Even though I am rather too busy to write these days, I still follow in awe the new recession running our way. Benefiting of a few minutes, I decided to check out what chavismo and its XXI century pals had to say. In no particular order and for your amusement only:
Prensa Latina from Cuba suddenly starts writing about the Paris stock exchange among others, explaining to us that the AAA rating of the French debt is now threatened. Since when does Cuba delves in such loving details on the CAC40 index (or any capitalist tool for that matter)? Could it be because Sarkozy is a main bomber of Tripoli, Havana's twin city?
The Venezuelan AVN is certainly not going to remain behind and enlighten us about the measures that UNASUR will take to stop any speculative actions against South America. Was not UNASUR meant as a defense tool in the military sense? How can Kristina vice presidential candidate dares to say that UNASUR will stab the Dow Jones? Trading generals fro traders maybe? Or something like that. Boudou, brilliantly, says that South American countries should use local currencies for their exchange. Conveniently forgetting that they are all dependent on the euro or USD for their mutual exchange rates. Or is Boudou suggesting that Brazil's Real becomes our continental currency? Only an Argentinean politician running for office can say that and get away with it. But of course AVN always willing to help suggests to use the SUCRE of Chavez and Correa for currency exchanges...
But AVN is always such a trove of XXI century idiocies that I cannot resist a few more. For example Alvarez, one of the "economists of the regime, tells us, without getting red in the face I assume, that our fast increasing agricultural production is putting us at arm's length from the coming crisis effect (he also says that capitalism is collapsing in Greece, Spain, UK and the US, same difference all of them). Well, that may be, but AVN also let us know that Nicaragua and Venezuela are planning new "intercambio de cafe". Yes, that is right, Venezuela massive coffee importations in XXI century speak is called "exchange". When you find the strength to go through the sort note you learn that the "exchange" is because Venezuelan bureaucrats are going to Nicaragua to learn how to grow coffee in a non capitalistic way.... I suppose no one told them that once upon a time, capitalism and all, Venezuela lived off its coffee exports, when no one even talked about Juan Valdez. Since 2006 (8th year of Chavez tenure) coffee imports have gone from 272 tons to 16,000 tons. Need I say more?
Since I am already getting tired and depressed, a last one. Giordani tells us that the new economic model of Venezuela is the only one growing up this year and that Europe and the US have failed because they do not care about the human factor like Chavez does. Yes, that is right, the guy who over the last 12 years has presided over the demise of the Venezuelan currency (>90% loss of value or 1000% devaluation if you prefer headline style), the guy that has presided over the economy becoming a single product economy (oil), the guy that lost our national drink to Brazil and Nicaragua (Coffee), the guy that has presided over the largest budget deficit and corruption in our history has no shame in pretending other wise.
Idiots, all of them.