Hugo Chavez (Photo: Bernardo Londoy)
If I had a nickel for every newspaper article that included language like this about Venezuela, I’d have…a whole lot of nickels, I guess. From Sunday’s Washington Post (2/24/13):
Using his considerable charisma, Chavez was able to win unconditional support from the poverty-stricken masses as he hollowed out or attacked institutions ranging from the courts to the press.
That permitted him to forge a more direct, personal connection with his followers. With billions of petro dollars under his control, he solidified Chavismo’s reach by doling out jobs to supporters and showering the poor with gifts.
So the poor “unconditionally” support Chavez for attacking the press, and he “showers” them with “gifts.”
There’s a lot to be unpacked in this summary of Chavismo by reporters Juan Forero and Emilia Diaz-Struck. One could point out, for instance, that the private media in Venezuela were instrumental in fomenting the coup that briefly removed Chavez from power (something that he evidently holds against them!).
But it seems like their real problem with Chavez is that he gives away stuff. What do they mean by that?
Venezuela has a state-owned oil company, PDVSA. Under Chavez’s rule, the company must put more money into social programs like healthcare and education. The government has also taken a harder line with foreign-owned private companies doing business in the country. And when he took office, Chavez pushed other OPEC nations to limit production in order to increase the price of oil.
These are policies one might find disagreeable; but in the Chavez years, as best we can tell, these decisions have been enormously beneficial to the public that owns these public resources. But when corporate media write about these policies, they can barely disguise their real feelings—as if the natural order of things would mean that private companies managed the oil industry and captured the profits.
But how likely are you to read a story in a newspaper like the Washington Post about how private oil companies are “showering” themselves with profits gained at the public’s expense?
The real problem with Chavez is that even in his mostly incapacitated state his lackeys are still pretending like he is running the country. Even the Pope stepped aside when he was sick, but not El Comandante.
Thanks Peter! As a former resident of Venezuela who spends time there every year I appreciate FAIR trying to unpack the negativity of the establishment media in the USA. Lack of fact checking, choice of loaded vocabulary are appalling examples of the overall journalistic incompetence in the reporting on Venezuela by the Washington Post, the New York Time and the New Yorker. Why are they so afraid of Chavez?
I’m also going to guess the author is blind to the more important truths that are occurring in venezuela, such as the uncontrollable violence, burglary, inflation, poverty, fear and many more that are of much more importance than a private company making profit. These social programs are a cover up for ministers and government officials to fill their own pockets, the corruption here is immense. I pray for my country every day
@Eli
The pope stepped down because of Vatileaks. You are pretty naive if you believe such an unconventional move has to do with health or what the pope wants.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/21/pope-retired-amid-gay-bishop-blackmail-inquiry
@Manuel
Uncontrollable violence like the attacks from Colombia+US accross the border to kill Farc rebels? Or the (private) drug war in Mexico and central America? Can you point out more than the ridiculous “free” (as in corporately sponsored) press of Venezuela as a source?
By lowering the income gap, traditionally violence and crime have been reduced (the Sovjet union and its satellites had practically none). You just frame this mutual exclusion for your propaganda. As if there were less corruption with private companies holding the big wealth and people getting less of national income (they only have more legal channels to funnel their wealth). For massive state-level corruption just have a look at agri- or petro-business coming from the US. Praying doesn’t substitute thoughtful reasoning, but puts limits around your thinking.
Oh dear Chavez is once again showing the world that the Corporations are not right, we don’t have to crush and dismember the poor so the Uber-riche Corporate Kings can have everything they want, while ‘trickling down’ on the rest of us. He puts their bullshit lies to rest and invalidates their trash they try to hand us.
I’d just like to point out a glaring irony. When the Chavez government “doles” out money to promote the general welfare of the people that’s anti-democratic. But when the US government “doles” out even more money to promote the specific welfare of the 1% that’s democracy. It seems that promoting the specific welfare of the 1% has become the default purpose of “democratic” governments. Since Chavez promotes the general welfare, he must be anti-democratic (in spite of being elected by overwhelming majorities). So, when government policy is designed to directly help the majority of its people, that’s anti-democratic. But, when government policy is designed to directly help a tiny minority, that’s democracy. Some of us believe that when government policy is designed to directly help a tiny minority, that’s plutocracy. By definition, plutocracy is anti-democratic. Therefore, the real democracy is Venezuela, not the US. The irony is that the mainstream media’s opposition to Chavez reveals their pro-plutocracy ideology and their fundamental opposition to real democracy. In spite of this, we, the public, are suppose to give credence to their opinions. Not me!
@an0nuser
Your inability to properly refute my first statement with first hand experience in venezuela completely disproves anything you say on the topic, changing the topic to colombia’s farc (which are brutal killers and kidnappers) or mexico or the states wont disprove me. I was solely talking about the brutal violence in venezuela, lets try to stay on topic. And no, I do not need to source anything. Everything i say i have lived and experienced them in person. Try next time when reading a source, you look at both sides of the situation, and weigh in the pros and the cons properly by order of significance to the greater good of humans, not private corporations.
I have no propaganda, I’m just stating the facts by personal experience and i wont keep my mouth shut until everyone knows what is actually occurring in my country at the moment. People with your mind set have a certain complex or resentment about private corporations and have a fallacy that corporations own everything and everyone is under their control. Wake up, you control your own life not them. And you could try praying or meditating or whatever you might want to call it, it certainly helps the mind and soul. Proper meditation does not influence reasoning, again my reasoning comes from personal experience in the country.
Thanks, Peter.
@Manuel
There is a violence and crime problem in Venezuela but your blaming it on the fact the government is left-wing is ridiculous – as is shown by the much worse Mexican, Colombian or US examples. You seem blind to who may be causing some of this violence – violence like attempted coups. You even seem to forget Venezuela’s chaotic and bloody history under previous dictatorship. You can keep praying for a corporate and US-supported junta if you like – praying doesn’t do anything.
@phil
Lol, Mexicans, Colombians and the States are far worse examples of violence? Please, like ive stated before, people on here dont know whats happening in venezuela, venezuela is the most dangerous country in the western hemisphere, close to being the most dangerous in the world, stating these countries are far worse is pure ignorance. Im also not blaming it on any political wing, i just state the facts about venezuela, read my comments. Now, no one said i have forgotten about Venezuelas history, just because i didnt state it in my comment doesnt mean i am unaware about what happened in the past. Again i am seeing this argumentative approach from you guys that you have to shift the focus to something else. I am talking about the present, not the past or future. Yes i agree there has been a bloody history under dictatorships, but what is Chavez really? Hes a dictator in disguise, he wipes his behind with Venezuelas constitution, changing it at his will. I know you guys are all for your consitution, well we have one too and it is not being respected by our leader. Dont come to me and say how your constitution is being violated because thats the wrong argument, just a pre-warning. I’m also not praying for any junta, dont put words in my mouth, that was completely completely out of context and childish, I just hope you can find peace within yourself.
It is “funny” to see how Chavez y gaining popularity and support from people in the US simply because he has not yielded to powerful corporations… Completely ignoring or ignorant of the day-to-day challenges venezuelans face, extreme crime and violence included. The more recent currency devaluation has effectively halved many people’s income, while I see in local Jersey news that boats impacted by hurricane Sandy are being sold, the high end ones already being bought by people in countries like Turkey, Grece and Venezuela! Also how good is Chavez to be donating gas for the poor in the US through CITGO, per commercials on US TV. It is good indeed that at least some people are benefiting from this “generosity”… But don’t be so naive, it is not out of his pure heart that Chavez and his government officials carry out these tactics. They are meant to win the support of mis/uninformed people. Chavez and his team members have gotten filthy rich, (on government salary?? ) They have prayed and exacerbated the division among Venezuelans instead of driving unity… It is all a strategy to win sympathy and blame failures on the imperialist US government and corporations, and a vilified opposition… It’s been 14 years and despite the highest income Venezuela has seen in history, venezuelans are no better but much worse. It’s disgusting to see how Chavez strategy works so swiftly in gaining support, while he mortgages a rich country and blames violence, inflation and other problems to the opposition and corporations. Has he no responsibility at all???? People, please!
If I had a nickel for every US lefty praising Hugo Chavez…
If I had a nickel for every idealist on the US left praising the wonders of Chavez XXI socialism, without even knowing the realities of this country (because they have never been here, to begin with)
If I had a nickel for every lefty living abroad, lecturing us Venezuelans about how wonderful is Chavez government, how wonderful is everything is over here…
Well, If I had a nickel for every one of those, I would probably have something to defeat the inflation and the recent devaluation that wiped out half of my savings!
From the comments I’ve seen on this and other FAIR stories concerning Venezuela and Chavez, I am getting the impression that there is wrongdoing on part of both Chavez AND the US/Corporate state. I like what Chavez is doing in terms of redistributing the wealth, but I would have to agree that his means of running the country might not comport with real democracy, if the commenters claiming to be from Venezuela are credible.
At any rate, maybe FAIR could check the facticity of those who are making these claims. Then we could solve this once and for all.
The real story about Chavez is not complicated or evil.
Hugo is a good man, born in a hut with a dirt floor he rose in the Venezuelan military and government by his own talent.
He does not dominate the media, the Venezuelan government does have one government channel that he can get his message out on. The rest of the private media calls it censorship that the government channel merely exists.
He does not take oil money, he charges reasonable royalties like most countries do to invest in the people and country of Venezuela … what other way is there to run a country – except the way the US seems to do it, bribe local people to operate a goon squad force of thugs to facilitate the appropriation of resources that are then sent to the developed world where the labor of workers is appropriates as well by prices that have nothing to do with the free market, and more to do with monopoly capitalism.
This hugely powerful juggernaut then complains about any government that exists for many reasons, mostly the reasons that when closely examined can be turned right around and used to criticize the private abuse of power by the anti-democratic corporatocracy.
We hear the US government is running everything, yet we see coordination of propaganda in the media and the government that appears to show that the government is a puppet of the corporations who are in turn controlled by anonymous private interests that no one knows or voted for.
“But how likely are you to read a story in a newspaper like the Washington Post about how private oil companies are “showering” themselves with profits gained at the public’s expense?”
Perfect, compact, accurate contrast there..the answer is, of course, not at all likely, unless Hugo Chavex were to force them to do it.
“…He does not dominate the media, the Venezuelan government does have one government channel that he can get his message out on. The rest of the private media calls it censorship that the government channel merely exists…”
From that one I can tell you don’t even have an idea of what is going on down here in Venezuela Brux…
The current Sistema Nacional de Medios Públicos de Venezuela (Venezuelan National System of Public Media) comprises more than one channel (the one you refer is the state owned VTV):
Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (state news agency)
Alba Ciudad 96.3 FM (local radio in the Caracas area)
ANTV (tv station from the Venezuelan National Assembly)
AN Radio (local radio station in Caracas)
Avila TV (local tv station in the Caracas area)
Ciudad Caracas (Ciudad CCS) local newspaper in the Caracas area
Ciudad Valencia (Ciudad VLC) local newspaper in the Valencia area
Ciudad VLC Radio 89.9FM (local radio station in the Valencia area)
Correo del Orinoco (2009) (national newspaper)
La Radio del Sur (radio station, aimed to a regional audience in Latin America)
Radio Nacional de Venezuela (radio station, national)
Telesur (tv station, broadcasts in several countries in Latin America, besides Venezuela)
TVes (tv station, national)
ViVe (tv station, national)
VTV (tv station, national)
YVKE Mundial (radio station, national)
So as you can see, it’s not like Chavez and his cronies have “only one channel” to broadcast their propaganda…
It’s interesting there are people making comments from Venezuela. I’m impressed by your command of English. Perhaps too impressed One even says he pray for his country. Then why aren’t you in it & why are you here? I know people from Venezuela. There is a small community that lives near me. The reason why its small is many go back after realizing the you have to be asleep to believe in the American dream. They credit Chaves with the fact they were able to do something they couldn’t do before -go to school or get medical attention. They worship Chaves. Then again they are not elites, nor the latchkeys of the rich, but the working class. Interesting we don’t call Obama a dictator. I didn’t vote for tax subsidies in the tune of over $1 trillion dollars to banks. I didn’t vote for subsidies to Monsanto, Exxon, or the coal lobby. I also didn’t vote to continue the numerous wars that are killing men, women, & children in Afghanistan, Iraq, or anywhere else to enrich American oil & gas companies. Did most Americans? I doubt it. Does this sound like a democracy to you? At least in Venezuela, taxpayer money is being spent on schools, we don’t even do that.
“…Then why aren’t you in it & why are you here?…”
And who says I’m not “in it”? I’m writing from Caracas…
“…The reason why its small is many go back after realizing the you have to be asleep to believe in the American dream…”
Well, my brother is still over there. He doesn’t have any complains about the U.S.
At least over there, working in an (almost) non-skilled job he can make ends meet. His wife doesn’t need to work.
Over here, even if the two of them were working in substantial high-skilled salary job, for sure he would not be able to buy or even rent anything…
Oh, and did I mention that nobody wants to rent in Caracas (or anywhere else in Venezuela) because of the laws enacted by the chavistas, that enable tenants to ask the government for a confiscation of the property, in their favor?
“…At least in Venezuela, taxpayer money is being spent on schools, we don’t even do that…”
Are you sure of that? Education infrastructure is far from being plentiful, or even adequate over here.
And by the way Jessica, I will give you the same advice I give to all US citizens disappointed with their country, and in show and awe about the “paradise” that our dear Hugo has built over here: If you think this is so hippy-dippy over here, why don’t you come (as in come here to live)? Heck, I even propose you something: Let’s switch. I’ll give you my spot in my one of the most violent cities in the region (that would be Caracas) and you give me yours…
Deal?
Shock and awe I meant…
I have lived in Venezuela for two years, and last visited last year. There is plenty of crime in Caracas, and other major cities have some too, but Alfronso Guevara’s depiction is, as you might guess, false. And the other conservative posts all ignore the fact that poverty has, in fact, gradually decreased since the govt. really got control of the oil revenues in mid 2003. The nationalist policies have greatly benefited the untouched rich, who are richer than ever. The difference is now there are a series of parallel structures that funnel the oil riches to the 70%+ of the population that didn’t enjoy them before.
There are many grassroots media, community organizations, work place organizing, and a much higher level of political consciousness than ever before, but the govt. is riddled with same old jerks, some now sporting Bolivarian red t-shirts.
The old ruling class resents not ruling, and putting the working poor back in their place. For those who haven’t been, you will be amazed by the crude racism the permeates the upper fifth of the population, and apartheid lack of contact between the upper crust and everyone else: the paranoia of the rich and their absurd rumors are a marvel to behold. Learn Spanish and read and watch the major corporate media: it’s like FoxNews all over the place.
I have not been to Venezuela. It is the business of Venezuelans working in their system to determine what policies to take, what the benefits and problems have been with Chavez. That is a side point. FAIR correctly point out that a major flaw of the US media is an inability to report a nonpartisan view of contemporary Venezuela.
“…I have lived in Venezuela for two years, and last visited last year. There is plenty of crime in Caracas, and other major cities have some too, but Alfronso Guevara’s depiction is, as you might guess, false…”
Well, since you claim to be knowledgeable enough in Spanish “Been there” (and since you also claim having been in Venezuela for about two years) I’ll answer you in Spanish:
¿De lo que digo, que es exactamente lo falso? ¿Será que me puedes decir? ¿La parte en la que hablo de como la inflación nos está llevando a la ruina, y donde (por ejemplo) para un joven profesional es casi imposible alquilar, mucho menos comprar una vivienda? ¿O la parte donde hablo de como aquí en Venezuela ya NADIE quiere alquilar, por las regulaciones y leyes aprobadas por el chavismo, leyes que impiden (en la práctica) a los propietarios la recuperación de sus viviendas? ¿Será esa parte?
Dices que viviste aquí. ¿Serías tu uno de esos extranjeros que vienen a vivir acá, ganando en dólares, y consumiendo en bolívares? A diferencia del ciudadano común, que gana en bolívares y consume en bolívares, y que ve como su salario y ahorro se diluye con la inflación. ¿Será por eso que te fue (y te es) dificil percibir el problema en que estamos metidos? ¿O acaso también te hacían el mercado? Quizá por eso nunca llegaste a sufrir la escasez de productos básicos, el andar de abasto en abasto, de supermercado en supermercado buscando leche, azúcar, harina, pollo, etc., y todos esos productos que uno esperaría encontrar en CUALQUIER abasto o supermercado, pero que aquí sencillamente es un suplicio para conseguir. ¿Será que tampoco viste eso?
Y sí, las políticas de Chávez han hecho ricos a algunos: La nueva clase dominante en Venezuela, los boliburgueses, que se han hecho MILLONARIOS con los chanchullos y la corrupción estimulada por los funcionarios y el gobierno chavista. Algunos de ellos se hicieron de muchos billetes verdes importando comida a punto de vencerse, para luego dejarla podrir en los puertos y depósitos. ¿Será que tampoco te enteraste de eso?
“…The old ruling class resents not ruling, and putting the working poor back in their place. For those who haven’t been, you will be amazed by the crude racism the permeates the upper fifth of the population, and apartheid lack of contact between the upper crust and everyone else: the paranoia of the rich and their absurd rumors are a marvel to behold. Learn Spanish and read and watch the major corporate media: it’s like FoxNews all over the place…”
¿You want to talk about apartheid? Perhaps we should discuss about the list made by the Government of Chavez of the hundreds of thousands of people asking for his recall back in 2003, the infamous Tascón List (named like that for the one who built the database, congressman Luis Tascón). All the people in the list were subjected to harassment in their jobs (if they happened to work in a public office, dependent of the Central Government), or denied jobs with the public administration (if they applied to one) or even in some cases, denied health care coverage (as journalist Mary Montes documented, in the case of her father)
¿You want to talk about racism? Perhaps in the two years you were here, you never heard the hatred spew by Chavez and the chavistas on a regular basis (on national TV) against the persons opposed to him (la oposición), or his ideas. Perhaps you never heard him call us weasels, traitors, escuálidos, apátridas, majunches and a long et cetera.
Yes, perhaps you never heard any of that. Perhaps you never heard how Chávez uses the Sistema Nacional de Medios to ridicule and dehumanize his opposition, to make them look like “crazy ones” (where have I seen this tactic before? The Soviet Union, and the imprison of dissidents in loony bins?). Perhaps you never heard about Mario Silva (the Venezuelan Bill O’Reilly, but way more extreme) or La Hojilla, and how they insult and degrade any person or institution against chavismo.
Yeah, perhaps you never heard any of that…
“…Republicans do not care what they say, what they pretend, who they lie to or about. Every time on the American net I see anything mentioned about Hugo Chavez the same moronic group of paid vomit-mouths appear saying the same thing … “just move there” … this from so many who claim they live there and how bad it is…”
Yeah Brux, someone is paying me for saying this stuff. Keep telling yourself that (CIA, MI6, take your pick)
“…Every wonder how all these people live in Venezuela and criticize the hell out of it 7x24x365, yet they never leave, and have so much time to spend talking about how bad Chavez is…”
Well Brux, there three groups: There is one group, the persons like my dad that are way to old to leave, and that won’t simply leave, because they have made their lives here.
There is another group, the group of persons that refuse to live, either because they won’t (in their words) “give in their country to a comunista like Chávez”, or with families, responsibilities that won’t allow them to leave. Or, their expectations for a job doesn’t match whatever they would find abroad.
And there is a third group, the group that simply put, doesn’t have the resources, or the destination to leave (let’s take in account that our currency, el Bolivar, has been rendered worthless by inflation). That would be my case.
“…Because our OUR/The Left’s dropping of the ball for 40 years now, the Right-wing has been allowed to develop a war chest, bride their way into office and the bureaucracy and take power over all of us, and all most of us do it spend time arguing with the dolts here who are paid to call Hugo Chavez names…”
Maybe I should tell my controller that my checks hasn’t arrived at all… Boy, this CIA guys are so unreliable when it comes to pay on time.
(No wonder why you have the same BS speech as Chávez here: All his opponents are always “paid by El Imperio”, according to his deluded logic)
@Alfonso Guevara
“If I had a nickel for every one of those, I would probably have something to defeat the inflation and the recent devaluation that wiped out half of my savings!”
I’m curious why a currency devaluation would “wipe out half of your savings” – would you mind please explaining this?
From what I understand, devaluing a country’s currency means that it becomes more expensive to buy foreign currencies – and, conversely, that it becomes cheaper for foreigners to buy that’s country’s currency. The effect of this would be that the price of imported goods would rise and thus imports would slow (as it is now costs more Bolivars to buy one U.S. dollar), while the price of exports would decrease and thus exports would increase (as it’s now cheaper for U.S. companies to buy Bolivars).
Another effect will be that U.S. companies will take a 30% hit when they attempt to repatriate their profits from Venezuela this quarter (i.e., convert the Bolivars they’ve collected from sales in Venezuela back into U.S. dollars). This is confirmed by the reports from Merck, Johnson & Johnson and other U.S. companies that promptly announced lower profit expectations, around $200 and $100m, respectively. Taking that into account, it’s easy to see why the business press is busy hysterically attacking Chavez yet again. Venezuela just hurt the profits of the wealthy, one of the biggest possible violations of world order.
Still, I don’t see how a currency devaluation impacts personal savings. Imports will be more expensive, but reports say that barely any imports come in at the official exchange rate anyway – and there’s another exchange rate for “essential goods”, so while foreign-made TVs and cars might become more expensive, imported food and drugs likely won’t. There are also reports that the government is closing and fining shops that are gouging customers by raising prices on goods that they claim were imported at the new exchange rate; clearly it’s hard to combat profiteering of this sort, and to find everyone that’s doing it, but at least there’s an effort to do something about it.
In that case, the only way I could see a currency devaluation “wiping out” personal savings, apart from increasing import prices, and unless I’m missing something, is if an individual held their savings in U.S. dollars – or wished to convert their savings to U.S. dollars. Is that the situation that you find yourself in?
thanks peterfhart
“…I’m curious why a currency devaluation would “wipe out half of your savings” – would you mind please explaining this?…”
The recent devaluation is from about 46,5%. The official exchange rate, passed from 4,30 bolívares per dollar to 6,30 bolívares per dollar.
As almost everything down here in Venezuela, we feed our mouths and provide our houses (and businesses) with imports. That is a fact. National production has took quite a huge hit with Chávez policies of confiscation (robbery IMO) of lands and properties in the country side, and (just to give you an example) we have become a coffee importer, when in the past we used to export it. Same with other areas.
Hell, we used to refine and produce our own gasoline, and now we have to import it from Brazil. And we are (supposedly) an oil exporting country!
But I digress… The point is, that EVERYTHING goes up, as everything is an import over here. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, even the paper we use to wipe out our asses.
So logically, as a new devaluation is imposed (so the government has more money to spend in the coming elections that will surely come in the event of Chavez death) our money has a lesser worth. What we used to buy with 100 bolívares, now costs 150 bolívares, if not more. Our savings (in bolívares, as accounts in dollars are still quite limited, and very controlled, as the exchange market is tightly regulated by the government), are effectively cut in half, if not more.
That is what I understand.
On the other hand, Venezuelans seek to have savings in dollars (in their houses, not in banks as this is still being introduced) as they think (in my view, correctly) their money is secured against inflation. It has always been this way over here. Why would anyone lose money having dollars saved, instead of bolívares? With our rate of inflation? That doesn’t make any sense to me…
And no, unfortunately for myself, my savings are not in dollars. If it were, devaluation have not affected me they way it has…
“…and there’s another exchange rate for “essential goods”, so while foreign-made TVs and cars might become more expensive, imported food and drugs likely won’t…”
Not according to my last visit to the supermarket. Or the pharmacy. EVERYTHING has increased.
You know? When I read these kind of comments like yours, about how everything over here is supposed to be all right (and that “food and drugs likely won’t be more expensive”) is pretty much (to me) as having one person drowning in the coast, and then having another, describing to the first one out loud what is happening, and telling him that “everything will be all right, is just water entering to your lungs”.
“…Right wingers, like I guess yourself…”
So, according to this logic of yours (very much like Chavez logic) if I am not with Chavez, that makes a right winger of me? Boy, that have STRAWMAN FALLACY written all over…
(Just one question… Isn’t this the same kind of logic used by Bush in his so called “War on terror”? “If you’re not with us, you’re against us”?)
Or, you are a fortune teller (or a psychic) and you just have pretended to read my mind, to tell what I haven’t tell?
By the way, I didn’t support at all the way it was before Chavez arrived. But turning the blind eye to what is doing with my country down here in Venezuela on the excuse that “the guys before him discriminated as well” is not only fallacious, but stupid. So, two wrongs make one right?
But I guess is just as George Orwell used to say: “…Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage — torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians — which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by ‘our’ side…”
Hablas sobre cosas que conociste poco. ¿En verdad crees que por estar aquí dos años, ganando en dólares, llegaste a conocer Venezuela verdaderamente? ¿En verdad crees saber lo que es vivir aquí, o lo que había aquí antes de que llegara Chávez? Que iluso eres panita.
Wow what a sanitized explanation of his rule THAT was.Anymore bullshit coming or is that it?Was that written in crayon for those certain few who are no different from those who believed Hitler brought jobs to his people and Mussolini made the trains run on time in their time?Sometimes I believe that Fair readers (too many) simply enjoy anyones company who is against this country.Or the euphemism for this country being “corporations”, as used by the left.Mr Chavez may tickle your fancy by talking a good game.But to anyone who has studied his record-he is no friend to any American.His people empower him.He supports that empowerment.Whether that is good or bad, is completely irrelevant to our national security.How he reacts toward our national interest is what should guide our president.!00%.That and only that.Our president is not anything to his people.Nor they to him.This internationalism goes only so far.And so far he is no friend of ours.Believe it
Now that he is dead I wonder if we need worry as much about Hezballah south of our boarder.Interesting isnt it that that Irans leader has designated a day of mourning for his death.Maybe North Korea can have a day too.Extra ration of bread to all Prison camps.Hip hip Horray!
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