Hugo Chavez, fiery Venezuelan leader, dies at 58
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Some in anguish, some in fear, Venezuelans raced for home on Tuesday after the government announced the death of President Hugo Chavez, the firebrand socialist who led the nation for 14 years.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro's voice broke and tears ran down his face as he appeared on national television to announce that Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time (3:55 p.m EST; 1755 GMT) "after battling hard against an illness over nearly two years."
He did not say what exactly killed Chavez, although the government had announced the previous night that a severe new respiratory infection had severely weakened him.
Just a few hours earlier, Maduro made a virulent speech against enemies he claimed were trying to undermine Venezuelan democracy.
But as he announced the death, Maduro called on Venezuelans to be "dignified inheritors of the giant man" Chavez was.
"Let there be no weakness, no violence. Let there be no hate. In our hearts there should only be one sentiment: Love. Love, peace and discipline."
All across downtown Caracas, shops and restaurants begin closing and Venezuelans hustled for home, some even breaking into a run.
Many had looks of anguish and incredulity on their faces.
"I feel a sorrow so big I can't speak," said Yamilina Barrios, a 39-year-old clerk who works in the Industry Ministry, her face covered in tears.
"He was the best this country had," she said, disconsolately weeping. "I adore him.
"I hope the country calms down and continues the work that he left us, continues in unity and the progress continues," Barrios said.
Among the nervous was Maria Elena Lovera, a 45-year-old housewife.
"I want to go home. People are crazy and are way too upset."
In the only immediately known incident of political violence, a group of masked, helmeted men on motorcycles, some brandishing revolvers, attacked about 40 students who had been protesting for more than a week near the Supreme Court building to demand the government give more information about Chavez's health.
The attackers, who wore no clothing identifying any political allegiance, burned the students' tents and scattered their food just minutes after the death was announced.
"They burned everything we had," said student leader Gaby Arellano. She said none of the attackers fired a shot but that she saw four with pistols.
Maduro called on Venezuelans to convene in the capital's Bolivar Square, named for the 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, who Chavez claimed as his chief inspiration.
The vice president also called on the opposition to respect "the people's pain."
"Those who never supported the comandante Hugo Chavez, respect the pain of the people. This is the moment to think of our families, of our country."
Chavez leaves behind a socialist political movement firmly in control of the nation, but with some doubt about how a new leadership will be formed.
Chavez's illness prevented him from taking the oath of office after he was re-elected to a new term on Oct. 7 and under the constitution, National Assembly chief Diosdado Cabello apparently would take over as interim president.
But there was no sign of Cabello on the podium as Maduro announced Chavez's death.
The constitution also says that elections should be called in 30 days. Chavez had specified that his supporters should support Maduro as his successor.
The man Chavez defeated in October, the youthful Miranda state Gov. Henrique Capriles, would be expected to represent the opposition.
Venezuela's defense minister also appeared on television to announce that the military will remain loyal to the constitution in the wake of Chavez's death.
Admiral Diego Molero appealed for "unity, tranquility and understanding" among Venezuelans.
The announcement stunned Venezuelans, if it did not surprise them.
Earlier in the day, Maduro used a more belligerent tone as he announced the government had expelled two U.S. diplomats from the country and said "we have no doubt" that Chavez's cancer, which was first diagnosed in June 2011, was induced by "the historical enemies of our homeland."
He compared the situation to the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, claiming Arafat was "inoculated with an illness."
Chavez's inner circle has long claimed the United States was behind a failed 2002 attempt to overthrow him, and he has frequently played the anti-American card to stir up support. Venezuela has been without a U.S. ambassador since July 2010.
Maduro has been taking on a larger role since Chavez urged Venezuelans to choose him as president before disappearing in early December to undergo a fourth round of cancer surgery in Cuba.
He accused U.S. Embassy's Air Force attache Col. David Delmonaco of spying on Venezuela's military and seeking to involve officers in "destabilizing projects." Maduro gave Delmonaco 24 hours to leave, and U.S. officials said he had already departed the country.
Maduro said Tuesday that the government was "on the trail of other elements that figure in this entire venomous scenario and are seeking to stir up trouble."
Later Tuesday, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said a second U.S. Air Force attache was being expelled, also for alleged espionage.
"Let's remember that active participation of the United States in the fascist coup of 2002," Jaua said.
Chavez has run Venezuela for more than 14 years as a virtual one-man show, gradually placing all state institutions under his personal control. But the former army paratroop commander, who rose to fame by launching a failed 1992 coup, never groomed a successor with his same kind of force of personality.
The campaign for the upcoming election to replace him, though undeclared, has nevertheless already begun.
Maduro has frequently commandeered all broadcast channels, Chavez-style, to tout the "revolution" and vilify the opposition.
Maduro on Tuesday repeated government claims that Capriles met in the United States over the weekend with right-wing U.S. conspirators and was planning to meet over the weekend with Roberta Jacobsen, assistant U.S. secretary of state for the hemisphere.
One personality on state TV also accused the Capriles family of buying a New York City apartment with stolen funds.
Capriles responded via Twitter Tuesday by calling Maduro a liar.
"Lie after lie in every speech," he said.
Chavez, long famed for his marathon appearances at televised events, had neither been seen nor heard from, except for photos released in mid-February, since submitting to a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area. It was first diagnosed in June 2011.
The government said Chavez returned home on Feb. 18 and has been confined to Caracas' military hospital ever since.
Maduro said last week that the president had begun receiving chemotherapy around the end of January.
Among those stunned by the announcement was 38-year-old soft drink seller Nelson Ramirez, who sympathized with the fallen president.
"This is the worst thing that could have happened to our country," he said. "Without Chavez, I don't know what will happen here. We poor people could be forgotten again."
On the other side of Venezuela's political divide was Carlos Quijada, a 38-year-old economist who said he was sad that death rather than an election defeat had written Chavez's political obituary.
"Now there is a lot of uncertainty about what is going to happen," he said.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro's voice broke and tears ran down his face as he appeared on national television to announce that Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time (3:55 p.m EST; 1755 GMT) "after battling hard against an illness over nearly two years."
He did not say what exactly killed Chavez, although the government had announced the previous night that a severe new respiratory infection had severely weakened him.
Just a few hours earlier, Maduro made a virulent speech against enemies he claimed were trying to undermine Venezuelan democracy.
But as he announced the death, Maduro called on Venezuelans to be "dignified inheritors of the giant man" Chavez was.
"Let there be no weakness, no violence. Let there be no hate. In our hearts there should only be one sentiment: Love. Love, peace and discipline."
All across downtown Caracas, shops and restaurants begin closing and Venezuelans hustled for home, some even breaking into a run.
Many had looks of anguish and incredulity on their faces.
"I feel a sorrow so big I can't speak," said Yamilina Barrios, a 39-year-old clerk who works in the Industry Ministry, her face covered in tears.
"He was the best this country had," she said, disconsolately weeping. "I adore him.
"I hope the country calms down and continues the work that he left us, continues in unity and the progress continues," Barrios said.
Among the nervous was Maria Elena Lovera, a 45-year-old housewife.
"I want to go home. People are crazy and are way too upset."
In the only immediately known incident of political violence, a group of masked, helmeted men on motorcycles, some brandishing revolvers, attacked about 40 students who had been protesting for more than a week near the Supreme Court building to demand the government give more information about Chavez's health.
The attackers, who wore no clothing identifying any political allegiance, burned the students' tents and scattered their food just minutes after the death was announced.
"They burned everything we had," said student leader Gaby Arellano. She said none of the attackers fired a shot but that she saw four with pistols.
Maduro called on Venezuelans to convene in the capital's Bolivar Square, named for the 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, who Chavez claimed as his chief inspiration.
The vice president also called on the opposition to respect "the people's pain."
"Those who never supported the comandante Hugo Chavez, respect the pain of the people. This is the moment to think of our families, of our country."
Chavez leaves behind a socialist political movement firmly in control of the nation, but with some doubt about how a new leadership will be formed.
Chavez's illness prevented him from taking the oath of office after he was re-elected to a new term on Oct. 7 and under the constitution, National Assembly chief Diosdado Cabello apparently would take over as interim president.
But there was no sign of Cabello on the podium as Maduro announced Chavez's death.
The constitution also says that elections should be called in 30 days. Chavez had specified that his supporters should support Maduro as his successor.
The man Chavez defeated in October, the youthful Miranda state Gov. Henrique Capriles, would be expected to represent the opposition.
Venezuela's defense minister also appeared on television to announce that the military will remain loyal to the constitution in the wake of Chavez's death.
Admiral Diego Molero appealed for "unity, tranquility and understanding" among Venezuelans.
The announcement stunned Venezuelans, if it did not surprise them.
Earlier in the day, Maduro used a more belligerent tone as he announced the government had expelled two U.S. diplomats from the country and said "we have no doubt" that Chavez's cancer, which was first diagnosed in June 2011, was induced by "the historical enemies of our homeland."
He compared the situation to the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, claiming Arafat was "inoculated with an illness."
Chavez's inner circle has long claimed the United States was behind a failed 2002 attempt to overthrow him, and he has frequently played the anti-American card to stir up support. Venezuela has been without a U.S. ambassador since July 2010.
Maduro has been taking on a larger role since Chavez urged Venezuelans to choose him as president before disappearing in early December to undergo a fourth round of cancer surgery in Cuba.
He accused U.S. Embassy's Air Force attache Col. David Delmonaco of spying on Venezuela's military and seeking to involve officers in "destabilizing projects." Maduro gave Delmonaco 24 hours to leave, and U.S. officials said he had already departed the country.
Maduro said Tuesday that the government was "on the trail of other elements that figure in this entire venomous scenario and are seeking to stir up trouble."
Later Tuesday, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said a second U.S. Air Force attache was being expelled, also for alleged espionage.
"Let's remember that active participation of the United States in the fascist coup of 2002," Jaua said.
Chavez has run Venezuela for more than 14 years as a virtual one-man show, gradually placing all state institutions under his personal control. But the former army paratroop commander, who rose to fame by launching a failed 1992 coup, never groomed a successor with his same kind of force of personality.
The campaign for the upcoming election to replace him, though undeclared, has nevertheless already begun.
Maduro has frequently commandeered all broadcast channels, Chavez-style, to tout the "revolution" and vilify the opposition.
Maduro on Tuesday repeated government claims that Capriles met in the United States over the weekend with right-wing U.S. conspirators and was planning to meet over the weekend with Roberta Jacobsen, assistant U.S. secretary of state for the hemisphere.
One personality on state TV also accused the Capriles family of buying a New York City apartment with stolen funds.
Capriles responded via Twitter Tuesday by calling Maduro a liar.
"Lie after lie in every speech," he said.
Chavez, long famed for his marathon appearances at televised events, had neither been seen nor heard from, except for photos released in mid-February, since submitting to a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area. It was first diagnosed in June 2011.
The government said Chavez returned home on Feb. 18 and has been confined to Caracas' military hospital ever since.
Maduro said last week that the president had begun receiving chemotherapy around the end of January.
Among those stunned by the announcement was 38-year-old soft drink seller Nelson Ramirez, who sympathized with the fallen president.
"This is the worst thing that could have happened to our country," he said. "Without Chavez, I don't know what will happen here. We poor people could be forgotten again."
On the other side of Venezuela's political divide was Carlos Quijada, a 38-year-old economist who said he was sad that death rather than an election defeat had written Chavez's political obituary.
"Now there is a lot of uncertainty about what is going to happen," he said.
Rot in hell MoFo!!
OH Yeah Let Freedom RING! The world is now a better place now that scum bag marxist is dead!
Maybe the oppression will end now. Caracas became the murder capitol of the world and Hugo's answer was to order the newspapers to stop reporting violent crime.
Can you imagine our president ordering the press around? .... oh um I guess he does
This will be interesting to watch. We could learn something here, they are calling for elections within 30 days. Not much time for political ads.....hehehe
@whitewings2003Â That way there is no time for an opposition candidate to gain recognition. And with the limits on opposition to access radio and television, the 30 days ends up being a rubber stamp for Maduro. Just as the little thug planned.
@Iconoclast"Just as the little thug planned".
You mean the little thug that won election after election by wider margins and more participation then what we experience here? Why are their elections ranked more fair then most or all of the world including your country?
Or do you mean the thug that pardoned his opposition that attempted an overthrow to a democratically elected government in '02?
Or do you mean the little thug that increased the expected number of years of education from 10.5 years in 2000 to 14.2 years by 2011?
Or do you mean the little thug that presided over Venezuela's life expectancy increases from 72.4 years to 74.4 years from '02-'11?
Or do you mean the little thug that under his government the country and people benefited from a rise in oil prices and he used those inflated oil revenues to support citizens of many nations in need, including retired AMERICANS in need of low-cost heating oil while their own government stood by to watch them freeze?
Name for me one US president that has accomplished this in your entire lifetime let alone the 9 years he was in office. You cant because there aren't any that have benefited you or your family, just hindered it.Â
I will wait for your list of presidents you brainwashed twerp.
Kind of an irony in all this political left and right wing crap I've seen over the years.  The left wing or Marxists takes from the right wing rich based power and uses subsidizes the poor for a political base to maintain power and the middle class suffers. The right wing or Fascists takes over power from a usually moderate middle of the road democracy and makes the rich richer and subsidizes the rich corporate power base to maintain a power base and the middle class suffers. So on and on it goes.Â
@growlerxrunner Hey the the marxist have always been for the destruction of the bourgeoisie. The true defention is the middle class.
Ding dong another Marxist dictator is dead!
Chavez did some good things for people but he was a strongman. Please don't make this about obamacare. Don't forget that Chavez got treatment in Cuba.
@lakeview CUBA? Even Castro didn't get treated in Cuba. He went to Spain. Castro already knew their great system sucks. Chavez wasn't that smart.
heh. Apparently the crazy runs deep in the Chavistas. Apparently Maduro accuses the USA of poisoning Chavez in his final days.
No need to poison that totalitarian pig--he killed himself by choosing to be treated in Cuba. Poetic justice indeed.
58 and dead. Welcome to Obamacare.
@KOMO_Sapiens - Obamacare doesn't reach to Venezuela.
@Elaine2Â Cancer does.
@Elaine2 @KOMO_Sapiens I'm aware. KOMO_S said "Welcome to Obamacare" I was commenting on his comment. Ridiculous statement, and even while I can't stand Obama myself.Â
My biggest hope is for you to get your head out of the echo chamber and breath some fresh air within 10-15 years.
@PhunkyMunkyÂ
Well, even Obama said it would take another 10-15 years before we socialize our medicine. Maybe we can reach the heights of  Cuban (or British or Venezuelan) health care by then.
@KOMO_Sapiens Doesn't make much sense, Chavez had Obamacare?
@PhunkyMunky I think the comment was regarding the utter failure of socialized medicine.
@Iconoclast obamacare has nothing to do with socialized medicine and everything to do with a mandate to buy insurance from the insurance industry with no cost controls. If you want to try and hang socialism on it, I'd say corporate socialism or fascism. Our government is clearly controlled by 6 industries and Venezuela's wasn't, it was controlled by a guy that the public elected despite our interference.
Well, according to some in Venezuela, the US gave him cancer. Don't know how that happened, but whatever. No tears here for the guy. I don't much care if he's alive, dead, president, or prisoner.Â
Good riddance for the world. Obama must be bummin' now that his hero and idol has passed.
Its a shame. He was a good patriot for Venezuela. He tried to end corruption there but outside forces are still heavily involved in Venezuelan politics. We might of even of caused his death but now there is no way to tell. He was born a poor man and worked his way up the ranks of the military, when he found that the government was corrupt all the way to the top he tried a coup but failed and was put in prison for a couple of years till the justice system was able to prove the president and most of the government was corrupt. He didn't like capitalism as well he shouldn't given the history of capitalism in central and south america. Hope the country can hold it together until elections.
@Blindman Here is a wonderful post written by a Venezuelan on a different site:
Pancho49 â¢Â 2 hours ago
Rest in peace, Hugo Rafael Chávez FrÃas. As a Venezuelan, I didn't agree with most of your policies and politics, but I do not rejoice in your death and I do respect the pain of your family and supporters.
In 1998, when you campaigned for the presidency -and promised to end corruption- despite my disappointment with the traditional parties, I did not support you because you had led a coup against president Carlos Andres Pérez. I didn't like Pérez, but he was elected by our people and attempting to overthrow him was proof that you did not respect the will of Venezuelans.
I didn't oppose 100% of what you did. I was grateful, for example, that you placed the issue of poverty on the table and you put the spotlight on millions of Venezuelans that until then had been excluded. I knew that the Cuban doctors in the slums were unprepared and unequipped, but I understood that they meant the world to the mother that knocks on their door at 3am. I was also happy of the way most Venezuelans started to care about politics again (some because they supported you; others because they opposed you). The anti-politic feeling we saw in the 90's was precisely what got you elected. And I also kept in mind that a majority of Venezuelans did support you, so you certainly had a right to be in office.
These are my 10 reasons why I will not miss you:
1. Your authoritarian manner (which reflected a flaw probably most Venezuelans have), and your inability to engage in an honest dialogue with anyone that opposed you. Even from your death bed, you had a Supreme Court justice fired because she didn't agree with your politics.
2. Your disrespect for the rule of law and your contribution to a climate of impunity in Venezuela. In 1999, you re-wrote the Constitution to fit your needs, and yet you violated it almost on a daily basis. With this example, it is no surprise that crime exploded in Venezuela. In 14 years, our homicide rate more than tripled from 22/100K to 74/100K. While judges were busy trying to prove their political allegiance to you, only 11% of homicides led to a conviction.
3. Your empty promises and the way you manipulated many Venezuelans to think you were really working for them. In 14 years you built less public housing than any president before you did in their 5 year periods. Hospitals today have no resources, and if you go there in emergency you must everything from medicines to surgical gloves and masks. The truth is that you were better at blowing your own trumpet than at getting things done.
4. The astounding level of corruption of your government. There was corruption before you got elected, but normally a government's scandals weren't made public until they handed power to the opposing party. Now we've heard about millions and millions of dollars vanishing in front of everybody's eyes, and your only reaction was to attack the media that revealed the corruption. The only politicians accused of corruption have been from parties that oppose you, and mostly on trumped up charges. For example, Leopoldo Lopez was never condemned by the courts but you still prevented him for running for office. His crime? Using money from the wrong budget allocation to pay for the salaries of teachers and firemen -because your government withheld the appropriate funds.
5. The opportunities you missed. When you took office, the price of oil was $9.30, and in 2008 it reached $126.33. There was so much good you could have done with that money! And yet you decided to throw it away on corruption and buying elections and weapons. If you had used these resources well, 10.7% of Venezuelans would not be in extreme poverty.
6. Your attacks on private property and entrepreneurship. You nationalized hundreds of private companies, and pushed hundreds more towards bankruptcy. Not because you were a communist or a socialist, but simply because you wanted no one left with any power to oppose you. If everyone was a public employee, you could force them to attend your political rallies, and the opposition would not get any funding.
7. Your hypocrisy on freedom and human rights. You shut down more than 30 radio and television stations for being critical of your government, you denied access to foreign currency for newspapers to buy printing paper (regular citizens can't access foreign currency unless you authorize it), you imprisoned people without trial for years, you imprisoned people for crimes of opinion, you fired tens of thousands of public employees for signing a petition for a recall referendum and you denied them access to public services and even ID cards and passports.
8. Your hypocrisy on the issue of Venezuela's sovereignty. You kicked out the Americans but then you pulled down your pants for the Cubans, Russians, Chinese and Iranians. We have Cuban officers giving orders in the Venezuelan army. Chinese oil companies work with a higher margin of profit than any Western companies did. And you made it clear that your alliances would be with governments that massacre their own people.
9. Your hypocrisy on the issue of violence. You said this was a peaceful revolution but you allowed illegal armed groups like Tupamaros, La Piedrita and FBLN to operate. You gave them weapons. You had the Russians set up a Kalashnikov plant in Venezuela. You were critical of American wars but yet you gave weapons to the Colombian guerrilla, whose only agenda is murder and drug-dealing.
10. Your hypocrisy on democracy. Your favorite insult for the opposition parties in Venezuela was "coupists", but you forgot you organized a coup in 1992, and the military that was loyal to you suggested they would support a coup in your favor if the opposition ever won the presidential elections. There was no democracy in your political party: you chose each of the candidates for the National Assembly and for city and state governments. When the opposition won the referendum that would have allowed you to change the Constitution in 2007, you disavowed the results and you figured out a way to change the articles and allow yourself to be reelected as many times as you wanted. You manipulated the elections in 2010 to make sure the opposition didn't get more than a third of seats in Parliament even though they got 51% of the popular vote. Your democracy was made of paper, you made sure there were no meaningful checks and balances and all institutions were your puppets.
So no, Hugo I will not miss you. Rest in peace now, while we try to rebuild the mess of a country that you left us.
@SusabelleÂ
and another "tribute" to this lunatic strongman
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html
But, our leftards will say, how could anyone who likes Carlos the Jackal,, Mugabe, Assad, Saddam Hussein,Muammar Gaddafi, FARC, and Ahmadinnajacket be all bad? After all, corruption, murder, and economic chaos can't be all bad, can it?
@Iconoclast Get back on your meds man.
@Susabelle I think you "misunderestimate" the malevolence of the left. One of Obama's mentors, Bill Ayers  (also the ghostwriter for his "autobiographes"), estimated that they would have to kill more than 10% of the US population at the time were they to succeed in a takeover. Our current progressives are no less bloodthirsty than Ayers (who never regretted his involvement in bombings and murders). That is why they like Chavez. Not from lack of information, from the certain knowledge that being a Chavista would let them become an executioner like Che.
@Iconoclast @Susabelle I dont see this as a left or right issue, just some people that do not really understand exactly what Chavez did to his own country. Some of these folks are so angry with our government that they cannot see how much better off we are than many of these other countries. Most of us never get that much experience with International culture or other country's problems. Americans tend to be a pretty sheltered bunch. I'm not sure why anyone would believe reports from the media out of that country when the media was effectively taken over by Chavez.
@Susabelle @Blindman Just one mans opinion. Long history of corruption in Venezuela caused by the fact they are the largest oil producer south of us. That means a  lot of outside forces like the CIA were actively involved in trying to make sure that oil came to us. the result of which was almost every president of Venezuela was taking bribes. Chavez refused to play that game and he may of been killed because of it. Capitalism is not healthy for a free and open society and is even worse in ones that are already corrupt.
@Susabelle independant media? the CIA has been trying to overthrow him for years, the guy writing the nice article stood to gain from our involvement, ever wonder why his great post appeared immediately and no one elses has?
@Blindman @Susabelle Your mistaken, he played the game, just not with the US. He played his game fully with Iran, Cuba and China to name a few...
It is only one mans opinion, but I posted because it was well stated and covered all the hypocrisy. How can you defend a man who shuts down any independent media?
I guess that superior government health care in Cuba Michael Moore and Sean Penn love so much wasn't that superior after all.
Good riddance.
I hope for the sake of the people of Venezuela, that this transition (whatever it may be) doesn't turn bloody.
LOL,. on a lighter note, I had some good laughs at some of the comments here.
I was not a fan of Hugo C.
@Judipearl A pretty good summary from the Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2013/03/venezuela-after-ch%C3%A1vez
Basically, it isn't going to be easy. Chavez ran Venezuela into the ground. Maduro isn't any better. The new elections, if any are held, will be difficult.
@Iconoclast @Judipearl Just look at Argentina after Peron, still suffering the deep damage after decades and not being able to get rid of the sick legacy. Hope Venzuela can do it, but would not bet on it.
Somehow I'm just not all that heartbroken...Â
One less Stalin wanna-be in the world. Yay!
Sean Penn must be heart broke. Obama should return the book, he won't be offended now.
This comment has been deleted
We should all be heart broken when a leader who refuses to knuckle under and submit to the hegemony of the US and multi national corporations dies.
@Superman_1967Â Wow, are you a US citizen? The man was a dictator! Please tell me you didnt buy into that robin hood crap he spouted, he was in it for the power, and he certainly was not going to let it go and was only taking more and more liberties. Fortunately he's dead now and Venezuela can hopefully take back their country.
@T_BONE_WALKERÂ Â Check this out, about expropiations...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-zfD5SKeVQ
@T_BONE_WALKERÂ How many of the regions (Venezuela's) Â newspapers do you read for your information?, because I do read them and have followed Chavez government for years. I guess even Chavez's support for the FARCÂ is OK with you.
@T_BONE_WALKERÂ I'm not talking about anything that can be fought in court (eminent domain) Â or someone not paying their property taxes and losing the property, nor about any oil companies, but about Chavez standing in fron of peoples houses and saying "expropiate!" and there is nothing the owner can do. You don't know very much about Chavez and make it obvious with your comments.
@spat Far more americans have lost far more property to imminent domain and tax sales then any citizen of Venezuela lost because of Chevez. You cry for the oil companies that were stealing their resources, lol.
@Iconoclast Check your fact fantasy boy, Venezuela's elections are ranked among the cleanest in the world, much cleaner then ours.Â
@Susabelle The horrific thing your government does every day are not for freedom or democracy. Your democracy was gone when lobbyists could buy your representatives. The horrific things this country does every day are for corporate profits and nothing more. We were trying to steal from that country all along, cut and dried.
The horrific thing is you people buy into the brainwashing still.
@Susabelle Have you forgot about your constitution? Where is it? Who did he "Put down" and which laws did he "change" I'll be waiting.
A democratically elected dictator huh? You guys really need a new source of information and it should be from somewhere that doesnt directly benefit from misinformation.
@Iconoclast ..beisdes being best buddies with Iran's Ahjmadinejad.
@T_BONE_WALKERÂ Â Â So you would not mind if he expropriated your private property, like he did from so many venezuelans?, among many other awful things he did as a seemingly re-re-re-elected president.... dictator. He even changed the constitution so he could be re-elected ad eternum, would you not love that?
 "No offense but the US government has a long and illustrious history of backing dictators."
So what? If that bothers you then you should hate Chavez, who loved genocidal murderers like Mugabe or Assad.
@T_BONE_WALKERÂ This would be the thug that attempted a coup against a popularly elected government in the 1990's, right?
And he "won" the vote last fall. Rather like how Ahmadinejad "won" in Iran (well, at least Hagel believes Ahmadinejad won a popular election).
@Howard Beale @T_BONE_WALKER @Susabelle @Superman_1967 Well said said. We as a nation are remarkledy true for not following through. I have zero faith in US foreing policy , let alone domestic policy, at this time. Obama is the worst.
@Howard Beale @T_BONE_WALKER @Susabelle @Superman_1967 I am not blind to my country's failings. My government has done some horrific things in the name of freedom and democracy. But I cannot support the belief that this man was anything other than a very bad social experiment for Venezuela. My thoughts are with the people of Venezuela as they try to pull their country back together again.
@T_BONE_WALKER@Susabelle
 @Susabelle @Superman_1967Â
No offense but the US government has a long and illustrious history of backing dictators.
Fidel Castro, "Baby Doc" Duvalier, Saddam Hussein, the Shaw of Iran, Augusto Pinochet, just to name a few from the last 50 years. All of these rogues were our allies before they were our enemies.
 We helped put Castro in power, but when he wouldn't play ball anymore we wanted him dead. We funded Duvalier. Saddam, we armed him. We have him the formulas for chemical and biological weapons. We fed him military intelligence in his war against Iran. The Shaw of Iran was a monster that we back. Augusto Pinochet was also a monster.
Never mind that we trained, armed, and funded Osama bin Laden when he was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan - and then we abandoned the country after the Soviets were defeated.
I love my country - but I am not so blind as to say, "my country black or white is never wrong."
Historically, when it comes to leaders and foreign aid, we have a frighteningly bad track record. If anything you should almost bet against almost any leader we back in emerging nations and the third world.
@T_BONE_WALKER @Susabelle Are you forgetting that he re-wrote their constitution? He changed any laws that would take him out of office... He would put down anyone who spoke against him, that puts him in line as a dictator.Â
@Susabelle Wow, a dictator that was democratically elected every time he ran? The stuff you are hearing about this guy is stuff from the country that unlawfully and covertly wanted to overthrow him because he redirected the nation's oil profits away from 8 rich capitalists and into the hands of the poor because he felt that a nation's resources belong to the citizens of that nation. Its a hell of a concept and one that we should try. These resources we have are all of ours not, just the rich multinationals that come through and take it.
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@Superman_1967Â refuses to knuckle under to bribes from the US and use profits from oil to feed, educate and provide medicine for poor children.
I liked the guy but know sooner or later we will be there "spreading democracy" as we pump it out of the ground and enslave their poor.
@T_BONE_WALKER @belsnickles What kind of dyed-in-the-wool socialist amasses a personal fortune of billions????
@belsnickles Their poverty was receding while yours deepens, lol. Its so funny to listen to you guys from your failed country and its failed system pointing to someone elses problems. He is feeding kids with oil while foreign companies pump ours into the gulf and take whatever they pump as their own.
Go fight another ill conceived war for corporate america will ya?
@T_BONE_WALKERÂ Yeah, he was a real sweetheart. Â Let his own people wallow in poverty while living the high life as a "socialist" elite. Â Takes his daughter to have her picture taken with Justin Bieber (really, how much more "capitalist" can you get??) and buys her the tech required to Tweet a pic of herself with a fistful of dinero), while the rest of the country does without electricity and toilet paper. Oh, and we can't forget him flying to another country to receive medical care while his own people are C.O.L. in the backwards hospitals in his "progressive" Venezuela. Â Let's not even get started on his human rights record. Â There has never been a socialist leader who wasn't a complete and utter hypocrite. Â
@Superman_1967Â What flavor was that Kool-Aid? Â Did it taste good going down?
It is a bitter-sweet taste, some is good some bad; in other words, some truths and some non-truths. The US people are nice, the US government is not.