We all had our little laugh this week when Former Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Jorge Castañeda admitted making up a whopper of a story in Newsweek, about Venezuela invading Cuba. But liars usually don't tell their first lie in a big-time publication like Newsweek. Sometimes they start small, say in Foreign Affairs. So does this make Castañeda a pathological liar, a compulsive liar...or something else entirely?
We've got "informed speculation"--and a poll!--after the jump.
Scroll down to take the poll, but first, a few former Castañeda fibs:
- In the May/June 2006 issue of Foreign Affairs, Castañeda published an essay centered on the idea that Venezuela's poverty figures had
decreasedincreased [oops. -Ed.] since Chavez took office. An analysis by independent economists showed that in order to reach that conclusion, he had to fudge or manipulate just about every data set cited.
- In December, 2007, just days after Chavez lost a national referendum to amend the Venezuelan constitution and quickly went on TV to accept the results, Castañeda made the weird claim that Chavez had actually planned to overturn the results, but accepted defeat only after the military threatened insurrection. In Castañeda's words, "the president conceded--but with one condition: he demanded his margin of defeat be reduced to a bare minimum in official tallies." Only problem with the story, Castañeda only had an unnamed "source," presumably a well placed adviser to Chavez, who spilled only to him. The story never gained traction outside of conspiracy circles, because nobody really believed the report.
- Last month, after Chavez won a different national referendum, which had been certified by electoral observers from around the world, Castañeda contradicted all other reports, claiming that "there is some evidence of electronic tampering" with the voting machines. He even chastised Venezuela's opposition for accepting the results, "which made pressing the claims of fraud practically impossible."
So! Compulsive, or Pathological? According to TruthAboutDeception.Com, our go-to source for all things mendacious, a Pathological Liar lies to get their way. It can be described as "goal-oriented" lying. A compulsive liar, on the other hand, simply lies as a "normal and reflexive way of responding to questions." The simply do it out of habit.
Certainly Castañeda can be said to lie with a "goal" in mind. It's not as if he made up some crazy shit about Mauritania's plot to overthrow, uh, Pennsylvania or something. Still, his long history of print-fibs seems to indicate some habitual, compulsive behavior.
You tell us! Sure, it may be speculative. But to be fair "informed speculation is probably the best we're going to get in terms of Castañeda psychoanalysis at the moment." Also, it's probably true because he hasn't denied it yet, and it totally has the virtue of being entertaining. Journalism!
Comments (9)
Jorge C. se ha vuelte loco!
Mad Mag loco but without the good humor.
Why can I hear him, like a two year old yelling,"es mio!,es mio!"
I think he's smoking crack. (If so, he should leave that shit alone)
Can I change my vote to #4?
Posted by Bosque
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March 23, 2009 1:26 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 13:26
Or with mesquite barbecue sauce. Who knows? All I know is I wouldn't trust the man in my datura patch.
Posted by QueenBina
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March 23, 2009 1:18 AM
Posted on March 23, 2009 01:18
He may have confused mescaline with coffee, too.
Posted by otto
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March 22, 2009 8:07 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 20:07
Actually, during the 2004 referendum, abstention was 30.08%: Castañeda may have confused abstention with participation.
Posted by Utpal
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March 22, 2009 6:45 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 18:45
@TK: He had 63% during the 2006 Presidential election (turnout was 75%, the absolute number of voters has also increased under Chavez, as the govt. made sure to inscribe new voters and started the "mision identidad").
Posted by Utpal
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March 22, 2009 6:43 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 18:43
Also another lie: in “Hugo Chávez’s Moment of Truth,” Newsweek International, December 4, 2006, Castañeda misrepresents Chávez’s electoral record, writing, falsely, that he “has obtained smaller percentages of the vote with each successive election and, most importantly, turnout has been shrinking steadily; in the 2004 plebiscite, many estimated it at less than 30 percent.”
The truth: Chávez won 56 percent of the vote in 1998; 60 percent in 2000; and 59 pecent in the 2004 recall. The total number of Venezuelans who voted for Chávez has increased over these three elections (but might have decreased in the last two referenda? But in any case, when JC wrote this, he was lying).
Posted by TK
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March 22, 2009 4:38 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 16:38
Please change decreased to increased in the first bullet after the jump: I think that's what you meant to write.
Great post. And I would argue in favor of both: Castañeda ment comme il respire and is a pathological liar--the two are not mutually exclusive, is what I'm saying.
Posted by Brasil66
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March 22, 2009 12:24 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 12:24
Chávez los tiene locos.
Now, more true than ever!
Posted by QueenBina
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March 22, 2009 11:09 AM
Posted on March 22, 2009 11:09
By the way, even Sumate accepted that there was no electronic tampering in the last referendum (they claimed all sorts of other things, but explicitly denied the possibility of electronic tampering). Jorge has gone way past la-la land.
Posted by Utpal
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March 22, 2009 10:07 AM
Posted on March 22, 2009 10:07