August 08, 2005
More on castro el generalissimo
From the great Cuban writer Carlos Alberto Montaner, describing castro's latest outrage. Montaner knows the score, and his eloquent essay below is a must-read which can also be seen here:
Venezuela: Twenty-first century socialism
By Carlos Alberto Montaner | Firmas Press
07.08.05 | Chávez is in labor. He has said that his country is giving birth to twenty-first century socialism. What is that, exactly? Permit me to explain.
Cuban international TV recently showed a group of cheerful Venezuelan military officers. They were led by brigadier general Eduardo Centeno, director of the Venezuelan army's military academy, the Escuela Superior del Ejército de Venezuela.
Apparently, they were in Cuba to observe the maneuvers of some old Soviet tanks ready to vanquish Yankee imperialism and to entertain and be entertained by Fidel Castro during a military ceremony at which they exchanged gifts and revolutionary slogans. At one point, the Venezuelan soldiers, deeply moved, sang the anthem.
It is hard to believe that the Venezuelan soldiers were really impressed by the exercises of their Cuban comrades, but there is another lesson that was surely more profitable for these officers: they understood exactly of what the Cuban model consists, this twenty-first century socialism that lieutenant-colonel Chávez is drawing from his bowels.
They noticed that in Cuba, the power structure is made up of a dictator at the top, surrounded by military personnel who hold political power, who control the forces of repression and who direct and manage the large productive enterprises.
In Cuba, the military is the head, the heart, and the stomach of the system, whereas society is nothing but a cheap, docile labor force at the service of the military's whims and fancies.
I suppose that many Venezuelan military staff liked what they saw in Cuba. They found a way of putting themselves at the top of the social pyramid, and, in addition, to feel that they are the heroes and lead characters of a glorious historical exploit. Chávez will lead them on the path to privilege, wealth, and social supremacy.
When the system is consolidated, they will be the dominant caste, they will lead lives in splendor, better than the rest of the Venezuelans, they will be feared and respected as is the case with high-ranking Cuban officers. Nobody will be able to criticize them in public, and anybody who does so in private can be accused of disrespect before tribunals where other harsh military officers will pronounce judgment. The military officers will be immune and will go unpunished.
This is twenty-first century socialism: a mixture of an autocratic dictatorship, collectivism and militarization of the power structures. Little by little, the tongs of authoritarianism will continue squeezing Venezuelan society until they have crushed the press, squashed the free unions, controlled the centers of learning and silenced the church and the other forces of civil society.
Where will this Cuban-Venezuelan axis lead us? Given the constructivist rage of Chávez, who never stops reorganizing the world according to his creative outbursts, it is very likely that at some point he will try to launch a confederation between the two countries, but only as a first step towards this idiotic, multinational Bolivarian scheme that has been growing beneath his beret like a tumor.
The confederation could then go on cloning itself sweetly with the incorporation of other gang members of the hopeful revolutionary strain: Evo Morales in Bolivia, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua or any other adventurer who appears in Ecuador or Peru. The issue is quite simple: they already have the model and the discourse. Once in power, the soldiers will build the prison cells and everyone will sail towards the sea of happiness, as Chávez once defined the Cuban experience. This is twenty-first century socialism.
[Written by Carlo Alberto Montaner, Posted by Alek Boyd, Translated by John E.]
UPDATE: Muchas gracias para su linkaso, Luis. Everyone else, check out what Luis has done with it on his elegant blog, Desde Exilio that's well worth reading any time.
Posted by Mora at August 8, 2005 01:52 AM
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Comments
Just yesterday, I saw in a news article that 70% of Venezuelans support Chavez. I don't know if that's accurate but it really made me stop and think about what we are up against here. The idea that Cuba poses no threat to the United States is a joke. If we don't do something, Cagastro going to go out with bang of glory, the proud fuehrer of a cubazuela enslaving the population of South and Central America, in alliance with China, North Korea, Iran, threatening the U.S.
Posted by: Kathleen at August 8, 2005 11:41 AM
Kathleen - that's an old number. Support for Chavez has dropped precipitously. At the rate he's going, he's gonna have castro's popularity numbers. Perhaps this interview with a top pollster that appeared yesterday in El Universal might explain things better:
http://english.eluniversal.com/2005/08/06/en_pol_art_04A588935.shtml
Here is my writeup at PubliusPundit if you are interested: http://www.publiuspundit.com/?p=1492
Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at August 8, 2005 12:55 PM
His country isn't surrounded by oceans, either, so it's going to be hard to keep people from fleeing - and where they go, they'll have stories to tell. It's going to be harder to keep the lid on his misdeeds. Nor does he have the charisma of castro ("not quite satan, but willing to learn"), so journalists among the elites of the USA are less likely to fall in love with him and disguise hymns to his name as objective coverage.
Though we all can expect the usual crowd of sandalistas to proclaim him some kind of agrarian reformer messiah.
Posted by: Murel Bailey at August 8, 2005 02:28 PM
regrettably the Bush administration is shell-shocked by the polls and media so it is basically neutered to make a move. I would be surprised to see the US do anything. President Bush is in a lame duck mode and could do the right thing if he thinks of democracy and not the party for the next election. castro can be invigorated by minime
and these two rats may survive off each other's coat tails. Lets hope not.
Posted by: pototo at August 8, 2005 03:12 PM
I just had to laugh after our Ferrer/Santeria endless messages and see that a Google ad was advertising Santeria stuff on this page. No I'm not starting anything, just found it sadly amusing.
Posted by: pototo at August 8, 2005 03:14 PM
Chavez, with the help of the ignorant Jimmy Carter, stole the election to recall him. He was recalled in the actual vote. Carter was to stupid to do anything about it, and our government here in the US, after the failed coup against Chavez, has been intimidated into non-action. If we don't do something soon, we will see a coaltiion between Castro, Chavez and a resurgent Sandinista movement in icaragua cause the problems Castro only dreamed of.
We are running out of time to prevent a huge catastrophe in Central America that will kill thousands, destabilize the region and displace millions.
Posted by: hunter at August 9, 2005 11:42 AM
No hay que dar las gracias. Un link a Babalu es siempre un un link acertado.
Posted by: Luis at August 12, 2005 03:51 AM
