I had the mother of all paypal screw ups or I would have been on earlier. Finally had to use an e-mail at work and another credit card to get through. ******* Great win by Chavez and the people of Venezuela for those who dig democracy and not oligarchy. It was almost hilarious to see some of the US media's initial reaction. After the oil markets approved and most international observers pronounced the election clean, things calmed down a bit in the US press. One article written by a financial writer type was particularly telling. He decried Chavez "pandering" for votes by opening up new clinics and schools to treat poor people's heatlh needs and to teach them to read. He claimed that Chavez was squandering the run-up in oil prices by wasting money on literacy and public health. If that isn't neo-liberalism in a nut shell. I'm sure many of the noecons are probably up for a US invasion in the name of democracy. A great dayl
Really? I hear he is wildly popular among the people, but not so popular among the establishment and the US Embassy.
It appears that that is the actual result...I guess every country gets the leader they deserve, or what? No, not happy.
He's popular among the dumb people in that country. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of them. To be fair, the previous establishment is at fault that a populist like Chavez could come to power.
I hope things get better there because my brother lives and works in Venezuela. I visited there twice earlier this year around the time of the riots and demonstrations against Chavez. It's easy to see why he isn't popular, that country is a mess.
He's popular among the dumb people Yeah, pretty dumb for poor people to vote for food, health care and educational programs.
One of my friends that I met last year at HBU was from Venezuela. He came to the United States by way of political asylum. Now many of you who know the situation in Venezuela will undoubtedly know that Chavez is practically communist. According to my friend whose parents worked for the oil company down there, Chavez has taken away most of the affluent people’s estates and money. My friend’s parents and everyone who worked for the oil company has been fired and black listed. The once affluent people of the country can no longer get a job anywhere because the businesses fear to hire those people. My friend then went on to tell me the many horrific stories of innocent people getting shot and killed right next to him at riots held against Chavez. He told me of how he had to grab his sister off the floor because the Chavist were throwing tear gas at them. His last statement before the conversation ended was that if he had not been granted political asylum he would have joined a guerilla so that he could try and kill Chavez.
glynch, get your facts straight before you roll your eyes. What an irony that SlizardOO's insightful post comes right after your post which is obviously heavily influenced by your ideological indoctrination to the left, which seems why you have a faible for Chavez. However, Chavez is not really "left" in your idealistic sense. He is a populist who does what he needs to do to gain or keep power. At the same time, he is a nationalist and basically a borderline dictator, who is dividing the country and who does not care for the safety and well-being of all citizens. It is pretty obvious that you are one of the leftest of the left, which is fine, I guess, but Chavez' regime is a regime of injustice, destruction of the economy, polarization of the people, international isolation, and populism instead of solid concepts or economic ideas. "Food, health care, and educational programs" are nice things if an economy is strong enough to be able to finance these things, but at which price to the stability of the country and at which potential for social unrest and a division of the country for decades to come are they bought in Chavez' Venezuela? For your information, even some evil dictators from the past, in my own country as well, gained popularity by promising "food, health care, and educational programs" (and highways). This does not mean you can overlook whatever else they do. As I mentioned in a previous post, I think the previous establishment is at fault as well, because they ignored the needs of the poor for too long, especially with regards to education - they might have been content to keep them dumb on purpose. But Chavez is leading this country into disaster. It is a pity because it is such a beautiful country with great people and a huge amount of resources.
Chavez directly paid people for votes by giving them free food and transportation and other stuff to go to the booth and vote for him. How would you like it if Bush had buses going around the big cities on election day, picking up people, giving them burgers, clothes and food on the trip IF THEY VOTE FOR HIM?
How do we like it when the Democrats do virtually the same thing. I don't think they serve food or clothes, but you get the idea.
I'm pretty sure Venezuelans are brown-skinned so, as a Republican and by extension a "noecon", I feel it's my obligation to be 100% in favor of oppressing them. If an invasion will accomplish this goal, then I say let's invade the **** out of them. And take their oil, I forgot I'm supposed to be in favor of that too.
Sorry, BK, but we're stretched too thin. Maybe more troops from South Korea?? Chavez is a demagogue, who's well on his way to becoming a "populist" dictator, in the mold of his hero, Castro. I'll agree, glynch, that the Venezuelan people have gotten a raw deal from the previous governments... now they are all getting a raw deal... the middle class as well. I know you're happy that the upper classes there, who had things pretty much their way for so long, are getting the shaft, but Chavez is not doing anything but buying his power. We aren't seeing real democracy there, in my opinion. Just demagoguery leading them to disaster. That country is a powder keg, and it's a damn shame. The explosion, when it comes, is going to hurt them badly and hurt us as well, not the least at the gas pump. And we sure as hell should stay out of there. edit: I don't see any valid comparisons to our current election cycle, as dirty as it's getting. Not here. Unless RM95 and his happy cadre of conservatives can point one out.
Amnesty International doesn't like Chavez. In 2002: 2003 was unstable and both sides were killing each other, so it doesn't count. In 2004, apparently, his government is harrassing human rights organizations. A full list of news. Well thought out.
