Hugo Cavez
Posted on 09/24/2005 10:34:12 PM PDT by SmithL
Controversy and intrigue have swirled around Venezuela's Hugo Chavez ever since he was elected president seven years ago and established himself as a leftist force. Chavez's rising influence in Latin American politics, his country's role as a major supplier of crude oil for U.S. refiners and his close ties to Cuba's Fidel Castro have alarmed policymakers in the Bush administration. Last month, on his television show, the Rev. Pat Robertson actually went so far as to suggest the United States should assassinate the 51-year-old Chavez. (Robertson later apologized.)
While Chavez was in New York last week for the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, he sat down with Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth. He spelled his dislike for the Bush administration and described himself as a revolutionary. Dressed in a bright red shirt, he noted that he was planning to stop in Havana on his way home so that he could spend several hours talking with Castro.
Excerpts:
The opposition in Venezuela feels that it has no space. The leaders of Sumate [a group that supported a referendum vote on Chavez two years ago] say you indicted them for receiving money from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy. Why?
You cannot forget that this very opposition governed Venezuela between 1958 and 1998. If they feel like they have no space, it is because they have been cooked in their own sauce. Between 1958 and 1998, Venezuela fell apart. We ended the 20th century with poverty as we have never seen it. The economy was totally destroyed. . . . Millions of Venezuelans were without education, health care, jobs, housing. So if they feel they do not have any room to act, it's their own fault.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
CITGO == Venezuela
I can see the bumperstickers now:
CLINTON / CHAVEZ 2008!
He looks like a relative of mine...
Pat Robertson was right.
He shouldn't have said it out loud....
but he was right..
Venezuela and the world in general would be much better off if Hugo Chavez would "go to his reward" soon.
So.... you signed up here merely to make that one reply??????
I'm honored by your efforts Jimmy. (Jimmy Carter is about the only one that believes Hugo was really ''democratically elected'')
Did I say that U.S forces should kill him? No.
I'm just of the opinion that the whole world would be a better place without him, another murdering communist dictator, Who has pretty much destroyed a once vibrant nation with a great future. Once, a great friend and reliable ally to America.
Whether the people of Venezuela rise up against him, or God merely decide to ''call him home''....... I'd just like to see Venezuela return to the ''bright shining star'' of South America that it once was.
Yes, I signed up to make that reply.
Why? Because you said Pat Roberton was right when he said U.S. forces should murder Hugo Chavez. You can deny it, but its in your first post for all to see. Personally I think Roberston should have faced criminal charges for his comments.
Furthermore, the whole world, apart from yourself, the National Endowment for Democracy, recognizes that Chavez has a legitimate political mandate, was democratically elected, and has had that legitimacy reinforced on half a dozen or so subsequent polls.
I think this fact pretty much rubbishes your claim that Chavez is a dictator. Or maybe its his governing style you think is 'dictatorial'? I wonder though how it would compare to Pres. Bush's style.
And how a a country with 70% of the people living below the poverty line could be called 'a bright shining star' is a beyond me. I understand that figure may have increased since Chavez came to power, but then the same can be said for the U.S. poverty rate under President Bush.
Dedalus
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