For the past half hour, I've heard national anthems of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador; heard him refer to Bolívar as "nuestro padre" at least five times; heard him compare Ché and Bolívar to Christ, saying they all died in the same way; and he said something about Batman and Robin (I kid you not), but I didn't catch what he said because I was too busy looking for a blunt object to insert into my eye (Just kidding, my cousin called.); blaming those big, bad oligarchs for everything; and now he calls Santander --a national hero of Colombia-- a traitor, blaming his actions for the lack of peace in mi tierra natal. (Gotta love the way in which he displays his stellar skills of diplomacy.)
This is pathetic, I'm going to lunch.
Se está revolcando en la tumba el Bolívar al escuchar estas boludeces. Pues si estuviese vivo, seguro que haría esto:
UPDATE: 2:43pm EST and he's still talking... UGH. Back to work and hopefully working on other posts. 3:05pm EST, he's still talking, I feel like I'm watching a filibuster session in Congress where someone is reading from the telephone book.
Just in case you missed it: Chávez will be investigating the murder of Bolívar and --surprise, surprise-- makes a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that boats of the "nascent Empire" were near Santa Marta when Bolívar died.
4:54pm EST: It's over, thank God!
UPDATE: After sleeping on it, I figured out what bugged me about this. No, it wasn't the swipe at Santander, nor was it the ridiculous claim that the US had a hand in Bolívar's death. It was the absurdity of it all. (The chavismo propaganda machine was running on all cylinders to create this one.) The absurdity not only of what was said, but also the implications his words have, and the fact that many will believe it just because he is the person who said it. Because Chávez in his infinite wisdom feels the need to exhume the body of El Libertador to see how he really died, it will be done. Never mind that this is a gross violation of a national patrimony, never mind that the Venezuelan public was --once again-- left out of the loop on deciding on this matter. Chávez said it, and it will be done.
Now, one must also look at what was not said over the course of this speech which lasted around four hours. Sky-high crimes rates, with 68 murders over the weekend in Caracas; the implications of the introduction of the bolívar fuerte into the economy; the food shortages which very well may be exacerbated if Venezuela breaks economic ties with Colombia; the political prisoners who have yet to be released; the capricious manner in which the National Assembly continues to act; why Venezuela is not investigating the Antonini Wilson case (this morning from Uruguay Chávez said that Venezuela investigated this, despite the fact that no details of the alleged investigation were given; he also said that Venezuelan intelligence sources have confirmed that what the US is saying is a lie...hm...); increasing disenchantment among the poorest sectors of society; among others, were not mentioned at all. I am more than disturbed by a president who blatantly ignores many of the problems which are affecting virtually every sector --excepting the boliburguesía, of course-- of Venezuelan society to talk about the bones of a national hero who died of tuberculosis and how he died as a result of oligarchs from two countries and a boat which passed by a Colombian port town.
Instead, what did he do? Well, when things get tough in Venezuela, he did what he usually has done in the past: he left. This time, he headed to Uruguay to join Cri$tina and company for the Mercosur summit.
When a guy whose screws are so loose that the US will "obligate" him to start a violent revolution in Bolivia, God only knows what is going to happen.
UPDATE: Martha Colmenares has more
UPDATE 2: It seems that a writer will be offering "proof" that Bolívar was in fact assassinated in a work to be released at the end of January 2008. I wonder how much the desgobierno bolibanano has paid Jorge Mier Hoffman to write this. Seriously though, why can't people's efforts be more concentrated on the pressing problems of the day and not making up excuses to dig up the bones of El Libertador???
Per usual, Rayma says it all:
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