One more oppo kvetching-point gets shot down in Venezuela

Yep, it’s that old “insecurity” thing. The opposition claims Chavecito isn’t doing enough about violent crime, especially in the densely-populated lower-class neighborhoods of Caracas. (Never mind that some of them elected oppo mayors, supposedly to address this problem. Said mayors have yet to get around to it. Hell, they have yet to clean up the garbage–another problem they said they would tackle.)

Some even accuse him of fomenting it himself, absurdly–and even more absurdly, this quack-pot theory gets picked up by the English-language media abroad (Rory Carroll’s impotent little spit-take for the UK Guardian being a typical case in point.)

Well, Chavecito’s done something about THAT particular, seemingly intractable problem–and after just one week of implementation, it seems to be bearing some remarkable fruit:

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, in 21 neighborhoods in the capital, no homicides took place, thanks to the national-guard troop deployment called Caracas Segura 2009.

So said the chief of Regional Command No. 5, General Alírio Ramírez, during a press conference on Monday, in which he gave a report of the progress of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) participating in the security mission.

“Of the 28 neighborhoods of Caracas, there were zero homicides in 21 of them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And in other neighborhoods, homicides were down 40%, compared to the previous week,” said the general.

The deployment consisted of 2,200 members of the GNB spread out over 28 neighborhoods.

Translation mine.

Zero homicides in 21 neighborhoods. This in a city where dozens used to die in street fights or domestic violence, often drug-, gang- and alcohol-related, on any given weekend. In fact, Caracas used to register more homicide victims on any given weekend than there were in any given year in Toronto!

Think of that the next time you hear some oppo-monkey screeching and flinging feces over supposed “violence”, “insecurity” and “kidnappings” burgeoning under Chávez in Venezuela–there have been rashes of the latter recently, to hear some people tell it. Something tells me, though, that as long as the national guard is on patrol in those neighborhoods, we’re gonna be seeing a helluva lot less of all the above–unless the oppos get better at lying!

Oh Rory, have I got a story for you…oops, I forgot. I’ve already scooped you, and I’m not even stationed in Caracas, nor am I boozing it up with the traditional ruling classes on the Guardian’s dime. I’m just literate–and not blinded by pro-corporate or elitist political prejudices. How embarrassing!