A true accounting of how much money Venezuela has lost due to the opposition’s coup attempts and multiple strikes, not to mention the occasional rioting here and there, will probably never occur. To quantify the effects on an entire economy from multiple actions is probably impossible. But there are glimpses here and there of the scale. For example in PDVSA’s audited financial statements for 2003 to the losses from the 2002/2003 oil strike was quantified at $13 billion dollars.
Lest we forget its social impact on the economy.
which of course they very cynically try to blame on Chavez
I thought I heard on "Alo Presidente" Chavez admit that he had helped lure the PDVSA managers into the strike. It was considered necessary in order to get control of PCVSA.
No Brett, he admited that on a speech at the Asamblea Nacional (our Congress). He said it was "necessary" to provoke the crisis and have a showdown of powers over PDVSA. His words were "provocamos la crisis, y aquí estamos".
On Aló Presidente, I recall, he admited having 2 billion Bolívares (or something like that) re-assigned on the budget to pay for xmas bonuses, WITHOUT saying where the money originally budgeted for the bonuses were. The money had just dissapeared.
Dan Burnet (a.k.a. OW), you're full of bullcrap.
T1
Ahh, the "the he made us do it" defense. Yes, I've heard that one before. It goes well with the adolescent opposition to use such an infantile defense.
Dan, please cut the crap and sign with your own name.
But please, don't dare to blog less just because your boss at Columbia.edu knows what you do. Keep the crap flowing.
Dan Burnett, what kind of degree do you have? An MBA? that stands for MASTER BULLSHIT ARTIST. Certainly the most pathetic shill I have encountered on the net...
BURNETT (AKA OW): YOU OWE ALEKSANDER BOYD OF VCRISIS ONE ROUND-TRIP AIRPLANE TICKET FROM LONDON TO CARACAS. BE A MAN OF YOUR WORD. TALK TO YOUR SPONSORS AND EXPLAIN THE SITUATION SO THEY CAN REIMBURSE YOU...OR DON'T THEY REIMBURSE FOR STUPIDITY?
this is really a valuable post, one that should be remembered
provoking a crisis, and thus escalating the cost of credit, is one of the basic ways to try to get rid of a regime through economic pressure, an economic coup, in other words
all countries have debt in various forms, short, intermediate and long, and will find themselves having to refinance a portion of it during the crisis
ideally, those seeking to destabilize ther regime will time their actions for the period when as much of the debt expires as possible, forcing the goverment to access credit markets on extremely adverse terms, and don't forget, it may be necessary for the government to access additional short term credit to payments unti the crisis is resolved
in this instance, Chavez slipped through the trap, because of tremendous popular support, and the subsequent good fortune of high commodity prices, which enabled the economy to recover quickly (and, thus, survive the referendum, which was probably put forward with the expection of benefitting from the economic damage inflicted by the sabotage)
it also suggests that the most frightening thing that Chavez can do, as far as the opposition is concerned, is eliminate as much of the debt as possible over time, and, hopefully, all of it, because the debt, and the need to access foreign financial markets for it, because it remains a weapon that, under the right circumstances, can still be used by the opposition against him
Richard, you didn't get it, did ya? IT WAS YOUR IDOL CHAVEZ WHO SAID "WE PROVOKED THE CRISIS, AND HERE WE ARE".
Read before posting nonsense.
The management of the oil company walked over the job, and sabotaged the facilities, because they didn't like the government making decisions about how the company should be managed
No one made them do it
I've personally been through this myself: I serve on the board of a public agency where we changed policy several years ago, and the employees objected, and they always said, we were provoking them, we were abusing our power, we were disrepecting them
and, how were we doing it? by taking the policymaking power back to the Board where it belonged, and placing the administrative power in an Executive Director that answered to us
they tried all kinds of maneuvers to defeat us: anonymous, slanderous claims, grand jury investigations, political pressure
and, it always failed, because everyone eventually recognized what the struggle was really about, mid-level public sector employees trying to maintain exclusive control over their workplace
yes, Chavez provoked the crisis, as he knew he would, when he insisted upon government control of PDVSA
and the people of Venezuela, understanding the problem clearly, strongly supported him as a result
by the way, here is my real identity
you didn't fall for that old trick where I post a full Anglocized name, did you?
Yep, they weren't striking for peanuts. They were trying to overthrow the government. The former president of PDVSA, Guisti (who was a complete disaster as president but is still there hero) predicted the government wouldn't last a week. And we're what now - three years and counting. Of course most of the cheerleaders for the strike ran away like Fernandez and Ortega while some crawled away like the Brazilian version of Tiburon or Gustavo Coronel or F. Toro. And guess what? The country does just fine with out them. Whud a thunk?
Again disgusting, don't you people see how fanatical you have become? What next are you going to find out about my identiy and attempt to fuck up my employment or something?
Sometimes you do wonder how you people can operate under such hypocracy (whining about blacklists etc.) you guys are fanatics.
As for this thread it is inmaterial who benefitted politically and who did not, when they sabotaged the country they thought they were getting Chavez out of office (they did not care whether they were Chavez puppets or not they were just as rabid as you guys), knowing very well the concequences. Today they are sorry alright, sorry that they did not create more chaos.
Don't you people get that what the people want is PROGRESS? DESTROYING the country will not get you any points, showing an ALTERNATIVE will.
"DESTROYING the country will not get you any points, showing an ALTERNATIVE will."
The wait for that alternative has been so long I've come to doubt there is one. So what are they after? Maybe a return to the good old days?
http://oilwars.blogspot.com/2005...d-old-
days.html
http://oilwars.blogspot.com/2005...ld-days-
ii.html
I personally don't care how bad the 'oposition' screwed up in the past, there is always room at the table for dialogue, I do not believe in guilt by association. IF you care about the country and want to take a national 180 then fine but at least do it stoically and intelligently.
Everything is just passionate diatribe, rumors, sabotage, chaos you name it.
Absolutely. But that begs the question why they don't put forth coherent and detailed alternative ideas. This stuff about "we want progress, jobs, prosperity, peace, etc" - as if there are people who don't want those things - just doesn't cut it.
So the question is do they not have them at all? And if that is the case then why even oppose Chavez? And if they do have them why hide them? Because they think most Venezuelans won't support them? That certainly doesn't reflect well on them.
So if you want to let bygones be bygones ok. But if they don't have new ideas for the future than I can only believe that they just want to return to those bygone days
Off Topic:
FBI probes Puerto Rico shoot-out
FBI chief Robert Mueller has launched an investigation into the death of a fugitive Puerto Rican rebel leader in a shoot-out with US federal agents.
Filiberto Ojeda Rios was wanted for a bank robbery in the mainland US in 1983, and died in a gun battle at a farmhouse in Puerto Rico on Friday.
The incident has caused anger on the Caribbean island, which is an American commonwealth territory.
Hundreds of people attended Monday's funeral procession for Ojeda Rios.
Unanswered questions
The FBI has come under heavy criticism in Puerto Rico for the way its agents handled the operation to capture Ojeda Rios.
Many people there have the impression that Washington doesn't apply the same standards on the island as on the mainland.
In response to demands from Puerto Rico's politicians, the FBI has now promised an independent inquiry into what happened during this shoot-out.
It will focus on two questions: did Mr Ojeda Rios fire first or was it the FBI agents?
And why did the FBI wait 24 hours before entering the property.
Ojeda Rios was lying on the floor injured, and his relatives say the delay was responsible for his death.
Campaign for independence
The FBI were trying to arrest Ojeda Rios over the most notorious action in the campaign for independence by his small rebel group, the Cane Cutters.
It was an armed robbery in the US state of Connecticut in 1983, which the authorities consider an act of terrorism because it helped fund the group's activities.
Although many people attended the funeral procession on Monday, the Cane Cutters never attracted much public support.
And although they are annoyed by this incident, most Puerto Ricans think they are better off remaining part of the US.
The forums and chatrooms are on fire over this. One of the few and rare times the nationalists are in the spotlight.
woops forgot link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ameri...cas/
4287118.stm
Forgive me OW, i must go talk about my slice of the Caribbean for a while. There are many dense people there too, go figuh!
OW--as I have stated before, it is obvious that the opposition doesn't have a plan that would catch the ear of the majority of the population.
Their 'plan' is the same neoliberal, privatization horseshit that even their own grandparents question.
These vendepatrias are out to cash in and walk over the majority poor--and make them poorer in the process.
Spoiled brat chickenshits.
Boyd you are pathetic. You are a looser and we continue to kick you ass into the dirt.
Challenge OW in the arena of ideas mate--your hate-filled bile makes you look like a second class intellect.
Capitalism is a decrepit system that cannot be sustained so as to realize even a modest degree of social justice.
All you can do is rely on deathsquads, Uncle Sammie, and your ill-gotten inheritence. You must rely on ad hominem attack and all sorts of logical fallacies because, when explained rationally, your economic and political program will be rejected roundly by the masses of humanity being harmed by your demented economic illogic.
Suffer Boyd.
OW is a much brighter and better person than you--and this drives you mad, it makes you react and go mad.
And we will sit back laughing as you go bonkers.
Slave's got something for ya Boyd. On your knees escualido punk.
SR, the shark around now is a Brazilian one not a British one. Anyways, you are almost certainly right. They want to follow a neo-liberal model, they know most Venezuelans won't support it, so they avoid talking about it at all
Pulpo, I saw about that. And to top it off they shot him on a pretty significant day which is pissing off even non-independence minded Puerto Ricans. I understand a US senator was going to travel there to make a speach tomorrow but cancelled because US politicians might not be too welcome there right now.
I understand a US senator was going to travel there to make a speach tomorrow but cancelled because US politicians might not be too welcome there right now.
Indeed, Hillary Rodham Clinton Cancelled her trip:
Sen. Clinton Cancels Visit to Puerto Rico
Sen. Clinton Cancels Visit to Puerto Rico Amid Fears of Violence After Killing of Nationalist:
By STEVENSON JACOBS Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Sep 29, 2005 — Puerto Rican police tightened security at federal buildings and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton canceled a visit to the island amid fears the killing of a Puerto Rican nationalist in an FBI shootout could lead to a resurgence of pro-independence violence.
Police chief Pedro Toledo acknowledged the potential for unrest, saying the death of Filiberto Ojeda Rios had generated "rancor and rage."
Ojeda Rios, 72, was shot to death Friday by FBI agents who came to arrest him at his farmhouse in southwestern Puerto Rico for the 1983 armed robbery of a Wells Fargo depot in Connecticut. He was the leader of the militant independence movement known as the Macheteros, or Cane Cutters, and had been on the run for 15 years.
Protests immediately erupted in the streets of the capital San Juan during which demonstrators burned American flags and scrawled graffiti on two McDonald's restaurants.
http://abcnews.go.com/Internatio...tory?
id=1169584
The Macheteros called for revenge at the funeral. I dont know about all that BUT it is a good opportunity to feed on public sentiment, BUT the Independence movement is split and they cant come together, even with this important event. This is big. The hope is that it will unite the Independence movement in some way.
One more for those interested in what is happening in P.R. (a good synopsis):
http://www.counterpunch.org/
hylt...on09272005.html
Even if that proves not to be the case, however, we received a clear message -- in the form of political assassination in Puerto Rico -- about potential consequences of anti-imperialist struggle on September 23, the day on which the nationalist 'Grito de Lares' was proclaimed against Spain in 1868. As a speaker from San Juan reminded the few protestors not marching on the afternoon of September 24, the colonization of Puerto Rico was part of the first wave of US political-military expansion at the end of the nineteenth century. Considering the role played by Puerto Rico and Latin America more broadly in rise of the U.S. as an imperial power between 1898 and 1930, as well as the massive presence of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans, Ecuadorians, and Colombians in US cities, towns, and fields, the lack of Spanish or bi-lingual English-Spanish speakers was surprising. It suggests the urgency of deepening ties to progressive forces in Spanish-speaking immigrant communities and forging solidarity with radical anti-imperialist movements in Latin America.
II.
Distracted by disaster at home and in Iraq, we may not have heard the Bush administration's message; news of it was buried at the bottom of p. 16 in Sunday's New York Times, and was briefly mentioned in the New York Daily News. This being the case in the city with the largest Puerto Rican population in the U.S., it seems safe to assume that the story did not receive serious coverage in national or local papers. What follows is intended as a modest effort to spread the word. It should be complemented by a reading of Rafael Rodriguez Cruz's detailed description of the murder.
Basic facts are now established. After being surrounded on a farm near Hormigueros, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, was shot by an FBI sniper on September 23 and left for 20 hours to bleed to death.
http://www.counterpunch.org/
hylt...on09272005.html
Soy Puertorriqueño Puñeta! Aqui se debe algo!
It just may be time for my own blog!
Cool. I'm sure it would be good
Its not just bygones, I want everybody that commited an inmoral act to be punished, the thing is that the opposition is not homogeneous, and try as hard as they do they are not all brain dead.
I want the next generation, well teh smart ones of the next generation to propose ideas in a stoic and intelligent manner
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