U.S. Ambassador Stranded by Chavez Rally

[wakeme2008]

:rofl:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Venezuela-US-Protest.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

March 22, 2006
U.S. Ambassador Stranded by Chavez Rally
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 9:46 p.m. ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- A raucus rally supporting leftist President Hugo Chavez stranded the U.S. ambassador and his delegation inside a social club for more than two hours Wednesday, officials said.

About 200 chanting Chavez supporters burned an American flag, set tires ablaze and blocked the gates of the Italian-Venezuelan social club during the visit by Ambassador William Brownfield to San Juan de los Morros, about 50 miles southwest of Caracas, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Brian Penn.

..more at link...

[IndianaGreen]

1. Stuck for 2 hours in the club's cocktail bar

Oh, the horror!

[tanyev]

12. Egad! They may not have been able to dress for dinner.

Life is hell out in the colonies.

[goforit]

2. LOUSY reporting from the NYT.. ....again! !!...Propagandaville!!!

BooooHoooo.....tears runneth over!

[Roland99]

4. I wonder what democratic principles Chavez is failing to heed?

[goforit]

6. I guess we need to ask Bush that same question.

[bemildred]

3. Venezuela police help US envoy blocked by protest

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan police helped the U.S. ambassador leave a Caracas building after a group of President Hugo Chavez's supporters blockaded him inside, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

Guarico State Gov. Eduardo Manuitt, an ally of left-winger Chavez, said the protesters were peacefully demonstrating against U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield after he visited opposition leaders and a chamber of commerce.

But U.S. embassy officials said a group of about 100 mainly students with anti-U.S. placards trapped the envoy inside the building for four hours while they burned tires and set fire to a U.S. flag before police stepped in to clear the way.

"When the ambassador went to leave the building, he felt he could not because he believed the protests were potentially violent," said an embassy spokeswoman. "The local authorities finally helped him out and he left for the airport."

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-23T011240Z_01_N22217789_RTRUKOC_0_US-VENEZUELA-USA.xml&archived=False

[Judi Lynn]

5. Here he is out meddling in the lives of Venezuelan citizens.....

Ambassador William Brownfield

You really never hear of diplomats from other countries going around butting into the daily lives of Americans, walking up to them and confronting them in front of their homes, do you? If they tried it, they'd probably be on one of those dandy private jets, hurtling off for a personal rendition.

This is a technique perfected by _Bush ambassadors. They bypass normal diplomatic channels, shun the rigors of traditional diplomacy, and approach the citizens of countries directly, inviting them to the embassies, having dinners with members of the opposition in countries with elected Presidents they don't like, opening the embassy doors to them 24/7 to use their office equipment, etc.

Homey, isn't it?

[IndianaGreen]

7. He looks like a cock sucking Freeper!

with apologies to my gay friends...

Why is that woman holding a package with the American flag?

[Judi Lynn]

8. Hmmm. I just went back and read the caption from the State Department

page where I found this photo:

Ambassador Brownfield Inaugurates a Childhood Learning Center in Venezuela

Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield inaugurated an early-childhood learning center located in the Valle La Cruz municipality of the Venezuelan state of Vargas. The center, which is receiving $33 million from the United States government, will help educate 60 children up to the age of 6. Ambassador Brownfield told the Venezuelan press that the project underscored the United States’ willingness to provide Venezuelans assistance for projects in the area of health and education. Ambassador Brownfield also provided three computers to the office of the Venezuelan Red Cross in Vargas, a region that experienced devastating mudslides in 1999. Photo: Vicente Correale/El Universal.
(snip/)

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/b/wha/41002.htm

They could do the poor people a much bigger favor by ending their attempts to overthrow the President the citizens of Venezuela elected by such great numbers. That's a favor they just might appreciate.

[IndianaGreen]

9. I wonder if that is a faith based center

Wherever the US goes, the evangelists follow!

[SoCalDem]

10. $33M to educate SIXTY kids???

That's SOME education...

[IndianaGreen]

11. I think the bulk of the money is going for Contra-style activities

Terrorism is as American as apple pie!

[Peace Patriot]

13. Good catch! $33 million for 60 kids! And that kid does NOT look happy.

HE knows that that $33 million is being misspent. In fact, he looks like a little Hugo Chavez, who has figured out that the embrace of Bushites means starvation, oppression, slavery, torture and death for his people, and he is quite determined to get away from that ghoulish U.S. ambassador, and grow up to become another leader of the Bolivarian Revolution!

[SoCalDem]

15. And kids here are being shortchanged..big time

This is the stuff that makes me CRAZY.. We throw money down rat-holes and bitch about how schools here just need to do a better job.. Repubes are constantly tossing out the "Throwing money at the problem meme".. yet they throw 33MILLION into a school in a country they "have no use for"..and withhold money from our own schools.:grr:

[killbotfactory]

19. I'd be surprised if any of that money actually went towards education

More like bankrolling mobs, newspaper stories, and "pro-democracy" groups.

[SoCalDem]

21. Money-laundering 101

:)

[susu369]

22. Perhaps the children education program will be Ignite!

Neil bu$hie's BFEE project.

:evilgrin:

[Bucky]

17. *snort* Did you just say "holding a package with an American flag"?

Hee hee. I have a filthy mind.

[Toucano]

14. Maybe Bush Calls him "Brownie Dos"

His suit doesn't fit very well, though, and the other Brownie is maticulous with his clothes.

[1932]

16. Didn't the previous ambassador share information about the coup with

Chavez, which promptly resulted in his recall and replacement?

Or am I imagining that?

[lumpy]

18. Brownfield is a career diplomat.

Been in the business since 1979. Former ambassador to Chile and been messing around in So.American 'diplomtic' affairs for most of his career. God knows what he has been involved in since his job has been working for several US administrations that have been famous for trying to direct political traffic in So. America.

[Judi Lynn]

20. There's got to be a reason Bush sent him to a country with a leader

_Bush dispises, and against whom he engineered a coup.

The creep, Charles Shapiro, he replaced was caught playing conspicuously, and gleefully with the opposition, and made some abominable moves before he was recalled. He probably didn't have the stealth qualities needed.