Things are in a bad way in the 2 orgs in Venezuela (one in Valencia and one in Caracas).
This is a plea from the ED of the Valencia (“Venezuela”) org for assistance.
It is full of typical scientology hype about how they are saving the world etc etc. and some wonderfully outdated quotes from Source to make things seem better and pretend they are winning. But harsh reality has set in. Venezuela is in economic meltdown. Hyper inflation. Lack of food. Gas shortages (remarkable in a country that exports massive amounts of oil)…
She says they no longer have the resources to support themselves locally, have used up their org “reserves” and are asking for help from people around the world based on the “International Directive” (apparently in reference to IG NW Bulletin from the COB about the pandemic planetary bullbait) which authorizes them to do so. She is requesting money be sent to a person living in Los Angeles via a bank in Florida… Nothing seems suspicious about this at all.
There are two large questions this raises.
First: Where is “Central Reserves” and the IAS? This is what these reserves are supposed to be for. To carry the organizations through times of enormous hardship or catastrophe. Circumstances exactly like this.
Instead, the “Venezuela Executive Director” is begging for money from anyone who will listen and asking it to be sent to a bank in Florida with a person in Los Angeles as the named beneficiary…
And secondly. What happened to the astonishing successes of bringing the Way to Happiness to restore the “chaos” in Venezuela?
There have been several IAS Freedom medals handed out to people from Venezuela for “bringing LRH tech” to the “Government of Venezuela” and “salvaging a nation.”
Today, right on the Freedom Magazine web page is this piece about IAS Freedom Medal Winner Ruddy Rodriguez from Venezuela. She was not the first, nor the last — there were others earlier and some later including Audrey Cabrera. In fact, I wrote a piece about Audrey and other IAS Freedom Medal winners some years ago that is just as valid today as when I wrote it.
Somehow the massive distribution of WTH and implementation of LRH admin tech into the government of Venezuela didn’t work out.
One could go back through earlier events, Impact mags and Int Scn News and pull out the ridiculous claims they have made about salvaging nations and bringing the tech to overwhelming response — from Ukraine to the Philippines and Peru to Indonesia. Virtually every remote locale on earth has been saved by LRH (never seems to happen in NY or LA or even London or Rome).
One day, I might just tackle this when I have some time to spare…
Sounds like this was written with the “help” of google translate.
Venezuelan whale gives huge donations to Scn Inc while children go to bed hungry in his own country.
See these images
https://twitter.com/KarendlaCariere/status/1263250247892914177
Even while millions of families go hungry in Venezuela and children as well, Sc Inc was able to get millions and millions out of the mega rich.
I am showing images of some of them Report #2
https://twitter.com/KarendlaCariere/status/1263250247892914177
We wound up taking a Venezuelan refugee into our team, so I wind up getting socio economic updates on this several times a week from families, as well as now being tied into that refugee community. The situation there is as severe as anything I have read in modern history. Those people in Venezuela with family in the USA fair much better as meats and food can only really be purchased with US dollars. Citizens must rely on rations distributed by the government which are meager and inconsistent.
There are no official channels for the transfer of money to the country or people, it is all done through the black market. The above person and bank for transfer is not uncommon, but tremendously susceptible to fraud and theft.
For a million dollars or less the IAS could launch an effort that would feed all the staff and their families and parishioners and their families, perhaps for years. Even the black market prices by US standards are not as horrible as one might think.
One of the problems that the COS and IAS faces today is that even if they would release a small percent of their interest income, people with initiative and free skill and problem solving competence have been driven out or been beaten into inaction so they could not figure out how to do anything, making them as useful as tits on a bull.
Raiza Ojeda…” is requesting money be sent to a person in Los Angeles via a bank in Florida…Nothing suspicious about this at all.”
Thank you, Mike, for this excellent article and for the hearty LOL your stellar snark just gave me – a laugh I really needed today. Still chuckling… You CAN’T make this stuff up.
Even while Venezuela fell downwards into chaos with widespread starvation, that did not deter Scientology Inc extorting huge sums of money from the whales in Venezuela (mega donors) See images
https://twitter.com/KarendlaCariere/status/1263233670283800576
A quick google search reveals that the beneficiary’s address, 320 N Vermont, is the Hubbard College of Administration. Oh, those WISE guys!
Hey, I have an idea:
Let’s all send them check!
Never mind what’s in our bank accounts – we gotta think BIG.
And PLAY big!
Remember Spirit of Play?’
And remember what LRH said about really successful people being nothing but pirates and bums?
OK, then!
We’re pirates; we’re bums!
And what kind of checks do bums write?
You got it!
And the sky’s the limit!
So let’s send our checks and make’ em Big ones!
Let’s send them off tonite.
And to hell with how they’re going to clear!
What self-respecting bum, what reputable pirate, let’s details like this impede our Spirit of Play!
Altogether now:
Say it loud, say it proud, “We’re check kiting bums, and we’re proud!”
Mine’s in the mail, people!
The time is now 🙂
Aqua. Lol. Yes I like it. Let share togheter with them their artificial enthusiasm towards life.
I will bring the check personally because I want a receipt.
Hmmm, yeah these Wise guys always with the help button on.
God knows if DM is aware of it. You know he could paranoically theorise a future flap that could involve him.
Let see.
Thanks Mike. Way to keep us informed! Venezuela is the microcosm of the macrocosm of scn! One big broke venture under the helm of dm and followers like cardone. Cheap talk. No products! Only fund raising. Exactly what was predicted by you know who if you go out exchange with your public!
It is so glaringly obvious that there is no channel to the reserves for anyone in need.
I have very recent experience with established charities serving indigenous communities displaced along the Colombian border with Venezuela, especially had hit by the pandemic. We have had to be careful about getting funds to those we know and trust. The way they are finding to get funds is not unusual right now. But they shouldn’t have to…You can’t do it safely — unless you are already a multinational like Scientology.
Off topic.
I just saw a Scientology ,Face Book page,titled ” The 10,000″.
There are 3,800 members.
Is that the one where they claim 10,000 fully operational thetans could save the planet? Only another 6200 to go. Previous reports suggest 4 reach the end of the “bridge” each week on the floating org, which means they should achieve their target by the year 2050, assuming none of the existing 3800 quit, get declared, or die before then.
The letter brings to light multiple problems within the org. First and foremost is what did Severy org in the world do to pull the failures in. We all know everything good is due to Scientology everything bad is due to you pulling it in or associating with SP’s. Next home correspondence courses are not courses that count toward leading up the Bridge to spiritual freedom. Money sent to a specific person rather than the COS will directly affect that persons tax status and not that of the Church. It reeks of scamming. Lastly , the grammar, punctuation , pluralities and tenses used ,show this letter to be written by a person with poor understanding of proper English. Again that reflects poorly on the Thetans ability to be a Master of all things ,even the English language.
Clearly Scientology cannot save itself in Venezuela. The absence of leadership is glaring. Making necessary the need to pursue contributions from anyone even WOG’s of unknown status’s. Not what I would expect from Thetans who have mastered MEST.
Due to restrictions put in place by the Venezuelan government, and in part US sanctions against Venezuela, it is very, very difficult to send money there from the US. The person on the US end must either be a Venezuelan citizen, or have a special permit and ID from the Venezualan government. Only $300/day, up to a maximum of $1,000 can be sent. And it has to be in the form of Venezuelan Bolivars, not US dollars. The only company currently supporting such money transfers is MoneyGram. Western Union may also be starting to support such transfers with the same restrictions. Using any other method under current sanction restrictions would be illegal.
Wow. Thank you for that info. I knew I smelled a rat!!!
PickAnotherID. True. In fact, the question could be: is the scam being scammed?
Pettition/CSW for SOR funding for the 6 months of living/rent expenses to keep the org skeleton crew (communal living too) until the economic crisis/pandemic is over.
In a saner era of the movement, this would be done.
And afterwards, pay back SOR for the loan, through a future donations project.
But in this crisis, an absolutely legitimate crisis, the org execs ought submit, and SOR/Finance Office ought to approve (and no blocking by AVC/WDC/or anyone else, and Miscavige ought have nothing to do with this, since this is all “management” and management has Reserves policy to fully allow this).
But, will this happen. No.
Hubbard left loopholes, but neither nor the leaders in the movement’s history (with a few exceptions) could make the loopholes work without causing terrible conditions for the staffs and followers.
Don’t expect any help from internal Scientology management.
They are incapable of self generating any decency to themselves.
Chuck Beatty
ex OEC/FEBC Course Sup, Flag Clearwater (and Int Training Org both at CW and LA)
PS: My goal was be support team for Exec Strata, never made it, but always thought Hubbard did wish Exec Strata to be what he listed out for in in LRH ED 339R – 1 Int, which has never come to fruition, oh well, so much of Hubbard’s management planning never came to fruition, and likely never ever will.
So Venezuela is the first to cry ‘uncle’. Yeah, it’s the lack of gasoline that keeps the minions away. That’s the ticket. Which mOrg will be the next to cry ‘uncle’? I do hope it is one in the US. Please?? Pretty please?
It is getting worst than I had imagined.
They are starting to slam their faces against harsh reality. Waking up from all their fantasies.
All this ‘immense amount of tech’ available, where is it? Now that they really need it.
Just begging is a disgusting ‘tech’ and shows that the king is naked.
The SO reserves have deliberately not done anything yet leaving the task of saving themselves (and NOT proposing problems to seniors) to the COs and EDs.
In my opinion, this an error that will have deadly results for the cult.
I expect that begging, whining letters like the above from Scientology orgs to its publics will become common in the not too distant future if they have not already done so.
Aqua. Yes indeed. In this blog we already witnessed something moving in that direction. But there should be more as you said.
And this could be just the prelude to a bigger drama, where the no return point seems to have been already passed.
Let’s see… Venezuela, Venezuela… I’m looking in my garden of f*cks to give about Venezuela but alas, it is barren.
Hello Badafuco. I can certainly understand why you would feel that way about most any country outside of the USA. A great many people do feel that way. But please allow me to offer my opinion as to how and why problems in Venezuela as well as other countries could indeed cause problems for Americans.
Countries like Venezuela – have dictatorship governments who are extremely corrupt and are headed by a single dictator who doesn’t seem to care at all about his people just so long as he can stuff his off shore bank accounts, Does that remind you of anyone else with rat-like features who does the same sort of thing? Maybe someone who thinks of himself as a Pope or other leader of a world-wide church?
The problem is that now that the people in that country are facing starvation … (there is no food, no electricity, no sewage, no gasoline or heating oil or any other way for them to heat their homes and their families …. Well, in a situation like that, people are known to go nuts and do most any kind of thing if they are told it will improve their situation. They are willing to follow almost any kind of new leader – including communists or crazy cult-type leaders.
If some kind of foreign government tells them they will help them if they will just follow that leadership, they will often go ahead and agree to almost anything. So, if Venezuela or Brazil or most any other South American country dumps their leadship in a violent coup, the USA could easily find itself in a terrible situation like another Viet Nam or a leadership that reacts to that kind of overthrow in a crazy way.
Americans could find themselves with a huge problem if and when that happens. I pray to God it will never come to that. But other countries in the Western World really should try to do whatever they can to avoid that kind of problem.
Wonder if one could use all that account information to transfer the balance somewhere else. That’d be a good blow to the criminal organization.
What makes you think that the begging letter will get any takers? Stealing $20 US won’t get any hacker much but some street cred. And a lot of laughter.
Good point Zee Moo.
Still would hope dupes would pony up something and I’d be able to put it to better use.
200 in Valencia? 60 diehards doing 3 courses each, maybe, with the typical “field” of perhaps over 100 more hangers-on who occasinally do a course or show up for major events. Their Facebook page has a cover shot from what must have been their biggest “ideal” event with 60 or so people in it, and then other pictures showing 2 or 3 dozen at most:
> https://www.facebook.com/scientologyvenezuela/
Sadly, Venezuela does seem like what might result if a country were run with LRH admin tech. In the US, the CofS has only accumulated the wealth they have because they’ve found ways to support their otherwise unsustainable inefficiency by leaching off society at large, such as having largely unpaid local org staff who rely on outside jobs, family support and even welfare fraud*; plus all the asset-stripping they do that drives many members into foreclosure and bankruptcy, leaving the economy (and responsible borrowers) stuck with the cost burden of unpaid debts. If Scientology were cut off from such sources of backdoor subsidy from society, economy and the government, they’d go bust just as happened when Venezuela’s unsustainable economy, rife with inefficiency and based on subsidies, lost its crutch of high revenues from oil exports.
* I’ve calculated that CofS saves about $100 million per year by not paying minimum wage and associated benefits to staff and Sea Org (who should at least be provided retirement); over 2 to 3 decades, that alone would account for most of the CofS’ accumulation of reserves and assets. Plus there’s reportedly about $1 billion in advance payments “on account” that should have been refunded to people when not used, according the IRS agreement.
There is no retirement for SO Members. They work until they can no longer work, perhaps stepping down their schedule to a shortened one along the way. If they get a terminal illness they get sent to a hospice (maybe). Otherwise if they can no longer work they could be Fitness Boarded, or just left to hang around in berthing until they expire.
I’ve seen accounts of elderly SO being offloaded to nursing homes – where they would be paid for by Medicaid and perhaps state assistance as well, once again shifting the cost burden of Scientology’s policies, practices and failures onto the public. I think some others get taken in by family, but then realtives are stuck shouldering the expenses of people who worked two or three lifetimes worth (100 to 120 hours a week) with no provision for their retirement or medical care, and many of those people probably end up on Medicaid at significant cost to the public, as well.
I suspect Scientology only cares for those who they feel are worth the cost because they are either too well known to just offload, like Heber Jentzsch – or who know too much, like the late Annie Broeker.
Emails demanding money to be wired to random back account numbers is a classic phishing technique.
If the IAS, or a whale, doesn’t support them soon I can imagine most of the staff will walk away and never return.
What?? And just quit saving the planet?? Oh, the horror! 😂😂🤪🤪
To me the basics are a roof over your head, clean running water, and sufficient food. The basics are not an armario of CDs, books, and Way To Happiness pamphlets.
They should have used all that great Hubtard Tek to handle their insane gov’t which has been insane for decades. That way they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in. Oh well…
The people in Venezuela are currently suffering a terrible tragedy and this has been going on for a few years now.
The government in Venezuela has done a terrible job running the country and it would appear the people are now on the brink of starvation – or even past the brink.
Venezuela is not the only country in South America facing this kind of dire situation. Brazil is the single largest country in South America (by “largest” I mean the population is the largest). In fact, if I am not mistaken, the population of Brazil is larger than all the other countries in South America all put together.
Population of some large South American Countries: (rounded to nearest million)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_American_countries_by_population)
Brazil 212 million
Colombia 51
Argentina 45
Peru 33
Venezuela 28
Total population of South America 430 million (Note that I did not list every country – just some of the largest).
Brazil contains almost exactly one half of the total population of South America. (212 million versus 430 million).
When the COVID pandemic first became known to people, a few scientists tried to warn the world this could become a serious problem – even a catastrophe. But they were ignored.
Given that Brazil and Venezuela together contain more than one half the population of South America and given that both of these countries are run by dictatorships, it seems pretty obvious to me the world should pay extremely serious attention to what is going on there. These populations are starving and when people are starving, they will do things that would otherwise be considered unimaginable.
The scam has a “war chest” containing billions of dollars. It would be easy for them to give a few million to these two countries to help feed the people.
Given all the bullshit, lies and phoney propaganda that is spewed by the scam on a daily basis, one would think they should give a few million to the starving nations of South America – at the very least to the orgs there belonging to the scam.
But they don’t – despite the fact they seem to be one of the first group that is squawking about the danger there. It is true they are only concerned with their own org in S.A. But they are too greedy to give them even a few dollars. There is zero dollars coming from the scam to anyone in S.A.
If and when the situation is S.A. reaches the level of a catastrophe and the major powers in the world begin to threaten each other and world peace in general, it will be only appropriate for people to point the finger at this evil cult as deserving much of the blame because they squawk about the problem but are unwilling to give a penny to the starving people of South America.
Shame! Shame! Shame!
In my previous post, when I said, “There is zero dollars coming from the scam to anyone in S.A.”, I had the old saying in mind, “Money goes up the hill but Shit rolls down the hill.”
The evil criminals that run the scam expect and demand their slaves give them all the money they have and all the money they can borrow. But they are too selfish and greedy to give any money at all to these slaves – even though it can prevent them from starvation.
If I ran the world, I would throw these bastards into a penitentiary and keep them there forever.
How many crimes could be worse than taking all of someone’s money and then refusing to help them when they are facing starvation?
These criminals deserve the worst fate imaginable. Don’t they?
For years Flag had a full time Way To Happiness Reg reg who brought in an average of $50,000 a week from Scientology public. The public were told all kinds of lies about how the booklet was bringing peace in the Middle East, stopping drug trade in S. America, making L.A. gangs hold hands and sing happy songs, whatever would sell. From the $50,000 a small percentage of the money would be used to print the flimsy WTH booklets on the cheapest paper possible. The booklets laid out a few basic concepts like brush your teeth, get enough sleep, be nice to your parents, don’t take drugs, don’t murder, etc. The hardest part of the whole scam was to find a way to actually distribute the tons of booklets, at least enough to make it appear something was being done with the money. The scam brought in millions and millions of dollars for Scientology and lots of false PR for Scientology.
So they lied? I think the shorter list would be truths that regges and recruiters tell.
For many years I used to run the pony ride at the Easter Egg Hunt put on by Flag. Even then I noticed how so many WTH booklets ended
up on the ground or in the trash cans.
About four years ago, a lady from Venezuela wrote me an e-mail in regard to Scientology. She said that her FSM wanted massive amounts of money from her and others. She said the pressure was really bad. She asked me to review Scientology with her in the e-mails. She said someone in Venezuela referred her to me. I directed her to the current blogs from Mike Rinder and Tony Ortega. She read as much as possible but then asked me to summarize Scientology for her. Well, that was very easy since at the time I had published my book. I told her Hubbard was Lucifer for sure and probably Satan. She thanked me and then I never heard from her again. I hope she did not give her money to the FSM. It would have been wasted.
Venezuela has been destroyed by socialism, which the populace happily voted for some years back. It should be a cautionary tale for us here in the US. The problem is a whole new generation here that has been programmed to think that Socialism is the compassionate answer to all problems. And oh yeah, Scn is not going to save Venezuela. They will probably close down eventually.
Venezuela has been destroyed by corruption, not “socialism.” Scandinavian countries practice more “socialism” than Venezuela.
That’s not actually true but you’ll have to do a little research yourself.
I get a laugh on the word “socialism” because it is so much misunderstood. I subscribe to a stock market picking service and the first Digest he sent railed against socialism in the United States. I had a handyman come over to give a quote on some carpentry. He insisted that Socialism was destroying the United States and that I should vote against it. Well, I did not give him the work because he was overpriced and over-politics. When I listed myself as Democratic socialist on Facebook, I got 10,000 “likes” and the statement was removed by Zuck and his friends. I do practice Capitalism because it is all that we have. But the book that opened my eyes about Socialism was Henry George’s “Progress and Poverty”. It still applies to our current society. even though it was written in the 19th century.
Actually not Mike. The crux of socialism is gov’t control of the means of production and capital in the private sector. The Scandinavian countries have VERY little of that, compared to Venezuela which has gone whole hog in that direction.
THAT has been the crux of the econ collapse there.
The US is one of the most right-wing countries in the Western World.
We currently have a president who has presided over a huge redistribution of wealth to the top 1%.
Social mobility in the US has fallen to the point where it is lower than in the UK and many other European nations. So much for the American Dream!
Anyone who thinks that Socialism is the major threat to our way of life is not paying attention.
Oh, the irony. Your claim of wealth redistribution to the top 1% is laughable, but are you mad because you think it was redistributed to people who are already wealthy beyond your wildest dreams or because you didn’t get something that doesn’t belong to you? I say that because I’m sure you are referencing his massive tax cut, but every taxpayer benefitted from that cut, not the uber wealthy. And may I add that if you don’t think printing money at the rate we are right now isn’t a major threat to our way of life, you’re not paying attention. We might as well grab our Monopoly board games out of the closet.
Well, I do enjoy a bit of irony.
This will be absolutely my last comment on this subject since this not an appropriate subject for this site.
I confess I am not in the top 1% for income or wealth but I have made it into the top 5%. These tax cuts were of very little use to me.
Also, if you don’t see the connection between doling out huge tax cuts which the country cannot afford and then having to print money to cover then I am sorry for you.
This is not to say that I have never benefited from Republican policies.
A former president who shall remain nameless allowed criminal practices to become prevalent in the real estate market, steadfastly refusing to intervene or regulate. I can’t complain too bitterly. I kept my money and invested heavily in real estate after the resulting crash. Made me rich. Thank you George W!
Leaving aside for now what socio-economic group benefited the most from the 2017 tax cut, the timing of it was wrong. The economy had been steadily improving for years and we should have been paying DOWN our debt, not acquiring more.
Aqua, the tax cut actually produced MORE income tax into federal coffers. Look at the receipts for 2018 and 19. Record tax revenues. As is very often the case, when you reduce tax rate you spur growth which increases taxes into the coffers. Basic econ.
Wynski, you’re right, what you said is correct – in theory there’s no argument except in THIS instance in order to AFFORD the tax cut they borrowed to cover the shortfall! That money was needed for things, it wasn’t just lying around, there was NO surplus! So they borrowed to make up what would be needed in the budget. Not the same as having a surplus and giving it back to the people who created it.
Isn’t this Mike showing a classic case of “obnosis” — observing what is obviously a disastrous situation unfolding before our eyes?
I think I’ll wire some funds to Nigeria instead. Someone there sent me an email saying I have inherited $3.5 million if I only send them some money first. 😉
How about India too? Google “Indian Microsoft tech support scammers”
Hey, Myrk whatever your name is, you leave my Nigerian Prince alone, you hear? Hands off 🙂 Go get your own Nigerian Prince, he’s mine.
O/T. Church of Scientology joins attack against The People’s Republic of China: “DON’T FUND OUR ENEMY.”
Tweet:
https://twitter.com/ISNOINews/status/1262829399600226312
Full ESMB Redux thread:
https://exscn2.net/threads/church-of-scientology-joins-attack-on-the-peoples-republic-of-china-dont-fund-our-enemy.1312/
/
They just jump on any bandwagon. And scientology does not like China because they don’t tolerate scientology there.
Mike – I agree with everything you said. In addition, I think this is part of Scientology’s effort to ingratiate themselves with the Trump administration and the MAGA community.
Well, birds of a feather, and so forth.
Birds of a feather indeed! I’ve had days where I was reading about Hubbard and $cieno for hours, then watching the news, and it seemed like I was still reading about Hubbard. Peas in a gdamned pod!
Aqua In Silent Prayer:
“In my response to Espy, Lord, please give me the strength and fortitude to merely agree briefly with ESPY and neither respond in specific detail nor expand in any way via specific instances of remarkable similarities in policy, speech, actions and reactions between this current administration and the Church of Scientology. Please help me, Lord, to resist the enormous temptation…Get thee behind me, Satan…Thank you, God. I’m able to respond to Espy now.”
@ Espy – Yup.
PS: I’m proud of myself. I kept my promise. And, now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and scream in a closet 🙂
I’m impressed Aqua! I too have a closet in which to scream. Keeps me civil during discourse on the subject!
Glad I’m not alone, Espy. OK, next time you go in your closet and I go in mine we’ll pretend we’re screaming together 🙂
Correct, the church will get into bed with anybody if it believes it will benefit in the short, medium or long term.
This is an organization that lives off two principles:
1. Survive at any cost, and I mean literally any cost.
2. Loot and plunder as much money, wealth as humanly possible and don’t stop until we’ve got the lot.