The Amboy Times

Communist Dictator Praises ObamaCare

That's right folks, Fidel Castro hearts ObamaCare.

It perhaps was not the endorsement President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress were looking for.

Don't be so sure.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago.

"We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, adding that it would strengthen the president's hand against lobbyists and "mercenaries."

But the Cuban leader also used the lengthy piece to criticize the American president for his lack of leadership on climate change and immigration reform, and for his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, among many other things.

All Democrat talking points. Is there really any question where progressives are going?

And he said it was remarkable that the most powerful country on earth took more than two centuries from its founding to approve something as basic as health benefits for all.

"It is really incredible that 234 years after the Declaration of Independence ... the government of that country has approved medical attention for the majority of its citizens, something that Cuba was able to do half a century ago," Castro wrote.

...and Cuba will never have the basic human rights gauranteed in our Constitution. That's why your people are willing to risk life and limb to escape your workers paradise.

Kim Jong Il Eharmony

Finding love is so hard.

Chavez v Democracy

Once again, Hugo Chavez continues to choke the voice of the people.

Riot police used tear gas Wednesday to block hundreds of Venezuelans protesting the latest moves by President Hugo Chavez to concentrate his power. The demonstrators said a blacklist of opposition candidates and a series of socialist decrees are destroying what's left of their democracy.

Though the protest of about 1,000 people chanting "freedom!" was small compared to past marches, there is a growing public outcry over the sidelining of key government opponents ahead of state and local elections in November.

Chavez opponents also are outraged by 26 laws the president just decreed, some of them mirroring the socialist measures voters rejected in a December referendum.

"We said in the referendum that we didn't want that, and now he's put it in the decrees," said protester Josefina Bravo, a 59-year-old who wore a sticker reading "No means no" on her baseball cap. "That's the problem we have: All the powers are concentrated in the president."

This is what I said last November in response to Chavez's troops gunning down student protesters. 

Back in May I said,

Chavez is predictably carrying out what America's left habitually accuses Republicans of doing, silencing the opposition with an iron fist. Socialism always ends up having to clamp down on it's critics in order to stay in power, just ask the Cubans.

The clampdown continues, and I promise you it will get worse before it gets better.

I'm really getting tired of being right about Chavez, but such is socialism.

Chavez v English Words

The dictator of Venezuela fears the "dictatorship of Hollywood".

President Hugo Chavez's government is taking its battle against U.S. "imperialism" into Venezuelans' dictionaries, urging state phone company workers to avoid English-language business and tech terms.

Through a campaign launched Monday, newly nationalized CANTV hopes to wean employees and others from words like "staff" ("equipo" is preferred), "marketing" ("mercadeo") and "password" ("contrasena").

Stickers and banners printed up by the company exhort Venezuelans to "Say it in Spanish. Say it with pride."

The Communications and Information Ministry said in a statement that Venezuelans must recover Spanish words that are "threatened by sectors that have started a battle for the cultural domination of our nations."

Other English words targeted include "mouse" (the company prefers "raton"), "meeting" ("reunion") and "sponsor" ("patrocinador") - all of which have become common in Latin American countries.

The leftist president has sought to counter what he calls U.S. cultural imperialism on all fronts, financing Venezuelan cinema as an alternative to the "dictatorship of Hollywood" and forcing radio stations to play more Venezuelan music.

English is still taught in schools alongside other languages, however. And Chavez himself often breaks playfully into English during speeches, sometimes to salute his close friend, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, saying: "How are you, Fidel?"

No tan bueno.

Castro Resigns!

Very good news from the "worker's paradise" of Cuba. Sure his brother is taking over, but at age 76, the clock is ticking closer to democracy.

An ailing, 81-year-old Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying he will not accept a new term when parliament meets Sunday.

The end of Castro's rule — the longest in the world for a head of government — frees his 76-year-old brother Raul to implement reforms he has hinted at since taking over as acting president when Fidel Castro fell ill in July 2006. President Bush said he hopes the resignation signals the beginning of a democratic transition.

Hope for change.

Putin Wins, Chavez loses

Putin's victory is leaving a lot of people feeling that Russia is slipping into it's old Soviet-style government.

European election monitors said Monday that Russia's parliamentary ballot was unfair, hours after President Vladimir Putin's party swept 70 percent of the seats in the new legislature.

The victory paves the way for Putin to remain Russia's de facto leader even after he leaves office next spring. On Monday, Putin described the weekend's election as a vote of confidence in him.

"I headed the United Russia ticket and, of course, it's a sign of public trust," Putin said in televised remarks.

Not exactly.

Garry Kasparov said that Russia’s election were the "dirtiest" in the nation's history.

"There are no illusions that what is being called elections was the most unfair and dirtiest in the whole history of modern Russia," Kasparov said at a news conference, pointing at reports of massive vote violations.

"We fully realize that it's useless to seek the truth in Russian courts," he added.

Kasparov, who heads the Other Russia coalition of opposition groups, was arrested and jailed for five days for leading a protest rally in Moscow on Nov. 24. His group was not allowed to run for parliament.

 

The US isn't impressed either.

The United States on Sunday urged Russia to investigate claims of election day violations, after partial results showed President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party had won 63.6 percent of the vote.

"Early reports from Russia include allegations of election day violations. We urge Russian authorities to investigate these claims," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

The Russian opposition has vowed to challenge what it said were widespread vote violations after early official results showed Putin's United Russia Party had won a huge majority in Sunday's parliamentary polls.

In contrast, wanton anti-American socialist Hugo Chavez lost his election to become President For Life.

Humbled by his first electoral defeat ever, President Hugo Chavez said Monday he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.

"I understand and accept that the proposal I made was quite profound and intense," he said after voters narrowly rejected the sweeping constitutional reforms by 51 percent to 49 percent.

Opposition activists were ecstatic as the results were announced shortly after midnight - with 88 percent of the vote counted, the trend was declared irreversible by elections council chief Tibisay Lucena.

Some shed tears. Others began chanting: "And now he's going away!"

Foes of the reform effort - including Roman Catholic leaders, media freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders - said it would have granted Chavez unchecked power and imperiled basic rights.

Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace that the outcome of Sunday's balloting had taught him that "Venezuelan democracy is maturing." His respect for the verdict, he asserted, proves he is a true democratic leader.

"From this moment on, let's be calm," he proposed, asking for no more street violence like the clashes that marred pre-vote protests. "There is no dictatorship here."

I'm not sure what the difference between President For Life and dictator is...perhaps Castro could explain it to us.

 

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Chavez's Troops Fire on Student Protesters

This is socialism.

Gunmen opened fire on students returning from a march Wednesday in which 80,000 people denounced President Hugo Chávez's attempts to expand his power. At least eight people were injured, including one by gunfire, officials said.

National Guard troops gathered outside the Central University of Venezuela, the nation's largest and a center for opposition to Chávez's government. Venezuelan law bars state security forces from entering the campus, but they could be called in if the university requests them.

The violence broke out after anti-Chávez demonstrators marched peacefully to the Supreme Court to protest constitutional changes that Venezuelans will consider in a referendum next month.

Back in May I said,

Chavez is predictably carrying out what America's left habitually accuses Republicans of doing, silencing the opposition with an iron fist. Socialism always ends up having to clamp down on it's critics in order to stay in power, just ask the Cubans.

The clampdown continues, and I promise you it will get worse before it gets better.

• Chavez Tightens the Noose
• Chavez Prepares for War with US
• Chavez moves to Dictator Mode
• Chavez getting Paranoid
  

Chavez Tightens the Noose

This time he clamps down on private schools.

President Hugo Chavez threatened on Monday to take over any private schools refusing to submit to the oversight of his socialist government, a move some Venezuelans fear will impose leftist ideology in the classroom.

All Venezuelan schools, both public and private, must submit to state inspectors enforcing the new educational system. Those that refuse will be closed and nationalized, Chavez said.

What if those kids want a mind of their own?

"We must train socially minded people to help the community, and that's why the revolution's socialist program is being implemented," said Zulay Campos, a member of a Bolivarian State Academic Commission that evaluates compliance with academic guidelines.

"If they attack us because we're indoctrinating, well yes, we're doing it, because those capitalist ideas that our young people have — and that have done so much damage to our people — must be eliminated," Campos said.

Those darned kids and their free market ideas!

But seriously, how long before Chavez imposes a "Cultural Revolution", or some other such nonsense that leads to a mass graves?

Previous posts;

Chavez prepares for War With US

Chavez Moves to Dictator Mode

Chavez Getting Paranoid

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Chavez Prepares for War with US

This is what happens when you get your news from the Daily Kos. Chavez, who only 3 months ago thought that John Negroponte was out to get him, is apparently becoming unstable. Now his fevered brain has cooked up an invasion plot.

President Hugo Chavez urged soldiers on Sunday to prepare for a guerrilla-style war against the United States, saying that Washington is using psychological and economic warfare as part of an unconventional campaign aimed at derailing his government.

No doubt they were disguised as students, or a TV station.

Dressed in olive green fatigues and a red beret, Chavez spoke inside Tiuna Fort—Venezuela's military nerve-center—before hundreds of uniformed soldiers standing alongside armored vehicles and tanks decorated with banners reading: "Fatherland, Socialism, or Death! We will triumph!"

Now there's slogan to die for.

"We must continue developing the resistance war, that's the anti- imperialist weapon. We must think and prepare for the resistance war everyday," said Chavez, who has repeatedly warned that American soldiers could invade Venezuela to seize control of the South American nation's immense oil reserves.

Sorry Hugo, we have bigger fish to fry.

U.S. officials reject claims that Washington is considering a military attack. But the U.S. government has expressed concern over what it perceives as a significant arms build-up here.

Chavez—a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro—told soldiers the Washington was trying to weaken and divide Venezuelan society, including the armed forces, without resorting to combat.

"It's not just armed warfare," said Chavez, a former army officer who is leading what he calls the "Bolivarian Revolution," a socialist movement named after 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar. "I'm also referring to psychological warfare, media warfare, political warfare, economic warfare."

That explains the military get-up and the speech to the soldiers.

Under Chavez, Venezuela has recently purchased some $3 billion worth of arms from Russia, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets.

Last week, Chavez said he is considering arms purchases, including submarines and a missile-equipped air defense system, as he prepares for a tour of Russia, Belarus and Iran.

"We are strengthening Venezuela's military power precisely to avoid imperial aggressions and assure peace, not to attack anybody," he said Sunday.

Probably to defend against his own people, who are going to be very upset when he follows Castro's footsteps, "President for life".

Chavez Moves to Dictator Mode

Chavez is predictably carrying out what America's left habitually accuses Republicans of doing, silencing the opposition with an iron fist. Socialism always ends up having to clamp down on it's critics in order to stay in power, just ask the Cubans.

Venezuelan police fired tear gas and plastic bullets Monday into a crowd of thousands protesting a decision by President Hugo Chavez that forced a television station critical of his leftist government off the air.

Police fired toward the crowd of up to 5,000 protesters from a raised highway, and protesters fled amid clouds of tear gas. They later regrouped in Caracas' Plaza Brion chanting "freedom!" Some tossed rocks and bottles at police, prompting authorities to scatter demonstrators by firing more gas.

It was the largest of several protests that broke out across Caracas hours after Radio Caracas Television ceased broadcasting at midnight Sunday and was replaced with a new state-funded channel. Chavez had refused to renew RCTV's broadcast license, accusing it of "subversive" activities and of backing a 2002 coup against him.

...and it's only the beginning...

Chavez says he is democratizing the airwaves by turning the network's signal over to public use.

The socialist president accused the network of helping to incite a failed coup in 2002, violating broadcast laws and "poisoning" Venezuelans with programming that promoted capitalism. RCTV's managers deny wrongdoing.

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