Thread: Chavez bites again!

Originally Posted by bkkandrew

- after government efforts to buy a majority stake failed.

worthy of a Thai pollies efforts...

Originally Posted by bkkandrew

Separately, the president has increased the country's minimum wage by about 30% to offset the impact of inflation caused by the soaring oil price.

great work, wonder what will happen to his economy?

US 'violated Venezuelan airspace'


Mr Chavez has accused the US of destabilising Venezuela


Venezuela has denounced an alleged violation of its airspace by an American military aircraft.

Defence Minister Gustavo Rangel said the jet had been tracked by country's air defences over the Venezuelan-owned island of La Orchila on Saturday.

He said the US ambassador would be summoned to provide an explanation.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of Washington, has in the past accused the US administration of destabilising his country.

Mr Rangel told a news conference that the US aircraft "practically flew over" La Orchila - where Venezuela has a military base - and another island before turning back.

"We ordered the airplane to identify itself," he added.
"We have recorded proof of the conversation between ground control in Venezuela and the aircraft pilot."



Asked about the accusation, US embassy spokeswoman Robin Holzhauer told the Associated Press news agency: "We're looking into any possible accidental incursion of Venezuelan airspace."

Mr Rangel said the incident was "the latest step in a series of provocations" by the US.

The allegations come two days after Venezuela accused troops from Colombia, a US ally, of crossing into its territory.

The foreign ministry said 60 Colombian soldiers were found on the Venezuelan side of the border on Friday.
Colombia denied the claim.

Colombia has accused Venezuela of supplying funding and arms to the left-wing rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

The Colombian government said it had found evidence of such support on a computer seized from a bombed rebel camp. The international police agency Interpol last week said it found no evidence of Colombian tampering with the documents, but Mr Chavez insists he has provided no support to the Farc.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7409244.stm

Heating up there again!

What a bozo. Only the most unrealistic far left loony members of this forum support such a buffoon.

Oh, yeah, they will be out in force early Monday morning.

^Er, hate to tell you, but its Monday evening UK time already and I only posted this 5 minutes ago...

What time zone are you in?

^woops, forgot today was a holiday in Thailand. Ok, Tuesday morning.

Chavez is fucking brilliant, I don't understand how you guys can't see it. He is a slap in the face to US imperialism and western arrogance. A fucking hero.

Originally Posted by chinthee

What a bozo. Only the most unrealistic far left loony members of this forum support such a buffoon.

So the US is not trying to destabilise Venezuela, they got nothing against Chavez, eh?

Yankee go home.....

Venezuela to expel U.S. ambassador - CNN.com

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday he is recalling his own ambassador from Washington and expelling the U.S. ambassador from Venezuela.

"He has 72 hours, from this moment, the Yankee ambassador in Caracas, to leave Venezuela," Chavez told a crowd of supporters.

The president said he was making the moves "in solidarity with Bolivia and the people of Bolivia."

Bolivia's Evo Morales accused the United States Thursday of fomenting a coup d'etat by rich eastern department landowners against him, the country's first Indian president.

"We have seen reports about President Chavez's remarks but have not received any official diplomatic communication," said Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman. "Our embassy in Caracas is looking into these reports."

Also Thursday, Chavez accused the United States of having backed a coup plot against him.

"When there's a new government in the United States, we'll send an ambassador," he said. "A government that respects Latin America."
Earlier Thursday, Chavez said he has uncovered a U.S.-backed plot to remove him from power.

What do you get if you put lipstick on Chavez?

Originally Posted by blackgang

And their crude is all heavy sulfur crude as far as I know and is not the best crude anyway, most of the Iraq crude I have seen looks like diesel and burns your eyes when it spills, should take that country over right now as we already there.

It's a thick heavy crude. A large portion of what they pump out of the ground is classified as 'bitumen' and is used for asphalt and roofing shingles. Hugo can stamp his feet and threaten all he wants. Who else outside the United States is going to build a refinery capable of processing the goo he is offering? He gets about $85/brrl for it.

Currently there are 'left leaning' governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and Nicaragua that I know of- all democratically elected.

The US may disagree with their policies, but if we draw a comparison to US or US sponsored activities in the region during the Reagan administration, US foreign policy is certainly less thuggish than it was back then- almost benign in comparison. Central American states in particular were treated as Vassals, and any move to the 'Left' was brutally squashed. El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala are particularly grim examples. That said, the US is credibly accused of backing a coup attempt against Chavez, and of some meddling in the current Bolivian civil strife. The US backed the landed Elites, against the peasant based popular movements- certainly the spreading of 'freedom and democracy' did not apply to central or south America during the Reagan days.

It is interesting to speculate why this apparent softening of stance has happened towards nations that, in the US view, come under the 'Monroe Doctrine'. Is it-

• Geostrategy. The Cold War is over (sort of), Central and Sth America are no longer seen as Domino's about to fall to the Russian sphere- the new Geostrategy is energy dominance, and Middle East focused.
• A more benign, perhaps enlightened view towards foreign policy in the region. A greater appreciation for human and democratic rights in it's own back yard.
• Priority. The US has it's hands full with Iraq, Ghan and the ME in general. The US can sit back and wait, as there is no immediate threat posed- and see how things pan out.
• Blowback- In retrospect, none of the popular resistance movements or 'left leaning' governments that were quashed during the Reagan years were actually quashed at all- they were just ruthlessly suppressed, and driven back underground. But they were still simmering- for example, the Nicaraguan government is Sandinista, again. No mature appreciation of the current politics of the region can fail to see the Blowback as being an important factor in the current choice of governments. The practical lesson being that the old Reaganite foreign policy was short sighted (and Thuggish)- ultimately, it could only delay matters.

Obviously, none of the factors above is exclusive- the reality is a combination of all of them most likely. But, if you have any knowledge of recent history, you will be aware that the reaction of the Reaganites would have been a whole lot more proactive, and violent, than is the case now.

I think Chavez is a buffoon, but I have one bias of why I support his jabs the GWB.

I cannot stand GWB, his administration, the PNAC, and the Neo-Cons.


Chavez is jabbing at these above, therefore, the:

enemy of my enemy, is my friend.

But his ignorance of the basic principles of economics will be his undoing.

Originally Posted by zedhex

But his ignorance of the basic principles of economics will be his undoing.

Or his country's. I'm not opposed to everything Chavez is doing- the downtrodden people of Venezuela deserved a better deal. But on the economic front, he's taking his socialism too far Imo- it may prove his undoing. Time will tell.

Anyway, it is hard not to see this as a side effect of the Nastiness between Nato and Russia over the Georgian fiasco-
Russia to loan Chavez $1 billion for arms

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavezis on his second visit to Russia in two months. He met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday, and on Friday met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, The New York Times reported.

An unnamed Kremlin official said the billion-dollar deal will help the Venezuelan military to boost its technological capabilities. The spokesman did not reportedly elaborate on the details of the deal.

Between 2005 and 2007, Venezuela signed 12 contracts for weapons purchases from Russia. The deals totaled more than $4.4 billion, a government statement said.

Earlier this month, two Russian Tu-160 long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons were welcomed in Venezuela. Russian planes also plan to take part in joint naval exercises with the Venezuelan Navy sometime in November.
"Latin America, of course, is becoming an obvious link in the chain making up a multi-polar world," Putin said during his meeting with Chavez. "We will allocate more and more attention to this vector of our economics and foreign policy."

Russia to loan Chavez $1 billion for arms - UPI.com

Is the World blundering towards a new Cold War?
I hope not- Russia isn't Commie anymore, and is Europes largest supplier of energy. Venezuela is an important supplier of energy to the US.

The Times goes into more detail. This is significant stuff-

Mr Medvedev met Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez in Orenburg. Tthe Kremlin issued a statement calling their relations a “counterweight to US influence” and added that Venezuela sought “a widening of our presence in the region”.

“We are ready to consider opportunities for cooperating on the use of atomic energy,” Mr Putin told Mr Chavez during earlier talks in Moscow....

The Kremlin despatched its nuclear-powered warship Peter the Great and a submarine destroyer, Admiral Chabanenko, to Venezuela on Monday for military exercises in the Caribbean, which is traditionally America’s backyard. It is Russia’s first naval mission to Latin America since the end of the Cold War.

The move was seen as a retort to the passage of American warships through the Black Sea to deliver aid to Georgia after the war. It came just days after Russian strategic nuclear bombers visited Venezuela for the first time, in what Mr Chavez described as a warning to the US.

Full Article- Russia to build missile defence shield and renew nuclear deterrence - Times Online

Chavez going nuclear?? I don't think the US will be too keen on that.

CARACAS — President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that he was ready to engage in direct talks with President Obama in a bid to repair relations with the United States. The statement marked an evolution in Mr. Chávez’s view of Mr. Obama, whom he described last month as having the “same stench” as his predecessor in the White House.

“Any day is propitious for talking with President Barack Obama,” Mr. Chávez said at a news conference here with foreign journalists ahead of a referendum on Sunday that could open the way for him to hold on to power indefinitely. Mr. Chávez said he would be willing to meet with Mr. Obama before a summit meeting in April of Western Hemisphere nations. The White House has not yet responded.

Mr. Chávez initially expressed optimism over Mr. Obama’s electoral victory and a willingness to re-engage with the United States. But Mr. Chávez cooled to Mr. Obama in January after the American leader voiced concern over reports of Venezuelan assistance to Colombian guerrillas. Ties between the two nations had deteriorated sharply in 2008.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/wo...s/15venez.html

Looks like Chaves is going to be hanging around for a long time yet to come:

Venezuelan voters to decide term limits - Venezuela- msnbc.com

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's elections chief said President Hugo Chavez won a referendum to eliminate term limits, paving the way for him to run again in 2012.

National Electoral Council chief Tibisay Lucena said with 94 percent of the vote counted, 54 percent have backed the president's proposal. That trend is irreversible.

Firecrackers exploded as pro-Chavez caravans circled the city with horns blaring after the announcement Sunday night. Chavez appeared on the balcony of his presidential palace to sing the national anthem.

Critics said removing term limits on the president, already a decade in power, and all other officials would distort democracy. Chavez — first elected in 1998 — said the constitutional amendment would deepen democracy by giving voters more choice. Pre-election polls suggested a tight race.

The blare of recorded bugles jarred Venezuelans awake before dawn, and long lines formed as the polls opened. Voters said the future of their country is at stake.

Thanks to Chavez, said 52-year-old Yira Guerra, her two children have access to a free college education.

"My son got a bachelor's degree," Guerra said proudly. She fears Chavez's social programs would vanish under another leader.

Critics said allowing Chavez to extend his time in office would be dangerous.
"We don't want anybody to stay perpetually in power," said Carmen Gilarte, 50, who complained of government corruption and rampant crime.

"We have to give opportunities to the next generation," she said.
Chavez shrugged off such criticism, pointing out that Franklin Roosevelt was elected U.S. president four times.

"Ten years is nothing. I don't know what they're complaining about," he said Saturday.

Without a constitutional amendment, Chavez would have had to leave office in 2013. He lost a broader referendum in December 2007 that also sought to abolish presidential term limits. The current constitution, itself created by a Chavez-backed referendum in 1999, allows two six-year terms.

Chavez said he needed the amendment to complete Venezuela's transition to socialism — a process he has said could take another decade or more.

"It's a little change in the constitution. But the fact that it's little doesn't mean it won't have great repercussions in Venezuela and beyond," Chavez said.

The Venezuelan leader has led a surge of new leftist leaders in Latin America while crusading against U.S. influence and building close ties to Cuba, Iran and other adversaries of Washington.

He has held on to popularity in Venezuela while using the country's plentiful oil to bankroll social programs such as literacy classes and cash benefits for single mothers.

Many predict the fall in oil prices will soon sour Venezuela's economy and hurt Chavez's support, closing his window of opportunity to remake the constitution.
Supporters of a "no" vote said a Chavez victory would remove the last remaining check on the president's power. Since the opposition boycotted the 2005 congressional elections, the Chavez-dominated National Assembly has packed the Supreme Court with Chavez allies.

Critics also accused the National Electoral Council of being in Chavez's pocket.