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2008-07-08 Caribbean-Latin America

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Posted by Steve White 2008-07-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 He won't go without a fight. He knows how to stay in power with force, and being the kind of guy he is, I don't see him bowing before the people and gently stepping aside.

Posted by gromky 2008-07-08 01:25|| 2008-07-08 01:25|| Front Page Top

#2 This woman has some valid points but as a liberal she missed the biggest point in that Chavez did not and does not care for the little people of South America. His primary wish was to be the all powerful incarnation of Simon Bolivar with a legacy of "saving" all of South America under socialism. To that end he has been complicate in a great many "dirty" deals including with FARC. May the worms eat him slowly.

Posted by tipover 2008-07-08 01:36|| 2008-07-08 01:36|| Front Page Top

#3 funny pic, didnt bobo the clown die recently?

Posted by Spiny Gl 2511 2008-07-08 08:35|| 2008-07-08 08:35|| Front Page Top

#4 Like his hero, Bob, he will turn the country into Venezoooogoelia before he allows elections to depose him.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2008-07-08 08:49|| 2008-07-08 08:49|| Front Page Top

#5 For the record:

Initailly the Natives fought against the independentists. They knew too wel that their consitition would only worsen once the protections, as weak and ineffective it was due to the distance, from Spain would be withdrawan and they would have to live under Criollo's rule.

It was when Napoleon took Sevilla that Natives thinking Spain was definitelely defeated and would never be able to send help began switching sides to avoid Criollo's vengeance after their victory.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2008-07-08 09:18|| 2008-07-08 09:18|| Front Page Top

#6 It is fascinating how decisions about how to colonize made 500 years ago continue to reverberate. And how the Spanish were "lucky" and got the gold and silver and the English "unfortunately" got only the arable land and fisheries. Makes you consider how valuable all that oil will be in a few centuries.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2008-07-08 09:43|| 2008-07-08 09:43|| Front Page Top

#7 I don't think you can be a dictator without the Army in your pocket. He has got probs.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2008-07-08 10:36|| 2008-07-08 10:36|| Front Page Top

#8 A coup has already been tried -- didn't work in 2002.
Chavez rises from very peculiar coup
Monday April 15, 2002

For a deeply religious man who saw himself as Venezuela's messiah, it was deliciously apt that President Hugo Chavez was deposed on Friday only to return in a miraculous political resurrection on Sunday.

In a bizarre turnaround that surprised Venezuelans and caught the international community off-guard, he was back in the presidential palace in Caracas yesterday, 48 hours after a military coup had forced him out of office.

Mr Chavez was flown by helicopter from his brief captivity on a Venezuelan island to the Miraflores palace, where he triumphantly resumed his presidential powers in a televised ceremony. "I'm still stupefied. I'm still assimilating," he said, smiling.

Thousands celebrated in the streets outside, singing the national anthem and setting off firecrackers.

Chavez - a fiery leftwing nationalist - appealed to the nation for calm. "I do not come with hate or rancour in my heart, but we must make decisions and adjust things."

He added: "Venezuela would not tolerate an autocracy."

An extraordinary week for the world's fourth largest oil-exporting country began last Tuesday with a general strike called by unions in solidarity with the state oil monopoly, PDVSA, which had objected to the way Mr Chavez was appointing political allies to top posts.

By Thursday hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans were marching against the president through the streets of Caracas. When the march drew close to the Miraflores palace witnesses reported seeing Chavez snipers fire at the crowds, killing more than 16 people.
Within hours the military high command had gathered at the palace and demanded that Mr Chavez resign - only three years after he had swept into office with vast popular support. The ousted president was then arrested and taken into custody at army barracks in Caracas. It was reported that he had asked for asylum in Cuba, but was refused so that he could be put on trial in Venezuela.

Pedro Carmona, the head of Venezuela's largest business association, was declared the leader of a transitional government. But by Saturday it was clear that the coup was beginning to collapse.

Mr Carmona had angered many by trying to sweep away all vestiges of Mr Chavez's rule by dissolving Congress and cancelling the constitution approved under his administration. He was soon forced to reverse his decision after the armed forces chief, General Efrain Vasquez, said he would only support Mr Carmona if the Congress was restored. Mr Carmona was then forced to suspend the inauguration of his new cabinet.

Read more of the details at the link

Posted by Sherry">Sherry 2008-07-08 11:31|| 2008-07-08 11:31|| Front Page Top

23:49 Omomoter Sforza1119
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