Blogging the democratic revolution
There’s such great blogging going on in Venezuela these days that I almost feel I have been remiss in keeping track of it all. Ahmadinejad of Iran is in Caracas, Chavez is running for reelection, and Venezuela’s economy is falling apart. Here is a brief blog roundup from some of the finest: Daniel, of Venezuela News & Views has a great bloggy mishmash (or since he is in France now, let’s say ragout) of acid comments about Chavismo with several pearls of observation, like this one about current condition of Chavez here: The historian in this blogger has seen too…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s foreign advisory team, based at the Miraflores presidential palace, are deep into the task of getting him reelected for the third time, something they may succeed at, given Chavez’s manipulation of the electoral system. Yes, you heard right, foreign as in foreigner. Which sounds pretty disgusting. Shouldn’t one be a citizen of a country before one messes around with its campaigns? Not in Chavismo. That’s why the Chavista campaign team has such an unusual obsession with foreign affairs, something that Miguel at Devil’s Excrement notices. But it’s not all that unusual, in my opinion, it’s simply…
Venezuelan exile Alek Boyd went back to Caracas for a visit after several years living in England, and has asked us to flag his chronicles of his tour there, where he will be covering the campaign of Manuel Rosales. Sounds interesting enough. In his first dispatch, he writes a fair and accurate account of arriving at the airport there, speaking of the monumental Chavista signs, a dictatorship trademark, and the courteous, swift Venezuelan customs officials, something pleasantly surprising. But oh god, Alek’s language! And I don’t mean his command of English, which is fine, but his use of language to…
In a moment where the forces of dictatorship and tyranny seem to be pushing back against democracy, the common thread that has successfully aligned nations such as Iran, Russia, Venezuela, China, and Sudan have been the supply and demand of energy. While it is encouraging that the relationships forged seem to be more based on Machiavellian pragmatism then aligned ideologies or long term goals, problematic occurrences and diplomatic realignment have debilitated the West????????s efforts to act against undemocratic forces. Increasingly, the ability to act as a geopolitical actor has been taken away from the United States and the UN as…
Hugo Chavez is so detested by average Venezuelans that he’s reduced to passing out great big bottles of rum at his campaign rallies. Voters quaff these booze bottles full of liquor, pirate-style while they think it over. Evidently Chavez thinks this raises the odds of voters checking off his name on Venezuelan election day, Dec. 3. Naturally, this has attracted street drunks to Chavez rallies and fostered a new social phenomenon – Dancing Drunks for Chavez. Miguel has the must-be-seen-to-be-believed photos in this post here. More seriously, one commentatator on Miguel’s site notes that weird dancing public drunkeness is often…
Deep sea oil rig, Gulf of Mexico Source: National Aeronautics & Space Administration Today, a quiet revolutionary time bomb was presented to Hugo Chavez. He has no idea what it is or what it means. But this gift means it’s all over for the brutal Venezuelan tyrant in the next few years. He won’t be bothering us anymore. He won’t be bothering anyone anymore. He’s finished. Treasure was discovered in America’s Gulf of Mexico waters today, black gold so vast and so deep and so surprising and so recoverable that overnight, America’s energy reserves have just increased as much as…
In Caracas, there are very few green spaces, other than the Avila mountain range, which ruffles the northern side of the vast Venezuelan capital city. The rest is pure urban concrete. Of those few green spaces, even fewer are safe enough to go to without needing a bodyguard or a bullet-proof automobile. But there is one important exception – it’s in the municipality of Chacao, and it’s called the Country Club. I was there – and it’s not quite as elite as you might think. The Country Club is a private recreation club where any resident in the area can…
For a long long time, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez polled high numbers in opinion polls. Often it was as high as 70% approval. When I was in Caracas, a prominent think tank analyst pointed out to me that about 7% of the population was and always would be hardcore communist. Another 30% to 40% after that were happy to take handouts in exchange for political support. Another 20% were middle class and detested the Thug who was ruining their country. And there was a remainder in the middle known as ‘ni-ni’s – people who couldn’t stand any politicians no matter…
Venezuela has a peculiar economy. For many decades, it’s been known as Saudi Venezuela, in reference to its vast oil reserves, reserves so high, and so profitable, that it brings in huge dollar reserves. Those dollar reserves strengthen the currency to such an extent that it’s very difficult for exporters in other industries to get their businesses off the ground, because compared to say, their neighbors on Colombia, they cannot compete, given what they must be paid in. This is known as ‘Dutch disease’ or, the curse of oil. But it’s also switching to a tried-and-failed Marxist model on top…
Phil Gunson from The Miami Herald recently reported on a memo that Venezuelan Ambassador to the UK Alfredo Toro Hardy had sent to Rafael Ramirez, Minister of Energy and Director of Petroleos de Venezuela. Toro Hardy’s purpose was to keep Ramirez up to speed with regards to developing conversations between his office and Greater London Authority staff, geared at implementing an oil-for-propaganda programme, similar to the one broke with Bill Delahunt and Joe Kennedy’s Citizens Energy Corporation, as announced by Hugo Chavez in his last visit to this city. Interestingly, the memo reveals the names of those involved, on behalf…
Campaign kickoff rally for Manuel Rosales in Caracas Saturday Source: The Devil’s Excrement, which has a lot more here Is there any greater losing proposition than trying to win an election as a non-Chavista in Venezuela? The courts are stacked, the electronic fingerprint machines ensure that HOW you voted is recorded and delivered to the authorities, the vote-tallying machines by Smartmatic can report any result they like regardless of how you voted, the whole election apparatus can be rigged to ensure that if you live in a middle class neighborhood, you’ll stand all day in the sun to discourage your…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez broke off diplomatic relations with Israel this week in a bid to grandstand with various Arab states, saying he was doing it to protest the war in Lebanon. Now, Chavez could care less about dead bodies, given the far-higher murder rate that has overtaken Venezuela. Deaths don’t bother him. This move instead is part of a geopolitical game he’s playing. He’s doing it because he’s seeking Arab support for a seat on the UN Security Council, and despite having all the extremist credentials, he’s apparently having a terrible time getting it. In a way, it’s not…
At the end of May I wrote about Vietnam and the United States bilateral free-trade agreement, paving the way for the United States to approve a bill leading the country’s accession to the WTO later this year. Trade will lead to growth and prosperity; and, eventually, real democracy. Even we fought a war with them so many years ago, Washington and Hanoi are on pretty good terms these days. The latter knows that being friends with the former leads to big benefits in the long run. There are some, however, who don’t want to see that happen. Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez,…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez embraces Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! America, behold the future! Carlos the Jackal’s biggest (and fattest) fan embraces 1979’s Iranian “student” hostage-taker of American diplomats ringleader in an epic spread-the-love embrace. I’m gonna throw up. I can’t blog anymore after looking at this. If you aren’t, Quico at Caracas Chonicles has a whole gallery of photos of all the other dictators Hugo’s embraced down the side of his page here.
Between meaningful embraces with Iran’s leading U.S. hostage-taker and quality time frolicking on The Stalin Line at the Happy-Hitler Meadows, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez still finds time to hawk toothpaste, too. He’s a busy man, a man of the world, but the Pitchman Supremo still manages to get it all in. Last year he was hawking corn flake crunchies, this year it’s bright red communist toothpaste. Oh that Hyuug! What would we all do without him? How would this stuff ever get sold? And there’s nothing more important than getting teeth as pearly white as Chavez’s. Must be read to…
…and anti-democratic leaders. Maybe it’s a pirate thing? Boli-Nica has some intriguing observations in a neat little photoessay here.
Venezuelan and Belarusian dictators strut before lines of troops in Minsk Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! First, take a look at the top of line weaponry Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is buying from Vladimir Putin of Russia, to aim at us, just 1350 miles from our shores. This is but one step removed from another Cuban Missile Crisis. That’s a main reason for this junket to Belarus and Russia. So much for peace and friendship. What’s peace and friendship compared to advanced weaponry! Miguel Octavio at Devil’s Excrement in a brilliant essay, writes of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s visit with Aleksander…
Today’s El Universal reports an increasingly serious situation with Venezuela’s oil supply, which is sure to have implications for its largest buyer, the U.S. Not only is the country running its oil industry into the ground with fires and accidents, something that’s never occurred until these Chavista years, a result of the firing and blacklisting of all of Venezuela’s talented and dedicated engineers and managers – who have since been replaced by Chavista operatives known for their political loyalty and not their expertise – intransparency has grown. Citgo recently announced that it would end supply to gas stations in 10…
If there was any question in anyone’s mind that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez might not be a communist, that illusion was put paid to rest by Chavez’s visit today to Belarus, the last remaining dictatorship in Europe. Agencia EFE reported the Venezuelan dictator’s visit to Europe’s most oppressive regime this way: “We must make (Soviet Union founder Vladimir) Lenin’s slogan a reality regarding the unacceptability of the exploitation of man by man,” Chavez told the press. The Venezuelan leader said he had come to Minsk to “seal a unity pact and lay the first stone for future relations between Belarus…
Yes, there is such a thing! Daniel at Venezuela News & Views has links and a great essay of his own describing this actual phenomenon. He explains that how the creepier you are, the more likely you are to think that toting a Kalashnikov is cool. He’s got the yucky photo of the foremost practitioner of this Kalashnikov-toting practice (take a guess who!) and links to photos examining this phenomena in this item here. He’s also got harsh words for Code Pink “Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan who continues to extol the virtues of Venezuela’s dictator in a remarkably ignorant new…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, in the style of Stalin before him, continuously makes ridiculous claims about ending poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and exclusion. Under his great “socialism,” all is sweetness and light, wonder and justice, just like the Happy Commie pictures you find in Iron Curtain propaganda posters. Yeah, sure. Have you ever tried to learn another language? Do you remember how hard it was to learn to read when you were five or six, even if you had the best teachers? Under Chavistadom, you are now asked to believe that it no longer is hard anymore to become literate and…
Have you seen the Venezuelan movie, Secuestro Express? It’s my favorite current movie. It’s also the most popular Venezuelan movie in history. The only other Venezuelan movie I have seen is Manuela Saenz, and that was weakly done. Secuestro Express is in a league with the best Mexican and Colombian movies, a real chair-gripping suspense and drama. I was screaming by the end of it. It documents a quick and dirty kidnapping of two rich young people – one callow, one not – by a gang of at least four thugs from the slums, one of whom has a glint…
Carlos The Jackal, in his yeayyy-babeeee days Source: 24-Hour Party People Just as Venezuelan Hugo Chavez plays the role of clown-dictator in the world Axis Of Evil, so does Venezuelan terrorist Carlos The Jackal play the bozo in the world War On Terror. It’s like a bad parody that keeps repeating itself. Not that his crimes aren’t real. The fat balding terrorist, who had his heyday in the 1970s as an International Man Of Mystery, shooting up OPEC meetings and taking diplomats hostage, in the end ended up in Sudan down there with bin Laden, and eventually was scooped up…
In Venezuela, the ruling Chavistas are starting to implode as an organization. The reason for this is Chavez has gotten rid of all institutions of government and left only the political-party and campaign apparatus as its substitute. Imagine Karl Rove running the Supreme Court, the Congress, the White House, the election apparatuses, the district attorneys, all by his lonesome. You can’t run a government like that. That’s contributed to an idea that’s been around for about two years, somethng called ‘Chavismo without Chavez,’ a face-saving way to say one doesn’t support dictatorship, but loves all the byproducts of dictatorship, like…
Oh man, this is disgusting. You know how Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez likes to break into all the television channels on occasion, with long Castro-style speeches, just to hear his own voice? Well, as All Venezuela has stood by, mesmerized at the World Cup on TV, he’s decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to break into the soccer games to issue his multi-hour political diatribes, called ‘cadenas.’ When a cadena is on, you can’t flip the channel. All you get is him, no matter what channel you flip to. Chavez is known to be jealous of attention the…