Tulio Alvarez blasts CNE's Rodriguez and tells Zamora and Mejias to resign

quote:

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Venezuelan opposition leaders have reacted to National Elections Council (CNE) director, Jorge Rodriguez' public announcement on national television throwing out complaints regarding electoral fraud during the August 15 recall referendum, arguing that no concrete evidence accompanied the complaint.

In a separate statement, the head of the Organization of American States (OAS) mission in Venezuela, Valter Pecly Moreira has confirmed the transparency of the electoral process.

---

New Splits in anti-Chavez Alliance

quote:

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New split in anti-Chavez alliance

Venezuela's opposition alliance is continuing to unravel as a third political party, Primero Justicia, has announced it is pulling out.

---

So I wonder how long until the opposition tries again. I find it hard to believe that, they would stand by and *gasp* actually let Chavez serve out his term, then *gasp* try to beat him in an election. I mean jeesh why bother when you can either try a recall or a coup.

[ 26 September 2004: Message edited by: Vansterdam Kid ]

quote:

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CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelans voted for state governors and mayors on Sunday in a regional election expected to strengthen President Hugo Chavez's political power two months after he won a referendum on his rule.

Still bruised by the referendum defeat, opposition parties battled voter apathy and splits among their candidates as they competed for more than 600 governorships, state council seats and municipal offices in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Abstention is traditionally around 40 percent in regional elections and turnout in Caracas on Sunday was much lower than in the Aug. 15 recall vote against Chavez, a left-wing former army officer praised by supporters as a champion of the poor.

---

Hopefully the pro-Chavez contingent can mobilize the vote for the regional elections to maintain and strengthen the MVR hold on the governments throughout the country.

Further into the article, I noticed that the Carter Center has refused an invitation to monitor the regional elections. This could hurt either the pro- or anti- contingent, because the antis could spin that into a claim that the Carter Center "knew" Chavez had "manipulated" the recall referendum, or the pros could say that the antis were such sore losers that they pissed off the international monitors so they are tacitly accepting the legitimacy of the Venezuelan balloting process.

We shall see.

[ 31 October 2004: Message edited by: DrConway ]

quote:

---

THE INTERNATIONAL FORECASTER editor Bob Chapman writes that in the recent Venezuelan election, pro-Chavez candidates won 20 of 22 seats for Governors. After winning the recent referendum by 59% of the vote, Mr. Chavez has shown the world he is a very popular president.

This result shows substantial support over the entire country and that democracy is alive and well in Venezuela.

* The opposition reached 35% of the vote... which is not at all substantial, especially when they had the full backing of the media.

Among the opposition that is gone, are the many Governors who advocated violence against the government.

---

Oh, finally, as a note about the concrete point of the whole Chavez thing, here's a news snippet:
40% growth for farmers

[ 09 November 2004: Message edited by: Rufus Polson ]

a)As the good doc mentioned, when a coup was attempted by the military brass many soldiers refused to obey orders out of loyalty to the president (notable among them the elite unit holding Chavez who mutinied and refused to hand him over to the US plane sent to get him and instead returned him to the palace)

b) CIA involvement, while signifigant, has not neared the levels found in Chile

c) The reforms of Chavez are not as great as those of an Allende and, in part thanks to oil revenue, there is no great economic crisis to fuel discontent.

Latin America is indeed swinging and the power of the people is stronger than it has been in years. Increasingly they are simply revolting against actions which threaten their interests, see Bolivia and many others.

quote:

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CARACAS -- Venezuela suggested Friday that exiles living in Florida may have masterminded the assassination of a prosecutor investigating a short-lived coup against leftist President Hugo Chávez and demanded that Washington explain why the United States harbors the alleged extremists.

The comments by ranking government officials threatened to disrupt a recent, uneasy peace between Chávez and Washington, which had initially hailed Chávez's brief overthrow. Venezuela, which sits on the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East, supplies one-sixth of the oil imported by the United States.

---

Yowza. As to the circumstances of the murder...

quote:

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In an attack that has shaken this volatile nation, prosecutor Danilo Anderson, 38, was killed Thursday night by a powerful bomb detonated by remote control as he drove home from a meeting in a middle-class neighborhood of Caracas.

---

Sheet.

[ 19 November 2004: Message edited by: DrConway ]

Time for some good news for a change, woot-woot

quote:

---

Reuters is reporting from Madrid (Spain) that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias received "a rock star welcome" in Spain on Sunday as he opened a new chapter in bilateral relations that had cooled under Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's predecessor.

Praising Spain's seven-month-old Socialist government Chavez told reporters: "Spain has turned into a great hope with the Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero's new direction in foreign policy."

---

Martin's a right-wing patsy.

sorry, that was less than dialectical. how about: this country needs a movement that could form a party, that could produce a chavez, that could sieze state power.

quote:

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CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - A mystery over whether a captured top Colombian Marxist rebel was arrested in Colombia or kidnapped from neighboring Venezuela is turning into a political hot potato for leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Colombian authorities battling rebels in a four-decades-old war insist they seized the FARC rebel group's foreign relations chief, Rodrigo Granda, in Colombia on Dec. 13.

But a Venezuelan inquiry so far indicates he was illegally abducted from the Venezuelan capital Caracas, apparently by Colombian agents helped by some rogue Venezuelan colleagues.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by dillinger:
this country needs a chavez...

sorry, that was less than dialectical. how about: this country needs a movement that could form a party, that could produce a chavez, that could sieze state power.

that's better.

---

Two things led to Venezuela's current revolution -

1) due to a series of scandals the Venezuelan people went to the polls ready to elect a President who promised to be different.

2) (this is the tricky part) once in office Chavez actually WAS different - and used the power of the state to build a movement.

First off, unlike Argentina under Peron (and despite concerted attempts at economic sabotage by Ven's corporate citizens) Venezuela's economy is growing furthermore,Chavez is making progress on diversifying the economy. It's simply not accurate to describe the government's actions as populist pandering that's unmindful of the consequences. Chavez has a plan and it's working.

It has been said that a vocal minority can often drive the agenda of a proceeding, country, or whatever; this is true in Venezuela as well. Even if only 30% of the population actively supports Chavez, if they are quickly mobilized to his defence, it doesn't matter how many rich people in Venezuela sniff at Chavez.

I also continue to be amazed at the degree to which Chavez has not conducted what might be considered the "usual repression" after a threat to his rule. He has shown admirable restraint.

Addendum: Re Chavez and FARC.

The recent news article was interesting because I heard that even though Venezuela officially takes no sides in the Colombia conflict, Venezuela was secretly providing small arms to FARC.

If that aid is now being cut off and sterner measures being taken against attempts by FARC or the paramilitaries to act on Venezuelan soil, I have to wonder what Chavez hopes to gain by a closer working relationship with his opposite number in Colombia, when it is one of the few governments heavily propped up with the help of US money.

Incidentally, I heard that Uribe's motivations may be purely personal: FARC apparently killed his father many years ago.

[ 07 January 2005: Message edited by: DrConway ]

quote:

---

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he is convinced a Colombian guerrilla leader was kidnapped in his country.

He accused the Colombian police of lying when they say Rodrigo Granda was captured in a Colombian border town.

---

We all know about "Plan Washington" to wage war on the poor people of Colombia, Salmon.

Latin American's will always strive to be free of gringo colonialism. Like El Salvador in the 1980's, the CIA is afraid that Colombian's will choose for themselves.

And as it was in Viet Nam, American youth are again asking themselves, "Who is the enemy and what are we doing here ?."

Vive la resistance!.

[ 11 January 2005: Message edited by: Fidel ]

quote:

---

Español o Inglese no importas.

---

I was surprised that for all his declared expertise, SS cannot write a simple sentence in the Spanish language!

Well, whatever. I think he is right that FARC has reasonably small support among the population of Colombia. However, many Colombians do become angry at the abuses by their own government and army, contrary to SS's stated willingness to close his eyes to irregularities such as invading other countries, etc.

And of course, there is no real alternative to the guerilla war in Colombia....perhaps because death squads/the army-out-of-uniform kill off anyone who they think offers credible opposition.

Something as innocent as writing a sociology paper on land reform (the very topic of this thread!!) has often led to kidnapping and death from the Carlos Castanya's who are allied with the Army and the drug mafia.

[ 11 January 2005: Message edited by: jeff house ]

"The people of Colombia will continue to boycott Coca Cola and other attempts at colonialism in Colombia."
WTF did you get that idea?
Boycott Coca Cola?
Not in Colombia-the stuff is as ubiquitous there as it is here-maybe even more so.
Colonialism?
Is that the Carrefours department store in Medellin?
Or the Daewoo sedans in Bogotá?
Is that what you mean?

"I was surprised that for all his declared expertise, SS cannot write a simple sentence in the Spanish language!"
Lo siento-mi Espagnol es muy pobre.
It's true that I learnt much of my Spanish from peasant fishermen in Mexico and Costa Rica.
I've been told that my Spanish was full of 'barbarismos' and if it is that's OK-nobody's perfect.

"Something as innocent as writing a sociology paper on land reform (the very topic of this thread!!) has often led to kidnapping and death from the Carlos Castanya's who are allied with the Army and the drug mafia."
I believe you mean 'Carlos Castaño' the now deceased leader of a violent right wing drug runner's militia AUC.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sam Salmon:
"Salmon, is there anyone in Colombia you *do* back? Surely not the government or their paramilitaries."
Your view of Colombia/the situation there is somewhat simplistic.
I support the democratically elected govt not AUC or it's ilk-do you know the difference?
I think not.
Am I surprised at your ignorance?
Nope-seen it many a time.

"The people of Colombia will continue to boycott Coca Cola and other attempts at colonialism in Colombia."
WTF did you get that idea?

---

quote:

---

"Plan Colombia is really the military arm of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), scheduled to start in 2005," said caravan participant Betsey Piette, from the Philadelphia branch of Workers World Party. "The U.S. used the 'War on Drugs' as a cover to train paramilitary forces to use against a growing resistance movement. Thousands of U.S. military advisors are spread out over 19 bases in Colombia, the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid after Israel. Libraries, healthcare centers, recreation centers and fire stations are being closed in Philadelphia and other U.S. cities for lack of funds, while the U.S. government has poured $3 billion into Colombia to repress the workers' movement."

---

And all the fascist government in Colombia has to do is do a prisoner swap with FARC and Betancourt and more go free. But is that what the fascist pricks really want, Salmon ?.

Same ol right wing, fascist bullshit, Salmon. So go fuck a piranha.
Eyewitness Colombia: unions develop strategy against death squads

[ 12 January 2005: Message edited by: Fidel ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fidel:
And all the fascist government in Colombia has to do is do a prisoner swap with FARC and Betancourt and more go free. But is that what the fascist pricks really want, Salmon ?.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sam Salmon:
"I don't know how you'd test the FARC's popularity - except by free and fair elections. The last time the FARC got involved in that all of their candidates were murdered. "
Well cry me a f***ing river!!!
LMAO!!!

---

[ 12 January 2005: Message edited by: Burns ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sam Salmon:
"Salmon, is there anyone in Colombia you *do* back? Surely not the government or their paramilitaries."
Your view of Colombia/the situation there is somewhat simplistic.
I support the democratically elected govt not AUC or it's ilk-do you know the difference?

---

Do you? Apparently not. Come now, the evidence for deep levels of integration between the two is clear, not to say massive.

quote:

---

"I don't know how you'd test the FARC's popularity - except by free and fair elections. The last time the FARC got involved in that all of their candidates were murdered. "
Well cry me a f***ing river!!!
LMAO!!!

---

Right. To translate, what you're really saying is "I'm a scumbucket who should be banned."
Or maybe "You know that stuff I said about other people's views being simplistic? I was just setting up the irony so it would be funnier when people saw *my* views."
I'd suggest you learn to use the quote function, but I don't expect you to hang around long enough.

quote:

---

Again I reiterate The Poor But Happy Forum is open to all-you are all invited to come and discuss/educate yourselves-(and boy o boy do some of you need education!)

---

http://www.porelpaisquequeremos.com/penalosa/presidente.asp

http://www.porelpaisquequeremos.com/noticias/3257932.asp

And so the saga continues...

quote:

---

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized the United States on Sunday for backing Colombia in a dispute over the abduction of a top Colombian rebel and said Washington was trying to divide Latin America.

Chavez, who has recalled his ambassador from Bogota and frozen bilateral projects with Colombia, demanded again that Colombia apologize for paying Venezuelan soldiers to kidnap the rebel, Rodrigo Granda, from Caracas last month.

---

quote:

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THE United States has been drawn into a row between Colombia and Venezuela surrounding the capture of a Colombian rebel leader in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

The incident triggered a diplomatic feud between the South American neighbours, with Venezuela accusing Colombia of encroaching on its sovereignty.

Now the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has upped the stakes by accusing the US of masterminding the operation to seize Rodrigo Granda, a leading member of FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), from Caracas last month. "I know where this provocation comes from. It comes from Washington, not from Bogotá," Mr Chavez said.

---

quote:

---

Venezuela has enlisted Iran's help to steer its oil exports to China and away from its traditional US market.

A team of traders from Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-owned oil company, is to be trained in London by Iranian advisers in how to best place oil in Asian markets, people close to the industry say.

The move is part of an effort by Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, to strengthen ties with China at the expense of the US, with whom relations are again becoming strained after a two-year period of calm.

---

quote:

---

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's left-wing President, Hugo Chavez, branded the U.S. a "terrorist state" on Saturday and rejected as meddling Washington's criticism of a recent arms purchase from Russia.

The U.S. government, which often clashes with Chavez over his populist policies and close ties to Cuba, says it is troubled that Russian rifles bought by Venezuela could be used to aid leftist Colombian rebels it says are terrorists.

The U.S. ambassador to Caracas urged the Venezuelan government on Friday to ensure transparency in the arms deal to reassure the international community.

---

quote:

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Brazil and Venezuela have signed a series of 26 bilateral agreements to strengthen what they call their strategic alliance.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, signed the agreements in Venezuela's capital Caracas on Monday.

The accords cover areas such as defence, mining and energy.

The two countries' state-owned oil companies have also signed joint ventures for a range of projects.

---

quote:

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WASHINGTON - Venezuela's top diplomat took his government's case against the United States on Wednesday to the Organization of American States, indirectly accusing Washington of repeatedly violating Venezuelan sovereignty.

Without mentioning the United States by name, Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque said his government's intelligence agencies have evidence suggesting an attempt to "liquidate physically" President Hugo Chavez.

---

quote:

---

Senior US administration officials are working on a policy to “contain” Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, and what they allege is his drive to “subvert” Latin America's least stable states.

A strategy aimed at fencing in the government of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter is being prepared at the request of President George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, senior US officials say. The move signals a renewed interest by the administration in a region that has been relatively neglected in recent years.

Roger Pardo-Maurer, deputy assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs at the US Department of Defense, said the Venezuela policy was being developed because Mr Chávez was employing a “hyena strategy” in the region.

“Chávez is a problem because he is clearly using his oil money and influence to introduce his conflictive style into the politics of other countries,” Mr Pardo-Maurer said in an interview with the Financial Times.

---

"Conflictive style". Jesus, these guys have no sense of irony. Which president of the USA acted like a complete horse's ass and alienated broad swaths of the Arabic and European populations while acting like a hee-haw yahoo gangbuster cowboy who's all steak and no sizzle?

quote:

---

Originally posted by mamitalinda:

Colombians are stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the guerilla terrorizing local populations and claiming their coca profits and the US-backed paramilitaries equally terrorizing, not to mention the carcinogenic crap sprayed on the coca areas by The War Against Drugs. Do not look for a simple Good guys bad guys scenario in Colombia; it's not there.

---

quote:

---

Which country is the largest source of terror in the world and always has been ?

---

Iran. But then, you already knew that.

However, for you to claim they have always been the top exporter of terrorism, is a little unfair. It was only until recently that Libya held that honour.

quote:

---

Originally posted by worker_drone:
Kinda funny to see people who villify the US for siding with Islamic fundamentalists against the USSR now praising Chavez for siding with Islamic fundamentalists against the US.

---

He said (and I quote) "Iran has every right, like many other countries have done, to develop its atomic energy and continue its research in this field." That's just common sense. Unless you think that all power plants in the Middle East should be fossil fuel based, of course. It's definitely not a ringing endorsement of Islamic fundamentalism, as you would have others believe.

I've got yer cozied-up-to terr'ist right here.

[ 16 March 2005: Message edited by: Briguy ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by worker_drone:
Kinda funny to see people who villify the US for siding with Islamic fundamentalists against the USSR now praising Chavez for siding with Islamic fundamentalists against the US.

---

No comparison. The CIA/Dept of Agriculture funded mujahiden and Afghanistan's bottom of the barrel war lords. They lobbed American-made rockets into Kabul and destroying schools, hospitals and life in general. Those Islamic fundies were/are nothing more than in-bred hillbillies who still think women caught wearing nail polish deserve burying alive. al Qaeda are still setting off bombs in Moscow, Bishkek and Belgrade.

It was a-ok to sell a thousand missiles to Iran and then arm Iraq to the eye teeth. The Yankee imperialists used the money to wage a 10 year terror war on poor people in Nicaragua.

Saddam, the barbarians to the North and their other mortal enemies in Israel, all armed to the eye teeth and then some. After 1991, arms sales to the Middle East from the U.S.A. and Canada increased five fold.

And you're worried about Venezuela selling a bit of their own oil ?. ffs

[ 16 March 2005: Message edited by: Fidel ]

quote:

---

Those Islamic fundies were/are nothing more than in-bred hillbillies who still think women caught wearing nail polish deserve burying alive.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by worker_drone:

But Iran's mullahs are our kind of Islamic Fundamentalists right? The social democratic kind with the impressive infant mortality rates?

---

Wrong again. The corrupt Shah was our kind-o-guy. Or at least he was a-ok with the Yanks who aided and abetted him before he had to flee with billions of dollars to the States.

quote:

---

"I can't imagine what's going to happen to 100,000 AK-47s," Rumsfeld said at a news conference in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, which shares a border with Venezuela.

"I can't understand why Venezuela needs 100,000 AK-47s. I personally hope it doesn't happen. I can't imagine, if it did happen, it would be good for the hemisphere," the defense secretary said.

---

Link.

And the reply from Venezuela:

quote:

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“The Lord of War, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense of the United States made statements following the same line of repeating the usual impertinences about Venezuela,” said [Vice-President] Rangel who also denounced the existence of a campaign seeking "to create enemies for Venezuela, among our friends."

Rangel said that the military equipment that Venezuela is currently acquiring is of a defensive nature, and criticized the US high military budget. “In Venezuela we are worried about the elevated military spending by the United States, which stands around US$450 billion … what are they fearing in order to justify such high military spending?”

The Vice President said that the preemptive war doctrine currently being implemented by the US government, and its alleged desire to control the world’s resources, are behind the US high military budget. “The whole world is worried.”

Rangel characterized the increasingly frequent negative statements about Venezuela by US officials as a campaign aimed at destabilizing the South American country. “The escalation of these attacks confirms the existence of a plan by the US government against Venezuela,” he said.

---

quote:

---

Spanish government plans to sell military equipment to Venezuela have been branded a "monstrous error" by political opponents.
The deal involving ships and transport planes worth 1.3bn euros ($1.7bn; £1bn) was denounced by Spain's conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy.

Venezuelan foes of President Hugo Chavez had also criticised it, he said.

---

What I find interesting is that right-wing parties and forces wherever they are in the world seem to be in cahoots with the Venezuelan "opposition".

These airplanes are apparently capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

quote:

---

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez says "Don Quixote" is a must-read for Venezuelans — and his government has printed 1 million free copies to mark the 400th anniversary of the classic tale of the knight who dared to dream.

Thousands of Venezuelans flocked to public squares across the country Saturday to line up for abridged copies of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's novel, the book that produced the adjective "quixotic" — or hopelessly idealistic. A line near the Plaza Bolivar in downtown Caracas snaked for several blocks around Congress and the plaza, which honors Venezuela's 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar.

---

Interesting. Wonder if it'll pan out the way Chavez wants.

quote:

---

Chavez, a close friend of Cuba's Fidel Castro, envisions a new world order in which developing countries around the globe are one day free from oppression, inequality, poverty and injustice.

But his critics accuse him of squandering extraordinary oil revenues on what they perceive as inefficient social programs, and steering the poverty-stricken country toward a Cuba-style dictatorship.

---

[ 24 April 2005: Message edited by: Fidel ]

The first has to do with some Colombian military personnel crossing the border into Venezuela, apparently using it as a transit corridor that avoids areas controlled by guerilla forces:

quote:

---

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela freed a group of Colombian soldiers Thursday who had been detained while traveling unarmed and off-duty across Venezuelan territory, the Colombian Embassy said.

The 11 Colombians were arrested Sunday by Venezuelan troops while crossing the southwest corner of Venezuela in taxis.

---

The second has to do with Venezuela more tangentially. While speaking in Bogota, Colombia recently, Chief of Defense Staff Richard Myers called on Chavez and Venezuela to be helpful in the war on terrorism in the region:

quote:

---

Myers also encouraged neighboring Venezuela -- whose President Hugo Chavez has had testy relations with Washington -- to fully cooperate in the war on terrorism. The planned purchase by leftist Venezuelans of military hardware from Spain and Russia has raised concerns it might lead to an arms race and destabilize the region. Colombian rebels have also sought shelter in Venezuela across the porous border.

"It's like Iraq: you can't have neighbors of Iraq, in the case of Syria and Iran, that are not helping with that stability," he said.

---

CNN link.

The CNN story does not include a phrase that appeared in some Spanish-language stories which quoted Myers as saying that the US would not tolerate 'paises perturbadores'--troublesome countries--in the region.

]Link.

Myers went on to say that there was no truth whatever to claims that the US might intervene militarily against Venezuela, though it's possible to see why Chavez might think so, given the tenor of his comments about non-cooperative countries. And how is the Chavez government supposed to feel when it is compared to 'axis of evil'-type states by a top American general?

quote:

---

Myers also encouraged neighboring Venezuela -- whose President Hugo Chavez has had testy relations with Washington -- to fully cooperate in the war on terrorism. The planned purchase by leftist Venezuelans of military hardware from Spain and Russia has raised concerns it might lead to an arms race and destabilize the region. Colombian rebels have also sought shelter in Venezuela across the porous border.

"It's like Iraq: you can't have neighbors of Iraq, in the case of Syria and Iran, that are not helping with that stability," he said.

---

quote:

---

But his critics accuse him of squandering extraordinary oil revenues on what they perceive as inefficient social programs...

---

I lived and worked in Venezuela for a bit a while back and still have some good friends there. Recently, they put forward this kind of criticism to me, that while Chavez has lots of good ideas, there is a certain segment of the left there that is getting frustrated because poverty is not actually decreasing due to corruption in the bureaucracy and misspending.

They insist poverty and indigenous displacement is getting slowly worse.

quote:

---

Oil exporter Venezuela drew closer to Cuba on Thursday by establishing subsidiaries of its state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and a government bank on the Communist-run island.

In the last five years, Venezuela has become a vital economic lifeline for Cuba's cash-starved government, partly filling the void left by the Soviet Union's collapse with vital supplies of oil on very favorable terms. Cuba is paying for the estimated $1 billion a year oil bill with medical and educational services. Officials said 30,000 Cuban doctors and medical personnel are working in Venezuela.

PDVSA will make Havana the headquarters for its Caribbean oil refining and distribution plans. It signed an agreement with the Cuban oil company Cupet to build a lubricants plant in Cuba. The Venezuelan company is also looking at building a super-tanker shipping terminal and a storage facility with a 600,000 barrels a day capacity at Matanzas, east of Havana, and the completion of a Soviet-built oil refinery in Cienfuegos. PDVSA will consider off-shore exploration in Cuba's Gulf of Mexico waters, where Spain's Repsol YPF last year discovered a noncommercial deposit of good quality oil.

---

And there is one program involving microloans that apparently has seen poor repayment rates. It may be that the small businesses people start with those microloans have a poor survival rate.

But as a broad thesis I would doubt your friends are right. And, if they are relatively well off, they may have less idea how the poor in their own country are doing than I do up here, because there's a considerable divide between the poor and everyone else in Venezuela, and the media there don't just mislead, they routinely lie flat out.

The programs themselves are mostly pretty good. I can never remember the names of the misions. Let's see, there's some that are providing education for millions, both kids and adult, that wouldn't have gotten it before. These seem to have been a massive success, tons of adults becoming literate, many schools being built and staffed in poor areas, masses of el-cheapo textbooks printed and provided. There's a related one that's providing post-secondary education to the poor, including trades.
Then there's the famous, or perhaps notorious, health care program with the Cuban doctors. This is succeeding in getting free health care to Venezuelans all through the barrios, many of whom have never had access to health care before. I wouldn't be surprised if this mission doubled the percentage of the population with access to basic medical care. I don't see how anyone could consider this ineffective.
There are various programs of microloans and community-based development. These have probably had some problems, but the people do seem to have been making use of them. Certainly a lot of small businesses are being started, and we shouldn't ignore that this past year, Venezuela's economy grew over 14%, and it was by no means all in the oil sector. Unemployment is down.

Related is the program to get people in the barrios title to their homes. A huge percentage of Venezuela's population are basically multigenerational squatters. With title to their homes, they officially exist. It gives them an access to credit (because the home is *theirs* it suddenly counts as collateral) and services they haven't previously had.

Land reform and programs to produce staple agricultural products in Venezuela, to avoid dependence on imports, is also under way. The jury's still out on how those projects will work out, but I think they're good ideas and Chavez seems to be approaching them with a strong understanding of potential pitfalls and plans to avoid them. For instance, there are provisions for training and support of peasants once they get land, so they'll be able to make a go of their farm instead of having to just give up. National control of a grocery chain that sells staple foods and undercuts the gouging private chains could help here in terms of providing a buyer.

Edited to note: Now, on indigenous displacement I couldn't say. I've seen a couple indications that Chavez hasn't delivered much to the indigenous.

That's off the top of my head. I hope it helps.

[ 29 April 2005: Message edited by: Rufus Polson ]

quote:

---

Anthony Boadle(Reuters)
"What's left of the FTAA is just pieces, bilateral agreements," Castro said of the hemispheric free-trade plan, which has met with growing resistance in Latin American societies disillusioned with the promises of free-market capitalism.

In the last five years, Venezuela has become a vital economic lifeline for Cuba's cash-starved government, partly filling the void left by the Soviet Union's collapse with vital supplies of oil on very favorable terms

---

I guess Canada's oil, gas and lumber aren't an economic life line for the Yanks. We don't see Cuban's bombing the Middle East to prop-up a false economy.

[ 05 May 2005: Message edited by: Fidel ]

In fact, it brought a lot of memories back from my time there. I certainly remember the corrupt bureaucracy – but also reading about various things you’ve mentioned.

Hands Off Venezuela, U.S. Imperialism!

Clear enough?

quote:

---

With the failure of its three previous attempts since 2002 to topple the Bolivarian Revolution of President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Washington has recently announced a new “containment” strategy for crippling the democratically elected and socialist-oriented government of Latin America’s leading oil power.

---

matters Bolivarian

quote:

---

It [The Bush Administration - N.Beltov] has therefore turned to declaring Venezuela a military threat to the hemisphere and hence to the security of the United States. By calling its new policy one of “containing” Venezuela, it seeks to justify a more nakedly imperialist policy of regime change, building the case for U.S. military intervention if necessary in order to secure U.S. hemispheric dominance.

---

And the guy in charge of articulating this new American "Consensus" ? Why, the same guy who helped overthrow the Sandinistas, that's who.

quote:

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The lead role in articulating this new more aggressive posture has been taken by Roger Pardo-Mauer, deputy assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs in the defense department, and a former state department representative to the Nicaraguan Contra terrorists, who with U.S. backing helped bring down the democratically elected Sandinista government in Nicaragua by 1990

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[ 04 May 2005: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]

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Two leading opposition figures in Venezuela say they are forming a new party to take on both President Hugo Chavez and the existing opposition.

Claudio Fermin, a former mayor of Caracas, and fellow activist Carlos Melo say their Popular Assembly party will "rescue political discourse".

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Link.

Meanwhile Chavez, according to an AP story carried by the CBC, is responding to Bush's charges about Venezuelan rifles destabilizing the region:

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lashed out at President George W. Bush, calling him Mr. Danger and saying wars from Iraq to Colombia show the U.S. government is a menace to the world.

Chavez paused during a televised speech Friday to read aloud Bush's comments to reporters at the White House a day earlier, when he said Venezuela's plans to buy 100,000 assault rifles from Russia raise concerns the guns could fall into the hands of Colombian rebels.

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Link.

The tone of the AP story is captured in this sentence: "He accused the U.S. government of having "an interest in having war in Colombia" and providing large amounts of weapons."

'Accused'?

'Accused' the US of 'providing large amounts of weapons' to Colombia?

More like 'pointed out' the US provides billions in military support to the Colombian government.

16th World Festival of Youth and Students I expect that Chavez will welcome the youth of the world just as Fidel did in '78 and Gorbachev did in '85. These festivals are outstanding events, memorable for a lifetime for many of the participants. I know of no better way, other than travelling the entire globe, to meet, face to face, progressive young people from the whole world. It's like getting your battery charged. Just ask anyone who has been to one of them.

[ 14 May 2005: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]

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During a private meeting between Chavez and Khatami, I was told, Chavez made it known to the Iranian leader that he would like to "introduce nuclear elements into Venezuela." My contact said "nuclear elements" meant "nuclear weapons."

It will be easy for many to dismiss such talk as false or the fantasies of a madman, but that would be a critical mistake. I have no doubt that Chavez is mentally disturbed, and I also have no doubt that his hatred of the United States and President Bush in particular is dictating his erratic behavior. High oil prices have made Chavez an antagonist to be reckoned with, and we ignore such a menace at our peril.

. . . .

After receiving the report that Chavez might be trying to acquire nuclear technology or weapons from Iran, I met with a high-ranking U.S. official to voice my concerns and ask what he thought about such speculation. He answered me point blank: "It would not surprise me. Chavez is dangerous, underestimated and capable of almost anything. We are hearing a number of curious and disturbing reports. He is actively working to recruit terrorist nations and developing countries into his campaign of hatred against the United States.

. . . .

I told the senior U.S. official that I thought Chavez posed a greater threat to our national security than Osama bin Laden or any terrorist operating out of the Middle East. He looked at me and said, "You know, I agree with you 100 percent."

. . . .

MacKinnon was press secretary to former Sen. Bob Dole. He is also a former White House and Pentagon official, is married to a Venezuelan and has been to the country a number of times.

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The US and EU have been pushing Iran to abandon enrichment technology and to commit to buying all U-235 power rods from the EU. This, in effect, ties the Iranian energy base to the EU's whims.

Unfair, I say.

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Coupled with the disturbing news that Chavez might be trying to acquire nuclear weapons is the fact that Chavez, a dictator in all but formal title, just concluded a deal with the People's Republic of China to launch a telecommunications satellite for him. So great is Chavez' interest in rockets, space and missiles that the government of Venezuela has created a special commission to advise him on such issues. Chavez with a nuclear weapon is bad enough. Chavez with a medium-range ballistic missile just minutes from the southern United States is a disaster waiting to happen.

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How does this writer connect the dots between owning a satellite and having the ability to launch a suicidal nuclear missile attack on the US? Well, there's the obviously trustworthy information given to him by his unnamed source on the Iranian nuclear weapon, as well as Chavez' 'great interest' in rockets, space and missiles. Why, he's so dangerous, he has a 'special commission' to advise him on the subject.

We'd quickly run out of fingers and toes if we tried to keep track of how many agencies, commissions, reports and bodies the US has to advise its leadership on rockets, space and missiles. The US leadership can talk openly about the need 'dominate space,' but as soon as a noncompliant leader in a small country sets up a 10-member advisory commission, he's a threat to world peace.

While there is supposed to be some kind of technology transfer to Venezuela as a result of the China deal, there's no evidence in this op-ed that the 'purchase' of a telecom satellite would give Venezuela the capacity to launch anything but a television network which, it turns out, is what he wants to do with it.

Right now, Venezuela is totally dependent on foreign-controlled satellites for telecommunications. Trying to be independent of this control is Venezuela's crime, and Chavez himself is guilty of wanting to start a regional tv network which will present Latin American news from a Latin American perspective.

[ 22 May 2005: Message edited by: sgm ]

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he will consider breaking diplomatic ties with the US if it fails to hand over a Cuban-born terror suspect.

Venezuela says Luis Posada Carriles must stand trial over the 1976 bombing of Cuba's plane that killed 73 people.

Mr Chavez says Washington would be guilty of protecting international terrorism if it refused extradition.

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“The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to any person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that:
(a) he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes;

(b) he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee;

(c) he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”

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ttp://www.hrea.org/learn/tutorials/refugees/Handbook/hbpart1.htm (see paragraphs 147 etc.)

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Why is Poseda sometimes called Carriles, sometimes Poseda?

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Spanish speaking peoples generally have two last names, first, the father's last name (Posada) and then the mother's last name, (Carriles).

This tradition gives full honour to both parents, whereas the English tradition honours only the father.

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Originally posted by nister:
sgm, when Grenada upgraded their runway [with Cuban labor] in order to land 747's there, and compete for Caribbean tourism, the US accused them of building a military runway capable of landing the big Antonov-225 transports, and called their actions a provocation.

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nister, I've been reading a bit about that daring exploit recently in a couple of books by Noam Chomsky.

Here's how Chomsky refers to this Grenada action in _Hegemony or Survival_

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Just as the early Libyan threats subsided, another even more dangerous one appeared: an air base in Grenada that the Russians could use to bomb us. Fortunately, our leader came to the resuce in the nick of time. After turning down offers for peaceful settlement on US terms, Washington landed 6000 elite forces, who were able to overcome the resistance of a few dozen lightly armed, middle-aged Cuban construction workers, and we were at last 'standing tall,' the gallant cowboy in the White House proclaimed (116).

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Chomsky also points out Carter's persecution of the island as well. After an August 1980 hurricane devastated the area, Chomsky reports, Carter tried to exclude Grenada from a West Indian aid package, leading other countries to protest:

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When the stricken countries refused to agree to Grenada's exclusion, having failed to perceive the threat to survival posed by the nutmeg capital of the world, Carter withheld all aid (88).

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To return to Venezuela, I saw this article in yesterday's New York Times: Link.

The story details resistance among OAS nations to a US-proposal that the OAS set up a panel to review 'the quality of democracy in Latin America.'

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The American proposal has not been made public, but several administration officials described it. Under the plan, the regional organization would create a new committee whose mission would be to hear from labor unions, lawyers, citizens groups and other nongovernmental organizations that have concerns about their governments.

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"This explanation is going to be impossible to sell to any adult human being," said Rodolfo Hugo Gil, the Argentine ambassador to the Organization of American States.

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Mr. Gil, the Argentine ambassador, said: "Every country has its problems. But I can tell you one thing: the most powerful countries will never be there" (i.e., before the panel).

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