Evil clown consolidates power

Well, gee...who couldn't see this coming?

Manuel Rosales ran against [Venezuela president Hugo] Chavez for president in 2006 and lost, but last year he was elected mayor of the port city of Maracaibo, home to over 3 million people.

After Chavez vowed on national TV to throw Rosales in jail, the government filed corruption charges against the 56-year-old mayor. Two weeks ago, Rosales dropped out of sight. Supporters say he is hiding — from an enemy who now has the power to crush all opposition.

Rosales isn't alone in fearing retribution. Antonio Ledezma, another Chavez opponent, was elected mayor of Caracas in 2008 but is being barred from his office by his own police force, which attacked him when he tried to enter.

"It is hard to understand — a mayor can't get into his own office," Ledezma said. "The people there have guns. They have a license for guns, a license for crime."

[ ... ]

"I have already been victim of three murder attempts," said Leopoldo Lopez, mayor of Chacao, now a part of the capital of Caracas. "And two years ago was the last murder attempt and a fellow worker, Carlos Mendoza, was killed — he died in my arms."

But, hey...all those smart Hollywood celebrities say Hugo's cool, so who am I to argue?

Barack Obama: America's Hugo Chavez

It's official...America is turning into Venezuela. Consider General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner's resignation at Obama's insistence Exhibit "A". Exhibit "B" is Obama's creepy idea of regulating executive compensation at any publicly traded company. Exhibit "C" is the Obama administration whipping up a populist frenzy against AIG in the recent bonus fiasco.

This is all right out of the Hugo Chavez playbook of grabbing control of private industry and whipping up populist outrage so that the masses think it's a good idea.

Testing the new kid

Well, this will certainly be interesting.

A Russian Air Force chief said Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered an island as a temporary base for strategic Russian bombers, the Interfax news agency reported.

The chief of staff of Russia's long range aviation, Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, also said Cuba could be used to base the aircraft, Interfax reported.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Think the Russians have an idea of what kind of president they're dealing with? Unfortunately, I think they do.

Lefties predictably happy over Venezuela's referendum results

How anyone can see the results of Venezuela's constitutional referendum as a good thing is beyond me. But then again, I'm not a reader/commenter at Huffington Post. Here's a sampling of the comments on the HuffPo article. While reading these, remember that these are the people who voted for Obama and back every single one of his socialist initiatives.

• Yes we can! The Venezuelan yes we can! The kind that continues to demand real change!
• What exactly is so wrong about nationalization of industry? You act as if it is somehow immoral.
• "... influences the media."? our media is so controlled, they might as well wave a powder blue and white flag before each broadcast.

Hmmm...now which country is it that has a powder blue and white flag? Oh, right...


So there's your obligatory leftist anti-Semitism. Moving on:

• ...outside the US, democracy means, you know, democracy.
• IMHO Chavez has been a very stabilizing force for Venezuela, just as Saddam Hussein was a stabilizing force in the M.E. We didn't get that, either.
• Nice to see the democratic process in action. congrats to the people of venezuela.
• YES...VIVA CHAVEZ.

There actually were some comments there from readers who saw this as a bad thing, but even many of those thought so not because Chavez is an evil commie, but because the next guy might be worse...presumably an evil free-market capitalist or something.

Venezuelans lose big

Hugo Chavez's constitutional reform power grab appears to have passed in a referendum today in Venezuela.

President Hugo Chavez won a referendum to eliminate term limits Sunday, according to official results, paving the way for him to run again in 2012 and beyond in what critics fear is an attempt to become Comandante Numero Uno And Absolute Supreme Dictator For Life.

OK, I might have tweaked that quote a little bit.

Tough news for Venezuela, but I guess Obama will be happy to have a kindred spirit to the south.

Chavez condemns Israeli retaliation

Venezuela's chunky commie president Hugo Chavez condemned Israel for defending itself...of course.

President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela condemns Israel for its attacks on Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israel bombed key security installations Saturday, leaving more than 200 Palestinians dead and more than 400 wounded. Palestinian officials say at least 15 civilians were among the dead.

The Israeli army says Palestinian militants have fired 300 rockets and mortars at Israeli targets over the past week.

But Chavez on Saturday called Israel's retaliation "criminal" and urged a "massive campaign of repudiation."

Yeah...in the delusional mind of Chavez, Israel's right of self-defense is criminal. Hamas targeting civilians with rockets and mortars? Not so much.

'Drive-by socialism'

Hugo Chavez, the chunky commie who runs Venezuela, indulged in a little impromptu Marxism when he saw a shopping mall under construction, decided he didn't like it, and ordered it expropriated by the state.

President Hugo Chavez says he was heading through downtown Caracas when he was shocked by the sight of a huge, nearly finished shopping mall amid the high-rise offices and apartments.

"They had already built a monster there," Chavez said. "I passed by there just recently and said, 'What is this? My God!'"

So the often-impulsive president told an allied mayor to halt construction and said this prime block of urban real estate should be expropriated. He said the sprawling six-story building might be put to better use as a hospital or university.

The exercise in drive-by socialism illustrates Chavez's tendency to govern from his gut, and to leap in when he thinks other government agencies — in this case city planners — aren't doing their job.

[ ... ]

Venezuelan architect Gaspar Arancibia said he agrees the mall was ill-conceived, without adequate streets to handle the traffic — a symptom of perpetually poor planning.

"I agree with the president, but it was very late. It should have been stopped a long time ago," Arancibia said.

"The president can't be making decisions of that sort. They have to be made by municipal governments," he added. "Because if everything depends on the president, we'd need to have a lot of similar presidents at the same time to solve many of our local problems."

Now there's a pleasant thought.

If at first you don't succeed...

A year after his attempt at a lifetime power-grab failed and just a week or so after losing political ground in national elections, Venezuela's comic book commie President Hugo Chavez is at it again.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday urged supporters to work on a constitutional reform that would let him stay in office as long he keeps winning elections, a year after voters narrowly rejected this same proposal in a referendum.

The anti-U.S. leader is pushing forward the controversial proposal to eliminate a two-term limit for the president just a week after regional elections in which the OPEC nation's fractured opposition gained ground by beating Chavez allies in key states and the capital of Caracas.

Chavez is now in his second term, and Venezuela's constitution limits him to two terms. His current term expires in 2013. Last year's referendum was marked by large anti-Chavez protests which were put down harshly by Chavez's thugs. The next round will be worse.