Hugo Chavez enablers [Updated]

A propos of the mess in the Middle East, Daniel has an interesting post about enablers. While I do not agree with his views regarding what the future holds for Europe, Brazil and the USA -owing to their notorious support of terrorist regimes that oppress its peoples- I do think that his post about enablers is very pertinent, in the sense that, if anything, what popular dictators-toppling uprisings of late have shown is the utter hypocrisy of European countries, and the USA.

Miguel Octavio leaves Venezuela

The routine does not change: get up, head to the bathroom, get dressed, open laptop, read emails, check Miguel's, Daniel's, Francisco's blogs, then Google News Venezuela page. After that, normal life takes over for the remaining of the day. Work, eat, play, etc. Venezuela is the first thing I check in the morning, and the last before shutting the day down. It's been like that since I managed to purchase my first computer, at the beginning of 2002.

Agnotología: otra definición del chavismo

Leyendo un articulo en Caracas Chronicles sobre Agnotología, que ha sido definida como "the study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data", o "el estudio de la ignorancia inducida culturalmente mediante publicación de información falsa", recorde otro articulo, que me envió hace unos años mi buen amigo Olavo de Carvalho, sobre la naturaleza del marxismo. El comunismo, el chavismo, el marxismo... son ideologías que se basan, como cualquier credo o religión, en un ideario que no soporta escrutinio científico. Creer en premisas religiosas, en dios en cualquiera de sus denominaciones, es un acto de fe. De igual modo, los chavistas, los marxistas, los comunistas, adoptan dichas ideologías movidos por la fe, ya sea en el líder supremo, ya sea en el colectivo, ya sea un sus premisas absurdas.

Traduciendo a Carlos Mesa, ex presidente de Bolivia

Hoy tuve la oportunidad de servir como traductor del ex presidente de Bolivia, Carlos Mesa, en un evento realizado en el parlamento inglés. Sigo, entonces, con un sumario de los puntos más relevantes desde mi punto de vista.

Caso Alan Gross: Cuba continua violando todos los preceptos sobre derechos humanos

Hace unos días leí que al ciudadano norteamericano Alan Gross, arrestado en Cuba en diciembre del 2009 y acusado de mercenario por dizque distribuir material 'contrarrevolucionario' -léase una computadora portátil, una cámara de video, un telefono móvil, y quizás literatura sobre derechos humanos, civiles y políticos- le podrían condenar a 20 años de prisión. Al respecto, tengo un cuento.

The New York Times does Eva Golinger

Eva is moving up in the revolutionary world. The New York Times, bastion of liberalism, has published a profile of Eva Golinger. As Daniel argues, why would the New York Times consider worthy ceding a piece of its publication's real state to a non entity, such as Eva Golinger? My view is that, if anything, the NYT, and Reuters before that, are simply setting the record straight on Eva, which is something I started doing in 2003. She's gaining notoriety. She's travelling with Chavez now. She's even going to have her own programme, in that beacon of "objective" journalism, which is Putin-controlled Russia Today. Both articles present her as editor of officially-funded Correo del Orinoco. Simon Romero's article in the NYT goes even further, and refers to her as "one of the most prominent fixtures of Venezuela’s expanding state propaganda complex."

As her idol, to whom she owes a lavish lifestyle and everything she's got, Golinger really is her own worst enemy. One only has to see the zeal with which she defends Chavez to realise that objectivity, respect for rule of law and human rights aren't values Golinger holds dear. The peculiarly funny thing is that Golinger resents being defined as a propagandist, which is effectively what she is. In that regard, the NYT is to be applauded. As Larry Rohter did with Oliver Stone's propagandistic film and his officially-funded sources, now Simon Romero's article has "outed" Eva Golinger, in The New York Times no less!

Encuentro con Raquel Rivas Rojas

Esta tarde, tuve el placer de finalmente conocer a Raquel Rivas Rojas, en el  seminario "Memorias del desvarío: Los desaciertos de la historia en tres novelas venezolanas contemporáneas" en King's College . Raquel es creadora de una de esas citas memorables, que definen en pocas palabras y en relación con hechos de nuestro pasado, la tragedia que vive actualmente el gentilicio venezolano: