Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Killers and Kangaroo Courts

By Justin Felux

Read full article...

Posted 08/18 | Add a Comment

    Comments:

    You must register to comment.

    Login | Register

  1. I cannot understand why you claim the referendum was an attempted coup d’etat by the ruling elite.  Chavez was the coup plotter when he attacked the democratically elected government of Venezuela in 1992 killing at least 100 civilians.  Chavez is now planning to remove all doubt that he is an authoritarian dictator by fully taking control of all branches of government and gagging private media.  Eventually he will follow the actions of his friends such as Sadam Hussein and Mugabe by killing and imprisoning his political opponents (he has already started with Capriles in jail).  One day his cash cow of the stat-run oil company will diminish and he will realize that he has thwarted the middle class and the rich in Venezuela.  He will have a country with everyone being poor which is certainly the trend since he has taken office with domestic growth at Great Depression levels, devaluated currency and decreased standard of living despite record high oil prices.  Chavez is a despicable tyrant that will one day be vanquished once people realize his promises are empty.

    Posted by Chris Willey from  on  08/18  at  08:26 AM

  2. Chavez promise to use Venezuelas revenue to help the poorest people in the country as opposed to benefitting the richest people in the United States. --Forfeiting much personal wealth at the same time-- What a jerk! Everyone knows that people in the United States need their SUVs on the road. How can Chavez be so self-centered?

    Posted by Kap Fulton from San Diego, CA  on  08/18  at  09:15 AM

  3. Here’s something Chavez said...and it fits in well with many Press Action discussions:

    “I don’t believe in the dogmatic postulates of Marxist revolution. I don’t
    accept that we are living in a period of proletarian revolutions. All that
    must be revised. Reality is telling us that every day. Are we aiming in
    Venezuela today for the abolition of private property or a classless society?
    I don’t think so. But if I’m told that because of that reality you can’t do
    anything to help the poor, the people who have made this country rich through
    their labour and never forget that some of it was slave labour, then I say
    ‘We part company’. I will never accept that there can be no redistribution of
    wealth in society. Our upper classes don’t even like paying taxes. That’s one
    reason they hate me. We said ‘You must pay your taxes’. I believe it’s better
    to die in battle, rather than hold aloft a very revolutionary and very pure
    banner, and do nothing ... That position often strikes me as very convenient,
    a good excuse ... Try and make your revolution, go into combat, advance a
    little, even if it’s only a millimetre, in the right direction, instead of
    dreaming about utopias.”

    Posted by Mickey Z. from  on  08/19  at  06:48 AM

  4. Marxist revolution talk has zero to do with the kind of discussions I like to see on Press Action. Chavez --as likeable as he is, for all his good intentions and wonderful accomplishments-- obviously does not see how little time we have...respecting the sale of oil from his country and elsewhere.  To speak about helping the poor in terms of millemetres is, of course, very charitable...and wise...in a sense. However, one of the reasons “the poor” need others to make greater advances for them more quickly is that the fundamental reasons behind their poverty are driving this planet..."off the planet.” We do not have the luxury of advancing at that tortoise pace. And before Press Action readers jump on the notion that one cannot do what society is not ready to do, cannot move “faster than you can move,” I ask them to acknowledge that radical action might change the equation that Chavez either needs to work with or thinks he needs to work with. The situation within the United States, of course, is very different than the restraints imposed on Chavez at the moment, and, consequently, radical action might have an even greater potential to turn things around.  But Marxist talk only serves to distract Press Action readers from what IS possible at present. I applaud Mickey’s contribution here, but any value that the Avakian RCP crowd might hold here is not to be found in the generic rhetoric for now, but,as I have pointed out, in the radical acknowledgement put forth by them...that this system is rotten to the core...and that we’d be better off if so much energy was NOT devoted to electoral politics as currently practiced in the U.S.A.
    Best, Ox

    Posted by Ox Waking Up from  on  08/19  at  09:01 AM
    5. Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. {/if}

    Next entry: Trial By Fire: The SHAC 7 and the Future of Democracy

    Previous entry: The 9/11 Commission Report Is a Masterpiece of Obfuscation

    [ads]

    Support Press Action