WikiLeaks: Classified cable exposes socialist restaurant serving cornmeal tortillas

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Until now, WikiLeaks cables have read like a collection of Tom Clancy spy novels involving sensitive US foreign policy issues and military war strategy. So we were mildly amused to discover that according to a cable that was supposed to remain classified until 2030, the US State Department sent its highest-level operatives to sample the arepas at the opening of Hugo Chavez’s new government-run restaurant chain, “Arepera Socialista”.

Arepas are thick cornmeal tortillas originally made by the indigenous inhabitants of Venezuela and Colombia. They are sold in Venezuelan restaurants called areperías and used like bread to make sandwiches.

Since Chavez seized power in 1998, and has nationalized Venezuela’s oil fields as well as its agricultural sector, US officials are keen on monitoring his “forbidding” socialist regime, which apparently is perceived to function in stark contrast to the US vaunted free market capitalist system, where the US government has essentially nationalized the banking sector, the auto industry, housing, healthcare and AIG, the largest insurance company in the world whose bailout funds went to Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs.

The subject line of the classified cable reads: “Making Socialism Easier to Swallow” with the following narrative:

“President Chavez made socialism taste better with the December 22 opening of a ‘socialist arepera’ serving Venezuelan-style tortillas at a fraction of their usual price [5 Bolivares Fuertes, or appoximately one dollar, about a fourth of their regular price]. The ‘Arepera Socialista’ is planned to be the first of a chain of Venezuelan government (GBRV) restaurants run by the Ministry of Commerce. This restaurant is the GBRV’s latest effort at setting up alternatives to the private market, branding national symbols, like the “arepa,” as part of the Bolivarian Revolution, and providing tangible benefits to its electoral base before the September legislative elections. End Summary.”

In another section titled “Socialism’s Tangible — and Tasty — Benefits,” the cable reads:

“President Chavez opened the ‘Arepera Socialista’ with much fanfare on December 22, advertising its low price and high quality as symbolic of the benefits of his socialist revolution….The restaurant, located in a lower middle class neighborhood of Caracas…is currently only open during weekday mornings, although there are plans to extend its hours, add coffee and fresh juice to its menu, and open two new locations in working class neighborhoods.

“On a January 8 visit, EmbOffs witnessed a long line of people waiting to get into the restaurant but surprisingly rapid service. Inside, one wall was dominated by a quote in large red lettering from Simon Bolivar: ‘The best system of government is that which produces the greatest happiness.’ An employee managing the line said the restaurant served 1,200 customers per day. One man in line said he worked in the neighborhood and came every day since the food was excellent and cheap.”

Also included in the cable was a comment titled “Let Them Eat Arepas” that read: “Facing high inflation, electricity and water rationing, and failing public services, Chavez may see the ‘arepera socialista’ as a relatively quick and easy way to promote the benefits of ‘socialism’ to his electoral base before the September legislative elections. The challenge will be meeting demand without raising the subsidized price or cutting quality.”

Meanwhile, back in the US where the free market reigns, real unemployment is at 23 percent, and 14% of the population relies on food stamps. Last month nearly 43 million people collected food stamps which is 16.2% higher than the same time a year ago. Those still employed in the freest country in the world spend their paychecks on the latest iPhone app to quickly satisfy their insatiable need for short-lived, mindless gratification.

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