Tall & Rich

A Yanqui’s View of Latin American Politics

Archive for October, 2007

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Clashes in Venezuela (Updated Oct 24)

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on October 23, 2007

 

Photo from AP via Yahoo News

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I just got an email from Kate about new riots in Venezuela and sure enough…from CNN;

Thousands of university students scuffled with police and government supporters during a protest Tuesday against constitutional reforms that would let President Hugo Chavez run for re-election indefinitely.

Police tossed tear gas canisters into the crowd of opposition students after bottle-throwing clashes broke out with a smaller group of pro-Chavez demonstrators near the National Assembly. Journalists estimated there were about 20,000 protesters, but pro-Chavez lawmakers said there were far fewer.

The students said they fear civil liberties would be severely weakened under the constitutional changes.

The story from Kate sounds much more dramatic in Spanish, though. It’s not very surprising – Chavez has been acting a fool. Julia and Daniel have been writing about Chavez’ proposed constutional reforms for months now.

Just last week end, Chavez jacked up the price of alcohol and tobacco to affect consumption (CNN);

The price of sin rose Monday in Venezuela where President Hugo Chavez is on a campaign to make Venezuelans cut back on drinking and smoking.

“Everyone’s shocked,” said Leonora Marino, owner of Bodegon Marino in Valencia, Venezuela, west of Caracas.

On Monday evening, she was still changing the prices in her store as her customers looked on and complained, she told a reporter.

Alcohol is now 10 percent more expensive; cigarettes are 20 percent pricier.

It’s all part of Chavez’ attempt to recreate Che Guevara’s “New Socialist Man” ideal;

Oh, Hugo. The latest news from Venezuela borders on comical, if it didn’t sound like it was dredged up from the playbook of a failed team from last century. President Chavez is pushing a moral crusade to instill the principles of Che Guevara’s “New Socialist Man” on the Venezuelan population. Chavez wants to heavily limit whiskey imports, raise taxes on tobacco products, and encourage people to not “douse foods with too much hot sauce, exercise regularly, eat low-cholesterol foods, respect speed limits,” or have too much cosmetic surgery.

Despite Chavez’ dietary restrictions on the Venezuelans, The Devil’s Excrement reports drastic food shortages in Caracas;

—Datanalisis polls supermarkets and markets and find that many products are not even available in half of them. The most absent? Milk, present in only 25% of them.

—The Government holds a Megamercal, a huge market where you can get controlled products and people show up at six in the morning to see if they can get some milk. According to pro-Government newspaper Ultimas Noticias (by subscription) people were complaining that they show up at 6 AM and have to stand in line until noon, because there are lines both outside and inside the market. At the end, when you finally get to the head of the line you can buy a limited amount of stuff: one kilo of milk, 2 kilos of sugar and two chickens.

Daniel from Venezuela News and Views says Chavez blames it on the media.

So, what is the government explanation? Both Chavez and his minister for Mercal, Rafael Oropeza, yet another military who has no idea on how to milk a cow, say that it is a paid for gigantic media conspiracy, to create panic in the population and make people buy more milk than what they need (you can hoard fresh milk?). What is wrong in this picture? Here are the arguments advanced by the government and the OBVIOUS reply that any journalist should confront the nincompoop uttering them:

Among the reasons the government gives are global warming affecting milk production and the fact that the poor are drinking more milk thanks to Chavez’ social programs. It must be riot to live there.

The governmental electoral commission “requested” media outlets to suspend broadcasting propaganda against Constitutional reforms;

The National Electoral Council (CNE, under its Spanish acronym) issued a formal request for private and public TV stations and for the Ministry of Information and Communication (MINCI, under its Spanish acronym) to stop broadcasting messages that seemed to be intended to campaign for a “yes” or a “no” vote over the constitutional reform proposed by President Hugo Chávez and currently being discussed at the National Assembly.

While government agencies are busy stroking the poor;

Venezuela’s Minister of Finance Rodrigo Cabezas, presenting the national fiscal budget for 2008 to the Venezuelan National Assembly, announced increased government spending for 2008 including more money for social programs and increased income from non-oil sectors. Also, according to Cabezas, 2008 will be the fifth consecutive year of economic growth for the country.

UPDATED: Kate wrote more, posted a YouTube video and Daniel from Venezuela News and Views has more photos and videos and details from yesterday’s clash. The Devil’s Excrement describes moments that no one else but Chavez could call “democratic;

To make matters even worse, the pro-Chavez groups blocking the way included a couple of Deputies of the National Assembly, demonstrating that democracy is not alive and well in Venezuela. As the representatives of the students went into the Capitol building, only the pro-Chavez media was allowed in and even more remarkably a group of pro-Chavez “students” who had nothing to do with the march were also allowed in. Deputy Calixto Ortega won the day in terms of shame, when he said he did not understand why these students required “special” treatment, since the reform has been discussed extensively (!!!) and the students were getting “too much coverage” from the press. I guess the right to express yourself has now become a “special right” in Venezuela.

The Catholic News Agency reports that Chavez announced more reforms for next year;

The Venezuelan president said he was also preparing what he called a “2008 Revolution Plan,” which he said would be “a revolution within the revolution.”

The revolution would begin with the approval of the constitutional reforms,” Chavez said, “but I am not going to give any preview of the 2008 Revolution, which will be a deepening of the revolution,” he reiterated.

One might wonder how deep he plans to bury Venezuela.

Posted in Hugo Chavez, Media, Politics, Society | 1 Comment »

All Democrats have left is hate

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on October 21, 2007

Pete Stark claims the troops are dying soley for the entertainment of the President, the Left rejoices, Stark won’t back off from his rant – and Nancy Pelosi is forced to hang him out to dry.

Barack Obama declares he won’t wear an American flag on his lapel because he’s more patriotic than the rest of us – and ends up looking like a dorky schoolboy trying to impress his girlfriend. Then to prove how patriotic he is, Obama doesn’t bother to put his hand over his heart for the National Anthem.

 Half of America has already decided against voting for Hillary.

Joe Biden’s partition plan became the only thing behind which Iraqis could unify. 

Harry Reid climbs on board the Rush Limbaugh letter auction when he starts to look foolish – and compounds the foolish appearance after figuring his condemnation of Limbaugh’s statement was a slamdunk win for Democrats. Now he finds his popularity waning in his home State.

Nancy Pelosi starts blaming the Senate for her first hundred day failures. Then her plan to alienate our allies and dismantling our war efforts in Iraq, by declaring a 90-year-old event a genocide falls through and she begins backpedaling at light speed. She can’t hold her party together to override the President’s veto of their big lie they called the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Code Pink has Pelosi’s DC office and house under siege. Even leftist icon Barney Frank is attacked for stripping transgendered people from his gay rights initiatives.

We wake up this morning to read that Republican Bobby Jindal has won the governor race - in traditionally Democrat Louisiana. Traditional – as in Reconstruction traditional. 

All in the first three weeks of October. To top it off, there was a whole day last week in which there were no attacks on anyone (except al Qaeda) – oh, how it must suck to be a Democrat these days.

You’d think all of these failures in the past few weeks would make Democrats think again about the people they’ve chosen to represent them. Luckily for Democrat politicians, Democrat voters aren’t focused on results – just so long as they feel good about their vote. That’s why the empty suits of Clinton and Obama will be their candidates next Fall – because they’re more concerned about what other people think about them than they are about moving the country forward.

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment »

Bush unilaterally puts pressure on Myanmar junta

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on October 20, 2007

 

Photo from White House

Since the UN has been typically lethargic in regards to taking action against the repressive government in Burma, President Bush has taken steps to tighten the screws according to Sean Langrell of the Washington Times;

“The world has also been horrified by the response of Burma’s military junta,” Mr. Bush said. “Monks have been beaten and killed; thousands of pro-democracy protesters have been arrested.”

Mr. Bush ordered the Treasury Department to freeze the financial assets of members of the repressive military junta. He also acted to tighten controls on U.S. exports to Burma, also known as Myanmar.
[...]the Treasury Department last month designated 14 top leaders of the Burmese regime for sanctions, including Senior Gen. Than She and his deputy, Vice Senior Gen. Maung Aye. The State Department also imposed an expanded visa ban on those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights, as well as their family members.

Mr. Bush said yesterday the Treasury Department had designated 11 more leaders of the junta for sanctions, and issued a new executive order that designates an additional 12 individuals and entities for sanctions.

From the transcript of President Bush’s address on the White House website;

Burmese authorities claim they desire reconciliation. Well, they need to match those words with actions. A good way to start would be to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations access to political prisoners; to allow Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained leaders to communicate with one another; and to permit U.N. Special Envoy Gambari to enter their country immediately. And ultimately, reconciliation requires that Burmese authorities release all political prisoners — and begin negotiations with the democratic opposition under the auspices of the United Nations. 

The Executive Order is especially broad in it’s scope;

Section 1.* * *all property and interests in property of the following persons that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, including their overseas branches, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:

(b)  any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State:

[...]

(iv)  to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, the Government of Burma, the State Peace and Development Council of Burma, the Union Solidarity and Development Association of Burma, any successor entity to any of the foregoing, any senior official of any of the foregoing, or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13310 or section 1(b)(i)-(v) of this order;   

It appears that anyone doing business with the Myanmar government will be subject to this as well – including Chinese, Indians and Russians caught doing business with the junta, as well as Americans doing business with the generals.

In reaction, the Myanmar government has lifted it’s curfew and assembly ban, according to the Associated Press;

Myanmar announced Saturday that it was lifting a curfew and ending a ban on assembly imposed after a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the latest sign that the government believes it has extinguished the largest demonstrations in decades.
 
The announcement, made by government vehicles passing through neighborhoods, lifts the curfew that had been imposed at one point from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and ends the ban on gatherings of more than five people in Yangon.

The ruling junta on Saturday also issued an unusual plea in state media for the country’s detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to compromise and hold talks with the government.

The apparent softening of the government’s position comes after President Bush’s announcement Friday that new sanctions would be imposed to punish the military-run government and its backers for the deadly crackdown.

The situation appears to be worse than has been reported, according to Christian Today;

Between Jan. 12 and July 31, Burma’s leaders arbitrarily seized property and assets, and forced people to relocate across the country, especially from areas where ethnic Karen rebels dwell in the rugged mountains along Burma’s eastern border with Thailand, the report said.

It estimated 540,000 people have been displaced in eastern Burma with “minimal” prospects of being returned and resettled. As of July 9, there were 139,075 refugees from Burma living in Thailand, it said.

“Military operations in rural areas have contributed to the impoverishment of villagers,” he said in the report.

Pinheiro, a Geneva-based Brazilian law professor who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council, has visited Burma six times since he was asked to keep an eye on its human rights performance in 2000.

Pinheiro has not been allowed back since November 2003 despite repeated requests. He based his 2007 report on “information collected from a variety of independent and reliable sources.”

So the UN Commission is just neutered when it comes to protecting the Burmese people because the goverment won’t cooperate. Another instance of why the US acts unilaterally in the world. It’s an uphill struggle against the evil forces in the world, according to ABC News;

But the impact of the sanctions has been weakened by the eagerness of China, India and Thailand to tap Burma’s rich natural wealth to fuel their own growing economies.

But we still expect the UN to do things about more complicated problems in Darfur and Iran.

Have Coffee Will Write has a link roundup from sources outside the US.  The Tricycle Blog was reporting more arrests yesterday. Kate at A Columbo-Americana’s Perspective has links to the Wednesday testimony to Congress on Burma. Spanish Pundit reports widespread hunger in Burma. Lim Kit Siang advocates for Burma’s removal from ASEAN;

It is not enough for any ASEAN nation to say that ASEAN backs the United Nation efforts and urges Myanmar to co-operate with Gambari and the United Nations to find a political solution.

There is not much optimism that Gambari will succeed in achieving a breakthrough with the Myanmar military junta, as evidenced by the continuing campaign of arrests and terror in Myanmar while Gambari continued to call for talks, unless all important players – especially China, India, ASEAN and the UN – do more.

Maybe US pressure on ASEAN will bump the junta into doing more than just lifting civil rights violations against the people. The UN ain’t helping.

Posted in US Foreign Policy | 1 Comment »

Quote of the Day

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on October 18, 2007

From Dean Barnett in the Weekly Standard piece “Mugged by Reality” about the Randi Rhodes pratfall;

Obviously, each side of the political spectrum has its extremist lunatics. The only difference between conservatives and liberals is that on the conservative side, such people loiter on the margins. On the liberal side, when they hold a convention, all the Democratic presidential candidates come running.

Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »

Genocide condemnation failing

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on October 17, 2007

It turns out that the condemnation of the Turkish genocide perpetrated against Armenians is a “twofer” for Nancy Pelosi. Not only does she get to stroke the weathered hags of Code Pink, but she also has a large Armenian community in her district. She can get the protesters off her lawn if she makes the war more difficult for the Administration and the troops by shutting down air bases and supply routes from Turkey – and pander for votes in her district.

But apparently, pelosi and her bill are falling on hard times, according to the Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio;

House Democrats are slowly losing support for a resolution that would label mass killings nine decades ago as genocide committed by Turkey.

At least 10 sponsors of the measure — eight of them Democrats — have removed their names from the resolution in the past few days following warnings from State Department officials and the Turkish government that its passage would threaten relations between the two allies.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose district is home to an Armenian community, have been leading the fight to pass the resolution.

Hoyer acknowledged that the waning enthusiasm among members of the House could scotch plans to vote on the resolution any time soon. Initially, Hoyer promised to take up the measure by Nov. 16.

“There are a lot of people who are revisiting their position,” Hoyer said.

Six Democrats and one Republican lined up at the clerk’s desk in the well of the House late Monday, waiting their turns to strip their names from the resolution, which would direct the president to recognize the killings as genocide.

One of the lead sponsors, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said she has decided not to vote for the resolution because it is “highly destabilizing” to the region. She left her name on the measure, though, saying that she thinks genocide was committed but that “Congress acting now is incendiary.”

With sponsors leaving Pelosi’s ill-considered attempt to defund the war and kill more troops while buying votes, her “twofer” could turn into a “twofer” for Republicans. With the polls showing general dissatisfaction with Congress, pelosi, trying to cut her negatives in half blames the Senate, according to The Hill’s Mike Soraghan and Manu Raju;

In March, the Speaker celebrated the first 100 days of the congressional majority by stating, “Democrats have brought the winds of change to the Capitol.”

These days, she’s confined to claiming those winds are blowing on her side of the building. In the minds of her caucus members, the Senate is in the doldrums and House members are paying the price for Senate inaction on Democratic priorities.

With support dissipating for what should be her easiest piece of legislation to push through the House, Nancy Pelosi is losing her grip on the House. (Washington Examiner)

Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., who removed his name from the resolution Monday, said sponsors like the idea of condemning the killings, “but I think many people now realize we shouldn’t be sticking our finger in the eye of someone who is an ally.”

Yeah, 90 years after the fact. The Democrats knew that Turkey was upset (Hoyer and Pelosi met with the Turkish Ambassador last Wednesday) and plowed ahead regardless of the sensitive situation.

My sources tell me that it’s intentional in order to cause a hardship maintaining our troops, and keeping them safe – forcing the administration to withdraw from Iraq. But, until I can dig up some hard paper, it’s has to remain just a rumor. 

Can you imagine that we live in times in which one party can plot to undermine our war efforts – kill our own soldiers and plot to disintegrate their air cover and resupply – all for a few votes. Regardless of their intentions, Democrats know this bill will have that effect.

Is there another kinder and gentler definition of traitorous that I don’t know about?

Posted in Politics, Terror War, US Foreign Policy | Leave a Comment »

Democrat mental illness on SCHIP

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on October 15, 2007

Just like the Defense bill that Congress rammed through the legislative process (without compromise) three times each ending with the same result (a Presidential veto), the Associated Press writes that they’ll continue the same process with the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP);

House Democratic leaders said Sunday they were working to gather votes to override a veto on a popular children’s health program, but pledged to find a way to cover millions without insurance should their effort fail.

At the same time, the White House sought to chide the Democratic-controlled Congress as the obstructionists in reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. It said Democrats were the ones who had shown unwillingness to compromise.

President Bush is “more than willing to work with members of both parties from both Houses,” deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said.

“[W]illing to work with…both parties” – why, that sounds like non-partisanship to me.

In talk show interviews, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer did not dispute claims by Republican leaders that the GOP will have enough votes to sustain Bush’s veto when the House holds its override vote on Thursday.

Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Hoyer promised to pass another bipartisan bill if needed.

So instead of just hammering out some legislation on which both parties can agree, the Democrats would rather waste their time making a political statement to their base (the lunatics and crazies who think that a family with a $60,000 annual income needs free healthcare). How does that help even one American?

“Isn’t that sad for America’s children?” said Ms. Pelosi (D., Calif.) when asked about the GOP’s assurances the override vote will fail. “It doesn’t mean we aren’t working hard throughout the country: governors, mayors, people who deal with children on a regular basis.

“We’ll try very hard to override it. But one thing’s for sure: We won’t rest until those 10 million children have health care,” she said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Horseshit. You’re not going to override the veto, so why are you wasting your time? So they can blame Republicans – don’t be surprised when there’s still no bill by November next year.

Mr. Hoyer (D-Md.) declined to predict Thursday’s vote.

“This is a defining moment for the Republican Party, in my opinion,” Mr. Hoyer said, before adding later: The program is “not going to die. We’re going to go back and we’re going to pass another bill.”

Well, you’re right, Mr. Hoyer, it is a defining moment for Republicans – will they hold line against this blatant pandering by the Democrats for the votes of the ignorant, or will they do what they always do in the face of bad publicity. Fold like a cheap lawn chair. Having watched the Republicans over the last few years, my money is on the latter.

In other news, Teddy Kennedy underwent surgery yesterday;

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy underwent surgery Friday to repair a partially blocked artery in his neck, which was discovered during an examination of a decades-old back injury.

Mr. Kennedy, 75 years old, underwent the hourlong procedure on his left carotid artery — a major supplier of blood to the neck and head — at Massachusetts General Hospital, his office announced.

I suspect they pulled a bottle of scotch out of his neck – or a canned ham. In this after-surgery photo, Kennedy seems in good humor;

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments »

How to undermine US foreign policy

Posted by Jonn Lilyea on October 14, 2007

Since Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to undermine our foreign policy in the Middle East didn’t quite work when she went to Syria – and then the Israelis exposed Syria’s nuclear ambitions, she’s decided to attack our allies instead of cozying up to our enemies for a change. Perhaps that’ll work a little better to destroy our efforts in the region. So out of a clear blue sky, with no rhyme, no reason, Congress decides to condemn a ninety-year-old  genocide;

President Bush has said the resolution is the wrong response to the Armenian deaths, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the measure’s timing was important “because many of the survivors are very old.”

“It is a statement made by 23 other countries. We would be the 24th country to make this statement. Genocide still exists, and we saw it in Rwanda; we see it now in Darfur,” she told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview broadcast Sunday.

But Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the measure was “irresponsible.”

“Listen, there’s no question that the suffering of the Armenian people some 90 years ago was extreme. But what happened 90 years ago ought to be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians here in Washington,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”

“…many are very old”, Nancy? I’ll bet none are under the age of 90 – that makes them ALL old. Although most probably look younger than you and John Murtha.

Even a half-witted moron can see that the Democrats in Congress are trying to destroy our relations with Turkey – the same as Barack Obama threatened Pakistan. Does anyone think the Democrats might condemn Viet Nam, China or Iran for human rights abuses they’re engaged in at this moment? Nope, they rather drag up long-dead ghosts and jeopardize relations with allies – it’s much more politically popular.

A condemnation of an event 90-years ago can serve no useful purpose – but that’s never stopped Democrats before. They’re accustomed to making empty gestures. They’re an empty party with empty ideas. The Turks are so angered, they’ve recalled their diplomat – if President Bush had provoked that reaction from China or Russia, the Dems would be screaming bloody murder.

Although I agree that it was a horrible event and that Turkey should have the integrity to admit their culpability, I don’t think it’s so important at this late stage of our history to make a useless statement that could damage our relations with an important mostly-secular regional partner in the war against extreme Muslims in the Middle East.

Blue Crab Boulevard quotes Ralph Peters on the same subject;

Legislation similar to this has come up repeatedly in Congress, yet it’s always been defeated – in 2000, because of pressure from the Clinton administration. But if the resolution passes the House and Senate now, the Turks plan to evict us from Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey, to halt our military over-flight privileges and to shut down the supply routes into northern Iraq.

That’s what the Democrats are aiming at. This resolution isn’t about justice for the Armenians. Not this time. It’s a stunningly devious attempt to impede our war effort in Iraq and force premature troop withdrawals.

Devious isn’t a strong enough word, how about traitorous. It’s only an attempt to regain some credibility among their base at the expense of our ability to support soldiers in the field. That’s traitorous. 

Posted in Politics, US Foreign Policy | 5 Comments »

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