Chávez refuses to debate with Capriles Radonski

[ChangoLoa]

President Hugo Chávez on Monday ruled out the possibility of a debate with the presidential candidate of the opposition alliance, Henrique Capriles Radonski.

"It would be like putting Cassius Clay at his strongest to box against Diosdado (Cabello, the president of the National Assembly) at his finest moment," he responded to a reporter.

Chavez participated, via telephone, in the press conference offered by the national directors of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. "Debate...with who?" asked the president, who then added "It would bring me shame to participate in something like that, because the opposition is nothing."

http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/120619/chavez-refuses-to-debate-with-capriles-radonski


Chavez has NEVER accepted a debate

[COLGATE4]

1. He doesn't have the guts

to debate an opponent.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Actually that might be partially true.

He is likely not up to a debate, and some of his 'guts' may indeed be missing, due to a rather severe and prolonged cancer treatment.

[ChangoLoa]

3. ""Debate...with who?" asked the president, who then added "It would bring me shame to participate...

in something like that, because the opposition is nothing."

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Yes he holds the opposition in contempt.

After all they are campaigning to return control of the economy to the global corporations. Hopefully he will again be elected with a substantial majority and have time to work on the continuation of the bolivar movement after he leaves.

[joshcryer]

10. Are you confusing the opposition with Chavismo?

Chavismo has turned Venezuela into an import country. The entire country relies on the whims of the global markets. Just look at how they're freaking out about the lower cost of oil. Look at the windfall profits the Chinese are getting for their various industrial expansion projects in Venezuela...

[Warren Stupidity]

11. Yes of course as an oil resource rich nation

Venezuala's economic strength is dependent on the price of oil. No matter who runs the country. The issue is what is done with the revenue from that oil. Under Chavez, it has gone to the people, to infrastructure, to roads schools hospitals and jobs. Under the rule of the party of the elites, the rightwing that you are supporting, that revenue has gone instead to the rich and powerful, and as public assets were sold off, to global corporations. Really, that is the side you are on here?

[joshcryer]

12. Wrong. The opposition is keeping in place all of Chavez' policies.

They will increase education spending, however.

Chavez is the one selling off Venezuela piecemeal to corporations (particularly China).

[Warren Stupidity]

13. His political party is a rightwing party.

He is talking center left in order to have any chance in the election. You should do more research.

[joshcryer]

14. Not really, their platform is very close to PSUV, except for privitization. Like Cuba is doing.

The biggest selling points is that rather than sending money overseas to corporations Capriles wants to keep it in Venezuela for Venezuelans. PSUV spends billions that disappears with no oversight. Capriles will crack down on that cronyism.

[Warren Stupidity]

16. Every source I can find describes primero justice as rightwing.

Their platform cannot propose abolishing the hugely popular reforms of the chave regime, obviously. Your description of this alleged repatriation of oil revenue is, to me, highly suspect, as the right in venezuela, when it is not handing national resources over to global corporations, as they did in the 90s, is busy working at the behest of the traditional local oligarchs. To the extent that primero justice is proposing keeping revenue in Venezuela it will be to re-establish the cash flow to the Caracan elites that was cut off so abruptly when Chavez was elected.

Your obsession with overseas corporations is amusing. China is one of the few nations that Venezuela can turn to for help developing its economy. The usual complaint against Chavez is that he has kicked out foreign corporations.

[joshcryer]

17. Are you reading these sources in English or Spanish?

Capriles in English speaking circles, particularly political, is trashed to fuck and back thanks to "liberals" fawning over Chavismo all these years. You find the same shit when it pertains to Cuba. The criticisms in English are just ill informed bullshit. Please use Google translate to read Justice Firsts' platform. It's very liberal, very leftist. The only thing that is "right wing" (I argue left wing) is the promise to respect private business. Just like Cuba is now doing.

The raiding of the Fonden fund is not controversial, you can find plenty of articles about it, or if you're patient you can actually go get the very PSDVA documents and see that when tabulating the numbers billions of dollars are unaccounted for.

Chavez has not really kicked out foreign corporations, he's brought many in. Whole rail lines, whole construction projects are being done by foreign entities. The Venezuelan people themselves paying far more to foreign entities than it would cost if they were to do it themselves. Fuck, the same shit is happening in Cuba with hundred year leases for western build resorts.

I swear sometimes it feels like I'm in 1984 and what is true isn't and what isn't true is...

[COLGATE4]

5. I'm sure that's the reason why

he refuses to debate ANY opponent.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. There is only one significant opponent, but I digress.

You made a ridiculous claim, and I was playing along with the ridiculousness of it. My reply was not serious, unfortunately it appears that your original post was.

[Lionessa]

4. Well we've had debates here since Nixon, and it

hasn't actually improved "intelligent" voting as one might have hoped. One might actually say that since then our overall national voting intelligence has diminished, not to mention, 90% of what they say turns out to be campaign speak and not what they actually do when in office anyway.

Granted, my answer is clearly more thought out and less arrogant than his, but either way, debates end up being pretty much worthless hype.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Especially true after the LWV pulled out and the "debates" became stage shows for the duopoly.

[joshcryer]

9. This is fair enough, Barret destroyed Walker but we saw how WI went.

[joshcryer]

15. The reason he's not debating Capriles is that if asked about Fonden...

...if asked about the murder rate, if asked about the incredible environmental problems in Venezuela (Lake Valencia, the numerous oil spills swept under the rug, etc), if asked about the electrical problems that have plagued the country...

Chavez' answers would make him out to be a babbling idiot in contrast to the smooth, cool, calm minded and rational Capriles.

He'd be blaming possums and lizards for the power outages, he'd be blaming right death squads for the high murder rate, he'd be blaming imperialism for the environmental problems, the list goes on and on. When asked about Fonden his head would burst in a fit of insanity.

[naaman fletcher]

18. something like Fonden

Would have been the Bush's wet dream if they could have pulled that off.

But Chavez wears a red beret...