Some pics, and links

I recieved even more pictures of the illegal use of government funds to help the Chávez campaign. The first one shows one of state-oil giant PDVSA's compounds, completely covered in Chávez electoral propaganda. I guess foreign observers were asleep when their Mercedes Benz sped past this one.


This other picture shows a PDVSA truck in the midst of a Chávez electoral rally. I wonder what it was doing there - handing out free water bottles?


Some fellow bloggers have documented this abuse and more. Here's a partial list:

Caracas Chronicles - a blog I sometimes contribute op-ed pieces to. Blogger Quico enlightens and challenges opposition and chavista readers alike.

Bruni's blog - good source for how Chávez advertises on national media using government funds.

Vcrisis, Alek's blog - on the road with opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, and keeping a photographic record of abuse along the way.

Daniel's blog - the view from "the interior", as we Venezuelans dejectively call everything that is not Caracas.

A very red engagement

Most of you know that Hugo Chávez is breaking the law by using government funds to pay for his campaign. My work on this blog has been to document, with pictures, one of the ways this has worked.

But my work got a lot easier last week when Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez publicly admitted that PDVSA employees had to work for Chávez's re-election, or else they would be fired. Or rather, in his own words, "they will get the crap beaten out of them," because PDVSA is "red, very red." (referring to Chávez signature color)

The picture I received yesterday is further proof that this election is, indeed, a very red engagement. It shows a PDVSA truck happily advertising Chávez's candidacy on the back.


Now you know folks, as the back of the truck says, call 800-33727 in case of an electoral emergency.