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Sun Wu Kampf posted:I am frankly amazed that no colectivos armados have been lynched by an angry mob yet. It's also worth noting the fear of thugs and robbers is firmly ingrained in the mind of most Venezuelans, myself included. If I see a couple of guys on a bike speeding towards me, my first instinct wouldn't be to try and fight them, even if I was surrounded by people that could help me. The idea they can do whatever they want to us and there's nothing we can do about it is very difficult to overcome. Then again, sometimes mob mentality takes over, and I'm sure if things continue the way they've been we'll be seeing a lot more fighting back against colectivos once people get fed up.
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Apr 26, 2017 00:49
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Venezuela is such a jumble of political mythology that it feels kind of like a badly-written T.V. show that just got away from the writers at the end. Think the 2003 Battlastar Galactica or Lost I think that the colectivos armados have roots in organizations that Chavez created pretty early in his presidency, like the circulos bolivarianos. I think that at one point these organizations were built around doing things like organizing food production and distribution and lobbying local government for infrastructure. Over the years, these organizations became more and more militarized, and as far as I can tell they morphed into the Unidades de Batalla Bolivar-Chavez (Bolivar-Chavez Battle Units). These are also community organizations that, at least on paper, are made up of wings (for example, a "food distribution wing", and "lobbying wing"), as well as armed wings. I think that at one point, the colectivo armado was the armed wing of these community organizations. However, these days like fnox and Labradoodle suggested, they seem to be made up of criminals who are allowed to act with impunity because they support the regime. The fact that the term colectivo armado exists at all (as opposed to just colectivo) suggests that the qualifier armado [armed] was at one point important enough to put into language. However, in recent times, the word colectivo is taken to mean the armed variety. I think an accurate definition of colectivo armado "a group of armed people who move in large motorcycle groups and attacks opposition protesters". Whether or not some of these are apolitical gangs of street criminals out for target practice or dedicated chavistas (or a combination of the two?) is lost the meaning, but I think that the latter is more common than the former. There's a video of a big colectivo leader named Jesus Odreman talking about colectivos on YouTube. Odreman was killed in 2014. The video is in Spanish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weRkDBSj22s&t=266s), but I can translate it before the end of the week since there's interest in the topic.
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Apr 26, 2017 00:51
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Yeah, I am pretty interested in the colectivos armados, since its a guilty pleasure of mine to read this thread to find out what crazy thing is happening next in Fallout: Venezuela. The sheer amount of apathy for the suffering of others and the hypocrisy of the PSUV is fascinating to read about. Honestly, I was giggling when I read about Maduro speaking about having dialogue with the opposition and arresting the opposition in the same breath.
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Apr 26, 2017 02:20
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Colectivos come from the same stock as our homegrown criminals (Malandros) who live short and violent lives. I'm guessing people that gravitate towards crime, kidnappings and murders naturally end up in a Colectivo if they are extreme Chavists. Keep in mind that these people have likely been brainwashed since the early 2000s! Chavez changed the way public education works very early, including things as "Pre-Military training" and dismissing the traditional books for new ones that exalted the virtues of Chavism. Not only that, but the social missions that helped many poor people one way or another are also extremely political. Between being taught at school that Bolivar, the One True Venezuelan, would've been totally on board with Chavez, and being handed food, home and education that requires you to recite just how loving great Chavismo is and how the people that are against it want you to starve and think you're scum, I completely understand these Chavist Cultists (as someone else put it). Then a small part of those diehard Chavistas are also criminals due to several circumstances you can all guess (poverty, social discontent, peer pressure). It's only natural that, when Chavismo is under attack, these dudes that are used to killing for fun and profit would go out and murder those they consider enemies of Chavez and, by extension, themselves.
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Apr 26, 2017 09:57
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A couple of items to start the day:
EIDT: The Caracas Subway is 100% closed for today. As in, every single station is closed. The entire subway system is shut down. As far as I'm aware, this has not happened before. The PSUV will always close some stations (usually 50-60%), but we've never reached anywhere close to 100% before. Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 14:17 on Apr 26, 2017 |
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Apr 26, 2017 13:36
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Pre-military training sounds like something that the Hitler youth in Nazi Germany would go through. The PSUV sounds even more like a National Socialist party based on what you are saying, Hugoon Chavez.
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Apr 26, 2017 14:25
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Maduro's wording was pretty good there, since while it was almost entirely his guys doing said murders (there was a national guardsman or policeman who caught a molotov as I recall) he can still claim to be correct because 'well it wouldn't have happened if you RIGHT WINGERS weren't so uptight about having things like food and medicine instead of filling your bellies with the GLORY OF CHAVEZ and relying on his will to decide if you should die from malaria or not!" Oh and I forgot, also "ECONOMIC WAR CIA BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!"
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Apr 26, 2017 14:44
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I live in Madeira Island In Portugal which once upon a time a long time ago had a massive amount of emigration to Venezuela, so there is lots of them there, or related family. Lately I have seen more and more Venezuelans around, and most don't look like they are here for holidays.
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Apr 26, 2017 17:06
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If you want to catch today's protest, VPI is an independent news organization that usually streams from protests (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgF6VRs-1Wc), and NTN24 is a Colombian news network that often has dedicated streams from Venezuela during protests (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56gcaTf0m30). Both of them have a tendency to come up/down randomly, so you have to have a bit of patience with them.Feinne posted:Maduro's wording was pretty good there, since while it was almost entirely his guys doing said murders (there was a national guardsman or policeman who caught a molotov as I recall) he can still claim to be correct because 'well it wouldn't have happened if you RIGHT WINGERS weren't so uptight about having things like food and medicine instead of filling your bellies with the GLORY OF CHAVEZ and relying on his will to decide if you should die from malaria or not!" It's the classic abusive spouse defense: "If you didn't make me angry, I wouldn't need to beat you!".
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Apr 26, 2017 17:10
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Saladman posted:Do you Venegoons see these protests going anywhere? It seems like there are a lot of people with dirty hands that are fighting to keep the PSUV in power, but the same thing was true in Tunisia and Egypt too, and in both of those countries the entrenched, corrupt dictator gave up pretty easily. Any idea why Venezuela is so much more resistant to popular protests? The only big difference I can think of is that there are some people in Venezuela who are in favor of the government despite not having personally benefitted from the looting of the country, whereas in Tunisia (and to a lesser extent Egypt) the government had almost zero popular support outside the small ruling clique. Tunisia's regime was nowhere as near entrenched, and god help you if Egypt is your optimistic outcome for venezuela
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Apr 26, 2017 18:23
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Pharohman777 posted:Pre-military training sounds like something that the Hitler youth in Nazi Germany would go through. honestly. from reading accounts. alot of the stuff seems kinda nazi like. like if Germany never went to war or had the race angle bullshit(maybe PVUS does idk) and were left wing. its like hitler lived a while to turn the country into his own shithole with tons of brainwashed kids and useful idiot servants and then finaly died, and a dumbshit like himmler took his place. because maduro always reminded me of himmler weirdly enough.
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Apr 26, 2017 21:23
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fnox posted:They blur the line between "hampa" and "guerrilla". Sorry, but what are "hampa"?
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Apr 26, 2017 23:19
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Munin posted:Sorry, but what are "hampa"? I believe "hampa" is like the mafia, but not specific to any one group. The wider world of criminal organizations really.
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Apr 26, 2017 23:24
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"Hampa" means "criminals" or "crime" in general. Quick update:
Some videos and pictures from Caracas today: https://twitter.com/botellazo/status/857309868222558211 https://twitter.com/ComandoSB/status/857297766359367680 This is human rights activist Lilian Tintori (her husband is Leopoldo Lopez_ leading a group of demonstrators up to a National Guard line near Plaza Venezuela to try to negotiate a way through: https://twitter.com/liliantintori/status/857310391109648384
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Apr 26, 2017 23:45
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The person killed in Caracas today was a 20-year-old student named Juan Pablo Pernalete Llovera. He was hit on the left side of his chest by a tear gas canister, which appears to have stopped his heart. One of his friends was around when he died, and here's a brief interview with him: https://twitter.com/hispanopost/status/857344324748627969 quote:
Juan Pablo had a comedy YouTube channel called No Es Asunto Tuyo [None of Your Business] that he ran with a friend named Eduardo. The two acted in short skits together. In an introductory video posted about a year ago, Pernalete said that the channel's "main objective is to make our subscribers laugh". He seemed really nice. Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 01:47
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Celexi posted:I live in Madeira Island In Portugal which once upon a time a long time ago had a massive amount of emigration to Venezuela, so there is lots of them there, or related family. You'll just see more and more of us, enjoy the incoming Venezuelan restaurants! Also: "Hampa" is a broad term for the rampant criminal element in Caracas. It's basically "the malandro collective", or just the regular full time criminals. Yes, Caracas is basically the judge Dredd setting, but without Judges. We even have a tiny archology called Parque Central! Dapper_Swindler posted:honestly. from reading accounts. alot of the stuff seems kinda nazi like. like if Germany never went to war or had the race angle bullshit(maybe PVUS does idk) and were left wing. its like hitler lived a while to turn the country into his own shithole with tons of brainwashed kids and useful idiot servants and then finaly died, and a dumbshit like himmler took his place. because maduro always reminded me of himmler weirdly enough. It's ironic Chavismo calls the opposition Nazis when they do have a lot in common. That said, there's no Nationalist drive in Chavismo, just the appearance of it: this is a complete Kleptocracy and they don't give an absolute poo poo about the country, just how much they can steal from it. But you kinda have the right idea.
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Apr 27, 2017 08:29
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Hugoon Chavez posted:You'll just see more and more of us, enjoy the incoming Venezuelan restaurants! Torre de David seems much more apt, or is Parque Central also a squatter's commune now? Did they actually kick people out of Torre de David? Or did everyone just come right back? Edit: Wikipedia's page has a 2017 photo of it, and it looks like it's actually empty. That's a shame, it was such an icon of post-apocalyptic Venezuela. It still is, but much less so.
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Apr 27, 2017 11:56
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Late last night, the People Defender's son posted a video on YouTube in which he took a position on the crisis in Venezuela. He called the repression of peaceful protests "brutal" and called on his father, Tarek William Saab, to "do the right thing" and "put an end to the injustice that has sunk the country". Just to give you a bit of context, the People's Defender is an office in many Latin American countries that is what we would call an ombudsman in English-speaking countries. If you're a citizen and you think your rights have been violated in some way, you can go to the People's Defender office and get help. This is why the opposition always tries to march to the office, because in theory the People's Defender should be... well, defending the people. But because the regime is corrupt to the bone, this isn't happening. Anyway, here's the video along with my translation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOchyafhR0 quote:Yibram: As a citizen and a law student, I observe with concern the rupture of the constitutional order in Venezuela, which was caused by a ruling from the Supreme Tribunal of Justice [Supreme Court]. This is why I am fixing my position on this matter before the country through this letter freely, as a Venezuelan and as the eldest son of the People's Defender, Tarek William Saab,my father. The reaction to the video that I've seen so far has been positive. I think that people have generally been moved by Yibram's bravery in making such a public repudiation of his father and taking a stand for what's right. Yibram was at the demonstration in Caracas yesterday (I think he was in El Rosal). EDIT: I was talking to someone who's way more politically savvy than I am, and he pointed out to me that putting pressure on Saab was good decision from the opposition because he's a "realistic" target for pressure. According to this person, Saab isn't eyeballs-deep in the corruption, drug trafficking and who knows what else that a lot of big PSUV figures are. He said that from an imperfect list of people to put pressure on, Saab was a very good choice. Saladman posted:Did they actually kick people out of Torre de David? Or did everyone just come right back? The last time that they had a big eviction drive in the building was in 2015, I think. I don't know if people moved in again after that. This other shot on the Wikipedia page is so poetic. "Chavez Lives!" draped on a shell of a building in complete abandon full of destitute people.  Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 13:38
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Do you think the gov's withdrawal from the OAS is a matter of them jumping before they were shoved (or otherwise punished), or is it just that they can't tolerate the criticism coming out of the OAS? It doesn't seem like the regional organizations have much teeth when it comes to opposing Maduro's authoritarianism. In any event, I imagine it must be a serious blow to the government to exit the OAS because of Chavez' anti-US foreign policy ambitions. The British media site the Guardian has finally issued a mealy-mouthed semi retraction of it's previous uncritical support for the regime: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/25/the-guardian-view-on-venezuela-a-country-in-pain They are going with the predictable "it all started with Maduro" tactic, which I imagine will be a popular face saving argument for the international left as they contemplate how to distance themselves from their prior comments. For reference, this is what they published in 2012: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/13/hugo-chavez-bolivarian-dream quote:...there is no doubt that the Bolívarian revolution presided over by Chávez will be able to soldier on without him. After 14 years of considerable institutional change, huge oil revenues now pour into the alleviation of the acute poverty suffered by a large percentage of the country, Of course in reality it's important that history notes how Chavez gutted Venezuelan democracy and turned the government into a kleptocracy, and the way he was cheered on the entire time by international supporters. Online comment sections are usually a cesspit but it's fun to watch everybody wailing on the Guardian here for their attempt at white-washing their own history on the subject.
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Apr 27, 2017 16:17
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I don't see how the OAS withdrawal can be anything other than "you can't fire me! I quit!"
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Apr 27, 2017 16:23
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Mukip posted:Do you think the gov's withdrawal from the OAS is a matter of them jumping before they were shoved (or otherwise punished), or is it just that they can't tolerate the criticism coming out of the OAS? It doesn't seem like the regional organizations have much teeth when it comes to opposing Maduro's authoritarianism. In any event, I imagine it must be a serious blow to the government to exit the OAS because of Chavez' anti-US foreign policy ambitions. What a weak-rear end 'retraction'. Not only does it imply the crisis was triggered by the decline in oil prices, it even makes it sound as if the current conflict were between two quarreling political parties with a few minor disagreements instead of a dictatorship trying to crush dissent.
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Apr 27, 2017 17:32
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Comrayn posted:I don't see how the OAS withdrawal can be anything other than "you can't fire me! I quit!" The most tangible result of Venezuela's withdrawal from the OAS is likely to be more isolation for the regime and yet more evidence that Maduro is a dictator. I say this for a few reasons. First, the withdrawal process takes 24 months to complete. If the paperwork is filed today, we're looking at a full exit from the OAS on April 27, 2019. The problem with that is that we're scheduled to have presidential elections in 2018. Maduro is betting that either 1) he's going to win the elections (he won't), or 2) there won't be elections (more likely) since a non-PSUV president would definitely put the breaks on the OASexit (it doesn't have the same ring as "Brexit"--nevermind). Second, Maduro can't just by himself decide that Venezuela is leaving the OAS. He needs parliamentary approval, and there is no way the opposition will OK the move. This means that the OAS might take Maduro's request to leave and say, "Thanks, but we need your parliament to stamp this". When that doesn't happen, does the OAS accept the request to leave anyway?  Third, even if the OAS accepts Venezuela's request to withdraw, Venezuela is still subject to the organization's rules and principles (including the Inter-American Democratic Charter) throughout the 24 month withdrawal period. Maduro and Delcy Rodriguez can continue to plug their ears all they want, but if the OAS wants to take diplomatic action against the regime as is its responsibility, it can do it fair and square for the next 24 months without any real change in their game-plan.I'll go back to an earlier post where I said that it's as if Venezuela's foreign policy is decided by a bratty second-grade student somewhere. This is Maduro throwing a tantrum because those meanies in the playground won't let him brutalize people and break all of the school's rules. The tantrum is doing absolutely nothing to help him and is just making him look really bad in front of everyone else. Mukip posted:The British media site the Guardian has finally issued a mealy-mouthed semi retraction of it's previous uncritical support for the regime: Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 17:35
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The second I clicked on that 2012 link and saw the name 'Richard Gott' I knew what to expect. He's a demented old tankie.
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Apr 27, 2017 18:04
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Mukip posted:The British media site the Guardian has finally issued a mealy-mouthed semi retraction of it's previous uncritical support for the regime: Yeah, no. Their former Venezuela correspondent Rory Carroll has always been fairly critical of Chávez and his book Comandante is actually one of my favorite pieces of media on Venezuela. They've always have op-ed pieces by hackjobs like Mark Weisbrot and Richard Gott, and you may well feel they should have been more critical earlier on, but they weren't unconditional cheerleaders either. beer_war fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 18:23
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Yesterday students in Caracas held a memorial for Juan Pablo Pernalete, who was killed during the protest on Wednesday in the Altamira neighbourhood of the city. The students marched in black and held prayer services for Juan Pablo: https://twitter.com/EfectoCocuyo/status/857679398463561728 As soon as news of Juan Pablo's death began to spread, eye-witnesses said that he had been shot in the chest with a tear gas canister at point-blank range, causing fatal damage to his heart. Since the National Guard and the National Bolivarian Police are the only ones going around shooting tear gas at people, the regime went in full denial mode immediately after the news broke. Diosdado Cabello said that it was impossible for Juan Pablo to have been killed by state security forces in there were no National Guard soldiers in Altamira at that time, he claimed. Yesterday evening, a video surfaced on Instagram showing the last moments of Juan Pablo's life. The video shows a group of protesters helping an injured Juan Pablo limp along a sidewalk before he collapses. At the start of the video: massive clouds of tear gas. Also, Amnesty International released a report yesterday called "Venezuela: Silenced by Force" on the use of arbitrary arrests and other judicial abuses to silence dissenters in Venezuela. It's got a little primer on detention procedure (on paper and in practice) if you're interested in that stuff, plus a couple of really interesting case studies on some individuals who have suffered from political persecution.
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Apr 28, 2017 13:42
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We were talking a little while ago about how the Hinterlaces polling firm has a definite pro-regime bias. Yesterday, the company released the results of its latest survey on the Jose Vicente Hoy television show, which is hosted by a former Minister of Defense and VP under Chavez. Two questions in particular are worth looking at closely because they're great examples of this pro-regime bias we discussed. The first question is: "Do you agree or disagree with the violent demonstrations and the guarimbas as a way to protest?" [Guarimbas are street barricades]. 80% responded "no". The question is an example of the #1 thing you must not do if you're asking people questions in a survey, which is asking them leading questions. The word "violent" and "guarimba" both have negative connotations, so you're guaranteed to get people who will answer the question in the negative. This question is also a bit of a double whammy because of the context in which the results were presented, since according to the regime every opposition protest is violent, fascist, terrorist, etc. The effect that Hinterlaces and the regime are going for here is that people will think that 80% of respondents are against the protests in general, where in reality violence at demonstrations tends to happen precisely at the instant that the authorities choose to repress them, and the overwhelming majority of opposition demonstrations have been peaceful. This question is kind of like asking "Do you agree with murdering babies?", and then saying that 100% of respondents are against abortion. The second question is: "There are people who demand that President Nicolas Maduro leave power right now, while others say that we should wait for the presidential elections in 2018 once president Maduro has finished his term. Which idea do you must agree with?". 65% said "elections in 2018". This question is also methodologically flawed because it presents the respondent with two options: one vague, nebulous, maybe violent, and the other clear, well-explained and well-argued. What does "demand that President Nicolas Maduro leave power right now?" mean? Are we talking assassination? Coup d'etat? That the US invade Venezuela and remove him from power? That he resign? The fact that this option is left completely up to the mind of the individual respondent while the other is clearly articulated guarantees that the clearly articulated answer will get more responses. This question is kind of like asking, "Would you rather get a reward today, or $1,000 in no-strings-attached, tax free cash next year?". If the option is between uncertainty and certainty, certainty is always more appealing. In short: beware of surveys. If possible, always look at the questions yourself, think about the way in which they are worded, and ask yourself how the question itself may demand one particular response. Finally, there are three demonstrations planned in Caracas today: two from the opposition and one from the PSUV. One opposition demonstration will head to the Supreme Court, and the other to the offices of the CNE [the body that oversees elections]. You can follow them live on VPItv (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zIz9GNxhoI), and on NTN24 Venezuela, which usually gets its live stream up late and intermittently, but is pretty good anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=user?NTN24com
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May 1, 2017 15:35
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Thank you for the NTN24 link, Chuck
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May 1, 2017 19:30
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I'll have some pictures and videos from the protests in Caracas later today, but Maduro just called for a constituent assembly. The assembly would be tasked with creating a new constitution, essentially re-forging the Venezuelan state. Maduro has been hinting at this for a while, but it seems like he's actually moving ahead with this now since he said that he was getting the Supreme Court and the CNE on board to start drawing up the plans for this thing. In theory, the assembly is made up of citizens (Maduro said 500) who are elected directly from their communities. Once elected, the assembly would sit down and make a constitution. The last time we did this was in 1999, under Chavez, and the whole process took just a few months. That process gave us the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which apparently isn't any good anymore fore reasons that Maduro didn't really make clear. This is pretty disastrous on a number of levels. The PSUV wouldn't have moved ahead with this if it wasn't sure that it would win the elections for assembly members. And if the PSUV controls the assembly, they can make whatever constitution they want... one without presidential term limits, no legislative branch, military tribunals for civilian crimes, etc. This is a nightmare scenario. On the other hand, we're talking about Venezuela so there's a good chance that Maduro didn't actually mean any of what he said today and/or that this constituent assembly will never take off. But like I said, he seemed really sincere and gun-ho about it. EDIT: I should also add that while Maduro made the announcement, he said that the total number of delegates at the constituent assembly would be "approximately 500", but then he started to list a bunch of organizations and that would elect their own members. He was saying things like, "Disabled people will have their own representative! And fishermen will have their own representative! And factor workers will have their own representative!". This might be a sign that the CNE will have people elected by workplace/sector/community group, rather than by electoral district. So the regime could say "The Minister of Foreign Affairs elects one member, and the colectivo Hugo Chavez elects once member..." as a way to make sure that the voting pool works in their favour. This could be done in combination with elections by electoral district, for example, to guarantee that a certain percentage of assembly members come from pro-PSUV organizations. This is all speculation, though. EDIT: Laphroaig posted:Thank you for the NTN24 link, Chuck You're welcome. Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 22:15 on May 1, 2017 |
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May 1, 2017 22:05
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The protests in Caracas today were fairly widespread. The neighbourhoods of El Paraiso and Montalban saw skirmishes starting early in the morning. A group of demonstrators tried to get to the west of Caracas by heading west on the Cota Mil (a road that runs along the northern edge of the city", and there were lots of clashes there as well. The most nerve-wracking moment of the day came at around 5:00 PM, when protesters broke down part of the perimiter fence of the La Carlota air field, which sits on the Francisco Fajardo highway near Altamira. National Bolivarian Police officers shooting tear gas at protesters in El Paraiso: https://twitter.com/CarlosPaparoni/status/859069753197043713 A National Guard armored truck an accompanying soldiers walking down a street in El Paraiso: https://twitter.com/PAZV1958/status/859116173581053971 The video below shows National Guard and National Bolivarian police forces in action in El Paraiso. The people recording are upset that they don't have anything to throw at the soldiers: https://twitter.com/liderhumano/status/859133667901399041 This video shows Green Cross volunteers carrying away a man who was injured, likely by a tear gas canister, in La Castellana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDjCl3S3uts The videos below show different angles of protesters breaking down the La Carlota perimeter fence: https://twitter.com/hombreradikal/status/859156786816921600 https://twitter.com/EfectoCocuyo/status/859172745619419138 Security forces responded to the break very quickly. I read lots of reports on Twitter of soldiers stationed in the base firing their weapons in the air to scare away protesters. The National Guard and National Bolivarian Police responded as well, and at one point were pushed back by the protesters: https://twitter.com/CaracasChron/status/859182372700532736 https://twitter.com/newya1207/status/859163296540348417 https://twitter.com/raulstolk/status/859195521210167296 The Chacao health authority says that it received at least 40 injured throughout the day, and that is just one neighbourhood in the city. As during previous protests, we're likely to see colectivos armados start to come out into the overnight hours. The opposition reacted to Maduro's announcement of the "constituent assembly' by calling it a "fraud" and asking people to "lock down" the streets of the country starting tomorrow at 6:00 AM.
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May 2, 2017 01:20
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At some point they've got to run out tear gas at this rate to right?
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May 2, 2017 02:26
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Comrayn posted:At some point they've got to run out tear gas at this rate to right? It's hard to tell. I've seen lots of images like the one below showing tear gas grenades and canisters that were manufactured around 2010 and expire" in 2015: https://twitter.com/AnonymousVene10/status/859129526084747264 That means two things: 1) They're working through their stockpile and they're only at the stuff they bought in 2010, or 2) They're running out of non-expired stuff and are now using this.
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May 2, 2017 02:38
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I'm amazed you can actually give me an informed answer. Thanks.
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May 2, 2017 04:05
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As for the constituent assembly, like Chuck said they wouldn't dare do this if they didn't have a guaranteed way to win the election with a president that has an approval rate below 20%. It seems like a way out as this would involve calling for general elections and the official death of the Fifth Republic, but there are several reasons as to why this is a trap set up by the government:
A constituent assembly needs to be called, but not while Maduro remains in power.
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May 2, 2017 04:50
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Guess Maduro's really going all in, huh?
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May 2, 2017 06:45
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It's a really desperate move, I would say, particularly because it involves getting rid of the Chavez constitution, which Chavistas overwhelmingly consider to be "perfect". The response from the opposition has already been to refuse it, so I guess we'll just have to see what comes out from this.
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May 2, 2017 11:17
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Has the food situation eased any? I ask because obviously these people are not standing in lines all day anymore, but the disruption would also affect whatever food distribution was taking place. That is, is there a danger that people will run out of food before the demonstrations (hopefully) succeed?
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May 2, 2017 13:49
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Mozi posted:Has the food situation eased any? I ask because obviously these people are not standing in lines all day anymore, but the disruption would also affect whatever food distribution was taking place. That is, is there a danger that people will run out of food before the demonstrations (hopefully) succeed? There's your proof that the protestors are all fat cat right-wingers hoarding food. They don't have to stand in line all day like a good Chavista would need to do to survive. Also kind of related: http://venezuelaecon.com/ the black market BsF exchange rate has been "stable" over the last 6 months, after suddenly losing 75% of its value in December. But with swings up and down like that, I wonder how anyone gets shopping done. E: Note the the M2/Reserves line, which is counting down to a time bomb exploding.
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May 2, 2017 14:39
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Here's something I wrote trying to make sense of this "Communal Constituent Assembly" that Maduro called for yesterday:quote:Maduro pressed the red button yesterday. His call for a “Constituent Assembly” is the nuclear option for a regime with no other options. In this do-or-die scenario, Maduro chose to do the unthinkable and call for a dissolution of the Fifth Republic and of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The reaction this this announcement from the opposition has been pretty intense. Last night, National Assembly president Julio Borges held a press conference in which he essentially said that this was nothing but an attempt by Maduro to formally destroy democracy in Venezuela by writing it out of the constitution. I've also heard comments from lawyers and other politicians saying that this process might be used as an excuse to not hold elections for the next two years or so. I haven't seen the national media report this year, but the committee in charge of organizing this thing is made up 100% of the worst-of-the-worst of the regime: Delcy Rodriguez, Cilia Flores, Elias Jaua... the usual suspects. This morning people build barricades in streets around the country. This was part of a protest action that the opposition called for last night. A barricade somewhere in Valencia, Carabobo state: https://twitter.com/1LIDERAGUILA/status/859435020049686528 National Bolivarian Police in action in Chacaito: https://twitter.com/hispanopost/status/859423412355313664 The pictures below show a colectivo [i]armado in action this morning in El Llanito, Caracas. At least one man is carrying a pistol; another carries a bat, and a third a knife. https://twitter.com/RCamachoVzla/status/859440708989661185 Protesters on the Francisco Fajardo highway in Santa Fe earlier this morning: https://twitter.com/VoluntadPopular/status/859405540123914240 El Paraiso: https://twitter.com/raulstolk/status/859406264194957314 A group of unknown assailants (perhaps not a colectivo armado) "robbed from vehicles and fired their weapons" in La Urbina, Caracas: https://twitter.com/RCamachoVzla/status/859439911589601280 We're into the second month of unrest now.
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May 2, 2017 17:23
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The situation in Caracas and most major cities around the country today can only be described as chaotic. A lot of people answered the opposition's call last night to "lock down" their streets. I am disturbed by the number of videos showing colectivos armados in action in Caracas. Here's a quick recap of some of the things that happened today:
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May 3, 2017 00:19
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| # ? May 21, 2024 18:23 |
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I saw this on twitter earlier. Colectivos stripped naked and tied to a tree. It's hard to imagine things dying down without the regime's thugs seeking revenge if people have been fighting back against them this hard. https://twitter.com/soldadoDfranela/status/859469695690342400
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May 3, 2017 01:11
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