what's your point exactly? The man was elected and is evil because...... By the way, you have not provided your source for this infomation, and based on the (admittedly leftist) link I posted the other day, at least some of your facts seem to be in dispute. I don't know what the reality of it all is, but are you really saying that its not a democratic government because there have been demonstrations???
Meanwhile, you might want to read up on the United Fruit Company. I think it will help you with this misconception you have about the US not having any reason to start things with countries that sell it stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company Dana On 1/8/06, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dana wrote: > > I know about Venezuala is that the administration stooges seem to think > > it's evil somehow. > > Let's look at things in Venezuela: > > KEY EVENTS > -------------------- > 1992: Venezuelan Army Lieutenant-Colonel Hugo Chavez leads a failed > coup attempt. > > 1998: Chavez elected, helps rewrite the Venezuelan constitution. > > 2000: Chavez re-elected under the new charter. > > 2000-present: Chavez maneuvers to have loyalists named to the Supreme > Court, the electoral council and the posts of auditor-general and > public prosecutor. Chavez maintains aggressive rhetoric against local > business, the church, the media and the trade unions. > > April 2005: The Bolivarian Circles, a grassroots organisation of > 2-3,000 set up by Chavez, opens fire on a peaceful opposition > demonstration, killing 19. > > April 2005: The killings trigger an opposition-led coup attempt > against Chavez and his "Bolivarian revolution". The coup fails and > Chavez promises to reconcile with the opposition. > > July 2005: Chavez installs officers he hopes loyal into key commands > in the military. Some 70 senior officers considered disloyal remain on > active service but without a job. > > August 2005: Half a dozen Army officers in full tropical uniform > attended a meeting of the Democratic Co-ordinator, an opposition > umbrella group. > > September 2005: Chavez issues a decree banning demonstrations (and > much else, such as selling property) in eight large "security zones" > in the capital without permission from his defence ministry. His gov't > also harasses dissident army officers, and may be behind a strike by > some of the opposition-controlled metropolitan police. > > October 2005: Cesar Gaviria, the secretary-general of the Organisation > of American States, failed to extract any agreement from Chavez on > talks aimed at bringing forward elections. > > October 2005: Thousands of the opposition march and demand Chavez's > resignation. > > October 2005: Chavez claims to have uncovered another coup, improbably > led by an 83-year-old former foreign minister. In turn, General > Enrique Medina Gomez, seen by many as the army's leading dissident, > claims that Chavez is trying to provoke just such a rebellion, > confident that he can crush it and go on to turn the armed forces into > "a popular militia". > > October 9th, 2005: General Medina and two colleagues, helped by > pot-banging protesters, elude arrest by Chavez intelligence agents. > "We've never had such division in the country," says General Medina. > "The vast majority realise that Chavez has taken his mandate for > social change and used it for a revolution that takes the country down > a road it doesn't want to go." A leading businessman is blunter. The > president is "a criminal, with blood on his hands" whose project is > "Cuban communism", he says. > > > CHAVEZ AND POPULAR SUPPORT > -------------------------------------------------- > Only one in three Venezuelans back Chavez although that is more than > any single leader of the fractious opposition. His current term does > not end until 2006 and he talks of remaining president longer. > > The constitution allows for a referendum on Chavez's rule next August. > Moderates on both sides now recognise that pushing for some sort of > vote, be it a referendum or fresh election, is the best course. > > > CHAVEZ AND THE ECONOMY > ------------------------------------------- > While Chavez's economic policies have been fairly orthodox, they've > also been ineffective. For three years, it pegged the currency, the > bolivar, against the dollar. That brought down inflation, but currency > overvaluation wiped out many businesses which could not compete with > cheap imports. > > A new economic team is trying to cope with a sinking currency, rising > inflation and a severe recession. "This is a very difficult year," > admits Felipe Perez Marti, the planning minister. Oil income is down, > and debt payments are up. The government has cut spending (by 3% of > GDP, says Mr Perez). Even so, it is raiding the central bank: it wants > the bank to issue it with bolivares equivalent to the rise in the > local-currency value of its reserves caused by devaluation. That, say > critics, will push up inflation next year. > > Mr Perez claims to be pursuing the "fourth way", or "the state plus > the market plus solidarity". Meaning? "We give importance in the > economy to strategic co-operation and true love" (ie. worker-owned > companies). Mr Perez has a PhD from the University of Chicago, but is > not a typical product of its free-market economics faculty. "I am a > theorist of altruism," he says. > > That is not how local businessmen see the government. They "are on the > defensive, trying to save what they can," says Oscar Garcia Mendoza, a > private banker. By some estimates, around $15 billion of private > capital has fled the country in the past two years, though Mr Perez > claims the exodus has now stopped. > > > CHAVEZ AND OIL > --------------------------- > 2005: Chavez, without warning, announces new take-it-or-leave-it terms > for oil production thus tearing up existing contracts. Foreign oil > companies had built and ran 1/3 to 1/2 of Venezuela's oil exports but > Chavez suddenly announced a decision to force foreign oil companies > into new contracts and a new tax regime markedly tougher than those > agreed in the country's oil "opening" a decade ago. > > The new contracts remove operational control of oilfields from foreign > firms and make the firms minority partners in state-run ventures. > > Mazhar al-Shereidah, a Venezuelan oil economist of Iraqi origin, > argues that the new arrangements relieve the oil firms of all risk. It > is "tragi-comic", he says, that they are being given a so-called > ultimatum to accept just the sort of joint-ventures that they have > happily agreed elsewhere. Conservative regimes in Saudi Arabia and > other Gulf states would not dream of letting foreign firms into their > upstream business in this way, he says. > > Put simply, besides the dictatorial way this was done, the danger is > this: Venezuela's oil is heavy and sulphurous, and more expensive to > pump. Should oil prices drop or new fields come online, the foreign > firms will simply walk away just when Venezuela needs them most. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:191082 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
