A few days ago, I mentioned how irrational the idea of “humanitarian aid” (in terms of food), is for Venezuela. First of all because the amount being donated is just enough for a couple of weeks and for less than a million people; secondly, because even though it sounds strange, Venezuela has food.
A nice thing about “crises” is that they give people suffering them an opportunity to take a step forward and evolve, that is to say, personal growth. Maybe “growth” isn’t the right word. But, people like any objective that implies competition, even if it’s just with themselves.
I want to think that it is pure ignorance that moves all those people (who are not a majority, of course) who are advocating these days for a military invasion. Ignorance must be what guides them and not that naive selfishness of believing that bombs or missiles will arrive with an ideology detector.
We are less than two weeks away from the first day of 2019, which will mark 60 years of involution, I mean revolution, in Cuba. Sixty years of state capitalism, Russian-Caribbean socialism or, simply, of a Castro monarchy.
A friend from Cuba wrote to me: Are things improving in Venezuela? I asked him why he was so curious all of a sudden, as I hadn’t insinuated anything in the conversation for him to think that. “It’s just that TeleSur said…” Ah, TeleSur!… What did TeleSur say?
I have had a temporary visa to stay in Venezuela for some years now. I could have got a Resident visa three years ago at least. With my temporary visa, I have to go every year to renew it and, as a result, get a new card made. If I already had my Permanent Residency, I would be able to put this pesky piece of bureaucratic redtape off for five years. But, things aren’t always what you want them to be…
Less than a month after Venezuela’s “change in national currency”, things have only been getting worse, which was to be expected. Prices tripling was the only thing that happened, or maybe a statistician or economist will discover that they not only tripled, they quintupled.
It’s already a well-known saying: Maduro will get Venezuela back on track “by hook or by hook” and with “a baseball bat in hand”. The Cuban/Venezuelan advisers haven’t had the creative flair to capture the image and make it into a slogan this time.
President Nicolas was protected by his competent security force, who displayed exceptional professionalism, as should have been. I could leave this article at that really, with some photos I found on Facebook about the event.
When you think you’ve seen it all, Venezuela’s Minister of Petroleum and PDVSA president, Manuel Quevedo, turns up with a mass to pray for oil as a way to increase production.