Amazing story of H. Chavez rise to power/Bush in trouble

[cliss]

Here's a gripping story about how Hugo Chavez rose to power in Venezuela. I knew about the coup to kill Chavez, but I was unaware of the dynamics between Venezuela and Spain, and how Zapatero's win spelled victory for Chavez.

Also, the article explains that this was a huge blow to Bush.

A very interesting read, for anyone who's interested in the dynamics of oil geopolitics, which is heating up.

http://www.counterpunch.com/kozloff04092005.html

"For George Bush, the news could not have been worse. Having failed, according to credible accounts, to dislodge firebrand Hugo Chavez bu force in an April 2002 coup d'etat, Bush must now come to terms with the fact that Venezuela has cultivated strong European ties.
<snip>
Chavez: a Thorn in the Side of the U.S.
Chavez has long been a thorn in the side of the Bush administration. A frequent critic of the White House, Chavez has lambasted US efforts for a free trade zone in the Americas. What is more he has criticized the U.S. war in Iraq and furthered ties to U.S. enemies such as Cuba. For the United States, Venezuela is a nation of key geopolitical importance.

The tide starts to turn.....(more)
=== === ===
Heh heh

[Terran1212]

1. I say Viva La South America!

Free from US interference, they can probably attain better lives for themselves and their children.

[enid602]

2. Chavez

Unfortunately, I think Chavez is using the US much as Bush uses terrorism. Chavez governs a country with a small population and sizable resources, but is not able to achieve prosperity for the masses or keep investments from leaving the country. Uniting Venezuelans by creating fear of the US does not hide Chavez' lack of accomplishments. He's no better than Bush.

[applegrove]

3. I think the fact that Bush tried to depose Chavez as one of his first

'acts' of office shows tha Chavez was pretty much not 'starting' anything. As soon as Powel was out of the country ... an attempted coup against Chavez happened.

Here is an article from 2001(?):

"Bush Lends A Hand
by JP Leary
from Left Turn Magazine

It was only after mass protests returned Hugo Chavez to power last April 14, replacing the disgraced businessman Pedro Carmona, that the American government belatedly joined the rest of its hemisphere in opposing the coup against the elected Venezuelan leader. As his boss Colin Powell floundered in the Middle East, it was Otto Reich, the right-wing head of President Bush’s Latin American policy corps, who sounded the administration’s initial endorsement of the coup.

It was routinely regarded at the time as a bad week for US diplomacy. With Powell out of the country, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) wryly called for "adult supervision" at the State Department. But was this simply ineptitude—a case of the State Department’s proverbial cat being away—or a hasty American reaction to an expected, but surprisingly failed, coup d’état?

Substantial contacts between American officials and Venezuelan coup leaders in the months leading up to the insurrection make it improbable that the United States was taken by surprise by the events of April 11. Just as unlikely is the possibility that this insurrection was orchestrated in Washington along the lines of, for example, the 1973 overthrow of Chile’s president Salvador Allende (that tragic event was certainly better planned). However, it is clear that the United States was committed to seeing the coup succeed—and that American officials knew beforehand that a military overthrow was in the works. Whether they knew when, and what form it would take, however, is still a matter of speculation.

Also troubling is the significant amount of money channeled to Chavez opponents over the past year by a congressionally funded policy institute, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Organizations receiving NED funds for their work with Chavez opponents include the AFL-CIO’s American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), or the Solidarity Center, which granted funds to the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV), a key player in the events that led to the coup.

SKIP....."

http://www.leftturn.org/Articles/Viewer.aspx?id=354&type=M

[peacetalksforall]

5. There are some subtle differences that affect the comparison....

Leaders in Venezuela before Chavez were partners with the U.S. and didn't need to USE the U.S. with their own people.

The Venezuelan people knew extremes of wealth and poverty because of these leaders and had years to build receptivity for reform and opportunity.

Chavez is an accomplishment in himself for these people and his country if he is helping them, which appears to be the case. Time will tell.

The world is waking up, but many in the U.S. aren't.

Resentment against us is building everywhere.

And...in our country, there is support for real terrorism and non-support for phoney terrorism.

[NEOBuckeye]

6. Would you prefer that he were a Bush puppet instead?

Chavez has his flaws to be certain, but as someone way beyond sick and tired of the Bush Family Evil Empire and Capitalist Neo-Imperialism (i.e. Globalisation), I find it quite refreshing that someone like Chavez has the gravitas to stand up and beat Bush at his daddy's game.

It will be interesting to see if Chile and Mexico follow suit.

[kcass1954]

8. I work with a guy from Venezuela...

He comes from a fairly well-off family, but he and his wife like living in the US. He's not a citizen, but follows current events as much as the corporate media will allow, and also reads news from foreign sources.

He told me last week that while Chavez has his good points, and a pretty fair number of shortcomings, that he is fairly well-liked and respected because of his willingness to stand up to *.

[Algorem]

4. Venezuela's Chavez stronger after coup

5/10/2005, 4:03 p.m. ET

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER
The Associated Press

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-5/1113163045232060.xml&storylist=international

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Three years after dissident generals briefly drove him from power, President Hugo Chavez is stronger than ever, but he is facing increased criticism from the United States as he moves to buy arms and more of his political foes face criminal charges

Having survived the short-lived coup of 2002, a two-month strike that petered out in 2003 and a presidential recall referendum in 2004, Chavez and his "revolutionary" movement appear unstoppable.

"He is stronger now than he ever was in the past and has successfully managed to use each of these episodes to consolidate his grip on power," said Steve Johnson, a Latin America analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington.

The Venezuelan leader is maintaining his popularity as he pours millions of dollars from windfall oil prices into programs for the poor, while increasing the size of the military reserves and brushing aside criticism that his government is cracking down on dissent...

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/photo/index.ssf?NY11604101756

[Pharaoh]

7. Viva Chavez!!!!

lets see what the numbnuts do............

[Marxism]

9. re

The real reason why Chavez must go is because he is diverting oil profits away from US superwealth into improving the lives of the poor. Totally unacceptable. When Latin American nations move out of their assaigned place in the agro-dumping free-trade zone slum niche it's time for a coup.

[Robbien]

10. Read Chavez's speech. He has an engaging way with words

which inspires hope:

Inspiration.

Ignacio Ramonet, in his introduction, mentioned that I am a new kind of leader. I accept this, especially coming from a bright mind such as Ignacio’s, but I am inspired by many old leaders.

Some very old like for example Jesus Christ, one of the greatest revolutionaries, anti-imperialists fighters in the history of the world, the true Christ, the Redemptor of the Poor.

…Simon Bolivar, a guy that crisscrossed these lands, filling people with hope, and helping them become liberated.

Or that Argentine doctor, who crisscrossed our continent on a motorcycle, arriving in Central America to witness the gringo invasion of Guatemala in 1955, one of so many abuses that North American Imperialism perpetrated on this continent.

Or that old guy with a beard, Fidel Castro… Abreu Lima, Artigas, San Martin, O’Higgins, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Sandino, Morazan, Tupac Amaru, from all those old guys one draws inspiration.

Old guys that took up a commitment and now, from my heart, I understand them, because we have taken up a strong commitment. They have all returned.

Today we are millions.

More of the speech:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=45&ItemID=7612

[peacetalksforall]

11. Kick for background on Venezuela-U.S. n/t