Greg Palast: Fear Of Chavez Is Fear Of Democracy

[seafan]

Fear Of Chavez Is Fear Of Democracy

By Greg Palast
December 3, 2007

.....

The Bush Administration and its press puppies - the same ones who couldn’t get enough of the purple thumbs of voters of Iraq - are absolutely livid that this weekend the electorate of Venezuela had the opportunity to vote. ..... Given that Chavez’ referendum was defeated at the ballot box, we now know that, as a dictator, Chavez is a flop. Of course, without meaning to gainsay Secretary Rumsfeld, maybe Chavez is not a dictator.

.....

We were not told this weekend’s referendum was a vote on term limits, rather, we were told by virtually every US news outlet that the referendum was to make Chavez, “President for Life.” The “President for Life” canard was mis-reported by no less than The New York Times.
But ending term limits does not mean winning the term. As Chavez himself told me, “It’s up to the people” whether he gets reelected. And that infuriates the US Powers That Be.
Secondly, beyond ending term limits, the referendum would have loaded the nation’s constitution with changes in property law, work hours and so many other complex economic adjustments that the entire referendum sank of its own weight.

.....

Term limits and work hours in Venezuela? Why was this a crisis for Washington? ..... Like Operation Iraqi Liberation (”OIL”) - it’s all about the crude, dude. And lots of it. The US Department of Energy documents I obtained indicate that the guys holding Bush’s dipstick figure that Venezuela is sitting on 1.36 trillion barrels of crude, five times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.
Chavez’ continuing tenure means that Venezuelans’ huge supply of oil will now be in the hands of … Venezuelans! ..... As one TV news anchor, violently anti-Chavez, told me in derisive tones, “Chavez gives them (the poor) bricks and bread!” - how dare he! - so, they vote for him.
Big Oil has better ideas for Venezuela, best expressed in several Wall Street Journal articles attacking Chavez for spending his nation’s oil wealth on “social programs” rather than on more drilling platforms to better fill the SUVs of Texas.

Chavez has committed other crimes in Washington’s eyes. Not only has this uppity brown man spent Venezuela’s oil wealth in Venezuela, he withdrew $20 billion from the US Federal Reserve. Weirdly, Venezuela’s previous leaders, though the nation was dirt poor, lent billions to the US Treasury on crap terms. Chavez has said, Basta! to this game, and has called for keeping South America’s capital in … South America! Oh, no!

Oh, and did I mention that Chavez told Exxon it had to pay more than a 1% royalty to his nation on the heavy crude the company extracted?

And that’s why they have to kill him. ..... In Orwellian Bush-speak and Times-talk, Chavez’ referendum was portrayed before the vote as a trick, Saddam goes Latin. Maybe their real fear is that Chavez has brought a bit of economic justice through the ballot box, a trend that could spread northward. Think about it: Chavez is funding full health care for all Venezuelans. What if that happened here?

Indeed.


Once again, Greg Palast slices through the muck to find the truth.

[MetaTrope]

1. Although as usual, the reader in turn has to cut through Palast's coy gossip-columnist style

So much he knows, if only he could communicate it without sounding like Liz Smith.

[Captain Angry]

31. I agree.

He's talk radio with a pen.

All of the political talk people have their snarky ways, and it's old. I want information not opinion.

[ooglymoogly]

33. Totally disagree with your snark

[redqueen]

37. I think he's doing pretty well.

He's relaying information in the style he prefers, and lots of people seem to like it just fine.

Perhaps you might consider becoming an investigative journalist, and showing him how it really should be done.

[redqueen]

2. Thank you for posting this.

Love Greg Palast's reporting.

:thumbsup:

[BridgeTheGap]

3. One has to wonder why the poor / working class did not turn out in

larger numbers to support this? Is it because they DIDN'T support these measures?

[redqueen]

5. ...

"Secondly, beyond ending term limits, the referendum would have loaded the nation’s constitution with changes in property law, work hours and so many other complex economic adjustments that the entire referendum sank of its own weight."

[BridgeTheGap]

12. But where is the blind loyalty of the poor with Chavez?

This quote from the article leads one to believe that the much lower turnout among the poor was due to the fact that the proposed changes were over their heads.
While that may be the case, I doubt it kept the poor away from the polls.

[killbotfactory]

13. Why would the poor automatically do what Chavez tells them?

There is an undercurrent of spite aimed at the poor in Venezuela. You see it in every news report that claims Chavez is buying votes with oil money by funding social programs for the poor, as if giving them access to food, education, and healthcare is beyond the pale in a nation sitting on huge amounts of oil.

[BridgeTheGap]

14. At least they know he is trying to help them

I'm not sure the same can be said of anyone else.

[EFerrari]

25. Not only the poor. There's a huge issue of color, too.

We don't get it directly in our media, but it is present in Venezuela.

[eridani]

35. Health care advocates have learned this lesson--

--namely, if it's complex, don't do it by referendum. If people aren't sure of the implications of what they are voting on, they will vote no. After the failure of a universal health care referendum in CA in the 90s, advocates got smart and worked through the legislature until they got universal health care through both houses of the state legislature. Vetoed by the Governator, of course, but they got farther than any other state movement has gotten so far.

[bonito]

4. Recommended

[L. Coyote]

6. Hoooray Palast! Not all the media mice are blind! The propaganda must be countered.

Drawn into the DU Chavez posts late, I noted that many DUers had been bamboozeled
big time, sucked into believing the NeoCon/Big Oil talking points about NeoCastro.

It did not take long to realize that a major propaganda effort is underway, the sort that accompanies "regime change."
I'm not sure what is planned yet, but a covert effort is underway to overthrow either Chavez or Venezuelan democracy AGAIN!

If you are now tempted to scream a tin-foil hat mantra, view this film:
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED = FILM on the Failed Overthrow of Hugo Chavez
Links and film reviews by DUers: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2386960

I focused on 'Venezuela in the Media' discourse analysis yesterday, and posted links on DU:

BREAKING: CARACAS, Venezuela = Constitution referendum is said to be too close to call.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2392282

Venezuela Referendum Passes = Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, is heading for victory
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2390745

Obviously, a Red Scare type paradigm is firmly in place, and a multitude of falsehoods are being promulgated in the media.
The epitimizing moment I found is Rep. Mack: "a gateway for Ahmadinejad and Iran to bring-in their anti-United States policies."

Rep. Mack: "Chavez is looking to be a dictator"
By WINK News - Dec 2, 2007 at 8:26 PM EST
http://www.winknews.com/news/local/12039146.html

Republican Congressman Connie Mack from Southwest Florida spent part of his day getting a history lesson ....

.... WINK News had the chance to ask him about his views on the future of Venezuela and it's president, Hugo Chavez.

Rep. Mack said, "Hugo Chavez is looking to be a dictator and then basically a gateway for Ahmadinejad and Iran to bring-in their anti-United States policies."

If that is not fear-mongering by the ill-informed, I'll take that tin-foil hat now!

We need a lot more clear minds, unfettered by Big Oil propaganda, of the likes of Greg Palast.
We also need to get in the face of those who pass on falsehoods in the media.
I say, "Speak softly and politely, and swing the Big Stick of truth." Give 'em HELL!

We also need to keep our own lists of who is who in the propaganda sphere, who writes what lies!!

[Captain Hilts]

7. Why is Chavez afraid of Democracy? He's pulled a lot of the same stunts as Putin. nt

[L. Coyote]

8. Horse Puckey ALERT! Chavez is a proponent of Democracy.

I recommend researching Venezuela's history.

[EFerrari]

18. Wtf? Has our whore media been so successful that you can possibly

equate the two? Putin, former KGB. Chavez, democratic populist that's cut poverty 30% or so. Tell me, wtf is the comparison?

Holy cow.

[eridani]

36. So--Chavez refused to accept the results of the referendum?

On what planet, may I ask?

[emsimon33]

9. We need more reporters like Palast!

Where,, oh, where have all the real newsmen gone (rhetorical, I assure you--I know the answer and so do you!)

[IDemo]

10. These are not the numbers I am seeing from DOE/EIA

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Venezuela/Oil.html

Venezuela contains billions of barrels in extra-heavy crude oil and bitumen deposits, most of which are situated in the Orinoco Belt in central Venezuela. Estimates of the recoverable reserves from the Orinoco Belt range from 100 to 270 billion barrels.

Venezuela plans to aggressively develop the Orinoco Belt oil resources in the coming years. PdVSA has begun a reserves certification program to increase the amount of proven oil reserves held by the country. The program, dubbed “Magna Reserva,” includes seismic studies conducted by their company and several foreign partners in 27 blocks, and it is the first step towards more aggressive development of the Orinoco Belt reserves: companies that participate in the Magna Reserva will likely be the first considered for new upstream developments. PdVSA has teamed almost exclusively with foreign national oil companies for the program, including Petrobras (Brazil), Petropars (Iran), CNPC (China), and ONGC (India). In total, PdVSA estimated that the program could certify up to 260 billion barrels of total oil in place, though proven reserves would likely amount to no more than 20 percent (52 billion) of this total.

So even the most optimistic current projection would add up to 322 billion barrels, and most of that a very heavy, difficult to refine product. Certainly nowhere close to 1.3 trillion barrels (but still a substantial amount).

[L. Coyote]

11. K & R = This one floats.

[redqueen]

15. Hit pieces on Charvez are popular.

This kind of reporting, not so much.

Odd, that.

[EFerrari]

17. I was tracking them but in the last week, I couldn't even keep up.

It was unbelievable. Usually, there's like one and a half a week. Usually, one story that the coyotes run with. Last week, it was more than two a day. That's a lot of effort. :wow:

[redqueen]

21. Well we knew they'd be going into hyperdrive leading up to the vote...

hopefully now they'll relax a bit and go back to peddling other brands of BS. :)

[EFerrari]

22. It's a good lesson, though. Now we know how much

they can turn up the Noise Machine. Whoever the Democratic candidate is, they'll have to deal with this.

[L. Coyote]

23. Lesson 1: Even on DU, they can turn up the Noise Machine.

And the backlash was Lesson too for many a DUer!

[EFerrari]

24. Yes.

:toast:

[EFerrari]

16. Thank God for Greg Palast. K&R

[DutchLiberal]

19. K&R for Greg!

:applause:

[porphyrian]

20. Chavez will eat your baby!

However, I mean this Chavez...

[redqueen]

26. Kick for more discussion.

:)

[Spazito]

27. Good article, yet again, from Mr. Palast....

It continues to fascinate me that some DUers were/are quite willing to buy the propaganda on Chavez and Venezuela from the same sources that, on any other issue, those same posters give those sources NO credibility. Total disconnect, imo.

Thanks for posting this, it makes eminent sense.

Recommended.

[Mr_Monday]

28. Sounds like the repug's motto:

If you hate Bush you hate America.

[redqueen]

29. Except that bush isn't America... and

Chavez's recent actions with respect to this referendum are a perfect example of democracy in action.

Does that clear it up?

[Pastiche423]

30. A recommend

and a :kick:

[devilgrrl]

32. There's plenty of fear of democracy here. Now go spy on your employees!

Wal-Mart gave money to the So. Cal fire victims.... they're kind hearted!!!! :sarcasm:

[ooglymoogly]

34. BIG REC.