Farewell

Hugo Chavez Watch is defunct. My interest in analyzing the Venezuelan dictator has dissipated quite dramatically since I started this blog, as I think it has for a few of our contributors. It was a good run, and was enlightening.

If there are anti-Chavez writers that are interested in taking up the mantle of this blog, I will be very willing to hand over this domain to them. Otherwise, consider this blog defunct.

Thank you for reading.

Video: Bolivian President Evo Morales on The Daily Show

Hugo latching onto power

It's hardly news to anyone following the man's career, but it appears that Hugo Chavez plans on lengthening his stay in order to build the socialist economic framework for his country ( a feat that would take a long, long time, since socialism doesn't work). From Fox News' political grapevine:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — who has likened President Bush to the devil — wants to eliminate presidential term limits so that he can remain in power for another 20 years.

In his weekly radio and television program yesterday, Chavez said he needs more time in office to establish a socialist economic model in Venezuela and that if voters approve his constitutional reforms, he could continue governing until the year 2027.

Government opponents are crying foul, accusing Chavez of trying to become a dictator like his close friend Fidel Castro. Venezuela's National Assembly is expected to approve the proposals in two to three months, after which they'll be presented to voters.

Castro's acolytes in the Western Hemisphere

Evo Morales.

Hugo Chavez.

Daniel Ortega.

Rafael Correa.

And now, if the American Left has it's way: Sen Barak Obama.

What do all these men have in common?

Apparently they all think the U.S. is far too mean to that noble democrat Fidel Castro. (They also think the U.S. is imperialist).

I exaggerate.

I hope.

Overblown Ego

Quiz time...Study the following AP photo carefully:

Ready? Okay...Which of the following two captions appeared with the photo?

1. Aug. 15: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles prior to delivering a speech to the National Assembly in Caracas.

2. In a speech to the National Assembly President Hugo Chavez compares his love of Venezuela to that of a father to his baby: "Who's my cute little bootsy-boo...goochy, goochy, goochy..." (Rough translation).

The answer is of course #2. (I'll make the next quiz a little tougher.) You see, Papa Hugo gave a speech last night to "his people" informing them that they are not ready to live on their own, away from his protective embrace. To keep a watchful parental eye on their development to "21st Century Socialism", Hugo has presented a plan to the "legislature" for perpetual "reelection". While critics claim this stunt is nothing but a naked power grab in a string of such grabs, supporters agree with Hugo or wind up in prison.But...the most important development last night was the unveiling of the first ever literal demonstration of an inflated ego:

Ahead of Chavez's speech, actors sang in the National Assembly as they performed a scene from the life of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar, the spiritual father of the socialist movement that Chavez calls the Bolivarian Revolution.

Crowds of red-clad supporters cheered outside the National Assembly, holding flags and signs reading: "Yes to the reform, on the path to 21st Century Socialism." Giant video screens were set up, and folk music blared from sound trucks near a two-story-tall inflatable figure of Chavez.

BBC

Here's to hoping the Venezuelan people reach adolescence quickly and steal daddy's car keys.

The "hero of Latin America" continues media consolidation

It's been over half a month since I've updated this blog, and even that last post was the first in a previous absence. There has been plenty of news swirling around that tied in with the ghoul in Caracas, most notably the shutting down of a major private news source in Venezuela by the Chavez government.

The Paris group Reporters Without Borders condemned the action, claiming that Chavez is seeking media "hegemony:"

"It was a political move, one that establishes government hegemony over the broadcast media and constitutes a grave danger for editorial pluralism," the Paris-based group said.

The organization said Chavez's decisions "were conducted outside of all regular legal channels and in defiance of the jurisprudence established by the Organization of American States."

HCW regular Scatbug also posted on this story over at his Townhall.com blog.

Meanwhile, this cartoon was delivered to me via commentor Pedro Morgado:

Chavez Government to Finance Glover Film

Here's the story:

Venezuela's Congress says it has approved financing for two films by actor Danny Glover, a close supporter of President Hugo Chavez.

The lawmaking body, which is closely allied with Chavez, said in a statement on its Web site Thursday that it approved $20 million for two Glover productions.

They include "The General in His Labyrinth," which deals with the life of South American liberator Simon Bolivar. It is based on a novel by Colombian Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez and will be directed by Venezuela-born director Alberto Arvelo.

The other is "Toussaint," which the statement said Glover plans to direct documenting the life of Haitian revolution leader Toussaint Louverture.

Government officials and Glover's representatives were not immediately available for comment.

The statement said that the funds will come from proceeds Venezuela obtained from a recent bond sale with Argentina.

Glover is among a number of high-profile U.S. supporters of Chavez. The group also includes singer Harry Belafonte and Princeton University scholar Cornel West, who have defended the Venezuelan president against accusations of democratic abuses.

Glover has met Chavez during visits to Venezuela and even appeared on his television and radio talk show, "Hello, President."

Giuliani pounds Chavez

I haven't endorsed any presidential candidate over at my blog, but I like hearing comments like this from those that are seeking the highest seat in the land:

"Isn't it annoying, upsetting and even in some cases a matter of national security that we have to send money to our enemies?" Giuliani asked. "We need a president who knows how to get things done so we don't have to be sending money to Chavez."

Giuliani called for the United States to develop alternative energy sources and take advantage of oil already in its control. He said that antagonistic leaders of oil-rich nations, like Chavez, would have "little power" if the United States could stop buying oil from them.

Too true, and most likely there would be no need for such blogs as these if we stopped giving money to countries that hate us.

Chavez: "No possibility" of understanding with Washington

It's been a long time since an update here at Hugo Chavez Watch, but fortunately Chavez keeps making the news waves.

Chavez has said there is no possibility of diplomatic understanding between him and the United States. Does this extend to a Washington ruled by Democrats? My instinct says it does, because none but the most left-wing Democrats will make moves to "spread the revolution," as Chavez would put it.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, threatening to cut off oil shipments to the U.S. if its government supports any efforts to oust him, said that reconciliation with Washington was impossible.

Chavez said a thirst for oil motivated both the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and a failed 2002 coup against him. The outspoken leader has often accused the U.S. of being behind the coup, and Washington has repeatedly denied the allegation.


A young supporter of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez cheers as she waves a flag reading in Spanish "The people are still in the streets, now on the path to socialism" outside Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Friday, April 13, 2007, during a rally to celebrate the fifth year anniversary of Chavez's return to power after a coup that briefly toppled him in 2002.

"There is no possibility of understanding for our revolution with the government of the United States, with U.S. imperialism," Chavez said during a news conference to mark the fifth anniversary of his return to power two days after the coup.

Venezuela's National Animal, Two Versions

Got this neat little comparison from Michael Medved's weekly e-mail newsletter. Good way to end the week. On the left, the Capybara, the world's largest rodent. And on the right, President Hugo Chavez, an even larger rodent.

Full 20/20 interview with Chavez

Hugo Chavez on 20/20

In a couple minutes at 10:00, Hugo Chavez will be interviewd by Barbara Walters. To my knowledge, it's the first major American interview (aside from super-left outlets like Democracy Now!) that Pirate Boy's done.

Watch this space for update and analysis an hour from now.

UPDATE: Alright, so Hugo showed alot of his soft and tender side, knowing full well who the audience would be for an ABC News Interview. When asked about his calling President Bush a "donkey," a "devil" and other such epithets, he said that those comments may have excessive, and even that he "may apologize." Without batting an eye though, he referred to Bush as a "political corpse" when answering the very next question. Talk about diarrhea of the mouth.

After a whole waste of time with Walters asking him about marriage and coffee, the interview ended and we saw her rain him with the compliments in the ABC studio. Like Mike Wallace after his interview with Iranian President Ahmadinejad, where Wallace espoused that Ahmadinejad would be a harbringer of world peace if it weren't for the "Zionist entity," Walters become doughy eyed and swallowed the notion that this tyrannical madman would turn into a dove if only the Democrats were back in office.

Watch the video for yourself.

Terry McAulliffe on Pirate Boy

According to the account of Bryan Preston, McAulliffe blamed the rise to prominence in the South American continent of Hugo Chavez on - well, you guess:

Also during Q&A, several liberals in the audience came at McAuliffe from the left, giving him the chance to burnish his nutroots credentials. He took the opportunity and ran with it. One asked him why the US is so unpopular with Hugo Chavez, prompting McAuliffe’s BDS affliction to come out in full glory. Keep in mind that Chavez is turning all of Venezuela into an armed camp as he cozies up to the Iranian mullahs and turns himself into a clone of Fidel Castro. Keep in mind that Chavez calls himself an enemy of the US, and keep in mind that Chavez currently rules Venezuela by dictatorial decree as he nationalizes (a fancy way of saying “steals”) private companies. Keep in mind that Chavez was kept in power, in all likelihood, by a sham election certified real by Jimmy Carter. Keeping all of that in mind, McAuliffe actually blamed Chavez’s actions and attitudes on George W. Bush.

Which, if he’s being logically consistent, means Castro is entirely the fault of John F. Kennedy.

Read the rest of the article, which is a bit lengthy but worth it nonetheless.

Oh, and just because I feel like it, the best book cover ever:

Giuliani Law Firm Lobbies in Texas for Chavez-Controlled Citgo

If it weren't enough that he has a record of being more socially liberal than Bill Clinton, it has now been revealed that presidential candidate and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has ties to Venezuela's Pirate Boy:

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Rudolph Giuliani's law firm lobbies for Citgo Petroleum Corp., a unit of the state-owned oil company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the U.S.'s chief antagonist in the Western Hemisphere.

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP registered to lobby for Citgo in Texas on April 26, 2005, less than a month after the former New York mayor joined the firm and became a name partner, state records show. Citgo renewed the contract in 2006 and 2007 and pays the firm $5,000 a month to track legislation. Giuliani doesn't lobby, the firm says.

The law firm's representation of Citgo comes as Chavez's relations with the U.S. have grown increasingly hostile. He has called President George W. Bush a ``devil'' and a ``madman'' and staged a mass, anti-American rally in Buenos Aires during Bush's trip to Latin America, which ends today.

Not earth-shattering, I know, but hey. We've been running low on Hugo news lately.

Chavez's buying spree

Guess which nation is the largest weapons buyer in Latin America?

Venezuela?

I have nothing against a nation properly supplying a well-trained military, especially in a region of the world constantly battling Marxist guerillas, narcotics cartels, and reactionary death squads. The problem I see is Venezuela's, I mean, Chavez's irresponsibility. Chavez is friendly with WMD proliferators and subsidizes brutal tyrants from Cuba to Massachusetts.

The scorecard:

...more than $US4 billion ($A5.05 billion) over the past two years...
...dozens of fighter jets and attack helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov
assault rifles...
...Venezuela's escalation of arms spending, up 12.5 per cent in
2006...
Since 2005, Venezuela has signed contracts with Russia for 24 Sukhoi
fighter jets, 50 transport and attack helicopters, and 100,000 assault
rifles.

Private propety is safe (for now)

Chavez has no plans to eliminate private property.

In a normal country that is not a denial that needs to be made.

"While preserving private property, a revised Constitution would also protect
"social" and "collective" property, like the country's large oil reserves,
Chávez said, without giving further details."

There are multiple kinds of property, according to Chavez. These include, in addition to private property are, social and collective property.

In other news, Chavez questions the Venezuelan Central Bank's method of determining inflation and disputes the rate of poverty for his country (18.4% last month and 39.7% at the end of 2005, respectively). Such numbers aren't valid in Venezuela, you see. In the fantasy realm of Chavez, poverty rates are fictitious numbers created to denigrate his country and his "socialism". Inflation numbers are tools of evil capitalists to harm the "revolution".

Hugo Chavez Watch Official Video Spot

Please spread this around!

From student to master

It certainly does appear that Hugo Chavez’s visits to Fidel Castro’s beside have involved more than changing bed pans and wheeling the old guy out for some sun. Clearly there has also been some Master-Grasshopper tutelage going on, perhaps while swabbing the bed sores. Why, in just the last few weeks we’ve seen Hugo clamp down on political opposition, start issuing laws by decree, appoint himself Grocer in Chief, nationalize the red shirt manufacturing industry, etc., etc. We’ve also witnessed him use the time-honored commie rationalization of declaring that his thuggery is for the “people” and/or the “revolution.”

Well yesterday he further showed off his dictatorial chops with some old-school paranoid ranting. From the AP:

Hugo Chavez Accuses U.S. of Plan to Wreck Venezuelan Economy

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez warned that the U.S. government, allegedly frustrated by failed assassination plots against him, was now planning to sabotage the oil-producing country's economy.Chavez, speaking Thursday on his newly scheduled prime-time TV talk show, predicted that "one of the fiercest battle fronts" was coming ahead as Washington readied to destroy Venezuela economically.

He said that recent comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accusing Chavez of "destroying" his country's economy meant that "the imperialist plan of the moment" had turned to economic sabotage."

(That's) one of the plans. The other is assassination," he said, reiterating past claims that the U.S. government is plotting to kill him. "We've neutralized various attempts, and I have faith we will continue neutralizing them. But they won't rest."

Chavez said that recent urgings by President Bush for his country to reduce its oil dependency on unfriendly nations, including Venezuela, meant that Venezuela was already on "the drawing table" and Washington was laying its plans.

Great stuff, huh? To summarize…By offering the opinion that Hugo is ruining Venezuela’s economy, Secretary Rice was really stating that the US will do the wrecking with its “imperialist plan of the moment” because so many assassination attempts have failed. And this sabotage plan is laid bare through President Bush’s goal of reducing oil purchases from countries which hate the US. Or more concisely, Hugo is in effect saying, “You can’t buy oil elsewhere! I need your money to keep calling you the Devil and fly first class to Tehran!! Imperialist jackals!! Buy Venezuelan!!” Or something to that effect.

Fidel must be so proud of his little grasshopper.

Did Chavez rig elections?

From a New York Sun article:

Hugo Chavez may have lost both the recall referendum in 2004 and the December 2006 presidential election, according to studies conducted by a distinguished multidisciplinary team in Caracas, Venezuela. The team includes the rector of Universidad Simon Bolivar, Frederick Malpica, and a former rector of the National Electoral Council, Alfredo Weil.

Astonishing as it may seem to Americans who believe the contention by Mr. Chavez that he won both elections by a landslide - 58% to 42% in the recall and 61% to 39% in the presidential election - the studies show that since 2003, Mr. Chavez has added 4.4 million favorable names to the voter list and "migrated" 2.6 million unfavorable voters to places where it was difficult or impossible for them to vote.

There was a report during the campaigning in Venezuela of Chavez's state run petroleum company blacklisting those that didn't support him. If it were to come out that his re-election were rigged, it would only be par for the course.

H/T: Greg Reeson

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I'm making a few changes on the blog, so things might look a little different. Don't fret.

Chavez on Al Jazeera: America is "Count Dracula"

The video is a couple of months old and was translated by the wonderful guys over at MEMRI. Make sure to check out their blog.

Kennedy a prop for Venezuela and Chavez?

What's the price of a gallon of milk? Ask Hugo!!

Feeding (as it were) off mgraves' last post....

Here are the AP's lead graphs on the supermarket story:

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez threatened Wednesday to nationalize any privately owned supermarkets and food storage facilities caught hoarding inventories or violating price controls imposed on basic goods.

Accusing private companies of hoarding beef and other foods, Chavez warned supermarket owners and distributors that he would nationalize their facilities as soon as they gave him "an excuse."

If they remain committed to violating the interests of the people, the constitution, the laws, I'm going to take the food storage units, corner stores, supermarkets and nationalize them," Chavez said during a televised broadcast. "So prepare yourselves!"

You know the first thought I had when I read that? Kulaks. What, or who, are they? The Wiki entry is here. The short answer is that they were Russians in the 1920s-30s who grew food and ate it. So they were killed. Why? Because they were hoarding and thereby violating the interests of the people. At least that's what the forebears of Hugo Chavez said.

Grocery stores up next

Chavez now wants to nationalize grocery stores. Not exactly a high profit industry.

Venezuela continues to spiral down, under the jackboot of Chavez.

Middle Class flight

Venezuelans capable of fleeing the country are starting to do so amid fears of a Chavez dictatorship. U.S. visa inquiries have doubled over the last several weeks. The U.K. reports a similar rise.

...
A website for would-be emigrants — mequieroir.com (I want to leave.com) —
reports that since Mr Chavez's December 3 election win, and his announcement
last month that he would nationalise the telecommunications and electricity
industries, its daily visits have soared from 20,000 to 60,000.
...
"Older people leave because they are concerned about the future of their
families," said Mr Barreiro, a graphic designer, "and younger people like us
leave because there is no future."
...

Chavez's promise of a perfect socialism is apparently not embraced by everyone.

Nationalization in Latin America

Bolivia's little Chavez moves ahead of Venezuela's Chavez in the industry nationalization race.

Chavez felt the need to pay for his first acquistion, but while the terms of Morales' appropriation haven't been disclosed as of yet, they are likely not as generous as those Chavez granted to the American company he "bought" out.

There is something to be said for being a nation willing to use force: when flea-bitten dictators take your property, they feel compelled to pay for it (0n occasion).

Communism: wrecking economies for over 100 years.

At least they're paying for the electric company they plan to nationalize. I can't say I blame Paul Hanrahan for selling out, if he waits he's liable to lose everything.

Obviously Chavez hasn't been studying his history of the Islamic revolution, or he'd know that he can just unilaterally take over inconvenient (or profitable) industries.

Good to know minority owner will have the option of selling their shares to Chavez...I mean the Venezuelan government.

This is just the start of Chavez's planned industry nationalizations.

It's nice to see two friends getting along

Direct flights from Iran to Venezuela will commence next month.

Luckily, Iran doesn't have anything to do with terrorism. Luckily, Venezuela isn't in our backyard, making passage for potential terrorists a little bit easier.

Nevermind.

Nothing wrong with global connectedness. The problem lies in each regime's irresponsibility and oppression of their own people, which, when combined with each nation's missionary zeal, makes for a rather volitile situation.

Columbia

I'd rather not be President Alvaro Uribe. He's surrounded by Chavez acolytes. He faces leftist terrorists. He faces right-wing militias. He faces massive drug cartels.

Columbia could certainly do a lot worse than President Uribe.

Hugo's "Old School" Aspirations

There's nothing like beginning a new century with ambitions to turn to a failed economic ideology from the previous century. Hugo Chavez, whose first name appears to be an amalgamation of the words "huge" and "ego" is pledging to use his impending vast new powers to usher in a socialist worker's paradise:

During a live broadcast from a cattle ranch in Venezuela's central plains, Chavez inaugurated a series of centers where he said Venezuelans will study socialist ideals while undergoing job training.

As workers milked cows and showed Chavez how they produce cheese, the president asked them about their daily lives and warned against the evils of capitalism.

He urged all Venezuelans to embrace "the socialism that we are going to create." But Chavez denied that he was attempting to steer oil-rich Venezuela toward Cuba-style communism, as many critics allege.

Perhaps someone should ask Hugo the Magnificent why, if the socialist state he would like to create is so superior to capitalism, tens of thousands of Mexican immigrants are seeking entrance into the United States instead of getting in on the ground floor of the worker's utopia he aspires to create? Hugo's also trying to calm the upper class -- and probably also the middle class -- understandably nervous about his ambitions by telling what I certainly believe to be a pernicious lie:

President Hugo Chavez denied Sunday that his left-leaning government would seize private property - such as second homes or expensive cars - from the wealthy and called on Venezuelans not to fear his accelerated push toward socialism.

Then there's this howler:

Chavez has raised concerns by repeatedly saying he wants to continue governing Venezuela until 2021 or longer. He was re-elected to a second, six-year term in December - his last under Venezuela's Constitution. But Chavez has proposed a constitutional reform that would allow indefinite re-election.

Why even bother stating a date? Surely his ambition is to govern Venezuela until he dies, after which he will limit himself to one term in recognition of the challenge of facing such a workload at such an, ahem, advanced age. I fear that this guy won't be going anywhere for a long, long time.

Video: Despotism

Since one of our largest concerns about Hugo Chavez is his movement towards consolidated control over the government and what media is allowed in Venezuela. This video from the late 1940s illustrates the traits that a democracy and a despotism show. We already see Chavez engaging in media suppression similar to what's in the video.

Chavez Threatening To Expel U.S. Ambassador

Hugo the Magnificent is once again rattling his butter knife, this time at U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield:

President Hugo Chavez warned he could expel the U.S. ambassador if he keeps "meddling in Venezuela's affairs," saying the diplomat went too far by suggesting U.S. investors should receive fair compensation when Venezuela nationalizes its largest telephone company.

"Mr. ambassador, go meddle in the affairs of your own country," Chavez said during a speech Thursday night, referring to Ambassador William Brownfield.

Chavez then whipped out his legal credentials -- probably those which he obtained via mail order -- and promptly accused the United States of violating the Geneva Accord:

"If you continue meddling in Venezuela's affairs, first of all, you are violating the Geneva accords and getting yourself involved in a serious violation and could ... be declared persona non- grata and would have to leave the country," Chavez added.

All this uproar just because Brownfield essentially suggested that Chavez shouldn't steal from the shareholders of Verizon Communications. Since Verizon is a New York-based company, it will be interesting to see what Senators Clinton and Schumer have to say about the nationalization. Brownfield also had the audacity to do the following:

A Texan with a penchant for understatement that at times verges on sarcasm, Brownfield has drawn Chavez's anger not only by raising Washington's concerns but also by handing out donations to youth baseball leagues and other charities in slums that are pro-government strongholds.

This is all a tad bit confusing. Chavez has sought to support his arguments for socialism partly through claims that Jesus Christ was a socialist. Chavez subsequently advocates a nationalization policy that would have him stealing money from shareholders. As if that weren't enough, he takes great offense when the U.S. Ambassador gives money to Venezuelan charities and other non-political causes. Maybe I have to read my Bible more thoroughly, but I'm pretty sure that Jesus was against stealing and supportive of charity. Ah, but what do I know.

New voice at Hugo Chavez Watch

Joe McCoy of Dictator Watch fame will be joining the Hugo Chavez Watch team. I'm proud to see this blog grow in scope and opinions, and I think Joe will add greatly to this blog.

Joe's primary blog, Scottish Right, can be found here.

Low levels of Venezuelans protest Chavez power grab

Joe at Dictator Watch posted this story:

Hundreds of Venezuelans have protested in Caracas against a congressional measure that would grant Hugo Chavez, the country's president, unbridled powers to pass laws by decree.

The protest came as the pro-Chavez National Assembly said it would postpone granting final approval to allow him to enact laws by decree for an 18-month period.

Raising their hands in the air, some 400 to 500 protesters stood in a plaza and shouted in unison: "Faced with authoritarianism - more democracy."

I have to agree with the assessment that Joe gives:

Hopefully this number is underreported or just the start of mass protests. It would be highly disturbing if tens of thousands don't take to the streets.

It is as clear as day that Chavez intends to become the Castro of the 21st century, an oppressor of his own people acting as a thorn in the side of freedom and democracy.

"Bush Likes Chavez’s New Venezuelan Tourism Slogan"

From Scrappleface:

(2007-01-21) — U.S. President George Bush today said he thinks Venezuela’s new tourism slogan, unveiled during President Hugo Chavez’s weekly broadcast, “really captures the appeal of the place for American travelers, and makes a bold call to action.”

Within the past two weeks, Mr. Chavez received authority from parliament to rule by decree, announced plans to nationalize several major industries and declared his belief that “capitalism is the road to the destruction of the world.”

However, a spokesman for Mr. Chavez denied that the Venezuelan president had introduced a new tourism slogan aimed at Americans, noting that the only remark in his speech directed to U.S. citizens was “Go to Hell, Gringos.”

Mr. Bush, when told of the denial, said, “My bad. It sure sounded like a Venezuelan tourism advertisement to me."

Paging Dr. Chavez...Paging Dr. Chavez (Part Tres)

One of the more interesting aspects of the Fidel Castro health saga has been the emergence of Latin America's premier gastroenterologist: Hugo Chavez. As documented on this blog here and here, Mr. Chavez has routinely provided updates on Castro's recovery from intestinal surgery. And as you might expect, this charismatic leader has done so with a flair and panache unmatched by your typical PR flack or commie stooge. In fact, word has it that Chavez will lend his talents to Kim Jong-il when the North Korean leader has his annual colonoscopy next month.

Anyway, Dr. Chavez was at it again yesterday offering his prognosis for Castro's recovery and dispelling rumors that the Cuban "leader" has one foot in the grave. Oh...And naturally the good doctor blamed the US for everything, which apparently includes using the embargo to deny Castro a high fiber diet. As reported by Reuters:

QUITO (Reuters) - Fidel Castro's recovery from surgery is slow and has risks, his close ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday, but he denied a Spanish newspaper report the Cuban leader's condition was serious.

Chavez, who regularly visits or speaks with Castro and gives frequent updates on his health in speeches, was less upbeat than he typically is about his mentor's convalescence following surgery on his intestine last year.

Chavez accused the United States of being behind false reports exaggerating the illness, which has forced Castro to temporarily hand power over to his brother on the communist-run island. "The empire (the United States) is bent on killing off Fidel Castro," Chavez said.

Cuban Heroes

My Spanish is ferocious bad, but anyone who speaks the language may want to visit PayoLibre.com. The site publishes news concerning Cuba.

Jay Nordlinger, of National Review, discusses several of Cuba's heroes.

Castro in "grave" condition?

That's by way of Reeson, who has this to say about Fidel Castro's successor to power:

If Castro dies, there will be some weakening of the Cuban government, largely because it is centered on a Stalin-like cult of personality with Fidel. But his brother, and likely successor, is even more ruthless, despite some inclinations toward Chinese-style economic reforms.

I don't personally know much at all about Raul or what his Cuba would look like. The age difference between the two isn't that substantial though, and eventually there will be another transition of power.

Private industry becomes an endangered species in Venezuela

Chavez aims to nationalize absolutely all of his country's energy sector, his own words:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on Saturday the country's entire energy sector had to be nationalized, reinforcing his socialist revolution and possibly giving himself more targets for state take-over.

But he said he would permit foreign firms to hold minority stakes in energy deals.

The anti-U.S. leader, in power since 1999, this week announced he would nationalize power utilities and the country's biggest telecommunications firm, confirming his status as the catalyst of Latin America's swing to the left.

"We have decided to nationalize the whole Venezuelan energy and electricity sector, all of it, absolutely all," Chávez said in his annual state of the nation address to parliament, potentially opening up more projects for state acquisition in the No. 4 crude exporter to the United States.

The president was reinaugurated this week for a term that runs through 2013.

It's so obvious to me, and it should be obvious to anyone paying attention, that Chavez is trying to consolidate his power in order to become the Fidel Castro of the 21st century. Let's hope the Venezuelan people see through the smokescreen and see that they are being manipulated.

Holy Crapola!!

Thank the Lord for YouTube. I don't know where I would get my Hugo and Castro videos without it.

Mr. T talks about Hugo Chavez

I came across this video while cruising YouTube. I think it's the first time I've ever heard Mr. T say anything remotely political.

Chavez, Ahmadinejad, and the root of all evil

Ahmadinejad and Chavez are a bit upset about falling gas prices. I don't know about you, but seeing the price of unleaded under $2.00 has just about made me drive of the road (if you're not so lucky, you have my condolences--I'm giving credit to the nuclear reactor down the road: it may not make sense economically [to give such credit], but I don't care at the moment).

They're also looking to spread the joys of anti-Americanism and capitalism by spreading cash around the third world. [Anybody else having fond memories of the Cold War? Sure, Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons yet, but we're not doing anything to hinder them in their pursuit].

And by the way: everything wrong with the world is America's fault. Whether it is poverty, disease, conflict, mismanagement, or aggressive stupidity, the U.S. is behind it:

Mr Ahmadinejad focused on injustice and poverty in the developing world,
laying the blame at Washington's door. "All this is the work of the
superpower."

Ahmadinejad heads to Venezuela again

Chavez and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are headed for another meeting, to kick off Ahmadinejad's tour of Latin America. Here's an excerpt of the WaPo article on the meeting:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Iran on Friday for his second trip to Latin America in four months, starting with a visit to Venezuela and talks with its anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez.

Ahmadinejad, who like Chavez peppers his speeches with statements against Washington, will also visit Nicaragua and Ecuador, where presidents opposed to U.S. policies have also recently won elections.

"Iran and Venezuela are very good friends ... The aim of this trip is to follow up previous agreements and to reach new ones," Ahmadinejad told reporters at Tehran's International Mehrabad airport, the official IRNA news agency said.

The cult of Hugo

Oh my stars... Check out this photo. I found it on an excellent Venezuelan blog. The post surrounding the photo concerns the wacky cult of personality developing around Chavez. And did you know he called the OAS secretary a pubic hair? Well he did. Go read that post.

Cindy Sheehan ignores appeals to visit Cuban prisoners

We all know how much love St. Sheehan has for Hugo Chavez, so why on earth would she want to waste her time visiting the victims of Castro's Cuba when she can spend her time with victims of American imperialism?

Christopher Hitchens has said it many times, and it needs repeating. Those that call themselves anti-war are not anti-war. They are pro-war for the other side.

The Damas de Blanco, or Ladies in White, who march silently through the streets of Havana every Sunday in protest at the incarceration of political prisoners of the Castro regime, wrote a letter to Ms. Sheehan inviting her to visit Cuban prisons.

The Damas drew Ms. Sheehan's attention to the poor state of Cuban prisons, which they say lack clean drinking water and adequate food and where their relatives are imprisoned solely for speaking out against Fidel Castro's government.

The leader of Ms. Sheehan's trip, Medea Benjamin, said the American activists had not seen the letter and that they would be focusing solely on Guantanamo.

"It just so happens that this is where the [ Guantanamo] prisoners are," Ms. Benjamin said. That the group is visiting Cuba, where prisons define daily life for many, is "very incidental," she added.

Video: Chavez sworn in

Adding to Scatbug's last post, here is a video from Fox on Chavez's promise of socialist revolution in Venezuela.

Hugo's idea man (Updated with a new quote and improved sarcasm!)

I suppose you've heard that Hugo Chavez yesterday officially condemned the Venezuelan people to the prison of socialism. Here's the story:

Chavez Gets More Power by Nationalizing

CARACAS, Venezuela -- As Venezuela embarked on another six years under Hugo Chavez, the president announced plans to nationalize power and telecom companies and make other bold changes that will concentrate more power in his hands.

Chavez, who will be sworn in Wednesday to a third term that runs until 2013, also said he wanted a constitutional amendment to strip the Central Bank of its autonomy and would soon ask the National Assembly, solidly controlled by his allies, to give him greater powers to legislate by presidential decree.

"We're moving toward a socialist republic of Venezuela, and that requires a deep reform of our national constitution," Chavez said in a televised address after swearing in his new Cabinet. "We're heading toward socialism, and nothing and no one can prevent it."

Legislating by decree. "nothing and no one can prevent it." All that's missing (for now) is a pledge to re-educate those who don't have their minds right.

And in case you think the alarms being sounded over Chavez's power grab are an over reaction, familiarize yourself with Heinz Dieterich. He's the thug whisperer who's training the new breed of Latin American socialists. The term Chavez adopted, "21st Century Socialism"? Dieterich wrote the book (literally). And I'm not talking about European socialism lite. No, Mr. Dieterich is an old-school Leninist. Here are some of his thoughts from an interview in Unsere Zeit, the German Communist Party newspaper. (I found it on a different web site so click the first link for the full version.)

On what it will take for Chavez to be successful...

In my view, one can only do today in Venezuela what Lenin did in the New Economic Policy. Every other attempt to make steps toward socialism under today's conditions would lead rapidly to the collapse of the system because there is no basis of power from which to execute it. The bourgeois state has not been destroyed, it has merely reorganized itself into a new way of governing. The church has not lost its influence. Eighty percent of the mass media are in the hands of large companies opposed to the government. Also, the kind of correlation of power that would allow for a repetition of what happened in Cuba or the Soviet Union is lacking.

[...]

Lenin defined different requirements for different times. First, there was electrification. That meant the insight that the objective conditions for socialism did not exist -- they could be only created. That allowed for the collectivization of agriculture. The whole movement of farm collectives was a result of the political necessity, for the future of the revolution, of bringing under party control the potential within the population of making a decision for it. That was the deciding factor. And Lenin realized, of course, that the Soviet Union would remain bourgeois in the medium term if the peasants were not brought under the ideological direction of the party and the workers.

Of course as every schoolboy/girl knows (har-har), Lenin's New Economic Policy and collectivization killed people in the tens of millions either by execution, disease, or forced starvation...and sometimes all three for good measure. So it appears Mr. Dieterich fails to grasp that the term Great Famine -- just one catastrophic result of the NEP -- is not meant as a compliment to Lenin's skills as an economist and social organizer. If Dieterich has a similar favorable impression of the Great Famine Redux under Stalin, the interview doesn't say. But he does give some praise to Mao, so undoubtedly he has a soft spot for Uncle Joe as well.The whole interview is just more and more of that kind of rubbish.

However, at the end Mr. Dieterich at least supplies some comic relief...

But in any case it [socialism] must all be done democratically. If at some point the people say, "We have reached the level of development of Costa Rica and that's good enough for us, we don't want any socialist experiments in Venezuela," then there is nothing to be done. Democracy means that the majority rules. If the majority is satisfied with quasi-first world social conditions and does not wish to go any farther, socialism cannot be imposed.

Goodness...Many a collectivized field could be fertilized with that dung heap of a quote. Has Hugo Chavez given any indication he'd go along with a vote to remove him from power? What about Castro (Fidel or Raul)? Or Kim? And let's revisit the beginning of this post: legislating by decree; "nothing and no one can prevent it." That sure sounds like imposing socialism, no?

UPDATE: So Chavez was sworn in as tyrant...er...president today. I wonder if he ran this line from his speech past Heinz Dieterich: "Fatherland. Socialism or death — I swear it." Wow. That kinda adds a few more tons to Dieterich's dung heap, doesn't it.

Sabotage

A teen managed to hack into Venezuela's government website:

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- A 17-year-old has been detained by Venezuelan authorities after hacking into multiple government Web sites and posting playful photos of President Hugo Chavez and his close ally, Cuba's Fidel Castro, on some of them.

The boy modified 23 Web sites -- including those of the vice president's office, the National Guard and the investigative police -- between December 30 and 31, Oswaldo Guevara, the investigative police's head of computer-related crimes, said Friday.

He signed off on the photo-postings and other cosmetic changes made to the home pages with his hacker name, "J41ber", and home telephone number. The modifications had included photomontages of Chavez and Castro, Guevara said.

Local media reported the boy, who was living in a poor neighborhood in western Carabobo state, was hoping his actions would win him a job with the private telecommunications company hosting the Web sites.

I wonder what the pictures looked like? Were they similiar to the ones we have at the top of this blog?

Prison Safety in Venezuela

South America Daily, a repository of news articles primarily concerned with South America is one of my favorite news sources on South America. There are headings on each of eight major South American countries.

Today (03Jan07) has three articles concerning prison riots in Venezuela (of six ledes):

>Venezuela prison riot kills 16 inmates

>22 Inmates Killed This Week in Venezuelan Prison Riots

>Venezuelan prison riots kill 22 inmates this week

Remind me not to get arrested in Venezuela. (Although I think all three stories refer to the same riots, but from different newspapers).

Nutty S.O.B.

From the Japan Times:

Revolution was good for Cuba.

The author, Grant Piper, demonstrates that he is a communist by praising the Bolshevik Revolution and the Chinese Communist Revolution as the best things to happen to those countries in modern times.

This guy belongs at a U.S. college teaching "journalism".

Get well...uh...eventually.

With everyone zigging on the Saddam rope-a-dope, I thought I'd zag with an Uncle Fidel update. It seems the old rascal has issued a New Year's greeting to "his people". In the message he thanks them for their "courage" and their "calm and maturity" during his long illness. He also assures them that he still has a finger in the blood pudding through regular updates from his henchmen. And of course no Fidel message would be complete without the obligatory harangue against global imperialists for consuming things and destroying the environment (as if greater Havana's anything to brag about).

But what I found curious about the story, was the accompanying photo:



According to the caption, the graffiti translates as: "Long live Fidel and his recuperation". Hmmmm. Not exactly "Get well soon", is it. Maybe it's just a Commie thing. They're like totally into heroic struggles, so that must apply to getting sick too. And actually, I share the sentiment. I hope the recuperation lasts the rest of his life.

(Cross-posted at Scatbug's Scatterings)