I suppose that for Chavez to have been put down in public by the King of Spain was a blessing: nobody is talking about the ongoing fascist developments in Venezuela. This probably might explain why Chavez went on a media offensive of sorts, going back through 500 years of colonial grievances and accusing Juan Carlos to have been in the know of the 2002 coup. Boy, the way things are going with chavismo propaganda it might be more productive to write down the list of people WHO DID NOT KNOW about the 2002 Venezuelan coup. The consequences of the ridicule Chavez would suffer from leading that list himself do not seem to have crossed his mind.
Even the Guardian that no one can suspect of strong monarchist positions was slightly amused, underlining that Spain rallied around the King and that Chavez does all the talking alone, comparing himself with nothing less than the prosecuted Christ.
But this cartoon of Weil with which I open the post tells us boatloads of what is really going on as much here as abroad: simply put people are starting to realize that one thing is what Chavez does and another one what Chavez talks about. Chavez speaks of been prosecuted like Christ, while he accuses unarmed students (OK, some had sling shots) of attacking his own naive supporters (who are abundantly documented as carrying all sorts of weapons) . The tales of the martyrdom of Saint Hugo is simply becoming as exasperating outside of Venezuela as it has long become here. Thus to conclude this post the translation of Petkoff editorial yesterday which should bring a smile on any reader of this blog who has known for years what a "patán" Chavez is.
--------------
Shut up!
The exasperated imprecation of King Juan Carlos to Chavez, along with the calm but forceful knock that Rodriguez Zapatero slung back, surely will enable many abroad to better understand what is happening in our country. Because Venezuelans have been suffering first hand for almost nine years this rude exercise of power, that quarrelsome style, vulgar and humiliating, with which not only he mistreats his opponents but even his own followers. Participants at the Ibero-American Summit could evaluate, live and direct, the infinite ability of Chavez to overcome the patience of even the most gentle of spirits. Many now have come to realize what it means to be governed by Chavez. Jose Vicente Rangel years ago during the campaign of 98, when he still dared to criticize him, wrote a memorable article, entitled, "By the mouth the fish dies," where he warned Chavez about the dire consequences of his vulgar and thuggish speech. Shortly thereafter, and in power, he excused Chavez: "That's his style," he said, but this time to suck up to him. However, Rangel was right. That is the "style" of the president. The "style" that has filled with hatred and resentment this country, that has severely damaged its civility; the "style" that serves as fuel to that infernal dynamic that has caused Manichean and foolish divisions among the people of the country. It is the "style" of who confuses the social and political struggle with a tavern brawl, among drunken thugs. Politics, of course, are not a floral game and often occur between its protagonists verbal encounters and even slaps, but Chavez has mired in it in a sewer, has degraded and debased it to extremes that only living through it one can believe. That's what we Venezuelans live; a sample of that is what his counterparts in Latin America and Spain were able to appreciate.
---------------------
Unfortunately for us in Venezuela and for people abroad amused by Chavez since they really do not have to suffer his invectives on a daily basis, there is also this power to bring havoc as clearly expressed in this LATimes article by Michael Rowan and Douglas Schoen. Now you have been all told.
-The end-