Behind the Chavista bomb attack and the invation to the Archbishop Palace

"The next five years saw a brutal dictatorship in a country that by now was notorious as the almost archetypical home of Latin American dictators. A regressive new constitution reverted to indirect elections for president by a puppet legislature. Pedro Estrada, described by historian Hubert Herring as "as vicious a man hunter as Hitler ever employed," headed the vast National Security Police (Seguridad Nacional-SN) network that rounded up any opposition, including military officers, unable to escape. Hundreds, if not thousands, were brutally tortured or simply murdered at the notorious Guasina Island concentration camp in the Orinoco jungle region. Labor unions were harassed, and the Venezuelan Confederation of Labor was abolished and replaced by a confederation under the control of the FEI. When the Central University of Venezuela became a center of opposition to the regime, it was simply shut down. Strict controls over the press recalled the worst days of the Gómez regime. Political power concentrated around Pérez and an inner circle of six tachirense colonels who held key cabinet positions. Pérez revived Gómez's old "Democratic Caesarism" doctrine and gave it a new name, the "New National Ideal," under which politics would be deemphasized in favor of material progress (dubbed the "conquest of the physical environment" by apologists for the dictatorship)."

-Richard A. Haggerty, ed. Venezuela: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1990. (Source here)

Yesterday, I was thinking over the bomb attack to the Venezuelan chamber of commerce (FEDECAMARAS), and the Chavista invasion of the Archbishop Palace, and Chavez father-scolding-a-child attitude like he didn't know anything about these two insurrection incidents coming from his own people.

Those two incidents had unclear motivations. The fact that they left casually a police officer credentials -with a note from some Chavista violent terrorist movement taking responsibility of the act- on the site couldn't be a mistake, but on the other hand it didn't make any sense for them to do that. Secondly, the crazy invasion to the Archbishop palace. The Devil's Excrement questioned the reasons for Chavismo to have taken this place. There was no reason, but to make noise, in my opinion. That, until today.

Now it comes very clear to me that the insurrectionist attitude of Lina Ron, Chavez most faithful lap dog who apparently acted without her master's knowledge, was pretty well planned. And, the credentials of the police officer had a reason to be left out on the site of the bomb attack to Fedecamaras.

You see, Hugo Chavez needed those two incidents to have a excuse for the law that was approved today by the Enabling Law Cabinet. It was proposed in May 2007, and it was approved today.

Chavez might have lost a "democratic" Constitutional reform referendum on Dec 2, but Happens that through Chavez's Enabling Law, he still have the constitutional RIGHT to do whatever he pleases. This comes in evidence today, when the news that he will reform the police, and make a new Policia Nacional (National Police), should we name it Nazional Police? I don't have to tell any of you what this police will do. I can bet that the 50's Seguridad Nacional will be regarded as a nice one comparing to this one. Chavez also mentioned, about this police, that there will be on the fashion of the Cuban and Nicaraguan police.

I think those two incidents make the perfect excuse and propaganda for Chavez to say that he is working to eliminate those problems of political violence and street crime with the creation with this police, that won't nothing but similar to the Perez Jimenez's Seguridad Nacional. People will think that this is good news, that at least they will be leaving without crime, but it won't be for free.

In spite of that it is costume for us Venezuelans, and for me in particular to make fun of Chavez because of his clown-esque style, this news is no joke at all.

You know, I don't know if the rest of the people are blind or I am absolutely crazy, but this news to me is Chavez sticking his reform to Venezuelans with Vaseline. He need first to control the people, to become a terrorist state, so he can do his reform as he promised in spite of people voting against it.

I don't think that after the implementation of this police, the people, anybody, will be inclined to protest, or get out of the road too much... what do you think?

The curse of the Pharaoh, part II

The same way Sean Penn lost his Malibu home on the Oct 2007 fires, Naomi Campbell has to be rushed to the Hospital in Brazil due to an ovarian cyst that had to be removed on an emergency procedure.

The model is recuperating from her surgery pretty well.

A chavista suicide bombing by accident

First, the threat:

Chavez y Fedecamaras
Uploaded by frankib2

Translation: "Here we go again, the Fedecamaras President defying the government, I won't recommend this to you, the former President of Fedecamaras has flee the country, and the other is in Colombia. Are you gonna do the same? Will you keep defying the government? Are you a business man or a politician?"

This is probably the comment of the Fedecamaras President that enraged herr majesty:

"The same day as Carrizales`s announcements, the president of the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Production (FEDECAMARAS), José Manuel González, suggested that Chávez`s accusations against Polar and government interventions in the private sector discourage "necessary investments" that "produce decent employment and feed the country," and that the government is "toying with chaos [and] food scarcity". He added that in the past, "when there were not so many controls... and the private sector could work in peace in this country, absolutely everything could be found."

Source: here.

Second, the attack:

Bomb explodes outside Venezuelan business chamber, killing 1

5 hours ago

CARACAS, Venezuela - A small bomb exploded outside the headquarters of Venezuela's leading business chamber Sunday, killing one person, police said.

The blast occurred near the entrance of the Fedecamaras business chamber headquarters in Caracas's middle-class district of La Florida at approximately 1 a.m. local time, killing an unidentified man and shattering windows, federal police Chief Marcos Chavez said.

"There's a person who was close by, and presumably could have been hit by the shock wave," Chavez told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview. "We still have not identified the person."

The explosion could have been meant to scare business leaders who have been critical of President Hugo Chavez, said Fedecamaras President Jose Manuel Gonzalez.

"These actions do not intimdate us. They commit us to continue fighting for Venezuela," Gonzalez told Union Radio.

Lope Mendoza, the chamber's deputy vice-president, noted that unidentified people have tossed several small explosives at Fedecamaras offices in recent years. Like Sunday's blast, those explosions occurred at night.

The chamber's headquarters have been repeatedly vandalized. Last year, dozens of government supporters wearing red - the colour of Chavez's ruling party - gathered outside the building during the day, spray-painting pro-Chavez slogans on its walls. None of the demonstrators were arrested.

Government officials have denied that Chavez's administration was behind previous attacks.

Last week, Gonzalez strongly criticized Chavez for accusing local businesses of stockpiling products to sell later at inflated prices as Venezuelans struggle with sporadic food shortages.

Chavez warned recently that any business caught hoarding goods such as chicken, eggs and milk "should be seized and taken under government control" - threats that alarmed Fedecamaras.

The socialist leader called Empresas Polar - Venezuela's largest food producer - a "clear example" of the kind of business that is ripe for takeover.

Source: The Canadian Press

The lamest thing of all, is that the possible suicide bomber by accident -the bomb exploded in his arms, not that he was expecting his 72 virgins or anything like that, only bad luck for this pobre diablo- was... he was... guess... a police officer from the crowd of Chavista Mayor Juan Barreto! (Correction, were under Juan Barreto, Mayor, NOW they are under the Bureau of Interior Affairs and Justice, under the command of non other than Minister Ramón Rodriguez Chacín). Yep, the same one.

Credentials were found at the site of the accident, and a note from the terrorist organization who committed the act:



I don't think the fact that they left a note and credentials of the police officer who loft his life in this act is a mistake. There is a motivation from the side of the government to do this, I just don't know yet what it is.

The bomb exploded on Chavez's face, unfortunately killing this guy who died blindly by serving his Guru, King Hugo I and his terrorist government. Do you think this guy dying was a mistake, or not? I don't know what to think anymore. Chavistas can be total clumps, but they have the masters of propaganda, the Cubans, behind this type of operations...

The insanity...

Tragedy strikes one more time on Venezuelan air...

Tragedy has stroked Venezuela's air one more time. A plane with 46 passengers flying from Mérida to Caracas (Maiquetía) went missing, but it has been discovered in the Andean mountains in Venezuela. Unfortunately the plane did crashed. The news are not talking about survivors.



Among the passengers were the internationalist Italo Luongo (here you can watch an interview with him), and a Chavista precandidate for Merida's governorship and Mayor of Rangel Township in the same state, Alexander Quintero, traveling with his 11 year old son.

This is terrible news. But more than this news, is also the amount of planes that have been in accidents in Venezuela during the last month. Only this Monday a Cessna plane with 3 people aboard also crashed in Anaco, Anzoátegui State. And between December and January, two tourist planes going to Los Roques went down as well.

Scary...

Lunar eclipse and satellite down...

Being the lunatic moon child I am, I couldn't pass to post cool pictures about this lunar eclipse, and why not, mention the other space event, the spy satellite shutdown...

Through time, people have always been scared of eclipses. In astrology, the lunar eclipse means changes. So, this is the time to get rid of old habits, bad relationships etc... and start with new beginnings.

In Venezuela, it was the only country in the whole planet where the eclipse was seen in two ways. Thanks Plinio :)


(AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski). A shadow from the Earth falls on the moon during a lunar eclipse seen from Vodno mountain, south of Macedonia's capital Skopje, early Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008.


REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang (UNITED STATES). The Moon photographed at 10:00 p.m. EST (03:00 GMT) in Great Falls, Virginia just outside Washington February 20, 2008 during a lunar eclipse. During the eclipse, the Earth lined up directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting Earth's shadow over the Moon.


(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer). The Moon glows orange as it is seen above the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, during a total eclipse early Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008. The last total lunar eclipse until 2010 occurred Wednesday night, with cameo appearances by Saturn and the bright star Regulus on either side of the veiled full moon.


(AP Photo/Petko Momchilov). A partially eclipsed moon is seen near a golden domed cathedral in the town of Varna, east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008. The last total lunar eclipse until 2010 occurred Wednesday night, with cameo appearances by Saturn and the bright star Regulus on either side of the veiled full moon.


REUTERS/Jose Miguel Gomez (COLOMBIA). The Moon is seen during a phase in a total lunar eclipse, from Bogota February 20, 2008.


(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko). The moon, partially covered, and the emblematic Obelisk are seen in Buenos Aires, Thursday Feb. 21, 2008. The last total lunar eclipse until 2010 occurred Wednesday night, with cameo appearances by Saturn and the bright star Regulus on either side of the veiled full moon.

More picts here...

Adios Fidel! Certainly, you won't be missed...

The old man is leaving... soon he will have a big welcoming reception down in hell. Babalu blog doesn't know how to react to so many emotions that the news that Fidel Castro has retired has produced.

Do the reader think dramatic changes are coming for Cuba or the communism in the island more or less will stay the same? I think the party will try to stay in the same political stagnation that they have been since 1959 but in absentia of the mythical dictator "comandante en jefe", things are certainly not gonna be the same.

The end is near!

Che Guevara and the Obama Campaign by Humberto Fontova

"The U.S. is the great enemy of mankind!" raved Ernesto "Che" Guevara in 1961. "Against those hyenas there is no option but extermination. We will bring the war to the imperialist enemies' very home, to his places of work and recreation. The imperialist enemy must feel like a hunted animal wherever he moves. Thus we'll destroy him! We must keep our hatred against them (the U.S.) alive and fan it to paroxysms!"

Compared to Che Guevara, Ahmadinejad sounds like the Dalai Lama.

On November 17, 1962, J Edgar Hoover's FBI discovered that Che Guevara's bombast had substance. They infiltrated and cracked a plot by Cuban agents that targeted Macy's, Gimbel's, Bloomindales and Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal with a dozen incendiary devices and 500 kilos of TNT. The holocaust was set to go off the following week, the day after Thanksgiving. Che Guevara was the head of Cuba's "Foreign Liberation Department" at the time.

A little perspective: for their March 2004 Madrid subway blasts, all 10 of them, that killed and maimed almost 2000 people, al-Qaida used a grand total of 100 kilos of TNT. Castro and Che's agents planned to set off five times that explosive power in the some of the biggest department stores on earth, all packed to suffocation and pulsing with holiday cheer on the year's biggest shopping day.

A month earlier (during what came to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis) Fidel Castro and Che Guevara had salivated over the prospect of a much more satisfying holocaust. "Say hello to my little friends!" they dreamt of yelling at the Yankee “hyenas,” right before the mushroom clouds. But for the prudence of the Butcher of Budapest (Nikita Khrushchev) they might have pulled it off. Despite the diligent work of Camelot court scribes and their ever-eager acolytes in the MSM, Publishing and Hollywood, most serious analysts conclude that Fidel and Che's genocidal fantasy was a much bigger factor in Khrushchev's decision to yank the missiles from Cuba than Kennedy's utterly bogus bluster, threats and "blockade".

"The solutions to the world's problems lie behind the Iron Curtain," stressed Ernesto “Che" Guevara who often signed his correspondence with the moniker "Stalin II". "If the nuclear missiles had remained we would have fired them against the heart of the U.S. including New York City," he boasted. "The victory of socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims."

During recent interviews of Obama campaign workers on Houston's Fox TV station, the offices of two Texas Obama campaign volunteers ( including a precinct captain and head of the "Houston Obama Leadership Team") were found prominently decorated with Che Guevara images, against the backdrop of Cuban flags. The MSM kept mum, but the conservative blogoshere spread the story. Intrepid blogger Henry Gomez (Babalu Blog), uncovered 15 different pages of Che Guevara well-wishers on the official Obama campaign site.

Two days after the Fox TV airing the Obama campaign finally went on record and in a terse statement described the Houston office posters as "inappropriate."

Inappropriate? Yes, and in the same league as cross-burning or swastika-painting are “inappropriate.” This is not trivial.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was second in command, chief executioner, and chief KGB liaison for a regime that outlawed elections and private property. This regime's KGB-supervised police -- employing the midnight knock and the dawn raid among other devices -- rounded up and jailed more political prisoners as a percentage of population than Stalin's and executed more people (out of a population of 6.4 million) in its first three years in power than Hitler's executed (out of a population of 70 million) in it's first six.

But don't misinterpret Che Guevara’s bluster with actual bravery. His stock in trade was the mass-murder of defenseless men and boys -- bound and gagged is how he demanded his victims. On Oct. 8 1967, upon finally encountering armed and determined enemies, Che quickly dropped his fully-loaded weapons and whimpered: "Don't Shoot! I'm Che! I'm worth more to you alive than dead!"

Che Guevara's regime also shattered -- through executions, jailings, mass larceny and exile -- virtually every family on the island of Cuba. Many opponents of the Cuban regime qualify as the longest-suffering political prisoners in modern history, having suffered prison camps, forced labor and torture chambers for a period THREE TIMES as long in Che Guevara's Gulag as Alexander Solzhenytzin suffered in Stalin's Gulag. But please, please, please don’t bother looking for any History Channel, NPR, or 20/20 interviews with these heroes. They were victims’ of the Left’s premier poster boys, you see.

The regime Che Guevara co-founded stole the savings and property of 6.4 million citizens, made refugees of 20 per cent of the population from a nation formerly deluged with immigrants and whose citizens had achieved a higher standard of living than those residing in half of Europe.

Under Che Guevara's rule "Change" indeed came to Cuba.

Imagine -- say -- Huckabee campaign volunteers in -- say -- 'Possum Gulch Arkansas, discovered with their offices displaying David Duke (who despite his looney ravings has killed no one, and who -- as far as I know -- has never advocated the nuclear extermination of the U.S. population) posters.

Do you think there might be a media hullabaloo, with the attendant harrumphing and extortion of apologies by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson?

Do you think that a campaign spokersperson's lame exculpation of these Duke posters as "inappropriate" would suffice and end the matter?

We all know better. The orgy of self-flagellation, groveling, hoop-jumping, and whimpering (not that they would have gotten it) demanded from any Republican candidate would have made Dom Imus' recent antics look like Ollie North in front of the Iran-Contra hearings.

Now, what might Ernesto “Che” Guevara himself thought of Obama’s campaign and his campaign workers (volunteers and otherwise)? His own writings and utterings give a strong clue:

"The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving,"

“South American peasants are simply little animals.”

“Mexicans are a rabble of illiterate Indians.” We can only guess what he had said about the press or the Democrats.

by Humberto Fontova

Disclaimer by Feathers: The pictures are not in any way tied to Mr. Obama campaign, I have no idea who Jay Z, Adriana Lima, Madonna, Johnny Deep, Carlos Santana and this blond model dude are gonna vote for, but the idea of the pictures is to show how El Ché is not longer a murderer for the liberal media but only another Mickey Mouse. Who started this nonsense? Is this the communist new plan to take over America by capitalism? If so, they have succeeded.

And what is the Obama people doing? Following the trend and taking advantage of the lack of critical thinking of teenagers (and the not that young). Ché picture is cool, therefore Obama must be too. I am sure that to this point the Obama people is trying to get rid of this Ché endorsement, but maybe they don't want to do it too strongly so they won't hurt too many sensibilities and loose a big chunk of their voters...

Shameful, shameful and three times shameful... and more shameful the people who are following for this! If I can slap your faces in person I would.

JFK must be upside down on his grave! I am sure he won't recognize his own party.

-f

What?

Yes! I haz cheezburger in can. I can haz cheezburger.

The question is, who would are to eat such culinary monstrosity besides Mr. Chubby Kitty?


No, this won't solve any food scarcity problem in Venezuela... don't get more weird ideas Hugo...

Joe Kennedy's oil

While in Venezuela people are experiencing one of the worst shortage of food in its whole history thanks to Chavez's socialist-communist policies, this is how the same Chavez help the USA people with so much looove (have the Pepto handy):

Michael Wade from A Second Hand Conjecture wrote about this:

"Chavez’s machinations to wield ever greater power within Venezuela, and increased influence without, are slowly grinding the common man into the ground. Venezuela is a massive welfare state, that increasingly forbids any sort of private initiative, and which is almost entirely funded by its oil revenues. But by funding social welfare programs instead of oil infrastructure, and by chasing out the foreign investment needed to keep the industry going, Chavez is killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. On top of all that, a sizable portion of the oil Venezuela does manage to produce is given away in an attempt to buy international influence. Such giveaways, championed by the likes of Joe Kennedy, take money directly out of the pockets of Venezuelans, and decreases their ability to support themselves. Without those petrodollars, the state does not have enough money to subsidize farmers in order to keep them producing food and selling it at the prices mandated by the government. In short, the oil under Chavez’s control represents the welfare of the nation, and he trades so much of it for his own self-aggrandizement that there is not enough left over to feed his own people.

Said another way, Joe Kennedy supports expending Venezuelan blood so that Americans can enjoy their oil. Is that a problem for anyone?"

America's second revolution?

Keeping with the Obama topic, my friend Kate is writing about Daniel Noriega's recent endorsement to Barack Obama.

Now, we only need to wait for Osama's, Hugo Chavez's, Oliver Stone's, Sean Penn's and Ahmadinejad's endorsement... pheewww...

What's going on in here? I understand that some gringos doesn't know better, but I am asking all my Latin American related friends who are going to vote democrat to open their eyes about this.

Attention Obama shoppers!

Photo via Jason from postpolitical.

"I don't actually agree with Chavez's policies or how he's dealing with his people. I think he has consolidated power. I think he has strong despotic tendencies. I think that he's been using oil revenue to stir up trouble against the United States," Obama said.

There's something about Obama that I never like. And I am not talking about the obvious, he is a liberal and I am a conservative. Taking that apart, Obama always looked to me like the "perfect" candidate. Kind of suspicious for this little penguin. Like somebody in some pent-house office somewhere decided to fabricate the perfect candidate. He must be black, have a great "Clay Davis" like smile and charm, yadda yadda yada... and poof! Obama the superstar, always with the perfect quote and tone of voice comes to the arena. Manchurian candidate anyone? Here he is.

And, like this is not enough to worry about, there's another problem with Obama, and is the type of people he is attracting to volunteer for him. You know the type, the Medeas Benjamins and Cindies Sheehans out there, the Danny Glovers and Sean Penns. All of them very loud and spoken supporters of Hugo Chavez.

Take for example this woman, a latino volunteer in the Houston area:



And this one:


Che-Guevara picts via Little Green Footballs.

WTF? What would you think about a Rep candidate whose volunteers have a NAZI flag on their offices?

Something is smelling rotten here. The candidate says "A", but people who believes in "B" are behind him... hhhmmmm. Either these pair didn't read that Obama quote I put on the beginning of this post, or they simply don't think that Che Guevara is the same animal that Hugo Chavez is. I wonder what these two think about Hugo Chavez's revolution. I bet they love it, just like Medea, Seann, Danny...

Continuing with far left cuckoo Medea Benjamin and her legion of code pinkos and common dreamers, who would you think she will endorse? Haven't found out yet. BUUUT, if you look on the webpage of this lovely convention called "Take Back America 2008" that Benjamin is actively promoting, guess who is comming to dinner... among the speakers, Danny Glover, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, among other "progressive" (according to whom?) leaders. Chances are that Obama will be her ticket.

You know, maybe Obama is sincere, he makes sense, he is charming. But what kind of people will work for him? How many Medeas Benjamin and Danny Glovers will be working for the State department? You know, if Bill Clinton sold his soul to China, what are we gonna expect from people who have a Che-Guevara flags on their offices?

In a way, I want this election for Obama to win, and see how he will do... dismantle the myth that this man is "good" for the country, or eat my words.

So, you know who you are my dear readers who sympathize with Obama, what do you think about the Che Guevara volunteers? I would have a problem with a Rep candidate whose volunteers have a Nazi flag on their offices, and you should too, you know?

Just another Cowboy...

Coincidence that I decided to post the picture of Ronald Reagan for my last post, playing the cowboy when he was an actor.

But, there are also revolutionaries who love the outfit as well... take a look at this picture taken days ago during the last Caracas' carnivals, Freedy Bernal, the very Chavista Mayor of the Caracas township dresses as a cowboy. Lovely, isn't it? He looks just like Woody from Toy Story. There is something utterly fascinating about a communist dressed in such an imperialist outfit.

Ronnie's birthday

One day like today in 1911, a great American with a great smile and great spirit was born. He gave back to America its lost self-confidence.

Jungle Mom wrote a post to remind us all about it.

All I want is a Super Tuesday for Venezuela!

I guess today is the perfect day to be sick and stay in bed with a big box of Kleenex handy and my big fuzzy cat making some purring company. My nose feels as big as the state of Kansas, also very runny. My eyes, very watery and itchy. I wish I can take my nose and eyes off and leave them by the sink for a rest. In any case, my discomfort haven't prevented me to be following up all the Super Tuesday news on the TV and the blogs like the obsessive maniac I am. I loved to watch the bios of the candidates. Republicans or Democrats, all very accomplished people.

Photos via Yahoo, San Diego Union Tribune and El Universal.

In spite of my cold, I had to do some errands early this morning. The street felt so normal for this Venezuelan monkey, no "Plan República", no intimidating military with guns up to their eyeballs "taking care" of the voting polls. Business as usual, in my little California neighborhood. People going to their works with little stickers that said "I voted". The streets blocked will elderly driving their also elderly cars doing their errands at 5 miles per hour. I imagine also that part of the errands were to go to vote in person to the voting poll. One of the nicest thing of the electoral system in the US is that you can cast your vote in advance and sent it by mail so you can go to work and not to worry about it if you don't have the luxury of taking time off for voting. Funny thing is that, in the years I have been living here, and because I wasn't a citizen and I was in school, working etc... I never noticed an electoral day but the presidential one.


It seems, for what I have read, that this Super Tuesday is having a big turnout of people. Isn't it great? I couldn't vote yet though. I am still in the process to become an American citizen, so I guess I will cast my vote in November hopefully, otherwise America will have to wait for my opinion for the next electoral process.

The casting ballots needed to be read in advance, not only you are voting for people, but usually every state stacks a whole bunch of propositions for your state and city that if you haven't made up your mind for the day of the election, probably you wouldn't be able to do it so. You can ask for a Democratic or a Republican ballot, if you want. I am not sure what's the difference.

So, primaries are not only a "thing" coming from internal political parties. No, they belong to the electoral system of the country, and as it belong to all, the state also takes advantage of it by asking their citizens for their opinion on other matters.

Wouldn't be great for a country like Venezuela to have a day like this in its lifetime? Unfortunately, people who belong to the political parties in Venezuela, doesn't think so. They don't feel like pushing the issue. I feel terrible that Venezuela's political parties are not ready to embrace a real needed change. They prefer to keep choosing their candidates by close doors, like the old "Acción Democrática" used to do. Katy (also here) and Quico talked about this important issue a couple of weeks ago.

I have the feeling the political parties haven't got the message yet. Acción Democrática lost their stand not because of its social democratic ideology, but because of its cogollo (*). People got tired of the clientilism, and decided to launch themselves desperately to the abyss voting for a loser Lt. Col. who had intended a coup and failed, but promised to eliminate corruption and the "cogollocracia". Well, we know by now that all of that was a lie. That the corruption an the cogollocracia has only evolved to an alarming level of amorality never seen before. That now it's not corruption between Adecos and Copeyanos, but between Chavistas (who belonged once to AD and Copei)...
Wouldn't be nice for the neighborhods and barriadas to choose their leaders and see those leaders grow and take more important positions in the political life of the country if their keep being elected? Isn't it what democracy and participatory democracy is all about?

Maybe this is the time for a new party to come to the surface and implement primaries, so they will elevate the standards for the other to do it so too. Maybe this party will come from the student movement. Dreams don't cost a thing.




(*) cogollo: It's the small appendage found in the upper part of the piña. In Venezuelan politics, the cogollo means the top. The top people.

Note: Please take note of the pictures of the primaries in the USA, people voting on private homes, laundry mats, diners and even abroad. In Venezuela, the drill of an electoral process is super different. Very intimidating. Military with guns everywhere. Wouldn't be nice to make elections as normal and festive as they do it in the USA?

Venezuela's PdVSA Buys Colombian Gas Despite Diplomatic Clash

This is type of news that really make my blood boils.

Can anybody explain me and Kate, who sent this news to me why Venezuela, a country loaded with natural gas, is buying natural gas from Colombia? Hello Hugo, you have any explanation for this? I certainly would like to know.

Oh! I know, the clown of Miraflores and his helpers spend their days talking about how much they people of Venezuela needs a revolution, to independence from the colonialist evil empire, to crush those bastards, to defend ourselves from the paws of capitalism, but yet, they don't spend enough time doing some strategic thinking.

So what they do? They help Colombia's economy instead of invest in ours. They don't have money left to invest, they have taking them all, and more. I wonder if they also took the office stapler too. The thuggery is bigger than their revolutionary ideas. This is only another news that proves how much full of BS and how much of street thugs Hugo and Chavismo are. Honestly, I don't understand them. You know, you can be a thug and also invest in things that will make you richer and stronger. Brilliant work on idiocracy Hugo, just brilliant!

Is Omar the flying squirrel now?

Not gonna tell you. I already know what happened to the homo thug we all have learn to love since I am watching the advance episodes on monday on HBO on demand.

For the ones who have no idea what I am talking about, I need to recommend you one of the best show on the TV, The Wire. This show was created by a writer and crime reporter (David Simon) and a police (Ed Burns - also here) from the city of Baltimore and it is based on real events. What I mostly like about this show is that every season there put a new focus on the story. For example, season one was about the problems of drugs, the second season was about the corruption inside The Port of Baltimore, the third season was about the politics of the city, the fourth about the education system, and this last one, about the media. They all interact very intimate with one another, but they all have their different flavor. This is definitely classic TV.

And the character development is really delectable to watch.

Yes, there was a real "Bubbles". And actress Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, was really a street kid who decided to go back to school and not to get lost in the streets, good for her! My fav characters? Hard to tell, Omar, Bunk, Freamon, McNulty, Kima, Sen. Clay Davis, they all are so great, definetely the criminals are so well played and they are the ones who really carry the show, Marlo, Prop Joe, Avon, Stringer Bell, "Snoop", Bodie... oh gosh, and how about Brother Mouzone? That character was so good too.

And, if you watch the show, you probably will know what's Sen. Clay Davis catchy phrase:

"No more FARC" all over the world...

Photo via Plinio.

Yesterday, protests made by our Colombian neighbors to stop the FARC had been held all over the world.

In Caracas, there was a big support to it. Daniel and Plinio reported from Caracas. Ovario posted her picts (also from Caracas). Kate reported from Washington. Fausta have a comprehensive post about it as well. And, forums like Noticiero Digital, Megaresistencia and Noticias 24 also have news about it.

More on the Chavez-FARC drug connection.

Not to miss. Fausta is picking up on the John Carlin article that was posted on the Guardian today about Hugo Chavez government's role in the international drug trafficking business. Quico and Daniel are also commenting about it.

A different version by the same author was posted in "EL PAIS" from Spain a week ago (I made a humble English translation of it last week).

Related news: This short video made by journalist Matthew Bristow about the cocaine trail. Mr. Bristow also writes on his own blog about Colombia. Interesting site.

Africa: The last frontier for light sweet crude

Lee, always on top on the most stimulating topics, interviewed journalist and historian John Ghazvinian about his book Untapped: The scramble for Africa's oil. They talked extensively on China aggressive investing on Africa's oil.

Interesting read. However, I am not sure I agreed with the author's view on China. He thinks Chinese won't mess up with African politics, but only are to do business. I don't think this is totally true. I think their main interest if economic, but eventually they will end doing whatever they want in there, if they are let to.

Why wouldn't they? Who is gonna stop them?

Venezuela's Bolivar Fuerte breakes when thrown to the floor...

There's something tragic-comedic and profoundly sad about this news that noticias24's economic website posted on its site. Venezuela's government corruption has no limit and now they will destroy our currency. It happens that the so-called new Venezuelan currency, the Bolivar Fuerte (fuerte means strong in Spanish), physically can break easily. Apparently, the coins can brake if you throw them to the floor. Fuerte, pero no tan fuerte. Bad omen for Chavismo and Venezuela's economy.

You know, when I read this news, at first I though that people were becoming so uncivilized that they were doing something harsh to break the coins. Some sort of CIA-led opposition coup, but no, the coins apparently are not that greatly made. The government, of course, is saying that this coins are made in Europe and that therefore, they meet the international standards. Uff, what is with the "they are made in Europe", like if they are made in Venezuela this is more expected? You know what I mean? Is this the way the Venezuelan government want to promote us? And then they get mad when foreigners treat them like monitos from the Zoo.

Even Infobae, the Argentinian media who mentioned this news make fun of this:

"Así, la entidad financiera envió un irrisorio comunicado en el que explica que las piezas están echas por empresas europeas, y que si se emplean adecuadamente, cumplirán perfectamente su función."

So, they meet the international standards, uh? I don't know what to think. Either they are lying and these coins don't meet the international standards. Or, Venezuelans have become so uncivilized and barbarians that they actually break the coins. What's your pick? My opinion, and I can bet my head for it, those coins came chimbas because someway along the production line, somebody in the government saw the opportunity to make money, and something that needed to be done, wasn't done, or was poorly done, subcontracted, and that government official took a suitcase full of money for it.

The reality is that the Chavista mafia don't care about our nationality.

Hasta cuandoooooooo!!!!!!!