Posted on 07/11/2007 10:26:24 AM PDT by pissant
WASHINGTON, July 11 (UPI) -- Venezuela is increasingly threatening stability in the Western Hemisphere, a GOP U.S. presidential candidate said Wednesday.
"As a regional neighbor of the United States, Venezuela is increasingly threatening stability in the Western Hemisphere. The country's leadership is determined to move the country away from democracy and toward socialism; maintains close relations with Cuba and Iran and continues to decrease its cooperation in ant-drug and anti-terrorism efforts," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said in a statement Wednesday. Hunter is the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee and a conservative candidate for the GOP's 2008 presidential nomination.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has been strengthened by soaring global energy prices and has spoken of his ambition to create a new union of Latin American states that would oppose and seek to undermine U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere.
Welcome to FR newbie. Now go back to DU.
Hugo was democratically elected.
We have to decide if we really want all of these retarded nations to embrace Democracy. Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.
There are places where Democracy gets the evil elected. Venezuela is one, Algeria (voted for Islamists), Pakistan would vote for Islamists if they could. Even Turkey - that staunch “westernized” Muslim nation votes in the Islamist welfare party and slowly goes mad.
If Israel were to give full voting rights to its Arab and Palestinian citizens, you would soon see a Democratic nation slaughter its Jews again.
The Palestinians elected Hamas.
It looks to me that large populations must experience what Europe experienced in WWII before they will come to their collective senses.
When they elect fire-breathing tyrants, the firebombs should soon follow.
He cheated in his first election. Then he used corrupt methods to get re-elected. He has cut off opposition media, imprisoned rivals, and usurped possesions with threats to do more.
that ain’t an election, no matter what Jimmuh Carter says.
Democracy is for the birds. Give me a constitutional, divided-powers republican government or give me death!
Dude yeah, John Ashcroft is the bomb!
I don’t think Ashcroft holds a candle to Hunter in that dept. But you are free to think so.
Well, I was just responding to your posting the picture of Ashcroft.
LOL, if you’re looking for a slicked-back pretty-boy for President, then you need to switch to the Mitt-mobile!
Or Dennis Kucinich?
Actually, I think Hugo stole at least the last election and enforced it with the army.
Dennis Kucinich
Mitt Romney
John Edwards
Welcome to FR newbie. Now go back to DU.
I guess someone was weened too early.
Hugo is quite popular with the underclass, illiterate and masses of really stupid poor that Venezuela seems to have plenty of.
The educated Venezuelans despise him, but in the Barrio, he is quite popular. I am not so sure that he would, in-fact, lose a fair election. He can steal and redistribute all of the oil wealth, as well as all of the wealth of foreign investors...
Castro managed to hang on and will die of old age. He did it without oil wealth to prop him up and spread around. Hugo has no qualms about stealing the property of foreign companies (as well as local) and squandering the nation's oil wealth to maintain his position.
The only way to get rid of Hugo is with a bullet or bomb.
It never happened for Fidel, so don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen to Hugo.
Hunter’s been doing a good job lately of getting press.
Okay, I'll ask. What's the problem with Hunter, and who's the first choice of one who claims to be "[t]o the right of Attila the Hun"? (In other words, who's to the right of Hunter?)
Elect Duncan Hunter and let’s win these damn wars decisively.
If I am not mistaken, the issue of Chavez hasn’t been brought up by any of the Repub candidates...certainly not by any on the dim side, they are all pinko commies anyway.
I was already pulling for Duncan Hunter, but by him having the courage to speak out on this raises him even higher in my estimation. SOMEBODY needs to address it, my goodness, Iran and North Korea are one thing, but with Venezuela we’ve got a nuclear threat emerging in our own backyard!
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