Venezuela: The Empanada Summit

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Venezuela: The Empanada Summit

«‹›6 »

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Eh. Not worth it.

beer_war fucked around with this message at 09:36 on Aug 26, 2015

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 09:04

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 2, 2024 06:17

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Real criminals fight back, you see.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 15:28

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

This is from a while back, but remember that Foreign Policy hit piece on Leopoldo L�pez Borneo Jimmy liked so much?

It has now been corrected 7 times:

quote:

* Clarification, Aug. 12, 2015: Pedro Burelli was not involved in hiring Leopoldo L�pez at PDVSA.

** Clarification, Sept. 3, 2015: Leopoldo L�pez�s mother was originally hired by a subsidiary of PDVSA in 1980, and transferred to the head office in 1994.

*** Clarification, Aug. 12, 2015: Burelli did not specifically advise L�pez on the 2014 clashes with the Venezuelan government.

**** Clarification: Aug. 26, 2015: An editing error in a previous version of this article made unclear the years in which L�pez was banned from running for public office.

***** Update, Aug. 12, 2015: This article has been updated to note the ruling by the Inter-American Commission and Inter-American Court of Human Rights on behalf of L�pez.

****** Correction/clarification, Aug. 12, 2015: A previous version of this article incorrectly noted that Burelli was �considered a fugitive from justice by Venezuelan authorities.� In June 2014, the BBC reported that the Venezuelan government would be seeking a Red Notice from Interpol for his arrest. A Red Notice has not been issued.

******* Update, Aug. 17, 2015: This article has been updated to reflect Burelli�s explanation for the meaning of the word �colectivo� and to include the name of the retired officer to whom he was speaking.

What's more, the author, Roberto Lovato, used to work for Telesur:

quote:

In his rebuttal to the rebuttal, Lovato confirms the Telesur connection: �It is true that, as a working freelance journalist, I contracted briefly with a TeleSur subsidiary, TeleSur English, headquartered in and operated out of Ecuador, one of six countries that jointly run the parent network.� Venezuela, it should be noted, is the majority stakeholder; it�s accurate to call it Venezuela�s state-run media outlet.

Shouldn�t this Telesur detail be written across the top of the story in red? Rothkopf says that the disclosure in the rebuttal is sufficient. �We have a very high regard for our readers and feel that they can draw their own conclusions if we present them with the facts,� he says. The editors didn�t know of the Telesur connection prior to running the story, says Rothkopf, �and that�s unfortunate.� Executive Editor Pauker says, �It�s difficult to make the claim that he is the agent of the Maduro government�based on that association.�

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...uelan-politico/

beer_war fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Sep 13, 2015

# ¿ Sep 13, 2015 10:34

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Chuck Boone posted:

The Ministry of Defense released a statement saying that the "illicit airplane" entered Venezuela through the "northwestern region" (Zulia). The statement says the the airplane was heading south when the fighter crashed.

"Our glorious Bolivarian Air Force"

"fulfilling their holy duty of protecting our sovereign air space"

"Our Bolivarian Air Force will work tirelessly, every day of the year, to guarantee our sovereignty and independence, firmly combating the infamous scourges of drug trafficking, para-militarism and other crimes in the Colombian-Venezuelan border region, with the firm purpose of building a new frontier of peace, prosperity, security and development for all the people of Venezuela".

The KCNA would be proud. :ussr:

# ¿ Sep 19, 2015 10:17

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Guys, the likelihood that Borneo Jimmy is receiving PSUV funding and / or training is extremely high.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2015 22:44

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

I can certainly agree with the second part.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2015 22:48

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

punk rebel ecks posted:

I mean even if it is true that the U.S. is supporting the right wing...so what? I'm pretty sure most major parties in developing countries are in the pockets of more industralized countries. You don't think the PSUV receives foreign checks as well? Political parties take money when they can get it.

Financing opposition political parties directly would be illegal, but no one has even claimed that so far.

On the other hand, it's a matter of public record that Spanish multinational bank BBVA financed the Ch�vez campaign back in 1998:

quote:

Goirigolzarri informed then-chairman Ybarra about the request, who later authorized a US$1.5mn payment to the Chavez campaign. Another political contribution was also paid later during the elections to Chavez's special legislative assembly.

In his letter to Garzon the BBVA CEO justified the payments by saying that many other companies present in Venezuela received fund requests from the Chavez camp and they paid - and therefore it would not have been wise for BBVA to differentiate itself from the other companies, considering the situation in Venezuela at the time.

http://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/banking/BBVA_CEO_also_knew_of_Chavez_campaign_financing

# ¿ Oct 12, 2015 07:39

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Chuck Boone posted:

A story from earlier this year re-surfaced onto the news cycle this week and it looks to have some telling implications for the Parliamentary elections.

The National Assembly recently announced that an unspecified number of Tribunal Supremo de Justicia (the country's top court) justices would be retiring before the end of the year. Jos� Pe�a Sol�s, a former TSJ justice, told El Nacional that the move is alarming not only because of its vagueness, but also because justices should not be able to retire until the new National Assembly is in session. Solis said:

The National Assembly appoints justices to the TSJ for twelve year terms. Some justices were appointed in 2004, which means that their vacancies would be filled (potentially) by an opposition-run National Assembly, which is what the PSUV is trying to avoid. In other words, it looks like the PSUV is making arrangements in anticipation of a defeat in December.

This story first broke in July when a man named Jose Luis Pirela, the head of a party called Movimiento Progresista de Venezuela, said that he had been informed that the government was placing "undue pressure" on TSJ justices to resign this year, and that as many as 14 had agreed to do so. The TSJ is made up of 32 justices.

And wouldn't you know it, 13 Supreme Court judges conveniently decided now would be an excellent time to announce their retirement.

I'm expecting Maduro to be granted decree powers any day now.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2015 17:22

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

JohnGalt posted:

http://en.mercopress.com/2015/10/31/chavistas-will-not-surrender-the-revolution-even-in-defeat-in-december-s-elections-warned-maduro

More informed opinions please shed light

I just want to know WTH a "negated hypothetical scenario" is supposed to mean.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2015 07:46

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

The Secretary General of the OAS wrote a sternly worded letter to Tibisay Lucena regarding "the best electoral system in the world". Turns out he's not impressed:

quote:

I have been told that the Venezuelan opposition has not been able to participate in the election campaign on equal terms.

In an atmosphere characterized by serious political polarization and mistrust, the electoral authorities � far from ensuring the candidates are afforded entirely equal conditions � repeat the official line and make the opposition electorate more distrusting of the elections and of the country�s institutions.

quote:

I have also been informed that the absence of campaign spending caps or controls means that government candidates can, and indeed would, use funds. The government even deploys a large number of civil servants and state resources for campaign purposes.

quote:

Apparently, this is in addition to the absence of guarantees of access to the media for candidates that get
no state funding.

I have been informed that neither the state nor the CNE ensures that all candidates have equal conditions under which to promote their campaigns and their proposals. In the absence of state financing, the ruling party has resorted to using financial resources that it manages as the National Government.

quote:

Concerns have been raised with me about the likelihood of the electorate becoming confused by where party candidates are finally placed on ballot papers, based on an announcement made by the CNE in late October. My understanding is that placement on the ballot paper depends on the total number of votes a party obtains per list. I have been informed, however, that the card for the Movimiento de Integridad Nacional (MIN-Unidad) party, which was investigated by the Supreme Court of Justice and was expelled from the MUD, was placed beside the card for the Mesa de la Unidad (MUD). MIN-Unidad had registered candidates independently. The placement of the card, coupled with the use of similar colors and names, could create confusion at the time of voting.

I have been further advised that the CNE has banned the use of colors, symbols and names of other parties, citing similarity to other parties on the card. The similarities between the MUD card and the MINUnidad card transcend the colors and symbol � at the last minute, MIN-Unidad registered a candidate named Ismael Garc�a, a 28 year-old laborer with no prior political activist record, to run for deputy. On the ballot, that young man appears next to another Ismael Garc�a, the latter a well-known opposition leader. Even President Maduro, speaking on national television, made reference to the MIN-Unidad ticket as if it were the opposition (MUD) ticket.

Here's how that part of the ballot looks:

quote:

In addition, a security plan code-named Operation People's Liberation (OLPL) was implemented. It has been cited by various human rights defense organizations for being responsible for mass arrests and alleged extrajudicial executions.

There is also an ongoing campaign of threats and prosecution of workers, students, and popular sectors that take to the street to express their discontent over the country�s economic and social situation.

It is troubling that this activity should also be promoted by President Nicol�s Maduro, who says that he will apply an �iron fist� against anyone protesting against this election situation. It is also being promoted by the current president of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, who supports and promotes illegal activities of espionage and tracking of opponents

quote:

Disqualifications only apply to opposition leaders, who have often had problems trying to present discharges and mount their defense. There have been cases where they were prejudged, with no possibility of getting their defense admitted.

Disqualifications based on accusations that have not been substantiated in proceedings with basic discharge and defense guarantees limits the rights of the people in terms of being able to vote. Politics should open the door for citizens to express and citizens should be the ones to judge political activity of those who have been disqualified.

And it goes on for 7 more pages.

beer_war fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Nov 11, 2015

# ¿ Nov 11, 2015 19:21

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

MINUNIDAD, the fake opposition party, have a new ad:

Red arrow, pointing to the MUD: "Don't get confused, that's not Unidad"

Blue arrow, pointing to MINUNIDAD: "This is the ticket for Unidad. We are the opposition"

# ¿ Nov 27, 2015 19:27

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Chuck Boone posted:

This is insane. Thank you for posting this. Are you in Venezuela?

Nah, I just happen to find your country and its governmemt fascinating in its insanity. I got the picture from La Patilla:
http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2015/...tetico-anuncio/

# ¿ Nov 28, 2015 07:37

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

From Caracas Chronicles:

That's Ismael Garc�a from the MUD photoshopped into an ad for the fake MINUNIDAD party.

# ¿ Dec 3, 2015 07:56

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Don't worry, everyone, the observers have arrived:

quote:

A delegation of US solidarity activists arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday as part of an international effort to accompany the country�s December 6th parliamentary elections amidst a campaign by the US and other actors to discredit their legitimacy.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11744

Don't you feel safer already?

# ¿ Dec 6, 2015 09:45

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Labradoodle posted:

But then again, I would expect you to defend the PSUV if they set puppies on fire on live TV, so kudos for your consistency.

They were clearly paramilitary puppies.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2015 02:57

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Good, I hope this is the beginning of the end for the PSUV.

For the moment, they'll try anything legal and illegal to neuter and bypass the assembly as much as possible, though.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2015 08:17

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

The MUD is saying they won at least 112 seats (i.e. a 2/3rd majority) and could win as many as 116. That's an absolutely devastating loss for the PSUV.

http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2015/12/07/unidad-tiene-112-diputados-asegurados-y-podria-llegar-a-116/

beer_war fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Dec 7, 2015

# ¿ Dec 7, 2015 19:18

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Amused to Death posted:

How many seats are needed to put forward constitutional changes?

Exactly 112.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2015 19:25

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Honestly, I have no idea what's going to happen next.

One thing to keep in mind though is that the PSUV still controls the courts (which have proven themselves extremely skillful at "creative" interpretation of the law), the electoral council and most of the national media.

Also, the outgoing National Assembly still has about a month to grant Maduro "emergency powers" or some such.

The PSUV has been dealt a heavy blow for sure, I just don't know if it's a knockout yet.

beer_war fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Dec 7, 2015

# ¿ Dec 7, 2015 19:51

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Rahu posted:

So are there official numbers about the election results published now that a day has passed? I just looked over a few news sources and can't find anything beyond MUD having (at least) 99 seats which we knew last night.

Latest numbers on CNE website say 110 seats for the MUD (107 regular seats plus the 3 indigenous representatives), 55 for PSUV and 2 still to be announced:

http://www.cne.gob.ve/resultado_asamblea2015/r/0/reg_000000.html

The MUD is saying they won those last two seats, so it would be 112 seats exactly.

http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/151208/mesa-de-la-unidad-alcanza-112-diputados-en-la-asamblea-nacional

# ¿ Dec 8, 2015 07:56

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Woolie Wool posted:

Writing terrible op-eds for Alternet, perhaps?

Skimmed over the article and found this canard:

quote:

The State Department later admitted, �it is clear that NED [National Endowment for Democracy], Department of Defense (DOD), and other U.S. assistance programs provided training, institution building, and other support to individuals and organizations understood to be actively involved in the brief ouster of the Ch�vez government.�

What the linked report actually says:

https://oig.state.gov/system/files/13682.pdf posted:

OIG found nothing to indicate that U.S. assistance programs in Venezuela,
including those funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), were
inconsistent with U.S. law or policy. While it is clear that NED, Department of
Defense (DOD), and other U.S. assistance programs provided training, institution
building, and other support to individuals and organizations understood to be
actively involved in the brief ouster of the Ch�vez government, we found no
evidence that this support directly contributed, or was intended to contribute, to
that event.

Of course shitheads like that guy and Mark Weisbrot only ever include the truncated quote.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2015 08:12

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

punk rebel ecks posted:

How many branches of government does Venezuela have?

Five, on paper.

For the longest time, it really only had one branch, and it was born in Sabaneta.

# ¿ Dec 9, 2015 19:00

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Borneo Jimmy posted:

They're people from local communal councils who have helped bring participatory democracy to Venezuelans who were previously marginalized and ignored under right wing governments, this is simply bringing these movements to a national level. These groups have been an integral in furthering the Bolivarian Revolution on a local scale for a decade.

Are... are you a bot?

# ¿ Dec 18, 2015 08:44

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Chuck Boone posted:

One of the losing PSUV candidates in Amazonas state filed a challenge which the Supreme Court allowed today. The Court has ruled that the election ratification process in the state must stop immediately, which means that the state's three National Assembly seats are in limbo. Three of the seats went to the MUD, and one went to the PSUV.

Earlier today, Maduro spoke on television and said that the opposition cheated, and that if they hadn't done so they PSUV might have at least tied the election. He also said that the opposition bought votes, somehow controlled everyone involved in the electoral process (poll workers and witnesses). Also, in an apparent reference to "Operation Fanny Pack", Maduro also said that opposition agents strapped explosives to PSUV supporters and threatened to blow them up if they encouraged people to vote.

Best. Electoral System. In The World.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2015 08:54

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Goddamn, Chavista deputies are petty shitheels. Right now they are crowding and heckling Julio Borges and Henry Ramos Allup.

# ¿ Jan 5, 2016 19:30

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Labradoodle posted:

UPDATE: Allup, the new assembly president just confirmed rumors that he would be seeking a change in government via a method yet to be decided (either a recall referendum or a constitutional assembly) within six months starting from today.

Right-wing coup plot CONFIRMED.

# ¿ Jan 5, 2016 20:02

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

So what pretext did CONATEL use to throw out the media?

Edit: I'm watching it via Globovisi�n, what's going on?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xio7e2_senal-en-vivo_news

beer_war fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Jan 6, 2016

# ¿ Jan 6, 2016 21:56

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

To no one's surprise, the Supreme Court ruled as it was told, i.e. that any acts by the new Assembly will be null since they swore in the deputies from Amazonas.

Initial response from the MUD boils down to "gently caress off, you can't tell us what to do."

# ¿ Jan 12, 2016 00:28

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Any livestream for this that isn't loving VTV?

Edit: Oh great, only state media are allowed in, Globovisi�n and NTN24 use VTV's feed.

beer_war fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Jan 15, 2016

# ¿ Jan 15, 2016 22:34

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

You took out our giant picture of Ch�vez :qq:

In case you don't know: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/world/americas/removal-of-chavez-images-from-venezuela-capitol-raises-tension.html?_r=0

EDIT:

"circumstantial majority of electoral character", talk about being a sour loser.

beer_war fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jan 15, 2016

# ¿ Jan 15, 2016 23:09

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

"We multiplied the nominal minimum wage"

# ¿ Jan 15, 2016 23:50

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

AstraSage posted:

This was the fastest back-up I could find. It's pasted as a URL format instead of the automatic Video link because the latter erased the timestamp and I didn't want to subject anyone to Three Hours of Maduro (Even though it makes Allup's Half-an-Hour Response feel more wonderful) without a Drinking Game attached.

Also it's untranslated: I might try to include an English Transcript of it tomorrow.

https://youtu.be/uVkqutrl-F0?t=3h21m30s

Thanks, if you made it through three hours of Maduro droning on, you are a stronger person than I am, but HRA's rebuttal was cathartic as gently caress.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2016 10:26

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Hugoon Chavez posted:

Godamn, that's a massive turnaround for Aporrea. I don't understand what could've happened that made them flip completely, they were always a chavist website.

Aporrea has always had the odd critical article. They may be chavista as gently caress, but they aren't fully controlled by the government.

It's certainly unusual for them to carry an article that's quite that critical - and one that calls out the Comandante Eterno y Supremo no less, but as a whole, they are still chavistas.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2016 23:46

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

fnox posted:

The Supreme Tribunal of Justice has declared that the Decree of Economic Emergency promulgated by Maduro, which was shot down by the National Assembly in its ordinary session, is now active. The sentence emitted by the Constitutional Chamber of the TSJ to support this is based on some extremely wild interpretations of the constitution, the sentence itself is hard to translate due to its heavily verbose nature, but it's based on the thesis that the National Assembly's decision has no say in the validity of the decree...Despite the law explicitly stating otherwise.

http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/TSJ-Decreto-Emergencia-Economica-vigente_0_791921004.html

Wow, that's pretty loving brazen even for the TSJ.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2016 07:27

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

Luis "inflation doesn't exist" Salas has been fired, a month after he's been appointed, supposedly for "family reasons".

# ¿ Feb 16, 2016 08:16

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

fnox posted:

Bonus, here's Ramos Allup's ending speech from today's ordinary session (with the Pope in the picture-in-picture for some reason): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvpIUvVYtB0

Yeah, watching HRA own fools left, right, and center is fun to watch, so definitely keep posting those.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2016 07:27

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

El Hefe posted:

It was about the same price as the octane but in cents at least for 95oct, I filled up about 30L yesterday and it was almost Bs. 3, I just gave the guy a Bs 10 bill because what the hell am I gonna do with Bs. 7 in change.

The fact that you even still have 10 Bs bills is cracking me up right now.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2016 20:14

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

ecureuilmatrix posted:

That guy's name is Aristobulo? That's wonderful. Are there other names this awesome? I remember there was a dude with an Arabic name too?

(Also, Allup's name, is that pronounced like Ayup?)

Venezuelans are kinda famous for their names, yes.

As for Allup, both Alup and Ayup are common pronunciations. It's a Lebanese name, so there isn't really a clear-cut "correct" Spanish pronunciation.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2016 08:00

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

They literally tried to blame inflation on a freaking website. I can't even...

# ¿ Feb 27, 2016 10:28

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 2, 2024 06:17

beer_war: Mar 10, 2005

In other news, venezuelanalysis dot com is your most trusted source for Venezuela news and definitely not run by clueless hacks, no sir. :thumbsup:

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11890

# ¿ Mar 22, 2016 08:03

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Venezuela: The Empanada Summit

«‹›6 »