El Universal published an interview today it conducted with Diosdado Cabello, the vice-president of the PSUV and president of the National Assembly. In the interview, Cabello criticizes as something that “we cannot take seriously”, and painted himself as an uncompromising defender of the Venezuelan constitution.
Below, my translation of several highlights from the interview:
Do you aspire to [continue your career] in the National Assembly?
No, I’ve already done everything I had to do in politics, I have no ambitions. The party says to me “You won’t continue”, so I don’t continue. Or it tells me, “You’re going to be the candidate from Delta Amacuro”, so I’m the candidate from Delta Amacuro. Or, “You’re going to stay in the party”, so I stay in the party. And I think that when it comes to personal matters, I’ve demonstrated this through actions. There were two things lost in politics which Chavez tried to bring back: the first is detachment (I’ve said that, in the right, el que respira aspira [roughly, “whoever breathes has ambitions”], there’s no detachment at all. You look at the people who are really humble today, as is the case with (Roberto) Enriques, (president) of COPEI [and opposition party], and sometimes he gets worked up and he can’t see a microphone because then he starts talking about anything. Second, words. The Venezuelan opposition doesn’t have words. You can spend a whole day talking to someone from the opposition and no one commits with words.
For example?
All of them. There’s two people whom I hope will be allowed [by the opposition] to stay in politics: (Manuel) Pizarro and Stalin (Gonzalez), they’re the ones [from the opposition] who have words. As for the rest of them, none of them do.
(…)
Is the dialogue [with the opposition] over?
It’s not that I think it’s over, it’s that the opposition doesn’t have words and we can’t take them seriously. They don’t even take themselves seriously.
(…)
How did you feel when Chavez chose Maduro [to be his successor] instead of you?
I didn’t care. What I wanted was for Chavez to be cured and we never talked about that. When the commander told us, I felt like he was relieved to get it out in the open.
Cabello is a polarizing figure in Venezuelan politics. Prior to Chavez’s death, he was widely viewed as the country’s second most powerful man. When Chavez chose Maduro, speculation of an internal power struggle between the two men began to make the rounds.
Earlier this year, Cabello removed Maria Corina Machado, an elected deputy, from her post in the National Assembly by decree, stating simply,
At this moment we are giving the order that Maria Corina Machado will not be allowed to enter this National Assembly again. She is no longer a deputy.
The move was decried by opposition supporters as unconstitutional and illegal, since the president of the National Assembly does not have the power to simply expel a fellow deputy on a whim.
ABC: Maduro’s Popularity “Sinks”
Spanish newspaper ABC published an article today in which it claim’s that Maduro’s popularity has sunk to new lows, now hovering near the 30% approval mark.
The article cites Maduro’s fixation with speaking on television – racking up 115 hours in total so far this year – and the millions of dollars spent on buying ad space on foreign press and television outlets as an example of “Bolivarian propaganda” trying desperately to show “a happy country”.
The article also criticizes Maduro for appearing unable to do anything to fix the country’s serious economic troubles beyond “blaming the supposed economic war and imperialism for his own failure”.
Venezuelan Soldiers Accidental Enter Colombia
Colombian immigration officials deporter five Venezuelan National Guard soldiers today, after the men were detained inside Colombian territory in the north of the country.C
Colombian Immigration released a statement, which partially reads;
According to the story told by the Venezuelan [soldiers], they entered Colombian territory after failing to realize they had crossed the border while they conducted an inspection of the Ureña municipality.
According to El Nacional, the five soldiers found out they were in Colombia only after they were met by an angry mob of Colombian civilians, who “wanted to lynch them”. Colombian police intervened, and the five soldiers were handed over to immigration officials.
Finally, a scenic picture of Caracas, courtesy of Ana Karina Garcia:
In Venezuela 