Posted on 02/05/2006 3:11:19 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is considering buying enough rifles to arm one million people ready to repel a possible US invasion.
Chavez also threatened to close down his government's US-based refineries if Washington decided to cut diplomatic ties.
During a speech warning his supporters that Washington was considering an invasion of Venezuela, Chavez said that 100,000 Russian-built Kalashnikov assault rifles would not be enough to defend the country.
"We still need a higher number of rifles. The 100,000 Russian rifles are not enough, Venezuela needs to have one million well-equipped and well-armed men and women," he said.
"I've started making contacts with some countries" that would be able to supply the rifles, Chavez told the crowd of supporters to rousing applause.
Relations between Washington and Caracas have been tense in recent months in part because of US criticism of Venezuela's purchases of military equipment, including 100,000 Russian-made assault rifles.
Chavez said Venezuela did not want to go to the extreme of cutting off petroleum supplies to the US but he said if Washington wanted to break relations he could easily order Venezuela's US refineries closed.
"We'll see how high oil prices go, we'll see how much a gallon of gas will cost. I could easily sell the oil we sell to the United States to other countries," he said.
"We don't want to get to that extreme, we want them to leave us in peace."
Venezuela is the world's fifth biggest oil exporter and supplies about 15 per cent of US petroleum imports.
Washington has made no suggestion that it plans to cut off relations with Venezuela but Washington ordered out a Venezuelan diplomat after Chavez expelled a US military attache on spying charges earlier this week.
During Saturday's marathon speech, Chavez extended his war of words with Washington, comparing US President George Bush to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler while commemorating a failed 1992 coup he led as a lieutenant colonel.
"If any president in this world is similar, including physically, to Adolf Hitler it is Mr Danger," said Chavez, prompting cheers from his supporters following a march through Caracas.
"The imperialist, mass murdering, fascist attitude of the president of the United States doesn't have limits. I think Hitler could be a nursery baby next to George W Bush," Chavez added.
The Venezuelan leader's statements followed comments made on Thursday by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who compared Chavez to Hitler and warned darkly about populist leadership in Bolivia and Cuba.
AP/Reuters
"We ignored him too much and now he is having a hissy fit. This guy is a paranoid loon."
The "Yanquis are coming" is the only tactic he can use to redirect attention from his own failed domestic policies and actions.
The more we ignore him, the faster he will self-destruct.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy....
Somebody needs to work out a creative solution for this guy.
We don't want to invade little Venezuela, we don't want to make a habit of assassinating foreign leaders (a few maybe) but this guy is causing great harm to his own country, to South America and to the eventual world stability that will result when everyone adopts free markets and democracy. He has already set back prosperity in South America by at least a decade.
We need a simple effective solution to mute him.
Brother Hugo seems to think the people of Venezuela are on his side. My Venezuelan friends say otherwise. Go ahead, Hugo, arm your people to the teeth and see what happens......
One million rifles sounds good to me. They will be perfect for a coup against Chavez.
Notice he didn't say anything about giving them ammunition for these guns. lol He's stupid but not dumb.
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Good question!
Rifles won't save them though. We needn't set foot very far into his domain. A naval blockade (and maybe the seizure of some oil platforms) will accomplish everything we need.
Ha!
So, this sly-fox will claim to need these weapons, make some noise about the US invading, then claim we didn't invade as a mark that he is powerful. Castro did that. It worked for him.
He's the fat little guy in the 6th grade that acted tough but everyone made fun of.
LOL, the irony has a cherry on top!
That's what we said about Cuba and Fidel. My take: We should stop this Venezuelan idiota fast, using a carrier group and a leaders in Chile, Bolivia and Brazil. Argentina is leaning far left again too. They need a strong message and Venezuela might be the place to take the message.
Our government has poured billions into Lation America over the last fifty years, but much of it has been stolen and mis-used. Asinine RAT foreign policies are those most responsible for this disaster.
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