Howdy, everyone! Yes, there’s more irony to note today. And here, to start us off, is Mario Silva of La Hojilla, introducing our old pal, MariCori:
As usual, Maria Corina Machado is utterly without shame, and without a sense of irony. A pity they don’t sell them at the Sambil, where she no doubt does all her shopping. She’s accusing the government of being authoritarian, of closing down the media, taking over democratic institutions, etc. Meanwhile, let’s recall that she signed the infamous Carmona Decree, which abolished (for a grand total of 48 hours, 11 years ago) all the democratic institutions of Venezuela, as well as the constitution; imposed martial law; killed dozens on the streets; closed down all media that weren’t with the opposition; and put a shabby little dictator in charge of the country. Freedom!!!
And meanwhile, what’s going on in Venezuela, at the hands of the same “peaceful” opposition she and Majunche are in charge of leading, so that Venezuela can presumably return to what white oligarchs call “democracy”? I’m so glad you asked:
On Sunday April 14, Bolivarian candidate Nicolas Maduro won the Venezuelan presidential election by a narrow margin. With 99.12% of the votes counted, there was a 78.71% turn out, with Maduro receiving 7,505,378 votes (50.66%), and Capriles 7,270,403 votes (49.07%). Opposition candidate Capriles declared that he does not recognise the result and demanded an audit of 100% of the vote.
On Monday April 15 Capriles made a speech, which was broadcast live by all private TV stations as well as CNN Spanish. In it he refused to recognise the election results and called for mobilisations to demand a full manual recount of the vote. These included a national pots and pans banging protest on Monday at 8 pm, marches on the regional offices of the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Tuesday 16, as well as a march on the CNE in Caracas on Wednesday 17.
At the same time both the Organisation of American States president Insulza and the United States declared that they were also in favour of a full recount. The Spanish government added its voice to the chorus and said they did not recognise the results of the elections.
This was followed by riots in the streets, road blockades and burning barricades organised by opposition supporters. Prominent opposition leaders spread rumours that ballot boxes and ballot papers were being burnt to prevent a recount, using pictures of the destruction of electoral material from previous election contests […].
Following the allegation by prominent opposition journalist, Nelson Bocaranda, that Cuban doctors were participating in the burning of ballot papers, dozens of CDI (Integral Diagnosis health Centres) were attacked throughout the country.
Gangs of armed opposition thugs were roaming the streets of the main cities last night. Four Bolivarian supporters were killed as a result of the violence, some of them in drive by shootings, repeating a pattern we saw last week and on election day. PSUV offices were attacked in several states as well as the buildings housing Simoncito pre-school nurseries, Mercal and PDVAL state-run supermarkets and the Petrocasa housing program in Carabobo. The private homes of a number of state officials were also attacked. In the capital Caracas there were attacks against Telesur, La Radio del Sur and VTV state media buildings. […]
This is the real face of the so-called “democratic” opposition in Venezuela. They are attacking all the symbols of the social programs of the Bolivarian government, all the conquests of the revolution.
PSUV campaign coordinator Jorge Rodriguez as well as the new Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro described these actions as a “developing coup d’Etat.” CNE president Tibisay Lucena rejected the blatant imperialist interference on the part of the OAS, the US and Spain. She added that an audit of 54% of the ballot boxes had been conducted, and that the final count of 100% of the vote slightly increased Maduro’s lead.
Yup…scratch the old margin of 275,000; the current count is 300,000, which is sure to rise. Maduro was popular going in, remember. Majunche, on the other hand, was losing votes as whole groups of former oppos were defecting to Maduro.
And let’s not forget that there is also the distinct possibility of a hack attack, financed and technically abetted by the usual suspects.
But hey! All that “democracy” isn’t going to just happen by casting ballots and letting the best man win, right? Henry Kissinger once said as much about Chile. To the State Dept., democracy (sans quotes, take note) is dispensable, while “our son of a bitch” is indispensable.
And speaking of “our son of a bitch”, get a load of what Majunche’s been tweeting:
How ironic that he should quote Rubén Blades, of all people. The Panamanian renaissance man is an outspoken Chavista who recently spanked his old colleague Willie Colón for being anti-Chávez.
But the real tweet of interest is the one at the bottom. In it, Majunche says “this government is an ‘in the meantime’.” Meaning, he’s still gunning for an overthrow, and we shouldn’t believe a word he says when he insists he accepts the election results. His actions, as always, speak louder. And so do those of the men who think we can’t see them behind the curtain, pulling his “peaceful”, “freedom-loving”, “democratic” strings.