All aboard, all aboard, the South American Express leaves in five minutes!
Now why on God’s earth would any sane person want to go live in Venezuela? It’s one of the less volatile South American countries I’ll grant you but that’s about it. Well, it seems that our new South American friends are one of the few sane countries left in this world for they have just renounced their tobacco ban…a whole day, yes 24hours, after it was implemented! Now that’s what I call ‘people-power’ folks!
Whereas the WHO run riot over weak kneed willies like our politicians it seems that Venezuelan politicians are made of sterner stuff for it’s reckoned that 50% of Venezuelans smoke (ASH eat your hearts out) and the tobacco growing industry provides mega capital to the government and mega jobs to the people.
Not much to lose then having a smoking ban! Dear oh dear me. You can just imagine them going crackers in Caracas!
Without being any sort of economics expert, I would imagine that bringing in a smoking ban like ours would be catastrophic, but the Venezuelan ban was to ban all growth in the country: ie, all tobacco would have to be bought outside of Venezuela! Now what sort of disaster would that have been? The evil of the WHO knows no bounds-that is a certainty. Health Minister Erick Rodriguez had told a local radio station that “not even producing tobacco nor cigarettes” would be allowed under new regulations the government was contemplating, saying: “Anyone who wants a cigarette should bring it from abroad.”
He was forced to resign!
This living proof that the WHO do not care about a nations poverty nor the people in any country suffering because of their blitzkrieg on smoking worldwide. Perhaps having now failed in Venezuela the WHO might like to nip next door and sort out the Columbian drug trade and get that banned! Just in case you are not sure, bullets come with a BOGOF guarantee in Bogota………..Pardon……….? ……….do what………….?…………eh………..?
I’ll take that as a NO, then shall I? Afraid your representatives might not be seen again are we?
A little way north of Venezuela in that skinny bit of land that divides north & south America sits Honduras.
Now Honduras have been well seduced by the WHO for there you can be penalised if someone reports you for smoking in your own gaff! A new law that took effect Monday banning smoking in most public and private spaces doesn’t actually outlaw cigarettes inside homes, but it does have a provision allowing people to file complaints about second hand smoke in homes. Violations would bring a verbal warning on the first offence. After that could come arrest and a $311 fine-the equivalent of the monthly minimum wage in this Central American country. (Smokers won’t be inviting non-smokers round for a night of fun then!)
Yet in Costa Rica where the smoking ban mania is about to strike (April) it has been decided there that bars etc should provide SMOKING ROOMS for those who do enjoy a fag with their pint!
Director of Health Marketing at the Ministry of Health, Daniel Salas said “there is also no doubt that this is a free world, and if you want to smoke, you can! The idea of separate rooms for smoking is after all, maybe not such a bad idea. Praising myself to be tolerant, I could not look at it any other way!”
Now then Mr Lansley, has that pricked your conscience at all?