BANANALANDIA (Intermission)

Raven and I are breakfasting on leftover chicken curry and rice, along with croissants with orange marmalade. Well, it IS Sunday.

"Well, Gutiérrez is gone. Left the Brazilian Embassy at 4:15 this morning for Brazil."

So, the shadow of a golpe de estado has passed over us?

"For the moment. And, on aporrea.org they say that Bucaram is in the east part of Caracas with cronies. What a phony! He came back to Ecuador from his Panamanian hideout waving his open shirt and insisting that he was going to run for president Of Ecuador again as a Chavista, and now he's hiding out in the territory of the 'escualidos, the oligarchy that plotted against Chavez."

What's he doing there? I thought he went back to Panama.

"It's not 100% certain that he IS there. There was a phone call patched through Panama from him, saying that he was in Caracas waiting for Gutierrez to go to Brazil. Then he was supposed to go to Brasilia and hatch a plan with him."

They were right, the Ecuadorian people, when they booted his butt from the presidency for loco. Nine presidents in nine years.

"A Venezuelan commentator referred to Gutierrez as a 'crónica de una muerte anunciada'."

A chronicle of a death foretold--like the Garcia Marquez novel. Nicely put, as we are after all, living in Macondo.

"In the very heart of its energy field. Only one thing to do about it at the moment."

What's that?

"Go across the street for some more curry."