But its great our media spend so much time on an inevitable and catastrophic collapse in Venezuela.
So responsible.
Showing posts with label Venezuela. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Venezuela. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Friday, April 6, 2012
Hugo: Preparing for Hell, packing lite.
Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on God to spare his life
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wept and asked God to spare his life during a pre-Easter Mass on Thursday after returning from his latest session of cancer treatment in Cuba.
9:47AM BST 06 Apr 2012
Very little is known about the 57-year-old socialist leader's condition, including even what type of cancer he has. Chavez has undergone three operations in less than a year, and received two sessions of radiation treatment.
He says the latest surgery was successful, that he is recovering well and will be fit to win a new six-year term at an election in October. Yet big questions remain about his future, and on Thursday the strain appeared to show.
In a televised speech to the Catholic service in his home state of Barinas, Chavez cried and his voice broke as he eulogised Jesus, revolutionary fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara and South American independence hero Simon Bolivar.
"Never forget that we are the children of giants ... I could not avoid some tears," the former soldier said, his parents and other relatives looking on from the church rows.
"Give me your crown, Jesus. Give me your cross, your thorns so that I may bleed. But give me life, because I have more to do for this country and these people. Do not take me yet," Chavez added, standing below an image of Jesus with the Crucifix.
[To read more, click on the link above]
Hugo, sorry old chap, He is not inclined to give you anything. Not the crown, not the thorns, and he certainly will not listen to anyone who invokes political bullshit with his egocentric tirade about being saved so he can continue the revolution.
You can save some money on your campaign - you will not be around in October to be elected by the few who stuff the ballots and chase away those who would vote contrary to your wishes.
Good luck in Hell and enjoy your time with Che and Saddam, Osama, and Adolph, along with the other dictators of history.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Chavez and His Last Days
Chavez returns to Venezuela amid rumors -
"Perhaps to prove the point, in January he gave what may have been the longest ever presidential speech, talking for almost 10 hours nonstop, assuring Venezuelans that he was “completely cured” from the cancer he was diagnosed with last June."
10 HOURS. Even Biden can't talk that long. And the Venezuelans, do they buy his 'completely cured' diagnosis?
“We’re all praying for a speedy recovery for our Comandante,” self-confessed diehard chavista Glenda Colmenares said outside a church in central Caracas. “This is a difficult time for us but we have to have faith that Chávez will be OK. Without him there is no revolution.”
Yep.
An educated populace.
It is not a matter of wishing. They believe.
Change? Not when they are consumed by such ignorance.
Thankfully the man will be dead soon and they can get over their naivety. Perhaps even grow up.
venezuela
"Perhaps to prove the point, in January he gave what may have been the longest ever presidential speech, talking for almost 10 hours nonstop, assuring Venezuelans that he was “completely cured” from the cancer he was diagnosed with last June."
10 HOURS. Even Biden can't talk that long. And the Venezuelans, do they buy his 'completely cured' diagnosis?
“We’re all praying for a speedy recovery for our Comandante,” self-confessed diehard chavista Glenda Colmenares said outside a church in central Caracas. “This is a difficult time for us but we have to have faith that Chávez will be OK. Without him there is no revolution.”
Yep.
An educated populace.
It is not a matter of wishing. They believe.
Change? Not when they are consumed by such ignorance.
Thankfully the man will be dead soon and they can get over their naivety. Perhaps even grow up.
venezuela
Monday, February 13, 2012
Feb 13, 9:11 PM EST
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER and IAN JAMES
Associated Press
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Monday called for "balanced elections" and criticized the use of government money and slanted coverage in state media as President Hugo Chavez seeks re-election.
Capriles is expected to face a tough race against Chavez, who even after 13 years in office remains a hero to many of his supporters and maintains a visceral connection to a significant segment of the poor in Venezuela. Chavez also will likely use a bonanza of public spending as he seeks re-election in the Oct. 7 presidential election.
Capriles complained that government-run television coverage is tilted against him.
"Let's have some balanced elections," Capriles said at a news conference a day after handily winning the opposition's first-ever presidential primary.
The 39-year-old candidate, who is governor of Miranda state, also strongly criticized Chavez's economic policies. He condemned the government's expropriations of hundreds of businesses, apartment buildings and farms over the past decade.
"All the expropriations have been a failure," Capriles said. "The companies that have been seized by the state must be reviewed one by one."
He said some of those businesses could be privatized if he defeats Chavez.
Capriles warned that newly stiffened price controls won't work and predicted many items will become scarce. He said deodorant could start to vanish from stores, laughing as he said that Venezuelans might need to start to live with body odor.
Capriles touted the turnout of about 3 million ballots cast out of 18 million registered voters as a major achievement.
"Venezuela woke up with a new political reality," Capriles said.
Vice President Elias Jaua said that it was positive for the opposition to have recognized the authority of the National Electoral Council. Some Chavez opponents have questioned its independence in the past.
"We hope that this same recognition exists Oct. 7 when Hugo Chavez wins the elections," Jaua said on state television. He said the opposition should respect the electoral council as an impartial arbiter, as well as the role the military will play in maintaining security during the vote.
Chavez has said no one can question the fairness of the country's electoral system, and that his government's spending is aimed at promoting the country's development and addressing the needs of Venezuelans.
[Especially if the government spends $4 billion in the two weeks leading up to the election and only $1 billion the other 350 days of the year. Of course no one can question the government.]
About 16 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the primary, far surpassing the opposition's goal of 10 percent to 12 percent.
Venezuelan pollster Luis Vicente Leon called the turnout historic, both for the opposition and for the country. He said previous primaries by Chavez's party haven't drawn so many voters.
Venezuela has grown heavily polarized, with most either admiring or despising Chavez. About one-fourth of voters are in neither political camp, though, and in that group about 10 to 15 percent are likely to cast ballots, Leon said. Many of the swing voters are young people who have grown up during Chavez's presidency, Leon said.
In order to compete, Capriles will likely need to win over voters who leaned pro-Chavez in the past, who have grown disillusioned with the government and don't strongly identify with either side.
Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the opposition seems to be on solid footing.
"They have a charismatic, credible candidate who - since he has spent most of his adult life in Chavez's Venezuela - doesn't carry the baggage of the corrupt governments that came before Hugo Chavez," Isacson said. "And the opposition no doubt benefits from a bout of 'Chavez fatigue' in Venezuela: even many voters who think fondly of Hugo Chavez may feel that 14 years is enough, and his cancer has made many start to envision a post-Chavez Venezuela for the first time in a while."
Chavez's approval ratings have topped 50 percent in recent polls, and his struggle with cancer doesn't appear to have hurt his popularity. The 57-year-old president says he's cancer-free after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy last year, and has been energetic in his hours-long television appearances, apparently trying to show he can still keep up with a younger challenger.
Steve Ellner, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said he thinks one significant hurdle facing Capriles is to try to "challenge Chavez's claim to being the president of the non-privileged as well as the defender of Venezuelan nationalism."
"Capriles needs to come up with a set of concrete measures that are innovative and reach out to the popular classes," Ellner said.
Capriles is a moderate who describes his views as center-left.
He said he expects personal attacks from Chavez to increase, and suggested that he, too, might become more confrontational in response. So far, Capriles has largely avoided direct or personal barbs.
Capriles said he's ready to confront Chavez, but wants the discussion to focus on issues related to Venezuela's most pressing domestic problems.
"If they want me to get into the ring, I'll get into the ring, but my objective is knocking out corruption, unemployment, the hospital infrastructure that doesn't function," Capriles said.
Capriles said he would welcome a televised debate. Chavez didn't immediately respond to that challenge.
The leftist president said before the primary that all of his rivals represent the interests of the rich and the U.S. government.
Chavez has already kicked his campaign machinery into gear. He has increased spending by launching new social programs that offer cash benefits for the poor and invested heavily in new railways, public housing and cable car systems in Venezuela's hillside slums. As the election nears, he will inaugurate other big-ticket projects that grab attention, including the planned launch of Venezuela's second Chinese-made satellite shortly before the October vote.
[This point is well worth noting.]Capriles might not be able to compete with Chavez's spending nor his ability to take over the airwaves of all TV and radio stations when he deems appropriate. But Capriles can count on ample campaign funding from anti-Chavez donors, as well as high visibility in opposition-aligned media including the television channel Globovision, private radio stations and newspapers.
Chavez has warned voters that if they don't re-elect him, his social programs called "missions" would vanish. That threat, though disputed by Capriles, could have an influence on some in the run-up to the vote.
Many working-class Venezuelans say they still believe in Chavez and his socialist-inspired program, even as some "Chavistas" openly complain of inefficiency and corruption within his government.
"There are good things and bad things because nobody's perfect, but ... he's helped poor people a lot," said Heidi Lopez, a 33-year-old who raves about the discounted food at government-run markets and plans to vote for Chavez again.
Some of Capriles' supporters say they think he has a good chance of winning over Venezuelans who otherwise might lean pro-Chavez because he has taken a largely non-confrontational approach while promising solutions to problems including 26-percent inflation and one of the highest murder rates in Latin America.
Diego Prada, a 23-year-old marketing manager, said Capriles' inclusive approach resonates among many.
"People are tired of so much confrontation," Prada said.
So ... why was that paragraph worth noting? Hmm.
What is wrong with the Chinese buying US debt? What is wrong with the Chinese buying European debt? Yet our political system could reject demands made by the Chinese and the American people could reject Chinese ultimatums. Our political system has checks and balances, has a process that permits opposition. We have a healthy political system where two parties thrive and opposition is very vocal.
In Venezuela there is no legitimate opposition - even the opposition candidate is a left of center figure. It is a matter of two lefts, one further than the other. The government, run by Chavez, dominates everything - and control is total. Within that system the Chinese have begun their advance, and there is no structure in place to prevent them from rolling through. The Chinese will splash around money, and opportunity to stick a finger the eye of the US, and the obedient troglodytes will do as they are told, even if they believe they are articulating independent thought.
There is no structure to prevent the Chinese from buying off the top 2-3 people and Chavez mandating whatever the Chinese demand. In time, the wealth and proximity to power will swallow them up, leaving Venezuela as a puppet of China, and Chavez is intellectually incapable of recognizing this advance by the Chinese and Iranians. He thinks they all hate the US and he welcomes them. He believes he has the control, but he is losing it, and Iran is gaining inches, China is gaining feet, and Venezuela is losing, while Chavez prances around.
venezuela
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Chavez: Colostomy Bag and then Death
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Chavez Has Colon Cancer, Infected Abdomen, El Periodico Says
By Daniel Cancel
Jul 2, 2011 5:30 PM PT .
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is battling a colon cancer that has perforated his intestinal wall and infected his abdomen, Spanish newspaper El Periodico said, citing unidentified Venezuelan diplomats.
Chavez will have to use a colostomy bag for at least three months, the Barcelona-based newspaper reported. Chavez, who is recovering from two surgeries in Cuba, isn’t able to begin chemotherapy due to the infection, the paper said. The situation is serious because the tumor may have metastasized, El Periodico reported, citing the diplomats.
The first operation for a pelvic abscess was performed by a Cuban surgeon while the second operation to remove the tumor was performed by a Spanish surgeon in Havana the newspaper said.
chavez
Chavez Has Colon Cancer, Infected Abdomen, El Periodico Says
By Daniel Cancel
Jul 2, 2011 5:30 PM PT .
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is battling a colon cancer that has perforated his intestinal wall and infected his abdomen, Spanish newspaper El Periodico said, citing unidentified Venezuelan diplomats.
Chavez will have to use a colostomy bag for at least three months, the Barcelona-based newspaper reported. Chavez, who is recovering from two surgeries in Cuba, isn’t able to begin chemotherapy due to the infection, the paper said. The situation is serious because the tumor may have metastasized, El Periodico reported, citing the diplomats.
The first operation for a pelvic abscess was performed by a Cuban surgeon while the second operation to remove the tumor was performed by a Spanish surgeon in Havana the newspaper said.
chavez
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Libya: Yet another nut believes it is a conspiracy
Everything that happened in Tunisia must have been inspired by the US and Jews, to spill over into Egypt, in order that it catch fire in Libya - all a plot to invade.
We have been told how our leaders, particularly in the past, have always been eager for war - yet what evidence is provided - the word of various despots and dictators. Who better to listen to. Yet, if one believes what these loons have to say, you MUST to be intellectually honest, evaluate what they say and what must be accepted as preconditions to whatever rubbish may spill from their mouths.
The above first sentence, must precede what is to follow or it does not make sense. The best airing of the following proposition would be the US is exaggerating the death claims (UN and Amnesty NOT the US). The US is exaggerating what Kaddafi is doing, not Al Jazxeerra with a camera on 24/7. These despots need to go back on their meds and the loyal subjects who elected them need to once more retrurn to staring at images of their dear leader.
Chavez: U.S. distorting situation in Libya 'to justify an invasion'
By Catherine E. Shoichet
CNN
March 1, 2011 9:52 a.m. EST
(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez claims U.S. criticism of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has a clear aim: military invasion.
"Let's not get carried away by the drums of war, because the United States, I am sure that they are exaggerating and distorting things to justify an invasion," Chavez said Monday, according to Venezuelan state media.
...
"Instead of sending Marines and tanks and planes, why don't we send a goodwill commission to try to help so that they do not continue killing in Libya? They are our brothers," he said in a speech televised on the government-run network.
The only brothers you have in Libya Hugo, are the ones named Kaddafi - and their presence on this earth is limited. As Vladimir Putin stated Moammar is a 'living corpse'.
I understand it is disappointing to you Hugo, to lose such a close ally and another, Iran - facing the likelihood of ever increasing protests that may topple your ally and friend (one of very few you have among the nations on earth). It must be bothersome to you Hugo. Worrisome. The protests could spread to your despotic rule.
hugo
We have been told how our leaders, particularly in the past, have always been eager for war - yet what evidence is provided - the word of various despots and dictators. Who better to listen to. Yet, if one believes what these loons have to say, you MUST to be intellectually honest, evaluate what they say and what must be accepted as preconditions to whatever rubbish may spill from their mouths.
The above first sentence, must precede what is to follow or it does not make sense. The best airing of the following proposition would be the US is exaggerating the death claims (UN and Amnesty NOT the US). The US is exaggerating what Kaddafi is doing, not Al Jazxeerra with a camera on 24/7. These despots need to go back on their meds and the loyal subjects who elected them need to once more retrurn to staring at images of their dear leader.
Chavez: U.S. distorting situation in Libya 'to justify an invasion'
By Catherine E. Shoichet
CNN
March 1, 2011 9:52 a.m. EST
(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez claims U.S. criticism of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has a clear aim: military invasion.
"Let's not get carried away by the drums of war, because the United States, I am sure that they are exaggerating and distorting things to justify an invasion," Chavez said Monday, according to Venezuelan state media.
...
"Instead of sending Marines and tanks and planes, why don't we send a goodwill commission to try to help so that they do not continue killing in Libya? They are our brothers," he said in a speech televised on the government-run network.
The only brothers you have in Libya Hugo, are the ones named Kaddafi - and their presence on this earth is limited. As Vladimir Putin stated Moammar is a 'living corpse'.
I understand it is disappointing to you Hugo, to lose such a close ally and another, Iran - facing the likelihood of ever increasing protests that may topple your ally and friend (one of very few you have among the nations on earth). It must be bothersome to you Hugo. Worrisome. The protests could spread to your despotic rule.
hugo
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Venezuela and Iran: Going Nuclear and Muslims in Venezuela
From the wikileaks - I have posted without reducing or eliminating spacing or anything:
VZCZCXRO6675
PP RUEHAG
DE RUEHCV #0958/01 0972019
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 072019Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4003
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 6275
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 5360
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ PRIORITY 1877
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 0083
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 1952
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 3674
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0655
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 1129
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 3426
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA PRIORITY 1124
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0110
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO PRIORITY 0723
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0090
RUEHMI/USOFFICE FRC FT LAUDERDALE PRIORITY 2980
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0622S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 CARACAS 000958
Going Nuclear?: Uranium Rumors and More
CARACAS 00000958 003.2 OF 005
----------------------------------------
¶6. (C) As reported REF A, recent rumors that Venezuela is
trafficking in nuclear weapons and mining uranium for Iran
appear to be little more than the conspiracy-mongering by
Chavez adversaries. More disconcerting, however, are BRV and
GOI statements that suggest a long-term plan to develop
Venezuela's nuclear potential. Chavez mentioned on his
weekly "Alo Presidente" program in May 2005 the possibility
of asking help from "countries like Iran" in developing a
nuclear energy program. In February 2006, Iran publicly
affirmed its willingness to help Venezuela develop nuclear
energy, according to press reports. (See REF B for a
description of Venezuela's need for foreign expertise to
restart the fledgling nuclear program it shut down in the
1980s.) In March 2005, a memorandum of understanding signed
by the Iranian and Venezuelan Presidents established that
Iran would help Venezuela create a "National Geoscience
Database" that would contain a survey of the mineral deposits
throughout Venezuelan territory. Tomasso Tosini, geologist
and director of the Earth Sciences Institute of the Central
University of Venezuela, told us in June 2005 that creating
such a "basic geological map" of Venezuela would be the
logical first step to restarting a uranium program in
Venezuela.
¶5. (C) During a February 2006 meeting with poloff, UCV
professor and senior Accion Democratica party official Nelson
Lara claimed to have information substantiating Iran's
involvement in Venezuela's mineral sector. Lara said active
duty military officers in his classes told him that 20
Iranian officials were working in the Ministry of Basic
Industry and Mines. He said the Iranians did not answer to
any Venezuelan management. Lara speculated about their
involvement in uranium mining but said he did not know the
Iranians' role in the ministry. He added that 37 Iranians
were active in the Venezuelan Institute of Geology and Mines,
which Chavez launched in mid-2004.
¶6. (C) Venezuelan threats to take over property in areas
believed to have significant radioactive deposits are fueling
additional rumors that Venezuela is planning to mine
uranium. (Embassy note: Rumors that the BRV is planning to
mine these areas appear overblown. Factors besides uranium
are driving the government's targeting of land, although the
delays in expropriations reported in REF C could also reflect
BRV attempts to drag out negotiations for land until it can
gauge the true value of properties' mineral wealth.) In the
mid-1980s, the Ministry of Energy and Mines conducted
preliminary geochemical samplings that indicated the possible
presence of uranium deposits in at least two locations
currently eyed by the government:
-- The study revealed "anomalous areas to be assessed in
more detail" along the Caroni River in Bolivar State, where
the National Guard has begun evicting individual gold and
diamond prospectors reportedly to prevent them from damaging
the environment. In mid-March, National Guard attempts to
dislodge people from the Caroni basin ended in the deaths of
two miners. Demanding the withdrawal of soldiers stationed
in the Venezuelan military's fifth theater of operations
(TO5), miners responded by blocking roads and burning TO5
facilities.
-- The ministry report cited a section of Cojedes State as a
source of concentrated uranium. The area contains ranch and
nature preserve Hato Pinero, which the government has
targeted for possible expropriation. Concerned that the
ranch's alleged mineral wealth might attract BRV interest,
CARACAS 00000958 004.2 OF 005
ranch owner Jaime Perez Branger gave us a copy of an earlier
(1959) Ministry of Mines report calling Pinero's granite "the
most radioactive in the region." A footnote in the document,
however, noted that the counters used in the 1959 study would
not have detected uranium ore, one of many possible sources
of radioactivity.
-------
Defense
-------
¶7. (S//NF) Defense cooperation may also help explain the
expansion of the bilateral relationship (REFS D and E).
Indeed, an army official is scheduled to replace the current
Iranian Ambassador to Venezuela. According to sensitive
reporting, the Venezuelan Government is seeking lethal
armament from Iran such as rockets and other explosive
materiel. Venezuela has also sought from Iran parts for the
U.S. aircraft in its fleet that have been denied under the
Department's policy prohibiting the sale of components for
lethal munitions. Finally, sensitive reporting suggests that
Venezuela has sought help from Iran in establishing its
military reserve force. The Iranian popular mobilization
army (Basij) and the revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) invite
comparison with Venezuela's still evolving parallel military
structures: the reserves and the territorial guard.
Commander of the Basij Gen. Mohammed Hejazi visited Venezuela
in 2005, and an IRGC colonel has arrived here probably on
permanent assignment. A retired military officer citing
Venezuelan reservists told us March 24 that Iran had a small
number of soldiers in Venezuela training the reserves.
---------------
Shared Culture?
---------------
¶8. (S//NF) Venezuela has a Muslim population of about
250,000 including some tens of thousands of Shia'. In
addition to its political activities, the nine
Iranians--including four career diplomats--posted to the
Iranian Embassy in Venezuela represent a small but growing
number of their citizens working in Venezuela in both the
formal and informal sectors. Cultural ties between the two
countries, however, do little to help explain the expanding
relationship. Most Venezuelans are unfamiliar with Muslims
and are unable to distinguish Iranians from Arabs or from
other Muslims. Indeed, as REF F states about Iran and Cuba,
Venezuelan and Iranian societies have little more in common
than their despotic leaders' antipathy toward the United
States.
-------
Comment
-------
¶9. (C) Venezuela's support for a country that has nuclear
ambitions, supports terrorism, and talks about wiping Israel
off the map is of grave concern. It also alarms
nations--such as France (REF G)--that have tended to make
light of our concerns about Venezuela's antidemocratic
tendencies and militarization. We can exploit this alarm.
Just as the shared animosity toward Washington driving the
Iran-Venezuela relationship leads to irrational commercial
endeavors, it is also likely to lead to additional diplomatic
gaffes and other missteps that reflect poorly on the BRV
among wary international observers.
¶10. (C) We should not dismiss the uranium rumors. At the
very least, it appears clear Venezuela plans to prospect for
CARACAS 00000958 005.2 OF 005
uranium with the intention of starting a nuclear program.
Like many BRV schemes, the plan may remain in bureaucratic
and financial limbo for years, and it may never be
fulfilled. Yet, in the event that its ends are not peaceful,
it warrants careful monitoring. All source information
indicates Iran needs foreign sources of uranium to maintain
its nuclear program. How Iran would benefit from any
Venezuelan plan to extract uranium will be an open question
as long as Venezuela's uranium deposits remain unverified.
BROWNFIELD
| 06CARACAS958 | 2006-04-07 20:08 | 2010-12-01 21:09 | SECRET//NOFORN | Embassy Caracas |
VZCZCXRO6675
PP RUEHAG
DE RUEHCV #0958/01 0972019
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 072019Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4003
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 6275
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 5360
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ PRIORITY 1877
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 0083
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 1952
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 3674
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0655
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 1129
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 3426
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA PRIORITY 1124
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0110
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO PRIORITY 0723
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0090
RUEHMI/USOFFICE FRC FT LAUDERDALE PRIORITY 2980
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0622S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 CARACAS 000958
Going Nuclear?: Uranium Rumors and More
CARACAS 00000958 003.2 OF 005
----------------------------------------
¶6. (C) As reported REF A, recent rumors that Venezuela is
trafficking in nuclear weapons and mining uranium for Iran
appear to be little more than the conspiracy-mongering by
Chavez adversaries. More disconcerting, however, are BRV and
GOI statements that suggest a long-term plan to develop
Venezuela's nuclear potential. Chavez mentioned on his
weekly "Alo Presidente" program in May 2005 the possibility
of asking help from "countries like Iran" in developing a
nuclear energy program. In February 2006, Iran publicly
affirmed its willingness to help Venezuela develop nuclear
energy, according to press reports. (See REF B for a
description of Venezuela's need for foreign expertise to
restart the fledgling nuclear program it shut down in the
1980s.) In March 2005, a memorandum of understanding signed
by the Iranian and Venezuelan Presidents established that
Iran would help Venezuela create a "National Geoscience
Database" that would contain a survey of the mineral deposits
throughout Venezuelan territory. Tomasso Tosini, geologist
and director of the Earth Sciences Institute of the Central
University of Venezuela, told us in June 2005 that creating
such a "basic geological map" of Venezuela would be the
logical first step to restarting a uranium program in
Venezuela.
¶5. (C) During a February 2006 meeting with poloff, UCV
professor and senior Accion Democratica party official Nelson
Lara claimed to have information substantiating Iran's
involvement in Venezuela's mineral sector. Lara said active
duty military officers in his classes told him that 20
Iranian officials were working in the Ministry of Basic
Industry and Mines. He said the Iranians did not answer to
any Venezuelan management. Lara speculated about their
involvement in uranium mining but said he did not know the
Iranians' role in the ministry. He added that 37 Iranians
were active in the Venezuelan Institute of Geology and Mines,
which Chavez launched in mid-2004.
¶6. (C) Venezuelan threats to take over property in areas
believed to have significant radioactive deposits are fueling
additional rumors that Venezuela is planning to mine
uranium. (Embassy note: Rumors that the BRV is planning to
mine these areas appear overblown. Factors besides uranium
are driving the government's targeting of land, although the
delays in expropriations reported in REF C could also reflect
BRV attempts to drag out negotiations for land until it can
gauge the true value of properties' mineral wealth.) In the
mid-1980s, the Ministry of Energy and Mines conducted
preliminary geochemical samplings that indicated the possible
presence of uranium deposits in at least two locations
currently eyed by the government:
-- The study revealed "anomalous areas to be assessed in
more detail" along the Caroni River in Bolivar State, where
the National Guard has begun evicting individual gold and
diamond prospectors reportedly to prevent them from damaging
the environment. In mid-March, National Guard attempts to
dislodge people from the Caroni basin ended in the deaths of
two miners. Demanding the withdrawal of soldiers stationed
in the Venezuelan military's fifth theater of operations
(TO5), miners responded by blocking roads and burning TO5
facilities.
-- The ministry report cited a section of Cojedes State as a
source of concentrated uranium. The area contains ranch and
nature preserve Hato Pinero, which the government has
targeted for possible expropriation. Concerned that the
ranch's alleged mineral wealth might attract BRV interest,
CARACAS 00000958 004.2 OF 005
ranch owner Jaime Perez Branger gave us a copy of an earlier
(1959) Ministry of Mines report calling Pinero's granite "the
most radioactive in the region." A footnote in the document,
however, noted that the counters used in the 1959 study would
not have detected uranium ore, one of many possible sources
of radioactivity.
-------
Defense
-------
¶7. (S//NF) Defense cooperation may also help explain the
expansion of the bilateral relationship (REFS D and E).
Indeed, an army official is scheduled to replace the current
Iranian Ambassador to Venezuela. According to sensitive
reporting, the Venezuelan Government is seeking lethal
armament from Iran such as rockets and other explosive
materiel. Venezuela has also sought from Iran parts for the
U.S. aircraft in its fleet that have been denied under the
Department's policy prohibiting the sale of components for
lethal munitions. Finally, sensitive reporting suggests that
Venezuela has sought help from Iran in establishing its
military reserve force. The Iranian popular mobilization
army (Basij) and the revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) invite
comparison with Venezuela's still evolving parallel military
structures: the reserves and the territorial guard.
Commander of the Basij Gen. Mohammed Hejazi visited Venezuela
in 2005, and an IRGC colonel has arrived here probably on
permanent assignment. A retired military officer citing
Venezuelan reservists told us March 24 that Iran had a small
number of soldiers in Venezuela training the reserves.
---------------
Shared Culture?
---------------
¶8. (S//NF) Venezuela has a Muslim population of about
250,000 including some tens of thousands of Shia'. In
addition to its political activities, the nine
Iranians--including four career diplomats--posted to the
Iranian Embassy in Venezuela represent a small but growing
number of their citizens working in Venezuela in both the
formal and informal sectors. Cultural ties between the two
countries, however, do little to help explain the expanding
relationship. Most Venezuelans are unfamiliar with Muslims
and are unable to distinguish Iranians from Arabs or from
other Muslims. Indeed, as REF F states about Iran and Cuba,
Venezuelan and Iranian societies have little more in common
than their despotic leaders' antipathy toward the United
States.
-------
Comment
-------
¶9. (C) Venezuela's support for a country that has nuclear
ambitions, supports terrorism, and talks about wiping Israel
off the map is of grave concern. It also alarms
nations--such as France (REF G)--that have tended to make
light of our concerns about Venezuela's antidemocratic
tendencies and militarization. We can exploit this alarm.
Just as the shared animosity toward Washington driving the
Iran-Venezuela relationship leads to irrational commercial
endeavors, it is also likely to lead to additional diplomatic
gaffes and other missteps that reflect poorly on the BRV
among wary international observers.
¶10. (C) We should not dismiss the uranium rumors. At the
very least, it appears clear Venezuela plans to prospect for
CARACAS 00000958 005.2 OF 005
uranium with the intention of starting a nuclear program.
Like many BRV schemes, the plan may remain in bureaucratic
and financial limbo for years, and it may never be
fulfilled. Yet, in the event that its ends are not peaceful,
it warrants careful monitoring. All source information
indicates Iran needs foreign sources of uranium to maintain
its nuclear program. How Iran would benefit from any
Venezuelan plan to extract uranium will be an open question
as long as Venezuela's uranium deposits remain unverified.
BROWNFIELD
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Chavez and Amidinejad sitting in a tree, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes ........
I thought this interesting and worth considering.
First, we should think through the logical and the realistic. Logically, would it make sense to use a civilian airliner to carry weapons, terrorists, nuclear material from one point on the world map to another? Would any government place civilian aircraft in such a perilous condition (subject to shooting down by another government, and or, an accident that would bring the aircraft down on a civilian population on the possible chance the craft was carrying a wmd)? One need consider the government - one that is ruled by the hope that today is the last day we live, a government ruled by a cabal of men who wake each morning dreaming of not waking up the next morning. Wouldn't bother them. A government of religious clerics who, in the later part of the mid-1980s put out a call for all little children to serve their government and Allah, watched as their parents brought them, tens of thousands of children, to be given a token key to wear around their necks, blessed or spit on by the Ayatollah Khomeni and then marched off to clear minefields with their bodies. Would such a government have a problem using an aircraft to ferry agents and wmd's around the globe? No.
Realistically, Iran has little option but to resort to surreptious means of acquiring what it wants. I mean, seriously - what does the average Iranian want in Venezuela? Now before we argue about the businessmen and technology and the ... please, and until 2007 there were no businessmen and no technology, that the flight somehow brought it all together. No - they had to take many flights to get to Venezuela and this cut the flying time (hence, the costs) down considerably.
Be realistic - the two most hated leaders (by their people) on earth, the two greatest haters of the US publicly, the two nations who inspire terrorism and pay for, support, condone terrorist acts - just happened to decide they wanted to have a direct flight. Venezuela and the support for FARC and Iran and hezbollah - please. And before we wonder about US support for ... not relevent to the question, unless you are willing to admit this as fact, to debate whether the US does it also. The US doesn't need to now does it - given our international reach militarily. Iran would not be able to send ships around the globe.
It really is an odd pairing - Chavez and Amindinejad. The people of Venezuela do not like this, nor does the military elite, nor do the elite of Venezuela, nor do the middle class in Venezuela ... who wants their country used by terrorists from Iran to transport nuclear material and or, for shuttling terrorists.
Odd. Chavez finds more reasons each day to be killed off and unlike his hero - Fidel, he will be, for he is not that smart.
And this is the man (Amidinejad) YOU, Mr. Obama wanted to negotiate with. That was back when you were wet behind the ears, I know, back when you had support in the US to make such naive and foolish statements. Amazing.
I would not, with a high level of probability, have a problem with the plane falling off the radar one time; perhaps on another occasion, as it flew across the skies and over the Atlantic, maybe its engines suddenly go out, and back on, and off, and on, forcing the plane to land in Cuba, wherewe watch everyone get off. And the next time the flight heads over the Atlantic it gets hit by lightening 20 times, followed by a swirling vortex of air pushing it down at rapid speeds, until the plane shows terrible signs of wearing and the pilots decide they would rather risk Amidinejad than the skies over the Atlantic. Either that or we shoot it down.
Iran's secret pipeline into the U.S.
August 18, 2010
J.J. Green
wtop.com
WASHINGTON - Iran Air 744 is a bimonthly flight that originates in Tehran and flies directly to Caracas with periodic stops in Beirut and Damascus. The maiden flight was Feb. 2, 2007.
The mere existence of the flight was a significant concern for U.S. intelligence officials, but now a broader concern is who and what are aboard the flights.
"If you [a member of the public] tried to book yourself a seat on this flight and it doesn't matter whether it's a week before, a month before, six months before -- you'll never find a place to sit there," says Offer Baruch, a former Israeli Shin Bet agent.
Baruch, now vice president of operations for International Shield, a security firm in Texas, says the plane is reserved for Iranian agents, including "Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and other intelligence personnel."
Current and former U.S. intelligence official fear the flight is a shadowy way to move people and weapons to locations in Latin America that can be used as staging points for retaliatory attacks against the U.S. or its interests in the event Iranian nuclear sites are struck by U.S. or Israeli military forces.
"My understanding is that this flight not only goes from Caracas to Damascus to Tehran perhaps twice a month, but it also occasionally makes stops in Lebanon as well, and the passengers on that flight are not processed through normal Venezuelan immigrations or customs. They are processed separately when they come into the country," says Peter Brookes, senior fellow for National Security Affairs at the Heritage Foundation.
The 16-hour flight typically leaves Tehran and stops at Damascus International Airport (DAM), which is Syria's busiest. In 2009, almost 4.5 million passengers used the airport.
After a 90-minute layover, the flight continues the remaining 14 hours to Venezuela's Caracas Maiquetía International Airport (CCS). Upon arrival, the plane is met by special Venezuelan forces and sequestered from other arrivals.
"It says that something secretive or clandestine is going on that they don't want the international community to know about," says Brookes, a former deputy assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs and CIA employee.
"The fact that there is a flight is of course of interest, but the fact that not anybody can gain access to this flight or buy a ticket for that flight is of particular curiosity and should be of concern to the United States."
In addition to speculation about who is aboard, there are significant concerns that the Boeing 747SP airplane might be transporting uranium to Tehran on the return flight. The U.S. government has enacted strong sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program and there are worries the flight might provide an opportunity to skirt the embargo against materials that might be used for the program.
"Clearly, Iran has been a sponsor of Hezbollah, and clearly Hezbollah profits from this relationship," former CIA Director Michael J. Hayden says.
"It would be too much to say that Hezbollah is a puppet of the Iranian state, but one way of looking at this relationship is that the Iranian state might rely on Hezbollah as a strategic weapon -- its weapon for global reach."
Hayden, now a principle in the Chertoff Group, says the CIA has been aware of the activities for several years.
"Fundamentally, the thing that first and very solidly caught our attention at the Agency was the inauguration of direct air flight between the two capitals. Here was a conduit that people could travel from Iran into the Western Hemisphere, into Latin America in a way that would be very difficult for American intelligence services to detect and to understand.
"Right there at that very simple level, just the direct flight is something that we would be and should be concerned about."
Brookes says the passengers "may not even need visas because they are special passengers. That obviously is of concern because there is no transparency about who the people are coming in and going out of the country. Of course there is concern that these folks may be Iranian special agents."
Beyond concerns about Iranian intelligence flooding the west, Brookes and others worry that Iranian special advisers are schooling the Venezuelan military and may be involved in plans to move Iranian agents inside the U.S.
"It's certainly a possibility. Would the agents that come into Venezuela be able to find their way to the United States? That's certainly possible. You see the drug smugglers today using submersibles to move drugs to the U.S. and other parts of the Caribbean which is a real challenge. So why wouldn't they be able to do the same with persons?"
A U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity says there are concerns about the relationships between Iran and Venezuela, but you have to keep it in perspective.
"The problems both countries face internally, and their own regional priorities closer to home, limit the amount of trouble they can cause together. But it's something you have to watch, whether it's the potential for government-to-government mischief or the possibility of something involving Iran's friends like Hezbollah.
"You can ask what a self-proclaimed Bolivarian socialist has in common with a bunch of theocratic thugs in Iran. The answer is 'not much,' beyond a taste for repression and a shared desire to make life difficult for the United States and its allies."
On Friday, the next flight is expected to take off. While U.S. intelligence may be able to track the flight, there appears to be little more they can legally do to determine what or who is on board.
"American intelligence services have a lot of things on their plate. The fact that I can tell you that we're really interested in that direct flight tells you that it was on our scope -- something that we are sensitive to," Hayden says. "Are we doing enough about it? I would have to say 'no,' because it's a very challenging menu that American intelligence has to deal with."
In a statement, the State Department says, "Nations have the right to enter into cooperative relationships with other nations."
Neither the Iranian nor the Venezuelan governments responded to request for reaction before this article was published.
Iran
First, we should think through the logical and the realistic. Logically, would it make sense to use a civilian airliner to carry weapons, terrorists, nuclear material from one point on the world map to another? Would any government place civilian aircraft in such a perilous condition (subject to shooting down by another government, and or, an accident that would bring the aircraft down on a civilian population on the possible chance the craft was carrying a wmd)? One need consider the government - one that is ruled by the hope that today is the last day we live, a government ruled by a cabal of men who wake each morning dreaming of not waking up the next morning. Wouldn't bother them. A government of religious clerics who, in the later part of the mid-1980s put out a call for all little children to serve their government and Allah, watched as their parents brought them, tens of thousands of children, to be given a token key to wear around their necks, blessed or spit on by the Ayatollah Khomeni and then marched off to clear minefields with their bodies. Would such a government have a problem using an aircraft to ferry agents and wmd's around the globe? No.
Realistically, Iran has little option but to resort to surreptious means of acquiring what it wants. I mean, seriously - what does the average Iranian want in Venezuela? Now before we argue about the businessmen and technology and the ... please, and until 2007 there were no businessmen and no technology, that the flight somehow brought it all together. No - they had to take many flights to get to Venezuela and this cut the flying time (hence, the costs) down considerably.
Be realistic - the two most hated leaders (by their people) on earth, the two greatest haters of the US publicly, the two nations who inspire terrorism and pay for, support, condone terrorist acts - just happened to decide they wanted to have a direct flight. Venezuela and the support for FARC and Iran and hezbollah - please. And before we wonder about US support for ... not relevent to the question, unless you are willing to admit this as fact, to debate whether the US does it also. The US doesn't need to now does it - given our international reach militarily. Iran would not be able to send ships around the globe.
It really is an odd pairing - Chavez and Amindinejad. The people of Venezuela do not like this, nor does the military elite, nor do the elite of Venezuela, nor do the middle class in Venezuela ... who wants their country used by terrorists from Iran to transport nuclear material and or, for shuttling terrorists.
Odd. Chavez finds more reasons each day to be killed off and unlike his hero - Fidel, he will be, for he is not that smart.
And this is the man (Amidinejad) YOU, Mr. Obama wanted to negotiate with. That was back when you were wet behind the ears, I know, back when you had support in the US to make such naive and foolish statements. Amazing.
I would not, with a high level of probability, have a problem with the plane falling off the radar one time; perhaps on another occasion, as it flew across the skies and over the Atlantic, maybe its engines suddenly go out, and back on, and off, and on, forcing the plane to land in Cuba, wherewe watch everyone get off. And the next time the flight heads over the Atlantic it gets hit by lightening 20 times, followed by a swirling vortex of air pushing it down at rapid speeds, until the plane shows terrible signs of wearing and the pilots decide they would rather risk Amidinejad than the skies over the Atlantic. Either that or we shoot it down.
Iran's secret pipeline into the U.S.
August 18, 2010
J.J. Green
wtop.com
WASHINGTON - Iran Air 744 is a bimonthly flight that originates in Tehran and flies directly to Caracas with periodic stops in Beirut and Damascus. The maiden flight was Feb. 2, 2007.
The mere existence of the flight was a significant concern for U.S. intelligence officials, but now a broader concern is who and what are aboard the flights.
"If you [a member of the public] tried to book yourself a seat on this flight and it doesn't matter whether it's a week before, a month before, six months before -- you'll never find a place to sit there," says Offer Baruch, a former Israeli Shin Bet agent.
Baruch, now vice president of operations for International Shield, a security firm in Texas, says the plane is reserved for Iranian agents, including "Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and other intelligence personnel."
Current and former U.S. intelligence official fear the flight is a shadowy way to move people and weapons to locations in Latin America that can be used as staging points for retaliatory attacks against the U.S. or its interests in the event Iranian nuclear sites are struck by U.S. or Israeli military forces.
"My understanding is that this flight not only goes from Caracas to Damascus to Tehran perhaps twice a month, but it also occasionally makes stops in Lebanon as well, and the passengers on that flight are not processed through normal Venezuelan immigrations or customs. They are processed separately when they come into the country," says Peter Brookes, senior fellow for National Security Affairs at the Heritage Foundation.
The 16-hour flight typically leaves Tehran and stops at Damascus International Airport (DAM), which is Syria's busiest. In 2009, almost 4.5 million passengers used the airport.
After a 90-minute layover, the flight continues the remaining 14 hours to Venezuela's Caracas Maiquetía International Airport (CCS). Upon arrival, the plane is met by special Venezuelan forces and sequestered from other arrivals.
"It says that something secretive or clandestine is going on that they don't want the international community to know about," says Brookes, a former deputy assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs and CIA employee.
"The fact that there is a flight is of course of interest, but the fact that not anybody can gain access to this flight or buy a ticket for that flight is of particular curiosity and should be of concern to the United States."
In addition to speculation about who is aboard, there are significant concerns that the Boeing 747SP airplane might be transporting uranium to Tehran on the return flight. The U.S. government has enacted strong sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program and there are worries the flight might provide an opportunity to skirt the embargo against materials that might be used for the program.
"Clearly, Iran has been a sponsor of Hezbollah, and clearly Hezbollah profits from this relationship," former CIA Director Michael J. Hayden says.
"It would be too much to say that Hezbollah is a puppet of the Iranian state, but one way of looking at this relationship is that the Iranian state might rely on Hezbollah as a strategic weapon -- its weapon for global reach."
Hayden, now a principle in the Chertoff Group, says the CIA has been aware of the activities for several years.
"Fundamentally, the thing that first and very solidly caught our attention at the Agency was the inauguration of direct air flight between the two capitals. Here was a conduit that people could travel from Iran into the Western Hemisphere, into Latin America in a way that would be very difficult for American intelligence services to detect and to understand.
"Right there at that very simple level, just the direct flight is something that we would be and should be concerned about."
Brookes says the passengers "may not even need visas because they are special passengers. That obviously is of concern because there is no transparency about who the people are coming in and going out of the country. Of course there is concern that these folks may be Iranian special agents."
Beyond concerns about Iranian intelligence flooding the west, Brookes and others worry that Iranian special advisers are schooling the Venezuelan military and may be involved in plans to move Iranian agents inside the U.S.
"It's certainly a possibility. Would the agents that come into Venezuela be able to find their way to the United States? That's certainly possible. You see the drug smugglers today using submersibles to move drugs to the U.S. and other parts of the Caribbean which is a real challenge. So why wouldn't they be able to do the same with persons?"
A U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity says there are concerns about the relationships between Iran and Venezuela, but you have to keep it in perspective.
"The problems both countries face internally, and their own regional priorities closer to home, limit the amount of trouble they can cause together. But it's something you have to watch, whether it's the potential for government-to-government mischief or the possibility of something involving Iran's friends like Hezbollah.
"You can ask what a self-proclaimed Bolivarian socialist has in common with a bunch of theocratic thugs in Iran. The answer is 'not much,' beyond a taste for repression and a shared desire to make life difficult for the United States and its allies."
On Friday, the next flight is expected to take off. While U.S. intelligence may be able to track the flight, there appears to be little more they can legally do to determine what or who is on board.
"American intelligence services have a lot of things on their plate. The fact that I can tell you that we're really interested in that direct flight tells you that it was on our scope -- something that we are sensitive to," Hayden says. "Are we doing enough about it? I would have to say 'no,' because it's a very challenging menu that American intelligence has to deal with."
In a statement, the State Department says, "Nations have the right to enter into cooperative relationships with other nations."
Neither the Iranian nor the Venezuelan governments responded to request for reaction before this article was published.
Iran
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Chavez Speaks and Blames the US for Everything
Chavez is cutting power to businesses that have failed to reduce power usage.
Reuters, March 21, 2010
"Indeed, I would love to have the powers I'm accused of by the opposition to defeat this situation which not only hurts Venezuela but the whole world as a result of the destructive voracity of the capitalist system."
Chavez
Reuters, March 21, 2010
"Indeed, I would love to have the powers I'm accused of by the opposition to defeat this situation which not only hurts Venezuela but the whole world as a result of the destructive voracity of the capitalist system."
Chavez
Saturday, March 13, 2010
When is a Dictator not a Dictator? When Sean Penn says so.
Sean Penn is a fool, all that pot from Ridegmont has given him some serious blowback in the form of a - his inability to distinguish between fact, fiction, reality, fantasy, dictators, and tyrants, credible elections, and farcical jokes called elections.
I pray, when the day comes that Chavez is removed from the office he has violated, that the Venezuelan people will demand Penn return to face the truth about Chavez so that Penn might live out the remaining years of his life wracked by guilt and shame.
You are seriously a fool Mr. Penn. You have very little that is redemptive. I will assume you are a good father, thus you have that one saving grace. You are not a great actor, good enough, but not great; and you most certainly have no clue about reality.
Chavez thanks Sean Penn for slamming his critics
Fri Mar 12, 2010
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is grateful that actor Sean Penn has defended him against his critics within the U.S. media.
In an appearance on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" last week, Penn slammed Chavez critics who refer to the socialist leader as a dictator.
The Oscar-winning celebrity noted that Chavez has won repeated elections and suggested that media critics who call him a dictator should be jailed.
[What about in the US - should we jail everyone who called Bush a tyrant, dictator, or other scurrilous name?]
He says that "there should be a bar for which one goes to prison for these kinds of biases."
[The same level for a bar in the US when you and Sarandon and Fonda were accusing Bush of delusional crimes?]
Penn has visited Chavez several times and frequently defends the president's leftist political policies.
Chavez welcomed Penn's comments Wednesday and thanked the actor for standing up to his detractors.
I pray, when the day comes that Chavez is removed from the office he has violated, that the Venezuelan people will demand Penn return to face the truth about Chavez so that Penn might live out the remaining years of his life wracked by guilt and shame.
You are seriously a fool Mr. Penn. You have very little that is redemptive. I will assume you are a good father, thus you have that one saving grace. You are not a great actor, good enough, but not great; and you most certainly have no clue about reality.
Chavez thanks Sean Penn for slamming his critics
Fri Mar 12, 2010
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is grateful that actor Sean Penn has defended him against his critics within the U.S. media.
In an appearance on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" last week, Penn slammed Chavez critics who refer to the socialist leader as a dictator.
The Oscar-winning celebrity noted that Chavez has won repeated elections and suggested that media critics who call him a dictator should be jailed.
[What about in the US - should we jail everyone who called Bush a tyrant, dictator, or other scurrilous name?]
He says that "there should be a bar for which one goes to prison for these kinds of biases."
[The same level for a bar in the US when you and Sarandon and Fonda were accusing Bush of delusional crimes?]
Penn has visited Chavez several times and frequently defends the president's leftist political policies.
Chavez welcomed Penn's comments Wednesday and thanked the actor for standing up to his detractors.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Hugo Chavez: US caused the earthquake in Haiti
Leon Panetta's daughter, you know Leon - head of CIA. His daughter, friendly with Hugo Chavez, and I mean friendly enough they hug and pose for photos. In any case, the daughter of Leon Panetta has a relationship with the madman of Venezuela, who just recently opined on the disaster in Haiti.
(Perhaps Danny Glover and Chavez could work together and develop one theory that covers both their opinions.)
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has once again accused the United States of playing God. But this time it's Haiti's disastrous earthquake that he thinks the U.S. was behind. Spanish newspaper ABC quotes Chavez as saying that the U.S. navy launched a weapon capable of inducing a powerful earthquake off the shore of Haiti. He adds that this time it was only a drill and the final target is ... destroying and taking over Iran.
Chavez
(Perhaps Danny Glover and Chavez could work together and develop one theory that covers both their opinions.)
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has once again accused the United States of playing God. But this time it's Haiti's disastrous earthquake that he thinks the U.S. was behind. Spanish newspaper ABC quotes Chavez as saying that the U.S. navy launched a weapon capable of inducing a powerful earthquake off the shore of Haiti. He adds that this time it was only a drill and the final target is ... destroying and taking over Iran.
Chavez
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Honduras: Standing up to Petty Tyrants
I have a great deal more respect for Honduras and the people of Honduras.
They have endured a great deal, stood against a tyrant in Venezuela, opposed a stooge in Costa Rica and Bolivia, and refused to bow to Obama.
A truly historic time for Honduras and a great time for the people of Honduras in terms of identity and pride. I am thinking about any other state that has stood against such odds - perhaps Poland and the Ukraine, against the Russians without US support in the last year. Yet the Ukraine is ready to elect pro-Russians to their leadership, showing a capitulation to what Obama has conceded is an inevitability - Russian sphere of influence and the Ukrainians fall within it. The funny part, or irony is - no one has conceded any sphere to us, and in fact the Russians and Chinese have taken Obama's actions thus far a sa sign of weakness and are pushing forward on Iran and Kazikstan and Uzbekistan - oil and gas pipelines.
In any case - Honduras has stood again and said no, they will not be part of the tyrants charade -
Honduras: Walking Away from ALBA
The Honduran Congress ratified interim President Roberto Micheletti’s decision to leave the Venezuelan-sponsored Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) on Jan. 12. This domestically significant move signals a reversal of the policies of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who had built economic and political ties to Venezuela, which was part of his opponents’ motivation behind the June 2009 ouster. However, Honduran dependence on imported fuels means legislators will attempt to keep an oil import initiative implemented under Zelaya intact for now.
The decision to exit ALBA was approved by 122 of 128 congress members, with the six opposing votes coming from five leftist Democratic Unity (UD) legislators and a single National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party (PINU-SD) member. ALBA financial aid to Honduras will be terminated as a result of the withdrawal, including $185 million earmarked for social programs to be returned Venezuela. Honduras will keep a donation of 100 tractors. After the congressional vote, an official said Honduras will not dismantle existing crude oil supply agreements with Venezuela under the Petrocaribe oil supply alliance, of which Honduras became a member in March 2008. Petrocaribe offers crude oil to member states, allowing them to cover up to 60 percent of payments up front with shipments of goods.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suspended oil shipments to Honduras, which reportedly totaled 20,000 barrels per day, in July 2009 after demanding Zelaya’s reinstatement. Honduran legislators have made it clear that they expect oil shipments purchased from Venezuela with Petrocaribe credits prior to the political crisis will still be supplied, despite the Venezuelan cutoff — but this situation places any resumption of oil shipments firmly at Venezuela’s discretion. After Zelaya’s ouster, Honduran officials claimed that a rupture with Petrocaribe would not cause fuel shortages in Honduras, saying Mexico and other Caribbean nations could become alternate suppliers. Officials said there had been fuel supply problems before the political crisis, but the interruption of Venezuelan shipments does not seem to have caused significant problems.
The Honduran decision seems likely to heighten already-simmering tensions between the politically isolated Central American nation and ALBA members, particularly Venezuela and Nicaragua. ALBA members have yet to recognize the interim government, and the Honduran rejection of ALBA seems likely to sustain this polarization for the foreseeable future. The decision signals a firm shift away from relations with Venezuela, for now, and reflects the interim Honduran government’s continuing rejection of outside political interference.
Honduras
They have endured a great deal, stood against a tyrant in Venezuela, opposed a stooge in Costa Rica and Bolivia, and refused to bow to Obama.
A truly historic time for Honduras and a great time for the people of Honduras in terms of identity and pride. I am thinking about any other state that has stood against such odds - perhaps Poland and the Ukraine, against the Russians without US support in the last year. Yet the Ukraine is ready to elect pro-Russians to their leadership, showing a capitulation to what Obama has conceded is an inevitability - Russian sphere of influence and the Ukrainians fall within it. The funny part, or irony is - no one has conceded any sphere to us, and in fact the Russians and Chinese have taken Obama's actions thus far a sa sign of weakness and are pushing forward on Iran and Kazikstan and Uzbekistan - oil and gas pipelines.
In any case - Honduras has stood again and said no, they will not be part of the tyrants charade -
Honduras: Walking Away from ALBA
The Honduran Congress ratified interim President Roberto Micheletti’s decision to leave the Venezuelan-sponsored Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) on Jan. 12. This domestically significant move signals a reversal of the policies of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who had built economic and political ties to Venezuela, which was part of his opponents’ motivation behind the June 2009 ouster. However, Honduran dependence on imported fuels means legislators will attempt to keep an oil import initiative implemented under Zelaya intact for now.
The decision to exit ALBA was approved by 122 of 128 congress members, with the six opposing votes coming from five leftist Democratic Unity (UD) legislators and a single National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party (PINU-SD) member. ALBA financial aid to Honduras will be terminated as a result of the withdrawal, including $185 million earmarked for social programs to be returned Venezuela. Honduras will keep a donation of 100 tractors. After the congressional vote, an official said Honduras will not dismantle existing crude oil supply agreements with Venezuela under the Petrocaribe oil supply alliance, of which Honduras became a member in March 2008. Petrocaribe offers crude oil to member states, allowing them to cover up to 60 percent of payments up front with shipments of goods.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suspended oil shipments to Honduras, which reportedly totaled 20,000 barrels per day, in July 2009 after demanding Zelaya’s reinstatement. Honduran legislators have made it clear that they expect oil shipments purchased from Venezuela with Petrocaribe credits prior to the political crisis will still be supplied, despite the Venezuelan cutoff — but this situation places any resumption of oil shipments firmly at Venezuela’s discretion. After Zelaya’s ouster, Honduran officials claimed that a rupture with Petrocaribe would not cause fuel shortages in Honduras, saying Mexico and other Caribbean nations could become alternate suppliers. Officials said there had been fuel supply problems before the political crisis, but the interruption of Venezuelan shipments does not seem to have caused significant problems.
The Honduran decision seems likely to heighten already-simmering tensions between the politically isolated Central American nation and ALBA members, particularly Venezuela and Nicaragua. ALBA members have yet to recognize the interim government, and the Honduran rejection of ALBA seems likely to sustain this polarization for the foreseeable future. The decision signals a firm shift away from relations with Venezuela, for now, and reflects the interim Honduran government’s continuing rejection of outside political interference.
Honduras
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Honduras: Standing up to the US, for all the right reasons.
Honduran President to Briefly Step Down During National Elections
Wall Street Journal
NOVEMBER 19, 2009, 4:49 P.M. ET
By JOSE DE CORDOBA
Honduras' interim president Roberto Micheletti will step down temporarily from his post for a week during the country's coming national elections, the Wall Street Journal has learned.
The move, while largely symbolic, is an effort by the interim government to boost international legitimacy for the Nov. 29 vote, which the government hopes will put an end to a political crisis that began with the June 28 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.
In a speech to be delivered late on Thursday, Mr. Micheletti is expected to say he will hand the reins of government to his council of ministers – basically, the cabinet – from Nov. 24 until his return to power on Dec. 2, according to a copy of a speech obtained by the Wall Street Journal. The president-elect is scheduled to take power in January.
In the remarks, Mr. Micheletti says his temporary absence from his post is meant to help Hondurans concentrate on the presidential elections instead of the political crisis, which erupted when the army kicked the president out of the country for allegedly wanting to extend his stay in power. Mr. Zelaya, a close ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, denies the charges, and has called on Hondurans to boycott the vote.
"It's symbolic, but the fact that Micheletti won't be presiding over the government when elections take place will help to some extent to help get other governments to come around to recognize the election," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank.
While the U.S. and some Latin American countries, such as Panama, have said they will recognize the new president, other countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, and those allied with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez have said they won't recognize the new government because Mr. Zelaya has not been restored to power.
Recently, Mr. Micheletti and Mr. Zelaya signed an agreement that called for the Honduran Congress to vote on whether to reinstate Mr. Zelaya as president, but Mr. Zelaya pulled out of the deal a few days after it was signed. The Honduran government is expected to vote on Mr. Zelaya's reinstatement after the election, but is widely expected to not allow him to return.
Mr. Micheletti said his temporary absence was not a "sign of weakness" by his government. "My action should be interpreted as a sign of strength and total and unquestionable confidence in the institutions of our country," Mr. Micheletti said, according to the copy of the speech.
During his absence, Mr. Micheletti said he expected the government to operate normally, but that he would immediately resume the presidency if there were some threat to the stability and peace of the nation, and "dictate with vigor and firmness the necessary measures to maintain order."
Honduras
Wall Street Journal
NOVEMBER 19, 2009, 4:49 P.M. ET
By JOSE DE CORDOBA
Honduras' interim president Roberto Micheletti will step down temporarily from his post for a week during the country's coming national elections, the Wall Street Journal has learned.
The move, while largely symbolic, is an effort by the interim government to boost international legitimacy for the Nov. 29 vote, which the government hopes will put an end to a political crisis that began with the June 28 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.
In a speech to be delivered late on Thursday, Mr. Micheletti is expected to say he will hand the reins of government to his council of ministers – basically, the cabinet – from Nov. 24 until his return to power on Dec. 2, according to a copy of a speech obtained by the Wall Street Journal. The president-elect is scheduled to take power in January.
In the remarks, Mr. Micheletti says his temporary absence from his post is meant to help Hondurans concentrate on the presidential elections instead of the political crisis, which erupted when the army kicked the president out of the country for allegedly wanting to extend his stay in power. Mr. Zelaya, a close ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, denies the charges, and has called on Hondurans to boycott the vote.
"It's symbolic, but the fact that Micheletti won't be presiding over the government when elections take place will help to some extent to help get other governments to come around to recognize the election," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank.
While the U.S. and some Latin American countries, such as Panama, have said they will recognize the new president, other countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, and those allied with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez have said they won't recognize the new government because Mr. Zelaya has not been restored to power.
Recently, Mr. Micheletti and Mr. Zelaya signed an agreement that called for the Honduran Congress to vote on whether to reinstate Mr. Zelaya as president, but Mr. Zelaya pulled out of the deal a few days after it was signed. The Honduran government is expected to vote on Mr. Zelaya's reinstatement after the election, but is widely expected to not allow him to return.
Mr. Micheletti said his temporary absence was not a "sign of weakness" by his government. "My action should be interpreted as a sign of strength and total and unquestionable confidence in the institutions of our country," Mr. Micheletti said, according to the copy of the speech.
During his absence, Mr. Micheletti said he expected the government to operate normally, but that he would immediately resume the presidency if there were some threat to the stability and peace of the nation, and "dictate with vigor and firmness the necessary measures to maintain order."
Honduras
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Chavez: Venezuelans are FAT and need exercise.
Women do not get fat - they fill out, unlike the nearly 80% in the Gulf region who are not obese, but 'really filled out'. I am waiting for him to blame the US for his weight issues.
He needs to swallow some arsenic.
The Chavez Diet: Venezuelans urged to lose weight
(AP)
November 13, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — Call it the Bolivarian battle of the bulge.
President Hugo Chavez said in a televised speech Friday that "there are lots of fat people" in Venezuela and advised his supporters to exercise and eat healthy to trim their waistlines.
"I'm not saying fat women, because they never get fat," he added. "Women sometimes fill out."
The 55-year-old leader said he himself has lost nearly 20 pounds (9 kilograms) by exercising and eating well. But Chavez, who still appears heavier than when he first took office in 1999, acknowledged that he could lose a few more pounds (kilograms).
"Doing sit ups," he said. "Eating well. One has to learn how to eat."
Chavez suggested rice pasta instead of spaghetti made from wheat, and recommended drinking soy milk, saying soy products help fight aging.
Chavez said his diet and exercise have made him feel stronger and "ready to continue commanding the Bolivarian Revolution" — the name he has given his socialist-inspired political movement.
fat
He needs to swallow some arsenic.
The Chavez Diet: Venezuelans urged to lose weight
(AP)
November 13, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — Call it the Bolivarian battle of the bulge.
President Hugo Chavez said in a televised speech Friday that "there are lots of fat people" in Venezuela and advised his supporters to exercise and eat healthy to trim their waistlines.
"I'm not saying fat women, because they never get fat," he added. "Women sometimes fill out."
The 55-year-old leader said he himself has lost nearly 20 pounds (9 kilograms) by exercising and eating well. But Chavez, who still appears heavier than when he first took office in 1999, acknowledged that he could lose a few more pounds (kilograms).
"Doing sit ups," he said. "Eating well. One has to learn how to eat."
Chavez suggested rice pasta instead of spaghetti made from wheat, and recommended drinking soy milk, saying soy products help fight aging.
Chavez said his diet and exercise have made him feel stronger and "ready to continue commanding the Bolivarian Revolution" — the name he has given his socialist-inspired political movement.
fat
Monday, November 2, 2009
Risk: Honduras takes a risky step, but shows it is more responsible and grown up than the US and Venezuela.
The Obama administration was clearly on view during the Honduran fiasco. I really dislike Obama for his feckless policy toward Honduras - for cow-towing to Venezuela, and dictators in Latin America, and standing against freedom, and the people of Honduras.
Obama was acting on behalf of Chavez, and ended up at a stalemate with a tiny country who refused to budge despite sanctions, visas pulled, international pressure, business sanctions ...
OPINION: THE AMERICAS
NOVEMBER 1, 2009
Hillary's Honduran Exit Strategy
Honduras signs a deal that means international recognition of the November 29 elections.
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY
If there is one person in Honduras who is more despised these days than deposed president Manuel Zelaya it is a foreigner who goes by the name of Hugo. We refer here not to the Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez but to U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens.
Many Hondurans, including, rumor has it, President Roberto Micheletti, see Mr. Llorens as the principal architect of a U.S. policy that has caused enormous Honduran hardship.
There is a chance that the agreement signed late Thursday between the interim government and Mr. Zelaya will put an end to that suffering. Finally the U.S. and the Organization of American States (OAS) have agreed to step aside and allow Honduran institutions to decide if Mr. Zelaya is to be reinstated. Without international meddling, it is quite likely that Mr. Zelaya will be refused the presidency once more.
Yet many risks remain, starting with the fact that though the U.S. said it was going to butt out of Honduran affairs, old habits die hard. Referring to Mr. Zelaya's bid for reinstatement, Thomas Shannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric affairs, said last week, "That's the issue that's the most provocative and the one we will be watching most closely." Mr. Shannon should try watching the World Series instead.
The need to dictate to Hondurans how to run their country has been the problem from the start. The moment the Honduran Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Mr. Zelaya in June for organizing mob violence and attempting to overthrow the constitution Mr. Llorens anointed himself colonial viceroy in charge of imposing U.S. will. Plenty of Molotov-hurling leftists also took Mr. Zelaya's side. But Mr. Llorens staked out a position for the U.S., defending the legitimacy of the erratic former president. The U.S. ambassador used every weapon he could lay his hands on to try to force the country to restore Mr. Zelaya to power.
This violated Honduran sovereignty. But Mr. Llorens's boss back home, Barack Obama, seemed more interested in appeasing U.S. enemies than standing by friends, or even sticking to his pledge not to meddle in other countries' affairs. Mr. Chávez and Fidel Castro were supporting Mr. Zelaya, and Mr. Obama apparently wanted to be part of the gang.
Clearly no one in Washington expected it to be so hard to break the will of Hondurans. That effort became even more embarrassing when zelayistas mounted a campaign of terror, kidnapping and murdering Honduran authorities and their relatives. There were at least three such incidents in two weeks. The terrorists were also sabotaging the country's electricity grid. To avoid further taint, the U.S. sent a delegation to strike the compromise reached late Thursday.
The spin is that Mr. Zelaya will return to power. But the Honduran Congress will decide that, using opinions from the Supreme Court, the attorney general and other legal experts. Since it was the court and Congress that threw Mr. Zelaya out, this is positive. Yet if the court, which has the legal upper hand, stands firm and Congress reverses itself in favor of Mr. Zelaya, there will be a constitutional crisis.
That's not impossible, as the Zelaya reputation for buying votes is legendary. In May, the mayor of Tegucigalpa publicly denounced an offer by the Zelaya government to pay him $15 million to support a referendum on rewriting the constitution. Mr. Chávez has money too, and so do other drug-trafficking terrorist organizations around the region, like Colombia's FARC and numerous Central American gangs. These groups are notorious for infiltrating institutions. Honduras isn't immune.
Yet it is likely that the interim government decided to take the gamble because it believes that the high court and Congress, which both voted overwhelmingly to strip Mr. Zelaya of the office, will stand strong. In return for this risk, it gets U.S. and OAS recognition of the Nov. 29 presidential elections.
What is more, there will be no amnesty for Mr. Zelaya. He already has more than a dozen outstanding arrest warrants against him, and when he steps out of the Brazilian Embassy it is fully expected that he will be detained. The agreement also says that there will be no constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution so as to end presidential term limits.
Unnamed U.S. officials have told the press that Mr. Zelaya probably is coming back, turning up the heat on Honduras's Congress. And the OAS's General Secretary José Miguel Insulza is making noise about returning to Honduras to involve the OAS in Congress's decision. But Mr. Shannon reiterated to me yesterday that the U.S. believes this is now an issue for Honduran institutions to settle. He completely rejected a report in Sunday's El Pais newspaper claiming he is lobbying for votes for Mr. Zelaya's return.
By signing this agreement, Honduras helped Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton save face. In return, Mrs. Clinton should tell Mr. Insulza to stay out of the country and its affairs. She should also tell U.S. officials to cease and desist with their pro-Zelaya rumors. While she's at it, the secretary could reassign Mr. Llorens. Havana comes to mind as a suitable posting. He will be greeted as a hero by the Castros and will find it easy to continue his friendship with Mr. Zelaya.
Honduras
Obama was acting on behalf of Chavez, and ended up at a stalemate with a tiny country who refused to budge despite sanctions, visas pulled, international pressure, business sanctions ...
OPINION: THE AMERICAS
NOVEMBER 1, 2009
Hillary's Honduran Exit Strategy
Honduras signs a deal that means international recognition of the November 29 elections.
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY
If there is one person in Honduras who is more despised these days than deposed president Manuel Zelaya it is a foreigner who goes by the name of Hugo. We refer here not to the Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez but to U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens.
Many Hondurans, including, rumor has it, President Roberto Micheletti, see Mr. Llorens as the principal architect of a U.S. policy that has caused enormous Honduran hardship.
There is a chance that the agreement signed late Thursday between the interim government and Mr. Zelaya will put an end to that suffering. Finally the U.S. and the Organization of American States (OAS) have agreed to step aside and allow Honduran institutions to decide if Mr. Zelaya is to be reinstated. Without international meddling, it is quite likely that Mr. Zelaya will be refused the presidency once more.
Yet many risks remain, starting with the fact that though the U.S. said it was going to butt out of Honduran affairs, old habits die hard. Referring to Mr. Zelaya's bid for reinstatement, Thomas Shannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric affairs, said last week, "That's the issue that's the most provocative and the one we will be watching most closely." Mr. Shannon should try watching the World Series instead.
The need to dictate to Hondurans how to run their country has been the problem from the start. The moment the Honduran Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Mr. Zelaya in June for organizing mob violence and attempting to overthrow the constitution Mr. Llorens anointed himself colonial viceroy in charge of imposing U.S. will. Plenty of Molotov-hurling leftists also took Mr. Zelaya's side. But Mr. Llorens staked out a position for the U.S., defending the legitimacy of the erratic former president. The U.S. ambassador used every weapon he could lay his hands on to try to force the country to restore Mr. Zelaya to power.
This violated Honduran sovereignty. But Mr. Llorens's boss back home, Barack Obama, seemed more interested in appeasing U.S. enemies than standing by friends, or even sticking to his pledge not to meddle in other countries' affairs. Mr. Chávez and Fidel Castro were supporting Mr. Zelaya, and Mr. Obama apparently wanted to be part of the gang.
Clearly no one in Washington expected it to be so hard to break the will of Hondurans. That effort became even more embarrassing when zelayistas mounted a campaign of terror, kidnapping and murdering Honduran authorities and their relatives. There were at least three such incidents in two weeks. The terrorists were also sabotaging the country's electricity grid. To avoid further taint, the U.S. sent a delegation to strike the compromise reached late Thursday.
The spin is that Mr. Zelaya will return to power. But the Honduran Congress will decide that, using opinions from the Supreme Court, the attorney general and other legal experts. Since it was the court and Congress that threw Mr. Zelaya out, this is positive. Yet if the court, which has the legal upper hand, stands firm and Congress reverses itself in favor of Mr. Zelaya, there will be a constitutional crisis.
That's not impossible, as the Zelaya reputation for buying votes is legendary. In May, the mayor of Tegucigalpa publicly denounced an offer by the Zelaya government to pay him $15 million to support a referendum on rewriting the constitution. Mr. Chávez has money too, and so do other drug-trafficking terrorist organizations around the region, like Colombia's FARC and numerous Central American gangs. These groups are notorious for infiltrating institutions. Honduras isn't immune.
Yet it is likely that the interim government decided to take the gamble because it believes that the high court and Congress, which both voted overwhelmingly to strip Mr. Zelaya of the office, will stand strong. In return for this risk, it gets U.S. and OAS recognition of the Nov. 29 presidential elections.
What is more, there will be no amnesty for Mr. Zelaya. He already has more than a dozen outstanding arrest warrants against him, and when he steps out of the Brazilian Embassy it is fully expected that he will be detained. The agreement also says that there will be no constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution so as to end presidential term limits.
Unnamed U.S. officials have told the press that Mr. Zelaya probably is coming back, turning up the heat on Honduras's Congress. And the OAS's General Secretary José Miguel Insulza is making noise about returning to Honduras to involve the OAS in Congress's decision. But Mr. Shannon reiterated to me yesterday that the U.S. believes this is now an issue for Honduran institutions to settle. He completely rejected a report in Sunday's El Pais newspaper claiming he is lobbying for votes for Mr. Zelaya's return.
By signing this agreement, Honduras helped Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton save face. In return, Mrs. Clinton should tell Mr. Insulza to stay out of the country and its affairs. She should also tell U.S. officials to cease and desist with their pro-Zelaya rumors. While she's at it, the secretary could reassign Mr. Llorens. Havana comes to mind as a suitable posting. He will be greeted as a hero by the Castros and will find it easy to continue his friendship with Mr. Zelaya.
Honduras
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Chavez Wins, Honduras Loses
Thank you Mr. Obama, for meddling in the internal affairs of another country in opposition to our laws, your own promises and public statements, and forcing a country to accept a man back, their Supreme Court, Congress, and the laws of that country did not want back.
And NO, Mr. Obama, it is not the people of Honduras who win - it is Chavez ... no one else. No matter how hard you try to pretend, it is still only Chavez who wins.
With each passing day, and each decision you make, your inexperience and foolishness show. What is worse, they will harm other people, in other countries.
Deal may return Zelaya
October 15, 2009
TEGUCIGALPA. Honduran negotiators have reached agreement on ending a political crisis triggered by President Manuel Zelaya's ouster in a June coup.
''We have agreed in a document on point No. 6, which relates to the restitution of the powers of state to where they were before June 28, 2009,'' Mr Zelaya's representative said.
Restoring the state to the situation before the coup would imply Mr Zelaya's return to office, which had been opposed by Robert Micheletti, the head of the coup-backed interim government.
Mr Micheletti and Mr Zelaya must now ratify the agreement reached by their representatives.
Honduras
And NO, Mr. Obama, it is not the people of Honduras who win - it is Chavez ... no one else. No matter how hard you try to pretend, it is still only Chavez who wins.
With each passing day, and each decision you make, your inexperience and foolishness show. What is worse, they will harm other people, in other countries.
Deal may return Zelaya
October 15, 2009
TEGUCIGALPA. Honduran negotiators have reached agreement on ending a political crisis triggered by President Manuel Zelaya's ouster in a June coup.
''We have agreed in a document on point No. 6, which relates to the restitution of the powers of state to where they were before June 28, 2009,'' Mr Zelaya's representative said.
Restoring the state to the situation before the coup would imply Mr Zelaya's return to office, which had been opposed by Robert Micheletti, the head of the coup-backed interim government.
Mr Micheletti and Mr Zelaya must now ratify the agreement reached by their representatives.
Honduras
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Obama to Honduras: Collapse into a Civil War
Making the world safer, undermining one country at a time ...
Chavez, Lula, Obama Make Honduras Unstable: Alexandre Marinis
Commentary by Alexandre Marinis
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- If Honduras descends into civil war, we can thank Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and credit Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with an assist.
Pushing the Central American nation to the brink is precisely what Chavez accomplished when he persuaded Lula to welcome ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya inside the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital, last month.
Reasonable people can argue whether Zelaya deserved to be tossed out of office. The fact is his ouster was legal, according to a detailed report issued by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
The Honduran Congress has the authority to rebuke the president and decide constitutional intent, the report says. “In the case against Zelaya, the National Congress interpreted the power to disapprove of the conduct of the president to encompass the power to remove him from office, based on the results of a special, extensive investigation,” it states.
Chavez and Lula engaged in wise-guy diplomacy. Their actions violated international laws by helping Zelaya enter the country illegally. And they disrupted the economy of Central America’s second-poorest country, which was already reeling from the global economic crisis.
Besides acting unethically, the two Latin leaders showed they aren’t serious diplomats. We’ll see if this inaugurates a new era in which Brazil and Venezuela throw their weight around and increasingly interfere with their neighbors’ politics. If so, they will resemble the U.S., which Latin leaders have long criticized for butting into the region’s internal affairs by propping up or taking out national leaders.
Rough Transition
This much is already clear: Hondurans now seem farther away from a safe transition to a new democratically elected leader who adheres to the country’s constitution.
Don’t expect Zelaya to regain the presidency with full powers before the national election scheduled for Nov. 29. Less than 50 percent of Hondurans support their former leader and his approval rating has tumbled, according to a CID-Gallup poll taken two days after Zelaya was ousted in late June. Hondurans are evenly split about whether he deserved to be forcibly removed from office.
Zelaya provoked his opponents by trying to bend the constitution so he could seek another term as president. He was dragged out of the presidential palace in his pajamas and flown out of the country.
Sneaking In
His ambition endures, which is why Zelaya snuck back into the country last month in advance of the national election. He had tried unsuccessfully to re-enter Honduras in the three months since he was booted out. His most recent attempt might have failed too if the Brazilians hadn’t welcomed him inside their embassy.
By opening the doors to Zelaya, Lula allowed himself and his country to be used to promote the individual aspirations of a foreign leader. Zelaya’s situation in Brazil’s embassy is illegal, according to Jorge Zaverucha, a political scientist who directs the Center for Study of Coercive Institutions at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil.
Brazilian authorities claim they aren’t violating international law because they didn’t welcome Zelaya as an exile. They have refused to define his current political status by arguing they are simply offering him “humanitarian shelter.”
The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations doesn’t say that a diplomatic mission should take in a legally deposed president and let him use the shelter as his political campaign headquarters.
Taking Advantage
More important, Article 41 of the convention states that anyone enjoying the same privileges and immunity as Zelaya in Brazil’s embassy has “a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the host country.
A leader who disrespected his own country’s constitution can’t be expected to follow international rules of conduct.
Protected by the inviolability of the Brazilian embassy, which is considered foreign soil in Honduran territory, Zelaya has given speeches to his followers from inside the mission, made political phone calls, held numerous media interviews and even incited a rebellion against the de facto government.
In turn, acting president and former head of Honduras’ National Congress, Roberto Micheletti, has also committed his share of mistakes. By exiling Zelaya to another country, Micheletti clearly violated the Honduran constitution.
Suspending Civil Rights
Then in late September Micheletti ordered military troops to shut down pro-Zelaya radio and television stations, banned protests for 45 days and suspended other civil rights. As a result, Honduras has reached a political dead end.
The most obvious way out of the stalemate is for a member of the international community to mediate an agreement between the two men to respect the outcome of the election. Achieving even that modest goal seems difficult at this point.
Micheletti is expected to allow members of the Organization of American States to enter the country this week to attempt to mediate a solution to the crisis. Meanwhile, Hondurans grow increasingly indifferent about the coming election. Only 43 percent of eligible voters say they will cast ballots and almost half believe the elections will be fraudulent.
One of Central America’s most unpopular presidents -- second only to Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, another of Chavez’s pals by the way -- Zelaya knows he can’t win a presidential election any time soon. Micheletti is just an interim political figure supported by less than a third of the population and, thus, unsuited to run for president. Neither man has a stake in smoothing the way for elections.
Making things even worse, President Barack Obama’s administration, which correctly criticized Venezuela and Brazil for letting Zelaya into Honduras, says it won’t recognize the scheduled November election unless the political crisis is resolved.
That gives carte blanche to Zelaya. The more turmoil Zelaya creates, the closer to civil war the country will be.
honduras
Chavez, Lula, Obama Make Honduras Unstable: Alexandre Marinis
Commentary by Alexandre Marinis
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- If Honduras descends into civil war, we can thank Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and credit Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with an assist.
Pushing the Central American nation to the brink is precisely what Chavez accomplished when he persuaded Lula to welcome ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya inside the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital, last month.
Reasonable people can argue whether Zelaya deserved to be tossed out of office. The fact is his ouster was legal, according to a detailed report issued by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
The Honduran Congress has the authority to rebuke the president and decide constitutional intent, the report says. “In the case against Zelaya, the National Congress interpreted the power to disapprove of the conduct of the president to encompass the power to remove him from office, based on the results of a special, extensive investigation,” it states.
Chavez and Lula engaged in wise-guy diplomacy. Their actions violated international laws by helping Zelaya enter the country illegally. And they disrupted the economy of Central America’s second-poorest country, which was already reeling from the global economic crisis.
Besides acting unethically, the two Latin leaders showed they aren’t serious diplomats. We’ll see if this inaugurates a new era in which Brazil and Venezuela throw their weight around and increasingly interfere with their neighbors’ politics. If so, they will resemble the U.S., which Latin leaders have long criticized for butting into the region’s internal affairs by propping up or taking out national leaders.
Rough Transition
This much is already clear: Hondurans now seem farther away from a safe transition to a new democratically elected leader who adheres to the country’s constitution.
Don’t expect Zelaya to regain the presidency with full powers before the national election scheduled for Nov. 29. Less than 50 percent of Hondurans support their former leader and his approval rating has tumbled, according to a CID-Gallup poll taken two days after Zelaya was ousted in late June. Hondurans are evenly split about whether he deserved to be forcibly removed from office.
Zelaya provoked his opponents by trying to bend the constitution so he could seek another term as president. He was dragged out of the presidential palace in his pajamas and flown out of the country.
Sneaking In
His ambition endures, which is why Zelaya snuck back into the country last month in advance of the national election. He had tried unsuccessfully to re-enter Honduras in the three months since he was booted out. His most recent attempt might have failed too if the Brazilians hadn’t welcomed him inside their embassy.
By opening the doors to Zelaya, Lula allowed himself and his country to be used to promote the individual aspirations of a foreign leader. Zelaya’s situation in Brazil’s embassy is illegal, according to Jorge Zaverucha, a political scientist who directs the Center for Study of Coercive Institutions at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil.
Brazilian authorities claim they aren’t violating international law because they didn’t welcome Zelaya as an exile. They have refused to define his current political status by arguing they are simply offering him “humanitarian shelter.”
The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations doesn’t say that a diplomatic mission should take in a legally deposed president and let him use the shelter as his political campaign headquarters.
Taking Advantage
More important, Article 41 of the convention states that anyone enjoying the same privileges and immunity as Zelaya in Brazil’s embassy has “a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the host country.
A leader who disrespected his own country’s constitution can’t be expected to follow international rules of conduct.
Protected by the inviolability of the Brazilian embassy, which is considered foreign soil in Honduran territory, Zelaya has given speeches to his followers from inside the mission, made political phone calls, held numerous media interviews and even incited a rebellion against the de facto government.
In turn, acting president and former head of Honduras’ National Congress, Roberto Micheletti, has also committed his share of mistakes. By exiling Zelaya to another country, Micheletti clearly violated the Honduran constitution.
Suspending Civil Rights
Then in late September Micheletti ordered military troops to shut down pro-Zelaya radio and television stations, banned protests for 45 days and suspended other civil rights. As a result, Honduras has reached a political dead end.
The most obvious way out of the stalemate is for a member of the international community to mediate an agreement between the two men to respect the outcome of the election. Achieving even that modest goal seems difficult at this point.
Micheletti is expected to allow members of the Organization of American States to enter the country this week to attempt to mediate a solution to the crisis. Meanwhile, Hondurans grow increasingly indifferent about the coming election. Only 43 percent of eligible voters say they will cast ballots and almost half believe the elections will be fraudulent.
One of Central America’s most unpopular presidents -- second only to Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, another of Chavez’s pals by the way -- Zelaya knows he can’t win a presidential election any time soon. Micheletti is just an interim political figure supported by less than a third of the population and, thus, unsuited to run for president. Neither man has a stake in smoothing the way for elections.
Making things even worse, President Barack Obama’s administration, which correctly criticized Venezuela and Brazil for letting Zelaya into Honduras, says it won’t recognize the scheduled November election unless the political crisis is resolved.
That gives carte blanche to Zelaya. The more turmoil Zelaya creates, the closer to civil war the country will be.
honduras
Friday, September 25, 2009
One Little Indian, Two Little Indians, Three ...
Iran wants a nuclear weapon, Brazil now wants a nuclear weapon, and Venezuela apparently has found a great deal of Uranium with Iranian assistance.
What a world Obama has to deal with, with no experience.
Venezuela seeking uranium with Iran's help
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ
Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 25, 2009
PORLAMAR, Venezuela – Iran is helping to detect uranium deposits in Venezuela and initial evaluations suggest reserves are significant, President Hugo Chavez's government said Friday.
Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Iran has been assisting Venezuela with geophysical survey flights and geochemical analysis of the deposits, and that evaluations "indicate the existence of uranium in western parts of the country and in Santa Elena de Uairen," in southeastern Bolivar state.
"We could have important reserves of uranium," Sanz told reporters upon arrival on Venezuela's Margarita Island for a weekend Africa-South America summit. He added that efforts to certify the reserves could begin within the next three years.
The announcement came as revelations that Iran has secretly been building a uranium-enrichment plant provoke concerns among countries including the U.S., Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.
On Friday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Iran in a statement to prove it is not seeking to develop atomic weapons, saying the undeclared construction of an enrichment facility flies in the face of U.N. Security Council demands for Iran to stop uranium enrichment at its only declared facility.
Iran is under three sets of Security Council sanctions for refusing to freeze enrichment at what had been its single publicly known enrichment plant, which is being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said recently that U.S. officials also have "concerns" about a possible transfer of nuclear materials between Iran and Venezuela.
But analysts say Iran, which has significant uranium deposits, currently has no need to import uranium, although those deposits may not be enough to sustain its future enrichment goals.
Sanz dismissed suggestions that Venezuela could aid Iran with its nuclear program, saying Venezuela is only aiming to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Chavez has repeatedly said that all countries should end their nuclear-weapons programs, while insisting that Iran and Venezuela have a "sovereign right" to pursue peaceful nuclear ambitions.
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington said that regardless of whether the uranium exploration efforts lead to nuclear cooperation, they are going to cause "a serious problem in the relationship" between Caracas and Washington.
Chavez's government has "clearly announced they're sort of beginning down this road," Shifter said. "It's going to be very difficult for the U.S. to really pursue any cooperation with Caracas on other issues because this is going to top everything else."
Chavez's project remains in its planning stages and still faces a host of practical hurdles, likely requiring billions of dollars, as well as technology and expertise that Venezuela lacks. Russia has offered to help bridge that gap, and Chavez has announced that the two countries have created an atomic energy commission.
But Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, has said there are no concrete projects and that any joint work on mining deposits of uranium or the radioactive metal thorium would have to wait until Venezuela decides whether it wants Russian help exploring them and, if so, create a joint venture for the purpose.
Both Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are well-known for their anti-U.S. rhetoric, and have forged ties in everything from finance to factories, provoking concerns in Washington. Iran now manufactures cars, tractors and bicycles in Venezuela.
Earlier this month, Chavez sealed a deal to export 20,000 barrels of gasoline daily to Iran, giving Tehran a cushion if the West carries out threats of fuel sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.
Chavez
What a world Obama has to deal with, with no experience.
Venezuela seeking uranium with Iran's help
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ
Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 25, 2009
PORLAMAR, Venezuela – Iran is helping to detect uranium deposits in Venezuela and initial evaluations suggest reserves are significant, President Hugo Chavez's government said Friday.
Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Iran has been assisting Venezuela with geophysical survey flights and geochemical analysis of the deposits, and that evaluations "indicate the existence of uranium in western parts of the country and in Santa Elena de Uairen," in southeastern Bolivar state.
"We could have important reserves of uranium," Sanz told reporters upon arrival on Venezuela's Margarita Island for a weekend Africa-South America summit. He added that efforts to certify the reserves could begin within the next three years.
The announcement came as revelations that Iran has secretly been building a uranium-enrichment plant provoke concerns among countries including the U.S., Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.
On Friday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Iran in a statement to prove it is not seeking to develop atomic weapons, saying the undeclared construction of an enrichment facility flies in the face of U.N. Security Council demands for Iran to stop uranium enrichment at its only declared facility.
Iran is under three sets of Security Council sanctions for refusing to freeze enrichment at what had been its single publicly known enrichment plant, which is being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said recently that U.S. officials also have "concerns" about a possible transfer of nuclear materials between Iran and Venezuela.
But analysts say Iran, which has significant uranium deposits, currently has no need to import uranium, although those deposits may not be enough to sustain its future enrichment goals.
Sanz dismissed suggestions that Venezuela could aid Iran with its nuclear program, saying Venezuela is only aiming to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Chavez has repeatedly said that all countries should end their nuclear-weapons programs, while insisting that Iran and Venezuela have a "sovereign right" to pursue peaceful nuclear ambitions.
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington said that regardless of whether the uranium exploration efforts lead to nuclear cooperation, they are going to cause "a serious problem in the relationship" between Caracas and Washington.
Chavez's government has "clearly announced they're sort of beginning down this road," Shifter said. "It's going to be very difficult for the U.S. to really pursue any cooperation with Caracas on other issues because this is going to top everything else."
Chavez's project remains in its planning stages and still faces a host of practical hurdles, likely requiring billions of dollars, as well as technology and expertise that Venezuela lacks. Russia has offered to help bridge that gap, and Chavez has announced that the two countries have created an atomic energy commission.
But Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, has said there are no concrete projects and that any joint work on mining deposits of uranium or the radioactive metal thorium would have to wait until Venezuela decides whether it wants Russian help exploring them and, if so, create a joint venture for the purpose.
Both Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are well-known for their anti-U.S. rhetoric, and have forged ties in everything from finance to factories, provoking concerns in Washington. Iran now manufactures cars, tractors and bicycles in Venezuela.
Earlier this month, Chavez sealed a deal to export 20,000 barrels of gasoline daily to Iran, giving Tehran a cushion if the West carries out threats of fuel sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.
Chavez
Monday, September 21, 2009
Carter, Chavez, and UFOs
Carter must be channeling the CIA to have such insight. Amazing isn't it.
Let's think about it rationally for a moment.
How does Carter know the US was involved?
Bush call him and tell him? Do you honestly think Bush had anything to do with Carter during his administration? So how would Carter know?
29 years after he left office, someone still in CIA called him up because he knew Carter would want to know years after the fact.
He is as bad as Dennis Kucinich who publicly stated that the US had troops in Iran.
Carter should be punished for his bad behavior.
And before you defend him by saying the headline says 'might have been' - why produce a column, publicize it around the world if it MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
We should also remember, Carter claims he saw a UFO ... not might have seen, but he claims he did see. He is surely aware of a great deal more than the average person ... maybe because he hears voices that tell him special things no one else knows!
US might have been involved in 2002 Chavez coup: Carter
Sep 20, 2009
AFP
The United States knew about an abortive coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2002, and may even have taken part, former US president Jimmy Carter has told a Colombian newspaper.
"I think there is no doubt that in 2002, the United States had at the very least full knowledge about the coup, and could even have been directly involved," Carter said in an interview with El Tiempo published Sunday.
The former US leader said it is understandable that Chavez continues to blame the United States for the failed overthrow attempt.
The Venezuelan president, considered a bulwark of leftism in Latin America, was overthrown by a civilian-military junta for about 48 hours in April 2002, before returning to power.
Then-president George W. Bush denied any US involvement in the abortive coup and called on Chavez, a fierce US critic, to "learn a lesson" from the attempted overthrow.
Carter told El Tiempo that he believed Chavez was elected in a "fair" vote in 1999, had carried out necessary reforms for Venezuela and ensured that "those who are traditionally excluded are able to get a larger share of the national wealth."
But he also said he was worried by the Venezuelan leader's drift towards "authoritarianism."
He added that he felt Chavez's popularity at home and his influence abroad had been "diminished."
Carter said US President Barack Obama had told him he would eventually like to have normal relations with Venezuela.
"But he (Chavez) has made this almost impossible," Carter said, adding that "international relations would be better if he would stop his attacks and insults against the United States."
Carter
Let's think about it rationally for a moment.
How does Carter know the US was involved?
Bush call him and tell him? Do you honestly think Bush had anything to do with Carter during his administration? So how would Carter know?
29 years after he left office, someone still in CIA called him up because he knew Carter would want to know years after the fact.
He is as bad as Dennis Kucinich who publicly stated that the US had troops in Iran.
Carter should be punished for his bad behavior.
And before you defend him by saying the headline says 'might have been' - why produce a column, publicize it around the world if it MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
We should also remember, Carter claims he saw a UFO ... not might have seen, but he claims he did see. He is surely aware of a great deal more than the average person ... maybe because he hears voices that tell him special things no one else knows!
US might have been involved in 2002 Chavez coup: Carter
Sep 20, 2009
AFP
The United States knew about an abortive coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2002, and may even have taken part, former US president Jimmy Carter has told a Colombian newspaper.
"I think there is no doubt that in 2002, the United States had at the very least full knowledge about the coup, and could even have been directly involved," Carter said in an interview with El Tiempo published Sunday.
The former US leader said it is understandable that Chavez continues to blame the United States for the failed overthrow attempt.
The Venezuelan president, considered a bulwark of leftism in Latin America, was overthrown by a civilian-military junta for about 48 hours in April 2002, before returning to power.
Then-president George W. Bush denied any US involvement in the abortive coup and called on Chavez, a fierce US critic, to "learn a lesson" from the attempted overthrow.
Carter told El Tiempo that he believed Chavez was elected in a "fair" vote in 1999, had carried out necessary reforms for Venezuela and ensured that "those who are traditionally excluded are able to get a larger share of the national wealth."
But he also said he was worried by the Venezuelan leader's drift towards "authoritarianism."
He added that he felt Chavez's popularity at home and his influence abroad had been "diminished."
Carter said US President Barack Obama had told him he would eventually like to have normal relations with Venezuela.
"But he (Chavez) has made this almost impossible," Carter said, adding that "international relations would be better if he would stop his attacks and insults against the United States."
Carter
Monday, September 14, 2009
Venezuela: We want nuclear power.
Does anyone recall what Iran told the world before it began the nuclear program that has now resulted in the production of, quite possibly, nuclear weapons ... peaceful purposes only.
Iran, Venezuela, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Egypt ...
The countries with the best records on everything ... holding nuclear power.
Naive foreign polices permit thsi type of lunacy.
You allow one rogue state to possess nuclear weapons and they will all follow suit.
And if you are Obama, you shake your head in disbelief.
Which doesn't change the facts, just makes you look stupid.
Venezuela to Develop Nuclear Energy With Russian Help (Update1)
By Daniel Cancel
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said the South American country plans to develop a nuclear energy program with Russia and doesn’t want to build an atomic bomb.
Chavez said that the country’s oil and gas reserves won’t last forever and the government will seek alternative energy sources. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed to help Venezuela’s nuclear energy program during a meeting in Moscow last week, Chavez said.
“We’re not going to make an atomic bomb, so don’t bother us like with Iran,” he said on state television. “We’re going to develop nuclear energy with peaceful purposes.”
Chavez is a close ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who’s under international sanctions for continuing with the country’s nuclear energy program under suspicions by the U.S. and its allies that Iran is working toward making atomic weapons.
Robert Morgenthau, New York’s District Attorney, said last week that Venezuela may be helping Iran skirt sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the U.S. by transfering funds through the Venezuelan financial system.
Venezuela
Iran, Venezuela, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Egypt ...
The countries with the best records on everything ... holding nuclear power.
Naive foreign polices permit thsi type of lunacy.
You allow one rogue state to possess nuclear weapons and they will all follow suit.
And if you are Obama, you shake your head in disbelief.
Which doesn't change the facts, just makes you look stupid.
Venezuela to Develop Nuclear Energy With Russian Help (Update1)
By Daniel Cancel
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said the South American country plans to develop a nuclear energy program with Russia and doesn’t want to build an atomic bomb.
Chavez said that the country’s oil and gas reserves won’t last forever and the government will seek alternative energy sources. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed to help Venezuela’s nuclear energy program during a meeting in Moscow last week, Chavez said.
“We’re not going to make an atomic bomb, so don’t bother us like with Iran,” he said on state television. “We’re going to develop nuclear energy with peaceful purposes.”
Chavez is a close ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who’s under international sanctions for continuing with the country’s nuclear energy program under suspicions by the U.S. and its allies that Iran is working toward making atomic weapons.
Robert Morgenthau, New York’s District Attorney, said last week that Venezuela may be helping Iran skirt sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the U.S. by transfering funds through the Venezuelan financial system.
Venezuela
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