Editorial: Rain over wet?

noviembre 16, 2009

Publicado por admin

Nov/08/2009 – Miami

(Citizen News Agency Editorial Staff) Food shortages, blackouts, and three-minute “communist” showers. Are these signs that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s socialist regime is imploding? Add to the list escalating rhetoric in the cold war with neighboring Colombia -a close U.S. ally- and columnists say the Latin American country is not only in decline, but could be a threat to the stability of the region. As Chavez fights to solidify his grasp on power within Venezuela, many say the “president for life” is becoming desperate. Here are six reasons why analysts think Hugo Chavez’s struggles cannot be ignored.

Chavez Loses Support Among Venezuelans According to Steve Crabtree at Gallup, the president’s latest approval rating is only 47 percent, and Venezuelans are decreasingly likely to consider themselves socialists. “Recent public opinion trends suggest that with his promise of a better future losing credibility and deprived of a rallying point in widespread opposition to U.S. leadership, Chavez’s socialist ‘revolution’ has lost some momentum among the Venezuelan people.”

‘Desperate Times Make Desperate Men‘ The Atlantic’s Megan McArdl e worries that Chavez will act rashly and possibly attack Colombia in order to consolidate his political power. “No one thinks war is imminent; they think it’s just bluster to stir up patriotism and channel it through the figure of one Hugo Chavez. But then, as the article points out, no one really thought Argentina would invade the Falklands, either. Desperate times make desperate men. And while he’s still popular now, his polls are slipping rapidly, showing him close to, or under, the critical 50%.” McArdle says that food shortages are real indicators that the “cracks in his socialist paradise” are deepening.

A Dangerously Reckless Man A Miami Herald editorial says it may be “tempting to laugh this off as mere foolishness, Chávez being Chávez,” but warns that “no one should underestimate the lengths to which Venezuela’s leader is willing to go to promote his own self-interest.” In other words, while his trumped up talk with Colombia is mostly designed to distract Venezuelans from food and power shortages, it is still potentially dangerous. “At the moment, he is trying to distract Venezuelans from their discontent — reflected in his falling popularity ratings — by escalating tensions with Colombia and rushing troops to their common border. Last Sunday, he advised the country to prepare for war . . . then backed off two days later and said he doesn’t seek conflict with his neighbor.”

Chavez’s Threats Must Be Taken Seriously A Washington Post editorial says the history of the region demands vigilance on a ruler like Chavez. “Few believe that Mr. Chávez will start a war with Colombia,” they write. “But then, as a couple of seasoned Latin American observers have pointed out, no one believed Argentina’s similarly beleaguered strongman, Leopoldo Galtieri, when he began threatening to take Argentina to war with Britain in 1982. In the annals of the region’s authoritarian populism, stranger things have happened.”

Chavez Is Disarming His People Reliapundit of the conservative Astute Bloggers site says Chavez is seizing guns during police raids — up to 30,000 of them just this year alone. “Yes, Chavez is disarming his people-making them less safe from criminals and less safe from a police state.”

He’s Not Going to War Newsweek’s Mac Margolis says Chavez is just bluffing. The crisis in Venezuela, he writes, is a “domestic” and “political” one, not international.

SOURCE: Citizen News Agreggator Service.

Editorial: ¿Llueve sobre mojado?

Nov/08/2009 – Miami

(Citizen News Agency Editorial Staff) La historia de los alejamientos y aparentes reconciliaciones entre el presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, y su par colombiano, Álvaro Uribe, tiene ya una cierta tradición, por lo que no hay que excluir nuevos episodios de la saga; pero esta vez el inventor del chavismo, presunta izquierda radical latinoamericana, se ha pasado de la raya.

El líder bolivariano, raudo en distinguir una oportunidad propagandística, había cazado una excelente pieza con el acuerdo entre Colombia y Estados Unidos por el que Bogotá cede el uso de siete bases militares a Washington para combatir el narcotráfico. Y le estaba sacando provecho ante una opinión mayoritaria en América Latina a la que incomoda la idea de la presencia de tropas extranjeras en su suelo.

Y no era sólo Venezuela quien así reaccionaba, sino que, con grados diversos de intensidad, la medida tampoco gustaba en Brasil ni Argentina, no digamos ya en países de chavismo nominal como Ecuador, Bolivia y Nicaragua. Pero de eso a prestar a Colombia propósitos agresivos, además de afirmar que Bogotá no hace sino poner en práctica los mandatos de Estados Unidos, media un grotesco abismo. Otras preocupaciones tiene el presidente Obama que pensar en cómo amedrentar a Venezuela.

FUENTE: Citizen News Agreggator Service.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce egestas fermentum adipiscing. Quisque nec volutpat mauris. Donec varius, ligula in dapibus interdum, nulla nunc gravida lacus, non viverra dui purus non libero. Nulla nec tempor metus. Etiam sit amet diam ipsum, dignissim pretium odio.