Amen.

I've never been a fan of Robertson. He is just too extreme in his views. Imagine my mortification yesterday when I found myself agreeing with him. At any rate CNN (better known as Communist News Network among my friends) as usual took his comments out of context. What he said was that since chavez had been going around saying that the USA wanted to kill him, then we might as well comply with his wishes. Of course, my preference would be that castro be taken care of first!

Bolívar's last words were "I have had ploughed the seas," meaning that everything he had done in his life to imbue his people with dignity was to no avail, because Latin Americans prefer chaos and butchery to stability and the rule of law. The last real Bolivarian, José Martí, wrote just before dying that he only wished to disappear. Latin Americans have always failed to live up to the expectations of their greatest men and invariably met all the worst assumptions of their tyrants. Now Venezuela, the cradle of independence in the Americas, is about to be thrown into the Cuban abyss. There are a million signposts pointing them away from the danger and they've been up for 46 years, but it doesn't matter. Will a time ever come when our people will not look to psychopaths for their salvation? A billion bullets to defend tyranny, but not a single bullet to stop it.

Alabao, that was fast!

Thanks for the blog-love, Val. I appreciate it.

And yes, I know to what you infer.

If I had a six-shooter, and I stood in front of El Barbudo -- I think it would take every ounce and fibre in my body not to press that trigger.

Although if I did, I know I'd immediately be canonised "Santa Victoria de la Souwesera" by Ninoska's faithful listeners.

I rather like the sound of that.

Cheers,
Victoria

Unfortunately for Venezuela (and the rest of LatAm), this intro to one Gustavo Coronel's articles in Petroleum World pretty much says it all:

Why are you coming to Venezuela?, a Cuban doctor was asked by a local journalist. Because I want to see the first half of the movie!, he replied.

Pat Robertson could have been a little more diplomatic. He might have said, for instance, that he wanted Hugo to learn to dance the Mussolini Upside-Down Hook-ennany. Immensely popular, though short lived.

Killing Hugo only will make him a "semi-god" like that bastard called Che. The will start saying that he only wanted the welfare of his people, that his goverment was focused on the poor, and that bullshit, making him an example to follow. So it is better for all us that he stays alive and shows his true colors: incompetence, ineptitude and a never-ending thirts of power.

While Robertson does demonstrate why he was never a real contender for the Presidency, Chavez is still a dictator. The world can suffer fools far better than it can suffer dictators. Robertson is certainly no worse than Michael Moore, while Chavez is rapidly becoming a rich Castro.
The MSM, in its utter foolishness, will focus on the foolishness of Robertson, and ignore as it nearly always does, the real danger.

I'd rather see the Venezuelan dictator taking the top bunk assigned to him by his new cellmate, Manuel Noriega.

What you fail to appreciate is that this kind of rhetoric is just want Chavez will use to keep his people further enslaved.

Scott,

I dont fail to recognize it. It was an assinie thing for Robertson to say. But he said it, and its out there. To which I can only add a hardy Amen!

K-2: Not even Korda on his best day could have taken a flattering picture of Hugo Chavez. There is no chance that he will ever be a revolutionary "semi-God" even it he meets "Che" Guevara's fate. In fact, it is only those who want to mock him that would ever sport an Hugo Chavez tee-shirt.

food for thought: the "word" is out.. if chavez is assasinated, the "americans" are behind it.. chew on this: who is hugo's "best friend"?? what did fidel do to camilo and che? fidel will set him up to die a "hero" and make the americans look suspect... im just saying...

Daniel, che didn't have oil.

I am not a fan of Pat Robertson nor a proponent of violence, but I can't help but think of the classic exchange in Woody Allen's Manhattan:

Allen: Has anybody read that Nazis are gonna march in New Jersey, you know? I read this in the newspaper. We should go down there, get some guys together, you know, get some bricks and baseball bats and really explain things to 'em.

Man: There was this devastating satirical piece on that on the op-ed page of the Times. It is devastating.

Allen: Well, well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the point, I think.

Woman: Oh, but really biting satire is always better than physical force.

Allen: No, physical force is always better with Nazis, 'cause it's hard to satirize a guy with shiny boots.

Venezuela is reaping what it has sown for decades. In the 1960s they were besieged by Castro-sponsored guerrillas. A shipment of Cuban weapons, with the Cuban coat of arms stamped on them, was discovered on a Venezuelan beach.
Then in the 1975, the corrupt President Carlos Andres Perez embraced Castro and reestablished diplomatic and economic ties with Cuba.
The Venezuelan government has maintained a pro-Castro attitude since then. In 1989, I was a graduate student at San Diego State University. The Latin American Studies program invited the cultural attache of the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington to speak at the university. I heard this man refer to Cuban exiles as "gusanos."
Both traditional Venezuelan parties, AD and COPEI have done nothing but steal government funds and exploit their people. As a result, a demagogue like Chavez obtained large popular support. The Chavistas are like the Cuban idiots who in 1959 put little signs on their house doors saying "Fidel, esta es tu casa."
I only regret that Chavez's oil wealth is helping Castro.

Delacova makes a good point - Venezuela, and Brazil, have always had commies and only commies to choose from. Chavez got in because he was a DIFFERENT commie, an outside commie. But certainly not a noncommie. There are no Reagans to choose from in Latin America. They are all different kinds of commies. That's why the most freakish or unusual ones get in there. Sometimes you get a Lula (despite scandals I still think he is a good guy)and sometimes you get a Chavez.

Venezuela has been governed by clowns who messed the place up for a long time. It's just that the current clown is so much scarier.

What I'd like to know is, what is happening now to all those Cubans who emigrated not to the Miami, the US, etc. but who went in their thousands to Venezuela in the '60's?

I have only 2 Venezuelan acquaintances (both live in Key Biscayne in Little Miraflores), and I suspect one's parents are Cubans, but I don't feel comfortable asking, since she seems über-proud of being Venezuelan (if you remember that Que Pasa USA? episode when La Prima Milagros comes swanking over to la 'Saguesera' - thanks Jose! -, they captured that attitude perfectly).

If for Cuban-Americans like Val it's difficult to see "the first half of the movie" happening all over again, to these Vene-Cubans...it must be torture.

Man, even the Cubans who went to Puerto Rico must be thanking their lucky stars they chose the right place to settle.

Cheers,
Victoria

Delacova makes a good point - Venezuela, and Brazil, have always had commies and only commies to choose from.

Eh, where did he mention Brazil?

Chavez got in because he was a DIFFERENT commie, an outside commie. But certainly not a noncommie. There are no Reagans to choose from in Latin America.

This is a very overblown statement. Castro once said there are only 2 true Communists left in South America -- Oscar Niemeyer (the millionaire architect who built Brasilia) and himself.

The problem is that Reagan is a demi-god to those of us who believe in the goodness of the American Way of Life.

But in South America, which I alluded to in my Hugo Chavez article today, has an added problem of being in the shadow of the US -- and a lot of what you see is not leftism, exactly, but anti-Americanism, of which that is a major component of leftism yes, but let's not exaggerate.

The rank and file of the South American elites, with their maids, chauffeurs, and luxury apartments along the Malecons and Avenida Atlanticas, only affect to be leftist.

They wouldn't be caught dead with the "people" otherwise.

They are all different kinds of commies. That's why the most freakish or unusual ones get in there. Sometimes you get a Lula (despite scandals I still think he is a good guy)and sometimes you get a Chavez.

I don't like Lula.

The only good thing Fernando Collor de Mello did in his life, is to leave this visual of Lula when he called him, "um sapo barbudo".

Ring any bells?

Cheers,
Victoria

Would it do any good to assasinate Chavez? Who would replace him? Like in Iraq's case the idea of bumping off Saddam was dropped because one of his sons would take over, and they were both crazier than he was.

Killing Chavez is the worst case scenario, believe me, we will always have his shadow over us, in a what if? way. After his death, a worst bastard would sieze power in HIS name or something like that. The best way to kill miths is avoiding their deaths