No, it’s not the latest Miss Universe and her silicone funbags. It’s Teh Crime, stoopid:
Translation mine.So, what was this the DEA keeps saying about Venezuela not co-operating in anti-drug operations? Looks like they’re STILL doing a better job on their own than they did when theA band of narcoparamilitaries called Los Restrejo, which operated in northern Táchira, was dismantled by members of the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Body (CICPC). The information was given by the director of the CICPC, Commissioner Wilmer Flores Trosel, by telephone to VTV’s La Noticia.“It’s a narcoparamilitary cell which dealt in drugs and ‘vaccines’*,” said the commissioner.The detainees are Diego Antonio Alvarado Contreras, 57; his lieutenant Juan Carlos Urisa, 35; Primitivo Cáceres Ramírez, and driver Tulio Mendoza Carillo, 73. All are previously known to the police for involvement with drugs, theft, stolen property, and beatings, said Flores Trosel.The commissioner emphasized that the Colombian authorities should “take the long view, because this drug came from the principal drug-producing country, which is Colombia. It passed through their barracks, police headquarters and into our country, so that it could later be taken by air or sea to the islands of the Caribbean, and then later continue on some other route.”Flores Trosel said that other members of this criminal organization had also been identified, and for this reason, people should expect to hear of further arrests in the next few days, both in the interior and along the Colombian border.
Bina, the expression “cobrar vacunas” is a Venezuelanism which has nothing to do with vaccines literally, more like running a protection racket. They make you pay money to let you do stuff, usually illegal.
Okay…fixed.
Bina, sorry for being anal about this. I just dug up some correspondence I had wit da BooRev a long time ago and he consulted a Vzlan friend and this was his response:
“vacuna” in that context means money given to organized criminals and also guerrilla groups. So, cobrar vacuna means to get paid for a crime.
I think I was close enough, but just in case 🙂
Ah, no biggie. My gran diccionario, which is usually great, let me down on that one. I *was* scratching my head over it, wondering why anyone would be smuggling swine flu vaccines out of Colombia of all places. Glad someone else knew. LOL!
I used to see that phrase *all the time* when I started reading aporrea, and couldn’t find the meaning in any dictionary, not even the RAE, which nowadays does contain South americanisms of various kinds. It was clear from the context that it had something to do with paying and crime, but never found out the exact meaning till an actual Vzlan was consulted. There are some other interesting Vzlanisms too: like “guindar” (which means hanging by a thread), and my favorite “pedir cacao” (it’s what you do when you try to make up with someone after you broke up with them a while ago, swallowing up your pride and all).
Oh, so that’s what “pedir cacao” means! I would have translated that as “yelling Uncle”, since it seems to get used a lot whenever someone from the opposition gets pwned. LOL!