Hugo Chavez, wannabe dictator

[heath7]

<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835903301&path=!nationworld&s=">Chavez says voters need chance to keep him</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>President Hugo Chavez said yesterday that Venezuelan voters should have the chance to decide whether he should govern the country for the next 25 years.<br><br>Speaking at a stadium packed with supporters in central Lara state, Chavez said that he would hold a referendum to put the question of his remaining in office to Venezuelans if the opposition pulls out of coming presidential elections.<br><br>"I am going to ask you, all the people, if you agree with Chavez being president until 2031," he said.<br><br>It was not clear whether Chavez was talking about holding a legally binding vote to eliminate term limits or proposing a plebiscite.<br><br>Chavez said Friday that he said he might seek "indefinite" re-election through a referendum if the opposition boycotts the presidential vote.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><br><br>What a boob! <p></p><i></i>

[slimmouse]

<br><br> If he said that, Im gutted.<br> <br> If youre good enough, you can have elections every year. <p></p><i></i>

[Rigorous Intuition]

It's easy to misrepresent him, since doesn't talk like a cautious and compromised Western/Northern leader. Sometimes, to North Americans, he sounds more like a trash-talking professional wrestler than a president. <br><br>He's trying to shame the boycotting opposition into participating in an election they know they can't win. <br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[heath7]

I see your point, but am not so sure.<br><br>2050 would have been funny.<br>2031 sounds premeditated.<br>And let's not forget about his good friend Castro. <p></p><i></i>

[StarmanSkye]

Heath7<br>Hey, c'mon!<br><br>Why would you or anyone else reasonably sharp expect to understand the incredible complexities and nuances of South American politics in a 30-second soundbite? Especially given the statement is an imperfect-at-best English translation of Spanish with a strong meztizo/indigenous perspective, isn't given ANY context at all, and given the long history of Anglo subversion, exploitation, interference, and cooption of South American politics? Hell, 30-second soundbite political-analysis doesn't even work well (as far as understanding anything, anyway) in the place where it's been cultivated into a PR art-form.<br><br>Jeff's take onnit fits my understanding -- If the opposition boycotts an election they can't POSSIBLY win simply because Chavez is so popular, they will likely come-back at one point and criticize him for ruling like an unelected dictator -- which they've ALREADY done despite his having won resounding electoral victories. If I heard something like the above, I'd immediately suspect something else was going on.<br><br>I'd have thought regular readers on this forum would be extra-savvy about lengths the desperate, sneaky US-leaning power-hungry, greed-obsessed, rightwing fascist elites would go to undermine ANY broad-based leftist-empowered people's movement -- especially in that leftist, popular presidents who challenge the PTB aren't especially prone to employing slick Public Relations firms to 'manage' and market their anglo image to make it palatable for the MSM sharks. ( :<br><br>Just a momentary lapse of perspective, I'd say, eh?<br>Starman <p></p><i></i>

[heath7]

I do not pretend to understand the complexities from a 30 second soundbite. Venezuela has newspapers do they not? And some of these news sources are available on the internet, are they not? Some of them defend Chavez's speech, and I can understand where they are coming from, but Castro Jr. is full of all kinds of potential I imagine. Who knows what the future will bring?<br><br>I don't mean to put too much importance on Chavez's relationship with Castro. I don't mean to give any opinion on Castro other than he is in fact a dictator. Who really knows how far Chavez's and Castro's common interests go? I imagine Fidel's even got a pretty convincing line for why dictatorship can be a good thing.<br><br>Chavez may remain a champion of democracy, but I'm guessing not. He's got a lot of power, and no one seems worthy of passing it on to. <br><br>... didn't Chavez serve time in jail for attempting a coup? That too would indicate a penchant for acting on his own will, rather than the law. Coup-lorful men should always be very careful to never ever ever ever joke about dictatorship. <p></p><i></i>

[JerkyLeBoeuf]

I'd vote for him. <p></p><i></i>

[wordspeak]

Thanks, Jeff and StarmanSkye; I think you said it well.<br>That AP article was a little American media attack on him, as Rumsfeld compared Chavez to Hitler a few months ago... Chavez happens to have vast majority support in Venezuela, unlike our prez here in the states, ahem.<br><br>The U.S. and the capitalist globalists hate Chavez and the movement he represents because he/they are interested in meeting the needs of the common people in Venezuela, above all else. <br>And I'm sure the ruling elites are particularly less-than-happy with the emergence of trade agreements between Leftist Latin American governments, such as the ALBA, between Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://go.reuters.comnewsArticle.jhtmltype=topNews&storyID=12017530">go.reuters.comnewsArticle...D=12017530</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <br><br>A good site for grounded analysis on Latin American politics is:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.coha.org">www.coha.org</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[heath7]

Well slap me with a 2 x 4 and call me Woody.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1723"> Associated Press Falsely Portrays Chavez as Seeking 25-Year Term</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>A little scrutiny of a recent Associated Press report about Venezuela provides a lesson in how the English-language press often gets the story wrong. Take the first sentence: "President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that Venezuelan voters should have the chance to decide whether he should govern the country for the next 25 years."<br><br>No, such a referendum would not be about "whether he should govern the country for the next 25 years." A referendum would be about whether Chavez would be permitted to run every six years and --in the event that he were to continue winning elections-- serve multiple presidential terms. The AP report's opening sentence makes it sound as if such a referendum would do away with elections in Venezuela, as if its intent would be to grant Chavez a new 25-year term in office! The website of The Calgary Sun even titles the wire report "Chavez seeking 25-year term"!!<br><br>This is obviously an extremely poor piece of reporting. Chavez made it clear that, if the opposition committed to participating in the upcoming presidential election, he would not convoke a referendum to end presidential term limits. He explained that the intent of his threat to convoke such a referendum was not to perpetuate himself in power but rather to defend the Bolivarian Revolution.<br><br>Fortunately, Agence France Press (AFP) got the story right. The opening sentence of AFP's Spanish-language report reads, "Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez claimed Saturday that, if the opposition decides not to run candidates in the December presidential election, he could decree a referendum to permit his reelection for multiple terms until 2031."</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><br>Who'd a thunk?<br><br>Must mean Chavez won't turn into a dictator after all... <p></p><i></i>

[sunny]

Thanks heath7- I was about to have to eat my words in front of quite a few folks. I can just hear it now "You still wanna harp on about Citgo?" <p></p><i></i>

[dbeach]

they all belong to the same club<br><br>american dictator or this guy <br><br>praising dictators for what ..??<br> <br>the PTB control this stooge in same way as our stooge ONLY ours has more nuclear toys and maybe reckless enuff to use them <br><br>The planet has ZERO leaders that care about their nation or this planet..<br><br>castro run Cuba into a cesspool .<br>free college with no jobs .<br> prostitutes whoring in Havanna with masters degrees<br><br>Hunter Thompson wrote an article in RS mag a few yrs ago detailing the horrific poverty and control that is keeping the castro clowns in office..<br><br>good lil citizens get a free bag of beans and tobacco <br> NOT kidding<br><br>I do enjoy when these punks give bush the finger But they are punks who ain't done nothing for nobody that did not benefit their agenda<br><br>chavez gave away oil to gain sympathy with US progressives and liberals.<br> BUT its rehersed..<br><br>NOBODY gives away anything without a price tag <p></p><i></i>