Bush: Venezuela Nuke Reactor Might Be OK

[ECH1969]

WASHINGTON -- Despite tense relations with Venezuela, President Bush says it might be OK for the South American nation to have a nuclear reactor for peaceful energy uses.

Bush acknowledged he had not heard about Venezuela's request for a reactor when asked about it Tuesday in an interview with Latin American reporters in advance of his five-day trip to the region. But he didn't reject the idea, even though he has had numerous disputes with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

As Chavez, Bush and leaders from 32 other nations in the Western Hemisphere prepare to gather Friday at the Summit of the Americans in Argentina, the Venezuelan leader is trying to boost his profile by putting his disputes with the United States at center stage.

On Tuesday, Chavez said he would bring to the summit a message that the United States' "capitalist, imperialist model" was responsible for exploiting developing economies and ruining the global environment. He also warned he might share Venezuela's U.S.-made F-16 fighters with Cuba and China, accusing the United States of making it difficult for his country to obtain spare parts for the planes, which Venezuela originally purchased in 1983.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/02/AR2005110200298.html

[Greeby]

1. Well obviously

If they go nucular, they won't have any need for that there oil :eyes:

[pinniped]

2. I'm glad the leader of Bizarro World has approved...

Venezuela's nuke reactor.

[NeoConsSuck]

3. Note to the AWOL prick

no one in South America really gives a shit as to what you think.

[truthisfreedom]

4. bush is so retro cute.

a nu-cular reactor in every neighboring country!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

5. Poke poke!

:D

[Nay]

6. So now Venezuela needs the Resident Idiot's permission to

build a nuclear power plant??? Good grief. What an arrogant statement.

[izzie]

7. Oil? One we get it from and the others we do not.

My God but it is hard figuring these GOP people out.:dunce:

[tritsofme]

8. Why does a country swimming in natural resources

need nuclear power?

[murray hill farm]

11. Thinking ahead!!

As all truly responsible leaders would do....dont you think?

[jseankil]

12. Nuclear power is responsible?

How about putting money into R&D into finding a different energy source? It's not like Venezuela needs Nuclear power anytime soon, they have plenty of oil left.

[tritsofme]

14. Then invest in alternative energies

not something as unsafe as nuclear.

The only reason that comes to mind for a state like Venezuela desiring nuclear power is illusions of becoming a nuclear power.

[howmad1]

15. Wrong!

How about protecting themselves from a whacko administration that has no qualms about going to war with any country that happens to disagree with them.

[tritsofme]

17. What is wrong with my statement?

It sounds like from your post you are justifying Chavez's nuclear desires.

[Solon]

27. No offense...

but I trust Chavez more with the Bomb than I do George Walker Bush. Not to say I believe in nuclear proliferation, believe me I don't like the concept myself, but at least Chavez can separate the people of a country from the assholic leaders in it.

[tritsofme]

32. I trust no one with the bomb

Nagasaki*1,000,000 doesn't discriminate between good people and bad people.

[leesa]

9. The King has spoken. His keepers didn't let him go alone on this trip.

did they? He's gonna get his ass kicked there.

[Javaman]

10. he's making nice now so he doesn't get egged in Venezuela...

What a baffoon. Can he be any more obvious in his false approval?

[ldf]

13. Great! now we will have an excuse

to go bomb the crap out of them.

[foflappy]

16. chavez is as imature as bush is stupid

why so many love him around here is anyones guess??? oh yeah he hates bush so he must be great!

[High Plains]

18. So, what's wrong with Chavez?

How is he "immature"?

Why people around here might like Chavez:

1. Domestic policies that favor the poor.
2. Leads a hemispheric movement for social justice and against the wanton exercise of US power in the region.

[foflappy]

19. well to begin with

he taunts like a little child. He professes to help the people while silencing the oposition. he is a loudmouth. He participated in a violent coup attempt. He claims to heal by faith. Has state run media. tells lies. Makes friends with dictators.

Everyone has their own opinion and mine has come from looking at all sides of his life not just what "sounds" good.

Just how has he helped the poor?? bussing them to polling places maybe...
Just how does he bring about social justice?? Political prisoners and the death penalty??? give me a break how is that social justice??

wanton exercise of power..blahblahblah yeah america sucks....

I think it is quite sad that so many fall for his charm because he taunts bush...he has fooled quite a few here at DU. sad:(

[daleo]

20. OK, so you told us what Bush's failings are

Now, how about doing the same for Chavez?

[Nihil]

33. Ouch!

There's nothing like a well-placed stiletto to grab people's attention!
:applause:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

21. WTF are you talking about?

"he taunts like a little child. He professes to help the people while silencing the oposition. he is a loudmouth. He participated in a violent coup attempt. He claims to heal by faith. Has state run media. tells lies. Makes friends with dictators."

The opposition owns every private channel in the country. They use these to attack him relentlessly. They have been caught in lie after lie before, during and after the coup.

Sure he's a loudmouth. So are Dean and Harry Reid. Maybe you can provide details on the violence in the 1992 coup. I don't know about the healing by faith thing (was he joking what was the context?). The state run channel (8) has always been there just like PBS or CSPAN. Every US administration has made "friends" with dictators.

"Just how has he helped the poor?? bussing them to polling places maybe...
Just how does he bring about social justice?? Political prisoners and the death penalty??? give me a break how is that social justice??"

This part is just total bullshit. Even the most virulent anti Chavez Venezuelans I hang out with regularly. Say that he has done a lot for the poor. They actualy claim he's buying their loyalty with all those social programs (maybe so he is after all a politician).

One of my friend's father is an opposition politician. His problem is that he seems to be doing too much for what he calls lazy people. If by political prisoners you mean the people that dismantled the national assembly, supreme court and wanted to destroy the constitution. Man I don't even know what to say about that one.

He's never said that america sucks. Especially since all of us Latin Americans think we are part of America. He has criticized US policies which as everybody knows have fucked Latin America over and over through the years.

There is plenty to criticize his administration for. I'm sure. You don't have to make up shit to do it though. All the Venezuelans that I know (which is a lot more than you'll ever meet in your lifetime) go back home all the time. They've been active in both pro an counter demonstrations. They are able to speak they're minds. Even some of they're publications have photo shopped Chavez photos to insult him. As far as I know they're still in business.

[makeanoise]

22. State Run?

Watch the documentary "The Revolution will not be televised" and you will see that the media was corporate like ours here, until the coup attempt, where they did nothing but broadcast US propaganda...

Venezula is about as free as we are....the difference?
Chavez gives more to poor
Bush gives more to rich

and that's a fact...

;)

[Solon]

24. true, though Channel 8 is still the only state owned channel...

in fact, I'm quite surprised that Chavez DIDN'T dismantle the other stations after the illegal coup attempt. There was ample evidence, from their own broadcasts, that they were complicit in the coup attempt, and as such were engaged in a criminal conspiracy. That should be more than enough to have their licenses pulled and the reporters thrown in jail. Oddly enough, that didn't happen. I guess Chavez was afraid of setting a precedent against democracy, even if it puts him in danger.

[High Plains]

23. Well, you're pretty good at name-calling...

Chavez is "like a little child" and he is "a loudmouth."

Your substantive charges:

1. He is silencing the opposition. Are you referring to the mass media that conspired to overthrow him? And there is a state run media. So what? Many countries have state news agencies.

2. He participated in a violent coup attempt. That was in 1992. Since then, he has twice been popularly elected. The last violent coup attempt was by your buddies.

3. I don't know anything about any faith-healing claims. Maybe you have him confused with all those evangelical missionaries.

4. He makes friends with dictators. Ah, you mean Castro? I think you will find the Cuban government has a lot of popular support. Or do you mean the heads of OPEC?

5. He has done nothing for the poor. I could be wrong, but I think living standards are up.

6. He has political prisoners and the death penalty. I don't support the imprisonment of people for political activities--unless they are attempts at violent revolt. Chavez went to jail himself for that once. I don't know about Venezuela's use of the death penalty. Certainly it couldn't be as bad as here, could it? In any case, I don't support that. But addressing issues of social justice only by talking about prisoners and executions is something of a red herring, no?

7. "Blah blah blah, yeah America sucks." Perhaps you could explain America's constructive role in building peace and democracy in Latin America instead of resorting to childish taunts. But they probably don't teach you that at Free Republic.

[Solon]

25. First, most of our information comes from the lenses of our...

corporate media, and they aren't friendly to ANYONE who doesn't toe to the US line. Chavez has gone out of his way to critisize the GOVERNMENT of the United States, and at the same time ships heating oil into our country to help our own poor through the winter. Is that a guy who is anti-American, or a guy who is Anti-Bush?

Second, the BIGGEST critisizism against Chavez stated by the opposition, is the redistributing of the wealth from a STATE OWNED CORPORATION to the citizens of the country. I don't even see how that is remotely leftist, it seems more like common sense, similar to how investors get dividend checks for the corps they own, I believe we call that capitalism. :)

The guy hasn't done any worst than most US presidents, and a sight better than the one we have now. He doesn't care if you oppose him in his country, you aren't going to be arrested for saying he's an asshole or whatnot, otherwise all the private stations would have been shut down years ago. No, that's not going to happen, he doesn't want to have that type of power. You definately need to see the move "Inside the Coup: The Revolution will not be Televised", its an eye opener.

Most telling, for me, is the day of, and the day after the coup. The day of the coup, the Opposition had a demonstration against Chavez at the PDVSA HQ in Caracas, at the same time, there was a Pro-Chavez rally at the presidential palace. So, the leaders of the Opposition then changed ideas and marched to the Palace, hoping to force a confrontation. When they arrived, the police and military tried to keep both groups separate, but without guns drawn, and using the least amount of force possible. In other words, they didn't act like the Miami PD.

Soon enough, gunshots were fired, from snipers on the roofs of surrounding buildings, into the Pro-Chavez crowd, many died, and some in the Chavez crowd fired back, big surprise there. Of course the private media in Venezuela spun this to mean that the Pro-Chavez folks were firing on the Opposition crowd, which, if you look at all the video of that day, you would know is not true. Anyways, Chavez was ousted, after the Military threatened to shell the palace with everyone in it and around it in mortal danger, it was surrounded by tanks. He refused to resign, but agreed to go into their custody, as long as they didn't shell the palace.

So, he was arrested by the Military, then the next day, the Government of Venezuela was dissolved, and a new president put in. Also on this day, police and military were on the streets FIRING on Chavez supporters in Caracas, because of the beginnings of the demonstrations against the coup. If this is the Opposition's idea of "democracy" I'd take Chavez's version any day.

[Say_What]

26. VeneGusano remarks from a Chavez-obsessed nut case

Members of the Argentine Coast Guard line up along a pier leading to a restaurant in front of the Hermitage Hotel, where the 4th Summit of the Americas will be held, in Mar del Plata, on the Argentine coast November 2, 2005. The federal police are among 7,000 police and military personnel forming a fortified security ring around the top hotels for the 34-nation summit in Mar del Plata, 250 miles (400 km) south of Buenos Aires, on Friday and Saturday. Protesters plan a rally on Friday against Bush that will include Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona and families of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

[sofa king]

28. Sure it's okay.

Today: Yes, I think it's all right for you to have a nuclear reactor.

Tomorrow: He's got nukes! He's got nukes! Imminent threat!

[IChing]

29. Then the Next thing you know he has yellow cake and aluminum tubes

and wants to bomb Italy

[Solon]

30. That seems especially ironic...

Considering that Chavez is Catholic.

[IChing]

31. Me ironic?

feigned ignorance maybe,
sarcasm possible,
incongruous perhaps

ironic?
no, not me

Bill Brasky's take was:
"He hated Mexicans! / He was half Mexican! / .......And he hated irony!"

[Disturbed]

34. Arent' there Nuke Reactors that are safer than the ones in the

US? I read that China is building some of those.