Crises in Venezuela

Washington Times ^ | August 21, 2003 | Curtis Reed

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Intense media coverage of the Middle Eastern terrorist threat against the United States, the government's attempts to thwart it and two successive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taxed the America attention span. Yet, there is another front in the war on terror that has gone neglected in our own hemisphere, and it threatens to destabilize the entire region.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Fidel Castro – Cuba

Hugo Chavez – Venezuela

Chavez Plans for Terrorist Regime

A Terrorist Regime Waits In The Wings [re:Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)]

Flying Too High, Venezuela Shops for MiGs

U.S., Europe work on Latin crises - First on Otto Reich’s agenda – Venezuela*** Only a few weeks after they were trading insults over the war with Iraq, the Bush administration and key European countries -- including France -- are quietly talking about a greater coordination on Latin American crises such as those in Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba.

Last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio spent ''quite a long time'' discussing Latin America and possible areas of U.S.-European cooperation, Palacio told me in a telephone interview from Washington.

And the Bush administration is sending its special ambassador to Latin America, Otto J. Reich, to Spain, Italy and France next week to discuss the region's hottest crises, as well as lingering financial troubles in Brazil and Argentina, White House officials and Palacio told me.

Among the people who have been asked to meet with Reich is French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, the diplomat whose public criticism of the Iraq war so exasperated the White House. Others will be Spanish Ibero-American Cooperation Minister Miguel Angel Cortes and Italian and Vatican officials.

The most pressing issue on Reich's agenda will be Venezuela, U.S. officials say. ***

Opposition supporters waving national flags march to demand a referendum on ending Hugo Chavez's four-year presidency in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug 20, 2003.(AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)

Chavez Foes Launch Venezuela Poll Bid, He Rejects*** CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched on Wednesday a bid to vote the leftist leader out of office, holding a huge march in Caracas and presenting more than 3 million signatures calling for a referendum on his rule. But Chavez, speaking in Argentina where he was visiting, immediately challenged the opposition initiative, saying the signatures were "not valid." He said his opponents were "crazy" and "irresponsible," accusing them of using "tricks and fraud" to collect the signatures.

"This shows the opposition is still thinking about a coup and destabilization," Chavez told a news conference in Buenos Aires. He believed it would be "very difficult" for a referendum to be held this year. Chavez's sharp criticism of the referendum initiative heralded renewed political feuding in Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, which has been shaken for more than a year by conflict between Chavez and his foes.

Waving national flags and blowing horns and whistles, several hundred thousand foes of the populist president packed central Caracas Wednesday in the biggest anti-government demonstration since a general strike in December and January.***

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[backhoe]

Cross-link:

-The Fire Down South...( Latin America--)--

[FreedomPoster]

Who will be to blame when Americans again ask, "Why didn't we know?"

ABCNNBCBSPBS. NYT/WashPost/LATimes. The usual suspects.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Communist Axis?

[livius]

We also blew our chance to get Chavez out. Just a little more encouragement a couple of years ago when the people rose up - and Chavez was all ready to step on a plane and fly off to Cuba - and he would have been gone. I hope we don't make any similar mistakes in the future, although now Chavez has consolidated his power and it'g going to be much harder.

[FreedomPoster]

Yes, I believe Bush was still new in office, and rather preoccupied with post-9/11 events, if I have my timeline right. There wasn't much going to happen on the Clinton leftovers, and the new folks had more pressing events in the ME/SW Asia.

[bert]

Does the fact that something is unnoticed in the media mean that there is no action by our guys to keep tabs on the situation?

[doc]

"the influx of so many poor from neighboring countries have created massive slums". Sounds like we're heading in this direction with the migration of extremely poor and uneducated mexicans comming here.

[thackney]

BTTT