Monday, December 22, 2003

The daily reality of a Mayor   Interesting interview in today’s El Nacional with the Mayor of Naguanagua. Naguanagua is in Carabobo state, a municipality of mostly poor people. The Mayor, Julio Castillo, is part of the Proyecto Venezuela party, which us led by former Presidential candidate Henrique Salas Romer. Castillo is reportedly very popular.   On his perception about how the people of Naguanagua see the present   I perceive a worrisome lack of hope when confronting their misery. The Chávez theme is not in the daily life of the very poor; their theme is how they are going to eat that day. Politics is discussed, but Venezuelan politicians have not understood that in popular areas, political opinions are not formed by the media.   What do people ask for?   The conscience of the people is diminishing due to the grave crisis. Each day, individual problems become more important than collective problems. …You find homes where people have not eaten in two or three days. What stresses me the most is the large number of problems I can not solve. One ends up just aiding people, giving bags of food.   What is your biggest concern?   The gap between needs and resources. It has truly been a nightmare to spend two years without a single bolivar from the Special Assignments law. It had never happened that a Government embezzled, because that is what is happening, the funds for the regions…..They owe us money…that is my biggest concern someone has our money and people do not get it because someone made the decision to strangle the regions.   On working together   We have worked with the National Guard and the local police and we have worked well. That is one of the great aspirations of the people, what is called unity. That the President, the Governor and the mayor work together to solve problems.   This is reality, the rest is BS. 10:53:18 PM    comment []

A visit by the Dictator himself   After publicly inviting him last week, yesterday Hugo Chavez announced with joy that his friend Fidel Castro would be coming to visit Caracas today and would have lunch in the Presidential palace. Despite that announcement,  there were no reports of the Cuban Dictator showing up in Caracas today and reports indicated he was at The Orchila Island since Sunday, where Chávez met with him today. Curiously, La Orchila was developed by former Venezuelan Dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez for his personal enjoyment and that of his friends. The only indication today that Castro was in Venezuela was a letter published in Cuba, reportedly from Caracas, in which he greets Cuban teachers who are in Venezuela. Obviously, Mr. Castro did or could not make any statements like that of the Russian Foreign Minister, who was also visiting the country today and expressed his desire for Venezuelans to solve their problems through the Constitution and democracy. The “Solidaridad” group, composed of politicians who supported Chavez' bid for the Presidency and accompanied him until a little over a year ago, were highly critical of the deployment of resources so that Castro and Chavez could have lunch. One of its members criticized the expenses at a time when Venezuelans are going hungry and can not buy presents for their kids.   I personally find the visit by Fidel Castro at this time to be another proof of how insensitive Hugo Chávez is. At a time when what is being questioned is whether this is a democratic Government or not, inviting the leader of the Latin American Dictators to have “a little lunch” is simply insensitive, if not grotesque or obscene. To spend all of this money on this visit is also another demonstration that Chavez loves the opulence that surrounds his power. Maybe somebody pointed all of this out to Chavez after his impulse invitation of the Cuban President and that is why it was “dissapeared” from the media. If anyone wants to defend Castro’s visit to Venezuela, here you can find thousands of reasons, why I am not even willing to listen to them.  Yes, these are all real people, killed by Chavez’ good friend Fidel Castro. Try to explain that one to any civilized human being. 9:35:17 PM    comment []