The evil that circles us

Today Leopoldo Lopez had an OpEd piece published in the Washington Post. The piece may seem short on specifics for us here in Venezuela but we are not the audience. The audience is the US political class in its time of trial during primary season, to let them know that on inauguration day the worst problem in the Western Hemisphere awaiting them will be the humanitarian crisis that is starting in Venezuela this past few weeks. The silence of the US has helped a lot Venezuela become a failed state as Lopez letter implies.

Whether Bernie Sanders will burnish his break from ideologies credentials by condemning the Venezuelan regime or Trump will develop an interest about Venezuela besides the beauty pageants remains to be seen. I'd rather use that editorial to muse on the evil that surrounds the people of Venezuela.

Let's start with Leopoldo Lopez in jail now for two years and condemned for a trial that we now know was based on forged evidence. He is not the lone political prisoner though now he is the best known, a cause in himself. The new National Assembly is trying to pass an amnesty law that is targeted at freeing these people and you should hear the vituperation from the regime's as to that law, announcing without a shade of self doubt, no beam in their eyes,  that it would promote crime in Venezuela.

But we could pass on that, perhaps, on politically motivated vindictive. The problem is that evil sneaks everywhere in the regime. I suppose it all started with the Tascon list of 2003 that split Venezuela in two type of citizens, those against Chavez having from now on a second class status. That list built by killing the vote secrecy is still in use today.

We can remember the multiple violent expropriations, the worse ones in the country side where often people were not even allowed to take their personal belongings. By then the totalitarian nature of the regime's soul could not be hidden anymore.

Then crime went up and up, and jail roles went down and down until the regime allied itself with the jail gangs who operate from the "safety" of the jail for all sorts of racket.

Should I even bother mentioning Venezuela becoming a narco-military regime or is that just a form of business?

But the worst evil was saved for the end, when all of us, chavista voters or staunch opposition alike must suffer lack of food and lack of medicine and the concurrent crime wave.  While the fat high ranking of the regime in all selfishness prove everyday their ignorance of the situation, it is made worse by their denial, and even worse, that they do not care about it. The question is simple and should be asked by anyone; if the regime actually cared about the plight of Venezuelans, would we be in the dire straits we are today? If you have an ounce of integrity you know what the answer is.

Today president Maduro launched in great fanfare a new plan of urban agriculture that is supposed to provide within 100 days 20% of the food intake of the 8 major cities of Venezuela. That this plan is launched at a time of major water shortages in Venezuela cities has not been detected by Maduro and his entourage, Or at least they did not care about it. Failure is certain, the more so in a country that does not like much veggies, and less to work for them. Pretending, in the XXI century, to present an agricultural construct that is a mere throwback to a primitive XIX century in Venezuela when actually privileged people who could lived off their backyard garden is an insult to our intelligence. Now becoming a failed state is an achievement.

To add insult to injury, that new wonder does give birth to a new bureaucracy: National System for Urban and Semi-urban Agriculture that will include a Venezuelan Corporation for Urban and Semi-urban Agriculture. Which gives a new meaning about selling the Tiger hide before killing it....

The ultimate stage of evil is when the torturer starts making fun of its victim. We have reached that stage.

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Electricity shortage horrors

Before mentioning that I was victim last Friday I am going to mention briefly the last electricity horror shortage.  A few years ago, on account of El Niño, Chavez started an ambitious, no expense spared, plan to generate enough thermal electric energy to save us from the vagaries of the Caroni river from which, if well managed, we could get more than three quarters of our electricity. He went on one of his many idiocies implying that too many dams would dry down the "poor" river as an excuse for all the immense delays on the magnificent planning left by previous governments.

The only result of all of this was a stupendous corruption that created the fortunes of people like Derwick and associates and left us today, believe it or not, with an even worse crisis than 5 years ago, and this starting with LESS industrial product than we had then. Read anything from Alek Boyd to convince yourself.

Last Friday it was quimo for my S.O. and the treatment place is in a specialty clinic that occupies a whole story of a building associated with a commercial center. The regime has decided that malls and the like would have mandatory rationing of electricity and would have to close down AC, elevators, escalators and even water pumps for a few hours a day, including during lunch breaks. Just like that.

Unfortunately for us the clinic is attached to a mall and is treated as such, regardless.

We should have realized it would be different when our customary time slot was advanced to 11 AM. When we arrived we were told that any food should be purchased by 12:30 as the elevators would be shut down until 3 PM. Any physiological necessity should also be taken care off by that time because within minutes the pipes would empty and there would be no more running water until sometime after 3 PM. In a medical facility.

Even though we were late due to frantic traffic, which I guess in retrospective was probably due to people trying to get things done before noon, we managed to get the S.O. hooked up before 11:30 and all the sundries and my sushi set in place by noon so I could eat it watching the drip... Note; I always get sushi because I think that for the other patients it is the least offensive food, visually and olfactory. After all, some of us need to last for several hours.

They had to open the windows but the day not being warm we could manage. Otherwise everything else went normally except for the lack of water. We were done a little bit past 2. They had an elevator called. At least one elevator is available on demand, manually operated for the clinic only. Everybody else on foot. Important as, even if valid, most patients are always somewhat shaken after quimio, which was our case. We reached ground floor but surprise, there is no elevator to go underground to the car. And there was no way the SO could walk down in the dark all that distance... After some discussion I finally left him at one fo the exits, going down only one of the escalators (more difficult than stairs I have you know for a sick person).

The parking was closed. All in the dark except for some of the emergency lights. You discover that the lack of replacement batteries have made parking lots a major hazard in Venezuela in case of fire: there is simply no way to find the exit!!!!!!! At least they disposed several attendants with flashlights but in case of fire?  Of course I was in the last basement. An attendant offered to accompany me but there was enough twilight and I am used to that parking enough that I declined. Unfortunately the last ground had no light. None except for a very distant corner tiny energy light dimming fast. It was not even enough to see my hand! What to do?

With one foot I slowly found what I knew to be the last step. Then, on flat ground, since I knew my car was not too far I hoped for the alarm signal to reach the car. It did and lit up inside the car. I could go slowly to my car but the light was not enough to show any obstacle (and I nearly was done in by one).  Once inside I could drive with my head lights in full and make my way to the toll booth. But the problem came next: the exit I planned to take to pick up my S.O. was closed until 3! And down there was no cell phone signal. And I was not going to have him walk all across the mall to pick him up. Followed a heated argument with an attendant.

Eventually he let me pass though the blocked way letting me know that the electric gate above may not work until 3. But that was not the worst. He explained that the whole ordeal was not a lack of planning from them, that they had no say in what to close down. It was the government itself that came on the first day and started to bring down the breakers themselves!

That is, they did not come and say "listen guys, you are consuming 100 a day. You have to bring that down to 50 a day. You have a week to manage that. Your problem".

They just came the fascist way, turned down whatever they wanted to turn down and that was that. I think that it is in small examples like that, examples that speak by themselves, that you find the real reasons why these people must be expelled from office.

I wonder how one elevator managed to escape altogether. Maybe attendants hid that particular breaker? Maybe one official has a relative on quimo there?

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Where to start?

The economic emergency decree?

As readers already know this decree is a fraud and cannot be accepted as presented. The Assembly knows it is a vulgar trap to try to put the blame of the crisis on the opposition (which will not work chavismo is misreading the whole thing badly). So the opposition will examine the decree, and will reject it based on some of its glaring lacks suggesting politely that the regime reviews it.

Then we will see what happens. The only good thing that may come from this confrontation is that it may be a fake one used while the real negotiations take place behind closed door.

Presidential commission to solve the crisis?

Yesterday Maduro summoned hundreds of people to an act at the Teresa Carreño, once upon a time the show room of Chavez. Now Maduro need to summon people to fill it up. This being said the top of the private sector still alive was requested to attend, and came. As if they had another option. And out of the proceeding Maduro named a few commissions where an occasional objective person was sit. These commissions are supposed to draft the measures around 9 motors of the economy to get us out of the crisis,.

Nobody explained where the dollars would come from.

I am not holding my breath.

Is Merentes an oriental sheikh?

The scandal defraying tabloids is that Merentes beach home has been robbed. He was alleviated for 300.000 USD, about 50.000 euros and a few expensive watches. Nothing more. The robbers need not break in, they had the keys and wore masks as they had been told about surveillance cameras,  The first question is of course: what the fuck is the president of the Central Bank of Venezuela doing with 300.000 USD in his beach appartement?  Does he not know of a safe bank where to deposit that?

But it gets better: Merentes is not pressing charges, Records are diligently erased and what we know comes from press investigations who get the police sorces to speak, Apparently Merentes is a patron of his hometown of Naiguata. Many surgeries, home fixing, pot holing come through his intercession. The medical part is more interesting as it seems that several of surgeries were not of a nature to save a life threatening condition.  Young girls under age got significant "enhancements" and became mistresses of Merentes for a short while. I suppose until the next one was fully healed.  It is possible that the silence, perhaps even accomplice, of the parents was bought.

And Merentes would have been robbed several times but this time it was a little bit too much and he could not hide it as well. One of the girl, probably a favorite lasting more than the usual even got a set of the keys for convenience so she could get ready for action as soon as Merentes arrived from Caracas.

The question here is which is the worst criminal offense: pedophilia or smuggling illegal amounts of foreign currency that he helped himself out from the Central Bank reserves. In Venezuela morality and ethics are distorted.

Torture of women?

IF all of this was not bad enough get ready for the worst. In her latest visit to Leopoldo Lopez in jail his wife, Lilian Tintori, and Lopez's mother were sent to a different room where they were forced to get naked in front of their kids. Lilian was on the rag and she had to take it off and show to a guard. The director of the center a little while later published an evangelical psalm. He is a christian, you know.

It is to be noted that such a physical abuse made with an excruciatingly lengthy care by female guards (it is my own personal experience that female military are in general way worse than the male ones) is designed to also create psychological damage and it is hence a form of torture.

And that is exactly what happened, OAS secretary Almagro condemned what was done to Lilian Tintori. Though if you read a pro chavismo canard like Panorma, they do cite the tweet of Almagro but in the title you read "reproach", not condemn. Note: Almagro is not the lone international voice criticizing. Only the regime seems to ignore the gravitas that Lilian Tintori has gained.

Conclusion?

The regime is going to keep its show and dance until the end, and at any chance it will play dirty. There are already fake videos presented by Cabello trying to exculpate the commandeer of Ramo Verde where Lopez is jailed.

There are certain red lines that the regime simply cannot accept to yield on: an amnesty law; punishing an abusive military; impunity for high officials is a must; the economic crisis is going to be solved by us and no one else, even if we created it which everyone of course knows they cannot solve anything anymore; the USD are ours to do as we please.

Now, tell me, where do we start dialogue there?
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The tweet from another president supporter to Tintori: Laura Chinchilla

Sólo los COBARDES, son valientes contra los indefensos. Estamos con @liliantintori#Venezuela #ultraje #repudio pic.twitter.com/6yvI4h3mMh

— Laura Chinchilla M (@Laura_Ch) January 19, 2016

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La mendacidad de Elias Jaua

Es con usted, diputado Jaua

Leo su respuesta a lo que usted llama "infame el editorial de El Nacional".

Yo no voy a entrar en el debate de si la diputada Tamara Adrian oyó lo que ella oyó. Ella sabrá defenderse; y muy bien lo hará porque ella no tuvo nunca los apoyos que usted tuvo y que le permitieron tirar piedras toda su vida quedando impune.

Tampoco voy a especular si la diputada Adriana D'Elia es una lesbiana. Eso es irrelevante, y ni me importa como a usted no debería importarle lo que la gente hace con su vida privada mientras no afecte a otros. Le recuerdo que su vida privada si afecta a otros cuando, por ejemplo, usted hace que la República cubra los costos de viaje de su niñera bien armada.

Le escribo porque leo en su respuesta a El Nacional estas cosas:

"los dueños de El Nacional otra vez desatan su odio sistemático contra mi persona"
"desarrollan sus prejuicios raciales y de clase en mi contra"
"No he proferido insulto, y mucho menos de carácter homofóbico,contra la diputada Adriana D'Elia a quien respeto como ser humano"
"Nunca he hecho uso de la palabra 'mariposones' acuñada [...]por el diputado Henry Ramos Allup para referirse a los dirigentes del partido Primero Justicia. ¿Quien es el homofóbico?"
"mi reconocimiento, basado en el principio constitucional de la igualdad ciudadana, a sus derechos pero sobre todo en el valor humano y cristiano [...] que profeso"

El problema es que para decir tales cosas uno necesita tener credibilidad y usted no la tiene.

Lei bien el editorial de El Nacional al cual usted se refiere y no veo donde ellos hacen mención de su raza o de su clase. A menos que eso esté implicado, en su criterio, por las palabras "hombre nuevo" y "encapuchamiento".  Si es así le ruego me explique porque yo lo desconozco. En cuanto al odio sistemático no estaría de más que usted lo sustente porque a mi me parece que bastante gente ha criticado sus acciones, sistemáticamente. En eso El Nacional no tendría ningún privilegio. Como figura pública le recomiendo que en esta nueva era se vaya acostumbrando de una buena vez a la crítica sin tomarla personalmente.

Cuando usted escribe que respeta a la diputada D'Elia "como ser humano" usted me va a disculpar pero eso disminuye su credibilidad. Respetar como ser humano es lo menos que se le exige a quien sea, y más que eso a un diputado de la República. Es su deber respetar a la gente como personas, no solamente como seres humanos. Es su deber dar el respeto que usted exige para si mismo.

Acusar a Ramos Allup de homofóbico no resuelve su problema. Que él lo sea no le puede servir en ningún caso de excusa. Entiendo que la mentalidad del chavismo es echarle la culpa a quien sea de sus errores, sea la cuarta república, sea el imperio y se quien sabe que otra bobada como la fulana guerra económica. Pero los errores al final son suyos y usted tiene que asumirlos. El asunto aquí es que su credibilidad esta anulada de antemano por pertenecer a una corriente política de tendencia homofóbica muy bien documentada. ¿Se recordará usted del infame "patiquines maricones de Primero Justica" lanzado por Juan Barreto en el 2004? ¿O las constantes alusiones gay en contra de Henrique Capriles durante las campañas de 2012 y 2013? Sin hablar de la campaña de Cabello contra Mendoza en Miranda donde con sorna el argumentaba Cabello que por fin Miranda tendría primera dama. Sin referirme al historial de la prensa, solamente en mi blog la etiqueta "homofóbia" le conducirá a una serie de artículos donde explico mi posición sobre la homofóbia chavista, empezando en julio del 2004.

Pero personalmente lo que a mi más me molestó en su respuesta a el Nacional fue la ultima parte porque a mi, personalmente, me consta que eso es mentira, que usted no cree en la igualdad ciudadana. Reconozco que siendo yo "sexo diverso", parece que la palabra gay no le gusta a su gente ya que prefieren lo genérico en aras de castigar mas fácilmente lo específico, no he luchado como hubiese debido hacerlo. Pero mi lucha tuvo que ser primero para los valores de todos, desde la libertad de prensa e información hasta la libertad de disfrutar del esfuerzo de mi trabajo. ¿De que me sirven derechos gay si los derechos humanos básicos de la constitución del 99 ni se cumplen y menos se respetan?

Lo que a mi me ha dolido en lo personal leyendo su respuesta es que cuando usted era canciller de la república bolivariana se emitió un comunicado a las embajadas de los países que reconocían las uniones y matrimonios igualitarios prohibiendo tramitar dichas uniones. Aunque sean entre ciudadanos de estos países. Ni siquiera explicando a los venezolanos casándose con un ciudadano de estos países que ese matrimonio/unión no tenia validez alguna en Venezuela. Tengo doble nacionalidad pero no he podido hacer beneficiar a mi pareja de dos décadas de ventajas que podría ofrecerle a través de mi otro pais porque Venezuela no solamente lo prohibe pero no ofrece esas ventajas. Ustedes ni lavan ni prestan la batea.

Por lo tanto, para mi, su concepto de igualdad ciudadana no existe. A menos que sea que todos hagamos cola para poder comer, aunque de seguro tampoco eso se aplica a usted y su familia.

Le sugiero diputado Jaua que usted empiece por disculparse y a actuar como diputado para promover lo que usted nunca quiso hacer cuando podía hacerlo como ministro. Es justicia. ¿O será que se escudará con el "cristiano [...] que profeso"" para también justificar su homofóbia e intolerancia?

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Nota: observo que El Nacional publicó su respuesta, su derecho a replica, privilegio que nadie ofendido por VTV o cualquier medio del gobierno. Medios pagados con los impuestos de todos, le recuerdo.

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A thank you note to President Barak Obama and Senator Marco Rubio

I suppose that it will seem weird to read that I am thanking at the same time both sides of US political divide. Or that, for that matter, I am picking Senator Rubio over, say, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. But please, bear with me, those will be, at the end, mere details.

What you have achieved in Venezuela, the Senator and his allies by forcing passage of a sanction law against Human Rights violators in Venezuela, and the President by finally applying it to 7 serious cases (and more to come?), is quite remarkable even if right now the casual observer may think it to be a diplomatic disaster for the US. Like many an historical good and well intentioned initiative from the US this one came out in a rather clunky presentation and on the surface seems to have united Latin America around its atavic anti US posture. Some even say that Maduro is reinforced, that the opposition received a patriotic blow that could endanger the electoral results of this year. All this is irrelevant.


First, no matter what the US did in recent weeks, its influence on Venezuelan elections is near nil. These will be rigged, if held at all. That the US may be offering an excuse to Maduro's regime to cancel the election is just that, an excuse for Maduro who probably had 10 other excuses in the waiting. One cannot bend to the foul winds of excuses.

Second, that this has united Latin America around Venezuela and against the US is a non sequitur. Just as in the US the far right used anti USSR rhetoric, and then anti gay rhetoric for fund raising, so keeps doing all of Latin America when convenient with anti US positions. Even your supposed ally, Colombia with president Santos, has certainly not rushed forward to offer himself as a mediator in your dispute with Venezuela. Resentment and envy will magnify for the foreseeable future any historical grievance, justified or not, against the US. It is a fact of life, no matter what the US does, it will be ALWAYS too much or too little, NEVER just right.

The fact of the matter here is that as long as Latin America does not decide to deal with the chavista monster inside that hey have been enabling there is nothing the US can do to help. And if right now they are jumping at you it is because they do not like to have their faces rubbed into their stinky mess. They all know that in the end the US will be proven right, and thus they do all what they can to push you aside. And they will continue and will do so until the whole thing explodes in their face. This week, for example, they elected Almagro for OAS secretary, who promises to work even harder than outgoing Insulza did at degrading the OAS to below nothingness. But trust me, the US will have the last laugh. Then again I am silly, you probably know that already.

But back to Venezuela and the successes that you have already achieved and that nobody seems to be noticing except a few trained Cassandras like me.

On the regime side you have exposed its crassness to levels that even myself find surprising. Forcing school students, even elementary school students, to sign a petition against President Obama executive order to remove US visas to a few crooks, abusers and narco traffickers, is a good candidate for the annals of "ridicule in fascism". Many of these kids belong to a hugely dysfunctional education system and thus may not know anything about the US but McDonald and TV cartoons.  A limited knowledge in the best of cases to take such a transcendental political stand. There have been more pressures from the regime to force people to support its cause, but after the one about school kids signing there is no point in discussing these other psychological crimes.

I, for one, suspect that many a parent that was sitting on the fence will secretly be upset at the manipulation of their kid and may now come down from that fence sooner than later.

But on the opposite side you scored big, really big. There has been a clear divide exposed inside the opposition reactions. On one side there has been a minority of principled leaders that have not been afraid to state that the US action is justified, that the 7 (and more to come?) that were banned from any type of intercourse with the US are indeed a danger. A danger because indeed they are human right violators (promoting immigration to the US?). A danger because their money laundering operations can only bring to the US Venezuelan corruption. A danger because Venezuela has become a narco traffic highway.

What is sad, really sad, is that a larger sector of the opposition has chosen to either remain silent or play the regime's game of pretending that this visa removal is actually a direct intervention into our internal affairs. I even heard the argument that if you do ban a criminal from going to the US then you can ban anyone that looks crossly at you. Not one of them, of course, demands investigations inside Venezuela of those 7 to prove the US decision wrong... they do not even question that one of them was immediately named interior minister! Cheap patriotism at its worst.

I think that exposing this divide is an excellent thing. If by any chance elections are indeed held; if by any chance, no matter how biased toward the regime the election is, the opposition were to win; even if by any chance UNASUR would find some guts to demand to Maduro that at least his electoral cheating is not that obvious, the winning side will implode fast. Nothing less than the secretary of a large opposition group has his relatives involved in all sorts of business deals with the regime. Nothing less than an opposition governor is positioning himself as the regime's choice to lead the opposition. For too many inside the opposition the goal is to seek an elected job so that they can share some of the loot with the regime. Making the necessary painful changes? No way, Jose!

In short what I am stating is that the Presidential order to ban 7 crooks from the US has revealed that the regime is in a move that may include methods that would make the Prince of Salina proud (Il Gattopardo). Change something, give the opposition some stuff, so that the core of power (and freedom from judicial prosecution) remains in the hands of the regime. Whether this move is real is irrelevant: we know now that there are enough inside the opposition willing to play a game that will prolong Venezuela's agony.

That is why I hope that you will keep a steady hand, that you will not cave into the ridiculous hand wringing of some morally corrupt leaders of the sub continent (a sub well deserved these days). After all you do hold the master card, the one that has the cash that Cuba needs to survive though a transition that has started, even if due to old age. Play that card well and without firing a shot, without decreeing the faintest embargo, the house of cards of chavismo (and its collaborationist opposition) will crumble faster than expected.

My deep appreciation to President Obama, Senator Rubio, Congresswoman Ros-Lethinen and others that have shown they know better (on Venezuela), even if they do not express it in unison. No matter what mistakes some say you are making, you are on the right track.

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