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.

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.

Iran+Venezuela=BFF

Iran, Venezuela revise ties ahead of Chavez visit
Mar 27 05:39 PM US/Eastern

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited Caracas Friday to touch up on bilateral ties ahead of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's visit to Tehran next week, officials said.

"Some important issues were examined, including the progress of joint projects, especially as concerns industrial cooperation and technology transfers," a diplomatic source told AFP.

During a public ceremony, Chavez revealed Mottaki was visiting along with vice ministers and other government officials, and said a meeting had been planned for later in the day.

Chavez and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are both arch-foes of Washington and their governments have significantly boosted their ties in recent years, signing dozens of agreements on binational banks, energy and factories.

Cooperation between the two members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has translated into over 200 investment projects valued at more than seven billion dollars in 2007, according to Venezuelan official figures.

Chavez is among only a handful of state leaders who support Iran's controversial nuclear energy program, suspected by some of serving as a cover to produce nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Venezuela expelled the ambassador of Iran's enemy Israel from Caracas in January to protest the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that left over 1,300 Palestinians dead.
Chavez and Ahmadinejad last met in November 2007.

Copyright AFP 2008

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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.92e661444313b232e8931de00c29c73b.ba1&show_article=1
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My Thoughts

Our enemies keep on getting stronger as Obama wants to draw down the military budget. As they live by the saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Obama is pissing off all of our current allies.

Lula: "White, blue-eyed bankers" To Blame For Financial Crisis

'White, blue-eyed bankers have brought world economy to its knees': What the Brazilian President told Gordon Brown
By James Chapman
Last updated at 11:37 PM on 26th March 2009

Gordon Brown’s efforts to broker an £80billion bailout for world trade on a trip to Brazil hit a stumbling block tonight when the country’s President lashed out at ‘white, blue-eyed’ bankers for bringing the world economy to its knees.

Mr Brown watched on uneasily as his host, President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, launched a bizarre tirade in which he warned that next week’s G20 summit in London would be a ‘spicy’ affair.

President Lula said it was completely unfair that the poorest people in the world were suffering most for the mistakes of wealthy, Western financiers.

Dark clouds ahead: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva shakes hands with Gordon Brown before a meeting at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia this afternoon as storm clouds gather in the background

‘This was a crisis that was fostered and boosted by irrational behaviour of people that are white, blue-eyed, that before the crisis looked like they knew everything about economics,’ he declared.

‘Now they have demonstrated that they don’t know anything about economics.

’President Lula, head of Brazil’s main left-wing party, said that ‘no black man or woman, no indigenous person, no poor person’ had been in any way culpable for the global banking crisis.

‘I’m not acquainted with any black banker,’ he said. ‘The part of humanity that’s responsible should pay for the crisis.’

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1165089/White-blue-eyed-bankers-brought-world-economy-knees-What-Brazilian-President-told-Gordon-Brown.html?ITO=1490
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My Thoughts

Apparently, he's never heard of Franklin Raines, Maxine Watters, and the many others that were in the companies and especially Congress.