Hugo Chavez tries to rebuild macho image

Now that Spanish King Juan Carlos famously has told Hugo Chavez to shut up, and Saudi King Abdullah has reiterated that same sentiment in more diplomatic terms, Chavez is seeking to inflate his macho image. It’s hard to do when Juan Carlos’ phrase has been reproduced as a popular ringtone, and Venezuelans have taken to erecting the phrase as a symbol of solditarity against Chavez. It sparked such anti-Chavez feelings, that at least two blogs have been shut down in Venezuela, as Kate reported last week.

He’s also run afowl of the UN’s International Labor Organization;

The International Labor Organization (ILO) denounced the Venezuelan government on Thursday, accusing it of abusing the rights of business owners to freely organize. At the same time, Colombia was praised for its progress in the protection of labor leaders. Venezuelan authorities rejected the statements, accusing the ILO of manipulating the truth for political reasons.

In a report released on Wednesday, the U.N. labor agency called on the government of President Hugo Chavez to ensure that business groups can operate “free from violence, pressure, or threats of any kind against leaders and members.” The Venezuelan government was also urged to stop legal proceedings against senior officials of Fedecamaras, Venezuela’s major business chamber.

So, Chavez easiest and safest target to build his macho image again is, of course, the United States – just like every other thug who knows we don’t strike them for their words and wild gestures. Safely tucked away from dissenters in Iran, Chavez and his little straightman buddy Ahmadinijad traded shots at the US (Reuters link);

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Monday the “empire of the dollar is crashing,” a day after his country and anti-U.S. ally Iran advocated action over the weakening U.S. currency during an OPEC summit in Riyadh.
 
Chavez, who on Saturday said oil prices could double to $200 per barrel if the United States attacks Iran over its disputed atomic ambitions, spoke to reporters after talks with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“Soon we will not talk about dollars because the dollar is falling in value and the empire of the dollar is crashing,” Chavez said in comments translated into Farsi from Spanish.

“Naturally, by the crash of the dollar, America’s empire will crash,” Chavez said at a joint news conference with Ahmadinejad. The two presidents share the same viewpoint in denouncing U.S. influence in the world.

Always the gentleman, Chavez charmed reporters at an impromptu news conference(Reuters link);

Surrounded by a throng of reporters at an OPEC summit in Saudi Arabia, the president, who enjoys the media spotlight and often answers questions at length, excused himself.

“Look I have to go,” Chavez said in comments aired on Venezuelan state television. “For a while now, I have needed to go to the bathroom and I am going to pee … Do you want me to pee on you?” 

Real men always talk abut peeing on people, you know. 

Back in Venezuela, things aren’t looking so good for for the Bolivarian Buffoon (Reuters link);

Used to trouncing the opposition at the ballot box, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suddenly faces a new foe for a December referendum on scrapping term limits — high-profile disaffected supporters.
 
An allied political party, a respected ex-defense minister, governors and a top legislator have all abandoned Chavez’s socialist coalition helping amplify the opposition’s criticism that his plan to revamp the constitution is authoritarian.

The defections reflect misgivings among Chavez’s majority poor supporters, who still back his oil-financed social development crusade but worry the Cuba ally wants too much power as he brooks little dissent in the OPEC nation.

“We’ve seen so-called ‘group-think’ develop. In other words, if you do not think like me, you are a traitor, you are with the CIA, you are a coup plotter,” said Ismael Garcia of the Podemos party, which split from Chavez’s self-styled “revolution” over the reform package.

Polls show the anti-U.S. leader should win the December 2 vote but that it will be due to low opposition turnout, his personal approval ratings and sweeteners in the package such as reducing the workday and expanding social security benefits. 

So, every time things get dicey at home, Chavez tours the world on his people’s dime. But Lucia writes at Caracas Chronicles that the media shouldn’t count the opposition out yet;

This December is not last December. Standing in line for milk makes voters cranky. And Chávez is not on the ballot. This is important, because some moderate Chavistas may be willing to vote against the reforms even though they’re not entirely ready to give up on him yet. Chávez’s support outside his hard-core base is due to the misiones. But moderate Chavistas are very wary of extreme Chavismo: they don’t like the divisive rhetoric, the Fidel and Mahmoud love affairs, the spending abroad, the RCTV license cancellation, the violence against the students, the insults to the church. And they don’t like many of the reform proposals, either. The very vocal defections of Baduel and Podemos may underline what they themselves are feeling – this revolution is getting out of control.

We may have reached a tipping point for this key segment of voters.

At Venezuelan Politics, Tomas Sancio explains that Chavez’ prediction that the dollar indicates the fall of the United States is pointless blather;

OK, for those of you who are unaware of the official Venezuelan exchange rate, it is a value pegged to the US Dollar (specifically Bs. 2150), not to the Euro.

But then world is laughing at Chavez, and for the first time, he’s starting to hear it.

Category: Economy, Foreign Policy, Hugo Chavez, Politics