RIP(or is it RIH?) Hugo Chavez

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Dont think he was a crazy dictator ... not enuff self awarded medals. It's the only way to really tell.

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compare:

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Didn't post any of the Kim Jongs ... Best Korea saves money not making fancy medals to pass the savings on to you.
 

Cutlery

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There is/was such a debate, given how he ran the country, intimidated the media, brought the judiciary to heel, used state funds to support his party, and so on. No different than with Putin in Russia or Mugabe in Zimbabwee. I would say that Chavez and Putin aren't or weren't outright dictators, but they're certainly authoritarian leaders who are/were well on their way to becoming dictators. Mugabe I'd say is, but given that he's been "elected" and ostensibly agreed to share power with his opposition (at least in theory), I don't think there's a hard and fast distinction between he and the other two.

And keep in mind, the author of that article went on to say that he wasn't a dictator or a democrat, but a hybrid. I think that's pretty accurate. Not to mention that he said such debate missed the more important points of his leadership, like performance and competence.
From what I understand, there actually is a pretty big difference between Putin and Chavez. Putin is absolutely rigging elections, I don't think anyone anywhere even questions that. He's also pulling shenanigans to keep himself in power (president/PM/President again). Chavez was more of a populist...he actually has the votes to back up his elections, he just provides what the people want to hear.

Like I said, if you guys listen to the coverage on the BBC, there is absolutely nowhere near this amount of worldwide disdain for the man. The media and the governments in NA view this man much differently than the rest of the world did.
 

Eomer

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I saw a couple but they didn't have verifiable information. Like that one you posted referencing some Venezuelan org that apparently doesn't exist or something. I did see the Human Rights Watch article, but it is cray long and without references so it is hard to gauge. Which is kind of what I'm getting at. I don't know what to believe or not believe about this guy based on what we know.
He's somewhere between the asshole dictator that the US media and government would have you believe, and the hero socialist leader who rescued Venezuela from the grips of energy companies, the CIA, and Western imperialism that Araysar and Sean Penn would have you believe.

Cutlery_sl said:
From what I understand, there actually is a pretty big difference between Putin and Chavez. Putin is absolutely rigging elections, I don't think anyone anywhere even questions that. He's also pulling shenanigans to keep himself in power (president/PM/President again). Chavez was more of a populist...he actually has the votes to back up his elections, he just provides what the people want to hear.
What is Putin doing to "rig" elections exactly? From what I know, most of his tactics are actually pretty similar to Chavez's: suppressing opposition parties, media and the judiciary, rewarding loyalists with plumb jobs and the like, and so on. I don't think that there has been any reports of massive, widespread ballot stuffing or violence at polls in Russia, but I could be wrong. Not to mention that Chavez has also pulled "shenanigans" to stay in power pretty much the same way that Putin did. Instead of pulling the pres/PM/pres trick, he just up and changed the constitution to remove term limits. How is that all that much different?
 

Obtenor_sl

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Yeah, I Hope he's rotting in hell for all the shit he did, not just to me, but my family, friends and everybody else in my country that's all I'm going to say.
 

Loser Araysar

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National News


Thursday, March 7, 2013
Flag Flap in Houston
CITGO lowers United States, Texas and Venezuelan flags
By KTRH's Cliff Saunders




If you drove by CITGO's corporate headquarters yesterday you would have seen what many consider a disturbing sight.

Many Houstonians are up in arms after driving by CITGO's Eldridge Parkway headquarters and noticing the U.S., Texas and Venezuelan flags being flown at half staff, and you let your feeling show on Matt Patrick's afternoon show.

"I gave them a call, and the operator told me that it was in observance and respect of the death of Hugo Chavez," Teddy told Matt Patrick on his afternoon show on The 9-5-0 yesterday.

Teddy wasn't satisfied with the company's explanation.

"I told the person that answered the phone that if she had a problem with raising the flag back up that I could come down and do it for her," he said.

And it wasn't just at the corporate headquarters. Flags were at half staff at a refinery in Corpus Christi as well.

A caller named 'Doc' told Patrick, "I called their facilities manager and led a march of about 800 patriots from one of my Facebook pages."

Doc also said he would head down to the corporate headquarters and take matters into his own hands if necessary.

"I'm ready to go down there. Eldridge isn't far from my house. I'll either remove the flag or I will put it at full mast," he stated.

CITGO, a Venezuelan owned company, released a statement explaining why the flags were lowered, confirming it was to honor Chavez, who died on Tuesday from cancer.

The flag may only be lowered for the death of foreign dignitaries if indicated in Presidential instructions.

Click here for video by KTRH television partner KPRC Local 2.
Teddy and Doc sounds like a pair of retards


Steven Tomol ? Top Commenter ? Hemphill, Texas
That's it! Citgo is now off limits to me and my family. Never again will I buy anything from their stations no matter what!
ROFL.
 
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Yeah, I Hope he's rotting in hell for all the shit he did, not just to me, but my family, friends and everybody else in my country that's all I'm going to say.
Sounds like a salty member of the wealthy elite in South America. Boo fucking hoo. Your asinine peer group has ruined South America.
 

Void

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Sounds like a salty member of the wealthy elite in South America. Boo fucking hoo. Your asinine peer group has ruined South America.
Wow. I know nothing about Obtenor, or you, or Chavez really for that matter. But to just jump to that conclusion when you know nothing else about the situation is pretty fucking douchey. Consider my jimmies rustled.

Am I to assume then that you have actually lived under Chavez's rule to be able to speak with such authority?
 

Quineloe

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Ahmadinejad didn't give it away? Seriously?

This guy will not be remembered for being great simply because he just wasn't particularly effective. A good socialist dictator can actually lead a country in certain situations to relatively high economic growth. Sometimes it that's just what it takes to get shit done. Chavez just did not get shit done.
Except when they actually DO manage to pull that one off, they will find themselves murdered by foreign supported coups, see Chile.

I also recommend episode S02E05 of Parks and Recreation (Sister City). I know that show isn't getting much attention here for whatever reason, but it was pretty spot on about it.
 

Obtenor_sl

shitlord
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As with Cuba, all the salty ex-pats tend to come from one extreme of the economic spectrum.
Not that I give a shit but, let's see.

Lived there 28 years of my life, the last 6 in downtown Caracas. Lower middle class here, shared one car with 3 people (an old car) we managed to cover some necessities (I would of course escape by playing video games on a crappy desktop). Back in college Chavez closed down a TV station and we were protesting it (this is 2007). I was detained by his political police saying we had guns and grenades (bullshit, we didn't even have stones) and tortured us for 4 days, in my case they would throw iced water at me, gave me food with maggots, put electrodes in my testicles and discharged electricity, kicked me in the face several times and almost lost an eye and finally before they released me they made cuts in my arm saying they would kill me and make it look like a suicide.
After they released me they kept constantly harassing me, I was now "on the list", I was a "CIA operative" a "traitor" and a soldout to the "elite". I mean, some student who was living on almost minimum wage sharing a small apartment in a shitty place. When I was kidnapped briefly in early 2011 and my mother begging me to leave the country (and her having a small heart attack due to it) I came to the US (I have a brother in here) found a job and now trying to get my life in order.

So there. Believe what you will, I did live under his government for 14 years of my life.
 

Numbers_sl

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Not that I give a shit but, let's see.

Lived there 28 years of my life, the last 6 in downtown Caracas. Lower middle class here, shared one car with 3 people (an old car) we managed to cover some necessities (I would of course escape by playing video games on a crappy desktop). Back in college Chavez closed down a TV station and we were protesting it (this is 2007). I was detained by his political police saying we had guns and grenades (bullshit, we didn't even have stones) and tortured us for 4 days, in my case they would throw iced water at me, gave me food with maggots, put electrodes in my testicles and discharged electricity, kicked me in the face several times and almost lost an eye and finally before they released me they made cuts in my arm saying they would kill me and make it look like a suicide.
After they released me they kept constantly harassing me, I was now "on the list", I was a "CIA operative" a "traitor" and a soldout to the "elite". I mean, some student who was living on almost minimum wage sharing a small apartment in a shitty place. When I was kidnapped briefly in early 2011 and my mother begging me to leave the country (and her having a small heart attack due to it) I came to the US (I have a brother in here) found a job and now trying to get my life in order.

So there. Believe what you will, I did live under his government for 14 years of my life.
Holy shit dude! I remember on FoH you mentioned living in Venezuela. That elite talk is straight out of the old Soviet play book. Good luck with your new life.
 

Void

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Thanks for sharing that Obtenor. Yet another reason why I'm glad to live in America no matter how much everyone tells me I should despise it. Unfortunately, this is the internet, and thus other people know more than you do, no matter what the subject is, and will refuse to back down or change their opinions because that might force them to admit they were wrong about something.