The Washington Post comes straight out and calls the so-called reforms that (T)Hugo Chavez is imposing on Venezuela by the correct name: it is a coup. They denounce both the coup and the Chavez apologists who excuse or turn a blind eye to the situation in Venezuela in an unsigned editorial today.
TENS OF thousands of Venezuelan students marched to the Supreme Court in Caracas last week to protest the new "socialist" constitutional reform that President Hugo Chavez is preparing to impose on the country. On their return, students from the Central University of Venezuela were fired on by gunmen who roared onto the campus on motorcycles. Nine were hurt; university officials later identified the shooters as members of government-sponsored paramilitary groups. That's just one example of the ugly climate of intimidation Mr. Chavez is creating in advance of a Dec. 2 referendum that he expects will formally confirm him as de facto president for life and give him powers rivaling those of his mentor, Fidel Castro.
Mr. Chavez's apologists like to dismiss the Venezuelan forces opposing his deconstruction of democracy — which include the Catholic Church, the private business community and labor unions as well as students — as a corrupt elite. So it's worth noting what some of Mr. Chavez's long-standing allies are saying about his constitutional changes. The political party Podemos, whose members ran for parliament on a pro-Chavez platform, call it "a constitutional fraud." Mr. Chavez's recently retired defense minister, Gen. Ra¿l Isa¿as Baduel, said it was an "undemocratic imposition" and that its approval would amount to "a coup."
The left is, for the most part, completely silent about the situation in Venezuela. So are Democrats in Washington as far as I can tell. It is nice to see the Post break the cone of silence.
The left and the Democrats in Washington are silent about Chavez and the situation in Venezuela for one simple reason – because Chavez takes big time pot shots at President Bush. At every turn good old Hugo goes out of his way to criticize Pres. Bush especially if he can do so in the world press. His attacks are frequent, direct, and personal. This fits right in with the agenda of the left and the Washington Democrats. Why on earth would they say anything against a man they consider a political ally? It’s the old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” syndrome.
This is so sad.
I can’t believe that our most effective intervention would be to send a…lady Senator from New York down to see Hugo and talk to him about freedom and civil rights.