Sabotage-o-meter

/ October 25, 2013
stock-footage-new-york-ny-circa-march-the-national-debt-counter-displays-how-much-money-america-owes-and

I think we gonna need one of these just to keep count of all sabotage claims made by the government.

Nicolás Maduro keeps talking about an alleged “economic sabotage” against the country. Government ministers toe the line and blame the “S” word for almost everything (from the electric crisis to possible speculation) using it as an excuse to spend public money on useless stuff.

In the end, sabotage has now become part of our everyday vocabulary, just like another fancy word chavistas like to use quite a lot: “magnicidio.”

Just like they did with the “M” word, Últimas Noticias has kept count in that regard. Since the year 2000, and up until last week, the government has barked “sabotage” at least 132 times. Most of the cases are related to the electrical crisis (33 times), but the oil industry (29 times, including the Amuay explosion) and the electoral system (13 times) get high mentions.

It looks like Mr. Maduro will surpass the late comandante supremo in using the “S” word. While Hugo Chávez used it quite sporadically over the years (19 times in total), Maduro has mentioned it 18 times… 14 of them since April, and five this month alone. (Probably six times if we include his most recent mention, linked at the top of this post).

One thing is to publicly denounce sabotage, and another is to take action against it. In that regard, the government has been really slow. Only in seventeen cases of 132 total, specific details have been released, and formal investigations were initiated in just 21 cases.

Sabotage was used before for electricity problems mostly, but it’s now becoming the excuse du jour for almost every single problem in Venezuela. At the same time, the whole thing feels like a PR stunt. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the recent activity of the official NoAlSabotaje Twitter account. It speaks for itself.

Related posts

22 thoughts on “Sabotage-o-meter”

  1. The whole thing feels like a PR stunt? Venezuela would have to be overflowing with saboteurs if the claims were to be accurate. They would be a major demographic and could qualify for a minority.

    Like

  2. And, ….and, hot on the trail of those despicable saboteurs our intrepid Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Diaz, was ordered to Paris to check-out a rumor of right-wing scoundrels hiding behind a women’s clothes rack in aisle 2, 2nd floor of the Maxazria in the Rue de Honore (where the French Revolution was born). She didn’t find any. Sniff. Too bad, She reported having missed them by 3 just hours. Oh my. But a hot tip indicates that the conspirators moved to another store on the Champs Elysees. She headed there now and she’ll be reporting shortly to Miraflores on her findings…..

    http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2013/10/24/luisa-ortega-diaz-de-compras-en-paris-fotos-que-du-bonheur/

    Like

    • Interesting article vagonba. Thanks for pointing it out. The “intellectuals” are heading for the exits. But not before telling us all…they told us this was going to happen.

      What a bunch of self-serving crap. So now that Maduro’s not the man, and “80% of the Ministers are inefficient” (inefficient? inefficient?! that’s the problem with 80% of the ministers…they are inefficient???) is Heinz Dieterich going to lead the charge to “destroy the oligarchy”? Somehow I think not.

      Like

      • the saddest part of that piece and particularily about following article he wrote, is that this guy seems to be convinced still about all that crap of the burgouise being evil etc., a true socialist (al menos de la boca pa fuera), at least he portrays the current situation of the economy in a very realistic way but he fails to provide an alternative solution to the neoliberal ways, heavily demonized by this kind of people, he even says that the dollar value must float free, rarely you’ll see such heretic article in Aporrea, he just advice the goverment to “call Correa”
        http://www.aporrea.org/ideologia/a175552.html

        Like

  5. Do any of you get an uneasy feeling that the daily freak show previously known as Venezuela has become a perverse attraction to us looking in from afar? I somehow feel like a voyeur deriving an obscene interest in observing the strange fantastical behaviors of the regime. Or is it just me….

    Like

    • It’s not our fault it’s entertaining… I do however identify sometimes with the geezers in the balcony in the muppet show

      Like

    • Good observation fos. There really is something unreal about the daily absurdities in Venezuela. It’s difficult to make any sense of it mostly because it defies logiic, other than the theft/self-interest motive for those in charge. It’s almost like having a group children running a country. I think we all iare ntrigued to see what the next bizarre move or statement by the government will be.

      Like

  6. Suppose you come up with a Plan that requires water to run uphill in order to function… When the water insists on running down hill and the plan is failing, who do you blame?
    A. The water.
    B. The hill.
    C. The laws of gravity.
    D. The Plan.

    Answer: None of the above. That answer is “Saboteurs”, of course!

    Like

  9. In Venezuela,
    -when the teacher asks where is your homework, kids will say “Saboteurs”
    -when your shoes become untied, just say “Saboteurs”
    -when your president acts stupid, Chavistas will say “Saboteurs”
    -when ______________________, just say “Saboteurs”

    Hugo Chavez is the real Saboteur of all the major problems in Venezuela today.
    Why is it that Chavistas continually blame others for the mess they caused?

    Hugo Chavez is the real Saboteur
    Hugo Chavez is the real Saboteur
    Hugo Chavez is the real Saboteur
    Hugo Chavez is the real Saboteur
    Hugo Chavez is the real Saboteur
    Hugo Chavez is the real Saboteur

    Like

    • Chavez didn’t introduce the policy of selling gasoline for almost free, Many other subsidies and quotas predate him. The screw up of the gold-mining project goes back over 25 years, IIRC.

      Chavez is to the present calamitous condition of Venezuela what the United States was to the Panama Canal. Yes, the U.S. did nearly all the construction, but in fact about 15% of the excavations were done by the earlier French project.

      Likewise, Chavez “built” on the problems and follies of the Fourth Republic. He shouldn’t be given all the “credit”.

      Like

  10. He’s just doing what the Castros tell him to do. That’s what they have always done and gotten away with. The sad thing is that Venezuelans believe the lies. Cubans, I think, have wised up and are just waiting for the Castros to croak.

    Like

  12. Oh yeah? Then we lost the war, completely… What war was that we lost?

    The enemy’s special forces and saboteurs have free rein of our territory and sabotage where and when they please. One might suppose that they are inserted and extracted without hindrance.

    And now that we are inventing… Are the enemy’s fighter bombers strafing? Since there are so many violent deaths? Are the enemy’s submarines roaming at will, sinking every freighter, given the scarcity? Anything goes once once begins justifying their failures with imaginary fiends.

    Like

  13. Woefully OT, but there’s a Venezuelan oppo politician in the “Uribe Centro Democrático” convention in Bogotá (where there are choosing their presidential candidate), saying that Maduro is Santos’ campaign leader in Venezuela. That’s reaching a bonkers level comparable to what Maduro usually shows. And he *had* to mention he worked for Capriles’ campaign.
    Also, to Quico’s immense pleasure, he said that Uribe would defeat Maduro in his native land, Cúcuta.

    Like

Comments are closed.