Venezuela To Lift Military Wages 30% On Jan 1 - Chavez

[Say_What]

It's not hard to imagine how the corporate press is gonna spin this for the Bushies.

<clips>

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela will increase military salaries by 30% across the board as of Jan 1, 2004, President Hugo Chavez announced Sunday.

Chavez didn't mention the new national minimum wage for 2004. Venezuela traditionally increases the minimum wage on May 1 each year, the country's Labor Day. The government lifted the minimum wage by 30% over the course of 2003.

"This is justice the 30% increase for all grades and military chains of command," said Chavez.

Chavez also announced a year-end wage bonus and new social programs for the military. The military wage increase comes as Chavez prepares for a possible recall referendum early next year. The government has said officers shouldn't participate in a signature drive designed to authorize the recall, arguing that officers can vote, but not participate in political rallies or campaigns.

<http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2003101314580010&Take=1>

[Classical_Liberal]

1. Chaves is a very smart man

This really lowers the possibility of a coup.

[AntiCoup2K4]

3. Don't bet on that.

See the article I posted about the PNAC gang of Nazi Idiots trying to manufacture an "Al Qaeda" connection to Chavez. It's obvious they are planning a future invasion, since the coup attempts have failed.

[Say_What]

5. Waiting for a response to U.S.-based terrorists

It tooks several years to overthrow democratically elected Chilean Allende and the similarities between the destabilization efforts of the two countries are chilling.

This editorial appeared today on venezuelanalysis.com:

<clips>

On January 29, 2003, The U.S. daily, the Wall Street Journal, published an editorial revealing the existence of terrorist training camps in Florida. Rodolfo Frómeta, a Cuban, and former Army Captain Luis Eduardo García, a Venezuelan, are named in the article as the leaders of the paramilitary coalition formed by the "F-4 Commandos" and "The Venezuelan Patriotic Junta." García, a former Captain, was one of the leaders of the defeated coup against democratically elected president Hugo Chavez Frías in Venezuela in April 2002.

The training camps located in the Florida Everglades seem to have escaped the reach of the Department of Homeland Security, which was created by President Bush as a way of protecting the United States against terrorist attacks. This oversight seems to come from the fact that this coalition was not set up to attack the United States; instead, it follows the tradition of the Contras and their terror campaign in Nicaragua, and other groups such as Alpha 66 and the F-4 itself and their terror campaigns against Cuba. This time the coalition between F-4 and the Venezuelan Junta has been set up to train paramilitary forces to terrorize Venezuela.

Shortly after the Wall Street Journal article came out, the Venezuelan government made information available to the U.S. embassy in Venezuela specifically detailing the activities carried out by these two groups. The Venezuelan government did not receive a response from the U.S. embassy at that time. It was not until plans to assassinate President Chávez surfaced, during his planned visit to Harlem, New York last September, that the Venezuelan government went public denouncing the plot and the existence of terrorist groups, training freely in Florida, conspiring to overthrow the government. In addition, in a televised appearance before the international media, Chavez revealed that his government is in possession of a video, secretly recorded by his security forces, of a CIA officer giving a class to Venezuelans on surveillance.

Even though President Chavez did not cite the Wall Street Journal article specifically, the international media picked up the report and have challenged the U.S. government to come forward with an explanation for its double standard on terrorism.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1031

[Classical_Liberal]

6. Well I think giving the grunts a raise and passing laws

against the officers involvement in political campaigns is a good tactic to mitigate against this.

[Flying_Pig]

2. Keeping his army happy, is a very smart move.....

Still, any doubt, that push come to shove, the BFEE won't have their way? I think they are afraid though, that if they were too overt, a raging civil war would ensue, which it would, that would destroy most ofthe county's oil production, and the U.S. can ill afford that right now. So, a number of factors are conspiring to keep Chavez going. As soon as Iraq is pumping at full speed though, if it ever does, look for shit to start happening there...

[bemildred]

4. A few comments.

They certainly do want to remove Hugo, but so far he has
way outclassed them.

They will not get much oil out of Iraq until it is run by Iraqis,
and they won't get much oil out of Venezuela unless it has the
consent of the Venezuelans. They have been trying to get oil out
of Colombia at great expense for a long time now, and their pipeline
is still being attacked hundreds of times a year.

They have been trying to sell the Venezuela - al Qaeda connection
for a year and a half that I am aware of, and it gets shot down
promptly every time. That they keep resorting to the same lies and
tactics show a lack of imagination and/or possibilities.

A successful invasion of Venezuela, like a successful invasion of
Iraq, will require far more in the way of planning and resources than
they can afford or commit off the cuff. It's not like Panama or
Grenada where you can go in with a few thousand troops. And unlike
in Iraq, the Venezuelan military has shown itself to be loyal when
it had a free choice.