Steve's sources just get better by the minute.
Journalism indeed. This is going to sully the internet's rock-solid reputation for hard, cold facts.
Are you willing to consider what someone who is in Venezuela has to write?
Posted six weeks ago:
At this moment maybe we are waiting a miracle, the situation is eaxh moment worse. Cubans sended by Castro control the armed forces.
This night many people have died, 300 meters from my house one died, and another one is being operated as we speak. Is not only the armed gangs that has been given freedom to shot anyone protesting, is also the "Guardia nacional bolivariana" armed force branch for internal affairs. They are also shooting protesters. people that have a pan and make noise with it as a protest (called cacerolazo).
I left this link to the reporter crew of cnn that was assaulted last night
.
http://edition.cnn.c.../data/2.0/vi...
I don't know if there is anyone with any power or connections reading this, but they are killing us, media anything is good. We cannot trust our own A.F. The armed gangs and Guardia nacional are going through the city shooting to any house or building that sounds like there is someone protesting. they are even entering the buildings by force and checking apartment by apartment.
This is probably the darkest hour in Venezuela.
I really hope Chavez is burning in the last circle of hell.
Will write more, when the situation is more clear.
Read more at
http://www.galtsgulc...fkueX8u6qbqh.99
It was followed by this on February 22nd:
As of today in caracas we had a huge rally, huge enough to not been attacked in biggest moments, but sadly attacked the groups of people that were going to their homes
As of today, was reported dead another girl shoted directly in the face with pellets, now 2 dead in Valencia (capital of Carabobo state), the previous was a miss tourism with a shot in the head by a 9mm.
A man was caught by the Guardia Naciona, here in Caracas, was founded yesterday badly wounded, as for now he is brain dead, he is called Alejandro Márquez.
On friday in Carabobo was captured by the citizens, a Guardia nacional (internal affair armed forces), it resulted to be a cuban (I have already mentioned in previous posts, armed forces is controlled by cubans brought by Chavez, as the Venezuelans rebelled on him before in 2002). As only some media by internet is not completely blocked (Tv, radio, internet media only a few newspaper remain... in fact no more than 5 between national and regional newspapers are are fully censored).
As stated in the link by LionelHutz (thanks), the city of San Cristobal was completely internet-blocked, there were reports of times when it was restored and down again, it has been like tha for the last weeks in most of the country. A lot of military forces where sent there (San Cristobal), even a battalion of paratroopers.
CNN reportes got revoked their working permits and compelled to leave. Patricia janiot a well known journalist from CNN en Español, was harassed by the military in the airport.
here is agood article about media blockage and so
http://thelede.blogs....com/2014/02...
Thanks to all for the support.
Read more at
http://www.galtsgulc...Vdme8WclxSVj.99
Then this on March 12:
Yes I'm still alive. Thanks for your concern
.
Things have been increasingly dangerous, and more conflict... by protests around 40 people have died (apart of the normal count due to insecurity that is around 50 per day). For each rally of anyone protesting, the government cal a counter-rally that has almost no people and always ends in a speech from Maduro in mandatory broadcast (Yes that thing that is only in case of national emergence and calamity, here has been normal for the last 15 years).
I will leave this video here about how are those demonstrations of the government in reality, of course the governmental broadcast is from a very low angle to give the idea of a lot of people
http://www.youtube.c...?v=2ZAmrdExW...
Their demonstrations have no problems, ours... well I suppose that something has gotted to yours news programs.
Maduro announced the "Assured Supply Card", "so basic goods will be rationed by the government and fight the scarcity caused by the opposition, in conspiracy with the Businessman, the international right and the empire (USA)". So... a ration book in the country with the biggest oil reserves, Cuba here we go.
The Guardia Nacional, and central government police have been repressing with all that they have protests. I'm quite sure no one here in the gulch has seen so much tear gas, day after day, so much is used that probably there is a business of someone in the government importing them an getting a good fee. Pellets have been gradually replaced for more bullets and "metras" I really don't know the translation for that. They are small round balls, hard, glass-like.
More over this governmental order groups have been entering buildings and houses where they suspect there are protesters. I will leave a couple videos of how they are acting. In the first, is in side a building where the National Police attacks a suspected protester. In the second they are not even identified they work as kidnapping gangs, they were identified as SEBIN (Intelligence service), because the incident was reported as a kidnapping, and the municipal police tried to stop them.
http://www.youtube.c...?v=i7m0-6UI7...
https://www.youtube....h?v=kgk6gWYG...
Today was a demonstration that parted from besides my University (Venezuela Central University) where I'm coursing an Master program. But as every other day it was repressed by the Guardia Nacional and the armed gangs into the university. this was a demonstration, it was not even a protest where there were burned tires, or anything, but since Maduro gave an order to repress everything to the armed forces, and directly calling to do the same to their armed gangs, saying "candelita que se prende, candelita que se apaga" translated to something like "kindle that starts, kindle that will be extinguished"
The armed gangs and Guardia Nacional have been reported as entering to where the protesters are, hiding inside ambulances.
In the international, Maduro broke relations with Panama, probably to not pay the debts with them (anything imported, as is payed in USD has to pass through the government due to the exchange control). From Panama it was said that they will reveal the accounts of high government officials that have their money there, something like that has been in process in USA I think it have yet to be approved by the senate.
Today 3 people died, and 1 yesterday.
I think that the Gulch will find interesting the declarations about the Minister of Education (We have more than 30 ministries, part of the corruption here), His name Hector Rodriguez. Sadly is not in english or with subtitles. the main point is that he says, tha the will not be getting the people out of poverty so they will become middle class and aspire to become "escualidos" (The insult they use to refer to opposition)
http://www.youtube.c...?v=dWsNEFMFa...
The national media is completely censored, they are not transmitting anything of what is happening the streets, we only have social media, and have switched to use VPNs, TOR and proxies, to evade the internet censorship.
Will write again to inform
Read more at
http://www.galtsgulc...uKeApsVhB1ZD.99
And, the last post was on March 19th:
I should start with a brief abstract of what has happened in the last week. In one word repression.
Sat 15th: The places in Caracas (capital city) were protest take place, were toked by assault by the armed forces and colectivos overnight, of course a lot of people were detained and some jailed, but in most cases, as it has been for the last month, they were tortured. There are videos of abuses by the military and hundreds of torture claims. A young man violated in the anus with the rifles barrel, detainees forced to use in the head "miguelitos" as crown of thorns (hoses with nails, used to stop colectivos motorcycles when they attack), forced to eat shit, men are shot in the groin, and the forced to walk into the hospitals.
Sun 16th: Maduro expected and announced that he would give a speech since the stronghold of this protests in Caracas later that day. This place called Plaza Altamira, is on the east side of the city, and is where medium to high class people live, but as is the "most" secure zone in Caracas, and is far from where the colectivos are, is the main place of protests.
As cameras were prepared and the stage set, thousands of people started congregating in the plaza, and as journalists called by the government were there, they couldn't do a thing and had to call off the speech due to "technical problems", people congregate again and again each afternoon there. The place is militarized As calling out the military would be seen as an act of weakness. But now the lot of women (as most protesters were man), go with banners and start talking with the military that are there.
Still protests have continued, yesterday 18th 2 dead one in San Cristobal (Tachira state, and were the protests began ) and one in the west side of Caracas.
The national assembly (former congress), called to set a "truth table" to investigate who were the responsible of the situation. The "truth table" is conformed by 5 chavist representative and... 0 from the opposition as none would collaborate with them, as there are enough proofs (videos, photos and forensic evidence, of the tortures, assassinations and repression).
By the way, the chavist representative went to the state prosecutor so she could open a trial to one of the opposition representatives (they already have taken out of the national assembly 4 opposition representatives).
And today... today has been a full attack from the government.
Venezuela Central University was attacked by armed colectivos, and students from the architecture school badly injured (one of them the son of a die hard chavist, reading TL of him today has been, I have to admit a guilty pleasure; as he switched from wishing the protest were dissolved with sarin and mustard gas, to angrily protesting as why the colectivos were attacking and why the government doesn't stop the)
Like a week ago the supreme court ordered the opposition mayors to dissolve any manifestation, today 2 of this mayors were jailed and removed from their office.
The situation in San Cristobal is each time worse, as in many places outside of Caracas, even tanks firing. Caracas is in tense Calmed-violence if such thing exist .-.
Remember the representative that is going to trial? Is called maria Corina Machado, and Panama is gonna give its chair for she to speak at the OAS (Organization of American States), not that we expect much, but is a place where, as usual only the governments have word and what the government says is the truth.
If you ask yourselves, why Panama is doing this?, probably, because the representatives from there asked to discuss Venezuela in the OAS, Maduro entered in on of his rage moments, and cut away tie with Panama (By the way, as we have a controlled economy and only the government has dollars... well the government own around 1500 million USD to companies in Panama. And also accused the Panama government of conspiring with the companies in that country of robbing Venezuela .-. ... And of course of being a puppet of USA ).
In a side note In Güiria (Sucre state), another armed gang took the city... as it seems, the truck with their cocaine was stopped by the police...and... well... they just took the entire city, and of course recuperated their truck.
P.S: In my post 12 of March I said Sean Penn was the one who made the movie about Chavez, no, it was Oliver Stone the film is called “My Friend Hugo”. Sean Penn was here just doing lobby for the government with Danny Glover.
I will leave this here, is from Tachira
https://twitter.com/...ay/status/44...
Good night Gulch
Read more at
http://www.galtsgulc...Wj1POyVGfOqf.99
