gdp's Comments

Caracas Chronicles : The View from Your Window

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:20:37 +0000

Close. Handschusheim is towards the left, blocked by the building in this view.

Caracas Chronicles : All in a week's work

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:37 +0000

Such is the fate of all state-owned companies. The fact the opposition is cheering this results speaks volumes about what we've been saying all along: there's not one bit of substantive difference between the two visions of the country.

Caracas Chronicles : Alfredo Maneiro Turning In His Grave

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:06:09 +0000

I enjoy seeing the revolution turning against its own supporters. Call it Schadenfreude. Here we have people who have been agitating for socialism for decades, getting the short end of the stick. I say they deserve it more than everybody else. Of course, after the dust settles down, we will have the usual suspects arguing it was not really socialism fault, the revolution was kidnapped!

Caracas Chronicles : Why are we talking about Antonio Ledezma in the first place?

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:38:07 +0000

...which is only a problem if he's a statist who thinks only the government can solve the garbage issue.

Caracas Chronicles : Post-Coup Etiquette Conundrums

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:29:19 +0000

Actually I would like to see Chávez declaring war on Honduras. Then, the Venezuelan military, who would rather be drinking beer than risking life in Central America, maybe, just maybe, will put a stop to all this nonsense.

Antiwar.com Original Articles : Hands Off Honduras

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 20:23:18 +0000

Mr. Giralde makes a good summary of the situation in Honduras and is spot on about what foreign governments should do: leave them alone. My only contention with this article is his statement that the venezuelan reforms implemented by Chávez undeniably empowered the poor majorities. What 21st century socialism has empowered is a new oligarchy of well conected people who exploit and take advantage of Venezuelan natural resources, while at the same time stirring class hatred and promoting expropriation of innocent producers. The poor majorities are only empowered to beg for the crumbs, the leftovers from the chavista looting, to be distributed among those who pledge allegiance to the revolution.

Caracas Chronicles : The Pundit

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:01:00 +0000

like whom?

Caracas Chronicles : "The rich are not human"

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 22:37:38 +0000

The only scary thing about this is that there is not a single "rich" with balls in Venezuela. Or maybe the "rich" are better informed than we are.

Caracas Chronicles : The Barrage

Wed, 13 May 2009 10:13:13 +0000

Everytime I talk to my mother inVenezuela she has this to tell about the opposition: "they are completely stupid". I mean, she is not very happy with what is going on, but he oppoition strikes her as completely clueless and out of touch. So she keeps her allegiance to the "bad known" instead of changing it to the "Good unknown". I will suggest that the problem lies in the ideological makeup of the opposition: being statists of some sort or another themselves they find it very hard to answer effectively to Chávez attacks and to offer any legitimate alternative, which doesn't look just like a knee-jerk reaction to Chávez, the man, "whom they just don't like because he is a zambo". Sadly, the guys who can offer a real ideological opposition to Chávez' project are completely clueless, out-gunned and out-manned in logistical terms and they don't seem to have an interest in changing that fact.

Caracas Chronicles : Denying Plausible Deniability

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:14:05 +0000

That he did it that way and there are no visible consequences to him tells me Venezuela has already passed the point of no-return.

Caracas Chronicles : What do you stand for? (III)

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 16:09:03 +0000

I had a beef with the question about security. You should have included an option to the effect: <q>The people have a right to own and use arms for self-defense</q>. That's a nice deterrent for petty criminals.

Caracas Chronicles : What do you stand for? (III)

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 16:09:02 +0000

I had a beef with the question about security. You should have included an option to the effect: «The people have a right to own and use arms for self-defense». That's a nice deterrent for petty criminals.

Caracas Chronicles : What do you stand for? (II)

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 09:08:00 +0000

If you study the evolution of post-communists east-European countries those which took a gradualist approach to reform, because their politicians thought they were not prepared for a "plain free market economy", are the countries which have fared worst and where reform has stagnated and is in danger of being reversed. Compare East-Germany to Estonia, for instance. When people say they think the country is not prepared for freedom, it usually means they themselves are not prepared for freedom, and are willing to force the rest of us into a little bit more of state opression.

Caracas Chronicles : New Commens Software

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:38:53 +0000

Switch to your own server and install a real blogging software (like b2evolution). Just saying :) (and testing. It works for me using FF 3.0 on Linux)