Combs Spouts Off

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Posts Tagged ‘venezuela’

Four disturbing minutes from Venezuela

Posted by Richard on March 22, 2014

María Corina Machado is a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly and leader of the opposition demonstrations against the brutal Maduro regime (for which she’s been charged with treason). This is a video she presented to the Organization of American States.  I only know a few words of Spanish. After watching this, I’m afraid I now know what “asesinado” means.


[YouTube link]

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Venezuela: compare marches for and against the commie government

Posted by Richard on March 22, 2014

Bill O’Keefe (@DefendWallSt) tweeted a bunch of pictures from Venezuela today, some rather disturbing. But this, IMHO, is the one that tells the most important story:

The MSM, to the extent that Venezuela is mentioned at all, will simply report that demonstrations both for and against the government took place.

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Maduro’s socialist reign of terror in Venezuela

Posted by Richard on March 22, 2014

Recently, the situation in Venezuela has gone from terrible to horrific. The colectivos, Maduro-organized gangs of thugs on motorcycles, have been terrorizing middle-class neighborhoods and murdering anti-government demonstrators. National Guard troops have been brutally suppressing dissent and are now using live ammunition against demonstrators. And the US media have paid scant attention.

Bill O’Keefe, a Democrat turned libertarian, tells the story of what’s happening in Venezuela (with lots of pictures) at Daily Surge. And he tweets frequent updates and pictures.  See his latest @DefendWallSt. Or check out his top tweets at Favstar.

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Rubio blasts commie sympathizer Harkin

Posted by Richard on February 26, 2014

One of the things that really sets Sen. Marco Rubio apart from the empty suits in the GOP leadership is that he can speak extemporaneously from the heart, not just read a prepared text written for him by a staffer. On Monday, he spoke on the Senate floor with passion and to devastating effect. John Hayward described the context:

A new low in the disgrace of the American political class was reached when Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) took the floor this week to extol the virtues of Cuban communism.  A new high immediately followed, as Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) rose to annihilate Harkin, and all the other miserable apologists for left-wing tyranny.

Miami Herald reporter Marc Caputo was impressed:

For 14 minutes and 16 seconds, Rubio gave the best oration of his political career, speaking largely off the top of his head and with only the barest of notes.

Here’s the video. It’s well worth your time.


[YouTube link]

Compare that to any speech ever by Sen. Mitch McConnell.

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The student who saved Venezuela

Posted by Richard on May 20, 2008

Belated congratulations to Yon Goicoechea. Last week, the Cato Institute awarded him the 2008 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. Goicoechea is a 23-year-old law student in Venezuela. About a year ago, Hugo Chavez shut down the most popular TV station in the country, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). In response, Goicoechea organized a student movement to defend democracy and human rights that soon spread far beyond Venezuela's campuses. 

Despite death threats, intimidation by Chavez goons, and a beating that left him with a broken nose, Goicoechea organized scores of peaceful protests, many of which drew more than 100,000 participants. Many people credit Goicoechea with being personally responsible for the defeat of the December constitutional referendum that would have given Chavez dictatorial powers.

“Yon Goicoechea is making an extraordinary contribution to liberty,” said Edward Crane, President of the Cato Institute. “We hope the Friedman Prize will help further his non-violent advocacy for basic freedoms in an increasingly militaristic and anti-democratic Venezuela.”
 
Renowned Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa remarked, “Freedom and complacency are incompatible and this is what we are seeing now in countries like Venezuela where freedom is disappearing little by little, and this has produced a very healthy and idealistic reaction among young people. I think Yon Goicoechea is a symbol of this democratic reaction when freedom is threatened.”

The Friedman Prize is more than something to display on the mantle — it's $500,000. I hope Goicoechea had the money deposited in a U.S. (or other non-Venezuelan) bank account. Just in case Chavez carries his penchant for nationalization beyond foreign oil companies. 

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Venezuela’s descent into chaos

Posted by Richard on January 8, 2008

It should come as no surprise that Venezuela's economy under Hugo Chávez, admirer of Castro, Ortega, Gaddafi, Lukashenko, Ahmadinejad, and Mugabe, has been disintegrating despite soaring oil prices. But it's not just the economy that's in trouble.

When you replace a government of laws with a government of men, when you promote class warfare, when you declare that the needs of the poor entitle them to whatever wealth can be seized, when you use violent gangs of thugs to silence your opponents and achieve your political goals — then you can expect others to follow your lead. The social fabric disintegrates, and the country descends into lawlessness and chaos even as the grip of authoritarianism tightens.

According to Investor's Business Daily, it's safer these days to walk around in the streets of Baghdad than in Caracas, Venezuela:

With even Venezuelan officials admitting their country clocked 12,249 murders in 2007, Hugo Chavez's socialist "sea of happiness" resembles a war zone. In December alone, Venezuela had 670 murders while Iraq had 476 — and that number is falling fast.

This is Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, the place wildly praised by Hollywood eminentos like Oliver Stone and Sean Penn, and its crime is so bad it tops that seen in actual warfare.

… Venezuela is the kind of place where families around the dinner table discuss kidnapping and make pacts to not pay ransom for fear of bankrupting the family.

Meanwhile, night travel is strongly discouraged and no one wears jewelry openly. Security guards pack big firepower to guard tiny businesses like bakeries, and bulletproof cars are common.

It's not just that there are a lot of crimes. There's also a lot of getting away with it. The government, starting to feel heat from the locals over crime, particularly after El Mundo reported the figures, is on the defensive, saying it's busy solving the crimes.

But most violent crimes go unsolved because the Chavez government is more interested in pursuing "political" crimes — like persecuting dissident TV stations and opposition politicians — than hunting down the thugs who make Venezuela less safe than Iraq.

Gee, you think a U.S. troop surge would help? 

 

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Hope for Venezuela

Posted by Richard on December 3, 2007

Venezuela's voters have rejected Hugo Chavez's attempt to become the next Fidel Castro of Latin America:

CARACAS, Venezuela: Voters in Venezuela defeated a contentious referendum that would have given President Hugo Chávez sweeping new powers, the Election Commission announced early Monday.

The results were a stunning defeat for a leader who was trying to extend already broad powers and lead his country in a radical new direction.

The commission said 50.7 percent voted against the referendum and 49.3 percent voted in favor. The results were all the more surprising given that Chávez and his supporters control nearly all of the levers of power.

"The result is quarrelsome," Vice President Jorge Rodríguez said in comments broadcast on national television.

Opposition leaders were more upbeat. "Tonight, Venezuela has won," said Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia State and the opposition's candidate in presidential elections last year.

Chavez's many high-profile American supporters, including Sean Penn, Naomi Campbell, Danny Glover, and Kevin Spacey, don't seem to have helped him. Asshats. 

All the pre-election polls not paid for by the Chavez regime indicated about a 10-point advantage for the "No" vote, so the narrow loss suggests that the actual results were so overwhelmingly anti-Chavez that the usual cheating couldn't fully offset them. Even though representatives of the "No" side were apparently prevented from witnessing the vote counting. I credit Jimmy Carter, who in 2000 and especially in 2004 legitimized what were clearly fraudulent election results. This time, he was absent. Thank you, Mr. Carter (you contemptible POS). 

For now, there is hope that Venezuela will avoid becoming yet another Stalinist state. Assuming Chavez allows these results to stand. For the latest news, check out The Devil's Excrement, Venezuela News and Views, and Caracas Chronicles.

Bravo! 

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