Iran Sees U.S. Behind Chavez's Venezuela Ouster

yahoo.com ^ | Apr 13, 2002 6:27 AM ET | Gilles Trequesser, Reuters

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Venezuela's Power Shift Condemned

[xm177e2]

Iran Sees U.S. Behind Chavez's Venezuela Ouster

And so do the dorks at IndyMedia... but who cares?

[etcetera]

Hey, if this was a CIA operation I say, "Good work!". Finally the CIA gets one right!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

But for Iranian television, "the most important reason for America's concern was the issue of oil...There was an increasing probability that Venezuela would also support the stoppage" of supplies, suggested by Tehran.

Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The credit goes to the people of Venezuela. They'd had enough of Castro II.

4-10-02 San Diego Union-Tribune Ruining Venezuela - An example of how not to help the poor [Full Text] Time may be running out on the stormy tenure of ex-paratrooper Hugo Chavez as Venezuela's president. Rumors of a coup and speculation on constitutional means of removing the autocratic Chavez are common fare on the streets of Caracas these days.

There is an object lesson in all this.

Chavez, elected president in 1998 after failing to seize power in a 1992 coup d'etat, styles himself a left-wing nationalist. He proclaims his admiration for Cuba's Fidel Castro and reportedly aids neighboring Colombia's Marxist guerrillas. Chavez' so-called "Bolivarian revolution" (after Latin America's 19th century liberator, Simn Bolivar) was supposed to raise living standards for the estimated 60 percent of Venezuelans who live in poverty.

But neither Chavez nor his ill-conceived "revolution" has delivered on its promises. Quite the contrary.

Despite oil wealth that makes Venezuela the No. 4 petroleum exporter in the world and the No. 3 exporter to the United States, the country's mismanaged economy is slumping badly. A zero growth rate is likely this year and inflation could reach 20 percent. The government's budget deficit is large and growing, credit is tight, and foreign investment is down.

Amid the political turmoil which Chavez has incited, Venezuela now suffers from capital flight and a brain drain, as some of the country's brightest move to Miami.

Having alienated most of his country''s influential interest groups - business, trade unions, landowners, the military, the Catholic Church and the press - Chavez is fast running out of supporters. His public approval ratings have fallen from 80 percent in 1999 to 24 percent in February.

Chavez' 49 economic laws imposed by decree last year sharply increased government intervention in Venezuela's already over-regulated economy. Chavez' current drive to put his political cronies in charge of the state-controlled oil industry is prompting spreading strikes. His land reform program looks more like organized theft. Private property rights, so essential to economic development, are declining in Chavez' Venezuela.

Chavez' thuggish tactics also threaten his country's political and civil institutions. He bullies political opponents. He incites mob violence against Venezuela's newspapers and broadcast media, which increasingly oppose his destructive strong-arm rule.

In effect, the results are in on Chavez' brand of left-wing populism and strong-arm government as an answer to poverty and social ills in Latin America. It doesn't work: Not in Chavez' Venezuela, not in Argentina under Juan Pern in the 1950s, not in Peru under that country's left-leaning military junta of the 1970s, not in Sandinista Nicaragua in the 1980s nor, indeed, anywhere. [End]

[dennisw]

It sure looks like the events in Venezuela got the attention of the Arab oil producers and the Iranians. Signal being sent them is the USA got rid of Chavez and you might be next. At minimum we will fund insurgents and tribes that will rise up and fight you. You bother us and we will find ways to bother you.

The CIA is once again a player. The USA extends it reach to South America today and tomorrow the MidEast

[dennisw]

Psssst. Don't tell the Arabs. Let them believe it was the CIA. Anyway I believe the CIA was involved even if not the biggest factor. Those days are gone......But can return!

[The Great Satan]

Axis of Sanity bump.

[livius]

No matter what we did or didn't do, they would have attributed it to us. Just one of the burdens of being the Great Satan, I guess.

[jalisco555]

The Iranian dictators know that their people will be emboldened by the actions of the Venezuelans and so they are desperately trying to blame this on the CIA. They know that Chavez's fate will soon be theirs.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Iran and Cuba bolster ties, strengthen anti-US solidarity [Excerpt] Castro for his part said Havana is not "afraid of America, and the Cuban nation, 40 years after its revolution, is now stronger then ever.

"Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees. The US regime is very weak, and we are witnessing this weakness from close up," Castro affirmed.

During his trip, the Cuban leader also held meetings with Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, parliament speaker Mehdi Karubi, as well as former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani.

He also received an honorary doctorate from a Tehran university for his "contributions to justice, humanist ideals and the fight against discrimination."

Castro told journalists before leaving Tehran that he was "totally reassured about Iran. There is great hope for the future of relations between Cuba and Iran. I am leaving with many unforgettable memories." [End Excerpt]

[dennisw]

BTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT I love Iran when it goes PARANOID and fearing the CIA!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Hopefully, they have something to fear.

[steve50]

God Bless the empire

[wretchard]

I think the Iranians are right, it was an American torpedo that sank Chavez's ship of state in the night. But are they drawing the correct inferences? Therefore Iran must continue it's war against the Great Satan, which has never held an inch of Iranian soil? Or therefore the Ayatollahs are doomed to follow Chavez to the bottom of the ocean?

[Bogie]

CIA? To a certain extent, perhaps. But really, when was the last time you saw labor unions against a commie leader? Poland in 1980 perhaps?

It dosen't happen often, and when it does there is usualy something genuine about it.

[SolitaryMan]

Wasn't he an active supporter of Columbia's FARC?

[Maceman]

Hey you Iranian Islamofascist oppressors of your people -- you're NEXT!

[chilepepper]

What? Do I hear the gnashing of teeth?

[AdvisorB]

Thank you for the job you have done keeping us informed about the breaking news coming out of Venezuela. I believe that the ouster of the leftist-populist chavez was a watershed event in our fight against the forces of world terrorism. Little hugo had thrown his lot in with the ayatollahs and saddams of this world, so he was directly responsible for his overthrow. This is a major setback for opec, and those who support shahids, and hence, a victory for the US and the western world. I hope that they will try chavez in a military court along with many of his top supporters who were instrumental in the deaths of those innocent Venezuelan protestors. They must not allow these beasts to scurry back to the cuban hive. They must meet their end before Venezuealan firing squads.