Open Letter to President Chavez Frias -- ACTION! Take 2
Dear President Chavez,
Sir, my initial letter to you brought responses from far and wide, but none, alas, from Miraflores. Granted, the letter arrived on the weekend, and what with your "Alo Presidente" commitments, etc... I understand.
In fact, I would prefer to await your personal response rather than receive a picture postcard of the Palace from a dutiful but powerless functionary.
With that, Mr. President, please consider the following, brief remarks, a fragment of an overture to my next letter.
As a journalist, I covered the black Freedom Fighters war against white minority rule in Rhodesia. Toward the end of my tenure, Janet Smith, wife of racist Prime Minister Ian Smith, asked me what I thought were the problems in the country and how they might be solved.
Mr. President, there is no good reason why you should ask my opinions of problems in Venezuela. Nonetheless, I am taking this opportunity to do so, hoping that sooner or later one of your more ambitious advisors comes up with similar observations.
1) George W. Bush is an unaccomplished rich kid, produced, puppeteered and duped by nefarious "friends" in high places. Remember that landing on the aircraft carrier? The cocky "victory" walk across the deck? He wants to be a hero.
Of course, he'll never make it ... but you, Mr. President, are a hero.
A warrior and a winner against all odds ... a true man of the people.
As far as I know, the only populist in history with, for the time being, bottomless pockets.
The attacks on George W. Bush are more than tiresomely redundant, they have become counterproductive. The American people love heroes, but they are also for the underdog ... particularly if that underdog is one of their own.
2) Too many presumptive exposes of American invasion schemes and disruptive forays are presented over and over without hard evidence.
* Protesting, methinks, too much. If the accuser has proof, he should lay it out for all to see. If not, he should embargo his information until such proof is available.
3) The hardliner ideologues who appear to speak for your government are in fact polishing their egos while giving aid and comfort to their, not necessarily your, enemies.
* These people should write books for those who understand, or pretend to understand, what they are talking about.
4) When you ask a Consultant what time it is, he looks at your watch, tells you ... then keeps your watch!
* This anecdote notwithstanding, you might do well to import some established, outside consultants who will bring their expertise to bear on the crime situation in your country.
That issue settled, tourism should flourish, producing jobs and bringing your isolated people welcome first-hand news from the outside; an ancillary result would be to expose the outrageous propaganda of the opposition as ludicrous and render it ineffective.
5) Finally -- for the moment, that is, Mr. President -- you might consider, just consider, dispensing with either the red beret or the red shirt.
If not, I don't know, it's certainly your call ... perhaps you should go all the way with red trousers and shoes!
Thank you. And May God continue to Bless the Bolivarian Revolution and you.
Sir, my initial letter to you brought responses from far and wide, but none, alas, from Miraflores. Granted, the letter arrived on the weekend, and what with your "Alo Presidente" commitments, etc... I understand.
In fact, I would prefer to await your personal response rather than receive a picture postcard of the Palace from a dutiful but powerless functionary.
With that, Mr. President, please consider the following, brief remarks, a fragment of an overture to my next letter.
As a journalist, I covered the black Freedom Fighters war against white minority rule in Rhodesia. Toward the end of my tenure, Janet Smith, wife of racist Prime Minister Ian Smith, asked me what I thought were the problems in the country and how they might be solved.
Mr. President, there is no good reason why you should ask my opinions of problems in Venezuela. Nonetheless, I am taking this opportunity to do so, hoping that sooner or later one of your more ambitious advisors comes up with similar observations.
1) George W. Bush is an unaccomplished rich kid, produced, puppeteered and duped by nefarious "friends" in high places. Remember that landing on the aircraft carrier? The cocky "victory" walk across the deck? He wants to be a hero.
Of course, he'll never make it ... but you, Mr. President, are a hero.
A warrior and a winner against all odds ... a true man of the people.
As far as I know, the only populist in history with, for the time being, bottomless pockets.
The attacks on George W. Bush are more than tiresomely redundant, they have become counterproductive. The American people love heroes, but they are also for the underdog ... particularly if that underdog is one of their own.
2) Too many presumptive exposes of American invasion schemes and disruptive forays are presented over and over without hard evidence.
* Protesting, methinks, too much. If the accuser has proof, he should lay it out for all to see. If not, he should embargo his information until such proof is available.
3) The hardliner ideologues who appear to speak for your government are in fact polishing their egos while giving aid and comfort to their, not necessarily your, enemies.
* These people should write books for those who understand, or pretend to understand, what they are talking about.
4) When you ask a Consultant what time it is, he looks at your watch, tells you ... then keeps your watch!
* This anecdote notwithstanding, you might do well to import some established, outside consultants who will bring their expertise to bear on the crime situation in your country.
That issue settled, tourism should flourish, producing jobs and bringing your isolated people welcome first-hand news from the outside; an ancillary result would be to expose the outrageous propaganda of the opposition as ludicrous and render it ineffective.
5) Finally -- for the moment, that is, Mr. President -- you might consider, just consider, dispensing with either the red beret or the red shirt.
If not, I don't know, it's certainly your call ... perhaps you should go all the way with red trousers and shoes!
Thank you. And May God continue to Bless the Bolivarian Revolution and you.
posted by Alice at
Monday, March 06, 2006
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