Venezuela Official Calls Bush 'Monster' (not Hugo)

[NVMojo]

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's foreign minister called President Bush a "monster" on Friday, adding to a list of insults by President Hugo Chavez who recently called the U.S. leader devil and donkey.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro called for Bush's removal from the White House and denounced what he called a worldwide campaign by Washington to block Venezuela's bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council.

"That monster who is in the White House must be removed because we, the peoples (of the world), want peace and justice," Maduro said at a news conference in Caracas.

Chavez, who has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to oust him, called Bush the devil last month in a speech to the United Nations. He also has labeled Bush an alcoholic, a donkey and "Mr. Danger."

more...


http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-sa/2006/oct/06/100603925.html

[kenny blankenship]

1. Nice to see they're moderating their rhetoric!

They needn't have on my account, but it did upset a large number of people here in TVland.

[pescao]

4. don't shoot the messenger!

from http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=45&ItemID=11050

"Should we blame the one messenger who spoke up? Or should we blame the millions of messengers who know the same substance as Chavez, but hold their tongues?"

[Judi Lynn]

12. Hi, pescao! Great quote, wonderful article.

It's a joy to hear from someone like Michael Albert who actually KNOWS his subject well, as contrasted with people who have a lot to say but know absolutely NOTHING about it but rumor and propaganda, and ignorant, comical conjecture.

[pescao]

15. hi judi!

i know that i don't post much these days, but i'm always checking LBN for your threads and anything about vz! working with these people now: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2089

[Judi Lynn]

16. Well, now! You're going to be around some very, very busy people,

aren't you?

Some very interesting news you've linked. I went and looked up MP John McDonnell, got his photo, and Jeremy Coryn's:

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/Pictures/Persons/1000753/1000753-175547-03.jpg



They sound very motivated, absolutely! This is exciting news. Wish you all the very best luck. It's wonderful knowing these things are going on there.

[pescao]

17. john mcdonnell is the hugo chavez of britain!

well, he was the first MP who raised the issue of venezuela in the commons, years ago. here's a video from 2004: http://www.thenewagenda.org/venezuela/parliament/mov/john_mcdonnell.html

he might even be our next prime minister (it's a long shot, but it just might work). if he is, then it's straight out of iraq and afghanistan, an end to privatisation, new trade union rights, &c. check out his blog: www.john4leader.org.uk

there's also a good profile of him here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1880921,00.html

[Judi Lynn]

18. So good to hear his comments on the coup in the first link, in which

he emphasized the PEOPLE of Venezuela were fighting the most professionally produced coup in the history of the world, and got their leader back from them. It was very clear whom people outside the U.S. see as responsible for that coup and the other attempts to undermine and destabilize that administration.

Wonderful hearing the goals articulated of the Solidarity movement.

I'll keep the link to the blog so I can keep an eye on it. Looks like some very interesting reading. Even the composition of the blog itself is interesting.

The Guardian article is just tremendous. He is shown to be completely extraordinary, a whole lot more honest than the material we usually have to see in people in public life. This was great:

One reason he isn't better known is that he refuses to jump in front of the cameras. He prefers meetings - "more democratic" - and likes debate, thrashing out ideas, reviewing past mistakes and successes. He is not a spellbinding public speaker - a certain shyness, a lack of belligerence and, above all, a dislike of posturing hamper his oratory. But he speaks with quiet authority. He does not browbeat, insult or ridicule opponents. Think the opposite of John Reid.
(snip)

.....But if, when Blair finally stands down, the Labour party takes a long overdue look into its own soul, it will see how badly it needs men and women like John McDonnell.
(snip/)

Looks as if you've got a very full plate, pescao!

Thank you for these great treats. They're all so helpful.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Ha, ha. I found an illustration of Peter Mandelson, the guy who

dissed John McDonnell at the start of the Guardian article you linked.

I've never heard about him until today, but this image tells me he's not all that likeable, anyway! Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson:

[pescao]

20. mandelson..

was an architect of the new labour coup and blair's chief spin-doctor until he was forced to resign - twice! here's what palast has to say about ridding the party of its hijackers, maybe mcdonnell has a good chance:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/10/352882.html

...

"Blair's people wanted to use my information against the Tories, but they were just as excited about US companies buying up British industry," he recalls.

Working with new Labour had its advantages, though.

"It allowed me, later, to go under-cover and to record these guys secretly because I had made the personal connection with Mandelson and the rest," he says.

The resulting scandal, known as Lobbygate, made some waves, but Blair was too strong to be hurt at the time.

"When I did my first reports, the shit that I got from the left was amazing," he notes.

"People would say: 'How could you attack Tony Blair? We've spent 18 years in the wilderness and we have to back up Blair.' And I said: 'You're going to regret that.'

"Now, they've fallen in love with Gordon Brown, who is simply Blair II. He's an echo, a Blair echo. The people around Brown are ultra-rightwingers who would absolutely be Tories if there wasn't this beast called new Labour.

"Brown is pro the free market, pro privatisation. New Labour clearly see themselves as completely hostile to the labour movement and always have.

"They are a little clique who pulled off a coup d'etat inside their party and, therefore, they could be easily swept away. I think that they really hope for people like the Respect party to siphon off the trouble-makers.

"These people themselves think they have a tenuous hold on the Labour Party, which means that if someone just, you know, kicks them in the knees a couple of times, they're gone, they topple right over.

"It looks to me like the leadership of the Labour Party simply have feet of clay. Gordon Brown is a last-ditch attempt to repackage new Labour.

"The differences between Blair and Cameron are even less than the differences between the Republicans and the Democrats. Blair hasn't left any room to the right of him."

...

[Judi Lynn]

29. So glad to learn about this. You've given me and whatever other posters

who read your posts a great quickie background. I feel much, MUCH more informed: almost like getting a brain transplant.

Feeling much wiser than only yesterday!



Astonished to have read some of the material you've shared. Had NO IDEA there were such sneaky folks there, as discussed in the Mandelson article.

Appreciate the Palast info., as well. He has been tireless in his work in the Americas. Wish him continued good health, and a very, very long, "accident" free life.

[kenny blankenship]

13. Like I said they didn't need to tone it down for me

[IndianaGreen]

32. Bush is the biggest mass murderer of the 21st century

TVland zombies could care less about the Constitution or civil liberties.

[Vexatious Ape]

2. All the more reason for me

to pump only at Citgo. Viva Venezuela.

[shanti]

3. hmmmm

monster, alcoholic, donkey, devil, danger. yep, they've just about covered all of them! :thumbsup:

[Vidar]

5. If only the evil could be cleared with a stake through his heart.

[ck4829]

6. If everybody remembers, this was the man who was detained by the US

As he tried to go back to Venezuela when he was over here recently.

[robcon]

7. Name-calling, the new foreign policy of Venezuela.

It worked so well for Mao and Kim, why not try it???? :)

[rman]

8. It worked for Reagan and it's working for Bush

Difference is Venezuela actually has proper cause to do this.

[robcon]

9. Excuse me????

Proper cause? Head of state calls someone a Devil? Foreign minister calls someone a Monster? That's the foreign policy?

Those are "proper causes" to call Venezuela an unserious state.

[rman]

10. Just look at the history of US foreign policy in Latin America;

overthrowing democratically elected leaders and propping up RW military dictators in the name of "US interests".
Chavez is the first head of state in a long time to successfully oppose US domination in that part of the world, and many South American nations are following the example. Small wonder the Bush regime supported the 2002 coup attempt against Chavez, and that he has accused Chavez of supporting Al Qaeda.

Looking at what the current US government is doing to the world, i'd say there is plenty of cause to call Bush the devil and a monster. Essentially it's just another way of saying "worst president ever" - something that everyone but the most fanatical Bush supporters seem to agree with.

[Judi Lynn]

11. I was startled when Bush's first moments in power featured him labeling

other countries as his "axis of evil," then continued as he started pointing at various people and spitting insults at them like "bad actors," and "evil doers," etc., etc., etc. Absolutely all too childish and dirty for any grown man anywhere.

Hugo Chavez was being humorous when he invoked a "devil," as the audience laughter and applause emphasized.
The very small group of DU'ers who don't read for comprehension have missed this point all together, haven't they?

Right-wing clowns can only keep their cartoon-like view of Latin America by refusing to learn anything about US policy toward these countries, and the ugly history which has unfolded in the last 50 years and more, the ugliest and bloodiest coming through the malevolence of right-wing U.S. pResidents.

[IndianaGreen]

33. Don't bother with him, he supports imperialism

and rapacious capitalism. It's a class thingy!

[Moochy]

14. RALLY ROUND DER PRESIDENT!!

OMG ITS HUGH!!1111 I'M SERIES!!!111

Don't you know we the United States openly supported the coup plotters who had Chavez deposed? We along with a few other flaccid us-controlled puppet states were the only ones to recognize the leaders of the coup as the legitimate government.

Of course you don't beleive that. Yum Koolaid!

[roody]

23. Let's just all agree on

DEVIL MONSTER!

[Cha]

24. ANd the US is such a

"serious state". Viva Chavez! Viva Venezuela!

bush is a monkey-devil.

[roody]

27. OK---Monkey Devil Monster

[0rganism]

21. Next thing you know, Chavez will call the USA an Evil Empire

or perhaps an Axis of Evil, you think maybe? Perhaps he'll say something about us being ruled by an egomaniacal dictator with weapons of mass destruction, and propose a crusade of some sort, before the smoking gun turns into a mushroom cloud. What kind of freak would use such inflammatory rhetoric as a diplomatic tool? Goodness gracious.

I used to think of the US more as an Axle of Elvis, but times have changed.

[patrick t. cakes]

22. u..s..a..

axis of e-coli.:+ :+

[Cha]

25. And what kind of media would

Drum "March to War!" in the masses' eyes and ears 24/7?

Corporatewhores.

[pescao]

26. u think venezuela's gonna bomb the us?

u should team up with pat robertson, who said that "one day we will be staring nuclear weapons and it won't be Katrina facing New Orleans, it's going to be a Venezuelan nuke."

inflammatory rhetroic is preferable to inflammatory violence, which team bush has used as a "diplomatic tool" a number of times with venezuela, for example by kidnapping chavez and assassinating his supporters (and a few of his opponents, just to be on the safe side).

standing up to the devil-monkey-monster shows that chavez is not afraid of bush - and that gives other people courage to stand up to their bullies as well. we should all stand up for chavez.

[0rganism]

30. were you, perhaps, replying to someone else?

i think you may have missed the point of my post.

[pescao]

31. indeed!

i misread your post and mixed it together with the one u were replying to, my bad!

[0rganism]

34. 'sokay -- these things do happen

no harm, no foul, no high-altitude bombers ;)

[Judi Lynn]

28. Details which don't get mentioned in the U.S. press on Venezuela.

This might be helpful to some DU'ers:

VENEZUELA: The case of the missing vote (and voter)

Olivia Burlingame Goumbri
(From Green Left Weekly, October 11, 2006)

~snip~
In the late 1980s and early 1990s oil prices plummeted and thousands of working-class Venezuelans fell into deep poverty. On the advice of the International Monetary Fund, much of the social safety net was stripped away and the country plunged into chaos.

Without access to political power, poor Venezuelans took to the streets. One massive riot in Caracas in 1989 was suppressed violently by the government. Although official body counts were never announced, human rights groups estimate that as many as 3000 Venezuelans were gunned down on the city streets in less than a week, their bodies dumped into mass graves.

Modest democratic reforms were implemented to appease the citizenry, yet by the elections of 1998 not even half of all eligible Venezuelans were registered to vote.

That year, Chavez swept into office on a rising tide of popular disaffection and ushered in massive electoral reform.

To begin with, the CNE became a separate branch of government and members of its decision-making board are now prohibited from membership in political parties. To ensure that the body was not politicised, universities and civil society organisations would now participate in the process of nominating directors.

Venezuela’s 1998 Organic Law of Suffrage and Political Participation, passed before President Chavez took office, recognized that one of the nation’s major problems was fraud and required that elections be conducted with electronic voting machines. In the last few years the machines, which record the votes in real-time, preventing the ballot box stuffing and vote trading of the old days, were instituted nationally.

A massive voter enfranchisement push known as Mission Identity was also implemented. This program is essentially a widespread citizenship and “get out the vote” campaign. Millions of poor Venezuelans previously lacked official identification in the form of a birth certificate or national ID card, which prevented them from registering to vote. In less than three years Mission Identity has provided and renewed ID cards for more than 18.5 million Venezuelans and more than 5.5 million are new voter registrants.
(snip/...)

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/686/686p19b.htm