Moustache man (wasted so much time, but not Cake)

A lot of the Venezuelans with connections are spending so much money as always. Trips to Miami are fully booked. The government has some relief when it comes to its Alpha and Omega: world oil prices. After several months of a local minimum when the price of a barrel went under $100, last month it reached 107 dollars.

And yet we have still 

• more shortages (the government declared a few months ago that after importing several tons of toilet paper the crisis was over, but people seem to keep doing their business and we do still have shortages of toilet paper, cooking oil, sugar, milk and a lot of other products
  
• continuous blackouts outside Caracas (Caracas is kept safe for security reasons: that's where the centre of power is)
• permanent deterioration of the health system
• a dramatic crime situation 

The last item is a curious one: it does not affect the voting decision of people who are currently with the government or who are in the middle, the wobbly "nini's". I will venture to say they won't change their voting behaviour even if their children get murdered in front of their eyes. They simply do not seem to link an increase in crime with the government, even if the murder rate has more than tripled sine 1998. For them it's something beyond anyone's control. They also have little clue about the concept of "murder rate". It is not a concept you will read about in the Venezuelan media, anyway.

Talking about the media: few newspapers critical of Chavismo remain and they are threatened with closure as they don't get the dollars to buy paper for their printing (all that is imported)

Almost all criticism of the government has vanished from the TV channels now that Globovisión has been bought by regime people.

Capriles, the opposition leader, does not seem to be able to delegate. There is no shadow government and few opposition deputies seem to be very active touching special topics. The vast majority of deputies seem to be on permanent vacation, actually. And Capriles looks to some like a Jeremiah.

Everybody seems to be preparing for the municipal elections of next December.

The opposition has made several stupid choices, like leaving Maracaibo's opposition candidacy to Eveling Trejo yet again...just because she is the incumbent, because she is the wife of self-exiled UNT leader Rosales and because Zulia State seems to be the domain of UNT. The opposition also decided to let some dinosaurs run for mayor in the Llanos area. There is little chance the opposition will make some progress there. 

A good thing for the opposition is that Valencia, one of Venezuela's main cities, might -just might-- be recovered after 4 years: the Salas-Feo clan, which had monopolized opposition's decision making in Carabobo, had to step back after Feo lost in 2008's state elections. Back then the Salas-Feo sent a second candidate to compete for Valencia and the city was lost to the most incompetent person Valencianos could think about. Now the opposition has one candidate alone for the city. His name is Miguel Cocchiola, an entrepreneur who came from Italy when he was five years old. Unfortunately for the region, all major politicians in Carabobo seem to be businessmen with serious conflicts of interests. That also goes for the government's candidate to the same position, Miguel Flores. Rumours go he is making a fortune in the construction sector through several front men who are contractors for the Carabobo government (now in the hands of former military Ameliach, who sees Flores as his right hand).

Nobody on top will listen to him while there are enough dollars. Those at the bottom won't be able to hear anyway

The Maduro government is behaving more obstreperous than ever. But this does not mean it is so confident. It is, indeed, aflutter. One of the main issues is scarcity. Inflation is also playing a role.

Ein Tag im Leben Venezuelas: von einer Deutschen erzählt

Hier könnt Ihr den Bericht einer deutschen Freundin über die Lage in meinem Land lesen.Viele Mitteleuropäer wanderten selbst vor 30, 40 Jahren nach Venezuela ein. Jetzt bleiben dort nur einzelne dieser Europäer. Sie verlassen das Land, wie Hundertausende Venezolaner es schon verlassen haben. 

Ihr könnt hier verstehen warum.

Wangelware in einem der früher reichsten Länder Lateinamerikas

Bin bei einer Freundin in einem anderen Dorf. Diese Freundin ist etwas älter und hat einige Krankheiten, ich habe also die Nummer für den Mercal-Einkauf geholt, ihr einen Stuhl hingestellt und selbst ganze zwei Stunden stehend gewartet bis wir mit unserer Nummer 83 dran kamen. Ich weiß warum ich mich nie in die Schlange stelle, ich war hinterher total fertig, bei dieser Hitze stehen, gehen wäre noch besser gewesen. Als wir fertig waren, waren 150 Nummern vergeben. Wir hatten Glück gehabt, um sechs klingelte das Telefon und wir wurden informiert, dass ein Mercal-Markt auf einem der Plätze aufgebaut wird. Als ich die Nummer holte, waren sie mit dem Aufbau noch nicht ganz fertig. Ein Packet Milch haben wir so erstanden, mehr durften wir nicht. In den normalen Läden ist Milch weder flüssig noch als Pulver nicht mehr zu finden und das jetzt seit mehreren Monaten. Dann konnte sie sich noch in eine andere Reihe stellen zur medizinischen Untersuchung. Sie hat Husten und ihr tut der Bauch weh. Es erfolgte noch nicht einmal eine Untersuchung mit Stethoskop, Antibiotika (aus Kuba) geschenkt und weitere Medikamente aufgeschrieben (zum selbst bezahlen) und das war es. Dafür hätte man auch keinen Arzt gebraucht. Wenn ich in Deutschland zum Arzt gehe und von Bauchschmerzen berichte, dann wird abgetastet und abgehorcht, mit dem Stethoskop, mehr braucht man dafür nicht. Was ich seltsam fand, war das eine Dame zunächst in ihrer Zivilkleidung ankam, dann kurz vor der Ecke an der der Mercal-Markt aufgebaut wurde, ein rotes T-Shirt aus der Tasche holte und es sich überzog und danach damit beschäftigt war den Ablauf zu kontrollieren. Klopapier im Osten Venezuelas kostet inzwischen pro Rolle 10 BsF, in meiner Stadt bezahlt man für 4 Rollen 17BsF. Also habe ich 6 Rollen Klopapier in den Koffer gepackt, als Mitbringsel.

Venezuela in den Augen einer deutschen Dichterin (updated)

Eine deutsche Dichterin, Xóchil A. Schütz, war vor kurzem in meinem Land. Sie hat folgenden Bericht darüber geschrieben. Es ist ihr sehr gut gelungen, die Lage Venezuelas zu beschreiben, insbesondere die Gehirnwäsche, die Abwesenheit einer wirklichen Debate, die Stimmung.

Hier könnt Ihr ihren Bericht  lesen.

Es lohnt sich. 

Dieses Bild kommt aus der Site "Chavez.org"...

Shake it Up, Twist & Quiet

Here you can see a tiny selection of the job shifts for some of the ministers during the Chávez-Maduro government. I realised how difficult it  is to visualise the whole mess.

Diamonds in green are former military. One of the most versatile ministers has been former coup monger Jesse Chacón, brother of another  military and billionaire-in-a-jiffy Arné Chacón. Jesse Chacón had to go "low profile" by becoming the director of a pro-government pollster but now that his brother is free (we know nothing of what happened to the trial), he is back again to high positions.

Some military who become too ineffective or annoying become ambassadors. 

Jesse Chacón (I)

Here you can see one of the most typical oligarchs from the Chávez era: Jesse Chacón. This man was one of the military coup mongers of 1992. His brother Arné Chacón was another military and coup monger. Arné went from being a coup monger to being a banker soon after Chávez got elected as president of Venezuela. He became a billionaire in no time and was so flashy that he turned into an embarrassment. That's why Chávez himself made him go to prison in late 2009. Jesse Chacón had to go low profile for a time, stepped downas minister and started to work as "independent pollster". At the end of 2012, when it became obvious even for the staunchest Chavistas that Chávez was going to die soon, Arné Chacón was freed and no comments were made anywhere. The trial? Thank you.

Jesse Chacón felt he could get a more central role again. So he is once more a minister. This time he is minister of the Popular Power for Electricity (no kidding). About 100 days ago he declared he would step down if he didn't manage to improve the  very serious situation with Venezuela's electricity grid. As expected, he won't resign even if people outside Caracas have to endure daily blackouts - sometimes for several hours.

Here you can see his tour through governmental bodies since 1999.