Jun 12th 2003 | CARACAS From <a href=www.economist.com>The Economist print edition

BY ANY standard, it is a staggering figure: Venezuela's economy contracted by 29% in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year. That spells hardship for millions of Venezuelans. According to Datanálisis, a market-research firm, 72% of households say they have cut back on food; only half now eat three meals a day. Unemployment stands at 20%. Of those officially counted as employed, more than half work in the informal economy.

Much of the GDP shrinkage is the result of a two-month general strike, a failed bid by the opposition to oust President Hugo Chávez. This shut down the vital oil industry in December and January, just when prices were high. Oil output is now almost back to normal. But the economy is not: many forecasters expect a decline of 12% or more for the year.

In early February, Mr Chávez, a populist former army officer, imposed foreign-exchange controls. Since then, the government has approved the sale of just over $100m; in normal times, business would demand that sum every three days. On the black market, dollars now cost 50% more than the official rate. The dollar shortage has also prompted a bizarre stockmarket boom: shares in CANTV, the telephone company, which is also quoted in New York, rose by 68% in May, as investors realised they could swap them for a dollar-denominated American depository receipt, and thus for dollars.

Officials admit that the agency set up to administer the controls was incompetent; it was recently placed in the charge of the Finance Ministry. But opponents see the dollar shortage as a deliberate ploy to strangle what is left of Venezuela's private sector. So far, the dollar drought has not provoked serious shortages of staple goods, though it may yet do so. But what it has done is to continue Venezuela's deindustrialisation—one of Mr Chávez's main gifts to his country. Six out of ten of the manufacturing businesses in existence when the president was first elected in 1998 have since shut down, according to the industrialists' association.

Mr Chávez has blamed the economic catastrophe on the opposition strike. So far, that has worked: one Venezuelan in three still supports the president. But as the strike recedes, three out of four respondents now tell pollsters that the government is primarily to blame for the economy's collapse. The polls also suggest that Mr Chávez would lose a referendum on his presidency, which under the constitution can take place any time after August.

There are also signs that the president may lose his slim majority in the National Assembly. Pro-government legislators held an extraordinary session in a public park last week. They voted to change the parliament's rules, so that the opposition could no longer hold up pending laws which would augment the executive's already wide powers. But in a full session of the assembly this week, they could not muster the votes to ratify the rule changes.

Eventually, his economic mismanagement may catch up with Mr Chávez, eroding the loyalty of all but his most fanatical supporters. That ought to spell the end of his regime. But not necessarily. The opposition has won few friends among the growing number of uncommitted Venezuelans, who show little enthusiasm for politicians of any stripe.

BW5359 JUN 12,2003 8:54 PACIFIC 11:54 EASTERN     Business Editors     NEW YORK--(<a href=www.businesswire.com>BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2003--Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency, has changed the Rating Outlook for Aruba to Negative from Stable, in light of rising challenges to the sovereign's fiscal sustainability. These are reflected in a steady rise in public debt from 28% in 2000 to 37% of GDP at end-2002, limited progress in curbing public expenditures, and widening arrears to suppliers in the first three months of 2003. Aruba has a 'BBB' rating for both its foreign and local currency ratings.     Aruba, which has status aparte within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has recently seen demanding challenges to its tourism-dependent economy and public finances. This has arisen from the detrimental effects on tourism of the 9/11/01 U.S. terrorist attacks, slowing global and U.S. economies, the 2003 Iraq war and recent volatility in Venezuela.     Yet the inability to cut public expenditures is the primary reason for Aruba's stubborn fiscal deficit. Universal health care runs significant operating deficits, and attempts to curb supplier costs have recently been successfully challenged. Public sector personnel costs remain high in spite of the government's freeze on wage indexation and hiring. Arrears to the civil servant pension system have also risen and represent a less favorable source of public financing. The government could see a budget deficit of 3.5%-4% of GDP in 2003, potentially undermining the government's target of budget balance by 2007.     The government also faces somewhat greater constraints on income in 2003, as well as sharply higher public sector financing needs due to the realization of contingent liabilities amounting to 6.1% of GDP. The authorities exhibited good resourcefulness and self-reliance in obtaining financing for these liabilities without relying on the Dutch government. Nevertheless, government debt has also recently risen from 28% in 2000 to 37% of GDP in 2002. Government's indebtedness is still within the 'BBB' median of 40% of GDP, yet a lower debt burden in Aruba is desirable given that the economy is small, open and undiversified, and hence more vulnerable to external shocks than its rating peers.     Fitch finds that delayed action on the part of the government is also significantly contributing to fiscal deterioration. While outstanding problems are well understood, a slow pace of policy implementation reflects difficulties in executive coordination, political and legal miscalculations, and management capacity constraints. Fitch believes the government has an opportune window to act 2-1/2 years ahead of elections while it has a legislative majority. However, the agency is concerned that only limited progress will be made in reducing the budget deficit in 2003 by securing partial cost controls for the health care scheme and public sector rationalization, which could imply a further increase in debt to 40% of GDP in 2004.     Fitch will closely monitor government's near-term progress in fiscal consolidation. The agency would positively view measures to reduce supplier arrears; and a substantial effort to rein in health care costs. Meeting a clear timetable for policy implementation to achieve a trend reduction in expenditures is critical. The agency would also look for passage of health care premium increases and implementation of co-payment or deductible payment incentives; conversion of the civil servant pension fund into an independent public enterprise; and progress in heightening government efficiency and reducing personnel outlays.

--30--AM/sf*

CONTACT: Fitch Ratings, New York
         Therese Feng, 212/908-0230 
         Shelly Shetty, 212/908-0324
         Matt Burkhard, 212/908-0540 (Media Relations)

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING BOND/STOCK RATINGS
SOURCE: Fitch Ratings

Pedro Pablo [Aquí va un texto relativamente extenso donde el compa ha reunido ideas que ya venía exponiendo en artículos pubicados en El Libertario, documento que por lo demás expone un balance de la trayectoria política del chavismo tras 4 años en el poder y de las perspectivas que se anuncian para el futuro del "Proceso"]

¿A cambio de qué perdimos un modo de vida que no era tan malo si lo comparamos con el que tenemos hoy y con el que tendremos en el futuro, perdiendo a la vez las posibilidades de una transición menos dolorosa a mejores formas de organización socio-política? Como Ulises, por el canto de sirena de un militar fracasado que, con su pinta de guapo de barrio y su lenguaje coplero, subyugó a mujeres y hombres, con un discurso de contenido absurdo, que presentaba un proyecto inaplicable pero al que casi todos se adhirieron, incluyendo aquellos que suponíamos eran estudiados y bien preparados, que hoy lucen como el papel sanitario de un militar cuartelero. ¡Pobre Mayz, pobre Olavaria, pobre Escarrá, pobre Elechiguerra, pobre Brewer Carías, pobre Alí Rodríguez, pobre Armas! A todos ellos se los llevaron por los cachos Diosdado, Dávila, Bernal, Lina Ron, Maduro, Lara, Iris Varela, Barreto, Acosta Carlés y Lucas Rincón, que hasta hoy se muestran como los verdaderos agentes de una banda de ambiciosos que engañó a la mayoría de los venezolanos con una coartada ideológica que sólo una gran ignorancia, o un pobre espíritu revanchista, podía aceptar. El proyecto no aguantaba una mínima evaluación político-racional ni en su teoría ni en la calidad de los encargados de aplicarla. Para muestra, se achacan a Chávez sus supuestas inclinaciones comunistas cuando él mismo nunca se ha declarado socialista y suele emplear categorías socio-políticas típicamente fascistas como "pueblo", "descamisados" y similares. Se alega que ha considerado a Cuba "un mar de felicidad" y es amigo de Fidel, como si al régimen castrista lo pudiéramos incluir entre los socialismos cuando allí no hay sino un estatismo autoritario unipersonal.

Al cabo de estos 4 años el proyecto se ha delineado claramente, aunque siempre hubo vislumbres para los que querían verlos. El proyecto chavista es el poder, apoderarse del poder y ejercerlo sin cortapisas, sin frenos, sin limitaciones, cueste lo que cueste. No cabe duda que para el año 1998 la sociedad venezolana ya era demasiado compleja para ser sometida con esa fórmula tosca, a pesar de lo cual mucha gente no dudó en votar por Chávez con una ingenuidad política propia de una visión mesiánica de la historia formada en el culto a Bolívar, la influencia religiosa en toda la educación y una inadecuada incorporación de los principios de la modernidad. Sin duda todos reclamábamos un cambio, ante la desesperante putrefacción del régimen de la democracia de partidos que venía desde 1958. En medio de nuestras dificultades parecíamos preparados para un siglo diferente, pero cuando se tuvo la alternativa, luego de matar al tigre, se le tuvo miedo al cuero y el país cayó en la seducción de un líder supuestamente revolucionario que, apelando a los prejuicios y preconceptos más primitivos que nos conforman y ante la ausencia de una consolidada capacidad crítica propia de la política moderna, logró capturar la imaginería venezolana, muy ayudado por los medios que él mismo hoy tanto critica cuando se vuelven en su contra, porque sabe de su capacidad para crear ídolos como él mismo.

Los trucos del encantador de culebras Cuando Chávez accedió a la formalidad del poder, su única alternativa para usufructuarlo plenamente era una destrucción de esta sociedad, de su talante de cambio, de su estructura económica, de su incipiente pensamiento político y de su capacidad de resistencia. Un proyecto de poder omnímodo sólo se puede ejercer en circunstancias de gran depresión económica, cultural, educativa y espiritual de la población, como lo muestran Cuba, Irak, Zimbabwe o Libia. La verborrea anti-liberal se justificaba porque el liberalismo económico requiere también del liberalismo político para consolidarse, y Chávez nunca menciona al socialismo porque con más razón los verdaderos socialismos reclaman estas libertades y persiguen el progreso individual y colectivo. Pero a un proyecto de dominio y poder le es necesario esa degradación que no teníamos, esa degradación de la que hace gala en su conducta, en sus discursos y en los haceres y decires de sus asistentes.

Para lograrlo, luego de aprovechar el momento electoral para asumir todo el poder institucional (demostrando así la profundidad de la crisis que liquidaba a la democracia de partidos), se propuso montar una nueva constitución, supuestamente a la medida de su ambición. Pero la ineptitud intelectual de su gente, conformada por mediocres que llevaban muchos años esperando la oportunidad, los llevó a cometer errores y dejó abierta demasiadas brechas para la resistencia por lo que, a pesar de sus discursos defendiéndola, ha tenido que ignorarla consistentemente. Es más que claro que entre nosotros no hay reglas de juego salvo la fuerza, y ni siquiera podemos decir que no hay Estado de Derecho. Definitivamente sólo hay fuerza sin racionalidad de ningún tipo.

Paralelamente Chávez principió la campaña destructiva en los otros frentes. Inició el desafío a sus adversarios con un verbo provocador, provocador por lo absurdo, por las mentiras, por lo intelectualmente insostenible y formalmente degradante. Pero como reacción logró centrar toda discusión en lo personal, haciéndose único objeto de toda conversación en la población, capturando toda la imaginería social, que pasó a tenerlo como único tema, reduciendo así el vuelo del pensamiento político. Chávez había tenido un buen entrenamiento en este proceso, porque su candidatura fue aupada por los medios, que lo entrenaron pensando que iban a poder dominar a este torpe militarote carismático, ignorando su ambición de poder sin límites, su total falta de escrúpulos y de racionalidad política. Su tarea más difícil fue destruir la estructura social. Para eso encontró la oportunidad que le brindó la abismal torpeza de muchos de sus oponentes. Partiendo de una oposición inexistente en diciembre del 2001, un sector de la población avizoró lo que se venía y se generó una disconformidad masiva que forzó en Abril del 2002 su renuncia, como lo anunció el alto mando militar, cuyo más alto jefe sigue cobrando su silencio al respecto y es hoy Ministro del Interior. Todos vimos al presidente abandonando Miraflores tembloroso, negociando su salida, pidiendo antiácido y antidepresivos. Pero ese logro de la oposición se perdió por los propios errores de la camarilla que encabezó el movimiento, cuando se mostró como una alternativa inaceptable. Si hoy estamos peor que hace un año, tan culpable es Chávez como Carmona Estanga. Tuvimos suerte de que presenciamos todo eso por los medios.

Sin embargo, el Comandante estaba herido y el cúmulo de errores, especialmente en el orden económico, (con el mayor ingreso petrolero de los últimos 10 años devaluó la moneda en más de un 300%) lo llevó a perder apoyo popular. Para la segunda mitad de 2002, era más que claro que el Presidente sería fatalmente derrotado en cualquier tipo de decisión electoral, por lo que tuvo que montar otra base de sustentación más allá del "Aló Presidente". Por un lado, volvió a las trampas de reemplazar la democracia participativa y protagónica por las marramucias institucionales que tanto conocimos en la era de la democracia de partidos, agravada por un exagerado todo vale para ganar y una destrucción sistemática de las instituciones en su poder. En la República Bolivariana, desde las escuelas primarias hasta el TSJ, pasando por los poderes del Estado, la policía, el ejército o el uso de los dineros públicos, nada funciona regularmente y con algún orden que permita el seguimiento y control al que se supone nuestros representantes están sometidos. Pero mucho más importante, lo logró mediante el tradicional mecanismo latinoamericano de comprar de la fidelidad de la Fuerza Armada, que se le había mostrado esquiva en Abril, a la vez que empieza a mostrarse la zarpa represiva con el uso de la Guardia Nacional para enfrentar a la oposición, precisamente el mismo cuerpo militar que Chávez anunció que pensaba disolver; lo que haría aprovechando así para borrar sus desaguisados, organizando otro que lo reemplace, sin afectar a la FA en su integridad ya que la GN ha sido siempre un cuerpo que oscila entre militar y policía. Sería fácilmente reemplazada por una Policía Federal, que centralizaría toda la represión policial, para lo que es necesario eliminar las policías locales, proceso que se ha iniciado, nuevamente con poca atención a las formas legales. Además, queda en reserva, según la fortaleza que pueda adquirir la oposición en la calle, el uso de fuerzas de choque parapoliciales para hacer el "trabajo sucio" que no es conveniente de ejecutar con los aparatos armados institucionales.

Desmantelar para dominar A esta altura, el proyecto parece ser volver a 1920: una población ignorante, disminuida, marginal, desocupada, a la que se domina políticamente con discursos, represión y el otorgamiento arbitrario de las dádivas petroleras. La combinación de conuco populista con destrucción del desarrollo industrial nos haría totalmente dependiente del exterior, lo que permitiría al gobierno mantener una buena cara ante los eventuales proveedores, ya que tenemos fuentes de ingresos invalorables. Las industrias desarrolladas necesitan gente capacitada y, como esto no convenía al plan de dominio, la carta es el ahogo de las empresas privadas y la progresiva venta de las estatales al capital extranjero, que las recibiría con beneplácito. Este plan, en alguna medida, se le ha facilitado con la huelga petrolera, que le da una justificación discursiva para la liquidación de las riquezas nacionales. Chávez tenía así asegurada la vista gorda internacional frente a su progresivo dominio de la gente del patio, que se refuerza ahora con el control de cambio le permite un elemento más a favor de la sumisión interna con el futuro RECADI Bolivariano.

Este modelo es el de Gadaffi, Hussein y Castro, en los que el Jefe de Gobierno es el dueño del país y quien negocia con las empresas extranjeras la entrega de recursos, impidiendo el desarrollo de instancias locales que siempre implican la capacitación de la gente nacional que complica el panorama interno. El país se identifica con una sola persona, la cabeza del movimiento, con la que hay que tratar y negociar las prebendas, los favores, los permisos, los negocios, todo, mientras se mantiene a la población sometida y sumisa. Para eso, usa una coartada ideológica basada en el discurso antiliberal, la defensa de los pobres, y todos los demás clichés propios del populismo, mientras ejecuta políticas neoliberales en su beneficio, se ocupa de mantener la pobreza que ayudó a su ascenso y apela a la represión cuando la protesta se torna incontrolable. Creo que todo anarquista debería agradecer a Chávez haber mostrado con tanta claridad cómo los intereses del Estado, y los beneficios que de él obtiene la camarilla que lo domina, tiene tan poco que ver con los intereses de la sociedad que lo sostiene y a la que supuestamente representa.

Las maniobras en el frente externo En este proceso, el paro cívico y la huelga petrolera tan prolongada representaron una dificultad, porque afectó intereses que no debía. Chávez tenía asegurado el apoyo del Gobierno de Bush porque representaba la seguridad de suministro petrolero, en caso de la guerra contra Irak. La guerra de Irak tiene como meta el dominio del petróleo irakí por las empresas del grupo que Bush lidera y defiende, para lo cual contaba con Chávez y el petróleo venezolano como retaguardia. Pero la huelga interrumpió esta complicidad de intereses (nadie defiende ya ideologías salvo durante los discursos en los medios. Para ejemplo, Lula). Entonces, Bush comienza a replantear su apoyo al Comandante Chávez, que ya no sirve al plan original del grupo económico de Bush y decide mandar a Gaviria, Secretario General de la OEA. La presión se acentuó con una movida que le falló precisamente a Lula, y lo compromete en su gestión internacional, como es la de promover la intervención del colectivo internacional en la solución de los conflictos internos (la globalización es un hecho). Digo que le puede costar a Lula porque no hay identificación ideológica posible con Chávez. La conformación del grupo de países amigos puede significar la ruptura del apoyo latinoamericano al Comandante, que hará lo posible para neutralizar este montaje, aunque tenga que quemar sus integración internacional.

Pero Chávez tiene todavía una carta, apoyada en las armas y el discurso, y es la liquidación de la riqueza nacional, y para aprovecharla está Francia en primer lugar. Venezuela carece de recursos humanos para poder reemplazar a la gente del petróleo que ha decidido enfrentarse al gobierno, tal como lo vemos con el ingreso de grupos de libios, marroquíes, hindúes, etc, para intentar hacer algo. La única alternativa es privatizarla, entregarla a empresas transnacionales. Tal como se ha anunciado, PDVSA será dividida, muy probablemente para ser vendida en partes y el gobierno venezolano está poniendo esta zanahoria para lograr que la opinión internacional lo siga sosteniendo mientras le da tiempo para apretar el dominio de la oposición interna, que se produce aceleradamente con la degradación de toda la estructura social venezolana.

Sin duda que este proyecto es totalmente contrario a todos los movimientos latinoamericanos con aspiraciones socialistas, aunque muchos de ellos no han dudado en apoyar la coartada ideológica de Chávez. Pero el proyecto final del Comandante va en contra de los intereses de los gobiernos de esta tendencia que han nacido y de los que aspiran a nacer. Nada peor para Lula y Gutiérrez que apoyar a un Chávez que desnude su carácter autocrático, privatizando las empresas básicas de su país para beneficiarse en su poder. Como EE.UU. tampoco las tiene buenas con Chávez, éste es un momento difícil para el impostor bolivariano y para la sociedad venezolana. En el asunto juegan muchos intereses, ninguno ideológico, y un cronograma que es vital para el tipo de solución a la que se llegue. Si Chávez logra el control interno antes de que la presión, nacional e internacional, lo obligue a ceder, entonces Venezuela puede volver a estar 30 años como estuvo con Juan Vicente Gómez, como están los países más sometidos del globo, inmersos en una progresiva miseria en todos los sentidos, sometidos en un culto a la personalidad, mientras entrega su economía a las transnacionales para que le den las monedas que necesita.

No debemos pensar que la presión internacional sea suficientemente para desalojar a Chávez y basta ver lo que sucedió en Yugoslavia o lo que sucede en Irak para darnos cuenta de esto. Puede que tengamos dificultades, pero estimo que Chávez está dispuesto a sacrificar hasta su inserción en el contexto internacional, donde nadie llorará por nosotros, con tal de mantener su proyecto. Usará los podios internacionales mientras le sean útiles, pero no dudará en abandonarlos si no le resultan favorables. Su meta inmediata es ganar tiempo, mientras acentúa la represión interna para dominar a los venezolanos. Ya se asoman los temores propios de los regímenes autoritarios, de presiones de todo tipo, apresamientos arbitrarios, denuncias, ataques solapados a los particulares, acoso, ausencia de recursos institucionales de protección, gratuita exhibición de fuerza.

Ni adversarios, ni interlocutores En cuanto a la oposición interna, la presión del gobierno sobre ella se va de mantener apelando a todos las triquiñuelas que las dictaduras y "dictablandas" latinoamericanas han desarrollado, usando lo institucional y lo marginal en la medida que se requiera. Se busca el agotamiento, que la falta de coherencia de la oposición facilita. Chávez ha sido claro en su discurso: su objetivo no es moderno, mejorar en términos de confort, salud, beneficios materiales, larga vida, educación, medio ambiente. El objetivo de su movimiento es la revolución, una abstracción que, como cualquier otra (como Dios, la Libertad, la Justicia, la democracia participativa), es muy difícil de darle contenido y que, concretamente, tiene una sola manifestación que es un líder en el poder. En aras de esa revolución, lo ha dicho claramente, no dudará en traer hambre y miseria.

Es muy difícil dialogar racionalmente con la mentalidad chavista cuasi medieval, en especial si el interlocutor ha hecho suyos los principios modernos del sujeto individual como fundamento en el que apoya su visión de mundo, del progreso, del desarrollo. Todo el discurso chavista se fundamenta en abstracciones como el soberano, el pueblo, la revolución, el proyecto bolivariano, los pobres, pero nunca hace ninguna referencia a otra individualidad que no sea la propia, la de su abuela y, antes del divorcio, a su hija. Esta es una clara señal de que la relación se concibe entre un individuo y una masa a la que hay que dominar para que obedezca ciegamente. Es la típica relación del capitán con sus soldados, de alta camaradería pero a los que no duda en enviarlos a la muerte para lograr su medalla. Aquí podemos ver las fallas del entroncamiento de Latinoamérica y de su gente en la modernidad, que permite a estos líderes asumir tanto poder gracias al retraso heredado de nuestro proceso colonial y la tradición imperial indígena, que ha consolidado en la mentalidad de nuestro pueblos una admiración al milagro y el mesianismo que ha hecho posible figuras como Somoza, Stroessner, Fidel Castro, y tantos otros que nos han sumido en el atraso y nos ha hecho perder el tren de la historia en el siglo XX, colocándonos entre los países de peores perspectivas para el futuro.

Frente a este liderazgo unipersonal, concentrado, sin escrúpulos ni racionalidad (porque el poder no la requiere) pero con astucia y malicia, se levanta una oposición heterogénea y múltiple. Eso no es malo, al contrario, sólo que tiene dos inconvenientes en estas circunstancias. Por un lado, no es tan eficiente en el corto plazo, y por otro porque el liderazgo no siempre está en manos de la gente que tiene la autoridad intelectual y moral para ejercerlo y por ello sometido a crítica y revisión de todos sus pasos. Esa falta de autoridad se deriva de su ineptitud y de antiguos compromisos con un modo político que mostró su obsolescencia en el pasado, ya que fueron esos polvos los que trajeron estos lodos. Pero debemos tener en claro que, muy esperanzadoramente, la gente supera a estos líderes, pero que necesitará un tiempo para modelar sus representantes y su futura organización socio-política. La ineptitud del liderazgo opositor se manifiesta en que todavía no hay un proyecto discutido que se asuma, lo que tampoco es malo porque siempre la amplia discusión para producirlo es lenta, pero hace que esencialmente se actúe en respuesta al proyecto chavista. En el enfrentamiento inmediato no hay claras alternativas ni metas definitivas, agravado porque son muchos los que prefieren esta indefinición para aprovechar la situación cuando se presente. Frente a ello, el chavismo cuenta con la fuerza del ejército que lo apoya sin tapujos, tiene objetivos claros, se mueve en pos de ellos y no duda en avanzar tras sus metas ignorando toda regla de juego. En este panorama, el tiempo se mueve en contra de la oposición, que necesita un plazo más largo para desarrollar sus propuestas, metas y modos efectivos de acción, que el oficialismo. Por eso, Chávez necesita muy poco tiempo, y se ha visto favorecido al acelerarse las acciones. Tiene que apurar el paso debido a la crítica situación en la que está inmerso; en eso se ha volcado todo su empeño y de nosotros depende que lo logre, o no.

Thursday June 12, 2003 - [ 09:12 AM GMT ]    Topic - GNU/Linux <a href=newsforge.com>NewsForge

• By Robin 'Roblimo' Miller - Miami's Liberty City is one of the worst neighborhoods in a city famous for bad neighborhoods. The Liberty City Learning Center is a privately-run effort to help neighborhood children break the cycle of ignorance that keeps them there. And now, thanks to volunteers from two Florida Linux user groups and hardware donations from local businesses, Liberty City Learning Center can add computer and Internet training to its curriculum.

A one-day install

The install was scheduled for Saturday, June 7. All wiring was supposed to be in place before then, part of a project two local men did to help them earn hands-on experience they needed to get their A+ certifications.

The assortment of old donated PCs was neatly stacked, with a bag of mice and several shelves full of keyboards. Monitors were there, tested, in place on the wall-mounted shelves installed to hold the computers. The one heavy-duty piece of hardware, a surplus dual-CPU server donated by Miami's Channel 4 , was tested and ready to go.

Several people from the brand-new Miami LUG (MiaLUG), aided by three professional sysadmins from the Southwest Florida LUG, based a two-hour drive away in Fort Myers , expected to install LTSP software to make the donated PCs into network-booted thin clients, install necessary application software on the server, make sure everything ran decently, then go out to supper.

Naturally, things didn't go quite as planned....

10:50 a.m. - The Ft. Myers contingent finally arrives. They were supposed to show up at 10, but first they stopped at the home of Gonzalo Porcel Quero , the MiaLUG person who organized the effort after his girlfriend, Martha Arrazola, introduced him to Liberty City Learning Center director Sam Mason.

Martha had met Sam through her work with the Partnership for the Study and Prevention of Violence ; Liberty City is one of Miami's most violent areas, and the Partnership works with the Learning Center because it believes giving local children a chance at a decent education helps prevent violence. The Linux computer lab/Internet idea for the Center was heavily Martha's. Sam had gotten hold of a few old computers and donated educational programs, and found them fine motivators for the many latchkey kids he mentors, but he couldn't afford to buy more computers.

And when Sam finally did get a whole stack of donated computers with help from the Channel 4 Neighbors4Neighbors program, he ran into licensing problems with Microsoft and other proprietary software vendors. "We didn't have money to pay them," Sam says. So those programs couldn't be used. Liberty City residents have an average income of less than $8,000 per year -- less than many Third World countries -- but they are in the U.S., where the BSA and similar groups run rampant (and can bring in Federal marshals to enforce their financial demands), so proprietary software was a no-go here from the beginning.

Neither Gonzalo nor the other LUG volunteers asked for money. They brought dozens of CDs full of software licensed under the GPL and other Open Source licenses, and set to work installing it.

11 a.m. - Chris Williams, a Ft. Myers programmer and sysadmin, huddles with Gonzalo. They decide to replace the existing Red Hat installation on the server with Mandrake 9.1 because of its ease of administration, plus the fact that Gonzalo is used to Mandrake, and he's the one who will be responsible for ongoing maintenance of the Center's computers.

"Of course, we can always SSH in and help him if he has a problem," Chris points out. But still, having a familiar (and easy to use) administration interface is good, and Mandrake's user management is extraordinarily simple. The Center expects to constantly add, delete, and change user accounts, so Mandrake it is. The server OS install begins.

Meanwhile, in the other large classroom in the Center's building (there are two main rooms, an office, restrooms, a little storage, and that's about it), Ft. Myers-ites Frank Sfalanga and Bert Rapp, along with Martha Arrazola, start checking the client machines.

Hmmm, some seem to be missing hard drives. This is not a big deal, since they're going to be thin clients with all programs and user data living on the server; it just means they're going to need boot floppies to get going. Looks like a job for ROM-o-matic !

11:30 a.m. - Mandrake 9.1 up and running on the server. Testing the first connection to the first client. It doesn't work. Uh-oh.

Chris does some head and beard-scratching. Hmmm -- they had one going, then two, now none of them work.

Thinking, diagnosing, wondering now dominate the rooms.

12 noon - More MiaLUG people arrive, specifically Martin Gaido and Oscar Ferrando. A few minutes later MiaLUG member Claudia Grigorescu shows up with one of the day's most important necessities: Pizza! Soda, too.

2 p.m. - Oscar is still new to Linux, but he makes his living installing commercial network, phone, and TV cable. He has power tools with him, and sets to work organizing the badly done cable the A+ hopefuls had put in. He discovers, along with Bert and Frank, a lot of bad cable, plus a hidden network hub up in the ceiling. They string a cable along the floor from the server to the hub in the computer room that connects to all the clients, bypassing the hub and wiring in the ceiling, and the connection problems disappear.

You can have all the Linux expertise you want, but sometimes it takes a guy with drywall dust on his hands and power tools in his case to get things going.

Now that the problem is traced to bad cabling (and possibly a bad hub; the thing in the ceiling looks pretty old and ratty), the trick is to figure out which cables are bad and to repair or replace them.

This leads to a major Oops! "I knew I should have brought some CAT-5 cable with me," Frank says. "I have a whole roll at home."

Nobody has any cable tips (CAT-5 connectors) either. So after some consultation in English and Spanish, Claudia and Oscar run up to TigerDirect , which is about a half-hour drive from the Center, to get some.

Meanwhile, clients get set up, their MAC addresses get registered with the server, and applications get installed. One PC is left with (legally licensed) Windows, and Martha installs all of the (legal) Windows kidware she finds around on it. She also asks Chris to download and burn a copy of OpenOffice for Windows for that PC, since Microsoft Office is certainly not in the Liberty City Learning Center's budget.

About the Liberty City Learning Center

Miami's Liberty City Learning Center is not a federally-funded or state-supported venture. It was started seven years ago by Sam Mason, personally, out of his pocket. We need to back up a little here to get the whole story, and it's worth getting.

Sam moved to Miami from New York City 15 years ago after retiring from a city job in labor negotiations. "My retirement lasted about two weeks," he says. "I had to have something to do."

Sam went to work for an Urban League offshoot working to build businesses in and generally bring prosperity to some of Miami's worst neighborhoods, among them Liberty City. Along the way ("About eight years ago," Sam says) he saw literacy, specifically the lack thereof, as the biggest single problem facing Miami's black population, and no one was doing anything about it in any effective sense.

"We have five high schools that feed from this neighborhood, and all of them get 'F' grades," Sam says. "Imagine allowing that anywhere else. It would never happen. Someone would do something."

In Liberty City, the only real "someone" turned out to be Sam, and the "something" was using his own savings, plus money from his brothers and sisters, to purchase a nearly worthless former insurance company office at a state auction seven years ago. He opened the Liberty City Learning Center in it, with home-done sprucing up, home-made (but neatly lettered) exterior signs, and scavenged desks and chairs, all without any external funding or support from any government agency.

The original plan was to have schools send "at risk" children, but that never happened, Sam says, "because the school people thought we were after their jobs." So he turned to the community, putting the word out that he and perhaps a few volunteers were willing to help tutor neighborhood kids after school if they were having trouble with reading and math.

And the children come. Sam says the majority of them are brought by grandparents, not parents, a factor he attributes to family breakdowns in the black community. But causes of illiteracy aren't as important here as getting up and teaching kids to read. Sam says, "Reading is the key. You can't learn math unless you can read. These kids do badly in school because they can't read. We teach them, and to teach them we have to motivate them."

That's where the computers and Internet connection come in: Sam noticed that kids like to play with computers. But schools in Liberty City have few computers if any, and local residents certainly can't afford them, let alone afford ISP fees and proprietary software. So the idea of the Liberty City Computer Learning Center morphing at least partly into a neighborhood computer training center came about. Sam learned the hard way that software from major proprietary vendors, even with educational discounts, was priced for formally funded institutions, not ad-hoc volunteer efforts like his.

And so, today, a group of volunteers is setting up computers at the Center with free software and donated hardware.

4 p.m. - The run to and from TigerDirect took longer than expected. "I don't believe I got lost that many times," says Claudia. But here we are, finally, with enough CAT-5 cable and connectors to get things going. Wiring gets strung, Claudia and Martha run down to the little corner store a block away to get more soda, computers get tested, and so does the hub found in the ceiling, which doesn't seem to be working right.

There's another hub that seems to work, and a single cable between it and the server makes things work. Now it's a matter of putting together boot disks and setting up the variety of old hardware.

Some of the donated PCs have half duplex NICs that are taking up a lot of network bandwidth and slowing down the clients in which they are installed. A few others have video cards that don't get along with LTSP and give out fuzzy or distorted images. Or is it the monitors? Test, test, test, swap, swap, swap.

This is the first installation of this type for most of the participants. Jim, a new MiaLUG almost-member ("I've only been to a few meetings"), is providing plenty of lift-and-carry action, working with Oscar even though Jim's Spanish is nearly nonexistent, and Oscar only speaks a small bit of English and has trouble understandinging Jim's Kentucky-flavored accent.

Lots of smiles and lots of pointing at things seem to help. Communication is achieved, a bit at a time, not only between the computers, but between the people working on them.

The computers are a mixed bunch, and so are the people. One is from Colombia, two from Argentina, one from Spain, one from Venezuela, one from New Jersey, another from New York, one from Massachusetts -- and Jim from Kentucky, of course.

Sam watches them work, and shakes his head. "This is the most wonderful thing I've ever seen here," he says. "All these people, from all over, doing all this work... donating their time and talents."

Sam is aware that today is just the beginning; that he will need to learn to use Linux himself -- which won't be hard since he's a young man of 77, not some oldster set in his ways -- and pass his knowledge on to others, while other volunteers -- probably from the University of Miami and Florida International University -- come in and work with neighborhood children and adults, and pass on their computer and Internet knowledge. And hopefully the neighborhood people will learn enough to keep the knowledge chain going, and going, and going.

6:30 p.m. - Winding down a little. Some people leave. The heavy lifting is done. Chris has been trying to find an LTSP driver for the NICs in a whole stack of old 166MHz donated Compaqs -- he knows there's one out there -- but has not succeeded so far.

Most necessary applications are on the server now, and Chris is making sure users have the necessary permissions to run them -- an important step that can't be forgotten in a client/server environment like this one.

Now it's just test machines, look for those drivers, and make sure everything is working right -- and everything is, except for those pesky Compaq drivers and a couple of recalcitrant video drivers in some way-old Dells.

7:30 p.m. - Inside, just final checks. Outside, Sam is walking around, smelling the lovely smoke from the Bar-B-Que grill across the street. A girl, perhaps 12 or 13, comes up to him shyly. "Mr. Sam, do you remember me?" she asks. "You helped me when I was having trouble reading back in third grade. I just wanted to let you know I'm doing fine now. I read a lot."

Sam talks with her in the twilight, softly, and smiles. He is not talking down to her as an adult talks to a child (except for the fact that he is well over six feet tall and she's in the sub-five-foot range), but treats her as an intelligent human whose words are worth hearing.

A few minutes later, Sam says, "That's the secret with these children. Talk to them like you expect them to be smart, not as if you expect them to fail and fall behind all the time. They get enough of that everywhere else."

8:30 p.m. - Chris is doing a last checkout, making sure Gonzalo knows how to create and delete users while Frank and Bert make sure the 10 client workstations they've set up today are fully functional, which they are.

The obsolete Compaq NIC driver hunt has failed. Since these are small machines, and counter space in the informal computer lab is at a premium, Gonzalo decides it may be better to hunt up cheap NIC cards and install them in the Compaqs, which otherwise make fine little thin clients.

But today is done. And nine volunteers, working off-and-on for about nine hours, have left behind a fully functional neigborhood computer lab without spending a dime on software or using a single piece of new hardware.

9 p.m. - The Ft. Myers group heads out. "The cable problems really slowed us down," Frank says. "We should have been prepared for something like that."

"This is the first time we've done an LTSP install where we didn't do our own cabling," Chris says. "That's the problem. We trusted someone else. A+ trainees... tells you something..."

"Well, next time we'll know," Bert says. "But right now, let's find someplace to eat. We're all hungry, right?"

Photo Gallery (courtesy of Southwest Florida GNU/Linux Users Group )

  ( Post a new comment ) If anyone else in South FL needs help with LTSP...       by cwitc on 2003.06.12 8:15 (#55711) User #179730 Info | www.cwitc.com

you may contact us through SWFGLUG.org or you can contact me directly at www.cwitc.com and we'll assemble the task force. We're especially interested in helping schools and learning centers because the children are the future. Due to the fact that LTSP has a lower total cost of ownership, centralized administration, and minimal hardware requirements for the workstations, it allows more children to have access to advanced technology yet avoids the proprietary lock-in and licensing costs of commercial software. It's all about community!Linux - because a PC is a terrible thing to waste. [ Reply to This | Parent ]

ME interested by Anonymous Reader 2003.06.12 21:58

Re:ME interested by Anonymous Reader 2003.06.13 4:27

Kudos!       by HarryLeBlanc on 2003.06.12 11:15 (#55734) User #4934 Info

It's so nice to read a story about people doing something to make a positive change. Those LUGgers volunteering a day of their time will make a huge difference. Imagine if every LUG in the country took it on to do a similar setup in some deserving local community center. What a difference we could make! [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Re:Kudos! by Anonymous Reader 2003.06.12 18:07

Great Article       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.12 15:15 (#55812)

Wonderful Article!! It was "Liberty City" in the title that caught me. I'm from the Miami-Ft Lauderdale metro area, in suburbia to be exact. Nice to see Free/Open/Libre software being used in a capacity beyond hobby exploits or even reducing corporate expenditures. [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Looks like a good thing to remember here       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.12 19:05 (#55893)

Plan Ahead make a list and make sure everyone knows what is needed basicly. Ie Cat 5 when networking is a good thing to thow in the car if you have it even if you dont use it. [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Re:Looks like a good thing to remember here by concord 2003.06.13 11:02

Lies!       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.12 19:18 (#55896)

We all know that these people REALLY spent the whole day writing Windows viruses and smoking dope. Stop lying to us, you bastards! [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Re:Lies! by Anonymous Reader 2003.06.12 21:22

Re:Lies! by Anonymous Reader 2003.06.12 21:39

Re:Lies! by Anonymous Reader 2003.06.12 22:11

Important things       by WilliamRoddy on 2003.06.12 23:43 (#55935) User #173511 Info

When, amidst all the shouting about lawsuits and ownership rights and intellectual property, one is threateded with grief about choice, I like to remember such stories as the one Mr. Miller has just written, and say to myself, "I made a good choice in switching to Open Source." A choice for the better. Against such kindnesses the Gates Empire has few defenses. Bill [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Good work       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.13 7:27 (#55977)

Good work guys. It's wonderful to see time and effort going to making a difference. My only question is why was another south florida LUG (Flux) not invited to help - we have many members who would have been more than happy to donate time, effort and hardware to this cause as well. [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Re:Good work by concord 2003.06.13 10:58

Thanks for posting this story       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.13 10:15 (#55998)

Thanks for posting this story. I really appreciate the narrative format and background information. I work with a group of volunteers in Chicago call NPOTechs npotechs.org that does work along similar lines. You all are inspiring! [ Reply to This | Parent ]

MIALUG       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.13 14:26 (#56037)

Guys: I am one of the members of Mialug.org also, I want to tell thanks to everybody specially to the people of SWFLUG for their help and support. For those who are members of other LUGs in south florida, we can create any kind of general meeting and in the next project we can go all together. For more information about MIALUG visit our website at: www.mialug.org or send us an email. Regards ;) [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Familiar feeling       by johngnubie on 2003.06.13 16:29 (#56054) User #179811 Info

FREE GEEK MICHIANA (freegeekmichiana.org) a volunteer group born out of mlug.org and nwilug.org have built two ltsp based computer labs. We use K12ltsp V2.1.2, nice mix of stability and edutainment. They have certainly been learning experiences. We are hoping to add more labs soon, we are also developing educational programs, ala our name sake in Portland: freegeek.org. Keep up the good work! [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Rob thanks for this story       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.13 19:18 (#56066)

It was awesome to read this and remember what a great tool computers are for helping people. Joe Moraca Sarasota, FL [ Reply to This | Parent ]

Squeakland.       by Anonymous Reader on 2003.06.16 23:14 (#56499)

Here's my small bit. Kids like to experiment. Try new things. They might want to give Squeak [squeakland.org] a try. As you can see kids are smarter than we give them credit for.

Reuters, 06.12.03, 9:38 AM ET NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - NYMEX crude futures were expected to move lower on Thursday, testing technical support and consolidating as traders take profits after pushing well above $32 on Wednesday. "We were due for a corrective pull back," said a New York trader. "There's still concern over inventories." NYMEX July crude was called to open 20 cents to 30 cents lower after ending ACCESS trade down 29 cents at $32.07 a barrel, trading $32.03 to $32.27. Technical analysts on Thursday were expecting support for NYMEX July crude at $31.46, with resistance slated at $32.80. In London at 9:33 a.m. EDT (13:33 GMT), the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) July crude contract traded 29 cents lower at $28.10 a barrel. Wednesday's rally was fueled by U.S. government data showing crude stocks down last week by 4.6 million barrels to 284.4 million barrels, over 12 percent below last year. Analysts had expected a inventories to be up slightly. "We had a nice run up yesterday so we will probably see some testing of technicals," said a NYMEX floor trader. The trader added that a bounce higher was still a possibility, with $34.75 a target for crude futures and another penny higher for gasoline. The U.S. inventory data showing lower crude stocks came after OPEC announced it would put off fresh supply cuts at a ministerial policy-setting meeting on Wednesday. Fears that ramped up Iraqi output or anemic demand going forward could pressure prices caused the cartel to call for another meeting on July 31. Traders said this potential for a cut would lend some support to the market. Venezuela has said OPEC would cut at its July meeting if Iraqi output returned to a million barrels a day. The price of OPEC's basket of seven crudes rose to $27.86 a barrel on Wednesday from Tuesday's $27.51, the OPEC news agency said on Thursday, approaching the top of the cartel's target range of $22-$28. Iraq awarded its first post-war oil tender on Thursday to six companies for 10 million barrels held in storage but the prospect for future exports stayed uncertain with production was hampered by looting, sabotage and securities concerns. NYMEX July gasoline was called to open 0.75 cent to 1.00 cent lower after ending ACCESS trade down 1.11 cents at 92.30 cents a gallon. Nearby support is expected by chart watchers at 91.20 cents. Resistance is expected at 93.80 cents. NYMEX July heating oil futures were called to open 0.50 cent to 0.60 cent lower after ending ACCESS trade down 0.60 cent at 78.50 cents a gallon. Support is expected at 75.12 cents, with resistance due at 80.44 cents.