Tall & Rich

A Yanqui’s View of Latin American Politics

Human Rights Watch expelled from Venezuela

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on September 20, 2008

Yesterday, after some Human Rights Watch activists filed a report that was uncharacteristically accurate for a change according to Associated Press;

The U.S.-based group said in a report Thursday that a failed 2002 coup against Chavez has been “a pretext for a wide range of government policies that have undercut the human rights protections” laid out in the constitution.

Chavez’s government has “weakened democratic institutions and human rights guarantees” while trying to sideline the opposition and consolidate power, said Jose Miguel Vivanco, the group’s Americas director.

The report got them expelled, of course. It’s not a good idea to tell thugs that they’re thugs to their faces. Venezuelanalysis has the “official” response from the Chavez government;

In a press release, the Venezuelan Foreign Relations Ministry said Vivanco and Wilkinson “have done violence to the constitution” and “assaulted the institutions” of Venezuela by “meddling illegally in the internal affairs of our country.”

The ministry also said the HRW report is linked to the “unacceptable strategy of aggression” of the United States government. The ministry said the expulsion of Vivanco and Wilkinson was in the interest of “national sovereignty” and “the defense of the people against aggressions by international factors.”

Constitutional lawyer and National Assembly Deputy Carlos Escarrá explained to the press, “The constitution of Venezuela expresses that a foreigner with a tourist visa cannot make commentaries against the President of the Republic.”

If Bush had added that to our regulations, the Left would be screaming to high heaven, but no complaints from the hard Leftists at Venezuelanalysis. In fact they blame the report on the Bush Administration;

The most recent report and the expulsion of Vivanco and Wilkinson come during a time of relatively high tension between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments.

Last week, the Venezuelan government discovered a coup plot by retired Venezuelan military officers, and U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy was expelled. The U.S. responded by dismissing Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez and reiterating its accusations that the Venezuelan government facilitates drug trafficking and has links to terrorist groups.

Yeah, well, Human Rights Watch is no friend of the Bush Administration, fellas. I guess they’re searching for answers why their good buddies at HRW would turn on Chavez.

Posted in Hugo Chavez, US Foreign Policy, Venezuela | No Comments »

Protest against Uribe at Press Club

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on September 19, 2008

My buddy Kate from A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective just called me after she returned from the National Press Club this afternoon, the site of a protest against Colombian president ALvaro Uribe who is visiting the US today to promote the US-Colombian trade agreement that Congress has ignored this legislative session. Kate told me that there were about 60 people protesting (and only 8 supporters of Uribe) at the press club, but that most of the protesters were only as smart on the subject as their signs. Kate also reported that she saw chavista Venezuelans in crowd of protesters that she recognized from an earlier encounter.

Kate told me that she asked one protester if she even knew where Colombia is and got a dumbstruck look in reply. Reuters wrote about the protest;

Teamsters, with members of other unions and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, held signs and passed out fliers in front of the National Press Building. Uribe spoke at the National Press Club to a luncheon gathering.

“We join with our brothers and sisters in Colombia in strongly opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “It’s a disgrace to even consider an agreement with the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists.”

Colombia is getting even more dangerous. This year, 40 unionists were murdered with impunity, already more than last year’s total of 38.

Yeah, but last year the AP wrote that the Colombian government is doing everything it can to prevent unionist deaths;

Jorge Sanchez, the vice minister of labor, told The Associated Press that unions inflate the numbers of slain members “because they thrive on violence and blood.”

Protecting labor leaders does appear to be a government priority, however. Guarding them _ with bulletproof vests or bodyguards _ consumes 40 percent of a nearly $20 million security program for human rights activists, journalists and other threatened individuals.

But labor unions, and their Democratic allies, demand more.

Of course they do. Colombia is a violent country and many of the unionists have ties to Maoist narco-terrorists FARC - and that’s the real problem that Democrats and union organizers in this country have with the deaths of unionists in Colombia. As I wrote in July on Tall and Rich, there are direct connections between US Congressional Democrats and FARC opposition to the Uribe government. They don’t like that Uribe has gone further to destroy FARC than any Colombian president before him - it probably has to do with the fact that Uribe’s father was murdered by FARC.

But idiot US union thugs who probably can’t even spell Colombia, chanting empty slogans are now driving our trade policy.

Kate has promised pictures when she gets a chance to post them, so I’ll update this then.

Posted in Colombia, FARC, Politics, Protests/Rallies, Terror War, US Foreign Policy, Venezuela | No Comments »

Opposition turns deadly in Bolivia

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on September 14, 2008

The Miami Herald writes that 18 Bolivians died in a violent gun battle yesterday;

President Evo Morales on Saturday accused an opposition governor of using foreign thugs against government supporters in violence that has claimed at least 18 lives and prompted him to declare martial law in a breakaway province.

In a bid to defuse the bitter dispute over a new constitution and land reform that threatens to tear apart the poor Andean nation, Chile called for an emergency meeting of South American leaders on Monday.

While many Latin American leaders are trying to come together and defuse the situation, the communist leaders are trying to blame the Americans instead. Hugo Chavez, the lunatic in Venezuela decided to just blame all Americans;

His poodle, Daniel Ortega, followed suit;

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Saturday he would reject an invitation he had received to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush out of “solidarity” with Bolivia in its diplomatic spat with Washington. Ortega also backed Morales’ claims against the U.S. He did not say why or when he had been invited to the White House.

On my other blog, This Ain’t Hell, Jungle Mom, who lives in Paraguay, wrote that the government there has sealed the border with Bolivia to prevent a spillage of the violence. This latest crisis has all of the earmarks of the last manufactured crisis involving Chavez with the Colombian government. A row breaks out and chavez raises the volume until two armies face each other over an indistinct boder. Last time, both sides backed down, but this time, Chavez faces direct challenges to his Bolivarian Revolution.

I find it difficult to imagine that he won’t step in if it seems that Morales will lose the momentum to enact his land reform and Constitutional changes.

The Washington Post (h/t Caracas Chronicles) details the crimes of the three Venezuelans added to their Asset Control List yesterday and casts doubt on others in Chavez’ administration;

American officials said that in addition to the three Chávez aides who were named Friday, they know of other figures close to the Venezuelan leader who have helped the FARC. Colombian authorities have identified two of them as Gen. Cliver Alcalá and Amilcar Figueroa, who has had a role in organizing Venezuelan civilian militias.

“It’s actually a fairly small group of people, but it’s larger than three,” said the senior American official. “We know who those people are, and we’re watching them very closely.”

The revelations in the Reyes computer have hurt Chávez’s international reputation. With the FARC’s own image in tatters in the wake of publicity about the group’s violation of international humanitarian law, Chávez announced in June that the armed struggle was a relic of the past and called on the FARC to release the hostages it holds.

Uribe and Chávez met and announced they would patch up their relationship. But senior Colombian officials have said they believe that Chávez and other Venezuelan officials remain close to the FARC. “We don’t believe a word he says,” one official said recently.

Apparently, Chavez doesn’t understand the benefits of being a lameduck Administration in the US.

Posted in Bolivia, Daniel Ortega, Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua, US Foreign Policy, Venezuela | No Comments »

Chavez aides reported to be terrorists

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on September 13, 2008


Yesterday, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez gave the US amabassador there 72 hours to close the US mission there and recalled his own ambassador. Prior to the announcement, Chavez manufactured a rally and assembled a crowd of supporters and told them that he had successfully twarted another coup attempt, ostensibly backed by the US. Jungle Mom posted this video in which Chavez called Americans “Yanquis de mierda” saying “we’ve had enough of your shit…” More of that excellent diplomacy to which we’ve become accustomed from Banana Boy. Val Prieto at Babalu Blog does a better translation than i can.

As I wrote yesterday on my Latin American blog, Tall & Rich, the Venezuelan blog, The Devil’s Excrement, saw no evidence of a coup. It also comes the day after the legislature gave Chavez the authority to toss out foreign oil companies.

The Miami Herald this morning, reports that the US retaliated by accusing thee Chavez aides of supporting the Colombian narco-terrorist group FARC.

The move by the U.S. Treasury Department, a day after Chávez announced the expulsion of U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy, freezes any assets the three men may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

Rodríguez Chacín is accused of helping the FARC obtain weapons, while the other two allegedly protected drug shipments. There was no immediate reaction to the sanctions from Venezuelan authorities.

This all comes as Bolivia’s communist President Evo Morales expelled the US ambassador there for supposedly lending aid to the autonomy movement there;

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington ”regrets” the expulsions, which ”reflect the weakness and desperation” of the Chávez and Morales governments.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro said McCormack’s statement was an attempt to ”cover up the reality of the decadent government of the United States.” A foreign ministry statement accused Washington of “repeated demonstrations of hostility.”

It also comes on the day that a Miami judge is scheduled to sentence two Chavez agents in the maleta-gate scandal involving illegal campaign contributions to the Argentine elections from Chavez (el Universal link);

A judge is to sentence on Friday, September 12 Venezuelan Moisés Maionica and Uruguayan Rodolfo Edgardo Waseele Paciello, who are accused of conspiring to act as covert agents of the Venezuelan government in US territory without Washington authorization in the so-called suitcase scandal, reported on Monday court sources.

While part of the Russian Navy sails into Venezuelan waters, Chavez welcomed two Russian bombers to his country on Wednesday (France24 link);

Two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers were in Venezuela on Wednesday for “training flights,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said, adding he would be piloting one of the aircraft.

“I hope that stings, ‘pitiyanquis’,” he said, using a derogatory term for Venezuelan opponents who have perceived US sympathies.

“What’s more, I’m going to take the controls of one of these monsters,” boasted the president, a former paratrooper and left-wing politician who has avowed antagonism towards the United States.

Manuel at The Devil’s Excrement says there’s no evidence of Chavez actually piloting either of the aircraft yet…just more bluster from the little pudgy weasel.

As I wrote yesterday, if I were Venezuelan, I’d be worried about who Chavez will accuse of undermining the Bolivarian Revolution after he tosses the yanquis out. The Real Cuba reports that the Bolivian Army has announced to Chavez that they won’t allow ANY foreign intervention;

“To the President of Venezuela, Mr Hugo Chavez, and to the international community, we say that the armed forces (of Bolivia) emphatically reject any foreign intervention of any kind, wherever they be from,” Armed Forces Commander in Chief Luis Trigo said in a televised statement. “We will not allow any foreign soldier or armed force to set foot on our soil,” he added.

In Latin American, the military defends the respective constitutions of their nations, not the political leaders. The Bolivian Army allows Morales to be President - that makes this pronouncement much more ominous than it seems.

Thanks to Jimmy Carter…the gift that keeps on giving.

Crossposted at This Ain’t Hell

Posted in Bolivia, Colombia, Evo Morales, FARC, Hugo Chavez, US Foreign Policy, Venezuela | 2 Comments »

Chavez tells of twarted coup

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on September 12, 2008

Daniel of Venezuela News and Views writes that Chavez hurriedly assembled a crowd of supporters at the Miraflores Palace to tell them the story of another twarted coup attempt;

His speech was short, the man is exhausted. He announced that a few people were being arrested for a coup attempt (coup? where? when? on the road from Caracas today I saw only “normalcy” everywhere).

The speech included the usual platitudes, that another coup was foiled, that the revolution was winning, that the opposition would never win, etc, etc… Of course neither during the speech nor through the day earlier we were shown real evidence of anything, not even the names of those arrested (except for some but without good reasons). He added that Venezuela would never had an ambassador exchange as long as the US did not get a real government.

So why all of the drama from Chavez lately? Manuel at The Devil’s Excrement thinks it’s because he’s worried about the November elections in his own country;

For almost a week, since Hugo Chavez cut short his visit to South Africa, reportedly because polls came out saying that his party’s standing in the polls in the face of the November regional elections was dropping fast, Chavez has been increasing the level of shrillness.

It all began with his usual accusations that people were plotting to murder him, the US and the CIA were looking for someone to bomb his palace or his Sunday TV program (weird, since it moves each Sunday) and/or collaborating with the local oligarchy or “pitiyankees” in the effort.

Then two Russian bombers arrive in Venezuela, bringing the cold war to the Caribbean and Chavez threatens us with something people thought actually was good news: He was going to pilot one of the bombers himself, but so far, no such luck. The next day, former comrades in arms, including his former buddy Raul Baduel) recall on radio how Chavez was such a coward that he would jump out of the airplane with his parachute with his eyes closed.

Then in a real bizarre turn, Mario Silva, Chavista candidate for Governor in Carabobo State, plays an audio tape in his illegal TV program in the Government’s TV channel VTV, in which he purportedly plays the voices of three high ranking military officials conspiring to bomb, get rid or dispose of Chavez.

Thus, rather than the military going and detaining these officials, the tape is leaked to a pro-Chavez radical/TV announcer/candidate for Governor, just because…

Then, the President of the National Assembly comes out on TV playing the tape from the TV program, which somehow somebody has conveniently turned over to her, including the original audiotapes.

Manuel has much more on the bizarre goings on. But, apparently, it’s all theater to trick Venezuelans into voting for him. I wonder when Obama will try that trick again.

Here’s Chavez’ cadena last night where he calls us Yanquis de mierda.

A BBC report which doesn’t bother to include the hateful rhetoric and hyperbole;

Posted in Hugo Chavez, US Foreign Policy, Venezuela | No Comments »

Chavez tosses US mission

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on September 12, 2008

Ramping up his rhetoric, Chavez has decided to order the US diplomatic mission to Venezuela to leave with 72 hours according to AP’s MyWay News;

President Hugo Chavez says the U.S. ambassador has 72 hours to leave Venezuela and he’s recalling his ambassador from Washington.

Chavez said he’s asking U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy to leave as a means of showing solidarity with Bolivian President Evo Morales, who expelled Washington’s envoy in La Paz.

“They’re trying to here what they were doing in Bolivia,” Chavez said. “That’s enough … from you, Yankees,” he said, using an expletive.

The US plans to reciprocate (Reuters link);

The United States will expel Venezuela’s ambassador in Washington to retaliate for the oil-exporting Latin American nation’s decision to oust the U.S. envoy in Caracas, a U.S. official said on Friday.

“The plan is to kick him out,” said the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified.

In an escalating diplomatic battle between Washington and Latin America’s left-wing leaders, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expelled the American ambassador on Thursday, a day after Bolivia asked the U.S. envoy in La Paz to leave.

Bolivia accused the U.S. ambassador of instigating violent protests in the poor Andean nation, a charge the U.S. State Department dismissed as baseless.

Oddly enough, Chavez’ announcement comes with the military exercises he’s conducting with the Russians (el Universo link);

The United States said it will monitor two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers, which arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday, said on Thursday State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

“It is something that we will watch very closely, as we have with the movements of other military assets for the stated purpose of this joint exercise,” McCormack told reporters, AFP quoted.

“These are Cold War era assets and I will leave it to the Russians and Venezuelans to describe their capabilities and how they might be equipped,” answered the spokesman when asked during a press conference about the deployment in Venezuela of the two bombers coming from Moscow for “training flights.”

If I were Venezuelan, I’d worry about who Chavez plans on blaming for his country’s internal problems when there are no more Americans to blame.

Posted in Hugo Chavez, US Foreign Policy, Venezuela | No Comments »

Chavez to seize foreign oil interests

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on September 11, 2008

Last year, Chavez renegotiated contracts with oil companies to give Venezuela majority ownership in their venezuelan operations. Now he’s just decided to forego those obligations and just buy out the remaining companies (Money news.com link);

Lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez gave final approval on Thursday to a bill allowing the Venezuelan government to seize total control of the nation’s fuel distribution.

Under the law, distributors including subsidiaries of British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., will have 60 days to negotiate the sale of their businesses to the government or face expropriation.

The National Assembly, which is controlled by Chavez allies, approved the legislation with a near-unanimous vote. Seven lawmakers belonging to Podemos, the only opposition party represented in the 167-seat assembly, voted against the bill.

The law permits Venezuela’s state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, to take over all wholesale fuel distribution, but allows 67 percent of the country’s gas stations to be privately owned. It also forces wholesale distributors to sell storage tanks and gasoline pumps to PDVSA.

Quico at Caracas Chronicles says the World Bank has ranked Venezuela as one of the more difficult countries to do business;

Some of the jurisdictions judged to be easier to do business in than Venezuela these days include Equatorial Guinea, the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and East Timor.

And, while Bolivia did fight us to a draw, nobody but nobody has more rigid labor markets than we do. Hurrah!

He’s seized the oil companies, the steel companies and the milk plants…where do they get the idea he’s difficult?

Posted in Hugo Chavez, Venezuela | 1 Comment »

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