it annoys the pig.
-- Robert Heinlein --
It is 11:00 a.m. This moment Venezuelans are going to the polls to elect as president either Nicolás Maduro or Enrique Capriles. The election is monumentally important. We will show why.
Our prior post observed that in an election campaign
"you try to hang a jacket on the opponent. If it works, he wears it wherever he goes, in everything he says and does; he beats himself. But in order for the jacket to work, it must fit. In other words, it must be true."
Capriles, his C.I.A. minders and Washington D.C. election consultants tried to hang a jacket on Maduro: "Maduro no es Chávez." The prior post explained why, in terms of its timing and content, that jacket does not fit.
We continued:
"Boys and girls of the C.I.A. and your Beltway bandit political consultants: here we go again. You don´t know how to win an election. To show readers what a good jacket would have been, I will post one this weekend -- too late to be useful to Capriles, but still valuable as a reference point for evaluating the Washington D.C. ´advice´ extended to him."
The alternative jacket: "Nicolás no es Maduro."
Right now, hundreds of C.I.A. employees hunkered down at their computers in their Langley, Virginia headquarters are blinking like bats: What the ... why didn´t I think of that one? So simple ... Damn. Such is the inevitable upshot when you are politically tone-deaf.
That jacket would have fit not only because of Maduro´s blunders about the little bird and the curse (see prior post), but also, and more importantly, because the message works on an unconscious level. Maduro has proclaimed again and again he is "ready to be president" -- which means he has ambivalent emotions about his ability.
And who wouldn´t have them? Nobody is prepared to be the president of a country -- nobody is "maduro" in that sense. You elect presidents, support them, hoping they will mature while in office. Many grow up; others, like Barack Obama, grow down.
If you believe the too-late timing of this post shows I support Maduro, you are right. Henrique Capriles has never convinced me he is anything other than a far rightist hysteric, the kind of candidate the C.I.A. gravitates to.
What is at stake in today´s election is colossal, and nobody is mentioning it.
Not only is Venezuela the fourth biggest supplier of oil to the United States, Venezuela also has 20% of global oil reserves, following by Saudi Arabia (18%). That means Venezuela has the highest proved oil reserves (including non-conventional deposits).in the world.
No wonder that with Chávez gone, American oil companies are chomping at the bit not just to get back into Venezuela but to have the inside track. A President Capriles would hand the American oligarchy carte blanche.
That is why today´s Venezuela election is for all the marbles. Thumbs up or thumbs down on the C.I.A.´s effort to elect Capriles? James Bond or James Bomb? The answer is hours away.