In praise of "escrache"
There are so many things to write about that as usual I freeze. That is, until I come across something that summarizes the situation so well that it goes beyond belief.
It was Jorge Rodriguez turn to get insulted in public while in Mexico city. Let me see if I can have the non-Venezuelan reader understand how momentous that silly video is. And it is momentous, trust me.
What we see in this video is our new national sport of "escrache", that Argentinean coined term which means public shaming of people who abuse the law or their position. In Venezuela repression stops us from practicing it, but overseas, with over 2 million Venezuelans exiled across the word it is indeed a fair game sport.
In this simple video, on an early Sunday morning when streets are empty and stores closed in Mexico City, the mayor of Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez is walking with his kid(s). He is recognized by a Venezuelan happening to walk around and he is taken up for being in Mexico as if nothing while, because of his political actions, Venezuela is collapsing. Before we discuss the morality of public heckling, lets look at the simple questions this video raised on Jorge Rodriguez (note, no need to translate the video, it is self explanatory).
You may say, fine, heckle Rodriguez, but respect his kids. And I will report that until a few months ago I thought it was not right to bestow the parents guilt on their children but that I have changed my mind on that.
See, contrary to, say, nazi kids, there is no way on earth that the children of chavista corrupt/abusive official cannot know that their parents are accused of all sorts of suspicious deals. This is the XXI century and the political tension has existed in Venezuela in high mode since at least 2007 when Chavez lost his constitutional reform referendum.
It is public knowledge that there are hundred of thousands of Venezuelan exiles. It is public knowledge that the regime tries to ex filtrate all of their kids to study overseas. It is public knowledge that many of these kids do flaunt their riches.
What I am trying to say that there is no need to defend these "kids". If you are old enough to go to med school you are old enough to wonder how come your dad has the money to pay for that. Period.
If these kids enjoy their parents cash, well, they might as well share their parents blame. (1)
But I digress. My point lays elsewhere.
In Caracas Jorge Rodriguez is shielded by body guards. The press cannot approach him freely. If the question is tough he dismisses the journalists and there cannot be follow up. In short, there is no way you can see on live TV Jorge Rodriguez taken into account for his lies and actions, as he utters one infamy after another. And this has made him so cocky that he thinks that he can go out of the country and be shielded, if anything in the knowledge that the relatives of whomever heckles him may endure his revenge.
But it does not work that way. First, for inasmuch as Rodriguez stole money paying for a couple of body guards just to stroll the streets of Mexico is, well, impractical and expensive. And second, you cannot expect that 2 million Venezuelans who HAD to leave their home will just do so quietly, in a "never mind" frame of mind. And yet apparently this seems to be what chavismo leadership expects to happen.
My conclusion is stark. When you see scenes like today, the exposing of Rodriguez, his violent initial reaction, then his cowardly escape, and the increasing anger of his accuser, you understand better that Venezuela is on the brink. In Mexico Venezuelans can complain and Rodriguez can run away and get Mexico police provisional protection. But here.... We are under increasing repression and cannot vent off, while the regime digs its heels and thus in the end will have no place where to run away. (2)
Draw your own conclusions.
Escrache is good. Chavismo should meditate on that.
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1) We learned tonight that Rodriguez hotel has been tracked down and it has been put under the protection of Mexican police. So there you go, kids cannot plead ignorance.
2) The sister of Rodriguez is Delcy the chair of the fraudulent constituent assembly. She could not hold it, she tweeted a vicious comment. But the thing here is that when you read the replies she gets almost no support from chavista tweeters. She is deluged by snapbacks and insults from the opposition. L'air du temps Delcy....
It was Jorge Rodriguez turn to get insulted in public while in Mexico city. Let me see if I can have the non-Venezuelan reader understand how momentous that silly video is. And it is momentous, trust me.
What we see in this video is our new national sport of "escrache", that Argentinean coined term which means public shaming of people who abuse the law or their position. In Venezuela repression stops us from practicing it, but overseas, with over 2 million Venezuelans exiled across the word it is indeed a fair game sport.
In this simple video, on an early Sunday morning when streets are empty and stores closed in Mexico City, the mayor of Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez is walking with his kid(s). He is recognized by a Venezuelan happening to walk around and he is taken up for being in Mexico as if nothing while, because of his political actions, Venezuela is collapsing. Before we discuss the morality of public heckling, lets look at the simple questions this video raised on Jorge Rodriguez (note, no need to translate the video, it is self explanatory).
- Why is Jorge Rodriguez on vacation in Mexico when Caracas is a disaster and there is a major political crisis going on?
- Since Jorge Rodriguez is a public employee, how does he get the dollars needed not only to go and visit his kid (who I understand goes to Medical School in Mexico), but to pay for his kid studies? The reader should remember that 1) there is a currency control exchange 2) a city mayor paycheck cannot account this life style. Note that his daughter is also out of the country, in Australia, and suffered an escrache of her own while accompanied at Bondi beach by a body guard. So Jorge Rodriguez can support TWO kids overseas. And yet know not of any personal fortune he inherited or made through due diligence.
- Why did he run away instead of trying to talk sense to the heckler or finding some cop? Does he go out this early to avoid possible unpredictable encounters? There is short video where Rodriguez tried earlier to hit the heckler.
- How come he had no compulsion leaving behind what may have been his mother/aunt/cousin?
- Also important, how come Rodriguez (and many in the regime) have their kids studying in foreign universities? Is Venezuela not a socialist paradise of education and peace?
You may say, fine, heckle Rodriguez, but respect his kids. And I will report that until a few months ago I thought it was not right to bestow the parents guilt on their children but that I have changed my mind on that.
See, contrary to, say, nazi kids, there is no way on earth that the children of chavista corrupt/abusive official cannot know that their parents are accused of all sorts of suspicious deals. This is the XXI century and the political tension has existed in Venezuela in high mode since at least 2007 when Chavez lost his constitutional reform referendum.
It is public knowledge that there are hundred of thousands of Venezuelan exiles. It is public knowledge that the regime tries to ex filtrate all of their kids to study overseas. It is public knowledge that many of these kids do flaunt their riches.
What I am trying to say that there is no need to defend these "kids". If you are old enough to go to med school you are old enough to wonder how come your dad has the money to pay for that. Period.
If these kids enjoy their parents cash, well, they might as well share their parents blame. (1)
But I digress. My point lays elsewhere.
In Caracas Jorge Rodriguez is shielded by body guards. The press cannot approach him freely. If the question is tough he dismisses the journalists and there cannot be follow up. In short, there is no way you can see on live TV Jorge Rodriguez taken into account for his lies and actions, as he utters one infamy after another. And this has made him so cocky that he thinks that he can go out of the country and be shielded, if anything in the knowledge that the relatives of whomever heckles him may endure his revenge.
But it does not work that way. First, for inasmuch as Rodriguez stole money paying for a couple of body guards just to stroll the streets of Mexico is, well, impractical and expensive. And second, you cannot expect that 2 million Venezuelans who HAD to leave their home will just do so quietly, in a "never mind" frame of mind. And yet apparently this seems to be what chavismo leadership expects to happen.
My conclusion is stark. When you see scenes like today, the exposing of Rodriguez, his violent initial reaction, then his cowardly escape, and the increasing anger of his accuser, you understand better that Venezuela is on the brink. In Mexico Venezuelans can complain and Rodriguez can run away and get Mexico police provisional protection. But here.... We are under increasing repression and cannot vent off, while the regime digs its heels and thus in the end will have no place where to run away. (2)
Draw your own conclusions.
Escrache is good. Chavismo should meditate on that.
-------------------------------
1) We learned tonight that Rodriguez hotel has been tracked down and it has been put under the protection of Mexican police. So there you go, kids cannot plead ignorance.
2) The sister of Rodriguez is Delcy the chair of the fraudulent constituent assembly. She could not hold it, she tweeted a vicious comment. But the thing here is that when you read the replies she gets almost no support from chavista tweeters. She is deluged by snapbacks and insults from the opposition. L'air du temps Delcy....
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