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| 2008/6/4-10 [Politics/Domestic/California, Politics/Domestic/SocialSecurity] UID:50149 Activity:low |
6/4 In Venezuela, ratting on neighbor is the law
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flavenez0603sbjun03,0,4071658.story
\_ Hugo Chavez: proving at every turn that scumbaggery knows no
ideological boundaries.
\_ Yeah, he's totally breaking new ground as far as communist
strongmen go...
\_ Funny. Actually, he made several improvements to the country
and he continues to do so; he's also not breaking any ground
on the Civil Liberties front.
\_ Name those improvements. He's a thug like all other thugs.
I hope you don't tell us how he made the trains run on
time.
\_ He nationalized a corrupt oil industry and funneled
at least some of the money to improving conditions for
the poorest Venezuelans.
\_ Wow, so a corrupt politician cum dictator took
property away from corrupt businesses and tossed some
breadcrumbs to the peasants. Yay! He's my friend
now!
\_ I dunno how corrupt the foreign investment of
infrastructure part of the Venezuelan oil industry
was that he nationalized. It looks like he has
embarked on a poorly planned program of massive
socialism to placate the masses and buy their
votes to keep himself in power, without thinking
of the further economic consequences. and I'm a
bleeding heart American liberal.
\_ From Wikipedia:
"By the end of the first three years of his presidency,
Chavez had initiated a land transfer program and had
introduced several reforms aimed at improving the
social welfare of the population. These reforms
entailed the lowering of infant mortality rates; the
implementation of a free, government-funded health
care system; and free education up to the university
level. By December of 2001, inflation fell to 12.3%
the lowest since 1986,[38] while economic growth was
steady at four percent.[39] Chavez's administration
also reported an increase in primary school enrollment
by one million students.[39]"
And that's about it for the good. You're right: he is a
thug. That his thuggery happened to also involve some
social improvements doesn't change that. On the plus
side, he didn't suspend the constitution after the ppl
voted down his Chavez-for-life proposal. On the minus
side, hell, just about everything else. |
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| www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flavenez0603sbjun03,0,4071658.story Hugo Chavez has used his decree powers to carry out a major overhaul of this country's intelligence agencies, provoking a fierce backlash here from human rights groups and legal scholars who say the measures will force citizens to inform on one another to avoid prison terms. The new intelligence law, which took effect last week, requires all Venezuelans and foreigners in the country to comply with requests for information from the agencies, whose secret police and community-monitoring groups are loyal to Chavez. Refusal would result in prison for two to four years for most people and four to six years for government employees. "We are before a set of measures that are a threat to all of us," said Blanca Rosa Marmol de Leon, a justice in Venezuela's highest court, the Supreme Justice Tribunal, in a rare example of public dissent from a court member. "I have an obligation to say this, as a citizen and a judge. This is a step toward the creation of a society of informers." The sweeping changes to the intelligence apparatus reflect an effort by Chavez to assert greater control over public institutions in the wake of several political setbacks in the past year, including a stinging defeat in December of a constitutional reform package that would have expanded his powers. s tory Chavez said the new law was intended to guarantee "national security" against "imperialist attacks." Chavez's new intelligence law authorizes his new intelligence agencies to use "any special or technically designed method" to obtain personal communications. |