Hugo Chavez officially off his rocker

I’ve written before that Chavez plans to move his clock ahead 1/2 hour but he let that idea fall off the radar until now (Pravda/AP);

Hugo Chavez’s plan to turn back clocks by a half-hour has some Venezuelans pleased at the prospect of sleeping in. Others seem vexed that Chavez is making the entire nation change its daily rhythm. Some bloggers suggest Chavez wants to get out of Washington’s “imperialist” time zone, but Venezuela will be a half-hour apart from his Cuban allies as well.
 
“It seems crazy to me,” says 38-year-old Maritza Mendoza, who sells orange juice from a sidewalk stand in downtown Caracas. “It’s a whim, just like the change of the currency.”

Venezuela’s upcoming launch of the “strong bolivar” – eliminating three zeros and reducing bills to 2-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 50-, and 100-bolivar denominations – joins a growing list of changes promoted by Chavez. He’s transformed the national seal, the national flag and even the country’s name – now the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, after independence hero Simon Bolivar.

So by adding a 1/2 hour to the time will make Venezuelans more productive and knocking off a few zeros, will save the bolivar, and Venezuela will be a paradise – well, except for the evil CIA (AP);

President Hugo Chavez accused the U.S. on Wednesday of trying to spur a military rebellion, saying the CIA is behind the distribution of leaflets inside army barracks calling for his ouster.
 
Speaking to dozens of army officers at Venezuela’s largest military base, Chavez urged soldiers to resist calls for a coup from “oligarchs and their imperialist masters,” a reference to the United States.

“They will always try to divide us and confuse us to weaken us, and thereby dominate us,” said Chavez, who weathered a short-lived coup in 2002.

Noting that leaflets calling for a rebellion have been circulating in army barracks recently, he said: “That’s why they have the CIA.”

I’m pretty sure that if the CIA got inside the Venezuelan Army barracks, they’d do a little more than leave pieces of paper laying around.

Jungle Mom at The Jungle Hut writes that Venezuelan Jews are more than a little worried about Chavez’ threat to close down schools which don’t teach the chavista party line. Julia at The End of Venezuela as I Know It gives a glimpse of what’s inside her 11-year-old niece’s textbooks – complete with anti-Bush cartoons.

Daniel at Venezuela’s News and Views asks “Where is the success of Chavez’ economic  policies?” The Devil’s Excrement questions the Venezuelan government’s report that inflation was at 1.3% for September charging that food and beverages are increasing at 25%. The chavistas claim it’s because food and bevergaes aren’t controlled by the government;

According to the Central Bank of Venezuela, inflation for September was largely driven by the increase of prices on products outside of government price controls, which rose by 2 per cent, whereas products under government price controls rose only 0.5%

But, hey, that one day the clocks change, you’ll get an extra half-hour sleep. Yay!

Category: Foreign Policy, Hugo Chavez