Don't be fooled... Hugo Chavez is no buffoon

London Telegraph ^ | 14/11/2007 | Jeremy McDermott

[mad puppy]

Anyone can be a loved genius when they give just enough fellow countrymen just enough money to ensure it. Shortly after he stops paying, due to some combination of greed, corruption and incompetence, his fellow countrymen will hang him....or he will be hanging them.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Re the picture of Chavez and Cindy Sheehan.

You forgot the caption.

Chavez was telling the peasants that “You too can have a pig like this when you vote for me.”

Oink, Oink, Squeal!!!

[pilipo]

Classic certainly in the particular feature of Machiavellis treatise that most people don’t recognize - that of human behavior. It is a glaring oversight.

I’m not convinced that Chavez’ political skills measure up to the level that Machiavelli outlined, but he does seem to do OK.

[GladesGuru]

“Their socialism sounds like my fascism.”

Given that Latin America has never had a government where the people were secure in either person or property, what can one expect?

Chavez is simply a Latin American being Latin American.

[Desron13]

"Meanwhile, the opposition are either leaving the country or failing to oppose."

I know many of the "opposition" because I work in IT in the Oilfield Services industry. The "opposition" consists of anyone with money or an education and they are fleeing that country by the thousands. The collapse is one, maybe two years off at the most. Then the poor of that country will learn the hard lesson of the victims of Communism since it's inception. It's only a question of just how many of them will die.

[ConservativeMind]

Chavez is not a political genius. He’s a good panderer.

I have read two articles in the past two days that make him out to be “brilliant”. They are written by ignorant leftists.

The other writer, I think from the LA Times, said he’d crash our economy by refusing to sell oil to us. This writer was stupid, too. Even if Chavez did such a thing, we would buy the oil displaced by his sales to other countries that was to have gone to them for a slight, if any, premium.

You can’t do much to influence a commodity.

[goodnesswins]

He doesn’t just bribe Venuzualens....my husband was recently in Uruguay.....there, he was told by locals (professionals he was dealing with) that Chavez came in when the Banks failed (twice, I think) and repaid EVERY individual who asked, the money they lost in the failures. In Uruguay, they love him, supposedly, and Castro, too.

[Chode]

unless you are an oil speculator on wall street...

[monkeycard]

The poor do not seem to be put off by the fact that price controls on basic foodstuffs have led to shortages of milk and eggs as supermarkets refuse to stock items on which they lose money.

It doesn't matter how much money a country has, if there is no food things will get bad. Chavez is likely taking the Mugabe tour, the one that avoids the free market, have fun boys!

[Desron13]

"This writer is missing an important aspect of Chavez. Hugo, like his Bolivian mini-me Evo Morales, is an Indian. That is, a Native American, an indigene, an aboriginal, a First Nations leader, yadda."

This is absolutely true. Have you ever noticed how the people pouring over the border from Mexico are all of Native American ethnicity and the people running Mexico are mostly of European extraction. This is not by accident. The thugs running Mexico are looking south and seeing the handwriting on the wall so they're exporting their little ethnic problem here as much as they can.

[Neophyte]

Hugo Chavez clearly knows how to bribe the electorate, using expropriated money.

The keyword here is "electorate", not Chavez.

You know that, unlike former Soviet bloc countries of Eastern Europe, Russia wasn't converted into communism by a foreign bayonet. Russians enthusiastically embraced the rule of the thugs, and now Venezuelans are doing exactly the same.

Well, I hope when their economy is ruined and they started to whine about their sad fate, someone will have the courage to remind them that Chavez didn't come from the planet Gourgsgzvve in I dunno what galactic.

[WoofDog123]

‘Russia wasn’t converted into communism by a foreign bayonet. Russians enthusiastically embraced the rule of the thugs,’

well there was this little thing called the russian civil war...though presumably white russians would have fit the ‘meet the new boss,...’ rule..

[af_vet_rr]

He’s the classic Machiavellian tyrant. Don’t turn your back on him; if you must shake hands with him, count your fingers immediately afterwards.

That's exactly right.

[chemical_boy]

I thought Chavez had mixed Indian and Spanish blood

[Neophyte]

well there was this little thing called the russian civil war...

Yeah, I know. So less enthusiastic about the rule of thugs Russians were defeated by the Russians really enthusiastic about it.

What I'm speaking about, there are hardly any un-enthusiastic Venezuelans nower days. Alas.

[dennisw]

This writer is missing an important aspect of Chavez. Hugo, like his Bolivian mini-me Evo Morales, is an Indian. That is, a Native American, an indigene, an aboriginal, a First Nations leader, yadda. His political schtick is that he opposes the white elite -- you know, fights the power, stands up to The Man. Chavez and Morales are the most visible points of a tide of anti-white sentiment that is flowing through Latin America. They're both likely to be around for some time, since their northwest South America is presently depopulating, with many of the better-educated (and not incidentally lighter-colored) residents moving to Spaiand the United States.

Previously the rulers of Venezuela were the white Spanish & Europeans. The governments were somewhat chaotic with lots of coups but the Euro-Spanish always ruled

Hugo Chavez is Indian, white and black. He's a mutt so to speak. Yes, much of his shtick is racial, anti white
It is not accurate to say Chavez is an Indian. He is Mestizo

[dennisw]

I thought Chavez had mixed Indian and Spanish blood
_________________

He is plus some black

[TheMole]

You are correct that he is of mixed ancestry and certainly could be called a mestizo. My point is that he identifies strongly with the native American part of his ancestry, and sells himself as a brown leader protecting the brown masses from the corrupt white elite (and to be fair, a “corrupt white elite” is in fact pretty much exactly what they are). Morales does likewise, and they are both part of a larger movement.

[dennisw]

You are correct that he is of mixed ancestry and certainly could be called a mestizo. My point is that he identifies strongly with the native American part of his ancestry, and sells himself as a brown leader protecting the brown masses from the corrupt white elite (and to be fair, a “corrupt white elite” is in fact pretty much exactly what they are). Morales does likewise, and they are both part of a larger movement.

It's the revenge of the Indios here too with their phony "sovereign nation" casinos

Your post is 100% right on. I would only add that from what I hear Hugo has some black blood and he looks it. Plus Venezuela has always had a sizable black population. For a great book on this read Banco ----->> http://www.donrearic.com/charriere.html

Henri Charriere - Papillon

So, my friends who know my beliefs might find it quite surprising that I would be such a fan of Henri Charriere's "Papillon" and "Banco." Henri was, after ...
www.donrearic.com/charriere.html - 41k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this