Posted on 07/01/2007 3:45:33 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
MOSCOW -- Russia may have turned its back on Vladimir Lenin's revolutionary ideology, but Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Thursday told Russians they should revere and revive the ideas of the Soviet Union's founder.
''We should remember Vladimir Lenin and come back to his ideas, especially when it comes to anti-imperialism,'' Chávez told the audience at the opening of a Moscow cultural center named for the South American revolutionary hero Simon Bolivar.
The rhetoric was vintage Chávez -- mainly aimed at portraying Venezuela as a bastion of defiance of the United States. Chávez's comments emphasized Venezuela's solidarity with the Kremlin leadership, which frequently complains of Washington's alleged dominance of global affairs.
''We must defeat imperial hegemony that is imposed on us or we head toward barbarism; we either defeat imperialism or imperialism destroys the world,'' Chávez said. ``The empire must understand that it cannot dominate the world.''
Despite that common stance, Chávez's visit to Russia is low-key in comparison to previous visits. His meeting with President Vladimir Putin will only be an informal dinner.
Both Russia and Venezuela ''stand for the formation of democratic, multipolar world-building,'' a Kremlin official said on customary condition of anonymity before Chávez's meeting with Putin.
Meanwhile, the Duma, the lower house of parliament, unexpectedly denied Chávez permission to address a plenary session -- limiting him to a chat with parliament leaders in a smaller room.
The Duma is dominated by United Russia, the party that serves as the chief vehicle for Putin's programs.
The move to deny Chávez the chance to present a formal speech to lawmakers was widely seen as a Kremlin move to keep a tight leash on the exuberant and unpredictable Venezuelan populist in the days leading up to a summit between Putin and President Bush.
''It appears the Kremlin doesn't want to irritate the White House on the eve of the Kennebunkport meeting,'' the newspaper Kommersant observed Thursday.
Putin and Bush will meet Sunday and Monday at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, in a summit seen as a last chance for the two leaders to mend frayed U.S.-Russian relations before Putin's term expires next spring.
After Russia, Chávez travels to Tehran for talks aimed at further deepening ties with Iran, one of Venezuela's closest allies outside Latin America.
Venezuela's close relations with Iran irritate the United States, and the aggravation could be increased by Chávez's assertion that Venezuela would consider developing a nuclear energy program: ``Maybe one day we will go in that direction.''
The United States contends that Iran's nuclear program, centered on a Russian-built nuclear power station, is aimed at providing cover for development of atomic weapons.
Kremlin officials said Putin and Chávez would mainly discuss expanded economic cooperation and trade ties, but there was a lot of speculation that a major weapons deal was imminent.
Chávez has expressed interest in purchasing Russian submarines, despite likely criticism from the United States, which has voiced concern about Venezuela's military spending.
Caracas has already purchased some $3 billion worth of arms from Russia, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets and other weapons.
Kommersant reported earlier this month that Chávez was expected to sign an initial contract that would include five Project 636 Kilo-class diesel submarines and possibly four state-of-the-art Project 677 Amur submarines later.
The Venezuelan defense minister later denied the report.
The Interfax news agency, citing an unnamed Russian defense industry official, said Chávez could end up signing contracts to buy sophisticated Russian air defense systems or three Amur-class submarines.
Why stop there? While he’s on a role he should tell them to remember the lessons of Stalin, Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot. Chavez is an ugly human being and those who voted him in will learn in time. It doesn’t pay to play footsie with men like him. He’ll cut your legs off or worse.
“The purpose of terrorism,” Vladimir Lenin once said, “is to terrorize.”
The Evil Empire Strikes Back?
I had summer sequels.
Communism did not work. without an outside source of goods and services to re-distribute. Communism was unable to generate enough food to feed its people. Communism could not accumulate surplus capital needed to industrialize the country. Lenin, like all idealists, thought the good things simply dropped out of the sky.
In 1924 Lenin recognized that communism was defunct as an economic system and introduced the “new Economic Policy.” This “new” policy was economic capitalism. A free market was allowed to be re-born in Russia and functioned until the nation was stabilized. After that Lenin died and Stalin went forward, using terrorism and gangsterism, with what modern Democrats call a progressive agenda.
Chavez continues to show his ignorance by using Russia as a role model.
Hugee hasn't got the memo obviously.
That just about cinches it doesn`t it ?
There`s no doubt this red shirt is a dictator and no
saviour or hero.
The “Red Terror” was instituted by Lenin from 1918 to 1922, before Stalin took over.
That may be what Chavez will use to consolidate his power, as the Bolsheviks did before him.
Sorry, Huey. Russia doesn’t export revolution these days, it exports oil. And you’re a competitor.
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