Chavez has his own private War

[adios]

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Chavez being foolish is no reason for us to make life worse for Venezuelans. We're doing the same thing in Iran.

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Not sure but I think you mean economic sanctions of some sort. If so not aware the extent to which the U.S. has led an effort to impose economic sanctions on Venezuela. I did find this bill that was introduced by Democrate Alcee Hastings condemning the political unrest in Venezuela:

Condemning the current political unrest and political leadership in Venezuela

I'm fairly certain this is an effort by Chavez to deflect criticism away from him and towards the United States. Obviously there's a fair number of Venezuelan citizens who are dissatisfied with his regime. Creating an enemy to rail against is SOP really for unpopular political leaders.

[John Kilduff]

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Chavez is a loon who believes Bush is the Devil.

[/ QUOTE ]Deep.

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Not deep, just accurate. Chavez actually called Bush the Devil several times at a not-too-long-ago U.N. conference.

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Theory: Bush is directly responsible for the death of more innocents (women, children) than Chavez

Anyone want to debate that?

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No, I agree with that, but I wouldn't mind if people would take a moment to agree that Chavez is a loon
(who also repeatedly asserted that Bush is the Devil). As naive and misguided as Bush's war and policies have been and are, it doesn't change the fact that Chavez is a loon. If you have read Chavez's speeches over time I think you you will not be able to escape the conclusion that he is a crackpot. Why have three people seemed to resist that statement in almost a knee-jerk sort of manner? Is the hatred of Bush so engrained at this point that attacking an enemy of Bush immediately evokes a reflexive response in the opposite direction?

Thanks for any insights on the initial topic, or on my follow-up question above. If you'd care to start a "let's bash Bush's policies" thread I would be happy to join in with vigor.

[GoodCallYouWin]

If his two options are
A) Socialism
B) Being a bitch to American Imperialist Interests

it is probably in his countries interest and his own to choose A. naturally of course, option C) (free society w/ free market) would be the best but I don't see that as an option for Chavez (both because of the correlation between The Free Market and American Imperialism and because of the need to nationalize the industries of Venezuela to bring them under the ownership of the Venezuelan people).

[andyfox]

I imagine wer're taking covert actions against the governments of Iran and Venezuela on the economic, political, social and other fronts. Surely whatever-the-hell-his-name-is in Iran is also an SOB and deserves the disapproval with his regime that is apparently increasing there. But we should think twice or three times before we foment trouble and give the citizenry a reason to believe the prick when he says he needs more power to counteract American disruption. Don't give credence to the SOP of railing against us.

BTW, two frontpage articles within the last week, one in the LA Times, the other in the NY Times--two paragons of mainstream liberalism--detailed the crackdown on dissent in Iran by the government.

[tolbiny]

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In all fairness, didn't the U.S. just sponser a coup against him?

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not trying to defend him or socialism, but having all US interventions in the region in the last decades in your mind, i don't see this as an extremely nonsense move.

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The weapons he's purchasing are far more likely to be used against Venezuelans than against Americans... and I wouldn't at all be surprised if that is the real intention behind the purchase given the history of extreme socialist regimes.