| Submit your comments on this article |
| US attacked by Venezuela as opposition grows - Chavez to break ties? |
| 2004-03-03 |
| things are heating up ... Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, is searching for an external enemy to his government, according to diplomats, as opposition protests mount against what appears to be an increasingly militarised regime. In a move that could result in a break in diplomatic relations with the US, Mr Chávez lashed out at George W. Bush, the US president, on Sunday, branding him an "illegitimate" president. Mr Chávez, who is resisting an opposition bid for a recall referendum on his rule, also warned he would sever oil exports to the US if Washington sought to invade Venezuela or establish a trade embargo or blockade. Venezuela, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, is a key supplier to the US. Diplomats said Mr Chávez is attempting to fan nationalist sentiment at home and set up an external distraction to domestic political troubles. The US State Department did not comment on Monday. "Chávez is playing the rebel, using the old Latin American mythology of the tough comandante fighting US imperialism," a diplomat in Caracas said. Analysts said Mr Chávez has long been planning to break ties with the US. "This was inevitable and Chávez has unilaterally decided to break political, but not yet commercial, relations with the US," said Alberto Garrido, a local analyst. he and his buddy Castro can trade with one another - although, he couls hurt the US economy in the short run re: oil But there were signs at the weekend that Mr Chávez could soon face some form of diplomatic isolation from other countries. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, whom Mr Chávez has courted as a diplomatic "counterweight" to the US, departed on Friday from a summit of G-15 developing countries in Caracas only hours after arriving. interesting. Lula has some sanity. The move came after Mr Chávez praised Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, as "a true defender of freedom". Washington is backing an opposition effort to win a recall referendum as a method to help resolve Venezuela’s simmering political crisis. Opponents of Mr Chávez, a populist who they see as a dictator-in-waiting, in December submitted a petition with about 3.5m signatures, more than the 2.4m required to trigger a recall vote. But Mr Chávez alleges that the petition was a "mega-fraud" and part of a US-backed plot to oust him. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) on Sunday delayed until Monday night a scheduled announcement on the validity of the petition but it is widely expected to say that only about 1.9m signatures are valid. There is a possibility that opponents may accept a last-ditch plan that would allow signatories to verify their signatures to keep alive the referendum drive, but the chances appear to be slim. Ezequiel Zamora, the CNE’s vice-president, said the verification procedure was "unviable". Meanwhile, since Friday hundreds of national guard troops have been locked in fierce running battles with opposition protesters that have taken to the streets and erected barricades in Caracas and other cities. On Monday, Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second largest city, was in effect militarised to contain protests. Dozens of people have been injured, many with gunshot wounds. |
| Posted by:rkb |
| #9 Yep, BaR, first pref was for non-ME contracts. Second pref was non-OPEC - sorry if not clear. It was also supposed to help US with South American image & improve business contacts. Those evil oil companies often assist US in foreign policy efforts. :-) |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-3 5:28:42 PM |
| #8 They were the major beneficiary (in % increase), in fact, of a decade of US preference for oil contracts with non-ME / non-OPEC suppliers. I think Venezuela is an OPEC member. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-3-3 5:20:24 PM |
| #7 Last time I saw the numbers (within the last year), the US was getting 15% of its oil from Venezuela. They were the major beneficiary (in % increase), in fact, of a decade of US preference for oil contracts with non-ME / non-OPEC suppliers. Chavez, if allowed by the Venezuelan citizens, will set them back 50 yrs -- at least. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-3 4:00:36 PM |
| #6 Not to worry! President Kerry will clean all this up when he is elected. he send VP Dean down there and viola! As is well. Maybe he can get that nazi Ashcroft to give me back my bong too! |
| Posted by: Halffull 2004-3-3 1:28:55 PM |
| #5 Hey, Hugo...I seem to remember an instance a while back where another local Jefe decided to blame all his problems on a foreign leader he didn't like. The dumb s**t ended up attacking the Falklands. Went real well for him, didn't it?... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-3-3 12:55:44 PM |
| #4 DPA, It's election year. Looks like Kimmie, Black Hats, and Chavez are all selling Bush short. Has anyone got the Vegas odds? Misunderestimating the Bush appears to be a normal opposition failing. |
| Posted by: john 2004-3-3 12:46:51 PM |
| #3 mjh, he's not targetting us with that message. It's all about vilifing us to build support for himself... the nazis were really good at that re the jews. The only problem is the US is not a weak minority in his country he has control over. He better be careful how far he wants to push us... It's amazing that this moron can watch what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and still continue down this path. |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2004-3-3 11:57:44 AM |
| #2 So he's going to suspend oil shipments if we were to enforce a trade embargo...is it me, or is that an empty threat? Wouldn't the US, by definition, not be trading w. Venezuela anyway? |
| Posted by: mjh 2004-3-3 11:32:30 AM |
| #1 Mr. Chavez ought to know something about illegitimacy. |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2004-3-3 11:21:08 AM |