Ian James' thinly cloaked bias in "Chavez wins re-election by
wide margin" (Dec. 4) mentions that since Hugo Chavez won office in
1998, his allies have "increasingly dominated all branches of
government". Is it short-sightedness or sheer stupidity to not
recognize that until just recently, all of our branches of government
were being "increasingly dominated" by the allies of President Bush?
When will the pot ever stop calling the kettle black?
James reluctantly admits that Chavez has "channeled oil profits toward
multibillion-dollar programs for the poor including subsidized food,
free university education and cash benefits for single mothers."
Chavez is able to do this in Venezuela, but meanwhile in the U.S.A,
our politicians cut social programs, raise sales taxes (Utah), tuition
costs, student loan interest rates, and neglect an inefficient child
support system for single mothers.
And while Chavez is channeling oil profits into these programs, Bush
gives away $8 billion of taxpayers' money in a "government subsidy" to
oil companies like ExxonMobil.
Democracy's promise to give its citizens a path to pursue happiness is
certainly under threat.
The threat, however, is not coming from Venezuela.
Exactly right!
Chavez's efforts to reduce poverty provide education and give oil profits back to citizens are merely "window dressing" intended to distract from his ever growing human rights violations and crimes against humanity.
Death squads, torture prisons, denying free speech and a tightening noose around the press are just a few of the Venezuelan Dictator's other gifts to his people. Since Chavez has taken office the murder rate has tripled and now terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbolla operate freely within the Venezuelan border.
More info can be found at Human rights Watch:
http://hrw.org/doc/?t=americas&c=venezu
Chavez might not pose a threat to American democracy but has gone far beyond being just a threat to the democracy of the Venezuelan people.
Funny that we have torture prisons, the press has been threatened and reporters attacked with law suits from our government, the government even listening on to phone calls from ABC, and as for the death squads, don't you know about the School of the Americas? You should google that. America is the prime trainer and creator of death squads in South and Central America.
America has posed a threat to democracy in Central and South America for over a hundred years now. We topple democratically elected leaders with coups designed by us and don't have qualms, for example, about putting and supporting a dictator into power like Pinochet who is a terror on his people.
Don't accept propaganda at first swallow. I've heard the window dressing argument before.
Citizen Press Revolution
Where is Ronald Reagan?
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."-C.S. Lewis
I think.
Citizen Press Revolution
For President.
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."-C.S. Lewis