Overheard at my breakfast table today…
Me: It’s funny, I guess the new euphemism they’re using on Venezuelan State media reports about Chávez is “the underlying disease”…
My [genuinely confused] wife: Meaning “insanity”, right?
18 thoughts on ““Enfermedad de Base” Chronicles”
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Caracas Chronicles 
Are you talking about Hugo, or the whole nation?
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So long as he can sign stuff, everything is ok.
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Actually, he doesn’t even have to be able to sign.I guess pretty soon he’ll be blinking his consent from his bed.
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Diccionario de eufemismos bolivarianos:
‘enfermedad de base’ = terminal cancer
‘ajuste cambiario’ = devaluation
‘privado de libertad’ = prisoner
‘rebelion popular’ = golpe de estado
‘afrodescendiente’ = black
‘retenido’ = kidnap victim
‘soberania alimentaria’ = imported Brazilian chickens
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‘líder negativo’: Prison warlord
‘_______ está descartado’ : measure _______ is about to be implemented
‘Eso es un formalismo’ : we ‘ll get away with anything, suck on that bitches!
And my personal favourite…
‘las 3 R’: Rationing, Robbery and Ruckus.
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I translated and posted your contributions on my tumblr.
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>>> My [genuinely confused] wife: Meaning “insanity”, right?
More to the point – DEMENTIA…Increased incidence of infections, such as urinary tract infections or pneumonia
Impaired motor functions including difficulty walking and moving, causing the individual to be bed- or chair-bound
Incontinence of bowel and bladder leading to full dependence on others for toileting and hygiene
Loss of the ability to communicate through words
Difficulty swallowing and eating, leading to weight loss and aspiration pneumonia
Loss of facial expression, including the ability to smile
Eventual inability to sit up or hold up one’s head without assistance.
However, the nation’s leaders are still very much Coprolalia – driven …
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And “Underlying disease” = “The disease immediately below the ‘lying disease'”
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#win
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Aaaaaand… That’s what Villegas means when he talks of the Right’s inhumanity and disrespect.
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Ah, yes …
‘morbid obsession’ = demand for the truth
‘disrespect’ = insistence on calling a spade a spade, and not a ‘long-handled digging implement’
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Racist oligarch tool of the North!
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OK, this time I’m going OT for better hopefully… have a good laugh at the democratic ad hoc measures in the PSUV: No podrán hacerse postulaciones en el PSUV para alcalde mayor, el cargo se decidirá por cooptación http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n223720.html
“A juicio de algunos militantes consultados telefónicamente, esta decisión, anunciada a 24 horas del inicio de las postulaciones, frustra las intenciones de muchos miembros de las Unidades de Batalla Carabobo del PSUV, que planteaban postular a Eduardo Samán para la alcaldía mayor, para lo cual no se conocían otros postulantes, como forma de derrotar a Antonio Ledezma, quien actualmente ocupa el cargo y aspira a la reelección.”
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Announced by none other than Jacqueline ‘the finger of Chavez is the finger of God’ Faria. Tell us, Jackie, has the divine finger been multiplied, like the loaves and fishes? Has its divinity been delegated? Share with us your doctrine of the Holy Trinity (duplicity, quintuplicity, whatever…). We really can’t wait. And while you’re at it, give us a hint as to how that squares with ‘democracia participativa y protagonica. In your own time, Jackie.
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I keep hearing reports from inside the Military Hospital claiming the guy is not there, so maybe the “the underlying disease” is death and the respiratory problems means he ain’t breathing…
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Para mi Chavez sigue vivo, pero está en Cuba
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Chavezspeak -> English translation of the last Villegas report on Chavez health:
“La insuficiencia respiratoria surgida en el curso del posoperatorio, persiste…” -> Chavez is unable to breathe by himself. The external breathing help may be needed on an intermittent or a permanent basis, but I won’t tell you that crucial fact. Therefore, the most probable case is that it is needed permanently.
“… y su tendencia no ha sido favorable por lo cual continúa siendo tratada.” -> The breathing problem is worsening, and doctors are working on this like mad.
“En cambio, el tratamiento médico para la enfermedad de base, continúa sin presentar efectos adversos significativos hasta el momento.” -> The cancer treatment is not killing Chavez faster than the cancer itself (so far, at least). Some nasty side effects have appeared, but doctors think they can manage them.
There you have it, and I didn’t need Google Translate for that!!! ;-)
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Throught the looking glass. They’re catching on. So near and yet so far.
From http://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/a160118.html
“Sabiendo que este percance de salud lo puede dejar imposibilitado para ejercer la presidencia que revalidó el 07 de Octubre pasado, el Presidente Chávez ha decidió voluntariamente apartarse de los focos y desaparecer casi por completo. Y digo voluntariamente porque ésta ha sido su decisión, apoyado por su grupo de trabajo y familiares. Pero ¿por qué? La respuesta es dolorosamente simple: él necesita que nos acostumbremos a su ausencia. Actualmente no se sabe si podrá volver, pero no podemos darnos el lujo de permitir que la revolución se venga abajo si de hecho nuestro líder no retorna. La intención de su desvanecimiento aparente es que la figura de Nicolás Maduro se asiente y cale en el corazón de la gente y así, de haber elecciones presidenciales nuevamente, pueda ganar sin problemas. Además, cada día que pasa, la imagen de Chávez es más idolatrada, casi volviéndose un icono religioso, y estos personajes suelen estar alejados, retirados o hasta ser invisibles. Nadie nunca ha visto a Dios y muchos creen en su existencia y lo veneran infinitamente.
…
Vuelvo y repito, Chávez es un estratega fenomenal y nos lo está demostrando una vez más. ¡QUE VIVA CHÁVEZ!”
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