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I sure do love how this thread has been replaced by The Venezuela Thread, and with the same fate.
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Jul 6, 2022 03:27
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lol where the gently caress are y'all getting off casually slipping Morales in alongside Chavez? just pure uncut OAS propaganda
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Jul 6, 2022 05:26
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Cup Runneth Over posted:lol where the gently caress are y'all getting off casually slipping Morales in alongside Chavez? just pure uncut OAS propaganda he was a despot! his people have jailed persecuted opposition leader anez
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Jul 6, 2022 05:44
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Fuschia tude posted:I sure do love how this thread has been replaced by The Venezuela Thread, and with the same fate. So this is a little unfair because I was trying to specifically center things around the new developments in Venezuela, specifically, the "economic recovery" done through the dismantlement of whatever socialist policies remained under Maduro, mostly because of how domestic opposition to this seems to be coming rather specifically from the people who are inarguably not supported by the US, like union workers, the Communist party or Marea Socialista. The deforestation of the Amazon seemingly garners attention solely when Bolsonaro does it, for whatever reason Maduro doing the exact same thing ever since he took power barely makes a splash. The reason why I'm bringing it up is because nobody is talking about it. You see the occasional news article here and there, and I mean I've been saying since the Venezuela thread that the future of Venezuela under Maduro would be in the end identical to what it would be under the neoliberals. But otherwise this is a pretty underdeveloped topic when it sounds like it would be relevant considering how left leaning this forum is. I've also learned from that thread and I'm attempting to source everything I mentioned, I don't rely on personal experience, I don't want to insert myself in the conversation despite the constant attempts to paint me as right wing, as the "Sabine Mengele Eichmann" and so forth. The arguments should stand on it's own, whether if it comes from a Venezuelan immigrant or not. fnox fucked around with this message at 08:55 on Jul 6, 2022 |
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Jul 6, 2022 08:38
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I'd like to express my appreciation for your well-sourced posts with info many people wouldn't know, fnox, and hope you continue to provide them.
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Jul 7, 2022 02:00
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fnox posted:So this is a little unfair because I was trying to specifically center things around the new developments in Venezuela, Yeah, I don't usually have a problem with most of the content of your posts. And I don't want Venezuela banned as a topic. I enjoyed that thread, way back when.
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Jul 7, 2022 07:33
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https://twitter.com/AssLatam/status/1544018432353501186 (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jul 8, 2022 18:02
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Evo Morales interviewing on Argentinian TV and calling Cuba the best democracy is (rightfully) making the rounds today. https://twitter.com/madorni/status/1547179439573782528 https://eldeber.com.bo/pais/evo-morales-en-cuba-esta-la-mejor-democracia-que-dictadura_286026
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Jul 14, 2022 05:02
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He said there's freedom of speech in Venezuela, lol. Idk why he feels compelled to say stuff like that, why can't he just shut the gently caress up?
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Jul 14, 2022 08:44
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This is the closest I could find on Morales opinion of Venezuela with regards to freedom of speech. He acknowledges that Venuezula defends themselves from baseless attacks by the press. This came from an interview before the coup, so maybe he should have been less tolerant of attacks by the press of business interests and taking a more defensive position like Venuezula. quote:Morales explained: “I heard out there some international organizations saying that there is no freedom of expression (in Bolivia). They call me ‘monkey’, ‘donkey’, and what do the media say? ‘It is time to get rid of his Excellency the murderer’.
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Jul 14, 2022 10:43
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He's right
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Jul 14, 2022 11:20
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Marenghi posted:This is the closest I could find on Morales opinion of Venezuela with regards to freedom of speech. He acknowledges that Venuezula defends themselves from baseless attacks by the press. I'm not sure what you're doing finding some other quote when there's this from the linked article.  Cup Runneth Over posted:He's right Nothing more beautiful than hearing some cheerleading for autocratic censorship while freely posting your dissidence to your leaders on this side of the internet. What do you guys even get about defending horrible poo poo from a country with a free speech record so tarnished that it prosecuted a 72 year old grandma for supposedly making threats against Maduro on TikTok? I do not loving understand in the slightest the fascination with Maduro and the need to jump on his defence.
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Jul 14, 2022 12:17
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You know there's a rule against making death threats to the president here, because the secret service contacted Lowtax about it before. Venuezula isn't unique in not taking death threats to their leaders lightly.
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Jul 14, 2022 12:25
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Marenghi posted:You know there's a rule against making death threats to the president here, because the secret service contacted Lowtax about it before. The "death threat" is as follows, since it appears you are unable and unwilling to read any source that isn't in English. quote:The arepa seller offers the Cilia Flores arepa as "the widow", as in Venezuela arepas that do not have filling are usually called that. A supposed client, who does not appear on camera, tells her that Nicolás Maduro's wife is not a widow. And Mata, in character, says: "But that's what we all want." It would take me a minute to find something worse than that in C-SPAM about just about any other American politician. Stop being disingenuous.
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Jul 14, 2022 12:29
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Rule 1. of CSPAM quote:
Go to CSPAM and try say you want to make Jill Biden a widow, see how that works out. Or even try it on tiktok, wouldn't be surprised if you ran afoul of United States Code Title 18, Section 871
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Jul 14, 2022 13:24
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Do NOT explicitly or implicitly threaten harm on anyone, especially people under Secret Service protection or who might work in the White House. If you do so, you are risking a permaban.
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Marenghi posted:Rule 1. of CSPAM What are your views on Margaret Thatcher? This is loving embarrassing, btw. You know it's hosed up. You know the Maduro government suppresses free speech and the media. You know that this is a method for the Maduro dictatorship to remain in power. 93% of Venezuelans don't feel safe exerting their free speech, it's not the "business leaders" who are afraid, it's everybody. What do you get out of bootlicking for some lovely dictatorship that masquerades as socialist?
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Jul 14, 2022 13:50
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I am going to murder margaret thatcher, consider her dead.
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Jul 14, 2022 13:53
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Neurolimal posted:I am going to murder margaret thatcher, consider her dead. You may think you're clever, but the law this lady got prosecuted by doesn't exclude dead people as being victims. This would net you a possible sentence of up to 20 years according to article 20 of the Ley Constitucional Contra el Odio, Por La Convivencia Pacifica y La Tolerancia. You'd get 12 to 18 years for murder. Just to mention how stupidly broad the same law that arrested that 72 year old grandma, Nicmer Evans, a guy who was a member of MVR and PSUV under Chavez and noted left wing dissident of Maduro as member of Marea Socialista, was held without trial for 51 days for wishing some VTV reporter a "long life" after the reporter announced he had tested positive for COVID. You want another example? Here's a nurse being detained for incitement to hatred and terrorism for publicly complaining about the conditions of the hospital she worked at. It's really funny how this law seems to be almost exclusively used against people who complain against Maduro instead of any sort of corporate media agency, isn't it?
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Jul 14, 2022 14:21
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fnox posted:What are your views on Margaret Thatcher? I'm glad she's dead. And even if she were still alive I'd be confident to wish harm against her because she didn't have secret service protection or work in the white house. The law I mentioned is an American law specifically against making death threats to US presidents and Vice presidents, this is an American hosted website so they have to abide by American laws.
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Jul 14, 2022 14:52
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Marenghi posted:I'm glad she's dead. You know that law, according to precedent, specifically considers threats that a "reasonable person" would consider a serious threat to life to the American president? You consider a 72 year old grandma, portraying a fictional arepa seller wishing Maduro's wife was a widow, to be a credible threat against the Venezuelan president? It's loving ridiculous you're even wanting to pursue this line, my god. The reason that rule exists in C-SPAM is because, rather specifically due to Doorknob Slobber, it's self censorship for a good reason.
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Jul 14, 2022 15:06
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i fly airplanes posted:Evo Morales interviewing on Argentinian TV and calling Cuba the best democracy is (rightfully) making the rounds today. He’s right. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jul 14, 2022 16:10
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Marenghi posted:Or even try it on tiktok, wouldn't be surprised if you ran afoul of United States Code Title 18, Section 871 quote:Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Faith leaders and electoral opposition were fond of using it for Obama, as were police officers and speakers of the house of the opposition party and even, eventually, an opposition senator. You can find Biden edition merch right now on Amazon ("sassy treasures") and Etsy. To the best of my ability, I've not found a single person who has been fined, charged, prosecuted, or spent a minute in prison over this. From the preachers to the merch makers to the ecommerce websites to the cops to the leading opposition figures  admittedly, none were tiktokers.
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Jul 14, 2022 16:43
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Nucleic Acids posted:He’s right. I'm sorry you died for my sins 
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Jul 16, 2022 20:50
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Been in Caracas for the last 5 days, AMA. Thus far, it’s exactly what I thought it’d be but even stranger. There’s a lot less Maduro now than Chavez, every government building is still clad in Chavez pictures however. Here’s a couple of choice ones from what I’ve seen thus far.   You can also now find next to anything. All the stuff that used to be a huge pain to get and that you had to queue up for are now readily available. You can even find like, American goods, this row from the supermarket  There’s also brands that used to be gone and are now back, this is what the milk aisle looks like.  Two caveats though. Notice the prices say “ref”? That means “dolar referencial”. So the price for a carton of milk is 1.5 dollars basically. You can literally pay with US dollars if you have them, but you can’t get change smaller than a dollar, unless you accept bolívares back. The other caveat is, all this poo poo is private stores. That store I went to was once an Abasto Bicentenario, now it’s a “Salva Market”, some sort of mix between supermarket and bodegón. Things like the arepera socialista are now fully gone, so are a lot of the more visible missions. The only new constructions I’ve seen are complete eyesores of glass and steel in the rich neighborhood of Las Mercedes, everything else looks exactly the same. The US dollar is king here though, like you can even pay with foreign bank cards which you absolutely couldn’t before, so the exchange controls are defacto gone. It’s not like US companies operate here though, so instead there’s local copies. I saw a pharmacy called literally “CVS but more”, there’s a local copy of Uber called Ridery which works shockingly well, there’s a local version of GrubHub called PedidosYa, and so forth. Lastly, crime seems to have actually gone down quite a lot. I say that even though I got pickpocketed at the airport (someone nicked my headphones from my pocket). I’m pretty sure this isn’t some magical action by Maduro but rather a consequence of there being a whole lost generation that now lives elsewhere. Obviously, things in the slums are a lot more different, but at least the city doesn’t feel like a pressure pot anymore with the constant risk of being mugged everywhere you walk. Is it better? Depends on who you ask. It’s more liveable, so long as you’ve got foreign money. In a lot of ways it’s worse. Oh, and nobody remotely gives a poo poo about Guaido. He literally hasn’t come up once in my time here.
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Aug 11, 2022 00:40
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fnox posted:Been in Caracas for the last 5 days, AMA. What're the feelings on Petro and Colombia over there? My family and entourage of Colombians abroad are all pretty happy about him and I guess he's going to bring up official channels with Venezuela.
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Aug 11, 2022 01:02
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how's power consistency in residential areas?
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Aug 11, 2022 01:47
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100YrsofAttitude posted:What're the feelings on Petro and Colombia over there? My family and entourage of Colombians abroad are all pretty happy about him and I guess he's going to bring up official channels with Venezuela. It’s always going to depend on who you ask. Some Venezuelans have actually negative perceptions of Colombians for some bullshit reason. I don’t think Petro has made much of a splash yet other than the obvious divide of the conservatives seeing him as “yet another nail in the coffin for democracy” and more left leaning people being carefully optimistic. My personal take is that I really haven’t heard a lot from him in most of the media I consume. I don’t think anybody is going to change the situation in Venezuela anytime soon, particularly with the path they’re going now where they’re effectively liberalizing the economy while remaining nominally as the socialist party, thus managing to keep the kingmakers happy, all others be damned. If Petro can help make this better, god bless him. i say swears online posted:how's power consistency in residential areas? Better in Caracas, as bad as its always been everywhere else.
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Aug 11, 2022 02:33
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fnox posted:Lastly, crime seems to have actually gone down quite a lot. I say that even though I got pickpocketed at the airport (someone nicked my headphones from my pocket). I’m pretty sure this isn’t some magical action by Maduro but rather a consequence of there being a whole lost generation that now lives elsewhere. Obviously, things in the slums are a lot more different, but at least the city doesn’t feel like a pressure pot anymore with the constant risk of being mugged everywhere you walk. I've heard the same: high oil prices have somewhat stabilized things in Venezuela and it's no longer a de facto warzone from previous years where even airline crew were refusing to fly to Caracas. Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope you stay safe.
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Aug 13, 2022 04:45
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Me, today after work: Huh, there's a lot more traffic than usual today. Well, that's Friday for ya! Me, coming home and seeing Tijuana trend on Twitter today: ...oh https://twitter.com/LupitaJuarezH/status/1558284153434537984 https://twitter.com/cadena_noticias/status/1558348580934414337
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Aug 13, 2022 08:21
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i fly airplanes posted:I've heard the same: high oil prices have somewhat stabilized things in Venezuela and it's no longer a de facto warzone from previous years where even airline crew were refusing to fly to Caracas. I don’t think the oil money has trickled down at all. Like, the only new constructions I’ve seen are giant buildings in Las Mercedes that are clearly for private use only and are from private money. Ironically enough, the sanctions have only served for the noveau riche, who are primarily military men, to be forced to spend their significant riches within the country as opposed to abroad in Miami. Like, I’ve been to El Llanito, I’ve been to Parque Central, those places look exactly the same they have for the last 10 years, if not even more run down. The only noticeable difference I saw while in my mandatory 6 hour long queue for the SAIME appointment is that the street sellers have a price in bolívares, then a bulk deal in dollars, so you could get a packet of plantain chips for 1 bolivar or 6 for a dollar. In general, the biggest difference in terms of the sensation of safety is that the motorbike gangs seem to be largely gone. Most motorbikes I see now are courier services for the numerous delivery apps that have now popped up, long gone are the kilometer long queues of bikes snaking their way around traffic. From my understanding, kidnappings and muggings have also gone down significantly, apparently primarily because the upper class is now largely military or military adjacent, making them pretty poor targets. I’m still pretty convinced that the 1 or 2 lost generations have significantly reduced the pool of potential criminals, so I doubt there’s any intentional policy that has led to a reduction in crime. fnox fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Aug 14, 2022 |
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Aug 14, 2022 16:08
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i don't really like posting this guy because he's kind of a dipshit but can't argue that his footage is great https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYUWcAqXtRM people say crime went down at the same time as stores started consistently stocking food, which makes the most sense to me; people were just hungry at between 8 minutes and 12 minutes he gets a haircut from people on the street and they talk about the differences between what they do and having a licensed barbershop. they do "social labor" by keeping the street clean and safe and they're allowed to set up shop
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Aug 14, 2022 17:58
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That could be but I also don’t necessarily buy it because the places where there’s food are completely dollarized. The minimum wage is still like 20 dollars a month. Like sure, the biggest difference between how it was 6 years ago and how it is now is that back then you couldn’t find food even if you could pay for it. But like, a cachito de jamón, once a breakfast staple you could get for maybe half a dollar, is now $3 in most places. Inflation plays a factor there too of course, but it’s clear to me that the divide between the rich and poor has only grown in the last couple of years. In fact the most shocking thing is the complete transparency of the new hyper capitalist reality of the country. Exact same leadership, exact same parties, but it is now absolutely normal and expected for there to be an elite class of “enchufados” running luxury businesses everywhere in the country. The power went out yesterday for about an hour, and you could clearly hear where the “enchufados” lived by the sound of their private power generators. It’s pretty stark when you see every single apartment and house on the block be completely dim except for like, the 2-3 biggest ones.
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Aug 14, 2022 18:34
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The "socialism" that is often transposed on states like Venezuela, Iran, and even North Korea is very much a fake narrative and part of the bizarre socialism<>anti-imperialism (anti-US) mantra dating from the USSR period. For example (and apologies for linking fake Grayzone News): https://thegrayzone.com/2017/09/05/sony-obama-seth-rogen-cia-regime-change-north-korea/ Take the opposite side of America and legitimize it: in this case, North Korea is being bullied by the US by a Hollywood film. Just bizarre. And here's Venezuela doing it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Saab Socialism with Venezuelan characteristics requires a lot of charter flights to Iran. State airline Conviasa has previously been used for years to smuggle weapons from abroad under ghost flights that they list as commercial flights that are impossible to actually book as a passenger. https://businessinsider.com/aeroterror-venezuela-iran-and-latin-america-2015-3/
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Aug 20, 2022 13:14
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Final takes on my visit to Venezuela: * Politics are dead there. After years and years of deadlock and stupid partisan narratives, people have lost all trust on the political system. Maduro has exploited this well to fade out into the background as he implements neoliberal policies. * The country is completely militarized. It far closer resembles the usual military dictatorships of the Caribbean and Central America than it does the country that it used to be. Military control is absolute and the generals are treated like royals. You can readily see them rolling around in their giant SUVs, and you know where they live because of the constant presence of armed security. * Nobody gives a poo poo about Guaido. I did not see a single TV playing the news, I did not see any evidence of the opposition even existing anymore. * I did not see any evidence of any of the social programs that once existed. No Barrio Adentro, no Misión Vivienda, no Mercal, PDVAL, Abasto Bicentenario. The only public work of note that I saw was the renovation of Parque del Este in Caracas. It’s nice now. * Tons of propaganda has been erased. What’s left are different allusions to Chavez. Nothing advertising the “5 engines of socialist production” remains. Their billboards have been replaced with local fashion brands and their models. * The US dollar is the de facto currency of the country. You get bolívares back only if they don’t have enough change to give back (there are no coins, only bills). The exchange rate is basically set at 5.98 bolívares to the dollar, and it’s completely unrestricted. You can pay with foreign cards, something once thought unthinkable. * I am now fully convinced that the crisis wasn’t caused by the sanctions, because the sanctions are all still around. It’s important to note that it’s not only American products that you can find now, there’s a lot of once defunct local brands that are now coming back now that they’re allowed to not operate at a loss. It’s particularly noticeable that you can find American medicines, like even over the counter ones like Tylenol and Pepto Bismol. It was often claimed that there was an embargo of food and medicine, and yet without any changes to American foreign policy towards Venezuela, these products all of a sudden appeared in store shelves once currency controls were abolished. * The gas subsidy is on its way out. This is huge, as it was often thought to be key to the Chavista hold to power. Somehow they managed to slowly manipulate the average citizen into paying 50 cents to the liter, when they once paid next to nothing for gas. Only cops, cabs and bus drivers still have access to subsidized fuel. * Personally, I don’t see the economy recovering fully in the next 5 years. I think there will be yet another revolution to overthrow this revolution, once people realize how short changed they have been by the Chavistas, and how they’re now worse off than they were under the old system. I highly doubt any socialist system will remain now that the military has gotten a taste for luxury. Venezuela is on the path to turbulent transitional dictatorial governments for the next decade. Maybe we’ll rediscover democracy, but I doubt it.
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Aug 20, 2022 17:22
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is 50 cents a liter still not subsidized? seems like roughly half the price it normally would be in an unregulated market, or maybe 60% of that amount
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Aug 20, 2022 17:32
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i say swears online posted:is 50 cents a liter still not subsidized? seems like roughly half the price it normally would be in an unregulated market, or maybe 60% of that amount Considering that the crude itself is processed usually by Ecuador and then sold back as gasoline to Venezuela, that’s roughly what you would be paying to break even. Subsidized oil is cheaper than water per liter. That “subsidy” has always been atrocious for the economy of the country, with it being horribly expensive and also justifying the excess domestic consumption of fuel. It’s one of the main forces leading to the collapse of the Venezuelan economy, as it creates a completely irrational transportation market. EDIT: I forgot, that’s no longer the case. Gasoline is now actually just imported. Usually from Iran. fnox fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Aug 20, 2022 |
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Aug 20, 2022 18:22
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fnox posted:Their billboards have been replaced with local fashion brands and their models.  lol. Someone hand you both the same choir sheet? (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Aug 21, 2022 00:45
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Two people noticing the same notable thing while reporting on the same situation? Must be a conspiracy.
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Aug 21, 2022 01:46
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fnox posted:* The US dollar is the de facto currency of the country. You get bolívares back only if they don’t have enough change to give back (there are no coins, only bills). The exchange rate is basically set at 5.98 bolívares to the dollar, and it’s completely unrestricted. You can pay with foreign cards, something once thought unthinkable. Is there such thing as electronic/non-cash payments at all given dollarization, do shopkeepers have workarounds, or is it just a cash economy?
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Aug 21, 2022 01:50
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Within the same week?
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Aug 21, 2022 01:51
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