Venezuela Watch

goodfielder

You are taking all this much too seriously........take a break......go out to one of your famous beaches and feed the sharks.

rayban I find it difficult to talk with my tongue in my cheek but I can sure type with my tongue firmly planted there.

Thanks for the advice on recreation but I gave up scuba diving because I didn't want to feed the sharks :wink:

goodfielder

Like most of the great citizens of Australia......you have shown your sense of humour.

thank you for prompting it - it was fun (off to bed got to get to work in the morning) - all the best

Dictator of the Century of the Week
My friends and I often make silly meaningless bets on who the next Dictator of the Century of the Week will be. By that I mean the next Foriegn Leader that the mainstream media will (taking its cues from the State Department) demonize to the point US mlitary action will be supported by your average uninformed American. Sometimes I feel like standing up and chanting "4 legs good, 2 legs bad).

Anyway about 1 year ago I decieded to bet on Hugo Chávez.

Lord of the lefty

Was that about the time that the worst US President ever (Jimmy Carter), went down and legitimized another corrupt election?

BBB
bm

*dusting off the thread after BBB dragged it out of storage*. It has to look its best when it's going to be needed soon.

I'd like to hear if Fbaezer thinks so, too, but I would say that Chavez has really become popular. He certainly built his popularity on support for the poor, and on anti-Americansm. But while his opposition in the past could point out that he was a lot of talk and no deeds, the recently introduced system of the missions seems to be at least successful enough to give him real support throughout the population.

There seems to be still quite some criticism within Venezuela - that the programs never reach the population, that it's all just propaganda, that he's spending the oil revenues as fast as the money comes in without creating sustainable structures... On the other hand, criticism comes mostly from the middle and upper class urban population. People who have admittedly not profitted from Chavez' course of action.

Human Rights Watch says in its 2005 report that there have been improvements, even though there are some serious issues like prison conditions or cases of torture and ill-treatment by the police.

As far as I know, Reporters Without Frontiers in their worldwide press freedom index list Venezuela at rank 90 - which is still above the United States in Iraq and above Mexico, but admittedly not a shining example of press freedom.

Nevertheless, HRW says that, "as part of the often heated and acrimonious debate between supporters of the government and its opponents, members of the media have been able to express strong views without restriction."

Good decision, as it turns out, after yesterday....


http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16374617-2,00.html

Re: Dictator of the Century of the Week


Woohoo.... I wouldn't say I've won my bet yet.... but things are looking up!

LLH

Nah - poor bloody Iran is still top of the hit list, I'd say.

A Chilean firm regularly undertakes The Latinobarómetro poll. The Economist reports - HERE.

I am nooo fan of Chavez - but this year's edition has some surprisingly positive indicators on how he's doing.

Eg:

1) "Just 31% (up from 27% last year) think their country is progressing. Only in Chile and Venezuela do a majority see progress."

2) When the question is, "How satisfied are you with the way democracy works in your country?", 'only' some 42% in Venezuela said "not very" or "not at all". This is a more positive result than for any other country shown in the table, except Uruguay. Moreover, it's down from 55% last year and 68% in 1996.

3) When the question is, "What is your opinion of the United States?", Chavez's position turns out to be taking root among his citizens too: the balance in Venezuela between "(very) good" and "(very) bad" is some -8. That compares with some +23 last year and +59 in 2000, and is the third-lowest among the countries listed (above only Argentine and Uruguay).

4) Finally, there's how Latin-Americans in general see Chavez. He is graded, on average, 5,0: distinctly lower than Lula, but better than Bush (4,8) and Castro (4,3).

From what I've read about Chavez and Venezuela I like him. When I heard he was giving land to the poor and offered gas to poor Americans I started buying all my gas Citco. He was elected democratically by the people and were supposed to support democracy right? Besides we have something in common. We both hate Bush. The governments enemies aren't my enemies.

I don't feel like going through every post. If anybody knows why I should not support Chavez or Venezuela please let me know if you care to.

I can't think of a reason to not support Chavez. Unless you despise democracy, of course.

I think the American government has become one big lying corporation that can't be trusted and that being a good American means to advocate the truth about it. I think we need massive reform for the sake of the world and the country. I think what is going on in Venezuela is the democracy our government pretends to support but really all they want to do is exploit labour and resources any way they can wherever they can.

Anybody that threatens there profits is there enemy even if it's a ligitamite democracy.

That lack of more than rudimentary interest probably also explains why you like him, then.

Some random examples of why I dont like Chavez;

and why I'm worried about Western leftists taking up his cause.

A very good piece on Chavez here...
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18355

nimh, You mistaken my lack of interest in the rudimentary for rudimentary interest. I just read your post you refferd to and it told me nothing. Opinions are like a**holes. Everybody has one and they all stink except there own. I'll check out the IFJ story and who they are. But this alone is not enough I'm only interested in the fact and cutting down on the bulls**t.

For instance why is Chavez winning the popular vote?

Who is Chavez's opposition? And why do they oppose him?

Why should I not support Chavez and Venezuela. If anyone cares to or can answer me. With facts not opinions.