President Obama has given an interview to nothing less than El Universal of Caracas. Possibly because it is the lone Venezuelan paper with an English Venezuelan section, so the guys at the White House would be sure that the message came free of interference. No need to comment on the interview, it is self explanatory in that Chavez international standing is, well, lowest than ever (and his support to recently croaked Kimmy is not going to help). He is an annoyance, maybe dangerous, but Chavez will never be respectable, never worthy of a deal since he cannot be trusted on anything. I mean if a Liberal Democrat thinks so lowly of Chavez.......
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
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While Chavez chose to "accentauate the negative", I think Mr. Obama's letter was very positive and clearly one of hope. He expressed
ReplyDeletevery critical, serious concerns over Chavez's errors in dealing with internal issues as well as mistaken interanational relations and at the same time said "US wants to help Venezuela" in so many words.
If anything, Mr. Obama's speech was not tough enough. And, Chavez's response was as usual
pure trash talk, fiction.
OT:
ReplyDelete"
Cuba declares 3 days of mourning for Kim Jong Il
"
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/cuba/111220/cuba-declares-3-days-mourning-kim-jong-il
Just wonder how many days of mourning will Cuba declare when Chavez die?
"...but Chavez will never be respectable..."
ReplyDeleteI love that, el delinquente
Very interesting Daniel. Thanks for letting us know.
ReplyDeleteChávez used anti-americanism as a tool to gain sympathy around the world during the unpopular Iraq war. Now he must understand that the sympathy effect that he raised around the world has passed and that the anti-americanism he is portraying is only hurting the image of Venezuela.
In fact, anti-americanism is totally, absolutely artificial for Venezuelans. We grew-up with strong american values and with a natural connection towards the americans.
I think Obama sent the message that he understood that.
You may have inspired me another post, Daniel.
Bruni,
ReplyDeleteAs a gringa in the US personally I experienced little antipathy.Mostly people thought it was interesting to meet a foreigner.However, I must say that I don't see the world tiring of anti Americanism, especially in Europe ( often stemming from German propaganda)..we remain a very easy way to gain support of foreign governments as well as a certain elements of the socialist, anti capitalist population....there is even a large segment of the US population who thrives on self hatred, and I am not talking about just honest self appraisal, but actual self hatred.
The day we stop hating ourselves will be the day when people start using China or Korea or some other place to hate and gain votes.
Obama needs to be more aggressive with this rhetoric , his foreign policy is way too weak
ReplyDeleteThis really isn't that harsh on Obama's part, so the criticism from Chavez in response is really off-base - not that it's the least bit surprising, since that's always how to responds to any criticism, however slight. "Unbalanced" applies in so many ways to Hugo. Not to mention "hypocritical," as we see here: "Busca tus votos allá, pero cumpliéndole a tu gente...Ahora andas buscando votos atacando a Venezuela, no seas tan irresponsable." It's OK for Chavez to slam foreign leaders not looking for votes, but an insult when someone picks on him to do the same. Ha! Irresponsible indeed!
ReplyDeleteThough perhaps he is most bothered by this sentence, which is the true threat to Chavez: "I have placed heavy emphasis on research and development to develop the energy sources that will power the future."
But Chavez really shows both his ego and his ignorance with this absolute gem: "Si yo pudiera ser candidato en Estados Unidos te barrería compadre, te barrería, y te ganaría 80 a 20." Really, Hugo? Which demographics do you think you would so thoroughly dominate to allow that? Never mind that one can pretty much only get votes from people who know who you are, and his name recognition in the U.S. probably doesn't reach 10% - and I can hardly imagine even half of those see him favorably.
AIO's comment reminded me of something: With Gaddafi and Kim Jong Il dead, doesn't it mean that Chavez is now officially the most clownish dictator in the world?
ReplyDeleteI hope Jon Steward runs a story on that one. (Or at least el chiguire.)
How much do I hate thee
ReplyDeleteLet me count the ways...
Chavez just may be the
"daddy clown" now.
Well, Castro is still alive,
but retired. Anon I think
you picked the winner.
2011 Clown of the Year Award=
Juggling Jugo Chavez!
I think Obama was clear, with a well thought out message to Venezuela and Latin America as a whole. He never called out chavez, or even mentioned his name...part of the Bush policy. Only stating the facts, and sending the message that the U.S. would like to offer support, post chavez, with a government who doesn't use the U.S. as a boogyman scare tactic to defer blame from current problems. There was no reason to be less vague in this message, as it would only give chavez amunition to stir up the rabid chavistas before October. I just hope that Venezuelans will read between the lines the true message.
ReplyDeleteAIO
ReplyDeleteBut Chavez really shows both his ego and his ignorance with this absolute gem: "Si yo pudiera ser candidato en Estados Unidos te barrería compadre, te barrería, y te ganaría 80 a 20."
Both Obama and Chavez think very highly of themselves. Consider the following Obama remark which a 60 Mintes broadcast edited out.
From the POTUS: “The issue here is not gonna be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know,I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln -- just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history."
How justified they are in their exalted opinions of themselves, I leave for others more knowledgeable than I to decide.
Tejano, interesting - I wasn't aware of that. But Obama clearly (well, it somehow wasn't clear to that idiot blogger, who's stupid enough to list the Marshall Plan as "proof" of what Truman did in his first two years, or the Interstate System for the first two years of Ike, not to mention virtually every commenter on the site...) was careful to condition that statement. Putting "legislative and foreign policy" impact above all but three Presidents isn't the same as putting himself above all but three Presidents. For all I know, though, he believes he ranks that highly, but even if he does, he's smart enough to not say so, which puts him miles - or perhaps light-years - ahead of Hugo in the ignorance (as in, not being so ignorant) category.
ReplyDeleteDaniel,
ReplyDeleteYou do realize that, although Obama might have scanned it and approved it, that it was written by the State Dept. I can recognize the diplo-speak signature of the U.S. State Dept. instantly. When you really analyze it, you will realize that it didn't say anything.
Roy
ReplyDeleteof course i know that!!!! it is still official us policy, compromising the president of the US, who does not give interviews of any kind except when he travels overseas or when there are US important issues.
even from state, even from the security council, even if Obama had nothing to do with it, it is still of great value. certainly chavez understood it very well.
Well, evidently, it annoyed Chavez enough to grace us with another of his tirades:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/hugo-chavez-obama-clown-embarrassment-060607567.html
If I were Obama, I would be disappointed that I didn't rate being called "The Devil", like his predecessor.
Obama's been too kind to Chavez
ReplyDeleteHe should have been aggressive in his support for freedom and aggressive in his criticism of Chavez
The good people of Venezuela need to know that they have a friend in the USA , not an apologist for dictators and banana republics