Excerpts of column "Runrunes" (Rumors) of July 10

High

AT THE FORUM. There are several reasons for not airing in obligatory simultaneous broadcast the speech that lasted quite a few hours of the caudillo-commander-leader-hero-liberator-president-Bolívar after God and candidate running for reelection at the pathetic Sao Paulo Forum last Friday. After all these 14 years, meaning seven months in a row, of presidential verbosity, we are used to forceful listening and watching. One, the flimsiest reason, is abiding by the rules of the National Electoral Council (CNE), which he usually does not give a damn, for that matter. Another, as it has happened in many speeches in several events and rallies of ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), is that he would not want the audience to learn about, or remember, some of his communist, totalitarian threats that still swarm in our democratic minds. Other two reasons, intertwined, lead us to the core. One would be hiding from us the large amount of lies hurled at his communist followers of the globe by listing completely fabricated works, accomplishments and feats that would not endure a revision by his dissenters. After listening to him, together with several analysts, we reached the conclusion that the enormous inconsistency displayed in his speech would be shared by no means with the country. The former brave and courageous speaker we were familiar with is showing the onslaught of the drugs used to handle his illness. His insistent, very low attacks on challenger Henrique Capriles Radonski; his certainty that the opposition will not acknowledge his triumph; the tale about the campaign of the US Empire to finish his revolution off; the issues of Paraguay, Syria and Iran, and his insistence on saying that, should democrats win, independence will be lost (?), interspersed with offerings to the guests-bloodsuckers, attested to the lack of a logical relationship in his comments. Something is going on and fear escalates.

Intermediate

CUBAN SHADY DEALS. Miguel Álvarez, a fiduciary man of Ricardo Alarcón, who has led the Cuban legislature for 19 years, is not a petty thing. The former intelligence agent has been for years beside the Congress Speaker, previously a minister and diplomat. Álvarez would know whatever done by Alarcón. Birds of a feather, I have been informed. The news for us, but not for Cuban leaders, is that he has been "on pajamas" for more than three months, that is, under house arrest. His wife too. Two foreign businessmen are detained as well. Alarcón has been warned that he is coming next, but never before the meeting of the board of directors of the Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, scheduled for September or October. Nineteen years is quite a while and Raúl (Castro) would not like to make additional fuss amidst the economic measures that already affect Cubans. Nevertheless, he reproached Alarcón, who already knows that he would be subject to a future investigation as soon as he leaves his incumbency. Alarcón led the "Surveillance Committee of Foreign Companies" presumably to "curb corruption." "Thus far this year, other government authorities have been released' from their positions. Interestingly, most of them are linked to the project of the undersea cable intended to carry Internet from Venezuela to Cuba from 2011," revealed journalist Frank López in an article released by El Universal newspaper. Sure enough, "the interconnection station for the undersea cable coming from Venezuela was bought by Telecomunicaciones Gran Caribe (TGC) from Tri Star for USD 80 million, yet it is inconsistent with the cable fiber optic or the signal emission system." For this reason, the connection at La Puntilla beach is helpless and cannot be used with Venezuela as expected. Álvarez used to control foreign businesses in the island and is tied to corruption cases involving Tri Star Caribbean, the property of Sarkis Yacoubian and Armenian-Canadian group Tokmajian and also Coral Capital Group. Detainees could amount to 200.

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Translated by Conchita Delgado