Colombia: Electrical capitalist paradise? NOT.

Remember Enron? Ah, capitalist electricity…

According to my three-day headache from last week, Colombia is a better place to live than Venezuela because (a) it’s capitalist, and (b) it has no electrical shortages. Well, one of these statements is true (although whether it makes Colombia better is debatable at best); the other is a bald-faced lie. And thanks to a respected Venezuelan journalist, we now know which is which…

“It is surprising–and surprising also to Colombians–that the Colombian government would offer to sell Venezuela electricity, when more than half the national territory of Colombia is practically without the service,” said Venezuelan journalist José Vicente Rangel on Sunday.

During the broadcast of his show, “The Confidences”, part of his program “José Vicente Today”, on Televen, the journalist said that the situation is also dramatic in built-up departments and major cities, where the greater part of the population is and where there are large areas of misery and exclusion, with precarious electrical service.

Rangel added that, based on official data from the Colombian National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), more than 14 million Colombians are unable to pay the higher cost of electricity, suffer constant power cuts, and have extreme difficulty in obtaining electrical service.

“In accordance with this reality, the Colombian oligarchy offers to sell to Venezuela what it denies to its own people,” said Rangel at the conclusion of the “Confidences” segment.

Translation mine.

Lest anyone get the idea that since this came from a Venezuelan government news agency’s site, it is nothing but propaganda–be it known that José Vicente Rangel works for Televen, not ABN. Televen is a private station in opposition hands, albeit less rabid; its tone is more balanced and responsible and its coverage far more factual than, say, RCTV or Globovisión. In fact, of the four major oppo channels, Televen is the one that’s done the best job of cleaning up its act since the coup of ’02. Rangel, who for a time was in Chavecito’s government as vice president, has since gone back to his original day job, and a very decent reporter he is. So you know you can take this one to the bank.

Yeah, I’m feeling kind of triumphalistic right now. Bear with me, folks, three days is a long time for your humble and obedient queen to put up with nonsense from anyone here.

(Thanks to Utpal for digging up the ABN piece. Oh, and Mikey? My offer to contact your boss still stands. Take your bullshit elsewhere. I’m not playing with you anymore.)