Posted on 06/26/2011 11:17:38 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- One of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's brothers said Sunday that backers of the hospitalized leftist leader should not rule out armed struggle in the future, though they prefer to maintain power at the ballot box.
Adan Chavez's statement came as speculation mounted about the health of the president, who has been convalescing at an undisclosed location in Cuba after reportedly undergoing emergency surgery 16 days ago.
Chavez's older brother said Venezuela's ruling party wants to retain power by defeating foes in elections. But he told government supporters that they should be ready to take up arms if necessary.
"As authentic revolutionaries, we cannot forget other forms of fighting," he said during a prayer meeting for the health of his 56-year-old brother in the leader's home state of Barinas.
Quoting Latin American revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the president's brother added: "It would be inexcusable to limit ourselves to only the electoral and not see other forms of struggle, including the armed struggle."
[snip]
"No one else is really ready to step in and take charge," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. "The current situation shows how precarious one-man rule is: Everything hinges on the whims of a single individual."
"A search for a successor to Chavez would significantly scramble the country's politics," Shifter said. "A fierce power struggle within Chavismo would almost certainly ensue."
Infighting also would likely break out within Venezuela's loosely knit opposition, which plans to hold a primary to pick a presidential candidate for next year's election.
"The opposition would also be thrown off balance," Shifter said. "Their single-minded focus on Chavez has kept them more united in recent years."
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
And how will China and Iran help in this "armed struggle?"
The tyrant will try to stay in power one way or another.
And I thought Hugo had assumed room temperature? May be a long convalescence.
If Chavez goes, the regime falls apart.
The nice thing about dictators is that they tend to cut down anyone in their own camp who is capable of leading without being subservient to someone else, lest they get ambitious and challenge the dictator. Now, given the infighting in the opposition groups, the results will probably be messy, but can it be all that much worse than Chavez being fully in control?
Hugo’s cronies are telling their opposition to, “Stop dreaming about his death.”
Being the commies they are, they couldn’t say, “Stop praying for his death.”
Since Hugo has run off the intellectuals and business owners, screwed up the economy and PDVSA , radicalized and armed his followers, nationalized businesses and banks, stacked the judiciary, purged the military, sucked up to Iran and China and let them into the country, instructed the schools to preach his communist line, allowed terrorists to flood through Venezuela on their way to their targets, I really don't hold out much hope for them.
>Whenever leftists don’t get their way, “armed struggle” is on the menu. And the elites of our media say “ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.”<
Not only “armed struggle” but “reform”, “unexpected”, “same sex”, “pro-choice” and every butchered verb they could come up with.
George Bush failed to follow through at the time of the coup and America has been less safe as a result. There is clearly no chance whatsoever that Barack Obama will do anything by word or deed, officially or clandestinely, to undermine the criminal regime currently in power in Venezuela.
In running down the list of potential Republican nominees, perhaps we ought to ask ourselves how would he/she deal with Venezuela on the death of Hugo Chavez?
I don’t know how this will all play out but, if Hugo croaks in Cuba, then Michael Moore should get the Medal of Freedom or sumthin’.
If this works, then Moore’s “Sicko” was the most diabolical assassination plot since “The Day of the Jackal”. Who cares if Moore didn’t knock off Chavez on purpose? He should still get the credit.
Are you sure that isn’t a description of Obama and this country?? Amazing.
You are very perceptive.
I started my collection of “Hugo Chavez-Venezuela” links as it was like watching a car wreak in slow motion; a frog slowing being cooked in the pot; the people believing it never could get that bad.....but it did.
I do see similarities.
I think the only reason Hugo Chavez did just wrap up his dictatorship sooner is because his opposition is armed. But he’s slowly chipped away at them and strengthened his army (domestically and with international thug allies).
The Hollywood and ivy league elite, modeling icons, liberal talk show hosts and the pundits who have loved and admired him, like they have Fidel Castro, will flock to his funeral.
It is a serious question for serious times.
A tyrant is a tyrant is a tyrant.
CARACAS, VENEZUELA - “Hugo Chavez is unwell. The normally voluble, hyperactive Venezuelan president is running his country from a hospital bed in Havana, after emergency surgery June 10 to deal with a “pelvic abscess” that interrupted the latest of his many visits to Cuba. What caused the abscess, or how severe it was, has not been revealed.
Officials say it is unrelated to the gimpy left knee that had slowed the president in recent weeks and required him to use a cane. Chavez continues to sign decrees, and his closest aides maintain he is on the mend and will soon be back in Venezuela.
Chavez’s medical difficulties may well be exceeded by his political ones. Venezuela is in the throes of a presidential campaign that does not officially begin until next year. The opposition Democratic Unity coalition is due to choose its candidate in February. Assuming the government does not tamper with the timetable — by no means guaranteed — the election will be held in December 2012. But one issue already overshadows all others: Can the former army officer, who has been in power since 1999, win a third six-year term?
Having been mired in recession for a couple of years, and plagued by inflation of almost 30 percent, the country recently returned to growth. Thanks in part to higher oil prices, the government projects a 4 percent rise in gross domestic product this year, though private sector estimates are around half that. Even if growth remains modest, Chavez has squirreled away billions of dollars in unaudited public funds and should be able to pay for a pre-election spending binge.
He has been campaigning for months, having won approval in 2009 for a constitutional amendment that removed presidential term limits. There is no need for primaries, he said, “because it is well-known that I have assumed the responsibility of once again being a candidate for the presidency.” With all the petro-state’s resources at his command, the gift of gab and the power to force the broadcast media to carry his speeches live, he is a formidable opponent. But if polls are to be believed, this election will be no walkover, even if Chavez quickly returns to health..............”
http://www.startribune.com/business/124213003.html
CARACAS (Dow Jones)—Venezuela’s national legislature began considering Tuesday President Hugo Chavez’s request to nearly double the government’s debt limit, a move that has economists concerned the country may be borrowing too much.
Chavez-allied lawmakers, a majority in Venezuela’s unicameral National Assembly, are expected to approve the increase, contributing to a continued surge in the country’s debt load. A ramping up of public spending ahead of Chavez’s re-election bid next year will likely spur already galloping inflation.
The current 2011 budget allows for the government to sell approximately 52 billion bolivars, or $12 billion, in bonds, but the leftist leader last week asked lawmakers for the ceiling to be raised an additional VEF45 billion, or about $10.5 billion, to finance social programs.
According to a draft of the measure, about $2.3 billion of the requested sum is designated for interest payments and refinancing of existing debt.
Chavez has ratcheted up spending ahead of a 2012 reelection bid to provide homes, jobs and other public benefits to millions of Venezuela’s poor. A high price for oil, by far the country’s biggest revenue source, has so far enabled the government to meet its rising debt obligations. But many wonder how long that will last.
“The impression you have is of a firm absolutely strapped for cash,” said Robert Bottome, editor of the Caracas-based Veneconomy business newsletter and outspoken Chavez critic. “It’s pretty scary. What is going to happen when oil goes back down?”
Oil income represents more than a third of the economy, well over half the central government budget and some four-fifths of export receipts.
For now, though, the cash flow is running strong. The South American nation’s crude has averaged $96.68 a barrel so far this year, above the record annual high of $86.49 posted in 2008.
Yet the debt burden keeps getting heavier. Central government debt, calculated at a VEF2.6-per-dollar exchange rate, stood at $71.77 billion at the close of 2010, up from $59.8 billion in 2009 and $27.81 billion when Chavez first took office in early 1999, according to official data.
The central government debt was about 20% of Venezuela’s gross domestic product at the end of 2010, according to official figures.
Analysts are also quick to point out that the central government figures do not include other public sector obligations, including the increased debts of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, and the country’s credit lines with China. More inclusive estimates place public debt at about $120 billion, and climbing.
Critics also question the government’s use of the VEF2.6-per-dollar exchange rate in computing 2010 debt levels in the wake Venezuela’s currency devaluation in January. The devaluation and aggressive public spending have pushed inflation in Caracas to an annual rate of 25%.
“We are facing uncertainty. We are facing elections next year and we already have a high debt rate,” said Angel Garcia Banchs, director of the Caracas-based research house, Econometrica..........
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110607-712594.html
Your right.....those in Hugo’s regime don’t love Hugo....they love power, and power is what they will seek.
Rather a short run as President for Life.
Chavez nationalized the oil industry and it didn't take them long to show their collective incompetence.
Oil, being the lions share of the economy, will bring the socialists dream down. Unless they denationalize it.
“Not only “armed struggle” but “reform”, “unexpected”, “same sex”, “pro-choice” and every butchered verb they could come up with.”
It’s that until they get power. Then they jail all those who cannot become thugs, because they are no longer of any use.
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