Don't mess with me, girl!

The US likes to keep its enemies list (and oil supplies) flowing.

From Reuters


CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday warned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to "mess with" him days after Rice described Venezuela as a menace to regional democracy in the midst of tense diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Don't mess with me Condoleezza. Don't mess with me, girl," Chavez said during his weekly Sunday broadcast, sarcastically offering her a kiss and jokingly referring to her as "Condolence."

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Venezuela, co-incidentally enough, supplies 1/5 of all the US's petroleum. Maybe our next little war will be in THIS hemisphere. Anyone want to lay the odds?

[Trilby]

it's about time Latin America took care of it's own. Let the games begin.

Oh, I imagine that in a few months there will be an article on page three of the New York Times about a right wing coup in Venezuela, conducted by someone who just happens to slavishly adore the US. Same old, same old.

[xoxoxoBruce]

United Fruit 1958 I think.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by marichiko

Oh, I imagine that in a few months there will be an article on page three of the New York Times about a right wing coup in Venezuela, conducted by someone who just happens to slavishly adore the US. Same old, same old.

Pat Robertson?

Well, on the bright side if we stage a coup/invade Venezuela, maybe we'll leave Iran alone for a while.

[cowhead]

I said quite a while ago that my money is on Syria.. and it's heading that way now that 'certian pilots in Iraqs former regime now say that they had been flying wmds into syria' yeah groundwork laying i say. and 'our' government can't/won't risk pissing off all the undocumented workers in this country.. wanna talk about 'terror cells?' think of every pissed off kid in the Bario.. in the fields in kansas, every city that needs yardwork. too dangerous.. the only way they can take him out is the coup route, and even then I'm sure chavez has some sort of way to discourage that sort of thing.

[Tonchi]

I see you picked up on what I was talking about in the thread about Cuba

But listen, do not take this nut-case lightly. There will NOT be a coup. CHAVEZ was the coup. All the Venezuelan oil, which is considerable, will likely be on its way to China instead of us unless we do some major groveling.

I am privileged to hear another egotistical, raving speach of his every single day on the Spanish networks here. Univision (USA) and Televisa (Mexico) cover his antics because of their partnership with Venevision, the national broadcasting network in Venezuela. I've been following this situation for many years and believe it will only get worse. Venezuela was of interest to me because, besides knowing several fans who live there, I was envited to Venezuela once, all expenses paid, to appear on television and discuss my Thalia website. Unfortunately, that offer was withdrawn when the Ricky Martin fan club and most of the others invited never responded, darn it. Venezuela is one of the most lovely and exotic places in the Caribbean, but thanks to this demagogue it is sinking into miserable shape in every area except the military. It is not unlikely that the drug cartels will soon be moving across the border, if they haven't already, because they thrive on instability.

So far, the USA has refused to get into a pissing contest with this moron, with the exception of Pat Robertson running his mouth again about how we should assasinate Chavez since that is what he keeps claiming we want to do. A person who is photographed hugging Fidel Castro and making saber-rattling speaches while foaming at the mouth about US Imperialism can easily be ignored, but his POLICIES can't.

Venezuela IS a tasty morsel, though, with all that oil and just a stone's throw away. So what if a few hispanic workers get PO'ed? They still wouldn't be as fanatical as the Muslim contingent.

The leaders of both Venezuela and the US have been engaged in a childish name calling contest for a while now with an upper level member of the US administration publically calling Chavez and his VP "whacko's." To add spice to the controversy, Connie has been making noises about Venezuela's evil effect on surrounding nations, a la domino games.

Chavez better have a damn good plan "B" up his sleeve, otherwise he'll just be another piece of burnt toast in the US campaign to "liberate" oil producing nations of pesky leaders. Can anyone say "Monroe Doctrine"?

[Tonchi]

The difference is, the USA does not direct the comment into Hugo Chavez's face. We just kinda mumble about it while addressing nobody in particular. Chavez would just love for somebody to make a move on him, because that would be all the excuse he would need to make himself Dictator For Life. He doesn't need a plan "B", because all the industrial nations, the UN, China and Russia, and every nation of Central and South America would jump on our hands the minute we cross his borders. Anything that happens down there right now is going to be blamed on us anyway. A hurricane? We did it. Oil well explosion or fire? American imperialist sabotage. Chavez gets syphillis? It was an American whore

Originally Posted by marichiko

Chavez better have a damn good plan "B" up his sleeve, otherwise he'll just be another piece of burnt toast in the US campaign to "liberate" oil producing nations of pesky leaders.

Venezuela is taking a ten percent loss dealing with anybody but the Imperialistic States, as Chavez puts it.

Canada is the number one supplier in the world selling oil to the States, about twenty percent of the States total. Americans are getting a bit nervous watching China and India making mega deals with Canada and our oil. Our reserves are second only to Saudi, but there is a rumour Saudis reserves may be eighty percent depleted.

I am enjoying the show.

Is Canada going to be just another piece of burnt toast?

Canada is still under the mis-apprehension that the US is its pal. The leadership of Canada does not run around calling the members of the Bush Administration names, nor does Canada publicly object to anything the US happens to feel like doing. You guys are like the wimpy kid sister who tags after the big kids and cries when we send you running home because we're too cool to let you hang out with us. If Canada ever gets enough national pride going for itself and begins to show some spine, yes, you will become burnt toast.

Originally Posted by Tonchi

The difference is, the USA does not direct the comment into Hugo Chavez's face. We just kinda mumble about it while addressing nobody in particular. Chavez would just love for somebody to make a move on him, because that would be all the excuse he would need to make himself Dictator For Life. He doesn't need a plan "B", because all the industrial nations, the UN, China and Russia, and every nation of Central and South America would jump on our hands the minute we cross his borders. Anything that happens down there right now is going to be blamed on us anyway. A hurricane? We did it. Oil well explosion or fire? American imperialist sabotage. Chavez gets syphillis? It was an American whore

You may be correct that China, Russia, et al, would "jump on our hands" were we to attempt some overt intervention in Venezualan affairs, Tonchi. However, the US has been engaged in the same sort of name-calling that Chavez has. Chavez apparently takes the US seriously enough to prepare for an invasion :

Venezuela 'to buy more weapons'

Mr Chavez mocked Washington's dependence on oil
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has told a huge rally of supporters that he wants to buy more weapons to defend his country from invasion.
Speaking in the capital Caracas, Mr Chavez said 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles already on order from Russia were not enough.

Venezuela needed a million well-armed men and women, he said.

Mr Chavez also likened US President George W Bush to the German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the US have been strained, but they worsened earlier this week when both countries expelled one another's diplomats after Caracas accused the US embassy of spying.

The Venezuelan government has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to destabilise President Chavez - an allegation rejected by US officials.

'Defend our fatherland'

The BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas says the rally - to celebrate a failed coup led by Mr Chavez in 1992 - got off to a militaristic start, with a bugler heralding the arrival of President Chavez at the podium.

I think Hitler would be like a suckling baby next to George W Bush

Hugo Chavez

Wearing his trademark red army beret, Mr Chavez said Washington was considering invading Venezuela.

"I ask for permission ... to buy another cargo of arms because the gringos want us unarmed. We have to defend our fatherland," he said.

"Venezuela needs to have one million well-equipped and well-armed men and women."

Last year the US tried to block the sale of 12 Spanish military planes to Venezuela that were made with US technology.

But Madrid recently said it would go ahead with the sale using more expensive European parts.

'Inflammatory rhetoric'

Turning to oil, the president said if the Bush administration wished to cut diplomatic ties to Venezuela, he would have no second thoughts about closing all the Venezuelan refineries in the US.

"Let's see what'll happen to the price of crude oil then", Mr Chavez told his audience.

He said the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had been wrong last week to compare the Venezuelan president with Adolf Hitler:

"The imperialist, genocidal, fascist attitude of the US president has no limits. I think Hitler would be like a suckling baby next to George W Bush."

[xoxoxoBruce]

Chavez is following an old script. Come up with an enemy, usually the U.S., to rally the voters to his support and to blame all their national ills on.
It worked for so many in the past and still works in much of the world, aided and abetted by W.
In this case, or most any in South America, the U.S. is the obvious Bogey Man because of the way U.S. businesses have run rough shod down there in the past. It was too easy because they only had to bribe/threaten whoever was in power. They, in turn, didn't ask for that much because they didn't have to share with very many cohorts. I wouldn't call them puppets but marionettes comes to mind.

[footfootfoot]

I think Chavez would be my hero if only he had said "don't mess with me girlfriend" That would have rocked.

Besides that I don't think he's any more reprehensible than our own lot. To think so is to compare apples with oranges.

Sorry I don't have anything really long and analytical to say.