Venezuela's Chavez resumes power - two-thirds of Venezuelans oppose him

Boston Globe ^ | April 15, 2002 | Mike Ceaser

[Cincinatus' Wife]

CARACAS - Hugo Chavez reclaimed the Venezuelan presidency yesterday, carried back into office by a sea of popular support two days after a military junta deposed him for brutally suppressing an antigovernment protest.

The charismatic leader sounded conciliatory and chastened by his experience, appealing for national unity. However, several of the military leaders who had participated in the takeover were reported to have been arrested by military police, and the interim president, Pedro Carmona, was being held for sedition.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

**** After his election, Chavez set out to weaken Venezuela's institutions, first by engineering a new constitution that bolstered his power and then by appointing loyal military officers to run its independent agencies. Chavez set out to run a country with a sophisticated economy, based primarily on its vast oil reserves, as a one-man show. He employed the military to carry out social projects, and passed by fiat such important legislation as a land reform measure that would confiscate private property. …..Chavez's legacy is a bleak one for Latin America's radical left, now pushing against the prevailing political current of free trade, capitalism and a general nod to U.S. interests. Chavez resisted each of those forces, instead mixing populism and Marxism to appeal to the four of every five Venezuelans living in poverty in a country with the largest oil reserves outside the Persian Gulf. His resignation today ended a self-declared "social revolution" that he hoped would extend beyond Venezuela's borders, and outside Latin America.**** Chavez's Gloomy Legacy for The Left--Washington Post

Chavez Returns to 'His' Army Base **** He praised Gen. Raul Baduel, commander of the paratroopers' brigade, and other officers who were loyal. He also spoke fondly of soldiers who during his captivity brought him coffee and told him they were plotting his escape. Meanwhile, more than 100 military officials had been detained, and officers involved in the conspiracy could face charges, Vice President Diosdado Cabello said.****

FARC: A Terrorist Regime Waits in the Wings --And it's supported by Hugo Chavez.

Chavistas Attack Venezuela's Congress - Bolivarian neighborhood groups inciting wholesale violence

Chavistas: Venezuelan street toughs: Helping "revolution" or crushing dissent?

Hugo Chavez- Venezuela

Fidel Castro - Cuba

[Cincinatus' Wife]

** Chavez ''is the man who planted love in the people, most of all us poor people,''
said Venner, 38, a seamstress, who quickly added: ''soon we'll be middle class.''**

She's going to find out Chavez has plans for Venezuela and it isn't going to have classes.
Unless of course, you count the dictator and his communist party elite and the masses. That makes two.

[TopQuark]

Title: Venezuela's Chavez resumes power - two-thirds of Venezuelans oppose him

First line: Hugo Chavez reclaimed the Venezuelan presidency yesterday, carried back into office by a sea of popular support

Boston Globe editors are getting better and better.

[steve50]

Probably a new guy, takes a while to get the hang of editing.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

This is a tragedy of immense proportions. Pray for the people of Venezuela to take action again - and this time - to do what the people of Romania did to their brutal dictators!

[mewzilla]

No classes...?

Evidently these folks haven't read Animal Farm...

[RushingWater]

Why does this situation - a country is impoverished due to class polarization and the liberal leadership triumphs - sound like a Democrat dream come true?

[toddst]

This is a tragedy of immense proportions. Pray for the people of Venezuela to take action again. . .

This guy Chavez is too full of himself , will become abusive again. At that point the military will end it - permanently IMHO.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

He will simply be more brutal.

[CWRWinger]

And where is the Bush Administration on this one? Another lost opportunity to strike a blow against terrorism.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Good morning CW.

Where to start. For those who speak/understand Spanish, Canal Sur (Channel South) is a good channel to tune into. For those of us who don’t get FOX, BBC World is probably the next best thing (anything but CCN). Having said that, I was listening to Chavez yesterday and studying his demeanor. He’s an ignorant and overall uneducated nonhuman. He is also unbalanced. His massive ego makes him dangerous. As I watched him, he reminded me of Noriega. They are cut from the same cloth.

If I have time, I’m going to check to see if Chavez and some of his toadies are graduates from the School of the Americas. (The school has undergone a name change, but it isn’t hard to find). The U.S. has trained a lot of these future dictators. Noriega was one they “trained.” I can’t say for certain, though, that he ended up graduating.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Okay...No Hugo Chavez on the School of the America's graduate list. I'll continue checking for his military toadies as names crop up. Interestingly enough, the school has a list of their "Notorious" graduates. Noriega is among them. The "notorious" list goes on forever and is categorized by countries.

[hchutch]

"The charismatic leader sounded conciliatory and chastened by his experience, appealing for national unity. However, several of the military leaders who had participated in the takeover were reported to have been arrested by military police, and the interim president, Pedro Carmona, was being held for sedition."

Looks like the purge has come. We'll have to deal with him sooner, rather than later.

For now, our best shot of beating FARC lies in the 5,000 or so freedom fighters of the AUC, as well as hoping that Uribe wins in Colombia.

[Cicero]

Not good. Dictators are governed by paranoid suspicion as well as power madness. Who can doubt that he will move swiftly to suspend remaining freedoms and liquidate potential opponents?

[justshutupandtakeit]

And you lose no opportunity to attack Bush without justification.

[CWRWinger]

Well, where has Mr. Bush been on this Venezuela issue?

Yes, I'm miffed with 'W'. (I voted for him, too). Just this year he has signed CFR, which he said he wouldn't, he tried to foist an amnesty for illegal aliens, he's flip-flopping around on his own definition of 'terrorist' (which is terrifying in itself), and has intentionally ignored conservatives and the core which helped get him elected.

[justshutupandtakeit]

While I may have wished Bush to have done some things differently I also realize that his "conservative" support has been very tepid and itching to criticize while ignoring the fact that media enemies surround him ready to parrot the RAT line at the drop of a hat.

"Conservatives" have been the least reliable of allies ready to believe any rumour and launch attacks on their friends while ignoring the consistent obstructions and lies of the RATS.

Why don't "conservatives" remain focused on the principle enemy, The RATS, rather than cut down the most conservative electable president? They remind me a jockey complaining because the horse he is riding to victory farts in the back stretch.

Thank God Al Gore is not president.

[Kobyashi1942]

The cowards in the Venezuelan Army should have shot this guy the mintue they had their hands on him. NIVER give a commie a second chance.

Now all of Latin America will pay (and therefore us) for their timidity.

[TexasRepublic]

It will take Chavez about 20 years to reduce Venezuela to the status of Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

[RedWhiteBlue]

He will simply be more brutal.

Agreed. Given that he is an egomaniac, he see this as proof that he is invincible. He will not take this as a "wake up call."