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Chavez arms backers as election nears
The Scotsman ^ | November 3, 2006 | JEREMY MCDERMOTT

Posted on 11/02/2006 11:45:09 PM PST by MadIvan

EDGAR Fajardo is a proud member of Venezuela's new military reserve. He does not know much about handling guns, but he knows who he will vote for in December's elections: the president, Hugo Chavez.

The United States and neighbours have accused Mr Chavez of using his oil windfall to spark an arms race in the region, buying Russian rifles, fighter jets and helicopters. But the invigorated military is more about political control than national defence.

"We are creating national resistance and awareness," said General Alberto Muller Rojas, a military adviser to the president. "Should anyone think of invading us they will find a united people under the president."

Mr Chavez, a former paratrooper colonel who led a failed coup in 1992, has drafted acting and retired officers into his government in unprecedented numbers and they are now present in most ministries.

Domingo Irwin, a Glasgow-educated defence analyst in Caracas, said: "Never before have so many army officers held civilian posts in government."

Yet Mr Chavez, who has made his red paratrooper beret the symbol of his "Bolivarian Revolution" was himself the victim of a short-lived coup in 2002, backed, he insists, by the CIA. He has since purged the armed forces and ensured that the new reserve answers only to him.

"I was unemployed until El Comandante [Mr Chavez] gave me this chance to serve my country," said Mr Fajardo, 54, who irons his uniform every morning before acting as an unarmed sentry at government installations in the poor neighbourhood of Catia in Caracas. "Now I am ready to shed my blood for him and the Bolivarian Revolution."

Alberto Garrido, an analyst in Caracas, said the president was building up and arming his support base in case he loses an election or is removed from power by other means.

"He believes in the revolutionary principle of a people in arms, and he believes that he can never be beaten should his people be armed," said Mr Garrido.

Whilst the US has made much of Mr Chavez's arms spending, experts see it as being in keeping with the doctrine of "defensive asymmetric warfare", with Venezuela in no position to challenge its powerful neighbours Brazil and Colombia.

"Venezuela's arms purchases to date are defensive and correspond to replacing of outdated equipment," Anna Gilmore, a security analyst, said.

Elections are a month away, with Mr Chavez hoping to win another six years in post. The opposition fears even if it wins it will not be able to take power.

"Chavez will rule until I am long dead and buried," said Mr Fajardo, swinging a salute. "Nothing can stop the Bolivarian Revolution."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chavez; election; hugoping; venezuela
I smell sulfur.

Regards, Ivan

1 posted on 11/02/2006 11:45:10 PM PST by MadIvan
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To: Mrs Ivan; odds; DCPatriot; Deetes; Barset; fanfan; LadyofShalott; Tolik; mtngrl@vrwc; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 11/02/2006 11:45:23 PM PST by MadIvan (I aim to misbehave.)
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To: MadIvan

Guns don't elect presidents, people do. ;^)


3 posted on 11/02/2006 11:48:31 PM PST by Majic (The fact that anything exists at all is proof that miracles do happen.)
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To: Majic

Our Dems are looking into this form of election real hard...


4 posted on 11/03/2006 12:14:40 AM PST by Dallas59 (Muslims Are Only Guests In Western Countries)
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To: MadIvan; kanawa; jazusamo; Thunder90; Hill of Tara; Victoria Delsoul; Army Air Corps; ...
Whatever happened to his old 'poison arrows' idea for his military?



PING – Hugo is at it again!

Please FReepmail me if you would like on/off the Hugo/Venezuela Ping list.

HugoPing Archive

5 posted on 11/03/2006 12:17:30 AM PST by proud_yank (Socialism - An Answer In Search Of A Question For Over 100 Years)
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To: MadIvan
"Never before have so many army officers held civilian posts in government." - - -which as the history of such persons has shown us – just may be the eventual death knell for ‘Ol Hugo.
6 posted on 11/03/2006 12:43:50 AM PST by yoe
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To: StJacques

Ping. "Chavez arms backers as election nears".


7 posted on 11/03/2006 4:17:57 AM PST by Alia
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To: Alia; proud_yank
What is not mentioned in the article is Chavez's Plan República, which is an integrated external/internal "national defense strategy." Chavez has given the military an expanded role in many sectors of domestic life, which has increased their prestige -- and income -- noticeably. Plan República troops have been accused of managing electoral fraud in Venezuela, as witnessed by two Democratic Party observers from Florida that year. There has been a lot of talk in Venezuela this year about the role the army will play and we're just going to have to wait and see how it all turns out. Opposition candidate Manuel Rosales says he believes the guarantees he has been given by army officials that they will respect the process are genuine, though I personally have my doubts.
8 posted on 11/03/2006 10:01:41 AM PST by StJacques (Liberty is always unfinished business)
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To: StJacques
From what I have read through research, it appears to me that Hugo's "army" is split between Hugo Supporters and Rosales Supporters. I'll see if I can re-find what I'd read.

Nonetheless, yes -- I concur with you; it is worrisome.

9 posted on 11/03/2006 2:41:04 PM PST by Alia (Rovember 7th: V-day. Be There. Vote R.)
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To: Alia

No need to search for it Alia, I have seen the same thing. It's just a guess on my part, but I would put it at a 60%-40% Chavez split, but with 10-15% overall ready to jump Chavez's ship if they become convinced that he stole the election.


10 posted on 11/03/2006 3:50:04 PM PST by StJacques (Liberty is always unfinished business)
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To: StJacques

Okay - This makes sense. It was military loyalists who assisted in preventing Chavez' earlier coup in '92 from what I read.


11 posted on 11/03/2006 4:32:20 PM PST by Alia (Rovember 7th: V-day. Be There. Vote R.)
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