Yes, it Could be Worse: Venezuela, Interpol, and TV Station Owner

In today's news.

I am not making this up.

"Venezuela asks Interpol to arrest openly critical TV station's owner"
CNN (June 18, 2010)

"Venezuela has asked Interpol to arrest the owner of the only TV station still openly critical of leftist President Hugo Chavez, the government announced Friday.

"Guillermo Zuloaga, president of Globovision, is accused of illegally storing vehicles with the intent to sell them for a profit, the Venezuelan government said when it issued an arrest warrant last week. His son, also named Guillermo, also is wanted.

"Zuloaga and his son have said that he is being persecuted for political purposes and that the charges are trumped up...."

I remember the 'good old days,' when red-white-and-blue-blooded Americans expressed the wish that people who criticized the country either be jailed or 'go back where they came from.'

Today, another demographic has expressed similar desires. The cherished assumptions are different, the slogans aren't quite the same: but the old 'anybody who doesn't agree with me should be silenced' is still there.

Like the old saying goes, "be careful what you wish for."

Related posts:

• "Commie Plots, Cholesterol, Frank Burns, Hugo Chavez, and 2012"
  (November 15, 2009)
• "Who Needs Facts? Cultural Assumptions and Politics"
  (July 24, 2009)
• "Of President Obama, Politics, and the Another War-on-Terror Blog"
  (June 21, 2009)
  • A possibly-useful bit of navel-gazing for this blog.
• "Department of Homeland Security No Longer Fears American Veterans?"
  (May 14, 2009)
• "Homeland Security Report: American Veterans are Potential Terrorists - I am Not Making This Up"
  (April 15, 2009)
• "Genocide! Racism! Down With Columbus Day!!"
  (April 8, 2009)
• "The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense"
  (April 2, 2009)
• "No More 'War on Terror' - Officially?"
  (March 30, 2009)
• "Missouri Focus Group MIAC: Ron Paul Supporters May Be Terrorists"
  (March 23, 2009)
• "CCSU Students Talk About Guns: Naturally, Their Professor Called the Police"
  (March 4, 2009)
• "DC Gun Ban, Online Censorship, Individual Rights, and Power to the People"
  (June 27, 2008)
• "EEEK! Guns! Hoplophobia and Foreign Policy"
  (December 23, 2007)

---

A tip of the hat to CNN_Networks, on Twitter, for the heads-up on their article.

Sean Penn: Passionate Defender of Hugo Chavez

Another reason I'm glad this isn't the 'good old days,' when ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS decided what the masses got to see on television, and The New York Times, along with a few other northeastern papers, led the way for all those lesser newspapers.

"If Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn had his way, any journalist who called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a dictator would quickly find himself behind bars.

"First Amendment be damned . . . If Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn had his way, any journalist who called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a dictator would quickly find himself behind bars.

"Penn, appearing on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday, defended Chavez during a segment in which he detailed his work with the JP Haitian Relief Organization, which he co-founded.

" 'Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it' said Penn, winner of two Best Actor Academy Awards. 'And this is mainstream media, who should -- truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.'..."
(March 8, 2010)

I understand Mr. Penn's point of view quite well. I grew up less than two blocks from a college campus, and was immersed in America's dominant culture for decades.

Looks like things haven't changed much. As far as the self-described best and brightest are concerned, America and Venezuela are just alike. Except Venezuela isn't a 'racist, hateful, polluting, warmonger capitalist oppressor.'

It's true, sort of. Venezuela is a federal republic, just like the United States. We're a "Constitution-based federal republic" - but that's pretty close. (CIA World Factbook) Venezuela has a president, too: it's quite a popular title for the boss man of a country, these days.

And yes, Venezuela has elections. For that matter, so does Iran.

Welcome to the Information Age

I checked. Sean Penn was born in 1960: the start of a - remarkable - decade. My guess is that he truly, passionately, believes that Hugo Chavez is a fine fellow. After all, he was elected. And, at least as importantly, despises America. That last is a vital point, for anyone who wants to be considered 'intelligent' in some circles.

After all, 'everybody knows' that America is the embodiment of all that is icky. And if you don't agree, you're 'unintelligent.'

There's nothing like quite peer pressure to keep folks in line.

I'm not convinced that democracy, federal republics, or even elections are a guarantee that competent, caring people get into executive positions. I think America has a good system: but that's another topic.

So, since this is America, Mr. Penn can publicly express the opinion that reporters should be jailed for disagreeing with him. And, so far, reporters are free to report on Mr. Penn's remarks.

When I was growing up, the three commercial television networks plus (later) PBS were it as far as television programming was concerned. When network news came into its own: if they didn't think something was newsworthy, you didn't see it on television. If they did, you saw it. Over and over.

American newspapers weren't as rigidly structured: but since the sun rises over the east coast first, editors for papers like The New York Times were the first to start scanning the welter of information coming over the wire. They decided what would be 'in the news' for that day.

And other editors, often with smaller staffs, would look to The New York Times and it's cousins for guidance. They didn't have to: but with deadlines and a limited staff, it made sense to save a little time and assume that The New York Times editors knew what they were doing.

What everybody seems to have missed is that The New York Times is a hometown paper for New York City's upper crust. Nothing wrong with that: but I'm glad that we've got other information resources now.

Related posts:

• "Iraq, Elections, the Usual News, and Kids With Inky Fingers"
  (March 7, 2010)
• "Wouldn't It be Nice, if Nobody Ever Questioned Election Results?"
  (February 8, 2010)
• "Iran, Twitter, and the Responsibilities of Proper British Gentlemen"
  (December 29, 2009)
• "Commie Plots, Cholesterol, Frank Burns, Hugo Chavez, and 2012"
  (November 15, 2009)
• "Venzuela's Chavez, America, and Freedom: It Could be Worse"
  (August 1, 2009)
• "Who Needs Facts? Cultural Assumptions and Politics"
  (July 24, 2009)
• "North Korea and the Kim Jong Dynasty: Not All Countries are the Same"
  (June 9, 2009)
• "Guinea, Military Rule, and Terrorism: Beware Hasty Judgment"
  (December 29, 2008)
  • Think
    • 'Military government = bad?'
    • 'Democracy = good?'
  • Maybe: and maybe not.
• "The New York Times, Insularity, and Assumptions"
  (October 21, 2008)
• "United States of America: 232 Years in the Freedom Business"
  (July 3, 2008)
• "Global Patriot Reporting: Anti-American Bias? Could Be"
  (March 25, 2008)
• "U.S. Warship Kills Innocent Egyptian!! No Wonder Everybody Hates America!!!"
  (March 24, 2008)

In the news:

• "Sean Penn Wants Reporters Jailed for Calling Chavez 'Dictator'"
  FOX 411, FOXNews (March 8, 2010)

Commie Plots, Cholesterol, Frank Burns, Hugo Chavez, and 2012

In the "good old days," when I was growing up, a vocal portion of the American populace were convinced that commie plots were behind just about everything they didn't like.

By the time I was paying attention, they had a declining influence over the American government's decisions. In my opinion their greater contribution to the culture was a fairly steady stream of gaffes, and being a highly identifiable group for comedians to joke about, satirists to satirize, and writers to use as the basis for memorable - if somewhat two-dimensional - characters like Frank Burns of M*A*S*H.

That was then, this is now. Acid rain, the terrible dangers of electrical transmission lines, and global warming, have replaced "commie plots" as effective rallying cries. Although not for the same people as were swayed by the likes of Wisconsin's Senator Joseph McCarthy, of course. It's hard to imagine a politician building his or her campaign on the claim that there are some number of known communists in the State Department.

Or, if some politico was crazy enough to try - winning a state or national election.

Hugo Chavez, Weather Control, Democracy and All That

This afternoon, discussing western-hemisphere politics and cultural history with my oldest daughter, we ran over the idea that democracy was the only viable, or for that matter, decent, form of government.

The idea died at the scene.

Our conversation ricocheted in another direction: which has even less to do with the general topic of this blog than this post.

The encounter with one of the basic assumptions of many Americans - that democracy is the only "right" way to run a country - reminded me of something I wrote about a year ago:

Military Rule as the Ideal Form of Government

No, I don't really think so, but look at this:

• Government by Religious Leaders
  Example: Afghanistan under the Taliban
  Result: Terrorism
• Government by Monarch
  Example: Saudi Arabia
  Result: Terrorists
  • (15/19 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis)
• Government by Elected Leaders
  Example: Somalia
  Result: Terrorists - and pirates
• Government by Military Ruler
  Example: Guinea
  • Assuming that the elections were as faked as critics claim
  Result: No terrorism (and no pirates, either)

You see?! That 'proves' that military rule is superior to old-fashioned monarchies, theocracies, and constitutional democracies.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Pretty obvious, isn't it? I carefully selected examples that supported my claim. That can make for effective propaganda, but it's not good reasoning.

As a matter of fact, I don't have the visceral, reflexive revulsion that many Americans have toward the idea of having a country run by military or religious rulers. I think it depends on what individuals are running the show, and which side of the eighteenth century most of the country's people live on.
(December 29, 2008)

Hugo Chavez is the leader of a constitutional democracy. Venezuela's current constitution dates from December 30, 1999 - and President Chavez was elected in 2006 by a respectable margin: 62.9% to 36.9%. The next election for the Venezuelan president is in 2012.¹

The Mayan "Long Count," and 2012; and 7138; and 12263; and 17388; and ---

Which brings up the point of this post. Quite a number of people seem to assume that 2012 will be when the world ends.

As a matter of fact, December 21, 2012, is when a "Long Count" cycle of the Mayan calendar will end - assuming that the current Long Count started on August 11, 3114 BC. If it started on August 13 - which is possible - the cycle re-starts on December 23, 2012. It'll also re-start in the spring of 7138, summer of 12263, autumn of 17388, and so on.²

Western civilization's calendar uses a base-ten numeric system, and involves centuries and millennia. We just experienced the end of one of our 'long cycles' - December 31, 1999 - and Y2K went past without an apocalypse. (Yes, there was a real issue with legacy software - which encouraged some long-overdue upgrades and re-engineering.)

I don't expect to influence people who are convinced that:

• Commie plots are behind every disagreeable event
• We're all gonna die from
  • Acid rain
  • Cholesterol (high or otherwise)
  • Global warming
  • The end of a Mayan calendrical cycle

On the other hand, I think there's some merit in reminding the rest of us that assumptions are a convenient mental shortcut - and should be re-considered now and again.

Related post:

• "Guinea, Military Rule, and Terrorism: Beware Hasty Judgment"
  (December 29, 2008)

In the news:

• "Chavez asking Cubans to 'bomb clouds' amid drought"
  Reuters, via Thomson Reuters Foundation AlertNet (November 15, 2009)

Background:

• ¹ Venezuela
  • "Venezuela"
    World Factbook, CIA (last updated November 11, 2009)
• ² Mayan calendar
  • "Converting from the Mayan Calendar"
    University of Nevada, Reno
  • "Mayan Calendar"
    Pomona College, Claremont, California
  • "What's going to happen on December 21st 2012?"
    Curious About Astronomy?

---

Hugo Chavez may, eventually, be the basis of a character as colorful and memorable as Frank Burns. From today's news:

"Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he will join a team of Cuban scientists on flights to "bomb clouds" to create rain amid a severe drought that has aroused public anger due to water and electricity rationing.

"Chavez, who has asked Venezuelans to take three-minute showers to save water, said the Cubans had arrived in Venezuela and were preparing to fly specially equipped aircraft above the Orinoco river.

" 'I'm going in a plane; any cloud that crosses me, I'll zap it so that it rains,' Chavez said at a ceremony late on Saturday with family members of five Cubans convicted of spying in the United States...."
(Reuters)

Venzuela's Chavez, America, and Freedom: It Could be Worse

For those whose preferred reality does not include viewing Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in anything but a favorable light, this article can be called some kind of plot:

"At least 34 private radio stations in Venezuela were closed indefinitely Friday, and 206 more were at risk of being shut down, a government official said.

"The stations were closed for various reasons, including expired permits and operation by unauthorized personnel, said Diosdado Cabello, minister of Public Works and Housing...."

"...A few hours before, the government raided the home of Globovision President Guillermo Zuloaga, an avid hunter, to see whether he had killed any protected animals. It was the second raid on Zuloaga's home in two weeks...."

"...Venezuelan officials have repeatedly denied any political motives. Chavez has labeled as "terrorists" any TV station owners who criticize the government."
(CNN)

Globovision is affiliated with CNN - and it's 'obvious' that CNN is just trying to embarrass Chavez - and probably slaughter endangered species, too.

Criticism is not Terrorism

When people with sincerely-held beliefs get into positions of authority, it seems very easy for them to forget that those who don't agree with them are not necessarily 'against' them. At least not in the same sense that Al Qaeda is against contemporary Western civilization.

Chavez the Sensitive

Venezuela's Chavez has, I think, shown a great deal of sensitivity in avoiding the appearance of stamping out people with unwanted views. As the CNN article points out, each radio station was put off the air for legal reasons - and not, officially, because they don't approve of Venezuela's leader.

My guess is that eventually Venezuelan' authorities will find evidence that a creature resembling a member of some endangered species was killed by Globalvision's head. And, again officially, Globabvision will be shut down - but not because they criticize Chavez.

Iran: Criticizing Our Election is War Against God

In sharp contrast to Venezuelan leaders' efforts to keep up appearances, Iran's Ayatollahs are somewhat more forthright: Criticizing their election results is waging war against God. According to one of them. Others seem to have taken a more practical approach: judging from the number of disappearances and shooting deaths in Iran lately.

Criticism is Not Terrorism

I suppose terrorists could be considered an extreme sort of political activist, but I think there's a big difference between writing your Senator, carrying a sign, and blowing up a federal building. I'm not all that pleased with American police, foreign or domestic, but I'm not a terrorist.

Unless "terrorist" is defined as anyone who is not completely aligned with the approved positions as defined by a nation's leaders.

It Can't Happen Here, Right?

America has a pretty good track record, on average, of allowing people to speak their minds and then keep breathing. I sincerely hope that things stay that way.

Some disturbing ideas came down the pike this year, from government-sponsored organizations. Ron Paul supporters, pro-life people, and American veterans have been identified, by various authorities, as potential terrorists.

I'm grateful for the "potential" part of these goofy accusations: but it's still disturbing.

Related posts:

• "Protesting Election Fraud is 'Waging War Against God' - Ayatollah Khatami"
  (June 28, 2009)
• "Of President Obama, Politics, and the Another War-on-Terror Blog"
  (June 21, 2009)
• "Right-Wing Extremists Really Are Terrorists, Sometimes"
  (June 6, 2009)
• "Pro-Life People - "Domestic Terrorists and Violent Racketeers": Who Knew?"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (June 1, 2009)
• "DHS Report Identifying Veterans and Pro-Lifers as Potential Terrorists (Quietly) Withdrawn"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 14, 2009)
• "Homeland Security Report: American Veterans are Potential Terrorists - I am Not Making This Up"
  (April 15, 2009)
• "Sounds of Silence: 2009"
  (March 31, 2009)
• "Missouri Focus Group MIAC: Ron Paul Supporters May Be Terrorists"
  (March 23, 2009)
• "Pro-Life? You May be a Dangerous Domestic Terrorist! MIAC Says So"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 23, 2009)
• "Equality? Rule of Law? Limited Government?!"
  (March 14, 2009)
• "Fear of Right-Wing Extremism: Commie-Hunting in Reverse"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 19, 2009)

In the news:

• "Dozens of radio stations shut down in Venezuela "
  CNN (August 1, 2009)

Zelaya, Honduras, and History

This post is a bit off-topic for this blog, but please bear with me.

Jose Manuel Zelaya was president of Honduras until a military coup ousted him recently. Honduras has a new president now, selected by the Honduran Congress. Roberto Micheletti has been sworn in as the provisional president of Honduras.

I haven't been following the Zelaya administration at all closely, but I gather that

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wants Zelaya back in power. No surprises there, Chavez and Zelaya are on the same page, politically.

The United Nations unanimously resolved that they want Zelaya running Honduras. The resolution isn't so surprising to me, but the unanimity seems a little out of character for the U.N.

American President Barack Obama said:

"... President Obama on Monday called the turmoil in Honduras a step backward from the 'enormous progress of the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions in Latin America.'

" 'We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras,' Obama said...." (CNN)

For a leader who has been accused of allowing tons of cocaine to go through Honduras on its way to America, Mr. Zelaya is quite popular. Granted, that cocaine accusation was made by the people who ousted him.

The cocaine charge isn't as wild as it may sound. Mr. Zelaya apparently asked the United States to legalize cocaine last year - apparently to reduce the murder rate in Honduras. (La Prensa - my Spanish isn't all that good, so I may have missed something.)

Jose Manuel Zelaya Liked Being President

What may actually have triggered Zelaya's ouster was his enthusiasm for being president. The Honduran constitution includes term limits for the president. Zelaya was elected in 2006, for a four-year term. Under the present constitution, in 2010 Honduras would elect a new president.

Zelaya didn't like that, and tried to push a new and (by his standards) improved constitution through. (Latin American Herald Tribune)

The Honduran congress rejected Zelaya's constitution, and placed limits on executive power in Honduras. (Daily Focus blog, A.Q.) Somewhere after that, the coup happened and Congress selected a provisional president, Roberto Micheletti.

Why the Enthusiasm for Zelaya?

It's hardly surprising that the leader of a small country who likes being in charge, and wants America to legalize cocaine has some support. Some might see him as an underdog, either upholding the position of Honduras as a transshipment point for drugs, or protecting his people from American drug crimes. Others might simply think that anyone who wants to legalize cocaine is groovy.

But when Chavez, Obama, and the entire United Nations want Zelaya back in power, there almost has to be something else going on.

Setting the lizard people and other conspiracy theories aside, I think there may be a fairly reasonable - if perhaps misguided - motive behind support for Zelaya.

The key, I think, are in four phrases used by President Obama:

• Step backward
• Enormous progress
• Democratic traditions
• Latin America

I remember the days when a comedian could refer to some Latin American country as a place where they change their government about as often as they change their underwear. Even then, that was an exaggeration, but Latin American countries had earned the reputation for lively politics: whose debates were often conducted with machine guns.

That was then. There really has, I think, been a change in the political climate of Latin America. Those news items of a former presidente committing suicide (officially) as another junta's troops move in aren't routine any more.

World leaders tend to be at least as old as I am. Maybe they remember the 'good old days,' too. They may believe that it's better to have a groovy president with a taste for power running Honduras, than return to the days of juntas and coups.

This is Not a Political Blog

This is another post where I have to point out that this is not a political blog. I don't want President Obama to succeed because he's a democrat, or fail because he's not a Republican, or Libertarian, or whatever.

If you've been following this blog, you know that I had lively apprehensions about what sort of president Barack Obama the candidate would be. He's proven to be much more practical than I'd feared: as I've written quite often, "it's different, when you're in charge."

That's not to say that I am for Barack Obama. I'm not against him, either. What I am for is the American way of running a country: which includes a degree of freedom which is, in my view, both precious and rare.

A phrase which dropped out of favor during one of my terms in college is "rule of law." From the time that a Babylonian ruler had laws literally carved in stone and put on public display to this hour, I think societies have fared better when there were laws that were both reasonable and enforced.

Taking that view, I must concede that Zilaya's ouster may, in fact, have been illegal. In which case he should, by law, be reinstated as president.

However, if his ouster was illegal, and if he becomes the Honduran president again, I think it would be well for his current supporters to keep an eye on him. From an American point of view, laws apply to those in authority as well as those who are not.

Which brings up the perennial scandals in office, which I think demonstrate not so much the shortcomings of law as the imperfections of humanity.

Vaguely related posts:

• "Obama Ignorant, Exporting Terrorism: Chavez Says So"
  (March 22, 2009)
• "Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, India, and the Lizard People"
  (January 14, 2009)
• "Someone in the CIA Lied: That's Why There's an Inspector General"
  (November 20, 2008)
• "Just When You Think it Can't Get Weirder"
  (April 8, 2008)
• "What a Country! Flower Children vs. the U.S. Marines"
  (February 1, 2008)
• "Iranians at Monkey Point: Economic Development, or Monkeying Around?"
  (December 18, 2007)

News and views:

• "U.S. Is Hopeful for Political Settlement in Honduras"
  The Wall Street Journal (July 1, 2009)
• "Zelaya heads to Panama after Washington meeting - US"
  Reuters (July 1, 2009)
• "American nations condemn Honduran coup"
  CNN (July 1, 2009)
• "Ousted Zelaya to be arrested if returns to Honduras"
  Reuters (June 30, 2009)
• "U.N.: Zelaya should be returned to power in Honduras"
  CNN (June 30, 2008)
• "Zelaya accused of drug ties"
  Yahoo! News (June 30, 2009)
• "Police clash with demonstrators in Honduran capital"
  CNN (June 29. 2009)
• "Honduran Congress names provisional president"
  CNN (June 28, 2009)
• "Congress Bars President Zelaya from Holding Referendum"
  Daily Focus blog, Americas Quarterly (June 24, 2009)
• "Zelaya sugiere a EUA legalizar drogas"
  La Prensa (February 23, 2008)
• "Thousands March Against Zelaya’s Plan to Change Constitution"
  Latin American Herald Tribune (undated)

Obama Ignorant, Exporting Terrorism: Chavez Says So

From some of tonight's news, you'd think George W. Bush was still in office.

"CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela called President Obama 'ignorant' on Sunday, saying he has a lot to learn about Latin America.

"Mr. Chávez said he had been ready to name a new ambassador in Washington, but put it on hold after the new American president accused him of 'exporting terrorism' and being an obstacle to progress in the region...." (AP, via The New York Times)

President Hugo Chávez and the American Exporter of Terrorist

Does that "ignorant" epithet sound familiar? It should. People who aren't in line with some political views are "ignorant" - according to those who are convinced that their views are the only possible ones. Other adjectives get used, too, like "irresponsible," but "ignorant" seems quite popular.

As for what Chávez (Chavez, for those who don't have extended fonts) says, part of it is true. I'm sure that President Obama doesn't know everything there is to know about Latin America. To some extent, I think everyone is ignorant in the sense that each of us lacks omniscience, even in relatively restricted areas of knowledge.

The rest: nothing new here, except this time it's Obama in the White House.

There is a debatable point in Chavez' complaints about President Obama. Cuba isn't invited to the 5th annual Summit of The Americas in Trinidad and Tobago this April. Hugo Chavez says Cuba should be there.

In a way, with a careful selection of facts, he's got a point. Cuba has a very stable government: Cuba's only had two leaders since 1959, both Fidel's and Raul's title was "President," and Cuba has elections. So, someone could say that Cuba is a stable democracy. I think that person would be missing a few vital points, but that's another matter.

I think this news is interesting, but not important.

About two and a half millennia back, Heraclitus said: "Nothing endures but change." These days, you might be more likely to hear, "the more things change, the more they stay the same," but I'd say that Heraclitus still has a point. ("The more things change..." is attributed to Alphonse Karr. What he actually wrote was "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.")

Calling someone "ignorant" because he or she doesn't agree with you has been common all my life, and doesn't show any signs of fading away.

More-or-less related posts:

• ""Axis of Oil" - Slippery Situation for Next President"
  (October 3, 2008)
• "The War on Terror: Yes, It's Important"
  (July 20, 2008)
• "Just When You Think it Can't Get Weirder"
  (April 8, 2008)
• " 'Liberal Fascism Explained:' This Book Should Get More Attention"
  (February 7, 2008)
  • (No, I don't think all liberals are fascists)
• "Iranians at Monkey Point: Economic Development, or Monkeying Around?"
  (December 18, 2007)
• "In the News: Anxious Republicans, Castro and Chavez are Friends, and, oh, yes: Israel Destroyed Syrian Nuclear Reactor"
  (October 14, 2007)

In the news:

• "Chávez Denounces Obama as 'Ignorant'"
  The New York Times (March 22, 2009)
• "Venezuelan president questions Cuba's exclusion from Americas Summit"
  Xinhua (March 23, 2009)
• "Obama is a 'poor ignoramus': Chavez"
  The Age (Australia) (March 23, 2009)

Just When You Think it Can't Get Weirder

This blog's focus is on the War on Terror, which at present is most active in the Middle East. That's why so many posts involve events from around the east end of the Mediterranean to India.

And Venezuela isn't the first country you'd think of in connection with the War on Terror. Under the leadership of Hugo Chavez, though, Venezuela has become a peculiar player in the conflict between radical Islam and the west.

That's Odd: Chavez Honored in Tehran

For example, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez received the Islamic Republic Medal in 2006, from Iran's President Ahmadinejad, at Tehran University, for supporting Iran against nuclear regulators. President Ahmadinejad said: "He is the one who has resisted imperialism for years and has defended the interests of his and other Latin American countries," about the Venezuelan leader.

Despite that award, I don't think that Chavez' government is quite in line with the rulers of Iran, Sudan, and other countries whose rulers think they're defending Islam against the wicked west.

That's Weird: "The Simpsons" Banned in Venezuela

A television channel in Venezuela took "The Simpsons" off the air. They had a good reason. Televen TV station's Elba Guillen explained the situation quite clearly: "It had to be taken off," she said. "They consider it to be a series that isn’t appropriate for that time because it isn’t appropriate for children." (More at Chavez: 'No Simpsons For You Venezuela' " MiamiPress.net (April 8, 2008).)

Venezuela Replaces "The Simpsons" with "Baywatch Hawaii"

The Venezuelan regulatory agency that replaced "The Simpsons" with "Baywatch Hawaii" explained that airing the cartoon at that hour might violated national regulations regarding "messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents."

I have to agree with the Venezuelan regulators, sort of. IMDB describes "Baywatch Hawaii" in quite bland terms: "Television series about a cadre of attractive lifeguards who patrol a crowded recreational beach." This does not do justice to the "Baywatch" televised drama and its cast, which includes outstanding performers such as:

• Jeremy Jackson
• Chris Fiore
• Brooke Burns
• Alexandra Paul
• Yasmine Bleeth
• Pamela Anderson

I submit that "Baywatch Hawaii" provides viewers with detailed views of the results of health exercise, as well as the exceptional tone and well-rounded talents of its cast.

Moreover, consider which leading character displays a more mature, fully-developed, woman: Marge Simpson, or Casey Jean 'C.J.' Parker?

---

Although American mainstream news has been maintaining a polite reticence over Venezuela's programming choice, British news media has been having fun with the Simpsons/Baywatch choice:

"Venezuela swaps The Simpsons for Baywatch "
The Telegraph (UK) (April 8, 2008)

Iranians at Monkey Point: Economic Development, or Monkeying Around?

There's a major project in the works in Central America that could be good news for Nicaragua and, in the long run, America. But I'm very concerned about what may actually be going at Monkey Point.

Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Iran have teamed up to compete with the Panama Canal. Their plan is to set up a deep-water port at Monkey Point on Nicaragua's east coast and run pipelines, a highway, and a railroad to the Pacific coast.


View Larger Map

In strictly economic terms, the project makes sense: to me, at least. I'd like to see every country with a lively domestic economy, and a lot of foreign trade. My motives aren't entirely disinterested. The more comparatively wealthy a nation is, the more likely the people there are to buy American agricultural products, computers, and all the rest of things American companies make. And that will, indirectly, help me.

Nicaragua's economy isn't doing too well these days. It has:

• Among the most unequal distribution of income on Earth.
• The third lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere
• Energy shortages that stunt growth

It's not all bad news in Nicaragua. In addition to the Monkey Point project, Nicaragua's getting getting foreign help:

• Foreign debt reduction with the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative
• Over $800 million in debt relief from the Inter-American Development Bank
• Nicaragua has ratified the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which should attract foreign business, creating jobs and economic development
  (and, I suspect, news pieces about exploitation and/or unfair foreign competition

Even though it will probably benefit the Nicaraguan economy, not everybody is happy about what I call the Monkey Point Project.

After the second military helicopter in two days came to Monkey Point, a delegation of Rama Indian and Creole locals wanted to know who had landed on their territory. They didn't appreciate the newcomers' refusal to identify themselves, and expressed their displeasure with machetes.

The locals tell time by the sun and tides, live on fish and jungle animals, and aren't at all eager to be dragged through a few thousand years of economic, political, and technological development.

Besides, quite a few of them fought with Contras against the Nicaraguan President Ortega a few years ago, and might be against an Ortegan project, even if they were in a better position to benefit from it.

The people on Monkey Point aren't the only ones who don't like what's happening on their land. The "San Antonio Express-News" reports that Iran may be planning to use its influence in Nicaragua's Monkey Point Project to stage attacks on America.

The idea of Nicaragua as a staging point for terrorist attacks isn't as crazy as it may seem. The country's about a thousand miles away from the American southern states, with regular, convenient commercial flights between Managua and Miami.

Then, there's the reputation that the three "Monkey Point Project" countries have earned:

• Nicaragua
  A corrupt government gave way to Marxist Sandanista rule in the late seventies, then free elections in the nineties ended Sandanista rule, but a 2006 election returned (former?) Sandanista Daniel Ortega Saavedra to power
  President Ortega has said that he isn't Marxist any more, and wants peace.
  That may be true: People change, and the Cold War is over. The Department of Homeland Security didn't seem concerned, a few months ago.
• Venezuela
  More-or-less benevolent generalissimos ran the country for most of the first half of the 20th century. They helped the country's petroleum industry and let some social reforms happen. Elected governments have run the country since 1959. The latest president is Hugo Chavez, who's held the post since 1999. President Chavez has said
  • "I have said it already, I am convinced that the way to build a new and better world is not capitalism. Capitalism leads us straight to hell."
  • "I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet."
  • "A coup happened in Venezuela that was prepared by the U.S. What do they want? Our oil, as they did in Iraq."
  • "The left is back, and it's the only path we have to get out of the spot to which the right has sunken us, ... Socialism builds and capitalism destroys."
  • (In reference to President Bush's September 19, 2006 speech at the U.N.) "The devil came right here... And it still smells of sulfur today."
  • "[The planet] is being destroyed under our own noses by the capitalist model, the destructive engine of development, ... every day there is more hunger, more misery thanks to the neo-liberal, capitalist model."
  If he was a speaker on the American college and university circuit, Hugo Chavez could probably make a good living: although I think he'd have to avoid cracks like that "neo-liberal" remark. As the leader of a nation with significant oil wealth, and one which engages in trafficking in persons - providing women and children for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor to places like Spain, the Netherlands, and Caribbean nations - I'm very uncomfortable with President Chavez's acknowledged beliefs.
• Iran
  The nation was called Persia until 1935, became an Islamic Republic in 1979, and has been ruled by the Supreme Leader, learned Islamic scholar who answers only to to the Assembly of Experts. The current leadership set the tone for its administration by raiding the U.S. embassy and kidnapping the people inside. The current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made it clear that he doesn't want Israel to exist, a preference that quite possibly extends to many infidel nations.

The idea of these three nations cooperating to set up a globally significant transportation system a few hours south of America should be a concern to people who prefer a free market and religious tolerance to what Presidents Chavez and Ahmadinejad offer. As for President Ortega, he may have found a substitute for his Cold War patron in the anti-American and oil-rich rulers of Venezuela and Iran.

In the News: Anxious Republicans, Castro and Chavez are Friends, and, oh, yes: Israel Destroyed Syrian Nuclear Reactor

Yesterday, the New York Times broke the news that Israeli jets destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor. One that was under construction, at any rate. Some other news services picked it up, too. This is news: It's the second reactor that Israel has destroyed. The first one was Saddam Hussein's, back in 1981.

This afternoon, it's back to business as usual for top news items:

• "More G.O.P. Lawmakers Voice Unease"
• "Castro calls Chavez during live broadcast"
• "9 die as car bomb blasts minibus in Iraq"

The revelation of a super-top-secret raid destroying a nuclear reactor in a dubiously-responsible country apparently isn't as interesting as angsty Republicans and a car bombing in Iraq.

The New York Times article about the Israeli raid raised an interesting point. Syria was the only Arab country to criticise the raid.

Maybe Islamic states in the Middle East didn't want Syria to have nuclear warheads on its Scud missiles any more that Israel did. It must be irksome to be rescued by Jews. Again.

All the News We Want to Print?

I realize that news has to present a changing face, or people lose interest, but I'm impressed at how a car bomb killing nine people headed for worship at a Shiite mosque, tragic as it is, is more important than a top-secret raid that changed the strategic situation in the Middle East.

The old saying, "you can't see the forest for the trees" seems to apply here. Watching and reading what's on the news, it's easy to get the impression that the war on terror is nothing but an unending succession of car bombings and tragic civilian causalities.

Is it any wonder that so many people think that the U.S. freeing Iraq from Saddam Hussein, and helping the new Iraqi government get itself organized is a bad idea? And, are less than enthusiastic about the war on terror in general?

More about the Israeli raid on Syria's nuclear reactor:

• "No Radioactive Kimchi: Israel Blew Up a Syrian Reactor"
  (October 14, 2007)
• "Radioactive Kimchi, or Nuclear Bomb Material?"
  (September 23, 2007)
• "Nuclear Materials from North Korea, Sand, or Radioactive Kimchi?"
  (September 18, 2007)