en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/89903 Comments by Omar http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/12/subverting-chavismos-discursive.html#IDComment46409884 I've been watching your debate from the barrier for a while. I have to say this debate on how open the building of a truly democratic public sphere should and can be, is lacking something: Power. Attitudes towards engaging "the other" in a democratic way can not be really assessed without the factor of how much power you have. Is like an acid test, in the same sense a society of justice is defined the treatment of the least-advantaged members of such society (in Rawls terms), a true democrat is ultimately tested when he/she grab power, power to suppress (even physically) your opponent or just to completely dismissed what he has to say. Therefore the main responsibility on building a truly democratic public sphere lies on who has power, and to reestablish a democratic dialog is very little you can do if you don’t have any. Corollary: Chavez (and chavismo) might be one now he has ilimited power, and forced be a totally different persona (as he has showed to be) if powerless. So should we reach power sometime soon, our main responsibility will be to force chavismo into the public sphere, our second will be suppress him if he refuse it. Wed, 9 Dec 2009 17:36:57 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/12/subverting-chavismos-discursive.html#IDComment46409884 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/11/q-atharsis.html#IDComment44921845 Conventional politics is still the only way in current Vzla, quico. Any grandiloquent gesture ala CNR was laughable then and still laughable today. Coordination an unity efforts are, meanwhile, positive for the resistance time to come. Only a trigger event (a massive fraud or a massive repression) is a game changer, and that, has not happened (yet) Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:55:52 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/11/q-atharsis.html#IDComment44921845 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/11/collected-wit-and-wisdom-of-nelson.html#IDComment43830613 With inflation around 30% even with the type of economic decline observed in 3Q, I will pray for not recovery of the gdp. (I do not expect you to understand the relationship between inflation and gdp growth, thou) Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:50:16 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/11/collected-wit-and-wisdom-of-nelson.html#IDComment43830613 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/11/view-from-your-window-parque-central.html#IDComment42733822 I guess the pic was taken by the CANTV guy monitoring who is accessing CaracasChronicles Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:52:25 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/11/view-from-your-window-parque-central.html#IDComment42733822 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41218384 If I were Bill, I'd let Juan do his thing, while I keep playing with my cigars... Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:16:48 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41218384 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41218055 That'd be a twist! Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:12:07 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41218055 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41216255 Zelaya is a outcaster in his own party. His candidate lost the primaries against Santos (and so did Micheletti), so in principle Santos is not Zelaya's boy. There is another candidate from the ultra-leftist Partido de Unificacion Democratica, un tal Cesar Ham, that rumors has as Zelayas candidate for Nov elections. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:44:48 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41216255 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41214483 "The 'change-we-can-believe-in' crowd just made things worse by calling golpistas the ones defending their laws" along with all the countries in the hemisphere and I believe in the world, from right-wing Colombia to Chavez...so Hillary was not alone. Failing to do that would make appear USA isolated and acting, ermmm, unilaterally. But I guess you do not dislike that style of 'diplomacy', do you? Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:30:45 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/real-winner-of-honduran-crisis.html#IDComment41214483 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/electricity-to-cook-books.html#IDComment41104094 Yes, please email Maye Primera this post... Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:23:21 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/electricity-to-cook-books.html#IDComment41104094 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/electricity-to-cook-books.html#IDComment41103895 everybody knows arithmetics is an instrument of the empire and CIA to keep our people on the misery... Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:20:35 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/electricity-to-cook-books.html#IDComment41103895 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/dear-editor.html#IDComment40993350 Mind to comment on the issue of the post? Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:01:28 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/dear-editor.html#IDComment40993350 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/dear-editor.html#IDComment40987052 Is not local story wlad, is one of the very scarce opportunities we have had in years when a simple story can dismantle the very well oiled official propaganda machinery, the problem is that is impossible to dictate the priorities of coverage of intl press on Venezuela, so we better learn how to use this narrow windows of opportunity... Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:57:47 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/dear-editor.html#IDComment40987052 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/dear-editor.html#IDComment40969956 I agree with JC here, I would not dismissed the analytical power of the proposed budget not in terms of levels, but in terms of relative importances of its deferents items. Remember, the less the ability of the government to inflate the actual budget with additional credits, which is the case in 2009 and certainly the case of 2010, the more the proposed budget will reflect actual spending. You have to think of this things in terms of the oil cycle too. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:10:52 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/dear-editor.html#IDComment40969956 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/evita-g-officially-loses-it.html#IDComment39665081 The revolution has lost its sense of humor, sigh! Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:03:33 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/evita-g-officially-loses-it.html#IDComment39665081 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/former-communist-guerrilla-blasts-state.html#IDComment38866105 Chamo, respeta a los viejitos. Teo podria ser tu abuelito! :) Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:20:39 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/former-communist-guerrilla-blasts-state.html#IDComment38866105 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/chavez-numbers-tankjust-when-it-matters.html#IDComment37535459 Re-read your marxists/leninist manuals, Quico. Popularity is the only "objective condition" for regime change that I could think of. The rest is in our side to do. Tue, 6 Oct 2009 21:42:43 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/chavez-numbers-tankjust-when-it-matters.html#IDComment37535459 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/selling-bonds-selling-our-future.html#IDComment37535117 Because, idiot, stock brokers are not alowed to create money nor are subject to reserve banking sistem. They are not banks. period. Tue, 6 Oct 2009 21:38:40 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/10/selling-bonds-selling-our-future.html#IDComment37535117 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/09/clarifications-on-bocarandagate.html#IDComment35781277 I just posted something in the similar tone, before reading yours. Timing sometimes is everything. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:23:57 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/09/clarifications-on-bocarandagate.html#IDComment35781277 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/09/clarifications-on-bocarandagate.html#IDComment35780911 Bocaranda es un periodistucho de cuarta, no doubt about that. But your timing for airing your dislike for him and the kind of journalism he represents, couldn't be worse, I mean, to jump into the fact the government pressure over the radio stations is taking effect, and the guy's program was cancelled/censured, to say "I won't mourn this one", sends the wrong signal, at least from the oppo perspective (and I do know you do not represent the oppo) Is not a matter of automatic solidarity, for tactical reasons, the day we start to introduce value distinctions among the multiples acts of the government’s authoritarian escalade, we lost. Can you imagine PJ saying, “well I deplore the proscription of UNT, but since they were an embarrassment of a political party, this time Chavez got it right”. No way, Jose. Besides, I really think that having the bocaranda's of this world operating freely into the public waves is a very affordable price to pay for a truly-free-govt-hands-off speech sphere. In that sense the Larry Flint example mentioned before is relevant. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:20:19 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/09/clarifications-on-bocarandagate.html#IDComment35780911 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/09/contrast-in-leadership.html#IDComment32923958 Well, on the whole tarjeta-unica debate, there some aspects we should consider: Current electoral legislation automatically illegalize those parties that do not participate in a electoral event or do not surpass the 1% tresshold. So, given the current electoral authorities and the very muddy bureacratic process to get a party back to legality, you can actually think in a very plausible scenario when we get to the 2012 elctions with all but the PSUV parties illegalized. I'm just saying that the risk is not trivial, plus in the long term you can actually disire strong parties with strong record of participation and expirience in electoral prcesses, and elections also serve as filters to measure relative streghts within the oppo side. Dissolved yourself into an unitary body can be temporally inconsistent with long term objectives of the kind of democracy we want after a transition. Wed, 2 Sep 2009 19:55:03 +0000 http://www.caracaschronicles.com/2009/09/contrast-in-leadership.html#IDComment32923958