NationStates Jolt Archive

In a semi-smarmy (but not unforgivable) comment, a deputy of the EU Parliament who was in Venezuela to serve as an elections observer in the referendum gave AFP an interview in which he said "[The Venezuelan People] should never be carried away when they vote by the fear that a dictator tries to impose in a premeditated way,". The Venezuelan government has since used the military to expel him from the country, without his belongings or his passport.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/02/14/venezuela.chavez.expelled.dictator/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7889935.stm

Now, given that Venezuela has had dictators within the living memory (Jimenez, for instance) this remark may not seem to be too off color, and more broadly it's an admonition to people to not vote out of fear.

But, the BBC reports that the Venezuelan government said: "Mr Herrero should leave the country for making "offensive statements" over a decision to keep polling stations open for two extra hours. "

Wait, so this guy got dragged out of the country for making offensive statements? I thought Hugo Chavez was the king of making offensive statements about leaders (or recent ex-leaders) in other countries:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/09/20/chavez.un/index.html
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRV9BQppSHTkw7DzwfFauINrYcCg

Or, is it only "offensive" when it goes beyond merely name calling and the guy actually tries to clumsily make a point?

Chavez is a big fish in a very small pond. When he gets reminded that he just isn't being taken seriously anymore by the rest of the world, he tends to lose it.

I wonder if they got any good loot from him when he left his belongings behind.

I wonder if they got any good loot from him when he left his belongings behind.

The poor sap works for the government, his "loot" probably included three unmatched socks, a candle and an old scrap of newspaper that is his "notebook". ;)

I wonder if they got any good loot from him when he left his belongings behind.
They need it. Remember when all of us were saying "Bolevarianism" was a house of cards built on oil revenue that was going to disappear because Chávez insisted on replacing the engineers at PDVSA with his cronies?

Turns out we were right, and Bolevarianism is falling to pieces as we speak. At this point, they are surviving thanks to "secret off-budget funds" they collected in the previous years and of which no one actually knows the full amount, and by taking the central bank's foreign reserves (which it needs to keep their ridiculous currency peg).

So there we go. Reality 1, Utopian socialist populism 0. Again.

"secret off-budget funds"

Why do I find this term so disturbing? Is it because the government stashed away funds, or is it because the government has ceased to follow even basic government accounting procedures? (like GAGAS in the US)

Why do I find this term so disturbing? Is it because the government stashed away funds, or is it because the government has ceased to follow even basic government accounting procedures? (like GAGAS in the US)

Probably the latter. EVERY government slips a few million bucks "off-budget" to fund things like dirty-tricks departments and rainy-day projects...but if Chavez is using it to prop-up his national economy, he's put a LOT more aside than is normal.

Wonder what he was planning to use it for..?

Probably the latter. EVERY government slips a few million bucks "off-budget" to fund things like dirty-tricks departments and rainy-day projects...but if Chavez is using it to prop-up his national economy, he's put a LOT more aside than is normal.

Wonder what he was planning to use it for..?

True, but that brings up all sorts of problems with how he got this much money stashed aside, how nobody noticed, and why nobody noticed.

More than that, from what I can tell, this guy got thrown out for criticizing the elections process. I'm sorry, but isn't that what elections observers are out there to do? To report actions and behaviors that don't match with best practices?

Here's the limited OSCE report on the 2008 US elections, and while it's findings are that we did a pretty good job, we weren't perfect, and that there's room for improvement to match up with best practices. These guys sure didn't get booted from the US because of what they said.

http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2008/11/34757_en.pdf

True, but that brings up all sorts of problems with how he got this much money stashed aside, how nobody noticed, and why nobody noticed.

Absolutely. Rich governments can slip a few million to one side, and nobody notices in the general "noise" of the system. But from the descriptions I'm hearing, we're talking billions. Somebody should have noticed this.

Unless he's fallen back on the old dictators' dodge of printing money on demand, of course.

More than that, from what I can tell, this guy got thrown out for criticizing the elections process. I'm sorry, but isn't that what elections observers are out there to do? To report actions and behaviors that don't match with best practices?

Here's the limited OSCE report on the 2008 US elections, and while it's findings are that we did a pretty good job, we weren't perfect, and that there's room for improvement to match up with best practices. These guys sure didn't get booted from the US because of what they said.

http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2008/11/34757_en.pdf

That is a really excellent document. Every system of election can be improved, and they show the flaws and merits of the US system boldly, fairly, and impartially. It's exactly the kind of constructive criticism a country needs to keep it's own house in order.

Unless he's fallen back on the old dictators' dodge of printing money on demand, of course.

Hasn't he already done that as part of a "purchase the election" campaign?

With Chavez, I'm sure, it's ok if he offends, but if he's offended, he barks. This man is a dictator on the making. We'll hear 'great' things from him very soon and I predict, high hopes I know, that he's lynched by the Venezuelan people one day.

With Chavez, I'm sure, it's ok if he offends, but if he's offended, he barks. This man is a dictator on the making. We'll hear 'great' things from him very soon and I predict, high hopes I know, that he's lynched by the Venezuelan people one day.

Toppled by the Bolivarian Revolution he gave lip service to. That would be irony.

I am jsut waiting for him to ask the IMF and the world bank for a bailout.

Toppled by the Bolivarian Revolution he gave lip service to. That would be irony.

Things in South America are surely getting interesting, to say something.