Memo to the Rangels: the meme is “Economic War”

/ July 27, 2015

diaz rangel

“On July 14th three pasta-making factories stopped working. Bread manufacturing could stop in October. The problem in both sectors is the same: lack of wheat. The reason for this is that requirements for importing wheat have not been approved, and the dollars approved have not been paid since last March. There is also scarcity of bottled water, because imports of raw material to make bottles and lids have not been approved.”

“Do you have any idea how much a kilo of black beans costs? A thousand bolívares. You probably also have no idea how much onions, melons, and potatoes are going to cost soon. It’s not the dollar, farmers simply did not plant enough due to a lack of fertilizers and fungicides that (state-owned) Agropatria is supposed to carry, and because in certain products, the first people who purchase are relatives and friends (of people in the government) who then sell them in their stores at outrageous prices.”

The last two quotes do not come from opposition bloggers.

They are not quotes from opposition politicians, nor from opposition activists standing in line waiting to buy essential products.

They come from two of the most visible pro-government journalists around.

The first one comes from José Vicente Rangel, the rabidly chavista appartchik – a key figure in this government if there ever was one – who has gone back to his journalistic day job.

The second one comes from the sycophantically chavista editor of Últimas Noticias, “esteemed” (in some circles) journalist Eleazar Díaz Rangel.

Who do these guys think they are, not touting the party line? Don’t they know that the official story, the *only* story, is that scarcity is caused by an economic war? And if that isn’t convincing, they should blame the US and Uribe?

In all seriousness, you can have all the communicational hegemony you want, but it has to be grounded in some sort of truth. When even supposedly-respected mouthpieces such as the two Rangels can’t bring themselves to repeat the government’s nonsense, it’s time the government did one of two things: fix the underlying problem, or change the nonsense strategy.

Fat chance of them doing either of those things, which only suggests we will continue seeing cracks in the government’s messaging.

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49 thoughts on “Memo to the Rangels: the meme is “Economic War””

    • Whether they do or they don’t is not what interests me about this. For me the important thing is how the government’s own mouthpieces can’t bring themselves to utter this baloney.

      Either that, or they have some friends in the pasta-making business, or in agriculture, and they are pissed at Cadivi/Simad/Agropatria.

      Liked by 1 person

      • As for uttering baloney, they have been doing it for too long. If they couldn’t bring themselves to do it, they would just avoid the subject.
        As you say, somebody’s interests are being touched.

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    • Well, we all know what happened to the last guy who tried to cross the “zozobrador” rangel aka marciano aka the lich that speaks.

      Yep, 4 kilos of C4 under that truck, said by Jovanny Vásquez aka Star Witness.

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        • Well, to be honest, 4kilos, which are like 8 pounds of that thing, would have left only a smoking crater there, there wouldn’t have been any witnesses, because they would’ve been turned into pulped ash.

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  3. Fertilizers? Fungicides? Corporate lackeys! Next thing you know they will want GMO seed from Monsanto!
    What about the native, organic farming techniques lefties love to lecture about?

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      • No, no, no, ou’re getting it wrong.

        chaburrismo is an all supporter of “conucos artesanales”, where the patriotic worker doesn’t grow any transgenic nor any artificial stuff, everything’s 100% organic!

        Yeah, organic with fungus, bugs and all that crap.

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  4. …at some point, the rats start leaving the sinking ship.

    it is interested to note and is worth a follow up. As more people start “thinking critically” then you could call it a trend.

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  7. So, José Vicente started to remember when he was actually interested in reporting for real?

    To this day I still feel a great deal of shame to remember that he was giving the speech when I graduated from “bachillerato”. And that, at the time, it all sounded reasonable. Of course, he at that time had the easy job of cataloging all the miriad ways AD & Copei were robbing us blind.

    And then he went and joined the circus.

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  8. My take on all this is that many Chavista Rats are now jumping ship.

    They now pretend to be, like many pueblo-people, anti-Maduro government, but still pro-Chavez, or pro Mud, you know, socialists, whatever..

    You can read it even on Aporrea. You see in withing the PSUV, in parties like Marea Socialista, breaking away from Maduro. When the ship is sinking, little left to Steal, the rats always jump ships.

    They figure they will be forgiven by the MUD, amnestied, as the plan suggests. They are getting in line for the next Kleptomania Mud Festival, a Chavista-Light Guisozuela Stew of sorts, that will have to forgive and incorporate somehow the 3 Million government enchufados, plus the additional millions that have been leeching on the corrupt system one way or another, including putrid “periodistas” like the Rangel scum.

    All of a sudden it’s gonna be about Vzla Unida, Chavistas included, Madurismo was to blame..

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    • Yes, the MUD, “Please, pretty please, let us win the Assembly (NOT, in my opinion), and you, Rangel scum, et. al., will be amnestied and allowed to enjoy your ill-gotten gains, and continue stealing from the little that’s left.” “We might even allow you to continue running the ads in “Ultimas Noticias” under the silhouette of Chavez , with him embracing an old woman/young child/baby/whatever, stating, “61 Years, Sowing Love, Reaping Fatherland”, to continue brainwashing our poor downtrodden/brutish Pueblo into thinking that the movement of the Undead (would have been 61 years old, I assume) has been around 61 years caring for them.”

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  9. This follows the same trend that is identifiable reading some Aporrea’s posts (a bile fascination, like watching films with a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Mindset), an spontaneous emergence of critical thinking as a result of government followers not necessarily listening to reason, but timidly and slowly piecing together the chain of events, and policies, that unequivocally result in realising how thoroughly the government has screwed up its economic policy. These people have essentially shielded themselves from any practical, political or ideological criticism these past 15 years, flying high on a cloud of self righteousness and bitter delusion. For them, this must come as a revelation, a twisted version of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

    If it weren’t for the fact that the country hinges on the decision making of people that, apparently, are re-discovering causality, it could make for an interesting sociological study to see the path of the Chavista Intelligentsia naturally coming with the terms of the disaster that is their own undoing. Of course personal biases and ideological affinity makes this process painfully slow.

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  10. Im not sure the two Rangels are in the same league , the first one is clearly an opportunist , everything he does he does because there is some gain for him in the end , usually monetary but maybe political , so with him you have two possible reasons , one he indeed has some covert interests in the wheat or pasta making business and this is his way of pressuring the govt into giving them forex or he sees that a change maybe coming were someone who speaks like an oppo critic and at the same time has chavistas credentials can be seen as a transitional bridge away from the regimes harsh postion on these matters , closer to the oppo but still somehow deserving both sides support.

    With Eleazar Ive never been sure that he is a die hard Chavista but a survivor , a man that will skate on thin ice where that allows him to continue to be the only thing he knows or wants to be , the editor of UN and a powerful man in the journalist business and someone who will make pacts with the devil if that allows his newspaper to continue publishing . Ive always felt that Eleazar is very discreet and willing to feed the govt some lines they wanted to hear whilst remaining of independent mind . but I dont know him that well and could be wrong !!

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  11. All of the Crooks that want to steal some more during the next “mud” government, are gradually going to be shifting to the center, to join the new Mess. They will follow the prevailing stench of Kleptozuela’s rotting corpse, salivating like starving vultures and hyenas. Very few big fish will sink with the ship or escape to Cuba or Andorra.

    They know most people left in the country are still under-educated Chavistas, or ex-Chavistas, or Chavistas-light, but unhappy with Masburro and “his” current government. Millions and Millions of voters fit the category, for the next local-level guisos y tigritos that will become available pretty soon some day.

    At the very least, they have to start criticizing Maduro and this government which everyone hates, because of the economy, basically. Even the criminal Gangs have started shifting against Maduro, but claim to be still with the pueblo, still with Chavez, the MUD, or whoever gets the Juicy Coroto next.

    They have to change sides, jump off the Maduro/Cabello wagon right before the abyss, without being too obvious.. so the rats jump ship in the night, they move to the “center” Mud. On full “quitate-tu-pa-poneme-yo” political mud. There still a lot to be stolen during the transition, still no Justice system or separation of powers, chaos everywhere. Opportunities for Lomito Fresco will be everywhere.

    No one likes to play for the losing team. So it’s about time to start changing disguises, toning down the leftist “rebolusionario” bullshit, and start jumping to the other side, to the winning team of new&old thugs and leeches, amnestied, to be reunited again stealing together but wearing slightly different MUD hats.

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  13. Tony you are probably on the right track in thinking that some people identified with the regime are hedging their bets and starting to take positions that make them more politically palatable in case a transitional stage is reached , and thus facilitate their survival . Not sure the oppo is interested in appearing the avenging ruthless punisher of wrongs because that will only make its achievement of political power more difficult. Some will be punished because they are emblematically identified with gross guvernamental misdeeds but others will transfer their allegiances to the new order and or try to find an accomodation that allows them to keep themselves safe. Its happened many times before , the important thing is not to start cutting heads right and left but to proceed with a practical agenda that takes us into a different more promising stage in the countries life. The result is more important than gratification of our avenging passions .!! Thats the way Argentina , Chile , Uruguay returned to democracy after years of very punitive and persecutorial military rule .

    Something else that I would propose you consider is that people identified with the regime are not all motivated in their actions by the need to continue or protect themselves from prosecution for corrupt acts.
    Some are simply bessoted with the egolatric gratification of being in Power others with the equally morbid conceit that they are the Grand Noble Ideologically Saintly Supermen . Motives can vary and corruption is not the only one that drives them .

    There are five ways in which rulers or govts inflict harm on the countries they rule : Five forms of behaviour which can contribute to damaging the public weal :
    1. Behaviour where the rulers act in pursuit of personal enrichment or for private gain ( graft , corruption)
    2. Behaviour which seeks to bribe their followers by providing them with undeserved and irresponsible benefits to gain their support and remain in power. ( clientelism ) .
    3. Behaviour where the ruler applies policies of irresponsible distribution of subsidies and other benefits to the less fortunate and more numerous segment of the population in order to attract and retain their political suport ( malignant populism)
    4. Behaviour which is incompetent , which causes waste and economic ruin , which is neglectful of the duties which as public officials they must discharge with some degree of efficiency . (incompetence)
    5.- Behaviour which reflects ideological delusions and prejudices . ( the punitive and persecutory treatment of private productive agents for ideological reasons) .

    If you try and figure which of the above 5 causes have been most harmful to our Country Im not sure that corruption comes first on the list . Give it a thought !!.

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    • Corruption and greed always come first, especially in politic$.

      After a lack of Education and moral values, Money is indeed the root of all evil.

      Attachment to Power and massive Egos might come a distant second, for those who still want to stay after they are filthy rich. But that and other stuff is secondary and comes later.

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      • Well Tony your view of people is certainly very elemental and conventional …….can you imagine: ‘money the root of all evil’ , all we need is ‘education’ and ‘moral values’ …straight from the Readers Digest , good wholesome intellectual fare. Cant go very wrong with that !! . No wonder you are so taken with darling little Gloria , at least you are safe from falling into the asinine charms of Mrs Aynn Rand and her apology of greed as the source of human dignity. !!

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        • Yes. My view of Vzla’s disaster is very basic indeed:

          The infallible equation.

          Ignorance/under-education + Riches/Oil + Populist “democratic” Gov = Massive, Galactic Mega-Corruption and ineptitude = Kleptozuela.

          p,s: Gloria is cute, sure, but she’s also well-educated and makes sense when bombarding Populism. Both qualities are highly appreciated and very rare in one package, especially after Mayans’ demise in Guatemala.

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          • One good example that often crass incompetence and ideological delusion trump corruption is Giordani who no one has ever accused of being involved in any act of corruption (thus the monje moniker) but who stands guilty of being one of the main architects of Venezuelas becoming the disaster it is today,

            I myself believe that however loathsome graft is , there is much more behind the social processes and mental conceits that influence historical catastrophes like that which now afflict Venezuela . The formula the equation contains is made up of wishy washy colourful terms too vague hazy and undefined to explain anything with depth and conceptual precision, they give poorly read people the sensation of understanding things that they really dont . it lacks the analytical and critical heft and detail that we need to use to understand how our country fell into the abyss it now in !!

            I dont particularly dont enjoy the basic excitment of bashing people using rustic moral tags as much as understanding them and what made certain historical events happen .

            I also like glorias message ( I dont mind her being cute looking) but she is a bit too glib and Girl Scoutish in some of her pronouncements !! I think things are more complex and ambivalent than she makes them out to be , Doesnt mean I dont sympathyze with her but intellectually she doesnt impress me.

            I am perhaps overfastidious in feeling that oversimplifications and cliches are a betrayal of truth .!! But to each , whatever they like best. !!

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            • Giordani is the very, very rare exception that confirms the rule. 95.95% of Kleptozuelan politicians are corrupt thieves, except for Giordani, just an inept fool.

              Caldera was honest too, but he had sons.. and the other 95% of the people around him stole all they could.

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              • Wishy-washy terms on the equation? nope. Let’s illustrate:

                Alaska/Norway/Qatar: well educated professionals + oil + strict government or authoritarian gov: no corruption: Success.

                Vzla/Nigeria: uneducated + oil + bullshit populist gov. : Massive Corruption = Disaster.

                Pick ANY country, anytime in modern history: the Rule never fails.

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              • Sure Tony : the formula Poor education + lack of moral values + oil + populism + greed + democracy = corruption, made up of big or bombastic generalities, each capable of meaning many different things or involving many different types of phenomena , capable of includind many distinct realities , even if they carry a lot of emotional punch lack explanatory power . Each such concept needs quite a bit of in depth historical and critical analysis to understand with accuracy anda lot of intellectual work to bind together into a credible coherent explanation., Apparently your mind is easily pleased with resonant generalities , and superficial formulas , Of course the formulas carry a kernel of truth but they need much more work to transform into a precise explanation , its like explaining transportation thru the formula , wheels + chassis + motor + speed = transportation , or a Chopin Piano Concerto with the formula piano + fingers + musical notes = a Chopin piano concerto. Its like building a replica of the Eiffel Tower with match sticks. !! Some of us are more demanding even if you arent. !! (hey….. its ok, most people like it simple)

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              • I wasn’t aware that Alaska was a country, nor that there was a Dictator there.

                I guess Canada was complicit in its liberation from the Obama tyranny.

                Sorry, my bad.

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  14. Diaz Rangel, such an righteous Chavista Angel, always fighting against Corruption!!

    http://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/a24200.html

    http://www.noticias24.com/venezuela/noticia/199859/la-corrupcion-se-ha-expandido-como-un-cancer-que-amenaza-con-fracturar-la-infraestructura-administrativa/

    http://www.diariolavoz.net/2013/10/13/diaz-rangel-presidente-maduro-esta-consciente-de-la-necesidad-de-erradicar-la-corrupcion/

    And my favorite, Eleazar Diaz Camacho, Rangel’s son letter to his own dad:

    http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2013/04/08/las-incomodas-preguntas-del-hijo-de-eleazar-diaz-rangel-a-su-padre-carta/

    Is the Rangel family honest, poor or modest like “The Monk”?

    At the very least, they are obviously lying, complicit crooks.

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    • Well another one whose moral standing hits the dust , thought he might have retained some sense of shame , but evidently having to play the loyal dog to his regime masters has made him lose all shred of integrity , I was wrong in my initial apreciation , he is fully deserving of the scorn that his sons letter heaps on him .!! thanks Palante for posting these highly revealing press statements !!

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    • Funny, that they finally chose to hide the tiny phrase that was basically their, well, catchphrase:

      “Self-expelled on petition of other users”, which translates to something like “Auto-expulsado a petición de otros usuarios”

      It looks like gonorreicos have a tiny bit of shame, to stop flaunting their version of “freedom of speech” so openly, hehehe.

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  16. I’m with Juan Nagel. JVR is a cold-blooded parasite, so OF COURSE that he had some guisos that are now endangered because the goverment didn’t coughed up the dollars.

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  20. Has anyone else noticed how the open minded intellectual types that run this blog start filtering your comments if you’re not a cheerleader who tells them how great they are?

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    • Or they’ll simply insult you and then ban your IP, like Masburro tries to do with Dollar Today..

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        • It’s better to leave proof of how stupid some comments might be, heheh :P

          It’s like “once you said something moronic, you CAN’T take it back.”

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  21. this is just one example of the Banana-republic kind of communication that you can expect in a Banana Republic. No big deal then, just fodder for empty journalistic elucubrations and a good opportunity for Bill Bass to analyze in detail, once again, the reasons of what’s happening in the country (his mind is truly inexhaustible… Juan Cristobal, the only good Rangel in this story, should think about allowing him to write posts in this blog)

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    • The Rangels and all the corrupt media get away with such incongruous, ballistic information only because it is directed to a certain audience: The prevailing majority of under-educated, ill-informed naive Pueblo People.

      Kleptozuelan people are so uneducated and so clueless that they will believe anything they hear. They will forget what the Rangels said before, or anyone, they forget what Chavez used to say about fighting corruption, or preserving personal properties, no exchange control, during his freaking campaigns, still available on utube..

      They don’t understand shit, let’s face it, they dont remember anything. By the Millions, they still think Chavez is great, right up there with Bolivar and God himself/herself/itself. They still believe Cuba is awesome and the Gringo Imperio leads the Economic War, along with the ONU, Uribe, Miami and Madrid.

      The painfully uneducated pueblo will buy anything you tell them. Even when they experience the worst economic and social crisis in History. Give’em a few groceries, a few Pueblo Slangs, a few bullshit patriotic chants, and they’ll buy it. It’s the price of Massive Ignorance. The Rangels love it.

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      • I don’t know who are you but you look like the Mr. Hyde side of Bill Bass. I wouldn’t be surprise if he is here under other names.

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  22. If farmers failed to plant owing to the reasons stated, and imports are drying up fast, or are being shut down for the lack of funds, it follows that food shortages will be an issue in the not so distant future. Is this really that far off or is this merely alarmist thinking? And no licor? Now that’s harsh.

    JL

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  23. The Rangels can propose as many overdue cures for the economy as they like, it won’t absolve them. Because there’s no cure for being a prick.

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