Blogging the democratic revolution
Alek Boyd has a very good translation of a long article in the Latino press on the specific nature of the totalitarian threat that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez poses to the different countries in the region. He menaces the weakest of the states. It’s very sound, very sane, very informed analysis, well worth reading here.
With Juan Forero at the helm, the Paper of Record once again shows itself to be the paper of record lows. Arrogant and ignorant, it refuses to correct its errors. Alek Boyd wrote a letter to the NYT to point out the uncomfortable Chavista fact that poverty has grown dramatically under the Chavez regime. Facts from Chavez’s own government statistics show that Chavez’s love of the poor is nothing more than an effort to create more of them. Not only was it in the facts themselves, it was also the topic of one of the most chilling Oppenheimer columns ever…
Oil prices are rising. Yet US inventories are up. That’s not normal. Venezuela is pumping below its OPEC quota, with production down. (Link UPDATED). The state oil company is in shambles. And Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is on the rumored verge of firing 12,000 oil workers in already-rebellious Zulia state in the west. Meanwhile, his oil minister denies it. Screaming ‘sabotage’ and ‘CIA infiltration’ and ‘silent strike,’ Chavez’s underlings are in distress as the oil refineries (including the gigantic Amuay refinery which was shut down last month amid rumors of worker sabotage) slide into turmoil. The generals of the military…
Big Gun Rumsfeld lays down the law: There will be no U.S. intervention in Venezuela. It will be strictly Venezuelan. Because frankly, he thinks Venezuelans know how to take care of business. The Liberator of Baghdad and Kabul also takes aim at Chavez, warning of Venezuelans’ desire to live in a country that ‘is respected,’ – indirectly indicting Chavez for his clown dictatorship. Notice Chavez’s wimpy response to Rummy’s curt words, with his ‘welcoming’ of the Rummy statement, a weak answer uncharacteristic of him. He seems to be ignoring the squinty glare in Rumsfeld’s eye that signals The Thug of…
No, it’s not a government statistic, it’s Datanalisis, a highly regarded private pollster. They report that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez now sports a 70% popular approval rating. The kind of news that makes you wonder if the Revolution is on his side of the fence. Or if the revolution has been frothed up by growing anti-U.S. sentiment, courtesy of Chavez, but not exclusively Chavez, a trend I am hearing from Venezuelan sources. Did people lie to this guy? How come Chavez’s May Day crowds were so small then? I don’t know. There are some mysterious contradictory currents within this news…
London 02.05.05 ö With the purpose of continuing with the previous article I shall comment today upon the main reason for Hugo Chavez’s sustained popularity in Venezuela; his ability to win political allies throughout the region and the foundations upon which his alliances are built. To begin with the unravelling of the Chavez phenomenon one must look out for the X factor, that ‘thing’ that makes him irresistible in the eyes of people. Ideological affinities and charisma aside I am of the opinion that Chavez’s ‘charm’ is the US Dollar. Having dismantled the meritocratic system that had governed Petroleos de…
The most amusing thing about world revolutions is that there always are a pack of decadent Marie Antoinettes out there somewhere, living it up large, while the underlings seethe. In modern times, Indonesia’s Soeharto Kids are the benchmark, but Marcos, Ceaucescu and Saddam also are notables, and one day, the Saudis of Marbella will be, too. But for now, it turns out Venezuela’s got a Marie-Antoinette class of fast, trashy, loaded wastrels whose antics are eyed with lurid disgust by Venezuela’s opposition. The other day, one of these Chavista new-class princelings trashed his Lamborghini – yes, Lamborghini – out on…
Fidel Castro’s Big Dumb Houseboy down in Caracas will listen to any sweet talk from his hairy Havana caudillo provided he says it nicely enough. That was why it was so easy to convince the hulky fool to turnnnnnn the checkbook, uhrrrr …. precious oil resources … over … to Castro’s own loving care. Fidel, you see, has convinced Chavez that he knows his wants and needs better than even Chavez himself. And can take care of Venezuela’s oil supply mucccccchhhhhh better than the Venezuelans can. It all makes perfect sense. Doesn’t it? Miguel Octavio has the deadly lowdown on…
Randy Paul has a short item on Miguel Inzulza of Chile winning the post as OAS Secretary General. He points out differences in media coverage on this somewhat mysterious issue. Why was it so controversial? Inzulza had been Hugo Chavez’s candidate, which is in itself a minus, because Chavez is the Foremost Troublemaker in our hemisphere. On the other hand, Inzulza is a Chilean, and with Chilean attitudes, apparently this was enough to convince Condi Rice to accept him as the U.S.’s candidate, too. If he’s good enough for Condi, I am going to bet he’s O.K., too. Now, with…
Whether the MSM reports it or not, Latin America has been heating up with Cuba and Venezuela seeking to destabilize and undermine democracy throughout the entire continent. At a time when the Community of Democracies is meeting in Santiago, Chile, its virtual antagonist composed of the most criminal minds in the western hemisphere converged on Havana to seek an alternative to free trade and democracy. I have never in my life seen such a perverted brothel of lowlifes, making perhaps the most up-front declaration of intentions I have ever heard. HAVANA (Reuters) – The leaders of Cuba and Venezuela relished…
Ever wonder how Chavista-dom is changing the face of Venezuelan society? Blogger Daniel walked into a Caracas restaurant now frequented by the nouveau elite of the newly wealthy Chavista class and encountered a plethora of hoggishness. He dubs this new Marie Antoinette class of communist thugs the Boliburguesa, or, Bolivarian Bourgeois. Believe it or not, they’re out there. Daniel then wrote an essay of manners a la Voltaire or Samuel Pepys. You have to read it here!
…that he can trust his military anymore? Not very. He’s got more things to worry about from his army than he can list. My own analysis of the galaxy of factors is here.
… among the Chavistas and the white coats are calling. Just another sunny day in Caracas. Read it here and here.
Alek Boyd has a disturbing e-mail message from someone inside Venezuela’s phone system, reporting the growing signs of a potential Internet blackout in beleaguered Venezuela. If so, this would be the first steps toward making the Internet as accessible to Venezuelans as it is to Cubans. And that’s not a step upward. Read it here.
None other than blogger Alek Boyd – who’s been featured in a Sunday front page feature in El Universal, the top newspaper in Caracas, Venezuela for his awesome blogging exposing the corrupt political networks of the Hugo Chavez political machine in the U.S., something for which the U.S. owes him a debt of gratitude. Who says blogging doesn’t lead to revolution? Check it out here, here and here. UPDATE: Free Republic has an excellent English translation of the interview. Be sure to read it to see the depth of Alek’s grasp of the current issues surrounding the Venezuelan government’s propaganda…
Communist regimes don’t just white out the images of newly designated enemies of the state. Given the attention these photoshoppings get, and their capacity for changing history (as the phony Dan Rather memos did in the U.S. elections), the Chavez regime of Venezuela seems to be beginning a new tactic of simply and systemically ignoring names of enemies, designated enemies and potential enemies in photo captions. There’s a very good analysis of this new trend here.
If there is going to be a revolution in Venezuela, it’s going to involve the military. There are increasing signs of distrust between Chavez and his military. American Thinker Web site is down, so I posted my own analysis of the growing signs temporarily here.
How low can it go for Venezuelan sciences? Apparently much lower than anyone imagined in Hugo Chavez’s pseudo-revolution. Venezuela’s IVIC, which had been the finest scientific research institution south of the Rio Grande, is now being forced to conduct research not based on what will advance science but what will advance the Chavez party. That means no more petroleum engineering discoveries for efficient production but instead new orders from on high to conduct “scientific” experiments on what the best Orisha voodoo methods are for divining the future and getting back at one’s enemies. If you can stand to read more,…
How bad is it for Venezuela? Is it really a colony of Cuba? This essay by Gustavo Coronel should settle the question definitively. Read it here.
When thousands of Venezuelans came forward last year to exercise their legally guaranteed democratic right to sign a petition to recall their president, precious few realized the kind of use dictator Hugo Chavez could and did make of that signature list afterward. It was published on the Internet – the names, addresses and social-security-number equivalent of all those who signed. It was used to blacklist signers, deny people work, target dissidents. Thousands of people were affected, not just in those who were not hired for jobs, but for those who were denied services, lost rights, got harassed and were brutalized.…
Just when you thought the Venezuelan Revolution was on its last legs, I discover this promising new blog in English called Notiven by Javier Caceres. It’s an occasionally updated blog that’s full of thoughtful analysis and commentary on the news. Javier’s got a new item up about Hugo Chavez’s likely plans to align and control the FARC narcoterrorist jungle guerrilla movement of Colombia. Well worth reading here.
Venezuela’s opposition is melting away. Agencia EFE gives a good description of how 200,000 opponents of the Chavez regime have largely drifted over into Miami, where they are both invisible and increasingly irrelevant to the revolution. Coming to the U.S. is, in a sense, a revolution of its own, because it’s a transformative experience, that of becoming a free person amid vast opportunities, and given the choice between freedom here and fighting a thug at home, most people prefer to melt into the milieu. But it doesn’t do much for Venezuela. The regime knows this and is using it as…
Venezuela does not have a conventional revolutionary set-up. It’s a revolution within a revolution, where, six years ago, “reformer” Hugo Chavez was elected to power as an outsider who would make a difference, and who instead ran his country’s affairs like an old-line caudillo party boss, his cronies lining their pockets, but with the added detail of retrograde Castroite communism as his substitute for reform. Of course he is hated. Essayist Gustavo Coronel takes a serious, scholarly look at Chavez’s decaying revolution and the prospects for a more authentic one replacing it. Read it here.
Spain’s Foreign Secretary Miguel Angel Moratinos expressed from Washington “the military ships and planes sold to Venezuela ought to be considered as humanitarian aid”. Whilst in Capitol Hill he was scolded by both Republicans and Democrats with respect to the shady relationship that Spain maintains of late with the Cuban dictator and his Venezuelan toyboy. What’s more, John Kerry declined to a pre-arranged meeting with him. However Zapatero’s representative did have the time to keep at defending the indefensible and went as far as to suggest that Bush may be ready to meet with Zapatero. Well I for one doubt…
This just in from Mexico: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leftist populist mayor of Mexico City, unequivocally denies he is another Hugo Chavez. I don’t think he’s telling the truth, he is running for president after all, but how interesting it is, in his quest for votes, that he feels a need to deny any association with Hugo Chavez. Obviously, word has gotten around in Mexico. This corresponds to another story, seen yesterday about views that Chile’s OAS candidate has received the ‘kiss of death‘ by getting Hugo Chavez’s endorsement. Clearly some kind of critical mass is building in this…