Wednesday, November 09, 2005

The verbosity hit the Fox: Chavez creates crisis with Mexico Tonight as described blow by blow by Daniel, who happened to be blogging live Chavez' "cadena" (Nationwide obligatory TV and radio transmission) , Hugo Chavez had less than kind words for Mexican President Vicente Fox, telling him among other things: --"It saddens me to see you give yourself up like that to the US" --"The Mexican President left bleeding thrugh his wounds" --"How can the President of such brave people become a puppy of the empire" Curious how Chavez' words were posted immediately in the MINCI site, suggesting this was not as improvised as it may seem at first sight. You could say that Chavez' verbal diarrea hit the Fox, as the Mexican Foreign Minister took only minutes to call the Venezuelan Ambassador tot "explain"o his Government the statements by President Chavez against President Fox. This will likely create a crisis between the two countries, which will not be as easy for Chavez to get out of as others in the past. Only last week he had a bitter exchange with Peruvian President Toledo who told Chavez not tyo try to teach him about economics, because he was an economist himslef and not to try to teach him about poverty, because he grew up poor too. As usual, our President knows how to destroy for the sake of destroying, in this case relations with the most important Latin American economy and one of the most important Venezuelan tarding partners. Note added: To add insult to injury the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry today justified Chavez's insults against President Fox, saying that Fox was very agressive against Chavez in Mar del Plata. Of course, Fox never mentioned Chavez directly when he criticized the anti-Free Trade treaty Group, but Chavez simply insulted Fox directly. This looks like the first chapter in what could be a long and unnecessary fight! 11:42:21 PM    comment []

More on the strange case of the structured notes which prove corruption is at the higehts levels ever A few days ago I wrote about the strange case of the structured notes which remarkably has received little attention from the local press, but today Tal Cual Editor Teodoro Petkoff tells the same story I did, which I will not repeat. He estimates the profit in the “transaction” at only some US$ 120 million. It is worth translating the last part of this article with his conclusion about this strange transaction, which to me simply proves the depth of corruption, putrefaction and dishonesty at the highest levels of this “revolutionary” Government and at the highest levels in this country's history. What is the excuse this time? That Chavez does not know about it? If he did, he should be impeached for corruption, if he didn’t, he is too incompetent to be President. But we know that! Here are Petkoff's conclusions : Thus, without an auction, without the needed advertising, in a fingercratic transaction, the Minister of Finance, The National Treasury (the Head of which, coincidentally is the wife of the Minister of Defense) and the Director of Public Credit held the sale of bonds for US$662 million, leaving in the air a number of questions about which neither Clodosbaldo (the Comptroller) nor Isaias (the Prosecutor General so keen on political cases involving his enemies) have done anything about it: How were the buyers selected? Who were they? Why some and not others? What was the method used to establish the price? Who pocketed the difference? In any case, within the regime of Exchange controls, some financial institutions received securities for US$ 662 million, that happily left the country singing along, for them, there was no prohibition to leave the country. 7:44:06 PM    comment []