Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Gone to the beach for Carnival, will post if needed Thi weekend is a long weekend in Venezuela with Monday and Tuesdays being holidays. Thus, I will go away and enjoy seven days of the beach, resting and catching up with my reading. I have no clue about the Internet capabilities where I am going, but I will leave the blog in capable ghost blogger hands and if possible and nedded, I will make a post or two while I am away. Have a great one wherever you are and watch out for Tuesday of Carnival, the politician's favorite day for devaluations in Venezuelan history. 10:53:15 PM    comment []

The Autocrat/Dictator threatens others, blaming them for his own policy failures Like a true Autocrat/Dictator, President Hugo Chavez threatened to nationalize corner stores, supermarkets and butcher shops if they do not comply with regulations or supplying products even if at a loss. Of course, we no longer see the little blue book being waved in his hand as that book, curiously called the Constitution, which guarantees economic freedom. Of course, it is all the fault of Chavez' policies which will eventually lead to more shortages and not fewer. Thus, the economic lessons of IVth. Century A.D. (Year 301) have not been learned by XXIst Century Socialism. In fact, Diocletian prices controls did not threaten with expropriation, but with the death penalty. And they failed anyway, so imagine what may happen with a third rate Autocrat/Dictator who when confronted seems to be afraid of his own shadow. All that this shows is the lack of respect Chavze ahs for his own people. How he does not want to yield in teh face of his own mistakes, always blaming others for his misguided policies and refusing to face the reality of the failure of his policies, set by his Minister of Planning Jorge Giordani, a mediocre planner with little economic experience. With threats like this, all Chavez faces is more shortages. If he keeps importing at subsidized prices, with no custom duties and in a not-for profit organization like Mercal, local producers will not only refuse to even attempt to compete, ut will withdraw from production in the face of his threats. And that in the end, will lead to even more shortages, the worst form of inflation a country can face. 10:46:53 PM    comment []

With Carreño in charge of "intelligence", now I am really worried about Al Qaeda In the face of threats that Al-Qaeda could attack Venezuelan oil facilities in an effort to disrupt supplies to the West, Venezuelan Minister Pedro Carreño said that "The Venezuelan State has its intelligence organizations ready to move forward investigations to guarantee the supply of strategic supplies" Sort of scary to have him run Venezuela's intelligence services. Carreño is the same man that told us the CIA was spying Venezuelans in their own homes via the Direct TV set top boxes and held a press conference to tell Venezuelans that his "intelligence sources" in Peru, assured him that Fujimori's intelligence head Vladimiro Montesinos could not be In Venezuela because he was killed at a military base in Peru. Montesinos was captured in Venezuela not too long after that… Now I am really worried... 8:24:57 PM    comment []

Mostly humorous things today. This is becoming a very funny country indeed! Exhausting day, but all sorts of humorous things in the news: Deputy Amoroso: "The country is in its best economic and financial moment" Enjoy it, while it lasts! Minister Lara: "Chavez will hold Alo Presidente five times a week. An hour and a half each night" Yeah sure, Chavez will stop after 90 minutes! That will be hard to enjoy day after day. But who will run the country anyway? Minister Iglesias" The prices of meat, chicken, eggs and milk have been lowered and this time we will enforce it" Where have I heard that joke before? Do they want to have even more shortages? She also said this Government had revived industry, an even better joke. She did not specify, which, where and how. We laughed anyway. Tal Cual censored and fined: And the only thing that I did not find funny started with a humor piece by Laureano Marquez in which a judge sucking up to the autocrat found the writer and newspaper guilty (twice!) of violating the privacy of Chavez daughter and fined them. Justice moves fast against the Government enemies and the article is still banned (read censored) from the Internet. This certainly does not intimidate Petkoff, but is part of the campaign to intimidate and quiet down the media. According to the law, Chavez committed the same crime first and does it every time he brings kids on TV for political purposes. 1:21:21 AM    comment []