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Tue 9 Mar, 2004 12:12 am
Chavez Threatens War
Quote:Venezuela Leader Vows War if U.S. Invades
By ALICE M. CHACON
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday vowed to freeze oil exports to the United States and wage a ``100-year war'' if Washington ever tried to invade Venezuela.
The United States has repeatedly denied ever trying to overthrow Chavez, but the leftist leader accuses Washington of being behind a failed 2002 coup and of funding opposition groups seeking a recall referendum on his presidency.
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Chavez accused the United States of ousting former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and warned Washington not to ``even think about trying something similar in Venezuela.''
Venezuela ``has enough allies on this continent to start a 100-year war,'' Chavez said during his weekly television show.
He added that ``U.S. citizens could forget about ever getting Venezuelan oil'' if the United States ever tried to invade.
Venezuela provides about 15 percent of U.S. oil imports, but relations between the two countries are rocky over Chavez's friendship with Cuban President Fidel Castro, his criticism of U.S.-led negotiations for a free trade zone in the Americas and his opposition to the war in Iraq.
The United States was slow to condemn the 2002 coup, initially accusing Chavez of provoking his own downfall.
Chavez has increasingly railed against U.S. meddling in Venezuelan affairs as his opponents step up protests to demand the recall vote.
On Saturday, at least 500,000 Venezuelans marched in Caracas to protest the National Elections Council's ruling last week that an opposition petition for the recall vote lacked enough valid signatures. Opponents turned in more than 3 million signatures Dec. 19, but the council ruled only 1.8 million were valid. The council ordered more than 1 million citizens to confirm they signed and rejected more than 140,000 signatures outright.
Rioting over the decision killed eight people and hurt scores more. The violence subsided after the Organization of American States and the U.S.-based Carter Center pledged to help give citizens a fair chance to prove they signed.
Venezuela is deeply divided between those who fear Chavez is trying to impose Cuba-style socialism and those who say he has given an unprecedented political voice to the impoverished majority.
Chavez insists the recall petition is fraud-ridden. He claims many signatures belong to dead people, minors and foreigners.
On Sunday, Chavez promised his government would investigate the deaths and injuries from last week's violence. Opposition leaders accuse National Guard troops of committing abuses while trying to keep rock-throwing protesters from blocking roads with burning tires. Chavez accuses his opponents of instigating chaos.
``The government is investigating all the acts of violence and especially those in which people died,'' Chavez said. ``Violence only takes place when a group of the opposition leaders decide there will be violence.''
03/07/04 20:30
It sounds like he is just trying to whip up his people against a convenient scapegoat to call attention away from the utter failure of his regime.
Chavez is hoping that bringing forth the 'bugaboo' of American invasion will focus his peoples anger against him and his dictatorial governments.
The thought that America would invade Venezuela is laughable in the extreme.
Venezuela, like many Latin American countries has a small wealthy,well educated Euro/American elite ruling a large indigenous population, poverty stricken, poorly educated, and culturally conservative in that they do not have a modern world view and see no reason why they should. This is a simplistic and reductionist explanation of a very complex problem. But, part of what is going on here is that the people who make up the American government, irregardless of who is in power, identify with the elite (because they are like us) and can not understand why those "little brown people" don't keep to their place. I don't think the US government is intentionally after Chavez at the moment. But its actions, because the elite are the only people it knows how to talk to, amount to the same thing. Because Chavez is one of, and represents, those "little brown people", he is going to be seen as a destabilizer of the status quo. Chavez on the other hand finds it politically useful to stick it in the eye of the US periodically.
Re: And the Bush administration just keeps on making new fri
hobitbob wrote:[
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -
On Saturday, at least 500,000 Venezuelans marched in Caracas to protest the National Elections Council's ruling last week that an opposition petition for the recall vote lacked enough valid signatures. Opponents turned in more than 3 million signatures Dec. 19, but the council ruled only 1.8 million were valid. The council ordered more than 1 million citizens to confirm they signed and rejected more than 140,000 signatures outright.
Chavez insists the recall petition is fraud-ridden. He claims many signatures belong to dead people, minors and foreigners.
Lets not forget how much he ignores his people, I suppose the 500,000 people who marched in protest were all 'dead', 'minors' or 'foreigners'.
aquamik gave a pretty fair assessment of what's going on there. chavez represents a disruption that threatens the status quo and free markets in venezula becuase he represents the impoverished minority. i wish more leaders in impoverished nations would do the same and stick it to the american government if they disagree.
just because free market capitalism works well in a nation like the US with nearly limitless resources doesn't mean it works everywhere.
Quagmire # 4 starting to bubble up. They are the fourth largest supplier of oil to the US, so don't think we aren't coveting it.
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