Hugo Chavez Appreciation Thread

[ck4829]

Chavez is threatened with death by a RW'er in America, and then he comes back and offers aid to America's poor!

Chavez is a true hero.

[ohio_liberal]

1. He's offering Americans cheap gasoline and FREE health care

Is it any surprise our radical clerics and politicians would like him to go away?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/8/23/23132/7021

edited to add a snip:

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, popular with the poor at home, offered on Tuesday to help needy Americans with cheap supplies of gasoline.

"We want to sell gasoline and heating fuel directly to poor communities in the United States," the populist leader told reporters at the end of a visit to Communist-run Cuba.

Chavez did not say how Venezuela would go about providing gasoline to poor communities. Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA owns Citgo, which has 14,000 gas stations in the United States.

The offer may sound attractive to Americans feeling pinched by soaring prices at the pump but not to the U.S. government, which sees Chavez as a left-wing troublemaker in Latin America.

[Gman]

11. There's a Citgo on every corner here in S Texas

It would be wonderful if he would offer gas right now at even $2.00 a gallon. That would force every Exxon, Shell, etc. to meet the price. Gas prices would crater where ever there's a Citgo. It would be a capitalistic disaster for the oil companies and I love it!

[ohio_liberal]

12. My closest Citgo

Is 22 miles. But I'll go out of my way to buy there. :)

[no_to_war_economy]

18. as well here in dallas tx

CITGO is everywhere around here, they get my money

[LaurenG]

2. Yes, may he assist us in the downfall of the

evil regime running the country.

[malaise]

3. Well we're already getting cheap oil

from him - we love Fidel and Chavez because we're not stupid. They haven't messed up our economies with IMF and World bank plans from Washington. Our people are more concerned about the right to pay a light bill and buy food. Since the Iraq war, light bills have doubled, public transport fares have just been increased and most consumer goods have increased in price. Do Bush and Blair care - hell no.

As the saying goes, the poor can take no more -kudos to Chavez. He sure is giving us some laughs for taking on the global bullies!

[Deja Q]

4. The dude almost takes after Christ.

Threatened with death, he STILL helps the needy.

Wowzers.

There are indeed some good people still on this Earth.

[terrya]

5. I genuinely think that Chavez is trying to eradicate poverty...

in Venezuela. That's sure as fuck more than anyone can say about the President of THIS country.

I fully support Hugo Chavez.

[William769]

6. He was full of shit when he said that

& He is a bad person. With that said Robertsons comments were still way out of line.

[ret5hd]

14. wow...and the way you back up your assertions with facts and cites...

really blows me away.

you've convinced me. thanks.

[oasis]

23. Who else is "full of shit" o wise one? We just gotta know.

:eyes:

[shadowlight]

7. Sounds like an evil man

Cuba has been given substantial quantities of cheap oil by Caracas and, in return, has dispatched a fifth of its doctors to Venezuela's poorer neighbourhoods. Mr Chavez will travel on today to Jamaica, where he will sign a deal providing cheap oil to the island.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/23/wchavez23.xml

[malaise]

8. Viva Chavez

He was here last night.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050824T000000-0500_86813_OBS_US_____MILLION_PETROJAM_EXPANSION.asp

[deutsey]

9. Is the "Buy-cott" for Chavez still on? (Buy gas as Citgo, benefits Ven.)

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0516-25.htm

[Gman]

13. I'll buy every drop I can from Citgo now

[deutsey]

15. Yeah, I've been buy my gas as Citgo since I heard about this.

[KarenInMA]

25. Citgo oil isn't 100% from venezula. It all goes into

the same refinery. Also, Venezuela is not exactly a garden spot.

I wouldn't make this guy a hero of the left. That's a dangerous political prospect.

[shadowlight]

10. Good article by Palast

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0816-03.htm
Maybe it's the oil. Lots of it. Chavez sits atop a reserve of crude that rivals Iraq's. And it's not his presidency of Venezuela that drives the White House bananas, it was his presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. While in control of the OPEC secretariat, Chavez cut a deal with our maximum leader of the time, Bill Clinton, on the price of oil. It was a 'Goldilocks' plan. The price would not be too low, not too high; just right, kept between $20 and $30 a barrel.

But Dick Cheney does not like Clinton nor Chavez nor their band. To him, the oil industry's (and Saudi Arabia's) freedom to set oil prices is as sacred as freedom of speech is to the ACLU. I got this info, by the way, from three top oil industry lobbyists.

snip

And what seems to have gotten our Veep's knickers in a twist is not the price of oil, but who keeps the loot from the current band-busting spurt in prices. Chavez had his Congress pass another oil law, the "Law of Hydrocarbons," which changes the split. Right now, the oil majors - like PhillipsConoco - keep 84% of the proceeds of the sale of Venezuela oil; the nation gets only 16%.

Chavez wanted to double his Treasury's take to 30%. And for good reason. Landless, hungry peasants have, over decades, drifted into Caracas and other cities, building million-person ghettos of cardboard shacks and open sewers. Chavez promised to do something about that.

[mrfrapp]

17. That's Great

From the article:

I met one of these farmlords in Caracas at an anti-Chavez protest march. Oddest demonstration I've ever seen: frosted blondes in high heels clutching designer bags, screeching, "Chavez - dic-ta-dor!" The plantation owner griped about the "socialismo" of Chavez, then jumped into his Jaguar convertible.

LOL. If you've ever seen "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" you can see more of this type of thing. There's a priceless scene where a group of hacendados are lamenting that they are oppressed and are warned by the leader of the meeting that their servants might be in league with Chavez. Servants!

The gall of these people* is unbelievable. I'm sure that they believe they have some divine right to lord over people and to profit from other people's misfortune. It drives them mad to think that other people might be given the same benefits that they have.

* By "these people" I'm not only referring to the hacendados. "These people" exist the world over.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

20. God forbid that a leader of a country should really attempt to help

his people. How dare he!

:sarcasm:

BTW... proud consumer of Citgo gasoline.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. VIDEO... blast from the past. Greg Palast reporting for BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/1985670.stm

There is an excellent article and at the top right hand corner of the page is the video.

[shadowlight]

22. interesting, thanks n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

24. Your welcome! n/t

[hwmnbn]

16. I'm in luck, there's 3 citgo stations.....

within 2 miles of me. I'm joining the "Buycot"

[KG]

19. good on him.

the world needs more like him.

[wli]

26. where are the Citgo stations in Portland, Oregon? n/t