Another Castro in Latin America? Venezuela's Chavez proudly following in Cuba's steps

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, January 15, 2002 | By Toby Westerman

[JohnHuang2]

You're welcome =^)

[constitutiongirl]

My best friend went back to Venezuela in July to visit family. She recorded one of his long, droning Castroesque speeches (4+ hours). The man is a complete nutcake. He needs serious mental help. Chavez seems to believe that he's Bolivar reincarnated. All he did for 4 hours is talk about himself and his 'connection' to Bolivar and other dead leaders. Once Castro dies, Chavez will probably claim to have Castro's spirit in him also.

[Twodees]

"Giving away Venezuelan oil" is exactly right. What else could you call a "trade" which nets the trader Cuban training in medicine and education? Talk about an absolutely worthless commodity, Cuban training in anything is worthless, unless the trainers are Cuban expatriates Castro would have imprisoned had he been able to keep them on the island.

Chavez could get some valuable training in business, medicine and education from Americans who were once Cuban citizens, but there's nothing of value available from communist Cuba.

[AmericanInTokyo]

If he forms local "CDRs" (Citizens for the Defense of the Revolucion) at the neighborhood level, then we know that it is all over.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[JohnHuang2]

Exactly -- that's Castro's main instrument for totalitarian control over the people.

[JohnHuang2]

You're welcome, my friend.

[JohnHuang2]

In Nicaraqua, during the Ortega days, las Turbas divinas were the functional equivalent of Castro's CDRs.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Cuba views Chavez as aiming "to make profound changes in Venezuela's social and political structure," according to a December 2001 Radio Havana Cuba broadcast.

That is unfortunate. Venezuela WAS a nice country. Not anymore!

[IronJack]

I wasn't aware that Bush had signed any kind of oil deal with Chavez. I'll have to get some background on that.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

In a region where the existence of a free press is often difficult, Venezuela appears to be increasing its limitations on news reporting.

Appears to be...surprised any foreign press admitted that much. WND won't be getting a return invitation. If Hugo wants the same international press treatment that Castro receives, he must wine and dine and charm the visiting press.

Thanks for the ping, JH. Thank God God's in charge. (^:

[Cardenas]

Here is a great letter exposing those American legislators who traveled to Cuba trying to undermine President Bush's war against terrorist states.

President George W. Bush

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Bush,

In your address of September 19, 2001, you encouraged the nation to begin to stand up for the principles that make America great. Some congressmen and senators, however, have been suggesting that the United States of America should normalize relations with the totalitarian Castro regime of Cuba. Perhaps some members of the United States Congress slept through your address. Or perhaps they have other agendas that have nothing to do with the principles that make America great.

During the presidential campaign of 2000, three senators, one Republican and two Democrats, returned from a trip to Cuba, stating that they saw no reason why relations should not be normalized between the United States and Castro. At that time, I sent emails to you, to your brother in Florida, to the Republican senator from Kansas, and to the Republican Committee, warning that the subject of normalization should be dropped, if you were to have any hope of winning the election. I said that Florida's Cuban voters would not vote for you, if you supported or appeared to support normalization. Whether due to my emails or for another reason, the subject was dropped, until recently.

Now the subject of normalization of relations between the United States and Castro is again in the news. The terrorist Castro has been visited by and received gifts from American politicians, as though he were not a murderous tyrant but a benevolent patriarch. American businesses are panting to do business with a new market, as they see Cuba. And while many Americans still do not know the truth of the reality of Castro's oppression and treachery, due to the media's reluctance to report the facts as they are known, you certainly do know the facts.

You have also said to the American people, "I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort; to defend needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor." It is time for you to take your own advice.

The Coast Guard should at once be ordered to cease returning Cuban rafters to the Castro regime, which harasses, disenfranchises, imprisons, and tortures those who attempt to escape the island prison of Cuba. What a shame for the United States that it continues to collaborate with the Castro regime in this manner. I do not understand how you can let this continue. The United States has helped the regime to survive for so long; how can you continue to return rafters to the tyrant?

I hope that you are not giving serious consideration to normalization of relations between the United States and Castro.

Sincerely,

David L. Rosenthal

Hollywood, Florida 33021

[Cincinatus' Wife]

If he forms local "CDRs" (Citizens for the Defense of the Revolucion) at the neighborhood level, then we know that it is all over.

Cuba, Venezuela Increasing Ties-- [Excerpt] In June, Chavez decided to create citizens' groups charged with taking care of their neighborhoods. To some, the move evoked images of Cuba's infamous revolutionary block committees.

Most criticism has been leveled by Venezuela's teachers, who oppose Cuban funding and Cuban-inspired curricula in public schools.

A key Chavez program affords millions of poor children a chance to go to school. But many teachers condemned a course on the late Cuban revolutionary Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara, and a May protest ended in clashes with pro-Chavez activists in front of the Cuban Embassy. [End Excerpt]

[AmericanInTokyo]

Ah yes, the old local grassroots spy network. Works every time!!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Well, I'll be damned! He's started it already!

I'd love to know the name of this Nicarguan-inspired socialist grassroots organization.

Johnny Huang might want to know that I got into an altercation once with one of those members of the 'divine mobs' (turbas divinas). Probably 'nuff said....

[Cincinatus' Wife]

(July 17, 2001)--Christian Science Monitor Chávez support fragile, but remains intact (growing unease of drift toward dictatorship) In an effort to keep the fires of popularity burning, Chávez has taken recent controversial steps that have kindled fears of a return to dictatorship in Venezuela. Last month, for example, Chávez announced a plan to form "Bolivarian circles," neighborhood clubs that would instill the principles of the 19th-century hero such as moral character, love of country, and solidarity. That plan immediately stoked fears that Chávez, feeling besieged, really wants a network similar to Cuba's Revolutionary Defense Committees.

_____________________

(January 11, 2002)-AP- Chavez Marks Election Anniversary with Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement neighborhood committees CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Singing ``Happy Birthday'' and holding a single candle, President Hugo Chavez celebrated the anniversary of his re-election Thursday with a call to supporters to continue his ``revolution,'' dampened recently by his fading popularity. At a political rally Thursday, Chavez inaugurated the leaders of the new Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement, an organization composed of thousands of neighborhood committees aimed at maintaining ties between citizens and the government.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Yep. That does it for me. Sandinist/Cuban model being reworked here. Cuba has it's Che/Fidel, Nicaragua it's Sandino, and Venezula it's "Bolivar". Bolivarian.

We'll probably see the emergence of the Frente Simon Bolivar Para La Liberacion Nacional (FBLN) in Venezuela, and may anti- comm. 'contras' in the jungles to fight them?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Chavez: Colombian Rebel Contact 'Humanitarian'-denies collaborating with FARC--[Excerpt] Chavez, who spoke in Bolivia late on Wednesday, was commenting on a video released in Caracas by four opposition journalists that allegedly showed a Venezuelan military team negotiating with FARC guerrillas inside Colombia in July 2000.

Opponents of Chavez, a left-wing former paratrooper who attempted an abortive coup in 1992 before winning elections six years later, have frequently accused him of sympathizing with Colombia's Marxist rebels and even of cooperating with them. [End Excerpt]