Enter Ramirito
Cuba's Minister of Information Technology has arrived in Venezuela after being asked to come to Caracas and help efforts in the electricity crisis. But Ramiro Valdes is not the techno-geek you were expecting. Rather, the 77-year old Valdes is an old-hand apparatchik of the Cuban government with apparently quite a few skeletons in his closet.
I knew nothing about this man's background before writing this, so the question that first came to my mind when I began reading about him: in what country can a 77-year old man be Minister of Information Technology? And how is a Cuban government official going to help us solve an electricity crisis, when Cuba has been mired in one for years?
But that's nothing compared to the rest of the stuff in his CV. He fought with Che Guevara and Fidel, and is widely considered a hard-liner. He was Interior Minister during the 1960s, when Cuba's repression was at its peak, but then fell out of favor with the Castro brothers, only to reemerge stronger in recent years.
His latest whipping horse, though, has been the Internet. He is widely considered the main architect of Cuba's restrictions on the Internet, something he considered was a ‘tool for global extermination.’” He's so savvy on Internet manipulation that his Wikipedia page reads like a poem to the revolution, and has been deemed to be in violation of Wikipedia policies. He is up to speed on the dangers that bloggers pose, and he is no stranger to shady business dealings.
I don't know enough to label him a murderer like Miguel does, but there is one thing we can be sure of: this man is not going to solve the electricity crisis. If anything, he will attempt to solve the government's public opinion problem. At this stage, the best we can hope for is that he is completely ineffective at that which he is assigned to do.
In that spirit, I say: welcome, Ramirito. May your stay in Venezuela be marked by non-stop protests, and may the banging pots and pans keep you up at night.
And may the controversy surrounding your arrival - which has already prompted the government to suggest that Cuba is but one of the many countries helping - make your stay a short one.
billige unterkunft buchen
from billige unterkunft buchen on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 12:18[...] There were just 3.5 million boxes of apples left in the state's warehouses as of Aug. 1, and if sales continued at the same rate as in July, the entire surplus would be gone by the end of this month just as havesting of the 1989 crop begins. Piec...
.jpg)
.gif)
.jpg)
Treason
Ramirito has been the head of the Cuban G2. He is coming to impose Cuban dictatorial style control over the Venezuelan population. The electricity crisis is just an excuse. I believe Chavez is using him to create a reaction within the armed forces to find out who is loyal and who is not. He has used the same tactic on a number of occasions. This time the provocation is simply intolerable as it is a clear violation of our laws but more than that it is a slap in the face for any Venezuelans that still have a gram of dignity. Chavez knows that he really needs to stir things up if he wants the “treacherous” officers to come out. What can a general from a foreign country do to resolve the lack of planning accumulated over 10 years? Nothing...This is one of many reasons to put Chavez on trial for treason as he is leaving highly sensitive state security maters in the hands of a foreigner.
That sounds plausible
But I really wonder what military is there now with some cojones?
They are all at Zimbabwe level now.
I wonder rather now what we can do for our benefit to turn this around.
Juan in Miguel's blog put this great link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2PgM-QJQL4
UMAP
Ramiro Valdés is considered a hero of the anti-Batista struggle and the Cuban Revolution. second only to mythical figures like Che Guevara or Camilo Cienfuegos. He is one of the original participants in the assault to the Moncada Barracks (26-July 1953) led by Castro. This was an anti-Batista expedition similar to that of Falke expedition against Gómez. In the mid-60s he was Minister of the Interior (and therefore head of the State security apparatus). He is believed to be the man behind the creation of the Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción (UMAP). These were de facto concentration camps in which 'undesirable' people (read: homosexuals, religious people, etc.) had to do forced labor. Writer Reinaldo Arenas was imprisoned in one of these camps (see the film "Before Night Falls").
I do not know if this gentleman knows anything about electricity but you can be sure that he knows very well how to run a totalitarian state.
Do you remember the recent Twitter comment?
Well, it seems that Chavez is going to take measures about it, given that Valdés seems to be Cuba's "Internet censorship Tzar".
Along all these years, the only promise Chavez has kept is to take us closer to Cuba's "sea of happiness".
rem sed it
Ramiro: not my kind of guy...
Well, it seems to be the end of the world as we knew it, alright. But, are you feeling fine?
Why did I have to watch "Soylent Green" last weekend?
Black outs will actually get worse!!!
Cattle prods will suck all the juice off the power grid.
They have a reserve?
I know there can be "excedentes". Here in Europe we just send them around: Germany to France,Belgium to Netherlands, Netherlands to Belgium. Hugo says the blokes in the Prison-Island have "electricity reserves"?
My foot.
old man bad with technology
http://www.youtube.com/v/a6d7ChNPn9g&hl=en_US&fs=1&
three things
I suppose this may seem obvious but I think this serves 3 purposes:
1. give the impression to some voters that Chavez is dealing with the electricity problem, (not sure how many will buy it)
2. bring in someone who knows how to deal with the internet as a political tool
3. change the opposition political discourse, and weaken any gains they have made in public support.
Get ready!
I knew about Ramiro from reading about Cuba. When Che left, he took charge of the "fusilamientos", a bloody esbirro if there was ever one. Ramiro is not coming to censor the Internet, Ramiro is coming to do whatever is necessary to repress, torture and jail anyone that makes the Government look bad. This is scary times guys, don't be naive, this is no longer about twitter ot Facebook, this is about real lives.
senile
They both look like senile idiots who hopoefully won't live much longer.
This article linked StJacques Online: A Freedom Blog
Juan,
I have linked this entry to a new post in my own blog at:
http://stjacquesonline.blogspot.com/2010/02/caracas-mayor-there-is-cuban...
I need to create an account. I'll be back later.
StJacques