Posted on 08/24/2002 11:24:38 AM PDT by Jack Black
I recently had the opportunity to spend several days in group training for my company. Another individual attending was a professional woman from Venezuela. Her description of the events there was interesting, and scary.
The current President, having survived a coup attempt by the armed forces in January has now started forming his own militia. His followers are the poorer segement of society. They are now being paid to do nothing except show up and intimidate other sectors of society. According to her there have been a series of small battles between the police and these communist militias in Caracas. The militia members have also taken to stealing blatently from stores, simply asserting their right to whatever goods they want based on their loyalty to the President and membership in the militia.
The next elections are four years away. The current President drafted the constitution and basically gave himself a pass on time he had already spent in office.
My coworker felt that civil war was inevitable unless another coup took place soon. Ordinary people are training in arms as they feel they will soon need to fight to retain their life and property in the face on increasing depredations by the Presidents thugs.
The economy has seriously deteriorated this year as the current President has made a mess of it, particularly the state owned oil company.
I am surprised that this story does not get much coverage in the media. Perhaps their latent sympathies for the President who is a Castro friend, prevents them from reporting how dire the situation is.
I was most impressed by my coworkers calm and feel that her comments were accurate.
Thanks to President Ronald Reagan, all of that was avoided. He understood the danger posed by Fidel Castro.
Having failed to destroy the US by way of Central America, Mr. Castro has engaged the services of his puppet, as stated earlier, Hugo Chavez, to continue through South America what could not be done through Central America.
I know I don't need to say this, but it is in the intrest of the United States to take a closer look at the members of both branches of government, the "House and Senate", to see which elected official is supportive of Castro and Chavez. In my opinion, those that support Mr. Castro are members of the Communist Left and are a threat to Democracy.
A final word. Anyone who believes that Mr. Castro is a harmless old man, is in for a rude awakening. All you have to do is take a look around Latin America, today, and see what's happening in Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, etc. Mr. Castro knows he won't live forever, but, he wants to die knowing that he'll leave this world knowing that his dream of Destroying America may, yet, happen.
Please Check out the following Info:
The São Paulo Forum,Castro's shocktroops
Castro's next target is Brazil
If the middle-class wins, one additional positive outcome will likely be an appreciation for why the US Constitution has the 2nd Amendment. Perhaps they'll put something similar in their Constitution
One point on terminology: a group of citizens who work regular jobs, but who are available to defend their neighborhood, state, or nation with their own privately owned guns in an emergency, are "militia"
The proper name for a group of armed thugs who support themselves by robbery and intimidation of those who work for a living, is "gang"
The media (deliberately) seeks to confuse these two very distinct terms. Lets not do it here too.
Associated Press, August 22, 2002 Thursday 3:47 PM Eastern Time
CARACAS, Venezuela--A group of opposition lawmakers asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to annul an oil assistance pact with Cuba.
Rafael Octavio Rivero, of the Social Christian Copei party, said the pact is illegal because President Hugo Chavez's government failed to seek congressional ratification before signing it in October 2000. The Supreme Court is considering a similar case introduced earlier this year by another group of opposition politicians.
The Chavez-dominated National Assembly voted in 2000 that the pact didn't require congressional approval because it was the continuation of a 1992 pact with Cuba. Rivero argued the 1992 pact also lacked congressional approval and that it involved science and technology, not oil.
Under the 2000 pact, Venezuela sells 53,000 barrels a day of oil to Cuba under preferential financial terms. It has similar deals with other Caribbean nations.
Venezuela provides one-third of Cuba's oil imports. Chavez considers Cuban President Fidel Castro a close friend and has tightened relations with the communist island.
Executives at the state-oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela suspended shipments to Cuba during an April coup that briefly ousted Chavez, arguing Cuba owed dlrs 142 million in the deal. After Chavez regained power, PDVSA President Ali Rodriguez ordered that shipments resume in September and allowed Cuba more time to pay the debt.
Edgar Paredes, a top PDVSA executive, publicly criticized the deal this week, saying Cuba's "high levels of debt" were harming the oil company's finances.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press
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