Venezuela has been the land of magic realism over the last fourteen years. Under the spell of Hugo Chávez, the country lost a decade of development under the guise of a revolutionary process, that brought little revolution anywhere, when you consider that the country enjoyed the biggest oil windfall in its history. Chávez could sell the people anything, an attempt on his life, borrowing at 12%, while lending at 2%, demonizing the opposition, recovering from cancer and even blaming nature for many of the problems he caused.
But over the last six months, Chávez’z successor has turned Chávez magic realism into a bizarre concoction that makes no sense. He managed an electoral audit that was not one. Maduro has been in power for over ten weeks, but has made no important decisions about the most pressing economic matters. He blames problems on things like consumption, as if his party was new in Government. He says the universities have received sufficient resources, but a Professor’s salary is near the minimum salary and since 2008 autonomous universities have not had any budget increase.
But things get really bizarre when important discussions are distracted by events such as:
-Jose Vicente Rangel, a former Minister of Defense and “reporter” saying the opposition has purchased 18 airplanes to attack Venezuela and that they are in Colombia. Of course, no mention of who, when, how, just like that, 18 planes, not 2 or 3, all of eighteen planes, bought with money that came from nobody knows who, to buy whatever. Maybe Rangel saw an Amazon purchase for 18 planes to fight Maduro’s drones.
-A Judge, Judge Afiuni, ordered incarcerated by Chávez, who has yet to be tried, but was raped in jail, has the Prosecutor ask the Court to change her prison for home and five days go by without the inhumane Court saying a beep and ordering that she be released. Whatever happened to compassion in Venezuela?
-A thousand cases of the H1N1 virus are not enough to have Venezuela’s Minister of Health worry, declare an emergency or anything like that. Never mind how contagious it is. Never mind the ignorance of the average Venezuelan on the subject. This is simply another plot to destabilize by the opposition. The country is even out of the vaccines, but don’t worry, toilet paper should be arriving soon.
-An obscure Director of the price control office is jailed for corruption in Venezuela, but the SEC charging that there was a massive kickback scheme at Bandes, which made that bank lose US$ 66 million, gets no reaction from any official in Venezuela. (The fourth person was jailed today in the US)No investigation, no questions asked. But Maduro still says he is going full blast against corruption. Sure Nico, I believe you. (Cross my fingers)
-In a country with excess lawyers. In a country where nobody in important positions seems to have experience in the area of the position, an engineer is named to supervise the Judicial system. Never mind he failed as Head of the electric company, his supposed specialty. Never mind there are thousands of Chavista/Madurista Judges, lawyers and the like. Choose failure, choose ignorance, choose a guy that failed. Oh! I forgot, he is Chavez’ brother Argenis.
-The Head of the Electoral Board comes out and says that the “audit” was perfect, not a single error. But after a reporter finds 90 dead voters in polling stations with 100% participation for October, the next day (June 3d) the CNE changes the records from October 7th., all of them, reducing, but not eliminating dead voters. But, says Ms. Tibisay, Venezuela’s electoral system is “shielded”. Not from the dead, Tibi. BTW Tibi, we are still waiting for the fingerprint records from the SAI, which has turned out to be a useless system: It did not stop anybody from voting! Which is why they don’t want to give the opposition a copy.
Oh yeah! A guy named Kerry, who apparently holds an important position in the US Government, meets with Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jaua, who grins at the meeting at Kerry, very much like Venezuelan kids do when they meet Mickey Mouse in Orlando.
Really, bizarro country, with a Capital B (not “V”), is getting harder and harder to understand it. All of this happens and not much of a reaction. Bizarro is, bizarro happens. Nothing happens.
The Devil's Excrement 
June 13, 2013 at 11:41 am
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
June 13, 2013 at 10:40 am
Venezuela o Zarzuela?
June 13, 2013 at 10:36 am
>>>> … Really, bizarro country, with a Capital B (not “V”), is getting harder and harder to understand it.
When necessities of everyday living become necedades,
then do the political obvious.
Resolve the issue by restricting
access of the oppo to the supermarkets.
Delegate the affluent venezuelan to the realm of consumption*.
*CONSUMPTION first appeared in the 14th century to describe any potentially fatal wasting disease–that is, any condition that “consumed” the body.
Now why does this sound so familiar when applied to our
lovely venezuela of bizarro?
June 13, 2013 at 10:41 am
that’s because you have a twisted mind.
Nothing’s wrong here, we’re just facing
the growing pains of a successful turnaround
into a revolutionary world of socialist bliss.
Shoosh, why is the oppo such a crybaby?
June 13, 2013 at 10:43 am
Yeah, go suck your thumb
June 13, 2013 at 10:54 am
Hey! does consumption* apply to nations?
June 13, 2013 at 10:25 am
Reblogged this on danmillerinpanama and commented:
The people of United States should be grateful for Venezuela. No matter how corrupt, inept, absurd and downright insane the U.S becomes, Venezuela remains a perpetual fountain of insanity at which we can point and say with pride, “See, things are still worse there!” We need something, that’s something and hence it must be what is needed. Q.E.D.
June 13, 2013 at 1:27 pm
Actually, I don’t think it is any good for us to have a large country in the continent falling to pieces, and I really wonder what Kerry has in mind as to the new policy towards Venezuela.
Maybe Obama realizes that the situation is dangerous, that none of his counterparts in South America will do anything about it and that the US has a great opportunity to be a force for stability and morality. Hojala…
June 13, 2013 at 5:03 am
Miguel, what are “vaccines?”
June 13, 2013 at 8:53 am
vacunas
June 13, 2013 at 4:01 am
Exactly where IS the breaking point for the Venezuelan public? When does public finally cast off their complacency and say, “Ya basta!”?
June 13, 2013 at 5:36 am
Roy, when people are broken, there is no breaking point, per se.
June 13, 2013 at 10:08 am
Firepigette, I agree with you, when people are broken they don’t fight anymore, they become completely “helpless” I am afraid that is whats going on in Vlza right now, it is very sad, indeed..
June 13, 2013 at 1:22 pm
Hopefully not, otherwise Venezuela will become a new Haiti or a new Katanga.
June 12, 2013 at 10:51 pm
So bizarre, because of the 14 years of incompetence, neglect, greed, BS dogma, selfishness, drugs, guns, violence, and the backing of blood sucking governments, that there is no way out for them.
June 12, 2013 at 10:09 pm
I am sure that if an under opposition government only a tiny fraction of the current disaster was happening, the pro-Castro-comunists already would have burned the whole country. Will Venezuelans ever learn any lesson? Will we ever see some justice?
June 12, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Great post. It reads like a transcript of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report.
This is why Weisbrot’s readers and other oblivious leftist ideologues living their nice western lifestyle think we’re nuts. Show them this blog entry and they say we’re making it all up.
June 12, 2013 at 9:05 pm
Wait, it gets better:
‘9 ‘planning to kill Maduro’ nabbed’
Venezuelan Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said on Monday that two groups, including nine Colombian paramilitaries, were arrested over the weekend in the country’s northwest, before they were able to reach the capital, Caracas.
“This may be part of a plan that was orchestrated from Colombia to kill President Maduro and de-stabilize the Venezuelan government,” Rodriguez said.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/11/308372/9-planning-to-kill-maduro-nabbed/
June 12, 2013 at 11:51 pm
The funny thing is that the Iranians are crazy enough to run the story. What wonders they must have working in their English language “news” service. At least it is good for a laugh.
They even specify the secret paramilitaries had military uniforms confiscated, what?? Come on Iran, you can do better!
June 13, 2013 at 7:33 am
Maduro better watch his fellow Chavistas before any foreign group. Maduro’s own guards are Cubans with loaded guns. Give them the right moment and Maduro could be history (Birds of a feather with Hugo). I hope Maduro lives a long time just to show that Chavismo is a farce.
June 13, 2013 at 9:24 am
Exactly! Forget about right-wing Colombians. The real threat comes from the Cubans and the Chavez clan. At some point Nicolas may find himself writhing on the floor muttering to the figure standing over him, “Et tu, Adan?”