1)
The National Assembly under Hugo's control decided to create a new order, as if they did not have enough: the Order of Revolutionary Martyrs. This new medal will be awarded to people (i.e. chavistas) who have made an "outstanding contribution to the construction and defence of socialism in all fields". This was announced when a group of chavista deputies placed a flower arrangement at a monument to guerrilla fighter José Manuel Saher, a man who fought against the democratic governments of the sixties.
The deputies declared they did it also in honour of the fights carried out by native Americans - never mind the government haven't given pemones or yekwanas, guaraos or karinas the lands they demand- and in honour of all those who suffered under the dictatorships of Juan Vicente Gómez and Pérez Jiménez - never mind Hugo is becoming more and more like the former one and he has openly and repeatedly expressed admiration for the latter.
2)
The first link of this post is a video where Hugo is giving a new award, the Medalla del Libertador, to Aleksandr Lukashenko. The Belarussian dictator says "what has been done for Belarus today here (he does not say what in this clip)...that...no one has ever given our country such a present...and I want to promise you, dear Hugo -yeah, he calls Hugo Hugo too! - and I also give my promise to the whole Venezuelan people, that we will correspond to this big present of the Venezuelan nation. I promise you here, on Venezuelan soil...that we will do anything you tell us for your country, for the defence of your sovereignity and for the maintenance of the security and independence [of the nation]".
I have a wee hunch.
Thank you for posting.
ReplyDeleteMany people in Belarus feel regret and sadness for the lost "greatness" of the Soviet Union.Just like Chavez is helping Cuba's continuation of extreme control, he is also helping Belarus strengthen itself towards continuing dictatorship.
There is much false pride at stake which maintains Lukashenko in position.Real and healthy pride is not about vainglory, but about one's inner feeling that one has done one's best without any comparison to others.
There is a situation where for so many years the Belorussian people have been so out of touch with the truth of the world at large and lacking in a realistic perspective of their places in it.
Most Belorussians have little idea how wrong it is that they cannot speak freely, have a real opposition, or proper control over their own destinies as individuals.I don't mean to imply that it is a totally horrible country.No, it has many likable assets, but at its political core, it is dangerous.
Individuality is the sign of higher human evolution.In terms of consciousness , despite a certain educational level that many people have attained there, there is little psychological evolution going on.There is little in the way of individual separation from groupthink and almost no awareness of its necessity or what it really implies.
If Venezuela continues on its path, it may end up in a similar fate.
What will the world be like if individual freedom is eliminated or greatly handicapped?The fight for world freedom from group think and retro dictatorial trends is a documented fact looming in our future, and it is effecting all countries.
I find this very scary.
Very sadly most people in Belarus or Venezuela lack any reference about the outside world, as you say.
ReplyDeleteIn Venezuela some people still have the impression there is freedom because they (<27% of the population) can watch people in Globovision talking about how we are living under a dictatorship and some even say "we need to get rid of the currenet president no matter what. Eh? That does not fit with a dictatorship, not even an autocratic government, does it? Well, we have a new form.
Venezuelans had a very dysfunctional democracy but it was a democracy nonetheless. It seems that chavismo will manage to control people in a way European regimes never used: normal violent crime is scaring away people. In that sense Venezuela is even in a worse shape than Belarus.
I don't know how much the increased violence is sheer incompetence and how much of it may be part of a programme to stop people from hitting the streets in areas with a murder rate of over 100 murders per 100000, as in Southern Valencia and the East in the capital. Would that be too crazy? Perhaps.
Still, violent crime is becoming a big big deterrent.
I think oppo leaders need to provide references and promote open dialogue.
So far I see Borges and Machado and the like talking about property rights and the like. Yes, that is fine, yes, the poor will also be affected, but no, that is not the way to address those who really don't know about marxism, who live in shanty towns, who have no other reference and who own only a TV set.
Firepig,
ReplyDeleteCheck out the comment section of that youtube video: there are pretty nutty people.
Kepler,
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how many crazy people comment on youtube.It's scary really-I mean it's crazy out there.
And yes, in the sense of violent crime Venezuela is so much worse than Belarus.When Lukachenko ran for office his main pitch was eliminating crime and corruption.
Impossible to have freedom in a country where people lives are threatened everyday by violent crimes.You are right, it is a different sort of dictatorship than the typical one.