PING – Hugo is at it again!
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HugoPing Archive
Posted on 08/01/2006 5:30:47 PM PDT by Kitten Festival
Globalization: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is having a grand time cavorting around the world on his Axis Of Evil tour. But we notice he's disgusting as many countries as he's wooing. Vietnam is the most interesting.
Chavez blew into Hanoi on Monday and right away began praising Vietnam's government in exactly the way it didn't want: by hailing communism.
"Vietnam, with its valor, defeated imperialism not only on the battlefield, but also has maintained socialism in the ideological arena," the South American dictator intoned.
Uh-huh. To Vietnam's officials, who've been trying diligently to integrate their nation into the world economy, that's an era they'd like to say "tam biet" — no thanks — to as they seek more trade.
They kept Chavez away from the old war museum of shot-down U.S. fighters, not thrilled with the idea of him extolling the defeat of "the empire" that they're just now trying to trade with.
To the Vietnamese, Chavez must have had the weirdness of Austin Powers anachronistically released from a 1960s time capsule, exuberantly proclaiming the failed ideologies of the era. It was something they were already more than a little familiar with.
Chavez was oblivious to Vietnam's 30 years of communism and the isolation from the world that cost it decades of development.
Vietnam still is not completely de-communized, but its doi moi capitalist reforms, begun in 1986, have taken it a long way toward prosperity. It's not there yet, but it's moving in the right direction.
Everyone knows communism has been a disaster for Vietnam.
Millions of Vietnam's talented people fled on leaky boats into pirate-infested waters. Many more died in its gulags and camps.
Inside Vietnam, collective farming destroyed rice and other staple crops, bringing on food shortages. Investment was absent. Vietnam's influence was nil. And its neighbors ...
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Whether it wraps itself in capitalism or not, Vietnam and China are still communist countries not to be trusted, and IMO not to be traded with.
If they give Hugo the finger, it's a point in their favor.
O'Reilly says Hugo Chavez owns Citgo.
Hugo,The Yugo, should have taken Jane Fonda with him. She would have given him the grand tour of Hanoi, complete with a ride in a AAA gun seat and maybe the two of them could have played "bang,bang, I shot you dead".
If they give Hugo the finger, it's a point in their favor.
Well, at least it's pointing up.
Correct. I have not bought gas at Citgo since I found that out awhile back.
The past is the past. We need to embrace fledging democracies such as Vietnam and ensure that they don't go back to their horrible past.
Vietnam is undercutting Chinese companies with underpayed employees. This is the latest complaint in trade circles......
Hugo better get back to Venezuela, he has some problems brewing he doesn't know about.
I can't help but feel it's all going to end that way, but i just keep wondering why it doesn't. He's been annoying for a long long time now, I sometimes wonder, given the trouble he's caused, why no one takes out the trash.
Valero is another Venezuelan gas brand. They are also trying to sell heating oil discount to Taxachusetts.
Actually, I believe I came across a paper somewhere which dates to 2004 or so which said that the government still owns or controls a hefty portion of the economy.
Oh, and as for Vietnam being a "fledgling democracy"...well, ask a Montangnard Protestant Christian if it's a democracy.
I think it hilarious that Hugo goes to Vietnam when they're trying to normalize relations with us and he's the biggest Socialist loudmouth in the Western Hemisphere. They probably couldn't wait for him to leave.
I asked this on a thread last night but no one really answered, anyone know if Raul is as tight with Chavez as Fidel is?
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