[Styxx]

There's also the funny fact of him trying to strip reporters who speak against him of their citizenship...

[J3Vr6]

And the only reason the poor support them is because a very large portion of these poor live in villages where the only station they receive is his weekly radio broadcast.

[Rictor]

Yes, he was among those who attempted to overthrow the government, one which should be noted had ruled since 1958. However, both in 1998 and 2000, he won the largest majority in recent memory, which should easily legitimize his position.

Being close to Cuba means nothing. You make the mistake of judging the entire world by American standards. Cuba has the among the best literacy rates in the world, excelent health service, education and social programs. They also produce cheap generic medicine, whcih save thousands of lives due to their low cost. For several decades, Castro has been demonized by the Western media, which makes you think that anyone who deals with him is instantly a "bad guy". Perhaps you resent the fact that Venezuela has the balls to excerise its...thats the word.. oh yeah, sovereignty. Venezuela supplies Cuba with oil, and in return Cuba supplies Venezuela with doctors and teachers. Both parties benefit, so whats the problem?

In case you haven't noticed, the various South American in Miami, cheifly Cubans, are total nutters. They're right-wing militants to a degree that makes Wolfowitz blush. And they have near-total power over the political and judicial system of the area. They have openly planned and carried out attacks against Cuban civilian targets, attempted to assassinate political figures and yet despite these crimes, they are sheltered by the US government because they're "our terrorists". And becuase they can bring in lots of votes for Bush. Read up on the persecution of the Cuban 5  for the latest round in the circus that is exile-politics.

The indiginous peoples, mostly poor, have been for decades exluded from the political process. All the power lay with the settled peoples of European origin, the businessmen and the media. And now along comes Chavez who has the audacity to use the country's resources to serve the interests of the majority, instead of the ruling class and foreign oil companies.

I don't see how you could accuse him of being a dictator when he has complied fully with the opposition's every whim. When the majority of the media is against him, when he let the strike go on uninterputed, and when he is cooperating with the recall procedures, though it might very well mean his end...

J3Vr6, from your location I take it that you know some exiles, right?

[J3Vr6]

I know several venezuelans, from all walks of life, and plenty in number.  I haven't met one that was in love with Chavez, and I was heavy into the process of political asylum here (not personally in asylum trial) to have met many venezuelans who were applying for it b/c of Chavez.

Why do you think Chavez didn't want to include the exiled votes in the referendum months ago when they were first done?  Because he knew that they'd push the majority over.  This is like the 3rd time that this referendum has been called, and each time Chavez threw them out for whatever reason or another.  Didn't u hear his press release when he finally gave in?

U also claim that the people gripping are europeans and what not.  What you're not saying is that the people complaining are also the professionals of Venezuela.  Professionals like architects, lawyers, engineers, scholars who should be shaping the future of Venezuela...  You really don't know the real side of the issue if you read it out of a newspaper...  

And thank you, but I'm also one of those little "nutter" cubans you referred to.  You don't have to ask me to read up on something that I've been dealing with my entire life.  My family, on both my mother and fathers side, lost much in cuba.  My father fought on both sides of the fence, becoming the youngest officer in Cuba's history to then flee Cuba and defect b/c of Castro and return in the Bay of Pigs fighting for Cuba's freedom.  He didn't do that because America told him to, but because he loved Cuba... So many feel that the cuban exiles are evil manipulators, but I'm sure many of you weren't forced to lose everything or watch families starve or try to come over 90 miles in a wooden raft or tires because theirs a complete ****head in power there.  If the exiles are anything, it's that their passionate about their homeland like they should be.  Have their been attempts on Castro's life by guerilla exile groups, like Alpha 66? Yes, but that doesn't represent the majority of exiles.  Exiles who had to being their life here with nothing and turned Miami into the capital of Latin America.

YOu also say that cuba has all these great things... Um, Rictor, you're living in the 80's.  Yes, Castro had one of the best healthcare systems in the world, but over the last decade things have deteriorated greatly.

And, btw, Cuba has their own oil supply and doesn't need Venezuela's oil.  What they have done is trying to come into a joint venture.

[vyper]

Wots wrong wit Castro anyway? The yank's have been trying to kill him for years and never managed it. He rawks for that reason alone.

[Bobboau]

but... but Castro hates America, the evil capitalist media mind washing consortium of doom hates him, sevral state run news chanels in nations hostile to western/capitalist ideology suport him, and he's comunist, surely these are signs of his infailability!

and Rictor, rather than spout propagandic statements like "and Chaves will use the nations oil to help the poor rather than the evil rich", why not actualy say what he plans on doing...