Cruel hoax to substitute the new-and-revolutionary-fluent-rich for the old-rich
<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News
Posted: Sunday, May 11, 2003
By: Francisco Rivero
Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 15:46:20 -0400
From: Francisco Rivero riverofjr@hotmail.com
To: Editor@VHeadline.com
Subject: Come again?
Dear Editor: I am afraid that Mr. Cequea is trying to change the subject when he writes that it is common sense that economic growth shall improve standard of living ... please don’t forget it was his common sense that led him to conclude that today’s misery and depravation of urban slums and shantytowns ... after more than 25 years of economic decline and official neglect ... were exactly the same as at the end of the 70s. He actually used this argument to disprove the fact of the spectacular economic growth and improving well-being during that period of time ... however he forgot to deal with the appalling conditions of the agricultural life and failed to notice what on earth could have triggered such a massive internal migration in Venezuela ... well-paid jobs and hopes for better lives! Mr. Cequea!
I believe he totally missed the point when he wrote afterwards that anything that triggers misery and depravation should not be called a good thing ... the initial surge of migrational population growth cannot be called a bad thing ... please spare me about my motivations and integrity, people knew better Mr. Cequea, they knew exactly what lives they were leaving behind!
Mr. Cequea is wrong when he states that migration from the countryside to the cities was one of the problems we had from the 50s to the 70s and that the entire country did not get the benefits of the increase on GNP ... please check the gini index for Venezuela at the end of the 70s ... you will find our gini index was similar to those of today’s Spain and Portugal, a couple of fairly equitable societies. He seems to lack a proper perspective in stating that only large cities did get the benefits ... let me tell him a tale of a city in Venezuela I know very well... does he know how big was Punto Fijo, Estado Falcon, on the late 40s? No? Well, it didn’t exist ... the only human settlements of some importance were the small fishing villages of Carirubana and Los Taques ... so you can grow hoarse talking about "only the large cities did."
On the other hand ... it seems to me he is really thinking that it is a very bad thing for a huge and impoverished rural population to seek better opportunities to improve their lot and move... I do not suppose he is trying to vindicate huge rural populations nowadays! Comrade Brother Pol again? He indeed acknowledged the real reason for today’s misery and depravation in our urban slums and shantytowns! We simply stopped growing. Sometime around the late 70s our national economy tanked and went into a long decline.
I do not have any problem when he writes that it is impossible to try to analyze and search for a solution to the social, economic and political problems in Venezuela without considering our history, both early and contemporary ... my problem is with his hair-brained attempt at that!
I very much dispute his interpretation of recent political events: you have to recognize, for example, that the climb of Hugo Chavez as a political force was propelled only by the immense dissatisfaction with the old political "oligarchy."
No way, Jose! Wrong again!
We voted against arrogant, lying, incompetent, inefficient and corrupt governments. What did we get instead? An arrogant, lying, incompetent, inefficient and corrupt but revolutionary regime! We voted against greedy, insensitive and corrupt elites. What did we get instead? A greedy, insensitive and corrupt but revolutionary elite! Gosh! What a change!
The last part of Mr. Cequea's letter betrays that he entirely missed the irony... I said it is absolutely true that in Venezuela we have both world class wealth and world class poverty ... one getting wealthier and wealthier and the other one poorer and poorer... and that nowadays things are really speeding up in a way that I can foresee it will get solved pretty soon ... the very very few numbers of the old-rich will leave the country and the entire Venezuelan population will scrape their lives with less than a dollar a day ... of course with the sweet little exception of the very very few numbers of the new-and-revolutionary-fluent-rich...
Come again? Anyway, regarding the rhetorical questions my answers are no...
Mr. Cequea please don’t let any resentment cloud your judgment! You could very well be richer than me ... I’m living in a small old rented flat! And please don’t go into the trouble of psychoanalyzing me! Of course I meant to be derogatory!
I think it is a cruel hoax to substitute the new-and-revolutionary-fluent-rich for the old-rich.
That’s my friend what we really need to stop! Don't you think so?
Best Regards,
Francisco Rivero
riverofjr@hotmail.com
We can learn a lot about differences and similarities from Venezuela
<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News
Posted: Sunday, May 11, 2003
By: Rainbow Sally
Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 16:58:42 -0700
From: Rainbow Sally rainbowsally@zippnet.net
To: Editor@VHeadline.com
Subject: re: your VHeadline letter
Dear Editor: Both the left and the right are guilty of mass murders. Hitler was a rightist. The issue should strictly focus the Constitutions of our countries ... not right-left polarization.
I also am American.
Left and right polarizations are destroying the US ... we can't even agree on abortion issues. We have engaged in a war we did not want (until troops were committed), and we are a million miles from living up to our own Constitution. We have adopted an unspoken amendment honoring free enterprise at the expense of free speech, for example. (See current FCC regulation debate, for example).
Venezuela has its own constitution ... and its President (imagine what would happen here if this happened to Bush) was abducted, forced from office and then reinstated ... largely by popular demand.
We can learn a lot about the differences and similarities of capital-ism and democracy from Venezuela. We can learn a lot about how one side can cause a problem and then blame the other for not being able to stop them from causing the problem.
That's where I jumped into Venezuelan politics about two months ago ... I am speaking of the opposition's sabotage of the petroleum industry (implicit) and the cutting of electrical transmission lines (explicit).
Perhaps this is not a white hats v. black hats western movie?
Now then, if we assume that there are no good guys (as in "all have sinned?") we can also admit that their Constitution has no ulterior motives of its own and is likely to be impartial by its nature. So we can hope their Constitution is more readable than ours! Because we are not doing that well ourselves, my friend.
DynCorp -- buying and selling human sex slaves. How bad of an idea was it to have a privatized military?
How far have we already descended into a neo-plantation mentality?
And how can WE best recover some degree of humanity before God himself produces a little "friendly fire" out of his frustration with our obstinence, our deliberate incompetence (when it serves our purposes), and our incessant cheating -- and calling it "righteousness", trying to implicate even Jesus Christ in our murders.
Pray for our President ... pray that he be stopped by a valid impeachment process so that no other US President ever ever ever tries this again!
War Crimes 'R' [NOT] Us.
And while you're kneeling by your bed, pray also that Venezuela's Constitution holds the key to correcting their problems.
Rainbow Sally
rainbowsally@zippnet.net
Oscar Heck sounds very much like a socialist ... which is another word for communist!
<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News
Posted: Sunday, May 11, 2003
By: Robert Hammer
Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 03:32:44 +0000
From: Robert Hammer robham20@hotmail.com
To: Editor@VHeadline.com
Subject: The USAPS Way Of Life
Dear Oscar Heck: You may have lived for several years and worked in the USA but, if you really believe what you wrote in your article, you learned little about the people of the United States.
I have lived all my life in the United States, and the way of life you described is totally foreign to me!
Do we have druggies in the US? Yes, we do ... but the overwhelming majority of the people are not druggies.
Do you have druggies in Venezuela? If you tell me no, then I know you are truly misinformed.
Do we have people who own guns in the USA? Yes, we do ... but the majority of the people do not own guns.
Do you have gun owners in Venezuela? If you tell me no, then I ask who is it that is shooting other people there and what are they shooting them with ... pea shooters?
Do we have violent crime in the USA? Yes, we do. But if you looked at the crime statistics here, you would know that over the past ten years, the crime rate has been dropping steadily. You would know that the crime rate in the USA is lower than the crime rate in Venezuela.
Do they have violent crime in Venezuela? Please don't say no ... for if you do, then we all will know that you are completely off in outer space somewhere. From what I have been able to read, and from my friends in Venezuela, Crime in Venezuela has reached epidemic proportions, and is growing ... not subsiding. And what about the overcrowded jails I have been reading about ... is this all lies fed to us northern gringos by honest reporters like yourself?
You already have McDonald's and Wendy's and Pizza Huts in Venezuela ... have had them for several years now. Has "salsa, merengue, cumbia, and llanero music on the buses" disappeared?
You know the answer ... the Venezuelan way of life will not disappear because someone in Venezuela likes the USA or opens a fast food place ... despite your insinuations and misleading words.
But the most false information you try to disseminate, is when you wrote:
"Venezuelans would no longer celebrate occasions within whole families (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) and/or with friend and neighbors. Celebrations would occur within one’s own home, and perhaps ... by invitation ... other family members would join in."
Don't you see what you are doing, Mr. Heck?
I think you do ... and I think you are doing it on purpose.
Whatever, your reason, it is disgraceful that you are telling people that USAPS don't have celebrations with whole families. Have you never heard of "family reunions?" If you know the US as you claim, you do ... then you ignore them completely to make such a statement as quoted above.
And to tell others that we put our elders in old folks homes for them to rot away, is down right absurd! Yes, there are homes for the elderly, where medical attention is given that is needed but cannot be provided at home.
What would you do? Close the homes for the elderly and deny them needed care?
Mr. Heck, I suspect that you know the majority of grandparents do not live in "old folks homes" but take care of themselves or live with their children. Then why are you writing such misleading things?
And then we read this from you: "The fact is, after having worked extensively in the USA, I find no added-value to the USA society. It is money-oriented and self-centered. It is righteous and military-power oriented. It is “me, myself and I” … all traits that are not Venezuelan in nature (and not in the nature of many other countries of our world)."
Mr. Heck, I am glad that Venezuelans are not money-oriented. That way they will not mind living in poverty ... right? I am glad that Venezuelans are not self-centered ... that way they give everything up to help their neighbors.
The charitable organizations in Venezuela must be overflowing with wealth!
Of course, I am being facetious and ridiculous to make my point ... my point being, Mr. Heck, that you sound like you believe in a society where the people surrender their money and their selfish dreams over to the government for the good of the many. You like the phrase "in fact"... so I will use it.
In fact, Mr. Heck, you sound very much like a "socialist" which is another word for "communist." And please, don't come back to me with the false, misleading statements about "we are not communists" for we believe in democracy ... one can be a communist without being for a dictatorship ... those are two distinct different things, Mr. Heck ... and you know that already.
You, and others have said on many occasions in VHeadline News that you are presenting new ideas that have never been tried ... BULL!
There have been many countries that have tried socialism to improve their lot in life ... and to date, all of them have failed. Maybe it will work in Venezuela. No one wishes Venezuela more success and no one wishes Chavez to succeed in lifting the people of Venezuela out of poverty more than do I.
I don't want the USA to take on Venezuela as a project ... I want the people of Venezuela to find their own way to happiness ... in fact, I believe no country can become great unless they make themselves great.
The people of Venezuela will have to bring about change and an honest government that is not corrupt and dictatorial. They have to find the way to greatness in their own way ... no other country can do it for them, including the USA.
One last thought, Mr. Heck. If I read you and your cohorts correctly ... and if I take Mr. Chavez at his word ... then I think you want to help the people of Venezuela rise out of poverty and become self sufficient. Let me give you a secret, Mr. Heck. The key to doing that is "MONEY" ... no Venezuelan will rise from poverty unless he has money.
So before you go condemning "money hungry" people, think about that!
The USA is not a prosperous nation because a few have and control the wealth ... we are a prosperous nation because we have in our own way found a way to distribute that wealth to a majority of our people ... and we did it with a system called "free enterprise" ... not socialism. Just a thought.
Mr. Heck, your statements are anti-USA ... and any thinking person can see that. So why not write facts and eliminate the purpose to turn people against the USAPS. For you know this to be a fact, Mr. Heck.
You can tear down the USA and bring its government and people to complete ruin.
You can eliminate the USA as a world power, you can humiliate us, and bring us to complete poverty.
But you know what, Mr. Heck?
None of these actions would help not one single person in Venezuela rise from poverty.
You do not make yourself better by tearing down anyone else ... you may put us below you ... but you do not rise any doing it.
Sincerely
Robert Hammer, USA
robham20@hotmail.com
The Colombian civil war has spilled into Venezuela for decades
<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News
Posted: Friday, May 09, 2003
By: Dawn Gable
Date: Thu, 08 May 2003 16:04:08 +0000
From: Dawn Gable morning_ucsc@hotmail.com
To: Editor@VHeadline.com
Subject: FARC in Venezuela
Dear Editor: I don't quite understand why there is so much talk about the FARC on the Venezuelan border ... as if it were a new situation and as if it is somehow Chavez' fault.
The Colombian civil war has spilled into Venezuela for decades ... the border areas have always been risky ... and Venezuela has not been the principle blame.
In 1999, a fellow University of California classmate of mine, Terence Freitas, was kidnapped and killed by the FARC. His body was found on the Venezuelan side of the border. When I first arrived in Venezuela, I lived in Maracaibo and my ideas for going up to the mountains to look for raptors was shot down by my superiors "because there are no distinct borders up there ... the guerrillas and paramilitaries wander freely in the mountains."
At La Universidad de Zulia, my Guajira (native indian) friend wanted me to visit her family's village in these mountains some weekend, but I was strongly advised against it because it was too close to the border.
At one point, I needed to get my visa renewed ... I was going to cross into Colombia at the crossing in Tachira state. I could not get a Venezuelan to go with me. Of course, my friends would not be able to cross for lack of visa, but I asked several of them to make the trip with me and wait for me on the Venezuelan side of the border. My housemate who had traveled with me on other trips all around Venezuela refused to go ... her mother refused to fund her travel ... she was terrified of us being near the border ... she instead paid for us to fly to Aruba (a very expensive alternative) just so that I wouldn't cross into Colombia alone.
This kind of fear did not suddenly appear in the last few years.
Venezuelans have been afraid of Colombian incursions for a long long time ... and they should be, because it has happened frequently over a long, long time ... it has translated into a deep-rooted, ugly racism within Venezuela against Colombians in general.
Implying that Chavez has anything to do with this phenomenon is pure nonsense and is unfounded propaganda.
Dawn Gable
morning_ucsc@hotmail.com