海角大神

鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's blog, . The views expressed are the author's own.

There was a big Twitter-ruckus [this week] after the publication of 鈥荣 (in Spanish). In it, Goicoechea criticizes Venezuelans for cheering and applauding . He reminds his readers how much Maldonado鈥檚 sponsorship has cost Venezuela, how PDVSA has no need to be 鈥減romoting鈥� itself on race cars, and how it is issuing debt to, among other things, be able to pay for these exploits.

The backlash was as swift as it was unsurprising. This is a country where understands the concept of .

Putting aside childish complaints about Goicoechea鈥檚 鈥渢one鈥� 鈥� I mean, really, after thirteen years of Chavismo you would think we would have developed a thicker skin 鈥� the main point of the article is absolutely, 100 percent accurate. Maldonado鈥檚 sponsorship is simply another very expensive peg in the Chavista propaganda machine, as attests.

The opposition鈥檚 mindless cheering, going along just to get along, is incredibly disappointing. Idiotic, some would say.

So yes, Goicoechea鈥檚 tone was harsh and provocative. So what? He got his point across.

Do you think a more measured article, in which he politely wondered out loud whether celebrating Maldonado was a good idea, would have gotten this much attention? As all polemicists do, he tried to convey his point by using attention-grabbing language. Good for him.

But it鈥檚 no surprise that Venezuelans want none of this 鈥渨hat did $66 million buy me鈥� [stuff]. This is a country where beauty queens are lionized, and nobody stops to think what this says to little girls, what the consequences are for gender equality and for violence against women.

This is a country where people feel entitled to their dollars without thinking how completely regressive a policy it is. This is a country where people think they 鈥渄eserve鈥� cheap gas because we have a lot of oil and, besides, there has to be some benefit from living in this hell-hole, right?

Next time you get mugged in Caracas, think about the teachers your mugger didn鈥檛 have, the cops you didn鈥檛 see on the street, or the judicial system that simply isn鈥檛 there to prevent the scumbag from being out on the streets. Think about how all of those things could have been bought with the $66 million that PDVSA gives Maldonado each year.

Then, only then, should you go back to celebrating Maldonado鈥檚 feat.

鈥� Juan Nagel is a writer for , the place for opposition-leaning-but-not-insane analysis of the Venezuelan political scene since 2002.

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