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Chávez Successor an Ex-Bus Driver, Peripatetic, Hindu-Mystic Devotee
Wall Street Journal ^

Posted on 12/09/2012 5:03:45 PM PST by Sub-Driver

Chávez Successor an Ex-Bus Driver, Peripatetic, Hindu-Mystic Devotee By KEJAL VYAS And JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA

CARACAS—Nicolas Maduro has gone from driving a bus to becoming ailing President Hugo Chávez's handpicked choice to continue his vision of socialism and possibly lead Venezuela, an oil-rich republic of 29 million.

Mr. Chávez, who said this past weekend he has suffered another relapse in his long battle with cancer, named Mr. Maduro as his successor. It was the first time Mr. Chávez talked publicly about who might replace him, prompting many analysts to speculate that the former army tank commander believes himself to be terminally ill.

Mr. Chávez heaped praise on the man who has been his globetrotting foreign minister, as well as vice president, for the last six years. "Comrade Nicolas Maduro, a true revolutionary, a man of great experience despite his youth, of a great dedication to work, and a great capacity to conduct groups, to manage difficult situations. I have him seen him do it," the president said.

Tall, mustachioed, and affable, the 50-year-old Mr. Maduro came up through working class ranks—a tale that could help his street credibility with Chávez backers.

In middle school, he was a member of a socialist youth organization and played bass in a rock band called Enigma. He later drove a bus linked to Caracas's subway system, and rose up to become union leader of the subway workers. He eventually won a seat in congress and went on to hold the legislature's top post.

For the past six years, he traveled the globe, cementing Mr. Chávez alliances with anti-American allies like Libya's late Moammar Gadhafi and Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chavezcancer; chavezsuccessor; communists; comrades; hugochavez; maduro; nicolasmaduro; socialism; venezuela
Sounds normal to me...........(sic).

Well at least he's not a community organizer (ha).

1 posted on 12/09/2012 5:03:53 PM PST by Sub-Driver
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To: Sub-Driver

Kind of looks like another Saddam Hussein, Obama will be proud.


2 posted on 12/09/2012 5:06:31 PM PST by izzatzo
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To: izzatzo

Chavez wouls pick someone he thinks is like him, of course


3 posted on 12/09/2012 5:09:29 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: izzatzo

Hey, anyone who played bass for a rock band and made it up to supreme dictator of any country....is OK by my books.


4 posted on 12/09/2012 5:10:42 PM PST by pepsionice
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To: Sub-Driver

So what they’re saying is after a string of other occupations he finally settled on commie thug.


5 posted on 12/09/2012 5:36:22 PM PST by SpaceBar
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To: Sub-Driver

Wow, with that kind of background, he could run for office here. The bar has been placed on the ground by the current occupant.


6 posted on 12/09/2012 5:37:58 PM PST by SueRae (It isn't over. In God We Trust.)
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To: Sub-Driver
I Wonder which bus he drove?


7 posted on 12/09/2012 5:38:10 PM PST by mountn man (ATTITUDE- The Pleasure You Get From Life, Is Equal To The Attitude You Put Into It.)
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To: Sub-Driver

My favorite movie title for Chavez is also my wish for him re his health, “DIE HARD”.


8 posted on 12/09/2012 5:41:55 PM PST by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: SueRae

You need a metal detector to find the bar!

Of course, this might create some shouvel ready jobs?


9 posted on 12/09/2012 5:44:45 PM PST by Leep (Are you smarter than a 7th grade math student and or Barack 0bama?)
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To: Sub-Driver
Well at least he's not a community organizer

That would be an insult to all bus drivers.

10 posted on 12/09/2012 5:53:05 PM PST by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagan)
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To: Sub-Driver

Is this an approved method of succession in Venezuela or is this just a dictator appointing a successor?


11 posted on 12/09/2012 7:10:15 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Bathhouse Barry wants YOU to bend over for another four years)
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To: Sub-Driver

Successor??

In your dreams. The left lasts until killed to the last man.


12 posted on 12/09/2012 7:12:56 PM PST by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (Vendetta))
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To: Hardraade

“The left lasts until killed to the last man.”

Here’s hoping that the Venezuelans have had enough of Marxism, and when Hugo goes to Hell, they return to being a more normal nation that seeks to get along with the rest of the world.


13 posted on 12/09/2012 7:49:37 PM PST by vette6387
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