Meta tags:
Headings (most frequently used words):
the, december, 2009, in, what, of, to, my, reputation, score, has, on, where, can, are, trusted, for, this, blog, us, 2010, 15, from, is, so, how, it, comment, do, an, account, and, post, why, user, moved, out, 21, february, 14, beginner, guide, chavismo, email, oil, blogroll, english, spanish, links, chávez, quico, chavez, chronicles, mental, health, community, powered, comments, does, work, point, asking, people, rate, each, twice, need, open, log, advantage, opening, logging, should, care, about, improve, see, users, perks, associated, with, being, become, permanent, have, great, idea, improving, system, send, check, caracaschronicles, com, april, 2011, september, 27, contents, best, overall, introductions, journalistic, pieces, human, rights, reports, archives, critical, theory, skypecasts, added, bonus, wto, stuff, 16, 11, 10, first, time, visitor, delivery, rss, feed, archive, prices, directly, frontline, huffington, year, review, edo, weil, pitch, perfect, satire, law, land, major, technical, problems, back, blogger, cantv, will, not, link, wordpress, blogs, site, gone, sleep, era, supermassive, big, landed, hugo, copenhagen, ten, years, stillborn, constitution, maisanta, bodies, buried, me, bids, adieu, book, em, siempre, queda, por, caer, making, believers, technoutopian, caracas, sneak, preview, view, window, subverting, discursive, standard, dictatorship, means, never, having, say, reason, three, legged, stool, break, weekend, rules, subversives, throws, hissy, fit, your, savings, lose, their, value, intervention,
Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (796), and (209), that (195), you (112), for (108), this (99), chávez (89), not (71), with (66), venezuela (64), #december (62), november (60), october (57), are (56), february (55), march (55), april (54), may (54), january (53), comments (51), but (50), september (50), july (50), out (50), have (49), august (45), about (45), has (44), june (44), will (43), quico (42), from (41), was (41), can (41), what (40), one (39), site (38), all (37), his (37), your (34), new (34), now (32), comment (32), more (31), they (30), democracy (29), people (29), community (29), chavista (28), chavismo (28), any (27), government (26), there (26), system (26), its (26), debate (26), two (25), over (24), where (24), how (24), way (24), some (23), most (23), political (23), like (23), which (23), oil (22), think (22), opposition (21), our (21), who (21), them (21), military (21), when (21), time (20), blog (20), get (20), much (20), world (20), power (19), kind (19), discursive (19), reputation (19), only (18), would (18), their (18), venezuelan (17), into (17), here (17), says (17), just (17), don (17), than (17), had (17), top (16), chavez (16), public (16), without (16), back (16), other (15), state (15), been (15), because (15), whole (15), caracas (14), work (14), human (14), 2009 (14), him (14), those (14), democratic (14), such (14), place (14), enough (14), after (14), trusted (14), score (14), news (13), point (13), country (13), need (13), better (13), hugo (13), support (13), even (13), sphere (13), real (13), thing (12), please (12), first (12), few (12), question (12), down (12), strategy (12), making (12), want (12), users (12), year (11), juan (11), find (11), years (11), itself (11), did (11), really (11), reason (11), given (11), discussion (11), vote (11), chronicles (10), 2007 (10), idea (10), rights (10), good (10), being (10), see (10), regime (10), set (10), three (10), last (10), every (10), evil (10), disabled (10), spanish (9), post (9), era (9), critical (9), old (9), right (9), mind (9), write (9), make (9), normal (9), never (9), subvert (9), long (9), yet (9), movement (9), against (9), act (9), forward (9), say (9), days (9), why (9), another (9), next (9), between (9), matthei (9), these (9), genuine (9), account (9), user (9), copenhagen (9), speech (9), powered (8), others (8), very (8), election (8), once (8), should (8), read (8), today (8), less (8), whether (8), take (8), means (8), were (8), stool (8), change (8), still (8), seven (8), could (8), through (8), thought (8), put (8), week (8), list (8), issue (8), judge (8), together (7), popular (7), page (7), constitution (7), com (7), open (7), 2002 (7), 2006 (7), check (7), something (7), value (7), sense (7), does (7), himself (7), before (7), know (7), subversive (7), also (7), habits (7), sustain (7), hold (7), dictatorship (7), legs (7), going (7), then (7), mean (7), seats (7), level (7), clear (7), own (7), institutional (7), wrong (7), argument (7), lot (7), bad (7), while (7), climate (7), piece (7), documentary (6), away (6), same (6), subscription (6), economic (6), archive (6), well (6), come (6), online (6), cristobal (6), start (6), hard (6), version (6), asked (6), almost (6), become (6), doesn (6), around (6), made (6), having (6), single (6), fact (6), rules (6), easy (6), story (6), referendum (6), pinochet (6), majority (6), high (6), results (6), cne (6), constitutional (6), authoritarianism (6), pretty (6), too (6), gives (6), chilean (6), chile (6), third (6), agree (6), talking (6), process (6), use (6), standards (6), decide (6), engage (6), little (6), foreign (6), line (6), visible (6), visibility (6), add (6), published (6), her (6), countries (6), far (6), might (6), report (6), essay (6), english (5), francisco (5), full (5), revolution (5), law (5), archives (5), review (5), serious (5), daily (5), free (5), pro (5), view (5), takes (5), global (5), 2005 (5), 2010 (5), moved (5), posts (5), always (5), demand (5), ago (5), maybe (5), call (5), short (5), rate (5), instead (5), dissent (5), else (5), anti (5), subversion (5), game (5), won (5), official (5), reality (5), man (5), leader (5), ones (5), turned (5), later (5), off (5), things (5), months (5), assembly (5), makes (5), part (5), action (5), left (5), members (5), rest (5), within (5), possibility (5), decision (5), position (5), policies (5), identity (5), communicative (5), interaction (5), decisions (5), policy (5), actually (5), though (5), journalist (5), apparently (5), software (5), giving (5), choosy (5), best (5), jailed (5), big (5), least (5), pieces (5), wrote (5), mud (5), wordpress (5), blogger (4), watch (4), taken (4), guide (4), 2008 (4), minded (4), links (4), reports (4), stuff (4), propaganda (4), business (4), rodríguez (4), psuv (4), age (4), caracaschronicles (4), usually (4), came (4), tried (4), help (4), hope (4), end (4), everything (4), cristóbal (4), weeks (4), practice (4), feature (4), allow (4), entire (4), willingness (4), helps (4), contribute (4), subverting (4), simply (4), coming (4), winning (4), income (4), pdvsa (4), gone (4), president (4), electoral (4), defeat (4), accept (4), appeared (4), national (4), looking (4), side (4), event (4), order (4), able (4), vast (4), hand (4), sure (4), night (4), general (4), meeting (4), attack (4), ideas (4), mechanisms (4), principle (4), tend (4), return (4), main (4), doing (4), understanding (4), merely (4), spaces (4), reasoned (4), totalizing (4), evidence (4), self (4), ideology (4), book (4), seriously (4), look (4), planet (4), platform (4), voting (4), asks (4), drive (4), opinions (4), fairly (4), overall (4), log (4), past (4), each (4), useful (4), cedeño (4), afiuni (4), court (4), petition (4), maisanta (4), capitalism (4), terms (4), thinking (4), maduro (4), briceño (4), guerrero (4), tally (4), cantv (4), simple (3), 2003 (3), home (3), frontline (3), opinion (3), noticiero (3), digital (3), newspaper (3), worth (3), strongly (3), run (3), fascinating (3), international (3), sometimes (3), historical (3), data (3), republic (3), bank (3), noticias (3), leading (3), former (3), journal (3), research (3), organization (3), american (3), times (3), latin (3), mass (3), stylish (3), students (3), bolívar (3), reader (3), dot (3), price (3), yesterday (3), lately (3), light (3), seems (3), previous (3), funny (3), low (3), fit (3), critics (3), alternation (3), word (3), submit (3), dirty (3), personality (3), consequences (3), until (3), certainly (3), article (3), road (3), chosen (3), basis (3), many (3), obviously (3), cult (3), friends (3), said (3), legged (3), goal (3), under (3), recent (3), popularity (3), second (3), coup (3), raised (3), life (3), led (3), strike (3), entirely (3), status (3), quo (3), anything (3), gets (3), minute (3), impossible (3), future (3), regard (3), trait (3), authoritarian (3), yes (3), democrats (3), control (3), market (3), keep (3), created (3), begin (3), key (3), force (3), loyalty (3), creates (3), held (3), jail (3), spent (3), goes (3), lost (3), finally (3), junta (3), journalists (3), decree (3), suffered (3), heart (3), release (3), talk (3), matters (3), quality (3), style (3), debates (3), actual (3), discourse (3), calls (3), face (3), deeper (3), throw (3), yourself (3), called (3), reasons (3), themselves (3), unless (3), nothing (3), needs (3), internet (3), rather (3), understand (3), intellectual (3), worldview (3), notice (3), happens (3), suggests (3), views (3), mechanism (3), evident (3), actions (3), reasoning (3), allows (3), immediately (3), personally (3), critically (3), explanation (3), basically (3), logging (3), track (3), forum (3), include (3), ability (3), responsible (3), pure (3), space (3), spend (3), trolls (3), following (3), default (3), tokens (3), number (3), chances (3), let (3), changing (3), focus (3), writing (3), smart (3), highly (3), try (3), showing (3), show (3), course (3), effort (3), avoid (3), economy (3), saw (3), judicial (3), appeal (3), carefully (3), reading (3), problems (3), phenomenon (3), written (3), percent (3), candidate (3), used (3), paper (3), costs (3), case (3), target (3), drop (3), bit (3), ten (3), delegates (3), tell (3), fuel (3), material (3), bolivia (3), rhetoric (3), contradictions (3), cheering (3), rationality (3), deliberation (3), link (3), journalistic (3), ignore (3), theory (3), ichr (3), annual (3), chapter (3), ppt (3), theme (2), images (2), minutes (2), click (2), experiences (2), pitch (2), edo (2), month (2), digest (2), oppo (2), bulletin (2), edited (2), hour (2), text (2), media (2), portal (2), audio (2), rangel (2), gossip (2), silly (2), newspapers (2), massive (2), selection (2), polling (2), points (2), observer (2), related (2), website (2), owned (2), aggressively (2), fun (2), respected (2), ngos (2), starting (2), 1999 (2), azul (2), finance (2), central (2), aporrea (2), org (2), google (2), radio (2), nacional (2), universal (2), translated (2), stories (2), resource (2), impact (2), sophisticated (2), information (2), office (2), states (2), wesleyan (2), miami (2), herald (2), vicente (2), rambling (2), innovative (2), perspective (2), sin (2), los (2), blogroll (2), miguel (2), europe (2), habit (2), lefty (2), daniel (2), devil (2), fastmail (2), email (2), directly (2), prices (2), 2004 (2), 2011 (2), address (2), told (2), solace (2), got (2), current (2), events (2), cry (2), intervention (2), latest (2), stuck (2), demanding (2), friend (2), blame (2), parallel (2), response (2), guy (2), politics (2), opposed (2), crafting (2), imperil (2), conceive (2), happen (2), disagree (2), trying (2), chose (2), everybody (2), vision (2), effectively (2), establishment (2), quite (2), success (2), grips (2), condition (2), ours (2), consciously (2), unconsciously (2), crafted (2), mindless (2), limitless (2), document (2), 333 (2), tells (2), above (2), cognitive (2), cornerstone (2), refusal (2), scrutiny (2), faced (2), forget (2), monday (2), mental (2), health (2), 1988 (2), ended (2), keeps (2), someone (2), seem (2), cut (2), history (2), reaction (2), quickly (2), broken (2), either (2), forces (2), six (2), rise (2), began (2), fast (2), boom (2), josé (2), surprisingly (2), spearheaded (2), took (2), pressure (2), initial (2), dissidents (2), purged (2), imagine (2), becomes (2), unpopular (2), fair (2), stand (2), powers (2), doubt (2), eye (2), shot (2), recognized (2), victory (2), ass (2), beyond (2), wouldn (2), moment (2), note (2), cash (2), spending (2), gdp (2), growing (2), attempt (2), hole (2), unconditional (2), needed (2), convincing (2), willing (2), accountable (2), helped (2), dictatorial (2), regimes (2), role (2), didn (2), folks (2), 6th (2), meets (2), minister (2), percentage (2), bring (2), according (2), hands (2), caused (2), among (2), situation (2), ordered (2), exactly (2), separate (2), day (2), due (2), died (2), ways (2), trivial (2), constitutes (2), powerful (2), abstract (2), formal (2), institution (2), generate (2), consensual (2), degree (2), secure (2), levels (2), engagement (2), requires (2), bringing (2), content (2), building (2), vulnerable (2), guarantee (2), positions (2), true (2), isn (2), shows (2), genuinely (2), opponent (2), strongest (2), carry (2), arena (2), threat (2), creating (2), possibilities (2), jefe (2), problem (2), reject (2), oppose (2), organizing (2), grasp (2), believe (2), person (2), conveniently (2), foxnews (2), questioner (2), saying (2), conservative (2), provides (2), anybody (2), dissenting (2), sorting (2), boss (2), both (2), aspect (2), exchange (2), perfectly (2), espouses (2), treat (2), incompatible (2), arbitrary (2), feel (2), hopelessly (2), facing (2), keeping (2), alive (2), particular (2), done (2), hominem (2), possible (2), several (2), everyone (2), early (2), brought (2), sleep (2), section (2), billing (2), hidden (2), launching (2), create (2), faq (2), esferapublica (2), issues (2), common (2), looks (2), outright (2), designed (2), depriving (2), love (2), progress (2), expect (2), great (2), setting (2), allowed (2), promote (2), operates (2), changes (2), automatically (2), sunday (2), identify (2), rating (2), substantive (2), recognize (2), influence (2), worse (2), interesting (2), measure (2), rated (2), logged (2), lowest (2), anyone (2), groupthink (2), totally (2), hates (2), spot (2), thread (2), plain (2), answer (2), questions (2), study (2), large (2), eligio (2), matter (2), fall (2), judges (2), contrast (2), must (2), risk (2), she (2), rule (2), tirade (2), presented (2), hell (2), openly (2), bailiffs (2), carrying (2), since (2), strong (2), wing (2), failure (2), wasn (2), america (2), twenty (2), coalition (2), important (2), territory (2), frei (2), piñera (2), went (2), biggest (2), candidacy (2), italian (2), profile (2), thanks (2), largely (2), middle (2), including (2), rctv (2), concertación (2), trade (2), served (2), elections (2), independent (2), party (2), deep (2), arrate (2), strongman (2), round (2), punish (2), economists (2), database (2), carried (2), retaliation (2), voters (2), signed (2), petitions (2), contains (2), bottom (2), sign (2), considering (2), started (2), conference (2), warming (2), save (2), green (2), gasoline (2), gas (2), scandal (2), summit (2), pose (2), developing (2), environmental (2), foolish (2), knows (2), insane (2), lectures (2), rich (2), implications (2), worst (2), form (2), shut (2), brilliant (2), cannot (2), happy (2), somebody (2), picking (2), deference (2), exposed (2), primary (2), protect (2), appears (2), remotely (2), perhaps (2), suggested (2), tough (2), red (2), sheer (2), happened (2), aware (2), discuss (2), sort (2), chicken (2), corrales (2), late (2), unfortunately (2), reportage (2), excellent (2), krauze (2), piercing (2), guido (2), foreigners (2), crisis (2), context (2), often (2), aspects (2), skypecasts (2), johann (2), hari (2), petrostate (2), yorker (2), introductions (2), beginner (2), relative (2), beat (2), barinas (2), carabobo (2), miranda (2), fell (2), everywhere (2), plug (2), predicts (2), declared (2), reto (2), puzkas (2), legislative (2), forecasting (2), tool (2), match (2), 400 (2), 132 (2), 311 (2), 552 (2), minor (2), parties (2), iran (2), blogs (2), major (2), technical (2), jason, morrow, subtitles, produced, toro, directed, megan, folsom, running, screen, contrasting, farms, name, land, perfect, satire, weil, blogging, huffington, genius, versión, español, aquí, extremist, board, nicer, web, design, legendary, teodoro, petkoff, required, station, windows, video, streaming, tabloid, eleazar, díaz, friendly, items, closest, onion, hysterical, dozens, monitoring, analysis, masses, agency, asamblea, revolucionaria, militant, occasionally, hardcore, live, windowsmedia, maracaibo, privately, hemispheric, arm, machine, original, citizen, participation, ngo, pictures, films, recordings, monetary, bolivarian, librito, ministry, cofavic, provea, viejas, fotos, actuales, queremos, elegir, telesur, panorama, vtv, canal, ocho, agencia, bolivariana, lecciones, urru, odh, grupo, consultor, notiven, chigüire, bipolar, descifrado, ultimas, union, noticas, globovision, talcual, bilingual, magazine, employer, eud, successor, venerable, defunct, tax, bolivars, aimed, venezuelanalysis, amnesty, americas, financial, tribune, veneconomy, hernán, lugo, galicia, literary, comers, ulive, schnell, cantankerous, chuo, torrealba, innitiative, shantytowns, klaus, meyer, wonkish, collective, father, jesus, garcia, unique, kavanayén, sister, silla, vacía, capuchino, chivo, mecate, webarticulista, ana, julia, jatar, todo, demás, radar, barrios, cuadernos, marrón, panfleto, negro, política, ñapa, octavio, comprehensive, ruritania, meet, rants, worldwide, roundup, loyal, wobbly, calvin, tucker, cybershrine, soviet, model, 21st, century, socialism, oilwars, feathers, voices, 101, kepler, poop, franciscotoro, nageljuan, gmail, enable, javascript, 382, 124, 432, 269, 346, 498, rss, feed, delivery, visitor, subscribe, atom, older, disappointed, proverbial, silver, lining, bloggerfam, cause, tunnel, flickered, blackout, give, hated, depressing, este, país, una, mierda, pero, como, goza, rafa, niño, bolivar, plunged, dollar, nationalization, histrionics, nelson, merentes, pledging, beginning, pity, bureaucratic, equivalent, hired, shopkeeper, china, shop, wildebeest, voldemort, climb, reuters, reporting, throws, hissy, savings, lose, obsolete, concept, governments, capable, periodically, alternating, denormalized, stability, temporary, occupant, executive, branch, claims, ownership, opposable, repeatedly, stressed, explicitly, vows, wish, grasped, obsession, plots, conspiracies, speak, paranoïa, conscience, knew, opposes, represents, deeply, unsettling, flow, realization, hasn, processed, engaged, hyperleader, based, obedience, complicit, sycophancy, essentially, lie, benefit, described, duties, eventuality, creatively, constructively, lay, along, axes, overt, covert, bloggers, latter, small, endless, subjugate, convenience, raises, challenging, dictates, measuring, bar, subversives, oligarchs, squalid, betrayers, homeland, invisible, tonic, vulgarity, warm, lessons, arturo, uslar, pietri, break, weekend, obtain, reinstate, met, pillars, worn, anymore, engineered, tantamount, circumstances, consolidating, confirms, waning, shaky, momentarily, paralysed, overthrow, looked, pillar, leg, unity, cracked, chunk, armed, backed, ultimately, regained, balance, ill, advised, shutting, chopped, misiones, importantly, workers, recover, operational, again, assault, shock, showed, ballot, box, amidst, dizzying, unlike, democracies, golpe, group, partially, considerable, jailbird, baduel, seconds, coincidentally, front, command, practically, announced, denied, wobble, resumed, kept, god, manages, win, square, validate, controlled, entails, miracle, panned, outgoing, stripping, almighty, reverential, chamber, tsj, rubber, stamp, monstrosity, blink, increasingly, foolhardy, gamble, scruples, hanging, rejection, distinguishing, inherent, necessary, sufficient, uncomfortable, tip, stools, smash, axe, adjust, disgusting, accepting, embracing, players, mighty, unappealing, unlikely, accommodate, fat, antonio, ledezma, living, proof, upshot, especially, purge, despite, hurt, countering, difference, disposable, bbl, raise, require, concerted, effective, hearts, minds, conditions, chavistas, postal, crying, clarify, rebellion, mad, lead, bloodbath, challenge, rising, clout, cracks, resulting, crystal, para, chips, guts, remind, swear, autocrat, obligations, sooner, moments, strategies, propel, movements, cases, played, fundamental, knocking, easily, mocked, rot, 1928, eight, rotunda, sucks, burmese, monks, boris, yeltsin, corazón, aquino, golpismo, golpista, fantasists, fondest, daydreams, nomenklatur, socorro, money, trickling, cabinet, informs, gentlemen, immediate, resignations, steps, moneda, palace, commander, air, fernando, calm, statement, transmitted, cooperativa, interior, sergio, fernandez, expressed, obtained, source, pride, ironically, replied, champagne, celebrate, memoirs, testimony, handed, assumed, disavowed, threw, specially, rage, ripped, recalls, insisting, informed, leave, santiago, adjourned, chairman, joint, chiefs, staff, presumably, heated, confrontation, leaders, accepted, wikipedia, dead, institutions, parliaments, banking, regulations, procedures, principles, decentralization, none, operating, ought, alarming, dying, intimate, manifests, communicate, stake, concerns, kinds, arguments, compelling, actors, distinction, chambers, eyes, alongside, tacit, apply, systems, extent, maintain, holding, understandings, contrary, appeals, straight, authority, compliance, makers, intellectuals, distinguish, clearly, clearer, explicit, eloquent, institutionally, discursively, hunted, extinction, entail, focusing, establishing, certain, unwritten, expectations, behavior, habermas, criteria, persuasive, amartya, sen, escualido, booooo, chaburro, hisssss, collapsed, frontal, hegemony, liquidating, putting, hashed, grappled, confronted, roads, interested, expressing, runs, counter, suddenly, humility, flexibility, learn, acceptance, alter, architects, possessed, healthy, dose, greatness, dictators, subject, risky, unpredictable, dangerous, dictator, join, guaranteed, upper, refuses, questioned, sad, engaging, establish, fail, enshrine, shallow, fleeting, incomplete, 1998, adherence, respect, forms, develop, frame, social, underpinning, attitudinal, bedrock, basic, predisposition, venezuelans, subjected, autocracy, complete, offers, tremendous, fully, exploited, step, softest, soft, balls, realm, habeas, corpus, judging, misinterpreted, woolly, nice, reasonable, crux, mistake, shrill, impetuous, stance, misplaced, haughtiness, masquerading, lets, hinges, interpret, essence, tendency, respond, criticism, curiosity, broader, philosophy, lynchpin, edifice, defining, center, neatly, divided, sides, nearly, illustrate, virtue, believing, escualidos, choose, example, zillion, clip, share, identifying, dissenter, substance, expression, serves, springboard, motives, affiliations, explaining, lurks, exempts, duty, fan, dire, extending, mode, engages, secret, stamped, determine, mural, film, channel, multilateral, unquestioning, standpoint, failing, snap, unthinkingly, belong, camp, voids, intrinsically, absolute, criterion, irreducibly, absolutely, manicheanism, frank, definitional, rejects, potentially, valid, wholly, revolutionary, exclusions, sectioning, provinces, declaring, bounds, debating, flattened, dissident, built, precisely, absurdities, rail, injustice, repressive, justification, priorities, cultivate, generations, modes, exploit, characteristics, ton, intend, prima, facie, standard, northeasternnnnn, immigrant, quebec, excited, window, intense, presentable, url, posting, managing, solve, ceaseless, flame, wars, cyberspace, collectively, details, remember, encourage, anyway, works, weight, commentators, additional, goodies, regular, cast, characters, hopefully, steer, conversation, troll, wasteland, places, noticias24, feedback, sneak, preview, citizens, concern, trouble, slow
Text of the page (random words):
do booooo a chaburro hisssss democracy in venezuela has collapsed in the face of a full frontal attack not just at the institutional level but also in that deeper discursive sphere so subverting chavista hegemony requires liquidating the discursive standards that sustain its power bringing discursive democracy back to life means putting in place policies hashed out in real debates where ideas are grappled with confronted and crafted into consensual roads forward by people more interested in the content of a position than the identity of the one expressing it this is not an easy thing to do building a discursive democracy runs counter to some very old habits throw yourself into a genuine discussion and suddenly you ve made yourself vulnerable in a genuine discussion you go in without any guarantee that you ll come out on the winning side discussion requires humility flexibility a willingness to learn and an acceptance that you may be called on to alter your positions in the light of what the other side says this may be one of the reasons true architects of democracy have to some degree possessed a healthy dose of greatness dictators will not subject themselves to genuine debate because genuine debate is risky unpredictable dangerous a dictator will join no communicative interaction in which he and it s usually a he isn t it is not guaranteed the upper hand from the start this is why chávez simply refuses to be questioned by journalists who will throw anything but the softest of soft balls at him the sad fact is that unless the opposition shows it s better than chávez at engaging with ideas doing away with hugo chávez will do almost nothing to re establish democracy in this deeper sense if we fail to enshrine genuinely democratic discursive standards the return to institutional democracy will be as shallow fleeting and incomplete as the system we had until 1998 more than an adherence to constitutional standards more than respect for the forms of the democratic game what venezuela s democratic movement needs to develop is the frame of mind needed to engage with an opponent even chavista ones in genuine debate in the understanding that the power of the strongest argument will carry the day that s the habit of mind that creates the social underpinning of democratic government without that attitudinal bedrock that basic predisposition to accept discussion as the arena where decisions are made there is no possibility of democracy faced with a government that experiences debate as a threat merely creating spaces for genuine debate constitutes a subversive act as long as venezuelans sustain spaces where matters of public policy are subjected to free and open debate chavista autocracy will never be complete and will never be secure the internet offers tremendous possibilities for this kind of subversion possibilities that are not yet being fully exploited the democratic movement needs to step up its game in this regard creating spaces where genuine debate can take place who s up for it by quico december 7 2009 the three legged stool juan cristóbal says lately this story about the 1988 referendum that ended the pinochet dictatorship keeps coming to mind translated from spanish wikipedia at 12 18 am on october 6th the night after the referendum when results were trickling in pinochet meets his cabinet and informs them gentlemen the referendum has been lost i want your immediate resignations that is all an hour later he finally meets the other members of the military junta on his way up the steps of la moneda palace chile s commander of the air force general fernando matthei tells journalists it s pretty clear the opposition no has won but we are calm general matthei s statement was transmitted by radio cooperativa at 1 03 am on october 6th in the meeting interior minister sergio fernandez recognized the government s defeat and expressed the high percentage obtained was in any event a source of pride to which general matthei ironically replied why don t we bring in some champagne to celebrate according to matthei s memoirs matthei my testimony pinochet then handed the members of the junta a decree through which he assumed all the country s powers and disavowed the results of the referendum this threw the junta s members specially matthei into a rage and matthei himself ripped the decree with his own hands after that matthei recalls and without insisting on the decree the president informed us that he would leave santiago for a few days to get some rest and the meeting was adjourned right at that moment the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff suffered a heart attack presumably caused by the heated confrontation among military leaders after the meeting pinochet accepted the situation and ordered the release of the third electoral bulletin someone once said that hugo chávez s support is like a three legged stool those legs are popular support oil money the military our goal to obtain power and reinstate democracy can only be met once all three pillars of support have worn away one out of three two out of three those don t seem to cut it anymore chavismo has engineered a state system where alternation is tantamount to regime change under those circumstances consolidating a majority and winning an election are not going to be enough popular support is just one of the legs of the stool our recent history confirms this in april of 2002 chávez s popularity was waning and his oil income was shaky with pdvsa momentarily paralysed the military tried to overthrow him and for a second it looked like all three legs had gone it turned out that his popularity was not as low as all that and in fact reaction to the coup quickly raised it the popular support pillar still had some life in it then it also turned out that the military leg was not broken either the military s unity cracked as we all know and a good chunk of the armed forces backed the president and so ultimately the stool regained its balance later that year the opposition led an ill advised oil strike the subversive act of shutting down pdvsa entirely chopped off one of the legs for a good six or seven weeks but by that point the misiones were starting to work and chávez s popularity was on the rise more importantly the military did not support the strike and the people turned against the oil workers a few weeks after the strike began oil income began to recover and pdvsa was operational again the assault on one of the legs was over fast forward to chávez s shock electoral defeat december of 2007 we showed at the ballot box that dissent could be more popular than the chavista status quo even amidst a dizzying oil boom unlike in normal democracies that reality was a subversive act a golpe electoral as josé vicente rangel would say surprisingly spearheaded by a group of students did it work partially it took considerable military pressure spearheaded by jailbird baduel for chávez to accept defeat and then only for about two seconds but a few days later he appeared not coincidentally in front of the military high command and practically announced to the country the referendum results did not mean anything two years out most of the things he d been denied the power to do at referendum have become law why because after an initial wobble military support of the regime resumed the dissidents were purged and the oil boom kept going for another few months fast forward to next year imagine that chávez becomes really unpopular and by some act of god the opposition gets its act together and manages to win a majority of seats in the an fair and square will the cne accept the results will our friend socorro stand by and validate an opposition controlled national assembly with all that entails maybe maybe not and even if that miracle panned out can t you just see the an through an act of its outgoing majority stripping itself of most of its powers do we have any doubt the almighty reverential constitutional chamber of the tsj would rubber stamp such a monstrosity in the blink of an eye some last minute re think is not entirely impossible but it s looking increasingly foolhardy to gamble the country s future on the democratic scruples of the chavista state hanging on to power without regard to the majority s rejection is the distinguishing trait of authoritarianism chavismo is an authoritarian regime and that in the end is what it means to come to grips with chavismo s inherent authoritarianism for our side majority support is not enough necessary yes sufficient not by a long shot at some point all of this makes us very uncomfortable we are democrats and part of the normal game of a democracy is that you don t tip stools over or smash them with an axe you work with the stool you re given and do what you can to adjust it and certainly the chavista venezuelan military nomenklatur is so disgusting to some of us that the thought of accepting and even embracing them as political players is mighty unappealing but the reality of the chavista dictatorship is that in the unlikely event the cne recognized our victory in an election we would find it all but impossible to work with the stool we re given by now it s chávez s stool made to order and able to accommodate only his fat ass the kind of 2009 antonio ledezma has had is living proof of that the upshot is that we need a three legged strategy one of the legs oil income is pretty much beyond our control especially after the pdvsa purge but despite the fantasists fondest daydreams the global oil market is beyond chávez s control too still it wouldn t hurt to have a strategy for countering the vast difference in disposable income between them and us for the moment it s enough to note that even with oil prices well above 70 bbl chávez can t raise enough cash to finance the level of public spending it would take to keep gdp growing what s clear is that any serious attempt to subvert the chávez dictatorship will require concerted action on the two other legs yes we need an effective political strategy there s no way out of this without people s hearts and minds but given the conditions chavismo has created there s just no way out of this hole without a military strategy too before chavistas out there go postal and begin crying golpista we should clarify that doesn t mean having a strategy for rebellion a mad idea like that would only lead to a bloodbath it means having a strategy to challenge the unconditional support the military gives chávez in very much the same way as the chilean democracy movement s rising clout created the key cracks needed at the right time to force pinochet s hand the chilean democrats of 1988 had a political strategy that led them to a convincing electoral victory but without a military strategy resulting in matthei friends willing to subvert the pinochet regime the chilean stool would have been left in place we should be crystal clear about this a military strategy is not a para military strategy and it s not a call to golpismo it means making sure that when the chips are down the military support for the dictatorship is not unconditional it means having the guts to remind the military that the loyalty they swear is to a constitution not an autocrat and that that constitution s article 333 creates clear obligations they sooner or later will be held accountable for the chilean democrats corazón aquino boris yeltsin in key moments they all had military strategies in place that helped propel their movements to subvert dictatorial regimes in all three cases the military played a fundamental role in knocking down the status quo forces without it popular support is easily mocked the burmese monks did not have a military strategy they now rot in jail back in 1928 venezuela s students didn t have one either so they spent the next eight years in la rotunda this is how it goes folks it sucks but it s how it goes by juan cristobal december 4 2009 mental health break for the weekend juan cristóbal says it s easy to forget but before we were oligarchs squalid ones and betrayers of the homeland we were simply his invisible friends i can t think of a better tonic to hugo chávez s vulgarity than the warm lessons of arturo uslar pietri see you all monday by juan cristobal rules for subversives quico says opposition has become an obsolete concept in venezuelan politics opposition is what you do to governments capable of being opposed those that see the practice of periodically alternating in power with their critics as normal chavismo has denormalized alternation crafting a state system where the practice would imperil regime stability chavismo can t be opposed in the normal sense of the word because it doesn t conceive of itself as a temporary occupant of executive branch instead it claims ownership of the state as a whole what can you do if you dissent from a government that is not opposable in the normal democratic sense a government that has repeatedly stressed that it does not conceive of alternation in power as a normal feature of the system and explicitly vows never to allow it to happen there s only one thing you can do if you don t wish to submit to a government like that subvert it i think chávez himself grasped this long before those of us who disagree with him did maybe his obsession with plots and conspiracies all around him speak not so much of paranoïa as of a dirty conscience a kind of if they knew what i know they d be trying to subvert me me i never set out to become a subversive never chose that doesn t really fit my personality in any way but like everybody else who opposes the vision of state power chavismo represents i have now been made effectively into a subversive there is a long deeply unsettling set of consequences that flow out of this realization a set of consequences venezuela s anti chavista establishment really hasn t quite processed yet it s hard to see our movement having any success until we come to grips with our new condition a condition that is no less ours because we never chose it subversion is the game the entire anti chavista country is now engaged in whether consciously or unconsciously to dissent from the hyperleader is to subvert the state system he has crafted a system based on mindless obedience complicit sycophancy and an essentially limitless willingness to lie to the public for political benefit it s a system you won t find described in any official document certainly not in the 1999 constitution it is the state of the state in fact not in law and article 333 of that same document tells you all you need to know about your duties in such an eventuality subversion is not a road we ve chosen it s a road that s been chosen for us the only question now is whether we can subvert the chavista state creatively effectively and constructively in a way that helps us lay out the basis for something better down the road i think subversion of the current regime will need to take place along many axes some overt...
|
