Word: venezuelaã
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...just that and not give them more attention. Chavez forces us to study them, however, because sometimes he goes further than simply rubbing shoulders with celebrities. Lately, he has returned to using his country as a plaything for attention. The United States’s increasing role in Colombia, Venezuela??€™s neighbor, maddens Chavez. He lacks a real reason for his ire, besides an apparent obsession with United States imperialist tendencies he believes still alive and active. So Chavez mobilizes his armed forces, sends 15,000 troops to the border, and turns to his greatest megalomaniacal outlet...
...president hosts a talk show for about five hours each Sunday broadcast on state media, addressing current events and showcasing copious on-location footage of Chávez’s social-welfare programs in action. In 2006, Chávez refused to renew the broadcasting license for Venezuela??€™s second largest TV station, which had voiced opposition to Chávez’s policies and may have endorsed a coup against Chávez in April 2002. There are also reports of Chávez sending gangs to harass journalists critical of his administration and laws...
...issue at stake is not term limits in a general sense, but the mechanism by which they were removed. It is theoretically possible to democratically eliminate term limits with a fair election; however, it would be naive to call Venezuela??€™s recent referendum on term limits a fair election. Though the domestic opposition has not challenged the election results, Chávez has gained such a firm grip on the media during his decade in office that he can readily warp the democratic process to suit his ambition...
...patina of democracy to legitimize his aspirations to hold power for life. Since his victory, Chávez has already revealed his wish to remain in power until 2049, when, at 95, he would be older than his inspiration, Fidel Castro, is today. We’ll see if Venezuela??€™s oil wealth can last until then. For the moment, it’s clear that this new referendum is a step backward for Venezuelan democracy...
...until after the referendum. Much like the German parliamentary elections of 1933, this referendum is a high-stakes gamble for absolute political hegemony. With his grip on state power, it would be very hard to remove him democratically once indefinite re-election is constitutionally allowed. So nothing less than Venezuela??€™s democratic institutions are on the line. But, if Venezuelans manage to reject Chavez’s delusions of autocracy once more, there will most likely be no “next time around...