25 thoughts on “Chavez vs. Bush: Tin Pot Dictator Mudwrestles Tin Pot President – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Richard, the u.s and bush must engage and try to bring back into the fold the nations that are trying to liberate themselves from the economic model that they are rebelling against. Noam Chomsky at counterpunch has this recently published interview…..here is a portion that pertains to hugos economic battle… these men are fighting an epic battle on the macro economic-front…..like castro who fought it at the macro but lost sight of the micro economy in his country, castros showed us that he could take the ideology to the world by helping revolutions in africa and latin america but could not furnish the world with the window dressing of a vibrant cuban economy, he tried to window dress the cuban medical system as being advanced to show the world that his central planning has been a success on the humanistic front.

    here is a portion from the american enterprise institute piece on cuba and venezuelan subsidies to them.
    Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez provides $2 billion annually to his Cuban partners in the form of oil subsidies–almost half of the $4-6 billion that the USSR previously supplied.

    (this is noam chomskys interview) It’s in this context that the Venezuelan phenomenon surfaces. Venezuela is indeed now, under Chavez, using its oil wealth to accelerate these processes–both the international integration and the internal integration. It’s helped countries of the region free themselves from U.S. controls, exercised in part through the traditional threat of violence, which has been much weakened, and in part through economic controls. That’s why country after country is kicking out the IMF, restructuring their debts, or refusing to pay them, often with the specific help of Venezuela. In Argentina particularly, Venezuela bought about a third of the debt and enabled Argentina to “rid herself of the IMF” as the President [Nestor Kirchner] put it. The international integration is also proceeding, not just through Venezuela. It doesn’t get reported here because it’s sort of not the right story, but a lot of things are happening. So in early December for example, there was a meeting of all South American leaders in Cochabamba, Bolivia–which is right at the heart of Morales territory, Indian territory–and they proposed, they had constructive ideas and suggestions which could lead towards sort of a European Union type structure for South America.

  2. here is a picture of cuba before castro…..latin american leftists still use him as a successfull example of communism/socialism, not because of the success of his economy, but because of his hatred for the capitalistic oppressive yankees in north america. this is from the american enterprise institute report on cuba before castro and what cuba might convert to after he leaves….He (castro) is afterall the ideological idol they prop up and mythify while still living…imagine what they will do when he passes…he will be seated in the heavens as a veritable god, he will ascend and sit on the throne with che guevara as his right hand man to lead the oppressed of latin america, chavez sees himself as part of a triumverate (castro, che, chavez), if he succeeds in ousting the imf/usa debt-masters out of their corner of the universe.

    here is what cuba was like before the revisionism of castros revolution.
    Castro apologists have painted pre-revolutionary Cuba as a repressive backwater, a picture that is not supported by the evidence. In fact, the Cuba Castro took over in 1959 was one of the most prosperous and egalitarian societies of the Americas, near the top according to most sociodemographic indicators, behind only Argentina and Uruguay. The country’s social and economic statistics also looked remarkably like lesser-developed European countries of the day, such as Spain and Portugal. While it is well-known that Cuba’s infant mortality rate is the second lowest in Latin America today, many historians fail to mention that pre-Castro Cuba ranked thirteenth in the world, with the best rate in Latin America. It also had the third highest daily caloric intake, the fourth highest literacy rate, the second highest number of passenger cars per capita, and ranked fourth in the production of rice.[2]

    The country was also culturally advanced before Castro seized power, with the third highest newspaper circulation per capita and second highest cinema attendance per capita in Latin America.[3] Although, to be sure, the country suffered from the inequalities of wealth that plagued all countries in Latin America at that time (and still do), Cuba had the largest middle class of its peers in the Western Hemisphere.

    Rarely mentioned is the fact that in the 1940s and 1950s the island had progressive labor, land tenure, education, and health laws that rivaled those of many of its neighbors in the region. For example, the 1940 Cuban constitution established such labor laws as the right to work, a maximum forty-hour work week, one month of annual vacation, social security, and the rights to form and join unions. Indeed, by 1958, almost half of the Cuban labor force was unionized. A 1951 World Bank report actually criticized laws protecting Cuban workers because they were considered so generous that they discouraged foreign investment.[4] That fact hardly supports the popular image of a nation plundered by foreign exploitation until Castro rescued her dignity.

    The sad fact is that Castro transformed a country that was among the most successful and progressive in Latin America into a nation in which “greater equality” means that almost everyone is destitute

  3. Interesting stuff from Venezuela-see bleow
    Chavez most famous quote “‘the world has wealth for all, but some minorities, the descendants of the same people that crucified Christ… have taken over all the wealth of the world’.

    Caracas news paper El Diario published an article on ‘The Zionist Jews’ whose tone rapidly becomes apparent with the first paragraph, translated by bloggers Daniel of Venezuela News & Views and Alexandra Beech (hat tip: Larwyn).

    Zionists, the destructive sect of radical Jews, are again impregnating the Jewish community with its animosity towards humanity. The genocide they executed in Palestine and Lebanon is similar to the Holocaust which the Nazis executed against them, and they will undergo another Holocaust because of the global hatred they are accumulating. If the Jews have charged the Nazis for their victims, they will have to pay Lebanon for their killings. The Jewish race is condemned to disappear, because if they continue marrying among themselves they will continue to degenerate; if they open their marriages they will racially dilute themselves, so they only recourse is to stay united, to provoke wars,
    and auto—genocides.

    The article continues even more ominously:

    Possibly, we’ll have to expel them from the country, as other nations have done, which is the reason that Jews remain in a continuous state of stateless exodus, and it is why in 1948 they invaded Palestine, guided by Albion. Will global justice allow the United States, England, and Israel to destroy the Middle East to take over its oil? Only the union of its people will save them.

    Anti—Semitic graffiti is appearing much more frequently in Caracas. Some Venezuelans believe Chavez was imbued with anti—Semitism by his mentor, Norbeto Ceresole, an Argentine known for his extreme neo—Nazi views. .

  4. I am not fan of Castro. He was never democratically elected, but Hugo was elected three times, and as for the smear about him refering jews when he was talking about crucifying Christ. That was debunked in an article from the forward.

    In his speech, Chavez lamented that while the world had enough resources for all, “some minorities, the descendants of the same ones who crucified Christ, the descendants of the same ones who threw out [South American liberator Simon] Bolivar from here and also crucified him in a way in Santa Marta, over there in Colombia — a minority took possession of all the planet’s gold, of the silver, the minerals, the waters, the good land, the oil, the riches, and they have concentrated the riches in a few hands. Less than 10% of the world’s population possesses over half of the world’s riches, and more than half of the planet’s population is poor, and every day there are more poor in the world.”

    Both the AJCommittee and the American Jewish Congress seconded the Venezuelan community’s view that Chavez’s comments were not aimed at Jews. All three groups said he was aiming his barbs at the white oligarchy that has dominated the region since the colonial era, pointing to his reference to Bolivar as the clearest evidence of his intent.

    One official noted that Latin America’s so-called Liberation Theology has long depicted Jesus as a socialist and consequently speaks of gentile business elites as “Christ-killers.”

    Chavez is a leader who has won three elections by overwhelming margins, basically by directing Venezuela’s vast oil weath to programs for the poor instead of giving it all to the white oligarchy and Bush and Cheny’s friends. For this he has been subjected to a coup and an unsuccessful recall effort. Please watch “The revolution will not be televised”

    He is also routinly smeared by the corporate media. Read Greg Palast’s archive on Chavez. The fact that Simon Weisenthal Center chose to participate in yet another smear, is yet more evidence that American Jewish Organizations have been coopted by the minority right wing element.

  5. Who would you rather have in charge of your own imaginary nation – Chavez or Bush? I guess it depends on whether you are part of the elite Chavez mentions, or want to be. Only one of these men is actually governing, in the traditionally accepted definition. For most people, the Bush path leads to poverty at best, disaster and death otherwise; while the Chavez path improves their lives and, crucially, provides hope based in a sense of community and solidarity that reaches out to the poor of other nations.

    Which man’s approach to governing do you think likely to be more effective in combatting the culture-destroying problems we face in the next 50 years?

    Chavez has his blemishes, but Bush is all blemish. OK, he will be gone in a few years, but where is the real alternative in the ‘good cop’ opposition?

    If you could exorcise some of the personal from the ‘Chavez doctrine’ it would be a fair blueprint for managing the coming challenges, because the only way to meet them will be with strong, democratically elected activist governments, with private interests firmly under control. The World Bank/IMF front for the Washington consensus has to go, for all our sakes.

  6. Glenn: I’m sympathetic perhaps to the general thrust of what Chavez is trying to do. But there’s no question in my mind that he’s a bully and more an ideologue than a technocrat. There will come a time when the energy bonanza will go bust. Is he preparing for a rainy day? In other words, is what he’s doing sustainable or a flash in the pan? Is this based on a cult of personality or is it a movement that will have continuity?

    Of course, Bush is far worse than Chavez as you say. His capacity for evil is far greater. But I’m not sure whether if Chavez had a similar amt. of power he wouldn’t use it for purposes just as ill. Power tends to corrupt whether you’re a right-winger or left.

  7. There are no political leaders that have no power what so ever. The best you can hope for is a check at the ballot box, unless you are an anarchist, and Chavez has won three elections. I think we need to stop this bigotry against all latin american leaders, unless you apply such suspicions equally to European and North American wons.

    Why is there no suspicion of how the Prime Ministers of Cananda will use their power for instance?

  8. Winning elections is but one mark of a true democracy. But what about the other functioning political institutions? Are they robust? Or are they cowed? Is there a balance of powers? Or is power concentrated in the hands of the executive? Is there any countering power to check the executive’s power?

    Hamas too won an election. But that doesn’t make Palestinian society democratic–at least not yet. I have every confidence that Palestine will become a full-fledged democracy. But it isn’t yet.

    Lest you think I’m being too hard on Chavez & Hamas, I also believe that Israel is a democracy which leaves much to be desired in terms of the realization of democratic values and principles. And as for Bush-Cheney, fuhgedaboudit. These are not democrats, but tyrants or wannbe tyrants. Thank God we have enough countering branches of government to temper the worst of their depredations.

  9. Venezuela has three branches of government including a legislature and a supreme court. The constitution guarantees freedom of speech, press, association, religion and assembly. Chavez hasn’t shut down any networks or newspapers, despite the fact that many literally incited the 2002 coup. I dare say a newspaper that incited one against our own government would probably be shut down on completely legitimate grounds. He has no political prisoners in jail, and no secret prisons. He is also doing much to help the third world out of their debts to the IMF. I think he is a very positive force.

  10. I would rather have Bush as my leader than Chavez. I dont accept the explanation proferred by Damecrat that the term “Christkillers” is not applying to Jews. The fact that the Jewish community of Venezuela didnt protest this to me means they are intimidated. When I was in shul in Caracas recently, I noted that people dont say gut Shabbes anymore, because it sounds like good Chavez. They say Shabbat shalom. Bush doesnt raid Jewish kindergartens, while Chavez raided the Hebraica kindergarten. OK, I guess 3 year olds can be militants sometimes. Adolf Hitler was also democratically elected to German leadership too. Castro has accomplished more with limited resources that Chavez, who has placed his banks to transfer money from Iran to Hamas, and Castro is not known to have a Jewish problem. In my mind, Chavez is just another tinpot dictator, expropriating resources from one elite and creating a new elite. He is little different from Peron of Argentina, Mobutu of Zaire, Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Lukashenko of Belarus

  11. Fair.org’s newsletter

    Editing Chavez to Manufacture a Slur
    Some outlets spread spurious charges of anti-Semitism

    1/23/06

    It began with a bulletin from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles (1/4/06) accusing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of invoking an old anti-Semitic slur. In a Christmas Eve speech, the Center said, Chavez declared that “the world has wealth for all, but some minorities, the descendants of the same people that crucified Christ, have taken over all the wealth of the world.”

    The Voice of America (1/5/06) covered the charge immediately. Then opinion journals on the right took up the issue. “On Christmas Eve, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez’s Christian-socialist cant drifted into anti-Semitism,” wrote the Daily Standard (1/12/06), the Weekly Standard’s Web-only edition. The American Spectator (1/6/06) was so excited about the quote, which it called “the standard populist hatemongering of Latin America’s new left leaders,” that it presented it as coming from two different speeches:

    Venezuela’s Chavez in his 2005 Christmas address couldn’t resist commenting that “the descendants of those who crucified

    Christ” own the riches of the world. And on a Dec. 24 visit to the Venezuelan countryside, Chavez stirred up the peasants by claiming that “the world offers riches to all. However, minorities such as the descendants of those who crucified Christ” have become “the owners of the riches of the world.”

    Then more mainstream outlets began to pick up the story. “Chavez lambasted Jews (in a televised Christmas Eve speech, no less) as ‘descendants of those who crucified Christ’ and ‘a minority [who] took the world’s riches for themselves,'” the New York Daily News’ Lloyd Grove reported (1/13/06). A column in the Los Angeles Times (1/14/06) used the quote to label Chavez “a jerk and a friend of tyranny.” The Wall Street Journal’s “Americas” columnist, Mary Anastasia O’Grady (1/16/06), called Chavez’s words “an ugly anti-Semitic swipe.”

    One can see why the words attributed to Chavez provoked outrage. After all, descriptions of the Jews as a wealthy minority that “crucified Christ” have been an anti-Semitic stock in trade for centuries. But the criticisms of Chavez almost uniformly used selective, even deceptive editing to remove material that put his words in a different context.

    Here’s a translation of the full passage from Chavez’s speech (VoltaireNet, 1/18/06):

    The world has an offer for everybody but it turned out that a few minorities–the descendants of those who crucified Christ, the descendants of those who expelled Bolivar from here and also those who in a certain way crucified him in Santa Marta, there in Colombia–they took possession of the riches of the world, a minority took possession of the planet’s gold, the silver, the minerals, the water, the good lands, the oil, and they have concentrated all the riches in the hands of a few; less than 10 percent of the world population owns more than half of the riches of the world.

    The biggest problem with depicting Chavez’s speech as an anti-Semitic attack is that Chavez clearly suggested that “the descendants of those who crucified Christ” are the same people as “the descendants of those who expelled Bolivar from here.” As American Rabbi Arthur Waskow, who questioned the charge, told the Associated Press (1/5/06), “I know of no one who accuses the Jews of fighting against Bolivar.” Bolivar, in fact, fought against the government of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, who reinstituted the anti-Semitic Spanish Inquisition when he took power in 1813. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, a Jewish sympathizer in Curacao provided refuge to Bolivar and his family when he fled from Venezuela.

    Most of the accounts attacking Chavez (the Daily Standard was an exception) left the reference to Bolivar out entirely; the Wiesenthal Center deleted that clause from the speech without even offering an ellipsis, which is tantamount to fabrication.

    As Waskow further pointed out, in the Gospel accounts, “it was the Roman Empire, and Roman soldiers, who crucified Jesus.” While it’s true that anti-Semites often accuse Jews of killing Jesus, it’s not fair to assert that anyone who refers to the crucifixion of Jesus is attacking the Jewish people.

    That Chavez’s comments were part of some anti-Semitic campaign is directly contradicted by a letter sent by the Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela to the Wiesenthal Center (AP, 1/14/06). “We believe the president was not talking about Jews,” the letter stated, complaining that “you have acted on your own, without consulting us, on issues that you don’t know or understand.” The American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress agreed with the Venezuelan group’s view that Chavez was not referring to Jews in his speech (Inter Press Service, 1/13/06).

    In context, the Chavez speech seems to be an attempt by Chavez to link the attacks on his populist government to the attacks on his two oft-cited heroes, Jesus and Bolivar; the “minority” that would link the two would be the rich and powerful minority of society. The reference to “less than 10 percent of the world population” owning half the wealth also makes the idea that Chavez was talking about Jews far-fetched; 10 percent of 6 billion would be 600 million people. (According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, there are approximately 15 million Jewish people in the world.)

    Jim Lobe of Inter Press Service (1/13/06) pointed out the irony of conservative outlets like the Wall Street Journal and the Daily Standard, edited by William Kristol, promoting dubious accusations of anti-Semitism in Latin America:

    Kristol’s father, Irving Kristol, and the Journal’s editorial page to which he contributed, led a public campaign to discredit Argentine publisher Jacobo Timerman when he emerged in 1980 from two-and-a-half years of imprisonment in secret prisons in Argentina claiming that Jews like himself had been systematically singled out for the worst treatment and torture by a military regime whose ideology was as close to Nazism as any since World War II.

    Lobe pointed out the difference between Chavez’s Venezuela and Argentina under military dictatorship: “Unlike Venezuela today, Argentina was then seen by the incoming Ronald Reagan administration (1981-1989) and its neo-conservative backers as a vital Cold-War ally.” Surely anti-Semitism is a problem that deserves to be treated seriously, and not used as a pretense to bash official enemies.

    Note: Some readers pointed out that before the Weisenthal Center, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency led the attack on Chavez’s speech (12/30/05).

  12. The term “Christkiller” nearly always refers to Jews. The fact that Jews were not involved historically in the persecution of Bolivar does not mean that history cant be rewritten. In many circles, it is believed that the African slave trade was controlled by Jews, even though it wasnt. The fact that the term Christkiller is now being applied to those who persecuted Bolivar is extremely ominous-it suggests a plan to indoctrinate South Americans that Jews are behind all colonialist movements in Latin America. Anti-Semitism is also popular in Alta California circles. The revision of history is a staple of Palestinian education, and it looks that this is being imported by Chavez. You also havent addressed the blatantly anti-Semitic column from El Diario, the official government mouthpiece of Chavez
    “Zionists, the destructive sect of radical Jews, are again impregnating the Jewish community with its animosity towards humanity. The genocide they executed in Palestine and Lebanon is similar to the Holocaust which the Nazis executed against them, and they will undergo another Holocaust because of the global hatred they are accumulating. If the Jews have charged the Nazis for their victims, they will have to pay Lebanon for their killings. The Jewish race is condemned to disappear, because if they continue marrying among themselves they will continue to degenerate; if they open their marriages they will racially dilute themselves, so they only recourse is to stay united, to provoke wars,
    and auto—genocides.

    Possibly, we’ll have to expel them from the country, as other nations have done, which is the reason that Jews remain in a continuous state of stateless exodus, and it is why in 1948 they invaded Palestine, guided by Albion. Will global justice allow the United States, England, and Israel to destroy the Middle East to take over its oil? Only the union of its people will save them”

  13. The revision of history is a staple of Palestinian education, and it looks that this is being imported by Chavez.

    Melvin: This is a ludicrous non sequitur. First you haven’t established a connection bet. Chavez and Palestinian education; second you haven’t even established that either of them engage in revision of history. Besdies, I could easily point you to numerous instances in which Israeli children are taught deliberately inaccurate versions of Israeli history. What does it all prove anyway? Next to nothing.

    In addition, no one here at this blog accepts any material unless it is authenticated with a link. I refuse to accept the article you quoted as real till you provide a link and also prove the translation is reputable. And I’m not just directing this at you. I’d like Dameocrat to provide links as well. Further, you folks don’t need to quote entire articles. That gets to be a flame war which is boring to everyone but you. Pls. quote the material fr. the articles you find most important & don’t cut & paste the entire thing.

  14. I will provide a link next time, but I didn’t want to bother you with the spam filter again. The article I quoted is a newsletter and it ok to post it in its entirety.

  15. I didn’t want to bother you with the spam filter again.

    Dameocrat: My spam filter kicks in when there are three or more URLs in the comment. So you’re perfectly OK including 1 URL.

    BTW, it’s not at all surprising to see the neocon media outlets which picked up on Chavez’ allegedly anti-Semitic speech: VOA, Weekly Standard, WSJ, NY Daily News, & Wiesenthal (not a media outlet but definitely into the Holocaust/anti-Semitism industry).

  16. ‘But there’s no question in my mind that he’s a bully and more an ideologue than a technocrat.’

    He is bullying a class of people that has bullied the rest of his country for years. People who enlisted the US to try and help overturn an election in which Chavez was eelected with better than 70% of the popular vote, on ther understanding that USD oil concerns would get first dibs on concessions. They needed some bullying those people.

    ‘There will come a time when the energy bonanza will go bust. Is he preparing for a rainy day?’

    Isn’t he releasing oil wealth into public programs in health and education primarily, and also infrastructure? Not a bad start on the future to look after your country’s (and not just his own country’s) underprivileged masses – firstly to see that they live healthy lives, then to educate them so that they can compete in a global market. The US meanwhile seems happy to let health and education slide for people who can’t afford it.

    Melvin is a typical Zionist cracker, isn’t he? How would you like to see the world thru a lens as narrow as that?

    ‘Lest you think I’m being too hard on Chavez & Hamas, I also believe that Israel is a democracy which leaves much to be desired in terms of the realization of democratic values and principles’

    This is the forst para from an article by Dror Wahrmann at HNN – http://www.hnn.us/articles/35958.html

    Foreign observers of Israel tend to focus so intently on the dangers the country faces from its Arab neighbours that they have largely missed an astonishing story that has been accelerating over the past few months: that of the Jewish state’s possible move toward internal collapse. If you consider this an exaggeration, just take note of what the past couple of weeks have brought about. A few days ago the chief of the Israeli police resigned after an investigation that found several of Israel’s highest police officers guilty of corruption and negligence. This came within a week of the forced resignation of Israel’s Chief of Staff from the military because of the fiascos of the second Lebanon war. It was also some ten days after Israel’s minister of justice was convicted of sexual assault while on duty, and a couple of weeks after Israel’s president – who holds a largely symbolic position – resigned temporarily following charges of rape and sexual misconduct. It was also the same day that the head of Israel’s tax authority resigned because of possible corruption charges. In the meantime, several other investigations are still pending, not least two or three directed at the Prime Minister himself, Ehud Olmert, concerning corruption and favoritism. And an appeal to the Supreme Court has already been filed against the minister of police’s choice for a new police chief – again, because of old charges of corruption of which the nominee had been acquitted only through a particularly narrow benefit of the doubt.

    This is unrelated really, but I couldn’t resist. It’s not the only Israeli diplomatic corps sex scandal in recent times:
    \
    JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after he was found bound, drunk and nude, according to information reported Monday by Israeli media and confirmed by a government spokeswoman.

    The longtime diplomat, Tsuriel Raphael, has been removed from his post, and the Foreign Ministry has begun searching for a replacement, ministry spokeswoman Zehavit Ben-Hillel said.

    Two weeks ago, El Salvador police found Raphael in the yard of his residence, tied up, gagged and drunk, Israeli media reported. He was wearing several sex toys at the time, the media said. After he was untied, Raphael told police he was the ambassador of Israel, the reports said.

    (via CNN)

    Richard, have you read Christopher Ketcham’s Nation piece on the High-Fiver ‘remvalists’ and the ‘art students’? Required reading, but keep a stiff drink handy.

  17. I dont know what to make of the israeli student story. i would be curious as to how the american jewish community would treat that article, i can only imagine what might happen if this story goes mainstream and reaches the masses. i feel there would be a very different reaction by the americans who identify themselves as jewish and by other americans.

  18. Glenn: I saw all of the articles you mentioned except the Nation piece. As for the HNN article, Israel & its government can be quite corrupt. As for whether it will implode fr. within–this I find quite overstated. And as for the Israeli diplomat w. the S&M fetish, well all I can say its an all too human foible. I’m sure he isn’t the first diplomat to get caught w. his pants down, so to speak. I’m not sure it speaks to any underlying corruption in the Israeli political system. Of course it’s a horrible & disgusting behavior for someone in such a sensitive position. But beyond the individual involved I’m not sure it has any greater significance.

  19. ‘As for whether it will implode fr. within–this I find quite overstated.’

    Yeah, me too. Business as usual, just more of it the open than usual. If you lifted the lid on Bushco, it would be just as bad, perhaps worse.

    ‘But beyond the individual involved I’m not sure it has any greater significance’

    I guess, but it was good for a laugh. We had I think two Israeli embassy staff leave here in disgrace for sexual misdemaenours recently, and there was a few pedophile cases too, in South America I think. But hey, the Australian diplo corps has several pending pedophile cases in PAcific Island nations right now, so I won’t be casting any first stones.

    Not saying Isarel’s any worse, but it’s certainly no better than most.

    You should read the Ketcham piece – it is important.

  20. Venezuela is approximately 1,000,000km2 ie. the size of France and Spain combined . It has a population of less than twice that of metropolitan London! It is also immensely wealthy. Petroleum, Iron, Gold, Bauxite, Hydro-Electric power etc. Indeed, per capita, it is one of the wealthiest countries in the world! Consequently we should have a state-wide infrastructure at least as good as yours in the USA ie schools, hospitals, roads, airports etc etc paid for by our very large oil income. In fact not only do we lack even a basic infrastructural establishment, the vast majority of our population lives in pretty dire poverty…..not so pretty! After nearly 50 years of American backed democracy the burning question is WHERE THE HELL IS THE MONEY? Answer:It was taken, stolen by our oligarchy, America´s friends and agents who have run this country for the near totality of the 20th century. In the meantime the developement of ubiquitous communications have given our impoverished population an idea of how badly they´ve been ripped off! Along comes a member of their own social class who accurately articulates the scandel and who not only promises to do for those masses….. they all promise, but actually begins to deliver on the promises and in spades! Is it any wonder that he wins fair elections by majorities hardly seen anywhere else in the world..ie 65-70% of huge turn-outs. The USA then backs, if not institutes, a coup attempt against the legally and popularly elected President! The vast majority of Venezuelans back Chavez. The vast majority of Venezuelans have seen, for the first time ever a government that takes them, the poor, seriously. The question then is, is it because you are Americans or Jewish, or white that from a position of more or less ignorance you second guess a whole population? Is it because we is black? Your country has utterly abused/raped/violated our continent for over a century and a half. That is a fact! The Monroe doctrine indeed! By the way pre-Castro Cuba was Americas whore house run by a despicable little mafia pimp called Batista, all be it America´s friend. Gringos, mind your own business and let us mind ours. Tin pot dictator indeed! Your President is a War Criminal! And ridiculously stupid at that. Your Neo-Cons, though appearing less stupid are none the less a lot less sterling than they think. I´ve read Strauss and I´ve concluded that his Platonism is an Orchid Street, bargain rip-off of the great Plato. You spent Billions installing Saddam to fight Iran then more Billions undoing him and setting up your enemy in power in Iraq. etc etc etc. See to your own affairs before getting involved in ours! Saludos Ivan Gonzalez

  21. PS: re The fragility of the Oil Bonanza. With America´s and Israel´s demented, apocalyptic version of a foreign policy a $200+ per barrel is just around the corner!

  22. With friends like Ivan (aka Rene) Hugo Chavez needs no enemies. Ivan will make so many more enemies for him than he already has. Keep visiting our blogs Ivan. By the time you’re done even Americans who are sympathetic to Chavez will turn away in disgust.

    There will come a time when Venezuelans will turn away from Chavez as they do from all authoritarian figures. I’d like to hear what you have to say about your savior then.

    The question then is, is it because you are Americans or Jewish, or white that from a position of more or less ignorance you second guess a whole population?

    This is a vile, ignorant statement which reeks of anti-Semitism.

    Is it because we is black?

    No, it’s because you’re being stupid. If you’d bother to read any of the posts in this blog you’d realize (well, perhaps you wouldn’t realize since you’re so blinded by hatred) that I am a progressive American and Jew who finds common cause with Third World struggles for freedom and economic dignity. But intolerance & propagandizing from the likes of you gives progressivism a bad name.

  23. With America´s and Israel´s demented, apocalyptic version of a foreign policy a $200+ per barrel is just around the corner!

    You don’t even have to try to be an annoying blowhard. It seems to come naturally.

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