VHeadline editor & publisher Roy S. Carson writes: In an article published on these pages in recent days, a Mr. Geoffrey of Bordentown highlighted a run-of-the-mill law enforcement action in Venezuela in which (shock horror!) MacDonalds was the subject of a 2-day business closure penalty for having failed to keep its Value-Added-Tax (VAT) in order.
Oh Dear! Yet another victim of the US mainstream media's gluttony for all things negative that happen in the land of despicable strongman, dictator Hugo Chavez Frias ... and then some! How come?
Mr. Geoffrey is probably NOT aware that the powers imbued in the Venezuela IRS are NOT dissimilar to those of its United States equivalent and his statement "Do I really care about Venezuelan citizens? Not so much. It's not about them!" says volumes and beggars the question as to why he is so patently upset by the fact that Venezuelans are to be put on a 2-day starvation diet away from the gringo-esque fast food cravings that have become the addiction of millions of bulging waistlines across the United States of America.
Geoffrey ignores the fact that it is the sovereign responsibility of every nation to enact its own laws and regulations and therefore NOT to be servile subjects to USA interpretations of what is right or wrong ... especially when, from an outside observation, so much is already wrong with the United States anyway!
Yes! The Venezuelan IRS/Seniat does have the legal facility to perform on-the-spot inspections at all and any commercial premises operating within Venezuelan jurisdiction ... and it does have the right to impose penalties where necessary, just the same as a traffic cop has the right to give Mr. Geoffrey a ticket for a traffic violation or whatever in his particular neck of the woods.
His fascination for the fact that it is McDonalds that has been the subject of the IRS ticketing is clearly a result of reporting by US-centric international wire services that have jumped on the tag with obvious glee either to hit at McDonalds itself or at the supposition that Venezuela is something more of a dictatorship than that dictated over by George W. Bush.
Who cares? Obviously, Mr. Geoffrey's cares not a whit for Venezuelans deprived of gringo fast food for 48 hours ... he has already stated that he doesn't really care about Venezuelan citizens ... so where's the beef, other than in that 48-hour non-existent BigMac?
Would that Mr. Geoffrey get just as irate over the hundreds, nay thousands, of other commercial establishments in Venezuela who have been closed to trading for requisite periods of 2-4 days for clear infractions of VAT regulations ... but, hey, they're NOT gringo outfits flogging obesity to the native masses! So, again, what's the beef? Doesn't Venezuela have the right to regulate compliance with its own taxation rules ... or must it await the imposition of the US 7th Fleet first?
So, Mr. Geoffrey, get off the griddle before you burn a hole in the rear end of your blue jeans! MacDonalds got well and truly caught in the act of viiolating its civic responsibilities with regard to VAT payments to the Venezuelan exchequer.
And ... don't you think the beagles at the US IRS would be equally miffed if CITGO gave the Bushites a similar middle-finger salute?
http://vheadlinevenezuelanews.blogspot.com/
Roy S. Carson is veteran foreign correspondent (45+ years in the business) currently editor & publisher of VHeadline Venezuela reporting on news & views from and about Venezuela in South America -- available for interviews -- call Houston 713.893.1433
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