“Understand, imbecile, we’re peaceful here and we respect freedom of expression!” — a thug from the peaceful, united opposition, beating up on a reporter from VTV.
Howdy, everyone, and welcome to today’s installment of VenOpIronía. We’ve got lots of ground to cover, and lots of stories and links. Today, it’s all about the oppos and how peaceful they are. Here, for instance, we have some peaceful Majunche followers, demonstrating in the city of Mérida:
Anti-Chavista groups tried to rob stores on Wednesday, and launched attacks on the offices of the National Executive and the State Government, located in the city of Mérida, after a campaign rally there on the part of Henrique Capriles Radonsky.
“We denounce the violence of anarchic sectors of the ultra-right who are assaulting our comrades in the state government,” declared governor Alexis Ramírez to radio station YVKE Mundial.
Ramírez said that two individuals, wearing clothing with the logo of the Capriles campaign, tried to attack the government offices.
These persons have been identified as Antonio Marquina and Javier Solórzano, who were also in possession of a tear-gas canister.
Speaking on YVKE radio, Ramírez also reported that the Institute of Youth for the State of Mérida (INJUVEM), located on Avenida 5, had been attacked.
In the violence, a volunteer at the youth centre, Ramón Antonio Soto Rondón, was injured by a bottle to the face. He was taken to the University Hospital of Los Andes and remains in stable condition.
The anti-Chavista groups also committed aggressions against the YVKE Mundial office, as well as that of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, along with various commercial buildings in the state capital.
In all of these locations, officials of the State Police and the Bolivarian National Guard were deployed.
Translation mine. You can see video and photos from those riots (and the beat-up face of the unlucky Ramón Soto) here.
Meanwhile, here some paramilitaries masquerading as soldiers…
Two paramilitaries were captured in the installations of the 42nd Paratroop Brigade, an elite Venezuelan military unit located in the city of Maracay, Aragua.
The commander of the Fourth Armored Division of the Army, Division General Víctor Flores Urbina, informed that the suspects were captured on Sunday afternoon in a zone known as Los Polvorines, where weapons and munitions are stored.
At the moment they were discovered, one of the suspected paramilitaries was on a motorcycle, wearing a military uniform with the insignia of a lieutenant, which awakened the curiosity of the brigade post’s guards, because in that unit, all personnel wear camouflage fatigues.
The other suspect was dressed as a civilian and identified himself as a first lieutenant of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB); however, neither one carried documents identifying them as members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB).
“When they saw they had been discovered, both suspects offered 90,000 bolivars to the officials who had found them out, in exchange for letting them escape. However, the patriotic and nationalistic feelings of these officials took precedence,” said Flores.
During the arrest, officials confiscated handcuffs, bank debit cards, and military identification tags that contained such personal data as the blood type of the bearer. “These tags are used in situations of war, for which reason one may presume that these individuals were prepared for such situations.”
[…]
General Flores surmises that the suspects were conducting initial reconnaissance in the military installations to determine the alert level in the garrisons.
One of the suspected paramilitaries was identified as Exlan Jesús Moronta Arteaga, age 25, and the other is a minor of 17. Both remain in custody with the Military Prosecutor’s Office, in the charge of prosecutor Juan David Bermúdez.
Translation mine.
And here is a strong candidate for Most Absurd Protest Ever:
In an action co-ordinated at national level, the owners of commercial centres confabulated with the opposition shock group Despierta Venezuela (Wake Up Venezuela) to campaign against Nicolás Maduro, thus contravening the legal statute which establishes that only accredited political parties can conduct campaigns.
Curiously, they allowed them to throw thousands of fake bolivar notes with a political message, when it’s strictly forbidden to “flyer” in those centres, at least when it comes to the stores that operate there, unless approved by the owners.
The fake bills look like a 100-bolivar note on the reverse side, but the obverse side says it has a value of 53.50 bolivars because it has been devalued. At the same time, it shows the face of acting president Nicolás Maduro and that of Fidel Castro, protesting the so-called “marriage between our government and the Cuban régime”.
It bears remembering that before the government announces the new exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars to the US dollar, the pseudo-economists of the opposition said that it would have to be devalued to 23 bolivars/dollar, the cost of the “parallel” dollar, which according to them is the “fair” price.
Also, one of the urgent measures of the Capriles government, upon arrival in the presidency, is to eliminate exchange controls and devalue the currency.
So this begs the question: What is it that these guys are protesting?
Translation mine.
I tried to upload a picture of the funny money, but the server rejected it. I think that tells us all we need to know about the validity of the Majunche campaign right there.
At this rate, it’s no wonder he’s planning to not recognize the election results. He’s going to lose, he knows it, and he’s just doing his damnedest to forestall the inevitable.
