What Could Go Wrong? Chavez Seeking Power to Bypass Congress in Making Laws

The Venezuelan dictator is looking to follow the "never waste a crisis" philosophy by using the recent floods and landslides as an excuse to grab totalitarian control over the country over the next year:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez asked congress Tuesday to grant him special powers to enact laws by decree for one year, just before a new legislature takes office with a larger contingent of opposition lawmakers.

The measure would give the president the authority to bypass the National Assembly for the fourth time since he was first elected almost 12 years ago.

Vice President Elias Jaua made the request on Chavez's behalf, saying the president will use the authorization to ensure fast-track approval of laws aimed at helping the nation recover from severe flooding and mudslides that left thousands homeless and in government shelters.

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It is expected to win easy approval in the outgoing legislature dominated by Chavez allies.
Chavez's opponents accuse him of using the natural disaster to impose socialist-inspired measures and undermine the power of newly elected opposition lawmakers.

Hundreds of Chavez opponents protested outside the legislature Tuesday, saying Chavez is violating democratic principles and objecting to other planned laws that could impose regulations on the Internet and endanger Globovision, the country's last stridently anti-Chavez television channel.

They aren't saying just this to scare everyone. This fear is not without precedent:

The last time, he enjoyed special legislative powers for 18 months and used them to seize control of privately run oil fields, impose new taxes and nationalize telecommunications, electricity and cement companies.

They are afraid that he will use that year to tighten his control over the country's infrastructure and silence his critics and opposition. This request is coming at a time, when Chavez's opposition is growing and threatening the supermajority that he now enjoys:

Chavez supporters have dominated the National Assembly since the opposition boycotted 2005 elections, but the opposition gained ground in September elections.

Starting Jan. 5, Chavez will face 66 opponents among the 165 lawmakers, a group large enough to challenge some government measures and prevent him from holding a two-thirds majority — the threshold needed to approve some laws, such as granting the president decree powers.

He's, obviously, afraid that this may the last time that he'll be able to grab this much control, for a while. So, he's going to try to take full advantage of this oppurtunity because it may be a while before he gets another oppurtunity.

Another Political Opponent of Obama's New Best Friend Flees to Peru Seeking Political Asylum

Obama's new best friend is up to his old political tricks. Apparently, dissension is "un-Venezuelan":

A Venezuelan opposition leader who says he is a victim of political persecution by President Hugo Chavez's government requested political asylum in Peru on Tuesday, one of his lawyers said.

Manuel Rosales, a leading Chavez opponent, has been charged with corruption in Venezuela but says his trial would not be fair.

Apparently this isn't the first time that an opponent of Chavez receive mysterious "corruption" charges.

Peru granted asylum last year to another Chavez opponent, former Yaracuy state Gov. Eduardo Lapi, who was jailed on corruption charges but later escaped from prison and fled Venezuela saying he wouldn't receive a fair trial.

This is one of the counties that Obama said were represented by fairly elected "democratic" governments? Then again, considering what Chavez is doing is the Chicago way maybe he really thinks that it's fair. After all, it worked for him when he ran for senator in 04.

Chavez, Obama Shakes Hands While Appeaser-in-Chief Smiles Like Cheshire Cat

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - President Obama made the first move to greet Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, but it was the acerbic and anti-American leader who beat Obama to the punch on the World Wide Web.

In a clear indication Chavez sought to leverage his brief encounter with Obama at the opening ceremonies of the fifth Summit of the Americas here, Chavez's government Web site almost immediately posted a photo of the two leaders and a government-approved commentary in Spanish that read as follows:

"Before the Inaugural session of the 5th Summit of the Americas, the President of the United States approached President Chavez to greet him. They both drew their hands in a historic handshake after many years of tension under the Bush administration, when relations between Washington and Caracas had deteriorated. President Chavez expressed to Obama his desire for changes in the relations between the two countries. Eight years ago I greeted President Bush with this same hand. I'd like to be your friend."

First of all, why in the world in Obama making the first move to greeting a dictator like their best buddies? The pictures that I've seen show Obama smiling like a Cheshire cat while they were shaking hands. At least, he didn't kiss Chavez's ring. He didn't even treat British PM Gordon Brown that well.

It makes our Appeaser-in-Chief look weak to meet men like Chavez in the manner he did. There were no preconditions, and the One approached him. This isn't the equivilant of a JFK/Vienna moment, but it's close. Let's hope that he isn't such a pushover behind the scenes, but I doubt it.

"I'd like to be your friend."-Chavez.

If being Chavez's "friend" means becoming a socialist and isolationist country, then, thanks, but no thanks. That is the only way that he will accept the US as not an "evil empire". Being socialist and isolationist is not what made this country great.

After all, he made it clear when he was quoted saying:

"I hope President Obama is the last president of the Yankee Empire, and the first president of a truly democratic republic, the United States."

In Chavez's mind more "democratic" means more socialist. That is out of the question. Socialism is ruining Venezuela. We don't need our country ruined like yours.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/17/obama-chavez-shake-hands-summit-americas/
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Iran: Venezuela's Chavez Declares Capitalism "Needs to Go"

Venezuelan leader: 'Capitalism needs to go down'
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 3, 7:52 am ET

TEHRAN, Iran – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ridiculed the G-20 summit's attempts to deal with the global financial meltdown, saying that the "values of capitalism are in crisis" and capitalism "has to end."

Speaking to Venezuelan state television late Thursday, Chavez said the United States and Britain are "the most guilty" for the financial crisis sweeping the globe because of the financial model "they've been imposing for years."

"It's impossible that capitalism can regulate the monster that is the world financial system, it's impossible," Chavez said. "Capitalism needs to go down. It has to end. And we must take a transitional road to a new model that we call socialism."

The Venezuelan leader's comments came during a trip to Iran. In recent years, Chavez and Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — both well-known for their anti-U.S. rhetoric — have boosted economic and political ties.

During Thursday's summit in London, leaders from the Group of 20 industrial and developing countries promised $1.1 trillion for lending to poorer countries. They also vowed major efforts to clean up banks' tattered balance sheets, get credit flowing again, shut down global tax havens and tighten regulation over hedge funds and other financial high-flyers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Chavez belittled the summit's efforts and said the International Monetary Fund must be eliminated.

Chavez's own economic program to institute socialism in Venezuela could slow as his country's oil-dependent economy suffers from falling crude prices. Inflation there has soared above 30 percent, eroding Venezuelans' salaries.

In his decade in power, Chavez has boosted state control over the economy and spent heavily on social programs meant to increase his popularity.

On Friday, Chavez and Iran's president inaugurated a joint commercial bank meant to speed trade and industrial projects between the two nations. Chavez said he will travel to Japan in the coming days to meet with the prime minister as well as business leaders and intellectuals.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_chavez_g20_summit_2
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My Thoughts

Our enemies are forging alliances in order to bring down our way of life. It may not be through military means, but it is happening just the same. We must not forget that fact. Many, including Obama, seem to think that we can talk them out of it. Unfortunately, there many dictators out there that only know the language of violence and strength.

Chavez Shows No Respect For Obama, Calls President "Ignoramus"

Venezuela's Chavez calls Obama "ignoramus"
Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:24pm EDT
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama was at best an "ignoramus" for saying the socialist leader exported terrorism and obstructed progress in Latin America.

"He goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he's a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality," said Chavez, who heads a group of left-wing Latin American leaders opposed to the U.S. influence in the region.

Chavez said Obama's comments had made him change his mind about sending a new ambassador to Washington, after he withdrew the previous envoy in a dispute last year with the Bush administration in which he also expelled the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela.

"When I saw Obama saying what he said, I put the decision back in the drawer; let's wait and see," Chavez said on his weekly television show, adding he had wanted to send a new ambassador to improve relations with the United States after the departure of George W. Bush as president.

In a January interview with Spanish-language U.S. network Univision, Obama said Chavez had hindered progress in Latin America, accusing him of exporting terrorist activities and supporting Colombian guerrillas.

"My, what ignorance; the real obstacle to development in Latin America has been the empire that you today preside over," said Chavez, who is a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy.

In the 20th century the United States supported several armed movements and coups in Latin America. Chavez says Washington had a hand in a short-lived putsch against him in 2002, which was initially welcomed by U.S. officials.

Chavez and Obama will both attend the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago next month. It is not known whether they will meet.

Most of OPEC nation Venezuela's export income comes from oil it sells to the United States, but Chavez has built stronger ties with countries like China in an attempt to reduce dependence on his northern neighbor.

Chavez expelled its U.S. ambassador in September in a dispute over U.S. activities in his ally Bolivia, which also expelled its U.S. ambassador. Ecuador's left-wing President Rafael Correa this year kicked out a mid-ranking U.S. diplomat.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52L19G20090322?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true
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My Thoughts

Dictators like Chavez have no respect for Barack Obama. No amount of diplomacy will be able to make them like us. The only thing that they understand is strength and aggression. Diplomacy is a sign of weakness to dictators. Talk is meaningless, and giving them concessions only succeed in emboldening them to continue their ways. There is nothing that Obama can do about it.

Chavez Tests Obama's "Mettle" With Veiled Threat on His Life

Venezuela's Chavez says Obama has "stench" of Bush Sat, Jan 17 16:44 PM EST CAMPO CARABOBO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday Barack Obama had the "stench" of his predecessor as U.S. president and was at risk of being killed if he tries to change the American "empire."

Most world leaders expect a new era of U.S. foreign relations when Obama, a Democrat, is sworn in as president on Tuesday after Republican George W. Bush's eight years in the White House.

But Chavez said frayed ties with Washington were unlikely to improve despite the departure of Bush, who the Venezuelan leader has often called the "devil."

"I hope I am wrong, but I believe Obama brings the same stench, to not say another word," Chavez said at a political rally on a historic Venezuelan battlefield.

"If Obama as president of the United States does not obey the orders of the empire, they will kill him, like they killed Kennedy, like they killed Martin Luther King, or Lincoln, who freed the blacks and paid with his life."

Obama, who will be the first black president in U.S. history, was given Secret Service protection on the campaign trail earlier than is customary for candidates and security for Tuesday's inauguration is extremely tight.

Venezuela is a leading supplier of oil to the United States and the two countries once enjoyed close ties.

Relations deteriorated after Chavez first won election in 1998 as he took on U.S. companies as part of his socialist agenda of nationalization of various industries and accused Washington of backing a brief coup against him.

Last year, he expelled the U.S. ambassador from Venezuela.

Chavez's foreign policy is based on countering U.S. global influence and promoting countries like Russia and China as world leaders. He has close ties to U.S. foes Cuba and Iran.

Until recently, Chavez had said he hoped relations with Washington could improve. But in the last few days, he has picked up on comments he attributes to Obama accusing him of obstructing progress in Latin America and exporting terrorism.

(Reporting by Jorge Silva; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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http://us.mobile.reuters.com/m/FullArticle/p.rdt/CPOL/npoliticsNews_uUSTRE50G2F420090117
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My Thoughts

Just another world leader that "wants to test the mettle of this guy". He all but threatens Obama's life. His anti-American foreign policy views are not going to accept anyone that is the President of the United States. Not even our Saviour-in-Chief can stop people that have nothing but evil intentions for our country from treating the US with anything but contempt.