Caracas Chronicles

In comments, Birdman chimes in: Meanwhile, back on the streets of Caracas: Our dear defense minister (speaking in his capacity as member of the military-civilian junta that rules Venezuela) has just invited all Venezuelans to vote for Nicolas Maduro in the upcoming elections and ‘darle en la madre a todos esos fascistas’. (I don’t think there’s an easy translation for that, but how about, ‘give all those fascists a good thrashing’?).

This follows his cheery remarks in the early hours of the morning on VTV to the effect that the armed forces ‘mission is to put Nicolas Maduro in the presidency’. So we’re all headed for a ‘free and fair’ presidential election in which the guys with the guns in charge of logistics and security have ‘thrashing the opposition’ and ensuring the government candidate’s victory as their official policy.