[Cincinatus' Wife]

***Sadly for the United States, President Hugo Chavez is much more than a madman who has his hand on the spigot of much needed oil. Many think him to be a terrorist who is actively trying to destabilize his neighbor Colombia, the region and much of South America. Worse, while he exports oil and gas to prop up his all-but-in-name dictatorial regime, he is actively importing terrorism, terrorists and even members of al-Qaida. ***

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

Anti-President Hugo Chavez protesters hold a sign reading 'Bye bye Aristide, Chavez you are next' as they clash with National Guard soldiers, foreground, in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 1, 2004. For the fourth day in a row, government foes demanding a recall referendum for President Hugo Chavez clashed with National Guard troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

[Nateman]

There is a movie out there called " The revolution will not be televised "  While it did give some time to the opposition it was pretty much sympathetic to the dictator. I saw the movie in a little movie house that had a few Bush haters who were so rude they keep making loud comments thoughtout the movie. While watching the coup unravel  I kept thinking " they should have shot  that SOB when they had the chance" . It was pretty clear from that movie that the Pro-Chavez forces consisted of the poor, lazy ,crazy, ignorant and/or power hungry criminal segment of the population and almost nothing short of civil war is going to get rid of this guy.

[marron]

Chavez' oil weapon is no weapon at all. He has no choice but to sell it; its useful to remember from time to time that we are not dependent on any one of these countries for oil, as we only get a fraction of our oil from any one country. Venezuela, and the other OPEC countries, on the other hand are totally dependent on their oil income. Totally.

That means that we are not hostage to their oil, they are hostage to their oil. Chavez would not last a week if he shut off the spigot, his own people would take him down.

Speaking of which, we should start sending him travel brochures from the Central African Republic. He's going to be needing them. I see the makings of a great sitcom, The Odd Couple redux. He's evil and messy, his roomy's evil and tidy. He's evil and likes Polar beer, his pal is evil and drinks goat's blood from a demitasse...

[cameronsmom]

Just one more thing that the Libs would use:

"just in it for the oil":

[autoresponder]

Some expect us to be "all things to all people"....

How about North Korea? they say.

http://pro.lookingat.us/KerryInternationalismTerrorism.mp3

Sen. John Kerry insisted he would have sent 20,000 US troops into Haiti.

Note he did not not mention the UN or a large "coalition" before he would send in US soldiers.

That, of course, would be because Sen. John Kerry wanted to keep radical Commie Aristide in power in Haiti.

Along with (D/Soc-NY) Rep."Red" Rangell and (D/Soc-CA) Rep. Maxine Waters.

Old car tires and gasoline:

The tools of Aristide adored by the American left.

No problem on a Kerry vote; he has missed every Senate vote so far this year and over 60% of his votes last year!

[ozzymandus]

If Chavez goes, Castro will lose his last remaining financial backer. A civil war in venezuala would not concern me greatly.

[Robert_Paulson2]

I shudder when I looked at that picture.
How long will chavez continue to authorize the use of "rubber bullets" instead of lead ones?

ANY CHANCE AT ALL that at least some of the national military MIGHT refuse to fire on fellow citizens? Or is it going to kill tens or hundreds of thousands of citizens, mostly under armed?

could be a ghastly situation, IN OUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD.
WHO in South America, is actually our bonafide partner or friend in democratic representation, instead of Cuban string puppets?

[OldFriend]

I just don't see Chavez turning off the oil spigot. He desperately needs the money.

[backhoe]

Cross-link:

-The Fire Down South...( Latin America--)--

[jordan8]

U.S. Ignores Venezuela

Good. This is the proper policy.

[happygrl]

Winning the peace in Iraq is important, but at what point do we turn our eyes to the south?

A year ago, we were watching the action in Iraq, but with one eye on Venezuela and anticipating this very action.

What is going on at at the State Department?

As the article states, Chavez has the potential to do just as much damage to the US as any of the Middle Eastern despots.

As the FR threads from a year ago detailed, Chavez was buddying up with Saddam, and making nookie with Islamicist imports. providing them with Venezuelan passports.

He is a first class threat.