Faced with shortages of food, building materials and other staples, President Hugo Chávez is intensifying state control of the Venezuelan economy through a new wave of takeovers of private companies and the creation of government-controlled ventures with allies like Cuba and Iran.

The moves come just months after voters rejected a referendum to give the president sweeping constitutional power over the economy and public institutions, leading to new accusations that Chávez is more interested in consolidating power than in fixing Venezuela’s problems.

And while he has argued that aggressive action against the private sector is needed to correct social injustices and fight soaring inflation, his critics say his moves are instead compounding those troubles.

Above are excerpts from an Int’l Herald Tribune article - Chávez tightens reins on Venezuelan economy - just a month ago. It has some disturbing rumblings of familiarity… most especially that final sentence.

Obama, the likely DNC candidate, has tax incentive proposals on his possible Oval Office desk for $50 billion into energy venture capitalist funds, $150 billion for more biofuel issues, doubling existing science and research for clean energy products, doubling existing federal funding for research on job creation, more federal workforce training programs, distressed home owners funds, quadrupling Early Head Start funding and increasing existing Head Start funding, $5 billion for transitional jobs for the low income, and creating an Affordable Housing trust fund.

And… oh yeah, all of rural America should have high speed internet. Hasn’t he heard of Directway?? And is he proposing we put a new satellite in orbit for those that those who do not have a shot at the southern skies? Read the rest of this entry »

You may recall that a top leader for the terrorist group FARC was killed early this month during a raid by Columbian troops. They captured a laptop belonging to Raul Reyes and what they found was quite startling. They found connections between FARC and Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa. Records of a 300 million dollar gift from Hugo Chavez along with thank you notes dating all the way back from 1992 and Uranium purchasing records along with the directions on how to make dirty bombs.

Also found was the last letter from Raul Reyes to FARC which had this paragraph:

6. The gringos will ask for an appointment with the minister to solicit him to communicate to us his interest in discussing these topics. They say that the new president of their country will be Obama and that they are interested in your compatriots. Obama will not support “Plan Colombia” nor will he sign the TLC (Colombian Free Trade agreement). Here we responded that we are interested in relations with all governments in equality of conditions and that in the case of the US it is required a public pronouncement expressing their interest in talking with the FARC given their eternal war against us.

Obama gets in and they believe they will be sitting pretty. Read the rest of this entry »

This correction from The Times doesn’t take much splainin’:

National

An article on Saturday about Senator John McCain’s criticism of Senator Barack Obama’s Middle East policy incompletely described Mr. Obama’s position on negotiating with the leaders of countries, including Iran, with which the United States currently has little contact. While Mr. Obama and his aides have indeed described various conditions and limitations on such negotiations, Mr. Obama himself, in a Democratic debate in July 2007, also said he would be willing “to meet separately, without precondition” with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.

Nice of The Times to come around.

How many innocent lives have been lost while U.S. peaceniks embraced Chavez?

Readers may recall that in March, Venezuela and Colombia were on the brink of war with sabre rattling from crazy man dictator Hugo Chavez leading the charge. It was at that time that Colombia engaged in a cross border raid on FARC terrorists that have been using Ecuador for sanctuary (most likely with the complete approval of that Chavez oriented government).

It was also at that time that we learned that documents captured on the FARC leader killed in that raid indicated a preference among FARC terrorists for the election of Barack Obama. Like similar statements by Hamas terrorists and Iranians, Obama seems to represent the right sort of change to people who use violence, terror and murder to bring change about.

Now, with this article in the Wall Street Journal (top selection)we’re finding out just exactly how closely tied Venezuela’s Chavez is to the terrorists who have killed hundreds of poor peasants in Colombia.
Read the rest of this entry »

Obama’s message of change and hope cheers terrorists!

By now, you may be aware that Colombia, Ecudaor and Venezueala are on the brink of war after Colombia tracked down and killed the leader of FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) a Communist/terrorist group responsible for kidnapping, murder, terrorism and drug trafficking inside Colombia and linked to support from neighboring Ecuador and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

Worse yet, Gateway Pundit has evidence that showed FARC was working on creating a dirty bomb with recently acquired uranium.

Worst of all, Raul Reyes, the FARC terrorist leader killed by Colombia in the attack had a letter on his computer suggesting that Barrack Obama would be elected U.S. President and he would would look more favorably on the communist terrorists and less favorably on the democratically elected Colombian government which has been a strong ally of the United States in this troubled region.

Despite the Cuban flag with mass murderer Che Guevara prominently displayed in an Obama campaign office in Houston, Texas there is nothing to suggest that Obama has any sympathy with communist terrorists. But apparently, Obama’s message to America’s enemies that he is willing to talk to them at the same time he undermines our allies has gotten through, even to the jungles of South America.

More proof, as if any were needed, that Obama’s foreign policy would be a disaster and create more troubles around the world and encourage terrorists and violent aggressors like Chavez.

We knew this kind of action was inevitable. Not who the action would be directed against but the action itself has been apparent for sometime. Hugo Chavez is a power hungry nut:

President Hugo Chavez on Sunday ordered thousands of troops to the border with Colombia after Colombia’s military killed a top rebel leader.

Chavez told his defense minister: “Move 10 battalions for me to the border with Colombia, immediately.” He also ordered the Venezuelan Embassy in Colombia closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn. Read the rest of this entry »

Exxon wins freeze on $12 billion of Venezuelan assets

NEW YORK - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) has won court orders freezing up to $12 billion in Venezuelan assets around the world as it fights for compensation for operations lost to President Hugo Chavez’s nationalization drive.

The largest U.S. company sought the asset freeze to guarantee repayment should it win arbitration over the Cerro Negro heavy oil project.

The move is the boldest challenge yet by an international oil major against any of the governments around the world that have moved to increase their holds on natural resources as energy and commodity prices have soared.

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: commodity prices, exxon mobil, exxon mobil corp, houston law center, hugo chavez, new york in december, president hugo chavez, sovereign bonds, u s company, university of houston law center

Remember all the platitudes thrown at Hugo Chavez last week when he conceded defeat.  Some lefties went on to call the guy a progressive leader:

For anyone who hasn’t had time to keep up, the news is that the
peaceful, progressive leader of Venezuela lost the vote on
constitutional reforms in a transparent and orderly election.

But big shocker, it’s now becoming known that Chavez did in fact try to overturn the results but was threatened with a coup if he did:

Most of Latin America’s leaders breathed a sigh of relief earlier
this week, after Venezuelan voters rejected President Hugo Chávez’s
constitutional amendment referendum. In private they were undoubtedly relieved
that Chávez lost, and in public they expressed delight that he accepted defeat
and did not steal the election. But by midweek enough information had emerged to
conclude that Chávez did, in fact, try to overturn the results. As reported in
El Nacional, and confirmed to me by an intelligence source, the Venezuelan
military high command virtually threatened him with a coup d’état if he insisted
on doing so. Finally, after a late-night phone call from Raúl Isaías Baduel, a
budding opposition leader and former Chávez comrade in arms, the president
conceded–but with one condition: he demanded his margin of defeat be reduced to
a bare minimum in official tallies, so he could save face and appear as a
magnanimous democrat in the eyes of the world.

So after this purportedly narrow loss Chávez did not even request a recount,
and nearly every Latin American colleague of Chávez’s congratulated him for his
“democratic” behavior. Why did these leaders not speak out? Surely they knew of
Chávez’s machinations, and with the exception of Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega,
Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, Bolivia’s Evo Morales and, to a large extent, the
Argentine Kirchner duo, none of the region’s heads of state sympathizes with the
Venezuelan revolutionary.

The reason for the silence: these leaders know Chávez can count on a fifth
column in nearly every country in the region. Even while he denounces the
policies of his opponents and throws vitriol in every direction, he also uses
his nation’s resources to befriend their constituencies. These acolytes are
devoted to his ideals and, more important, to his funding. They are boisterous,
or powerful, or both, and they can make life miserable for governments ranging
from the emblematic left (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil) to the liberal
right (Mexico’s Felipe Calderón or Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe).

Expect the purges of the military to commence immediately.

But Chavez isn’t going away anytime soon!

Opponents of Chavez Power Grab rally in Caracas in advance of Sunday’s vote.

Yesterday’s narrow defeat of a referendum that would have given Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez unlimited power was a welcome check to the tyrannt’s march towards imprisoning the Venezuelan people in a Stalinist copy of Castro’s Cuba.

The effort to defeat Chavez’s power grab was spearheaded by students at Venezuelan universities not yet under the direct control of the dictator.

But defeat was only made possible because the poor, which Chavez claims to champion, have seen their lives change for the worse as Chavez economic policies have damaged Venezuela’s economy to the point where even the daily staples of life like beans, chicken and milk are in short supply.

Venezuelan National Guard using violent tactics to suppress opposition.

Chavez called all those challenging his reforms “traitors” and warned that a “no” vote was a vote for US President George W. Bush and US “imperialism”. And Chavez didn’t hold back using police state tactics and violence to intimidate his opponents.

Bad News: Chavez Still In Control

While Sunday’s vote was a setback for Chavez, he’s still firmly in control and has unchecked power to seek revenge against the “traitors” who opposed him. He has absolute control of the national legislature and the Supreme Court. He has shown a willingness to use the power of the state to punish his opponents and to shut down opposition news media.

And while the opposition has checked the latest power grab, they themselves are fragmented and unable to reverse previous Chavez assaults on freedom.

Message to our Venezuelan friends: Celebrate for now amigos. But more difficult work lies ahead!

Chavez was tooting his horn a bit early it seems

Chavez has now accepted his defeat in the attempt to be “President for Life”

Humbled by his first electoral defeat ever, President Hugo Chavez said Monday he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.

That said, I have no doubt Chavez is working on a way to extend his rule and silence opposition via some contrived “emergency”. There is always another method for dictators to gain absolute power….

Chavez still wields special decree powers thanks to a pliant National Assembly packed with his supporters.

It is interesting WHO stands against Chavez and socialism:

Foes of the reform effort - including Roman Catholic leaders, media freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders - said it would have granted Chavez unchecked power and imperiled basic rights.

This group also includes university students. Do they know something our university students and human rights groups in the USA do not? But then, naive advocating of totalitarian socialism in the US is a lot different from being forced to exist under it.

The defeated reform package would have created new types of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map and suspended civil liberties during extended states of emergency. Without the overhaul, Chavez will be barred from running again in 2012.

This election was a huge victory for Freedom and Liberty and a defeat for socialism. However, the People of Venezuela are not out of the woods yet. Chavez is a dictator at heart and as I stated above, I have no doubt he will try to weasel his way into more power via an “emergency”. Freedom must be eternally vigilant against dictators like Chavez and socialist slavery.

You think the Thug-O-Crat (as Michelle Malkin calls him) is on the phone to Jimmy Carter this evening?  “Jimmah, Jimmah….I need help, come down here and help me win this thing.  By the way, can you pick up Sean at the airport?”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has lost his lead eight
days before a referendum on ending his term limit, an independent
pollster said on Saturday, in a swing in voter sentiment against the
Cuba ally.

Forty-nine percent of likely voters oppose Chavez’s proposed raft of
constitutional changes to expand his powers, compared with 39 percent
in favor, a survey by respected pollster Datanalisis showed.

Just weeks ago, Chavez had a 10-point lead for his proposed changes
in the OPEC nation that must be approved in a referendum, the polling
company said.

Despite the swing, company head Luis Vicente Leon said he did not rule out a comeback by the popular president.

Chavez has trounced the opposition at the polls on average once a
year and can deploy a huge state-backed machinery to get out the vote,
Leon said.

Still, the survey was the latest blow to Chavez. He has suffered a
series of defections over his plan, including an ex-defense minister
who had restored him to power after a brief 2002 putsch but who called
Chavez’s reforms a new “coup.”

Alas, I think none of this matters.  We’re not talking about a Democracy down there and Chavez will get the yes vote he wants by a large margin, just as Saddam did during his reign.  His latest speech tells us that he will hold nothing back, even deeming his citizens “traitors” for not allowing him to become dictator:

President Hugo Chavez warned his supporters
on Friday that anyone voting against his proposed constitutional
changes would be a “traitor,” rallying his political base before a
referendum that would let him seek unlimited re-election in 2012 and
beyond.

Brandishing a little red book listing his desired 69
revisions to Venezuela’s charter, Chavez exhorted his backers to
redouble their efforts toward a victorious “yes” vote in the Dec. 2
ballot.

“He who says he supports Chavez but votes ‘no’ is a
traitor, a true traitor,” the president told an arena packed with
red-clad supporters. “He’s against me, against the revolution and
against the people.”

And get this excellent vision of what a Socialist paradise looks like:

But this year, Chavez has hurt his standing by shutting an opposition TV station and failing to end some food shortages.

Amanda Aguilar, 17, was in line at 5:30 a.m. waiting for a food store to open to buy her single, rationed carton of milk.

Now WHO wouldn’t want to live like that huh?

What a paradise.

The Laurel and Hardy of the axis of evil are at it again:

The presidents of Venezuela and Iran boasted Monday that they will defeat U.S. imperialism together, saying the fall of the dollar is a prelude to the end of Washington’s global dominance.

Hugo Chavez’s visit to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran followed a failed weekend attempt by the firebrand duo to push the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States away from trading in the slumping greenback.

Their proposal at an OPEC summit was overruled by other cartel members led by Saudi Arabia, a strong U.S. ally. But the cartel agreed to have OPEC finance ministers discuss the idea, and the two allies’ move showed their potential for stirring up problems for the U.S.

The alliance between Chavez and Ahmadinejad has blossomed with several exchanged visits — Monday’s was Chavez’s fourth time in Tehran in two years — a string of technical agreements and a torrent of rhetoric presenting their two countries as an example of how smaller nations can stand up to the superpower.

“Here are two brother countries, united like a single fist,” Chavez said upon his arrival in Tehran, according to Venezuela’s state-run Bolivarian News Agency.

~~~

“The U.S. empire is coming down,” Chavez told Venezuelan TV, calling the European Union’s euro a better option and saying Latin American nations were also considering a common currency.

So a Marxist and a 12th Imam freak are now buddy-buddy.  United in their hatred of freedom and Democracy.  All the Che loving leftists just love Chavez and his brand of leadership.  Throw in Ahmedanutjob and they get a whole potpourri of terrorism, anti-semitism, censorship and loss of liberty.  Sprinkle in some oppression of women and their Heaven on earth, Venezuela and Iran, becomes a reality.

The “models” of how a country should be run.

But seriously, how is it that these liberals can put a man like Che, a cold blooded murderer, on a pedestal?  Or call for going into the Sudan to save those who can’t save themselves, but in the same breath curse the fact that we went into Iraq and liberated millions who now have their freedom? 

These same people are now calling for Iran to GET the bomb.  Just let them have it, it’s only fair you see?  These same people want a socialist society like Chavez is putting into place while they complain about the Patriot Act, which is nothing compared to what Chavez is doing down in his country.

And don’t forget,

He would sit down and talk to these yahoo’s:

Hypocrites, one and all.

UPDATE

I put up this post and then read this: (h/t Weasels Zippers)

Obama said candidates who did not understand foreign cultures, would have a tough time making good foreign policy decisions.

“If you don’t understand these cultures then it’s very hard for you to make good foreign policy decisions. Foreign policy is all about judgment,” said Obama.

“The benefit of my life of having both lived overseas and traveled overseas … is, I have a better sense of how they’re thinking and what their society is really like,” Obama said.

“A lot of my knowledge about foreign affairs isn’t just what I studied in school — I studied international relations when I was in college — it’s not just the work I do on the Senate foreign relations committee.

“It’s actually having the knowledge of how ordinary people in these other countries live.”

Because we all know part of leading the United States is understanding how foreigners think….what the hell?

Oh, and Obama….we know how that school of yours:

Who woulda thunk it?  The recent outburst by Spain’s King to the Venezuelan dictator Chavez has become a sensation:

When the Spanish king Juan Carlos turned to Hugo Chavez and said to him, a touch irritably, “Why don’t you shut up?”, little did he know that his breach of diplomatic protocol would become a smash hit across the country.

~~~

An estimated 500,000 people have already downloaded the ringtone, generating around €1.5m (£1m), but many companies have circumvented any potential problems over rights by using an actor’s voice instead of the king’s.

Over 700 videos have appeared on YouTube, with parodies ranging from a Benny Hill sketch to a Nike advert featuring the Brazilian star Ronaldinho, which ends: “Juan do it. Just shut up.”

Meanwhile, the Peña brothers, who run a small T-shirt company, have found themselves overwhelmed with orders for their design inspired by the king. They normally expect to sell 800 T-shirts in a year, but in the week of the king’s outburst their orders reached over 1,000.

While I applauded the fact that someone, anyone, finally told the idiot to shut the hell up, the fact that it has spawned such bad singing such as this is not a good thing:

Meanwhile, on a serious note, Jackson Diehl wonders why more world leaders haven’t told the idiot the same thing:

Crude and clownish, si, but also disturbingly effective. Borrowing the
tried-and-true tactics of his mentor Fidel Castro, Chávez has found another way
to energize his political base: by portraying himself as at war with foreign
colonialists and imperialists. Even better, he has distracted the attention of
the international press — or at least the fraction of it that bothers to cover
Venezuela — from the real story in his country at a critical moment.

In 13 days, abetted by intimidation and overt violence that has included the
gunning down of student protesters, Chávez will become the presumptive
president-for-life of a new autocracy, created by a massive revision of his own
constitution. Venezuela will join Cuba as one of two formally “socialist”
nations in the Western hemisphere. This “revolution” will be ratified by a Dec.
2 referendum that Chávez fully expects to win despite multiple polls showing
that only about a third of Venezuelans support it. Many people will abstain from
voting rather than risk the retaliation of a regime that has systematically
persecuted those who turned out against Chávez in the past.

Venezuelans are not giving up their freedom without a fight. Tens of
thousands of students have been marching in the streets of Caracas, and the few
independent media outlets that still exist have been trying to combat the
unrelenting propaganda campaign being waged on state-controlled television. Some
of Chávez’s longtime supporters have defected, including the recently retired
defense minister, Gen. Raúl Isaías Baduel, who calls the constitutional rewrite
“a coup d’etat.” The president’s response was to publicly lead a chant about
Baduel that promised he “will end up before a firing squad.”

You would think the human rights organizations would be all aghast at whats going on in Venezuela, but we hear nada.  Silence from the left in this country also.  Seeing as how their base is pro-Chavez, just as they are pro-Che….this should surprise no one. Tyrannical dictators they love.  Leaders spreading Democracy they hate.