Sunday, August 20, 2006

Did the miltary aid Ortega escape? Many people have suggested that union leader Carlos Ortega and the Farias' brothers had military aid to escape from the Ramo Verde jail. They certainly did, I used to live close to Ramo Verde in Los Teques and my wife even used to jog there many, many years ago. I tried looking for an image in Google Earth, but unfortunately resolution goes down right outside Los Teques and I can not use any image to aid you, but picture this: The main access gate to Ramo Verde is about 3-4 Kms. from the main bulding, but the road does not even reach the main buidling, it ends about 600 meters from it. To get into the second floor where Ortega supposedly was "visiting" the Farias', playing dominoes (all night by the way), you have to go through five gates with metal bars and then there is the gate to the cell. Each of the five gates is supposed to have a National Guardsman next to it. Add to this, the fact that these guys apparently escaped at midnight, but it was not until around 10:30 AM that the escape was discovered. I mean, these are the guys that are supposed to be ready for an assymetrical war with the US and they can't even count and keep track of prisoners? Of course, the Government keeps playing the bribe card, which somehow seems wrong as it reminds everyone that it is corruption that has blossomed in this Government. I get the feeling that the Government is now trying to weasle out of this, by talking about "politicians" having paid the bribe.This was suggested by Isaias Rodriguez on Friday and is repeated tonight by Minister of the Interior and Justice Jesse Chacon. But it is a vague accusation, no names as usual, but we do know that 14 of their precious and "well prepared and trained" military officers and personnel are in jail for letting Ortega go, in what can only be described as a widespread conspiracy. No matter what they may say, it is always the military that has proven to be the most corrupt institution in Venezuela's history. But somehow, I think there is a more ulterior message involved, whether the Government wants to get it or not. Either Ortega or the Farias' brothers created a lot of sympathy within the military. Ortega was found guilty of "rebellion" , a term that can only be applied whene there are weapons involved, but revolutionary justice does not care for those little details.But clearly, the military is not as unified behind Chavze as the Government wants us to believe. Or did they escape like this! 8:42:19 PM    comment []

Book plug: Venezuela An agreement to reach development Anyone that cares about understanding Venezuela and its problems should buy the book :"Venezuela: An agreement to reach development" a book which is a compilation of a bunch of academics who have been meeting for years to talk about these issues. The books has twelve authors, but in truth it is a collaboration of experts in a wide variety of fields. The book is a proposal with no intended political bias, it proposes solutions and suggests that we need a national agreemnet on some of them, which in itself goes counter to the style of this Governmnet which believes it knows it all. I have read about half the book and I am impressed, these people know what they are talking about and have specific solutions to problems. I have laso learned a lot from reading it. It is filled with interesting data, most of it well known, but some of it new to me (Did you know that from age 14 to 15 school attendanec drops from 75.5% of the students of that age to only 21.85%?). The book also takes a look at the misiones and its impact. The book does not cover everything, but is roughly divided in three broad sections: Social Policies, the economy and production and institutional reforms. I was particulraly struck by the fact that the conclusions on the economy of whta happened in the seventies, seemed to apply tomwhat is happening today: high oil prices are creating high Government spending, but private investment is not catching up and it si private investement the one that can create jobs. Except this time investment is even less. I am more than half way through the book and recommend it to anyone interested in our problems. The book shows we have the experts, we just need Government to listen to them and not improvise. You can find it in most bookstores. There is also a website www.acuerdosocial.com, which I have had little time to explore (I would like to thank Marino Gonzalez, who wrote a great chapter on health, for giving me and autographing a copy of the book, I m honored that he took the time to do it!) 7:20:53 PM    comment []