Venezuela, and Chávez shows his sensitive side

Chávez photographed at his poetry class while discussing the relative

merits of William Shakespeare as applied to the Bolivarian revolution

(click to enlarge)

That Chávez guy isn't always rough'n'tough and blather and bombast and glorious leader, you know, as it's clear he's fully in touch with his feminine side. The H-man has recently had his feelings hurt it seems, and as a result is threatening to slap a defamation charge on the Zulia governor (and bitter political enemy Manuel Rosales) after Rosales accused Chávez of keeping secret bank offshore/overseas bank accounts. In the words of Rosales, Chávez "should be in prison for shamelessness."

Well bad news for you, Manny: You've just gone a bridge too far with your President just weeks before the key regional elections. Chávez responded yesterday by saying, "Today I will instruct my lawyers, and if he (Rosales) manages to demostrate that I have ill-gotten gains, then let me be destituted from the Presidency. If not, he will end up in prison for defamation and slander against the Head of State."

You gotta wonder how well Rosales slept last night.........

Venezuela: opposition student leader assassinated

Julio Soto, aged 30. Student leader.
Associate of Yon Goicochea. Now dead.

Another day, another death. But this one should be a wake up call for both sides of Venezuelan politics. Yesterday Julio Soto was driving through the city of Maracaibo when two or three (eyewitness reports differ) people approached his vehicle and shot him around 20 times. The murder has all the hallmarks of a hit, as nothing was stolen and the gunmen drove off immediately after shooting.

Julio Soto was the local leader of the FCU opposition student movement at Maracaibo's Zulia University and a member of the opposition COPEI party. To the credit of the FCU and COPEI, so far there hasn't been a rush to judge this crime as political violence, though the suspicion at the moment is that he was killed by his political enemies, i.e. Chávez supporters.

Equally the response from pro Chávez students movements has been welcome and mature. In a press conference today, local pro-Chávez groups strongly condemned the murder and have called on people on both sides of the political fence to come together and do something about the escalation of violence. As for the the government itself, it seems it has been quick to act. Interior and Justice Minister Tarek el Aissami strongly condemned the murder and has already sent a full investigation team to the region. He also called for peace and assured locals that the authors of this crime will not go unpunished.

That remains to be seen. However this crime, horrible that it is, does have the gravitas to force Venezuela into recognizing it has a growing problem. Say what you like about the views of either side; this is no way to resolve arguments. I don't give a damn if you agreed with Soto's politics or not. You kill someone like this and you're an asshole. A left wing asshole or right wing asshole is just an asshole, nothing more.

It's not too late to do something about it, but time is running out. Hugo Chávez has a serious social problem on his hands, and Presidential action is needed right now. What you got to stop this, Hugo?

Julio Soto, QEPD