Chavez continues to militarize Venezuela Posted by: McQ
on Monday, June 25, 2007
Hugo would make George Orwell proud (OK Orwell wouldn't be so much proud, as amazed that lessons just aren't learned by some). "Oceana" begins to rise in Venezuela thanks to dictator Chavez's machinations and imagination:
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.
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!"
"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.
The US fulfills plays the role of Eurasia or Eastasia to Oceana in Orwell's "1984" and Big Brother Chavez keeps the propaganda flowing:
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."
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.
The opposition tried to speak out:
Opposition leader Julio Borges condemned the president's interest in acquiring weapons, saying the government should focus on reducing violent crime in Venezuela, which has one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America.
"This isn't resolved with military purchases and foreign tours," Borges said. "This is resolved with the determination of having a country with justice."
However it went mostly unheard, because, you see, Big Brother now pretty well controls the media. So let the slogans replace rational thought and we'll watch another state with had admitted problems, but problems the democratic political process most likely could have fixed, go down the road to socialist dictatorial ruin.
I personally would be particularly interested in hearing from Cindy Sheehan. One wonders what her reaction would be to this overtly war mongering stance of her bestest "peaceful" buddy.
ANd Shark;
No kidding. One does tend to follow the other, doesn’t it?
You know it’s really not that surprising; Chavez was a sleeper agent for the Banda Roja marxist insurgent group in the 9 years prior to the coup (re:Foer’s profile of him in the Atlantic)Intereestingly top DISIP (Venezuelan political police) officials; didn’t detect him till it was too late. Some indications were that he was trusted enough to head the OAS military contingent to depose the Haitian junta. Some accounts by ex officials of the DISIP indicate funding by Iranian, Iraqi and other intelligence organizations. Hisgoverning style is essentially a Baathis/Nasserite pastiche with a Caribbean flavor; his method was replicated with lesser success by Morales in Bolivia & Correa in Ecuador.
