To commemorate April 13 2002 in the continuous effort to make this a national holiday along February 2 and 27 (when will we work?) Chavez gathered what he hoped would be a show of strength that would instill fear in the opposition, but instill even more fear into the weakening chavista base in case they decided not to follow him until the bitter end. The bolting of Lara's governor Falcon seems to have perturbed him greatly as the PPT has been excommunicated officially.
To scare us he called for his militia, all in Cuban olive green uniforms. No need anymore for the red civilian tide of yore, the ingrates cannot even be "arreados" with buses and booze and stipends. Now Chavez fills up his rallies with the militia which was created and is paid for such activities. I use the term "arreados" in all conscience, which means roughly lassoed. My S.O. was forced to go to the meeting today, staying until 4 PM, unable to wait for Chavez anymore, and sorely regretting forgetting the camera home. But even forcing public employees to come is not enough: they come, sign up any attendance list, go to look for a drink as an excuse, and are never seen again that day. Hence the need for a paid for militia, to make sure Chavez does not speak in a void.
If Chavez tried to scare us today what he did was to increase our resolve while ridiculing himself. And if anyone still thought that the civilian sector played a role in the bolibanana revolution, look at the picture above and be told. That was Bolivar Avenue Tuesday 13, a few hours ago. Olive green with only a few specks of red left.
PS: I wrote this late last night. A little editing with cooler head was required.