Las Politicas

Yesterday was a historic day in Argentina when former first lady, Christina Fernandez was sworn in as the first female president in her fair country. Fernandez’s husband helped improve the devastated economy in Argentina during his tenure as president. Latin American economists and political scientists attribute Fernandez’s victory to her husband’s economic reforms that were so instrumental in improving the economy.

 During her hour long inaugural speech, Fernandez vowed to expedite the slow moving court investigations into the near genocide that occurred in Argentina during the Dirty War.  That part of inaugural speech seems oddly reminiscent of Vicente Fox’s speech about getting to the bottom of the same brand of human rights violations that occurred around the same time in Mexico. Nothing has changed in Mexico, but then not as many people died at the hands of “democracy” as they did in Argentina.

 Go for it, old girl! 

Caroline

For roughly the past year I have dedicated at least one post out of ten to Hugo Chavez. That will not be happening anymore. Hugo’s antics and my acknowledgement of them on Las Politicas is causing strife. Chavez is simply too much of a lightning rod of controversy to be discussed and unfortunately, I am calling a moratorium on Chavez posts.

Caroline

As we all know, Chavez lost his chance at the referendums that would have granted him the power to be president for life.  It was a stunning defeat that, Chavez seem to accept gracefully.  Gracefully accepting anything negative directed towards him is something that, Chavez seemed unable to do.  Many in Latin America and in the political world feel that we have not seen the end of Chavez and the referendum business.  Why the sudden change in behavior? It’s like the school bully who stops stealing lunch money overnight.

The question that everyone is asking is why did the voters turn on him? Was it Chavez’s perennial insults thrown at foreign opposition? The topic was only lightly covered, but Venezuela relies heavily on Colombian exports for eggs, milk and cheese. When Chavez began his abusive criticism of President Uribe the exports came to a screeching halt to the detriment of the poor.  Chavez’s  21^st century  Socialism failed to provide for its main target…the poor . Shopping malls were packed as were the streets and highways of the country. Those images don’t exactly conjure a Socialist paradise, but in fact a post industrial Venezuela. Perhaps to the voters of Venezuela…their country was not the up and coming model for Socialism, but in fact a service based economy that was causing more problems for the poor. The students also had a role of paramount importance…they clogged the streets showing their opposition to Chavez and his referendums.

Sorry to say, Chavez…but…whammy!

Caroline

Ivan Stalin Gonzalez, the student movement leader that has become a thorn in Chavez’s side is now being recognized in geo politics. Stalin, as he prefers to be called is a Marxist law student at the University of Venezuela who is opposed to Chavez’s model of “21^st Century Socialism”. Over the course of several weeks Stalin and other student leaders have organized protest marches that include tens of thousands of students opposed to Chavez. The student’s main concerns are the constitutional referendums that are set to occur December 2. These referendums will grant Chavez the power to seek perpetual reelection.

Students opposed to government in Latin America is not a new occurrence …irrespective of political affiliation. Castro’s role as a student leader was pivotal in the revolution of Cuba. Students in Mexico were mercifully massacred in 1968 as they tried to peacefully protest. If Chavez were not such an inflated buffoon that made himself so visible in geo-politics the same fate may have befallen these students.  The protests were marred with armed violence, but no lives were lost. Instead, Chavez fell back on his favorite and effective political strategy of name calling…stating that the students are a bunch of “pampered rich pretty boys”.  Hmm…rich pretty boys that attend a university that charges no tuition and are named Stalin.  The name Stalin doesn’t exactly conjure up the image of a decadent capitalist. Stalin came from meager beginnings within a household that dreamed of a Marxist Venezuela. His father was a high ranking member of the Bandera Roja, a hard line Marxist guerrilla party.

Caroline

During the Ibero American summit in Chile this weekend, Chavez was told to do something that was long overdue…he was told to “shut up”. It’s about time someone told him to shut his yapper. The real kicker is that the person that told him to do so was the king of Spain. Throwing royal decorum to the wayside, King Juan Carlos shouted that in reaction to Chavez’s constant name calling of Spain’s former Prime Minister. Chavez continually berated the Prime Minister by calling him a fascist…. prompting the King to react.  Even leftward leaning publications in Spain called Chavez’s behavior intolerable. Although King Juan Carlos’ reaction was received well by most…some are of the opinion that he should remain out of politics. Juan Carlos won the confidence of the Spanish people through Democracy in 1975 after Franco ( an actual fascist)  died . I can honestly see why Juan Carlos would become upset over such words. The outburst only lasted a few minutes, Chavez did not heed the royal advice and instead waffled on about having a right to speak. Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet….  and the Summit’s host quickly interjected and ended the outburst.  

Quite the diplomat, Old Chavez!

Caroline

God help us… Naomi Campbell and Hugo Chavez met in Venezuela….those two are the last people that should be meeting. Why on earth is she meddling in international politics? The last “political statement” she made was appearing nude in an anti-fur campaign. I believe that if she were really concerned with the direction of geo politics she wouldn’t fling cell phone’s at people. Could it be that her modeling career is in its twilight and she wants any kind of attention she can get?

Chavez seemed to really enjoy her visit and stated that she was “a very special lady”, but then his speech quickly degenerated into his hate for the United States and President Bush.  Although, Naomi is actually British her visit was used by Chavez as a pulpit to continue his barrage of insults to the U.S.

On a different note…I attended a Halloween costume party last night at the Alden hotel. A few local celebrities were there including, Whitney Casey, the host of Great Day Houston. I met her, she was really nice and really tall. She is 6 feet tall and was wearing three inch heels.

I went as a gypsy…see picture above.

Caroline 

Hugo Chavez is never one to hide any feelings about anything including his contempt for George Bush and his adoration for Che Guevara. Chavez believes that Guevara emulates the Socialist model for all Venezuelan’s to follow. Socialist…hmmm…it was always my opinion that Guevara was an outright Marxist. 

 In order to honor his 40^th Death anniversary, Chavez erected an 8 foot glass statute of Che that was later destroyed by gun shots. The shattered statue was shown on television and Chavez went on to say that the entire nation “repudiated” the vandalism. Apparently there are some that do not believe that Che is a model of anything in their nation including an education reform act entitled “Mission Che Guevara” In recent months I have found that Che is not such much an image of revolution in Latin America as much as a flawed political leader. 

Caroline

Gas Pipeline explosions have marred parts of Mexico…again. No responsibility for the premeditated acts has been claimed, but something tells me that the leftist guerilla’s are up to their old tricks. The explosions occurred in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz. PEMEX immediately shut down the affected lines as well as an extra line in the area as a precaution. The sophistication of these bombs have become the bane of PEMEX’s existence. Oil and related taxes account for over a third of the federal government’s revenue in Mexico….so the guerillas are getting them where it hurts. The attacks occurred several times through out the night, but no injuries were reported. The blast could be felt from several miles away. Civil defense agencies are stating that two elderly women died of heart attacks related to the blasts. Also the fields where the blasts took place were set ablaze…destroying all crops in the field. 

On a different note…I went bowling this weekend. Showing pride in my score I felt compelled to show off my skills …see picture above. 

Caroline   

 Those who have traveled to Cuba since the revolution say that visiting the island nation is like taking a step back in time. A moment in history was frozen when Fidel Castro over threw the Batista government. The architecture and cars were made possible through American tourist dollars and mafia influence…an influence that came to a screeching halt with the Castro regime. The latest of the Cold War relics are in a transitional phase. Brand name appliances that fly in the face of what Communism stands for were used in Cuba spanning several decades. The appliances that we all know were in fact a part of Cuban society…Kenmore and Frigidaire refrigerators that predated the revolution along with Cadillac’s are now being replaced by more efficient appliances made possible the People’s Republic of China. However, the citizen’s of Cuba are rather upset by their new appliances that can not hold the amount of food that there Cold War relics could.  

Castro decided that this move would be a more prudent gesture in the energy starved nation. I can’t believe that the appliances were built to last so long. Yet another point scored for Capitalism! They don’t make them like they used to. One woman, who did not give her name…said that her Kenmore refrigerator took 8 men to move it out of her apartment and that they had to take a part her balcony in order to move the monster. 

Caroline 

That is what most are calling Chavez’s latest move. Chavez is currently restructuring the constitution in Venezuela to keep him as president for life. Chavez actually announced this plan yesterday to a large group of his supporters. If all goes as planned…the proposal should be enacted within just a few short months. A true progressive leader would institute change and allow the nation to develop with their next elected leader…I believe it is what many call “democracy”.  

Chavez has many political allies that control the national assembly, which is expected to approve his latest proposal.  Opposition leader and former law maker, Gerardo Blyde says…   

“Chavez is seeking to reduce the territory held by the opposition and give his intention to remain in power a legal foundation” And furthermore many other reforms are likely to be “red capes” like those used by a bullfighter “to distract Venezuelans from his real objective.” 

I knew that his plans for this were going to be unveiled eventually, but I worry about the implications of this for the rest of Latin America. If the projected path of the new left here in the US is going where people say it is…perhaps Chavez will back off.

This will be interesting to follow. 

Caroline