Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Another shameful day in Venezuela's democracy It was typical of the discrimination and repression that has characterized this Government during the last eight years as student marched to the National Assembly today to present their comments on the proposed Constitutional reform and ask that the process be delayed so that the reform can be discussed and modified to satisfy the largest possible percentage of Venezuelans. But you can not even find democracy in the country's Parliament. Despite the rain (top left) and their buses being detained outside Caracas by the National Guard, students marched massively. They had the required permits to march all the way to the Esquina de Sociedad near the National Assembly, but pro-Chavez groups (not students) who had no permits were allowed to gather all morning near the Capitol building as the police set up a barricade to block the students from even reaching the end of their authorized march. (Top right). The cops were very ready to repress (Middle left) and for a while there was a stand off, but the students had sworn that they would not allow their rights to be violated and if blocked they would push thru (Middle right), which they managed to do because of the sheer size of the crowd (Bottom left) and as they went thru, both cops and Chavistas ran back (Bottom Right). Later, to insure the safety of the students, the National Guard had to transport the delegation with their documents to the Capitol building  in an armored car. Thus, only the safety and the voices of pro-Chavez supporters can be guaranteed in this fake revolution and empty democracy. To make matters even worse, the pro-Chavez groups blocking the way included a couple of Deputies of the National Assembly, demonstrating that democracy is not alive and well in Venezuela. As the representatives of the students went into the Capitol building, only the pro-Chavez media was allowed in and even more remarkably a group of pro-Chavez "students" who had nothing to do with the march were also allowed in. Deputy Calixto Ortega won the day in terms of shame, when he said he did not understand why these students required "special" treatment, since the reform has been discussed extensively (!!!) and the students were getting "too much coverage" from the press. I guess the right to express yourself has now become a "special right" in Venezuela. Truly a shameful day for the country's democracy. 6:46:57 PM    comment []

Media blamed for shortages, as they persist So, while there was no Alo Presidente because the autocrat had a cold, Chavez had the time to call up a program sponsored by his political party PSUV on the official TV channel VTV to blast the church and once again suggest that the media has invented a campaign to make it look as if there are shortages of foodstuffs in the country. Demonstrating the despicable style that has characterized him, Chavez criticized former Cardinal Castillo Lara, showing his disrespect towards an honorable Venezuelan even in death. The Government failed to even note the passing of this distinguished Venezuelan who held the highest positions in the Vatican hierarchy. But instead of praising this, Chavez recalled “how wrong” the Cardinal had been in his latter years. And then he went on onto the “mediatic campaign” to make it appear as if there are food shortages in the country. But let’s review the evidence: ---Datanalisis polls supermarkets and markets and find that many products are not even available in half of them. The most absent? Milk, present in only 25% of them. ---The Government holds a Megamercal, a huge market where you can get controlled products and people show up at six in the morning to see if they can get some milk. According to pro-Government newspaper Ultimas Noticias (by subscription) people were complaining that they show up at 6 AM and have to stand in line until noon, because there are lines both outside and inside the market. At the end, when you finally get to the head of the line you can buy a limited amount of stuff: one kilo of milk, 2 kilos of sugar and two chickens. ---And speaking of “mediatic campaigns”, the Minister of Feeding, Rafael Oropeza, reiterated that there is plenty of milk (!!!), despite the “worldwide seasonal shortage” of the product. I guess my poll the other day about the availability of milk where the readers are must have been in a different “season”.   Meanwhile, my sources report that despite his cold, Chavez went to Cuba again today, probably to get some advise from Castro on what material to use in making the new Che Guevara monument to replace the one shattered by bullets in Pico El Aguila. Meanwhile, the National Assembly approves some more of the articles proposed y Chavez, some of the ones sneaked in three weeks ago and why not, some new ones, because form is certainly more important than substance in the robolution. And speaking of substance, the subway was on strike this afternoon which has not been reported by the media in this country with total free press, as a transportation strike is set to start at midnight and university students warn that they will not be stopped from either joining the main protest in Caracas tomorrow or reaching the National Assembly or else, as pro-Chavez students say they will “wait for them at the Assembly”. 12:00:57 AM    comment []