June 26, 2007
From our man in Brazil
Good friend and frequent commenter Daniel, who lives in Brazil, brings us this report:
Hugo chavez is causing some stirs in Brazil this week. Things have not been cozy since Lula has kept cordial relations with the US. Chavez expected Lula to side with him in this war of words with the US and that has not been the case.The media in Brazil has been sniping at Chavez with every opportunity. Several cities/towns that presented chavez with "honorary citizenships" revoked them after Chavez cracked down on the media.
The Brazilian congress and senate sent strong rebukes which, even if just "political hot air," still reached and upset Chavez.
But what really set them off is when Hugo tried to mess with the most sacred of Brazilian treasures, futebol. Copa America starts tonight in Venzuela. The 10 South American countries plus the USA and Mexico will participate in this soccer tournament.
Seems hugo has the Brazilian team training under heavy artillery, as these pictures show.
The Brazilian people love protection, but in a country where they need to send the army in to battle drug dealers and crime gangs, even they think this is excessive. Even worse is this article that says chavez had seized tickets and is trying to keep them out of the hands of protesters.You see, Hugo knows this tournament is a huge deal and will be watched by most South Americans and many others around the world. Could it be that Hugo does not want the world to see protest banners? It is not enough to control the media in his own country, now he wants to control what the rest of the world will see.
Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at June 26, 2007 04:25 PM
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UPDATE:
The Copa America kicked off last night. As I am sure you are all anxious to know, Peru beat Uruguay 3-0 in the "pre" game, kinda a surprise in the soccer world. After that game there was an opening ceremony, musicians, fireworks, and the Venezuela- Bolivia, the night's main event. As baseball has the "opening pitch" for special events, soccer has the opening kick. The three stooges, evo morales, hugo, and maldroga (diego maradona) were at center field for it. The commentators took their swipes, saying hugo was milking it for political reasons, delaying the start of the game. BTW, that game ended 2-2.
Posted by: daniel_in_garanhuns ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 27, 2007 06:58 AM
The Brazilians are also pretty annoyed at Lula's supposed other bestest buddy Morales who has sharply cut natural gas shipments to Brazil, thereby raising the price of battata fritas. E ruim.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 27, 2007 01:14 PM
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