Venezuela leader discounts setback (Chavez loyalists attack legislators)

Boston Globe ^ | January 7, 2001 | Daniel Flynn, Reuters

[Cincinatus' Wife]

CARACAS - President Hugo Chavez urged legislators from his Fifth Republic Movement yesterday not to bow to opposition pressure, after his government barely retained its control of the leadership of Congress.

In a bitterly contested vote on Saturday, the National Assembly president, William Lara, was returned to office by a much-reduced majority of 85 votes to 73, with two abstentions.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The situation in Venezuela is much worse than this passing "yawn" from the Boston Globe.

Opposition lawmakers attacked by supporters of Venezuela's President Chavez-- Chavez called the violence a "warning" to the opposition "and its absurd and evil intention" of trying to destabilize his government. He threatened to deploy supporters on "every street corner" to "defend the revolution," as the leftist leader refers to his policies.

[Rustynailww]

wonder if our cia is keeping an eye on chavez?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The Chris Dodd democrats are blocking hearings for Bush's anti-communist nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Otto Reich.

Stop Otto Reich site

WHILE CARACUS BURNS Sen. Dodd's petulance threatens national security--[Excerpt] Yet while Caracas burns, the top U.S. policy maker for the region can't assume his post for reasons of petty ideological revenge. Otto Reich--President Bush's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere--still can't get a hearing in Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's subcommittee. Mr. Dodd's petulance has gone beyond the usual Beltway payback and is now creating a leadership vacuum damaging to U.S. national security. It's hard to recall reading today's headlines, but 10 years ago Latin America's future looked bright. Democracy was on the rise, economies were growing and the era of military coups seemed to be over. The countries did this mostly on their own, but U.S. leadership was crucial. The U.S. nurtured free-market economic ideas and helped against Marxist rebels. That trend stopped during the 1990s, as the Clinton Administration mostly ignored the region for more glamorous priorities. The result today is a region threatened by repression, violence and economic decline.-[End Excerpt]

Castro-Chavez and Colombian Andres Pastrana/ REUTERS/Jose Miguel Gomez