Chavez calls Condoleezza Rice an "illiterate" following sharp criticism

[kskiska]

CARACAS (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dismissed US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) as a "true illiterate" for accusing him of not playing a constructive role in Latin America.

Chavez said he asked Cuban leader Fidel Castro (news - web sites) to mail to Rice samples of books that Venezuela is using, with Cuban support, for literacy education, to "see if she learns to respect the dignity of the people and learns a bit about us."

Speaking at an official event in Caracas, Chavez said that Rice "fired her unworthy artillery against our people" by saying that he should not oppose the referendum that seeks to oust him from power.

In Washington on Friday, Rice said that "there are roles that Venezuela has played that have not been very helpful."

Rice cited tensions between Venezuela and neighboring Colombia as well as Chavez's good relations with Castro, who has outlasted successive US presidents for four decades.

more…
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1520&ncid=1520&e=6&u=/afp/20040110/pl_afp/us_venezuela_rice_040110220449

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saigon68]

67. Illiterate ??? SHE does however work for a CHIMPANZEE

And a not very bright one at that !!!!!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

2. The fact is the people support Chavez

I'm sick of the lies!

[DuctapeFatwa]

15. Only the poor, not even 90%

And they only support him because they are selfish people who only care about things like food for their children and schools and medical care.

They don't even care about what is best for US business interests. That is terrorism!

Condi may not be the saltiest fry in the bag, but she did a great job for Chevron and she is doing a great job for the industry now.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

20. doesn't she have a tanker

named after her?

[Say_What]

24. Yep.. it's named

CondoSLEEZA D-BAG --just kidding. But they did name a tanker after her. The f*ck'n POS.

[tinanator]

52. but they removed the name after the theft, didnt they?

So she's OK.

[nolabels]

61. Them RED THREES are the worst kind

Especially when your playing Hand and Foot Canasta

[DBoon]

55. ...not be the saltiest fry in the bag

LOL!

[revcarol]

3. Right on, Chavez.Tell her where to get off.

Since when is she Secretary of State? Am I behind the times?

[stevedeshazer]

10. You are behind the times

Powell and Rummy are out, Condi runs foreign policy now. You must have missed the memo! :-)

[0007]

4. Hugo knows a dummy when he sees one. LOL!!

This administration is so tactful and artful in foreign affairs.

Of course the spooks have been causing all the problems for Chavez.

[goforit]

5. Off Syria ,Condi ,and now on Venezuela, eh?

Oh - oh...........Chavez may have spurn W now. Condi is appearing
to be a little more than just an advisor now. Those two are almost
inseparable.

I guess spring may be in the air.......ouch!!!

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Why don't you provide a source?

I'll bet a lot of people view her as a woman who is driven to succeed in her career who doesn't have a lot of time for a private life.

Don't hurl speculation into the mix, please.

Democrats can judge her life as it pertains to politics.

I've never heard ANYONE waste any time trying to pass rumors about her personal life.

I DO know right-wing idiots used to entertain themselves on message boards trying to gossip about Janet Reno, whose personal life ALSO is none of their business.

[BiggJawn]

17. Who told you that? Bob Boudalange?

Sounds like something he'd say.

Tell ya what. you set up the meet, and I'll try to find out for you...

My Patriotic duty!

[goforit]

35. LOL!!!.........Nothing but chutzpah!

I like that.

[BiggJawn]

66. Actaully, I rather fancy the girl...

I KNOW she's Pure Evil inside, but I think she's an attractive woman. The way she wears those very short skirts on the Sunday morning pundit shows (the bigger the lies, the shorter the skirts) doesn't hurt, either....

Now if she still had her soul...

[Benhurst]

44. Ah! Now I understand why she likes Dubya. n/t

[Dirk39]

6. This is just one more example of the communist, terrorist,

socialist, political-correct affirmative-action terror against the free world. Just because Condoleezza is black, and just because she's a woman, she gets literacy education first. No one cares about Bush, just because he's white and he's a male. These axis of evil has to be stopped.
Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[TheMiddleRoad]

8. Pay attention

Pay good attention to the Venezuela situation. They have had the gall to stand up to WTO and tell them to go to hell. Bush wants Chavez gone and already encouraged a failed coup attempt.

Bush will be looking to invade some other helpless country next year under some context. I keep seeing "floaters" out there meant to gauge American interest in a particular target. Certainly South Korea, Iran and Syria are already out there. Cuba has started popping up and it worries me. It worries me because Bush is on a Latino wooing binge and invading Cuba is a great way to solidify Florida.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Cuba is virtually defenseless. Iraq folded like a cheap Burka. Cuba doesn't even have a hand to fold. Venezuela is another defenseless country. The Bushies are now trying to spin them into communists who are helping Columbia Guerrillas. Somehow they will try to make Venezuela part of the drug war. I wouldn't be surprised to see some trumped up evidence that the Chavez "regime" is smuggling drugs into the US. Or that they are harboring Columbian guerrillas.

Another quick "war" would be an excellent way for Bush to distract the voters from horrible domestic economic conditions. Also, Venezuela is an oil and copper producer. Shwing for Bushy cronies to take these now socialist state industries and put them into the hands of their rightful capitalist, American owners ;-(

Either this, or they'll simply let our national defense down again and some other landmark will get blown up. Bush isn't just an ass-hole, he's evil.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

12. our administration crows about our principles

and bringing democracy to the world. Then we say Chavez is against democracy when the PEOPLE SUPPORT HIM! A referendum on him stepping down has already failed once. The people want him. What is Rice talking about? See "the Revolution Will not be Televized". Its galling to see our arrogance!

[Dirk39]

13. They will go on,

trying to destabilize Venezuela, they might hire some PR-groups and try some "velvet revolutions" the Soros kind of way. But they will not dare to invade Venezuela. If they would do something like this, even moderate europeans or maybe even some moderate americans would be willing to support violence against the US government. This would cause a kind of world war.
Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

14. I agree, however

the pattern in South America shows that we don't need to invade. We can destroy a government using their own people. It failed in 2002 but they will try again

[Say_What]

29. Took 'em more than a year to take down Allende and the tactics

with Venezuela are very similar. Allende was also close to Fidel. I think the difference is that now with the internet news is pretty much in real time and many people are aware of the US track record in LatAm (not to mention the rest of the globe). The patterns for destablizing democratically elected leaders around the globe are nearly the same--same recipe works over and over. :puke:

The other things is that everytime the US makes a move Chavez and his government bring it to the attention of the world and I think this keeps Uncle Sam at bay--just my opinion.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador the US is consolidating its occupation of that oil rich country--coincidentally on the border with Colombia. Here's a clip.

________________________________________

U.S. Military Consolidates the Occupation
of Ecuador.

CARLOS FAZIO
La Jornada

(translation: lam, Boletin Latino)

Silently and without firing a single shot, the Pentagon is consolidating
the military occupation of Ecuador. The accelerated installation of
military bases and an espionage center, as well as the training of elite counterinsurgent units, signal timely preparations for an eventual launching of Plan Colombia's second phase for the first months of 2004: a multinational armed intervention against the FARC and the
ELN guerrillas.

The Manta naval and air base, located on the Pacific shore of
Ecuador and one hour flight from the Colombian border, is under the
exclusive
jurisdiction of the U.S. Armed Forces' SouthCom (Southern Command).
Manta is an Air Force and Navy command center directing key
mercenary operations under contract to Cyncorp, a Pentagon private
subcontractor, conducting the installation of 3 substitute logistics
centers (under construction) in the provinces of Guayas, Azuay and
Sucumbíos, as well as, the militarization of the Ecuadorian police,
receiving "anti terrorist" training by the FBI.

Visits to the Andean nation by General Wendell L. Griffin, SouthCom
Planning and Strategy Director (end of October) and U.S. special
envoy for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Otto Reich, seem to indicate
that Washington is accelerating preparations to unleash military
skirmishes inside Colombian territory and that Ecuador, with the
subordinate authorization of President Lucio Gutiérrez -a seasoned,
retired colonel-, will perform a function similar to Honduras in
Reagan's war against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua: that of a U.S.
aircraft carrier in an undercover war of aggression.

Manta, center of regional espionage

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/US-Cuba_relations/message/2318

[Dirk39]

38. Maybe Wesley Clark will do the job?

Wesley Clark, Cheerleader for School of the Americas
by Wesley Clark
Email: info (at) weslyclark.com (unverified!) 18 Dec 2003
Gen. Wesley Clark, Democratic presidential candidate, has been an avid backer of School of the Americas, the notorious training facility where the US trained torturers and thugs for our Central American "regime changers".
'SCHOOL' OF HARD KNOCKS FOR WES

By VINCENT MORRIS, NY Post
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 18, 2003 -- EXCLUSIVE

WASHINGTON - In a position that's likely to alienate some Democratic primary voters, retired Gen. Wesley Clark is a big booster of the controversial "School of the Americas" - which critics charge has history of graduating Latin American soldiers accused of rape, murder and torture.

Clark fought for years to keep the school at Fort Benning, Ga., open, even testifying on its behalf in Congress, despite graduates like imprisoned Panamanian ex-strongman Manuel Noriega.

Clark's backing of the school - whose curriculum once included teaching torture, execution, kidnapping and blackmail - puts him at odds with many Democratic officials and groups like Amnesty International, who want the school closed.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) calls the school a "stain on our reputation" and leads the effort to close it. "With all due respect to the general, the school is an insult to our troops," he said. Nearly all Democrats in New York's congressional delegation oppose the school and Reps. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) voted to shut it.

"I would urge the general to support an accounting for the training that's gone on there," said Alex Arriaga, government-relations director for Amnesty International.

Clark isn't embarrassed about ties to the military installation - his campaign Web site features a commencement speech he delivered there a few years ago. "There is nothing going on in these institutions that you in the United States Congress wouldn't be extraordinarily proud of," Clark once testified to Congress.

The school has served as a training ground for thousands of Latin American officers, whose instruction had reportedly including how to torture and assassinate.

Aside from Noriega, the school is known for alums like Leopoldo Galtieri of Argentina, Haitian coup leader Raoul Cedras, Salvadoran death-squad organizer Roberto D'Aubuisson and former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

One of the most controversial school incidents occurred in November 1989, when a Salvadoran army patrol executed six Jesuit priests, their cook and her daughter. The United Nations found that 19 of the 26 soldiers graduated from the school.

In response to complaints, the Pentagon "closed" the school in 2000, but reopened it in 2001 under a new name.

http://madison.indymedia.org/newswire/display/15526/index.php

Dirk

[Say_What]

41. "nothing going on in the SOA we wouldn't be proud of"

Oh yeah, like murder, torture, rape, etc. are things to be proud of. He'll never get my vote. There's a recent documentary called Hidden in Plain Sight about the SOA that a 'muriKans ought to see--they naivette about the land of the thief and the home of the slave would change pronto.

[Dirk39]

42. Thanx for your reply, Say_what....

I would accept being thrown out of DU for posting things like that about a candidate for the Democrats, and it feels somehow strange to post things like that as a foreigner, but I simply can't shut my mouth.
Dirk

[burrowowl]

45. Don't shut your mouth!

Probably most of the candidates, except DK, support the infamous SOA. A school of horror.

[Say_What]

50. The truth is the truth, Dirk...

Dem or not and it's documented. Clark's speech to the SOA has been posted here more than once. Bad enough they've been militarizing the police around the country for the past 40 years. Miami was just the preview to what we're gonna be facing here for any kind of dissent. That and the fact that SmirkBoy just signed part of Patriot Act II into law--very bad news for civil rights in the USSA, and then they want a military guy who can't seem to tell the truth for pres. That's worse than pretzel logic. :crazy:

[aquart]

25. I don't even want to imagine what a mess that would be.

Let's see: George sends in Halliburton mercenaries to take over Venezuela and the stench causes intense unity among the SA nations who reach out for other friends....like Japan and China..

Yes, it'll be swell.

[TheMiddleRoad]

46. Promoting tyranny worldwide!!!

Our policies of squelching democracy in South America is linked directly to corporate assholes and their need for "Banana Republics".

If you treat your neighbor with decency and respect, he will be your friend. If you steal his tools and screw his wife, he will be your enemy. Oh yeah, and his kids won't like you either.

I truly believe that America should promote Democracy globally. That's what suckered me into believing Colon Powell and the Iraq affair. At the time, I told people that Iraq was the ONLY thing I agreed with the president on.

As it turned out, it was a bunch of shit. Bush wants to carve Iraq up for his oil buddies AND use it as a staging ground for knocking off other nearby regimes.

Mega-Corporations are out of control and be put back under the thumb of the people they are SUPPOSED to control. They muck with our foreign policy and get American GIs killed overseas.

[cliss]

37. Awesome post, MOR.

Thanks for all the good info. I believe you are right about Bushco, they're stirring the pot all over the world, causing trouble on many fronts. Ever since I jumped onto the DU, I've learned so much about how they move into certain weakened countries and cause havoc. They may be wanting regime change, or want certain things to happen in that country, like dams being built or infrastructure, courtesy of the US.

The old saying really is true, "Power corrupts, and absolute Power corrupts absolutely".

[Mikimouse]

9. "there are roles that Venezuela has played that have not ...

been very helpful." TO WHOM, you supercillious moron? News flash for you Condi, the world does not revolve around the interests of the US. There are actually intelligent, thinking people in Venezuela. I shoudl know, one of the branches of my family immigrated there from Argentina in the 50s. (By the way, just because some of my family members have a brain, I am not suggesting that I do, just so tehre is no misunderstanding).

[Karenina]

16. OOOooo la-la

Just see Chavez convert to the Euro and watch the shit fly off the fan!

:evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

Condi be a twisted sister anywho she be hanging out wit done mangled her mind.

:evilgrin:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

19. now you're talkin

then we might invade!

[Mikimouse]

21. OH, if only...and I am not convinced that she ever really

had a mind to begin with. I know an associate who decided to pursue Parsonian Functionalism 5 years after it was pretty much dead in the water. She reminds me of him, LOL; and he's as superficial as she is, to boot. And if * has any idea of the type of fight he would be up against invading Venezuela, he wouldn't even consider it. A good history lesson for him would be a trip to the not quite completed fortress of Perez Jimenez near the coast. Bring 'em on!:hippie:

[DuctapeFatwa]

18. "the world does not revolve around the interests of the US"??

I believe that is a violation of the Secret Patriot Act.

But it is also very useful information about this anti-American activity on the part of the world.

There had been some suspicion of this, but rest assured that the regime is efforting to bring the world to justice.

[Mikimouse]

23. I understand that the punishment for my kind of activity...

is being barbecued at the stake! As the water (and other stuff) swirls around the bowl when one flushes, so does the * administration swirl around when the international community finally has enough and pushes down on the universal handle.

[Say_What]

22. Washington THUGS p*ssing off Latin America--twice in a week for Venezuela

That makes it three times in a week that the so called US *diplomats* pissed off one of the countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Noriega and his sidekick earlier this week and now CondaSLEEZA. What a f*ck'n d-bag she is. Amazing how this junta seems to think they can do and say whatever they want and everyone will kowtow to them.

I loved that quote about asking Fidel to mail her some literacy education material. LOL

<>

[Just Me]

70. The * administration is "polished" at inciteful behavior,...

,...p*ssing others off and creating arch enemies.

[Judi Lynn]

26. Taking kicks at Venezuela. Unbelievable.

The ousted, and impeached (for corruption) President Perez is close to the elected President Bush. They met within the last year or so, along with Gustavo Cisneros, Venezuelan media mogul at a private estate of the Cuban "exile" brothers, sugar cane plantation owners, Alfie and Pepe Fanjul in the Dominican Republic. This actually doesn't look that wholesome, considering the elected President Bush's son, _{George W. Bush} had involved his State Department and a few military figures in the coup attempt against Chavez.

Here's the fate of the major Latin American leaders who were beloved of the U.S.:

(snip) Among Latin America's "reform-minded leaders," according to a laudatory 1991 article in the Post, were Menem, Carlos Andres Perez in Venezuela, Carlos Salinas in Mexico, Fernando Collor de Mello in Brazil, and Alberto Fujimori in Peru. A decade later, one of these five crusading reformers has been impeached, three live abroad in disgrace, and the other, Menem, is widely reviled and suspected of plundering Argentina's state treasury. Had the U.S. press not cavalierly dismissed the "short-term pain of millions," maybe none of this would have come as such a big surprise.

Consider Venezuela. After Perez was elected in 1989, its economy was the first in Latin America to be deemed a miracle. The country's gross national product climbed sharply at the start of Perez's tenure, but simultaneous austerity policies caused the real value of salaries to fall by almost half. In 1989 the government decided to triple bus fares. Riots broke out, and the security forces summoned to quell them killed somewhere between 400 and several thousand people, mostly in the poor barrios. Perez's popularity plummeted. For some reason, this baffled The Miami Herald, which reported in 1992 that international economists were "puzzled by Venezuela's generalized malaise because this oil-rich country is the economic star of the Americas."

Implicated in a series of corruption scandals, Perez was forced to resign in 1993. He now resides in the Dominican Republic. Last December a Venezuelan judge announced that his court was considering bringing charges against the former president and that Perez would be placed under house arrest if he returns home. (snip)

(snip) Here's a mind-numbing number that puts the region's supposed boom in perspective: According to World Bank figures, between 1986 and last year, Latin-American poverty jumped almost 40 percent.

The U.S. press was too busy reporting on a "miracle" to notice. (snip/...)

http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/print/V13/4/silverstein-k.html

[NotTooPrettyBad]

27. Why the strong attraction to Chavez and Castro here on DU?

Pardon me for maybe missing the obvious but why such strong attraction for these two dictators? I don't understand the love for leaders that rule by force. What am I missing here?

[Mikimouse]

30. 'scuse me, Chavez is the legally and democratically

elected President of Venezuela, and has every right to respond to the moronic edicts of the * administration. More power to him for having the courage to do so. On Castro (by the way, that's Dr. Castro), a quick review of the Cuban history might show that the Cubans were probably treated more harshly, in many ways, than they have been under his regime. After all, there was a lot of American money in Cuba under Batista, which evaporated when Castro took over. Why did it evaporate? Because Castro announced revisions in the taxation system, but also announced to the large land and business owners that under the circumstances those people would have to do their own assessments of their taxable assets. Of course, they cheated like hell, and the result was that they looked (on paper), like they were struggling to hold onto their assets by their fingernails. So, he approached them and bought them out, at the valuation they provided. They just didn't like getting caught by their own lies. Cuba has done nothing to earn the ongoing animosity of the US.

[Minstrel Boy]

31. "Pardon me for maybe missing the obvious"

The most obvious fact you're missing is that Chavez is a democratically elected, which is more than can be said for the man in the White House who mused aloud how much he'd like to be a dictator, until he became one. Unlike Bush, Chavez was elected by the people, not selected by a court. And of course that didn't stop the White House from supporting a coup against Chavez in 2002, and God knows what next.

[Mikimouse]

32. Wanna take bets on getting a reply to your post? or mine?

Twenty Pooky dollars says no, to either.:evilgrin:

[burrowowl]

49. Looks like NotTooPrettyBad

has gone missing.
Good riddence.

[Mikimouse]

57. Dagnabit! I was hoping to unload my 1000th post on her

I was looking for a nice protracted exchange. Oh well, sigh...

[maryallen]

33. A democracy that leans a little too far left for ...

Bushie and his buddies ... and a lot of oil.

[fairfaxvadem]

34. no one is "attracted" to Chavez and Castro...

rather, we are repulsed by our policies toward each country. Want to free Cuba? Don't wait til Fidel is dead and "dear brother Raoul" takes over...open up trade and let the good old American greenback turn the tide. I mean, every other country in the world deals with Cuba, we look like idiots. Cuba is a beautiful island, I'd like to go spend some of my hard earned cash there for a nice vacation...It's stupid. And the Cubans of Florida have way too much influence for such a small group of people.

As for Chavez, let him survive or not on his own. The CIA needs to give it a rest in Latin America. We just end up making matters worse. If Bush and his corporate donors don't like Chavez, too bad. They've embarassed us enough with these half-assed coup attempts.

US foreign policy in all of Latin America needs to grow up.

[Dirk39]

43. Thank you for re-defining humanity...

I'm attracted to Chavez, I wish there would be 100 more Venezuelas and Cubas in Latin America, Africa and everywhere else. I'm even attracted to Castro. And the worst of all, I'm not even a northamerican!
Pluralis majestis, hopefully
Nowhereman - excluded from Humanity,
Dirk

P.S. but it's very nice to hear from you, that you're willing to let other people fall on their knees to clean your shoes for your hard or not so hard earned dollars. Please Mr. Chavez, ask Castro to send her a book that explains the word "arrogance".

[Polemonium]

40. Chavez was elected, he's not a dictator.

Further, he won his first election on the platform of making Venezuela a better place for the poor, uneducated people of Venezuela. Granted he has had limited success on this front (due in no small point to *), but the fact that he has been articulating these things is a big improvement for the people. You're not well informed, which is excusable so long as you make the effort to get informed. Venezuela is a fantastic country full of kind, and wonderful people from a variety of backgrounds. It is home to indigenous tribes that lead fairly traditional lives. It is home to the tallest waterfall in the world, found in one of the more captivating landscapes in the world. The biodiversity found in Venezuela is among the highest found anywhere in the world. These things could be said about most Latin American countries. What you have to ask your self is why is bush* (the corporate good'ol boy, the oil boy) interfering in affairs in Venezuela. Well Venezuela is also home to the biggest oil fields in Latin America, and Chavez is reluctant to play ball with US oil FAT CATS.

[TheMiddleRoad]

48. Dictators

Dictators are easy to pay off. It costs far less to bribe a dictator then to help an entire nation. Especially when you are stealing from them.

[Say_What]

51. US Friendly Dictators

Welcome to DU, TMR :hi:

America's Allies
THE FRIENDLY DICTATORS
Meet the Friendly Dictators - three dozen* of America's most embarrassing "friends", a cunning crew of tyrants and corrupt puppet-presidents who have been rewarded handsomely for their loyalty to U.S. interests.

Traditional Dictators seize control through force and often are self-styled "Generals." Constitutional Dictators hold office through voting fraud or severely restricted elections and are frequently mouthpieces for the military juntas which control the ballot boxes. Both types of dictators are covered here, along with a few tyrannical kings. but don't look for "enemy dictators" (communists and the like) in this set of cards. These are America's allies, strange and undemocratic as they may be.

Friendly Dictators often rise to power through bloody CIA-backed coups and rule by terror and torture. Their troops may receive training or advice from the CIA and other U.S. agencies. "Anti-communism" is their common battle cry and a common excuse for political repression. They are linked internationally through extreme right-wing groups such as the World Anti-Communist League (see card 17). Strong Nazi affiliations are typical - some have been known to dress in Nazi paraphemalia and quote from Mein Kampf, while others offer sanctuary for actual Nazi war criminals.

Friendly Dictators usually grow rich, while their countries' economies go down the drain. U.S. tax dollars and U.S. backed loans have made billionaires of some; others are international drug dealers who also collect CIA paychecks. Rarely are they called to account for their crimes.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/Cards_Index.html

[AP]

54. Go see The Revolution Will Not be Televised and you'll understand.

It was the best political thriller of the last decade.

[CHIMO]

58. Force

Maybe Iraq?

Maybe there is no other attraction other than in your eyes.

Accept your apology.

[rman]

64. how about some evidence..

showing that Chavez is a dictator?

What you'r missing: Bush* is trying to rule the world by force.

[amber dog democrat]

74. Are we not ruling by force right here?

Just take a look at the Patriot Act. Once upon a time there used to be a thing called Habius Corpus, and once upon a time we used to elect presidents. Not appoint them via the Superme Court.

I promise you if OIL was not such a huge factor in Venezuela we would not even be interested. Regarding Cuba, we never forgave them for throwing out the organized crime ridden Batista Administration in 1959.

I would defend Cuba against US imperial behivior anytime we start thinking about invading them.

[eablair3]

28. Condi Rice is a real LIGHTWEIGHT --

Chavez speaks some more truth, I see.

Condi Rice, ... is she still refusing to go under oath in the 9-11 investigation? Is she still refusing to even appear if it's open to the public?

This, the same woman who stood up and said something like "we couldn't have imagined in our wildest dreams that they would hijack planes and use them as weapons" when they had been warned about exactly that previously.

What a waste? They ought to put her on the Chevron Condi Rice and she could captain her own ship. She'd probably run aground and spill oil in a worst disaster than the Valdez. What a waste of space.

[young_at_heart]

47. Is this the woman who talked about a mushroom cloud?

She speaks with such confident authority and is given a lot of respect by news anchors but much of what she has said is misleading.

[eablair3]

69. yes, .... and she outright lies imo

or is grossly incompetent. probably both.

[Say_What]

36. Foreign Minister Chaderton Matos tells Washington to stay out of Venz

Foreign Minister (MRE) Roy Chaderton Matos tells Washington D.C. to stay well out of Venezuelan domestic politics

<clips>

Foreign Minister (MRE) Roy Chaderton Matos has again accused the United States of interfering in Venezuela's sovereign political affairs ... the statement came after US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice urged President Hugo Chavez Frias to "demonstrate that he believes in democratic processes" by allowing a possible recall referendum on his rule to "go through unhindered, unfettered ...and then living up to the terms of it."

Chaderton Matos says the possibility of holding the vote is not up to President Chavez Frias but to an autonomous National Elections Council (CNE) which is charged with verifying the more than 3.4 million signatures that Chavez opponents say they've submitted to petition a revocatory referendum. He adds that it is rather "surprising" that Rice didn't understand that or that she must otherwise be ill-informed.

Pro-Chavez Frias parliamentarians have lodged complains over widespread fraud in the November 28-December 1 signature-gathering campaign with many duplicates, signatures from dead voters etc. Meanwhile anti-Chavez Frias groupings are piling pressure on the CNE to resume verifying the signatures, which were turned in three weeks ago ... it has been fraught with procedural delays and the Christmas-New Year holudays.

There has been a week of contentious exchanges between Washington D.C. and Caracas with Cuba-hostile Condoleezza Rice saying it was beyond her believe "why anybody who believes in democracy or wants people to believe that they believe in democracy would want to have anything to do with Fidel Castro."

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=14435

[Say_What]

39. Venezuela's CNE to announce signature drive results on Feb. 13

Folks might want to note this date.

<clips>

Caracas, Jan 10 (EFE).- The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela has confirmed that on Feb. 13 it will publicly announce whether referendums to revoke the mandates of President Hugo Chavez and 69 ruling-party and opposition lawmakers will or will not take place.
Ezequiel Zamora, first vice president of the CNE, told journalists that the process of checking the signatures collected in support of the referendums will be carried out according to the timelines and norms established in Venezuelan law.

CNE board member Jorge Rodriguez announced Tuesday that the signature-review process will take place Jan. 13-Feb. 13.

Zamora believes that a month is sufficient for deciding if sufficient valid signatures were collected .

In addition to determining whether Chavez's continuance in office is put to the test, officials will also know how many of the 33 referendums to cut short the terms of pro-government legislators and 36 designed to oust opposition lawmakers will take place.

http://www.efenews.com/includesasp/noticias.asp?opcion=0&id=5872478

[AP]

53. Chavez is amazingly litterate. Interviews with him are a constant flow

of quotes.

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

56. OIL, OIL, OIL, and more OIL...

Nothing like geopolitics and scarce resources for a gutonous superpower to make the world a chaotic place.

PLEASE someone save America from itself! These Neocon/corporate fascist are ruining our beloved country.

It's about time for a little Venezuelan coup de etat stateside, I think.

J

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nolabels]

62. So what is the * and the other squatters going to do next?

Declare war on Latin America because they are not rolling over for the Coupe attempts aranged by the Euros up north? I am sure a lot people feel bad for the snotty ignorant twits............not

[oasis]

63. Illiterate? Condiliar coined the term "traditional hijacking". She also

gets credit for recycling the phrase "connect the dots" as in "THEY failed to connect the dots and that's why 9/11 happened."

[truthisfreedom]

65. of course she's illiterate. who else would be able to relate to bush?

why do you think he trusts her so much? by remaining completely unaware about what's going on in the world, and focussing entirely on the ideological/political approach, bush's closest aides remain on his good side. he's a confused, paranoid non-president suffering from serious delusions of grandeur... he needs sycophants, brown-nosers, and kowtowers in order to feel safe. he knows that he doesn't know anything, which is why he's surrounded himself with people who will support his delusions and stand defiantly in the face of the truth. why is our present administration immersed in secrecy? because the slightest bit of transparency would reveal that there is not a single stitch of scientific foundation, intelligence or analysis involved in their decision-making processes. they only do things based on politics, money and power.

[teryang]

68. The SS Condeliesa Reich's job

...is rationalizing imperialism pure and simple.

She reminds me of the colloborators of the Reich in the movie The Pianist.

[Gysgt213]

71. He obviously doesn't under Rice has a problem comprehension not reading

[AP]

73. Somethings obviously lost in translation. Read the statement & the context

He's not saying she can't read. He's saying she hasn't read enough to know what's going on in VZ. He wants to send her books to read so that he knows what she's talking about (he's not saying that she couldn't read them if he sends them to her).

Read Chavez interviews, watch him in The Revolution Will Not Be Televised -- his references are all literary and he's probaly reads more policy and history books than Clinton.

[amber dog democrat]

72. Call it what you like,

I call it messing with the Chimp!

Condasleeza is way underqualified and totally mendacious.
Hugo is calling it the way it is. I hope Venezuela remains unhelpful.
Who are we to be that involved in their foreign policy?

Serves her right.