So, obviously, what we have to do is get into a war with Syria and Iran.
MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he welcomed a bid by Venezuela to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
Russia “welcomes the intentions of Venezuela to occupy a place in the U.N. Security Council as a nonpermanent member,” Putin said after talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the Kremlin, Tass reported.
Chavez, a vocal critic of what he calls U.S. imperialism, is trying to win a two-year seat on the council to balance Washington’s influence.
MOSCOW, Russian (AP) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that his oil-rich nation will sign major arms deals in Moscow to acquire Russian fighter jets and produce Kalashnikov assault rifles, as Russia shrugged off U.S. criticism of the weapons sales.
On a visit to the city of Izhevsk, where Kalashnikovs are made, Chavez said contracts to buy Su-30 jets and set up Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition plants in Venezuela would be signed in Moscow on Thursday, the Interfax news agency reported.
“We are breaking the U.S. blockade that was aimed at disarming Venezuela,” Chavez said in separate comments broadcast on state-run television in Venezuela.
Personally I can kind of identify with Chavez a bit. He’s a lower class guy who worked his way up, the hard way, to make a place for himself and he’s had to deal with quite a bit of troublemaking from his own upper classes backed by oil companies and the U.S…
That said, in purely self-interested strategic terms it’s probably wise to keep an eye on this development. Is there another country that close to our borders with a modern air force? And, let’s face it, Chavez - whatever his virtues are to his people - is in bed with alot of unsavory characters abroad with only one common denominator. They’re not fond of us.
Come on, Chavez doesn’t want war with the US, he’s not a moron. He wants, I think, respect from the US. He wants Venezuela to be treated like a serious country, as opposed to the way it and every other Latin American country has been treated by the US in the past. And he wants Venezuela’s sovereignty to be respected, and for the US to accept that it is no longer a country run for our benefit.
As for the unsavory characters that he’s “in bed” with, the common denominator is actually oil. Venezuela is a member of OPEC, which means Chavez can’t snub the other members. Aside from that, there’s basically Castro, but Cuba should never have become an enemy of the US, and post-Cold War, poses exactly zero threat to us.
I don’t know what Chavez wants, for certain, but I think he believes he’s a target for removal by the U.S… That can make a guy jumpy. And I have seen him speak at the last OPEC Summit on C-Span. He’s really loopy. Dwelling on evil American aggression and calling for the forces of “freedom and justice” to stand up to us. That would include his OPEC compatriots as well as any nation that doesn’t like America.
I’m not saying he doesn’t have his reasons for mistrusting our intentions but he does come off very verbose, rambling and border-line incoherent with a major persecution complex. Not the guy I want with a couple dozen SU-30s parked on his lawn.
That can make a guy jumpy. And I have seen him speak at the last OPEC Summit on C-Span. He’s really loopy. Dwelling on evil American aggression and calling for the forces of “freedom and justice” to stand up to us. That would include his OPEC compatriots as well as any nation that doesn’t like America.
Yeah, true. And what’s been the extent of his direct contact with the US? Threats of military action? Sponsored terrorist attacks, perhaps? Oh wait, it’s continued trade and significant aid following Hurricane Katrina. Not terribly antagonistic, when you cut past the rhetoric.
I’m not saying he doesn’t have his reasons for mistrusting our intentions but he does come off very verbose, rambling and border-line incoherent with a major persecution complex. Not the guy I want with a couple dozen SU-30s parked on his lawn.
He’s a flamboyant, rousing public speaker, but his issues with the US are entirely our fault, as we’ve chosen to make him an enemy from day one. But if you look at the way Chavez runs his house, it has nothing to do with military agression. It has everything to do with standing up to the US, securing the rights of his own people, and pushing Venezuela towards a kind of self-actualization.
I can’t wait the see the Chavez apologist spinning when he inevitabilty starts cracking heads during popular unrest by the same masses who propelled him into power…
In South America it’s tradtionally been the right wing governments who’ve had a fondness for “cracking heads”. If anyone’s an apologist, it’s those supporting the hard line rightists who’ve been running the show down south for the past decades, up until quite recently. But hey, Pinochet was a standup guy, right?
