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Chávez Hits a Home Run

Venezuela’s embattled president calls his own shot by winning the recall election

By Steve Ellner

Caracas—Just minutes after the official results of Venezuela’s August 15 presidential recall election were announced at 4 a.m., a gathering of Hugo Chávez’s supporters outside the presidential palace chanted “home run.” Days before, President Chávez predicted he would hit a home run that soared over Cuba and landed on the White House. Speaking to the crowd from the balcony that morning,… return to article

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    There is really no reason to expect a Kerry administration to adopt a less hostile attitude to Venezuela. Did he say anything about the U.S.-backed overthrow of Aristide in Haiti? No, he didn’t - which tells us that when it comes to Latin America it is always the same old story, regardless of who is in the White House. Sorry, Steve, but it seems to me you’ve ended your article on a note of wishful thinking.

    Australia Posted by Carl Wernerhoff on Aug 24, 2004 at 11:49 PM

    I have to add the following quote, which I read today on Zmag.org:

    ‘little change can be expected in the event of John Kerry becoming US President. The Democrats’ Me-Too-But-More-So foreign policy offers scant relief from US imperial greed in Venezuela or anywhere else in Latin America. As Miguel D’Escoto Nicaragua’s former foreign minister has pointed out, “It would be a serious mistake to conclude that the current behavior of the United States represents something temporary that will change when George Bush Jr. leaves the presidency. Never in its history has the United States taken a backward step in its drive towards universal domination and never has it corrected its behavior, going from bad to worse from the point of view of the rights of the rest of humanity.”’

    That sums it up very well.

    Australia Posted by Carl Wernerhoff on Aug 25, 2004 at 3:03 AM

    I was thrilled when Chavez won the recall vote. Now I fear for Venezuela. The psychopathetic US admin has removed all obstacles to it’s chosen course of empire and wars of conquest and now wants badly to go beyond test driving this baby. It’s gotta do something with it’s guns.

    Chavez, I hope, will not be intimidated by the fact that, apparently, he is very alone in his region of the world. The ‘progressive’ media, I’m sensing, will suggest that he isn’t. It desires to conflate the resistance of a Chavez with the weakening of a Lula, for example, so that the lesson imparted and hopefully taken to heart by onlookers is: The right and progressive course is not the serious resistance of a Chavez, but the pragmatic and safer response to intimidation by international capitalism expemplified by Lula.

    Progressives who play that game should be exposed for what they are, namely class collaborationists and allies of bloodspilling empire-extending capitalists.

    Lula and Lula’s party (PT/ workers’ party) have betrayed the Brazilian people. Readers may recall that prior to his election, but not immediately prior to it, Lula was talking about not paying the odious debt that capitalist institutions and financiers were demanding be paid. As they and their allies twisted Lula’s arm, his resistance weakened until, just as he was about to be elected, he was happy to pay the nation-crippling moneys that the capitalist gangsters demanded he pay.

    Perhaps it’s naive of me to think like this, but, If there really is some concern by South American leaders for the destruction and insanity of international, neoliberal capitalism, then Why can’t these leftwing South American leaders get together and resist the Republicrats (Republican and Democrats in the pathetic one-state, two faction American political duopoly). Surely, divided they will more easily fall.

    Canada Posted by Arby on Aug 25, 2004 at 5:38 AM

    I think it may be possible to divine Kerry’s attitude to Chavez from the anti-Chavez articles that have appeared in the London Independent. This paper is owned by ‘Tony O’Reilly, one of Ireland’s most prominent businessmen, formerly head of H.J. Heinz. H.J. Heinz heiress Teresa Heinz is married to Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry.’

    Source: http://www.tonisolo.net/chavez.html

    This article, “Mis-reporting Venezuela : Hugo Chavez as processed by the “Independent” newspaper” is well worth a read.

    The Independent, it should be noted, is also the paper that published the erroneous early report that Chavez was losing badly in the recall vote.

    Australia Posted by Carl Wernerhoff on Aug 25, 2004 at 6:54 AM
    India Posted by mobile home financing on Nov 4, 2004 at 9:43 AM
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