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| Venezuela: Chavez Threatens Opposition |
| 2004-02-29 |
| President Hugo Chavez threatened to turn tanks against the capital’s opposition-controlled police force, which he said did nothing to stop marchers from clashing with the National Guard during a two-day summit of developing nations. Chavez on Saturday accused his political opponents of "seeking blood" by marching on the summit, where leaders of poorer countries demanded that industrialized nations dismantle protectionist trade barriers. "If I have to turn tanks on the city police, I will do it," Chavez said as the summit of the Group of 15 concluded Saturday. "I am not going to allow the police to turn into a subversive force." One person died and at least 41 were hurt when opposition marchers clashed Friday with National Guardsmen providing security for the summit. The Caracas police are controlled by Mayor Alfredo Pena, who is sided with the opposition. After a brief calm, hundreds of government foes returned to the streets late Saturday. ...more... Emulating his heroes, Chavez continues to threaten violent confrontation whenever opposed. The Dictator’s Manual clearly states that spilled blood, preferably innocent, is the first key to consolidating power. A single semi-innocent martyr from the Dictator-in-Waiting’s available pool of cannon fodder is best, but a few dozen of the opposition will do in a pinch. Second, a sympathetic press - just a few well-connected morons will do. Once these 2 keys are secured, almost any desired response can be justified. |
| Posted by:.com |
| #5 Mike - interesting. I'm sure if the Gore/Clinton team thought they could pull it off, they would have tried. They must have played out the scenarios and found themselve's on the losing end of all of them. Just like the Miami chad count. |
| Posted by: B 2004-2-29 10:48:14 PM |
| #4 B- My understanding - had the scenario still included the SCOTUS saying "Bush won' - is that the Chief Justice would have sworn in GWB on schedule, as the call had been made that he was legally the President-elect. At that point - be still my beating heart - Clinton and Co. would have been guilty of about a half dozen or so heavy duty crimes against the state. There are a couple of other scenarios tho that had me a lot more rattled. First, Clinton could have declared a national emergency in order to confuse matters even further. Richard Nixon didn't - and couldn't - because we had James Schlesinger as SecDef at the time, and he very quietly put the word out that there would be none of that on his watch, but SecDef Cohen was another matter entirely. The other one - and supposedly this actually got raised by the Gore strategists - was that if a decision couldn't have been made by Inauguration Day, the President Pro Tem of the Senate would have taken over until things got sorted out. Anybody remember who that was at the time? The idea was that they could keep throwing challenges at Bush's victory until they piled up so many false 'wins' that public opinion would turn against Bush. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-2-29 4:08:30 PM |
| #3 Hugo's gradually combining the best of Bob and Fidel. I hope he gets a 9mm headache soon |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-2-29 12:44:20 PM |
| #2 They would choose too kick Clinton out of office. Probably the Secret Service would too. They may have taken orders from him, but those people recognize a dictatorship when they see one. |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-2-29 11:28:58 AM |
| #1 What a crisis! I often wondered what could have happened in our 2000 election if Clinton/Gore had refused to leave office. Military officers and police would have to decide which side they were on - a tough choice. While I don't think they would have been asked to fire on citizens, there would be much consternation about whose orders should be followed. Choose the wrong side and your 20+ year career ends winds up in a jail sentence. |
| Posted by: B 2004-2-29 10:25:59 AM |