Saturday, November 24, 2007

Thieves & Liars: Chavez Will Lose

Which side are they? which side are they?
Which side of their mouth do you suppose that it came?
Which side are they? which side are they?
Which side of the grass is greener?
Inside, outside, which side, you dont know
My side, your side, their side, we dont know
--Ministry


In a vote Chavez said was a referendum on his rule, it appears Chavez's attempts to destroy the Venezuelan constitution have failed:
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has lost his lead eight days before a referendum on ending his term limit, an independent pollster said on Saturday, in a swing in voter sentiment against the Cuba ally.

Forty-nine percent of likely voters oppose Chavez's proposed raft of constitutional changes to expand his powers, compared with 39 percent in favor, a survey by respected pollster Datanalisis showed.

Yes, the man who deploys plain clothes gunmen to kill students on campuses won't last long as a democrat. At best, he loses and his mandate fades. At worst, he overrules the referendum and simply changes the referendum, tearing down any respectability he has left:
"It's black and white -- a vote against the reform is a vote against Chavez," he said in a state television interview.

But this year, Chavez has hurt his standing by shutting an opposition TV station and failing to end some food shortages.
Sweet.

His brutal suppression of students and his lucky timing to come into power as oil prices skyrocket has meant a free for all of spending with little long term planning. Yes, he's popular in Venezuela, but Chavez's time will run out when oil plummets as the VZ just didn't take enough into their own contingency funds to set up an oil money cash cow like Norway.

Whatev. Let's hope the people can take the power back. Here's Ministry giving a voice to the discontented:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey buddy, found this thing particularly interesting so I thought I'd let you know. This was the first I'd heard about the plainclothes gunmen... I'm gonna have to read up on our friend in the South...
PS. you're a homo

Shamrocks! said...

http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=298000

"University students in Caracas protested Nov. 8 against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, just one day after masked gunmen attacked students in the Venezuelan capital returning from a demonstration, injuring at least eight people. The Central University of Venezuela (UCV) would not confirm whether anyone had died. Five students were also injured during protests by plainclothes gunmen in the northwestern city of Barquisimeto on Nov. 7. The Nov. 7 shootings were not the first of their kind."

This kind of crap has been going on for a while. in the '06 "election" this happened as well.