Arena Space

[Originally posted in Venezuela news and Views]

One of my favorite resources to know what the government of Chavez is thinking is the official web page of the ministry of information. There is a section that I particularly like that provides good news in Chavista terms that is called “positive notes”.

Here is a sample of two “positive” notes that I found today.

MVR will send missions to America in favor of Chavez

An international crusade will be launched by the MVR to support President Chavez position with respect to the diplomatic conflict with Colombia that has taken place after the kidnapping in Caracas of the FARC guerrilla leader Rodrigo Granda. This was announced Monday by the director of the government party William Lara.

He also indicated that the “Comando Tactico Nacional”, the highest directive instance of the MVR approved yesterday the creation of work groups that will travel to the United States and other countries of America to deepen the relationship with social and popular organizations of the continent and defend both the country and the president position.

So, get prepared for the MVR spinning visit. The latest declarations must have been very damaging if the MVR feels that there is the need to send their spin doctors up North. I wonder if among the social and popular organizations to be lobbied there will be some women’s group and if they can convince Condoleezza Rice that Chavez was "just kidding".

The government will provide training in military strategies to the peasants.

The intervention process in public and private lands will be the base for 147000 of the 300000 trained in the mission “Vuelvan Caras” to form agricultural and industrial cooperatives in the new regions that will be developed this year.

The minister of Popular Economy, Elias Jaua, announced that those people will not only perform a social work by developing the fields, but they will also will carry out the defense of the national sovereignty since they will occupy lands that have been abandoned and that are now in hands of armed paramilitary groups .

For this reason, Jaua expressed that the peasants will receive the necessary military training to be able to defend their lands.

One of the most damaging aspects of the Chavez government is the militarization of the democratic institutions and the fact that the government has been arming the Bolivarian circles and allowing groups like the FARC to operate freely in Venezuela. So now the “good news” is that even the peasants will get military training.