what the Cuban masters did to Eddard Stark.
--------------------------
1) No need to go into details. Maduro reacted to a mere statement from Obama where this one said it was ridiculous to detain as a "spy" a mere naive movie maker. Same exaggeration with Peru where the foreign minster, provisional head of UNASUR, asked for peace and tolerance and was insulted, ambassador to Lima recalled, just to call it over within hours as if nothing. And to make sure he would make Santos further uncomfortable with him, he accused Uribe to want to kill him.
In other words, Maduro was not a foreign minister, he was Chavez's errands boy. And this leaves us in a very dangerous situation. See, in serious countries, foreign policy is a state matter, directed by those in charge certainly, but always with a modicum of consult with the opposition since they could well assume the burden if they reach office. You certainly do not want to give them an extra blame against you, when they can claim to be cleaning your overseas mess, and you now in the opposition. Thus, the US president usually takes along a ranking Senator from the other side of the aisle in official state visits. And in parliamentary Europe, foreign minister go frequently to their parliament to account and explain. Even France's Sarkozy named a socialist foreign minister!
But in Venezuela foreign policy ceased to be a state policy around 2000-2002 and became strictly a policy to serve the interests of Chavez, in his dreams of continental grandeur and world epic. Foreign ministers came and went with a certain frequency until Chavez assumed it all in his hand, naming what was a mere errand boy for visits he could skip, Maduro. From then on there was no need to change foreign minsters anymore.
The problem is that now that Chavez is gone, nobody around Maduro remembers that Venezuela foreign policy should be a state matter, and nobody knows what to do with a system geared for Chavez interests when this one is not interested anymore. Maduro which was thought by many, never by yours truly by the way, to be a negotiating man, a polite and affable one, has revealed that he was a mere thug all along, to the point of being unable to call on Cabello after this one has had beaten up the opposition in Venezuela's National Assembly. No matter what power struggle may be going inside chavismo, Cabello offered a great opportunity for Maduro to score a point and this one instead decided to sink further in world opinion.
I have been watching this week the first season of Games of Thrones and there was a line from the Varys character that seemed appropriate When Ned Stark asked him who he served he replied that he served the Realm, "someone had to do it". And today I thought of it because truly, I wonder if anyone in office today is serving the Realm of Venezuela. I would even settle for knowing that at least someone has the sense to feel the need to do it.
I am at a loss since Chavez left (I am not going to discuss the before here) to find any action inside chavismo which goes beyond personal interest, personal ambition, personal preservation. From Maduro to Cabello, from Tibisay to Luisa Estela, all rule against the state, the law, the tradition, the people, the whatever. All have in mind, strictly, the "what's in for me?" No decisive economic measure has been taken besides a devastating devaluation done on the run to secure election funding. No new law has been offered except for a ruling on the work law which is going to slow down economy even further. No attempt at finding stability, any stability, has been done; unless you count repression as a road to stability. Nothing but pet projects and posturing.
And after the latest Maduro outburst to make enemies when what we need are friends, I truly wonder if anyone inside the regime is minding the country, if at least one of them is going to say "enough!". I suppose they all know what the Cuban masters did to Eddard Stark.
--------------------------
1) No need to go into details. Maduro reacted to a mere statement from Obama where this one said it was ridiculous to detain as a "spy" a mere naive movie maker. Same exaggeration with Peru where the foreign minster, provisional head of UNASUR, asked for peace and tolerance and was insulted, ambassador to Lima recalled, just to call it over within hours as if nothing. And to make sure he would make Santos further uncomfortable with him, he accused Uribe to want to kill him.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
For foreign non-illustrated media and chavista supporters: chavismo media lock up
Since there is right now a cadena that silences a Capriles press conference that I was planning to live tweet, I decided that I might as well write the current situation of the media in Venezuela. Two reasons motivate me to do so.
The first one is that there are still idiotic (sorry, no other word applies) chavismo supporters overseas that repeat the old cliche that private media oppress the people and hide the news in Venezuela. Saddest part is that many journalists who should know better, who would never accept such a thing as a cadena at home, not only fail to report on the power abuse that cadenas are, but actually repeat the idiotic cliches over private control of media in Venezuela.
The other reason is that since so many people are working to denounce the current Venezuelan dictatorship, I thought I offer them a primer they can link too whenever convenient. So here it goes in clear, simple definitions.
CADENA: mandatory, SIMULTANEOUS, FORCED, broadcast on ALL AIR WAVES, TV and radio, of governmental messages. A cadena is called at will, often several times during the day as it happens since April 14, in particular. The cadena implies that who ever holds it can speak as long as s/he wants, that whatever commercial revenue lost by private broadcaster is not compensated. What is worse, cadenas are used to attack political adversaries, including direct insults and lies, while the aggravated parties has no right of reply, not only a simple one minute cadena, should we say, but not even a minute in the state broadcasting system news or talk shows.
PUBLIC/STATE TV MEDIA: chavismo over the years, has built an impressive array of media. The official state media is VTV which reaches ALL the country. To this you must add ViVeTV and Tves which reach almost as much as VTV, and which are supposed to be cultural and educational channels but which support, at least for ViVeTV, an extensive repeat of all political events shown on VTV. In a minor role because it does not reach as much of the country as the above, there is ANTV from the parliament, Telesur which pretends to be a chavista CÑN and local TV stations and community ones. Thus we have three national network, 2 almost national ones and dozens of local stuff which pass for all practical purposes only state messages, state propaganda or edulcorated "entertainment" as politically correct as possible. It is to be noted that in some areas which are not reached by cable TV the only TV you can get in open air broadcast is state TV (VTV or Tves).
PUBLIC/STATE RADIO MEDIA: the regime disposes of RNV, the sate radio that reaches all the country, but also of the more "commercial" YVKE which is a network of associated radios that cover all the major population centers. The situation here is worse than TV because when you travel a lot as I do you will drive through areas where the only radio stations with news you may get in your car are from or aligned with the regime. The other ones only play music and, not all, quickie local news of the road-kill-of-the-day variety.
LEY DE RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EN RADIO Y TV, with CONATEL: these are the regulatory laws and agencies that make sure private media toes the line. They are of a repressive nature, with governmental appointed supervisors, whose main objective is that embarrassing news for the regime are shown, if must be, late at night. Only private media is ever sanctioned even though state media commits abuses infinitely worse such as the VTV show "La Hojilla" everyday late night. The objective here is simple: create financial hardship to media that does not tow the line, driving them to bankruptcy if necessary, or in the case of Globovision this week to a change in ownership.
PRIVATE TV AND RADIO: these have been reduced considerably since Chavez reached office in 1999 and after the strike of 2002. Today we can divide the private media news in two groups: the neutralized ones and the other.
THE PRESS: the situation there is hardly better as the regime controls the extent of freedom of expression through allowing the importation of paper and the official advertising which for many local newspaper is the only way to survive. Local papers that dare to print unpleasantness can see their income go down by half in a few days. Only major cities can support a critical newspaper that dares to expose abuses. To this we must add the general poor quality of local papers which at best reprint articles from the main ones. For example in Yaracuy where I live, I have stopped buying the local press years ago: only red pages and mostly pro regime news though some times the infighting in chavismo does appear. Non governmental news do appear but usually in short, not very well written notes.
JUDICIAL IMPOTENCE: what is worse than anything written above is the impossibility to get justice. Several example.
It should be clear that any objective observer of the Venezuelan situation should be aware and mention these things. If they fail to do so they can only be woefully misinformed and should shut up; or fascists themselves supporting these abuses for whatever reason they have.
I hope this helps and that you may use it around.
The first one is that there are still idiotic (sorry, no other word applies) chavismo supporters overseas that repeat the old cliche that private media oppress the people and hide the news in Venezuela. Saddest part is that many journalists who should know better, who would never accept such a thing as a cadena at home, not only fail to report on the power abuse that cadenas are, but actually repeat the idiotic cliches over private control of media in Venezuela.
The other reason is that since so many people are working to denounce the current Venezuelan dictatorship, I thought I offer them a primer they can link too whenever convenient. So here it goes in clear, simple definitions.
CADENA: mandatory, SIMULTANEOUS, FORCED, broadcast on ALL AIR WAVES, TV and radio, of governmental messages. A cadena is called at will, often several times during the day as it happens since April 14, in particular. The cadena implies that who ever holds it can speak as long as s/he wants, that whatever commercial revenue lost by private broadcaster is not compensated. What is worse, cadenas are used to attack political adversaries, including direct insults and lies, while the aggravated parties has no right of reply, not only a simple one minute cadena, should we say, but not even a minute in the state broadcasting system news or talk shows.
PUBLIC/STATE TV MEDIA: chavismo over the years, has built an impressive array of media. The official state media is VTV which reaches ALL the country. To this you must add ViVeTV and Tves which reach almost as much as VTV, and which are supposed to be cultural and educational channels but which support, at least for ViVeTV, an extensive repeat of all political events shown on VTV. In a minor role because it does not reach as much of the country as the above, there is ANTV from the parliament, Telesur which pretends to be a chavista CÑN and local TV stations and community ones. Thus we have three national network, 2 almost national ones and dozens of local stuff which pass for all practical purposes only state messages, state propaganda or edulcorated "entertainment" as politically correct as possible. It is to be noted that in some areas which are not reached by cable TV the only TV you can get in open air broadcast is state TV (VTV or Tves).
PUBLIC/STATE RADIO MEDIA: the regime disposes of RNV, the sate radio that reaches all the country, but also of the more "commercial" YVKE which is a network of associated radios that cover all the major population centers. The situation here is worse than TV because when you travel a lot as I do you will drive through areas where the only radio stations with news you may get in your car are from or aligned with the regime. The other ones only play music and, not all, quickie local news of the road-kill-of-the-day variety.
LEY DE RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EN RADIO Y TV, with CONATEL: these are the regulatory laws and agencies that make sure private media toes the line. They are of a repressive nature, with governmental appointed supervisors, whose main objective is that embarrassing news for the regime are shown, if must be, late at night. Only private media is ever sanctioned even though state media commits abuses infinitely worse such as the VTV show "La Hojilla" everyday late night. The objective here is simple: create financial hardship to media that does not tow the line, driving them to bankruptcy if necessary, or in the case of Globovision this week to a change in ownership.
PRIVATE TV AND RADIO: these have been reduced considerably since Chavez reached office in 1999 and after the strike of 2002. Today we can divide the private media news in two groups: the neutralized ones and the other.
Neutralized ones: Venevision which could actually be considered almost pro regime and Televen which carries a difficult balancing act because it feels sort of protected through the space it gives to Jose Vicente Rangel every Sunday morning. Some local TV which also carry a difficult balancing act, frequently threatened when the regime does not like an item. On the radio the only one with a partial national coverage has buckled down. In short, through these you get more news than on the state system but very little criticism or even analytic examination.
Free media: this is reduced today to Globovision, although its sale this week is expected to change its editorial line. But this network, which is the the one the most attacked by the regime, has a limited coverage. It is only allowed to be in open air broadcast in Valencia and Caracas, which together represent about 25% of the country. Elsewhere you can get Globovision only if you are on cable. Note: the cable system of the regime managed through CANTV does not offer Globovision even though by law it should offer it, at least last time I checked. Outside of Globovision you only have a very few independent radio stations that dare and can afford to do so because they are situated in large cities and have a local base of advertisers which allow them to survive. But nobody today can strike it rich through a "dissident" radio station as the regime has no qualms in putting pressure on advertisers.
THE PRESS: the situation there is hardly better as the regime controls the extent of freedom of expression through allowing the importation of paper and the official advertising which for many local newspaper is the only way to survive. Local papers that dare to print unpleasantness can see their income go down by half in a few days. Only major cities can support a critical newspaper that dares to expose abuses. To this we must add the general poor quality of local papers which at best reprint articles from the main ones. For example in Yaracuy where I live, I have stopped buying the local press years ago: only red pages and mostly pro regime news though some times the infighting in chavismo does appear. Non governmental news do appear but usually in short, not very well written notes.
JUDICIAL IMPOTENCE: what is worse than anything written above is the impossibility to get justice. Several example.
Persecution of journalists: when critical press journalists are attacked and/or injured, it is already a miracle that they are not the ones going to jail as the aggressors To work today a journalist needs to carry at hand helmets, gas mask, etc.... Even though the situation has become a little bit better, it is still a regular occurrence that pro regime hecklers do not balk at attacking journalists. Self censorship ensues.
Fines and more: that media and journalists are fined is one thing, but their possibility to appeal, to get a fair trial, leads them invariably to international organizations.
Public lynching: there are radio and TV programs in the state system devoted to character assassination of opposition figures, but also of people in the media. "La Hojilla" is the best known one but you should listen tot he attacks made in normal newscast of the public system, without ever the right to reply being offered while the aggravated parties simply have decided to ignore it all since there is judicial recourse. But such public lynching contributes to violent attacks by pro regime goons that feel validated in their attacks.
It should be clear that any objective observer of the Venezuelan situation should be aware and mention these things. If they fail to do so they can only be woefully misinformed and should shut up; or fascists themselves supporting these abuses for whatever reason they have.
I hope this helps and that you may use it around.
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