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The View From the Other Side
May 17, 2013 | 23 comments
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Cyprus Uber Alles
May 10, 2013 | 9 comments
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After Hugo
May 3, 2013 | 16 comments
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Theory and Practice of Terrorism
April 26, 2013 | 24 comments
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Border Security Games
April 19, 2013 | 26 comments
At Large
Hugo Plans the Future
Chavez’s cancer weapon claim against the U.S. was a nice dodge from an important reccent gathering he derailed.
The one thing that can be said about Hugo Chavez is that he never fails to surprise. His claim that the United States has perfected a cancer-producing weapon that has been used against him and other left-wing Latin American leaders is a prime example. He has chosen to make use of the fact that an unusual number of heads of state and government in South and Central America are suffering from various illnesses. With the Latin American proclivity for believing anti-gringo declarations of nearly every kind, Chavez has hit upon a new and effective anti-U.S. propaganda line.
It was lucky for Hugo that he came up with this cancer weapon claim. He had planned to end last year with a December extravaganza creating the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Unfortunately for him it was a bit of a bust.
Chavez decided to announce “out of the blue” at the founding meeting in Caracas that the new organization initially would be led by three countries, with the host country’s president to be one of them. As Chavez calculated, this meant that he as summit host would be the first; next would be the president of Chile, who is to host the session in Santiago in December 2012, and a year later Raul Castro. At that point Venezuela drops off the three-party directorate and the summit site president of Costa Rica steps in to take over in December 2014. This is as far as Hugo had things arranged. The host for 2015 is still up in the air and so is the leadership list.
This exercise in pure Hugo Chavez logic is quite beyond anyone else. The odd three-person “leadership” is written into what is referred to as “statute of proceedings” that all the participating countries supposedly signed. That fact was apparently unknown to the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, and they abruptly left the summit meeting without explanation. At this point the entire conference became rather contentious, with Trinidad-Tobago insisting the leader group should be expanded to four in order to have proper representation of the English-speaking Caribbean. If this sounds like an Abbot & Costello routine, the similarity is forgivable.
In spite of the absurd nature of this unfortunate event, it was nonetheless a serious and possibly even important gathering. The North Americans, Canada and the United States, were excluded as if they had no interest or role in southern America affairs. Of course this is exactly how Chavez, who sees himself as the contemporary Simon Bolivar, would like the political map to be arranged. Having dreaded los norteamericanos not involved is supposedly a distinction important to replacing the Washington-based Organization of American States that still does not include Cuba.
All this would be relatively unimportant if Chavez himself were not so committed to politically influencing his neighborhood. His warped perception of socialism that seems combined with Mussolini’s fascism is buttressed by Venezuela’s petro-wealth. Thus even when a summit meeting founding CELAC is derailed by the Venezuelan leader’s ineptitude, the effort itself raises his status among his peers.
Perhaps more significant domestically for Hugo Chavez, the arrival of 33 presidents establishing CELAC in Caracas was clearly accepted by the Venezuelan youth as an indication that they too had gained in importance from the recognition “the world” had given their president and their country. This reaction may not be understood in the United States, but in an exploited yet ambitious society such as Venezuela — and particularly in the capital, Caracas — the identification of its young adults with their leader’s apparent international status is a clear boost to their own self-esteem. And this goes far to justify their support of Hugo Chavez.
Chavez is laying the groundwork for his election to a third term in October 2012. The simple fact that CELAC was born in Caracas is viewed by many Venezuelans as an indication of their own enhanced political future as much as that of Hugo Chavez and his ruling clique. Chavez can bungle his own political maneuvers, such as his disorganization of the CELAC founding, but he undeniably retains his charisma. If his cancer treatment — which has left him bloated and hairless — succeeds in arresting his illness, there is a good chance he will continue to seek to stage-manage another presidential election in October. And this would result in another step toward his stated goal of remaining in office until 2025.
It appears that Hugo Chavez, like other Latin Americans, is convinced that the United States is bent on controlling its southern continental neighbor. At this stage Raul Castro has found Chavez to be a convenient stalking horse while he works behind the scenes with the Obama Administration to bring Cuba into an improved relationship with the U.S. If Chavez suspects this as a Cuban motive, he hasn’t shown it. Hugo Chavez is in pretty fast company when he rides with the Castro Brothers, but it doesn’t seem to faze him.
Hugo thinks only of Hugo and really does believe that only those who don’t share his political outlook could possibly dislike him or question his altruism. That’s an attitude Chavez shares with many American leaders, both from the North and the South.
About the Author
George H. Wittman writes a weekly column on international affairs for The American Spectator online. He was the founding chairman of the National Institute for Public Policy.
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.6.12 @ 8:33AM
Check this out folks
http://www.americanthinker.com.....zuela.html
Anthony| 1.6.12 @ 9:10AM
El Gordo's cancer has spread to his brain. Or rather, the cancer in his brain spread to his colon.
No matter, it's good to see our secret weapons programs are performing to our expectations.
What precision our drones have!! A direct strike right up El Gordo's @@@.
Of course, the decades of cocaine ingeniously disguised by the CIA as Nutra sweet also helped.
Kudos to our black ops department. No wonder the Muslim Marxist wants to slash the military budget.
Humm, hey guys how about exploding golf balls??
Occam's Tool| 1.6.12 @ 11:22PM
No. Just bring in The American Sniper dude and have him take out fatboy. 1 shot, 1 kill.
Dave | 1.6.12 @ 10:08AM
After deeper researching, I now firmly believe the charges made by Mr. Chavez that the United States government has come up with a cancer producing weapon that was used against him and other leaders in and around Latin America. Confirmation of such a weapon was recently confirmed by Dr. Sean Penn, along with his chief of Scientology, Professor George Clooney, and the entire psychiatric staff at Michael Moore's University of Mars Med Clinic and Do-It-Yourself Car Wash.
Details developing. Stay tuned.
Al Adab| 1.6.12 @ 1:19PM
Meanwhile President Obie-One eviscerates the U S military and thereby emasculates his nation. Instead of the million man Army we need; the 400 ship Navy; the 32 wing Air Force we get a "blue helmet" police force with little power to protect this nation from missles in Venezuela.
RCV| 1.6.12 @ 4:08PM
Sorry, Al-Adab, but that is sheer nonsense.
Al Adab| 1.6.12 @ 5:32PM
Thank you RCV,
I consider that a compliment.
Occam's Tool| 1.6.12 @ 11:21PM
I don't think Obama is enamored of a strong defense with projection capabilities beyond drones.
RCV| 1.7.12 @ 5:36PM
I think President Obama has actually done a terrific job on the military front, decimating Al Qaeda after years of ineffective efforts on the part of the Bush administration. A smarter, more flexible military is not only desirable but absolutely necessary. It is our technological superiority we must retain.
Al Adab, I have great respect for you and your generally thoughtful observations, even when we differ. But it IS nonsense to say that our military will be a police force unable to resist Venezualan missiles. Even you know that isn't true. We could take down Venezuala in an afternoon if need be, and could and should blow open the Straits of Hormuz in a moment if necessary. None of that will change.
Pete| 1.7.12 @ 8:49PM
And the CIA can turn those drones on us. Much is possible with a killer in the white house.
JmsA| 1.8.12 @ 12:31PM
I remember a few years back, a story buried in the N.Y. Times tittled 'Al-Qaeda's Back Broken in Mesopotamia'(that's Iraq for all the dummies that don't know otherwise), and an attempt by the Times to hide the truth about our brave and selfless troops' accomplishments under Bush's command. Your boy Obama (and please spare me the racial nonsense for referring him as your boy), opposed the surge, and much else of what the Bush administration did against the terrorists. So when you use the term ineffective, you better know what it means. Bush/our troops did all the heavy lifting, Obama's reaping the benefits.
cicero| 1.6.12 @ 3:06PM
Why is it that all of these disfunctional, third world countries who cannot feed their own people think that America wants to take them over. We already have Detroit, Philadelphia, and all of California. Maybe we can trade them one for one for the incompetents. They send us one illiterate farm worker for a couple of third generation welfare recipients. Sounds like a deal to me. That way, no one would have to worry about invasion or actual army type fighting. Hell, we could even hold a draft every February, after football season is over, and the need for serious entertainment is upon us. Put it on the T.V. - something like that. Then we could follow the careers of the various participants to see how they do - something like another reality show. Sell commercial time to fund those who don't pan out. Just thinking . . .
POST American| 1.6.12 @ 9:01PM
---Putting this former school teacher
turned 'people's Napoleon' aside for
a moment---and speaking of South America:
CHECK OUT those disclosures of the
world banking and eugenics borg U.N.
'accidentally' sterilizing some 400,000
girls in Peru ---via 'vack--seens'.
Seems PERU's been chosen, and is, as
we write, being set up as a Globalist base
for the RED Chinese op ----for South
America.
Forget China-town's ---this
apparently is to be a RED China biz
colony!
----Too funny! -----NOT
---------------HUAC/ Nuremberg 2012----------------
WHEN YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH
Pete| 1.7.12 @ 8:47PM
I would think that most people in these socialists countries would welcome such a weapon.
POST American| 1.8.12 @ 10:01PM
-------------------BOTTOM LINE-----------------------
"Unaccountable, psychopathic,
INTER-national USURY, Globalsm,
'Free Trade', TREASON and EUGENICS
are ---ALWAYS--- intertwined.
-------------ALWAYS!----------------."
-----------An eternal thing, SURELY. . .