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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Rumsfeld Likens Chavez's Rise to Hitler |
| 2006-02-03 |
| Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld likened Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Adolf Hitler, reflecting continuing tension in relations between the United States and the Latin American government. Rumsfeld, asked during a National Press Club appearance Thursday about indications of a deteriorating general relationship between Washington and parts of Latin America, said he believes such a characterization "misses the mark." "We saw dictatorships there. And then we saw most of those countries, with the exception of Cuba, for the most part move towards democracies," he said. "We also saw corruption in that part of the world. And corruption is something that is corrosive of democracy." The secretary acknowledged that "we've seen some populist leadership appealing to masses of people in those countries. And elections like Evo Morales in Bolivia take place that clearly are worrisome." "I mean, we've got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money," Rumsfeld added. "He's a person who was elected legally just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally and then consolidated power and now is, of course, working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others." There have been increasing signs of hostility between Washington and Caracas, and on Monday Chavez said Venezuela's intelligence agencies have "infiltrated" a group of military officials from the U.S. Embassy who were allegedly involved in espionage. Venezuelan authorities, including the vice president, have accused officials at the U.S. Embassy of involvement in a spying case in which Venezuelan naval officers allegedly passed sensitive information to the Pentagon. It was not the first such charge by Chavez. He has accused President Bush of backing efforts to overthrow his leftist government, and specifically has charged that the United States supported a short-lived coup in 2002, fomented a devastating strike in 2004 and expelled some American missionaries from Venezuela for alleged links to the CIA. Washington has repeatedly rejected the allegations. |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #7 5. People who advocate for (or rule) dictatorships and who simultaneously espouse extreme forms of anti-semitism--as in “God hates Jews” or regret that Hitler didn't finish killing all the Jews. This rule fits Chavez. Remember his announcement that the Mossad had been planning some sort of attack on him or Venezuela, accompanied by a raid on a Jewish school? And the line about how he's standing up against the people who "killed Christ"? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-02-03 22:21 |
| #6 Actually the Volokh Conspiracy does a good job of explaining when and where it is appropriate here. In what situations are modern-day comparisons to the Nazis likely to follow Godwin’s Policy of being useful, rather than trivial or hyperbolic? There are several obvious cases for which the Nazi comparison is neither hyperbolic nor trivial, even though the case in question may have some significant differences from the Nazis. This list is meant to be suggestive, not comprehensive: 1. When discussing followers and leaders of a political movement that is explicitly founded on Nazi principles or my admirers/allies of Nazism. These would include some, but not all, of the racist hate groups. These also include the Ba’ath parties of Iraq and Syria, since Ba’ath was founded as an Arab nationalist syncretic blend of Nazism and Stalinism. 2. When discussing somebody who adopts the nickname “Hitler,” as well as followers and cohorts of such a person. This would include Zimbabwe, where the late right-hand man of the tyrant Robert Mugabe was Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi. It also includes the Fatah Party in the Palestinian Authority, one of whose members of the national assembly, Jamal Abu Roub, sports the nickname "Hitler." 3. People who publish and read Mein Kampf not as an exploration of an evil mind, but because they like its agenda. This group apparently includes a huge number of Arab and Turks. 4. People who attempt to delegitimize the Jewish need for a national homeland by denying that the Holocaust took place. This does not mean that everyone who disagrees with the creation of Israel is fit subject for a Nazi analogy. I am referring only to people who implicitly defend the Nazis by denying the historical reality the Holocaust. 5. People who advocate for (or rule) dictatorships and who simultaneously espouse extreme forms of anti-semitism--as in “God hates Jews” or regret that Hitler didn't finish killing all the Jews. |
| Posted by: Cluth Clomoter4057 2006-02-03 21:36 |
| #5 Rummey gives the man to much credit, Hugo is an idiot, Hitler was a madman |
| Posted by: djohn66 2006-02-03 20:51 |
| #4 Just Castro-lite without the good stuff. Like having a pretty good swing. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-03 17:34 |
| #3 I agree with Sea. I hate to invoke Godwin's law on Rummy, but ... Besides, as bad as Hugo is, I don't think he's even in the same league as Adolph. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-02-03 16:48 |
| #2 Yeah, but they need the spiffy black uniforms; berets are so French... |
| Posted by: Raj 2006-02-03 16:10 |
| #1 *Sigh* I'm getting extremely tired of the Hitler accusations, on all sides. To me, saying that someone is *just like Hitler* means you have no better argument to make. Lame, lame, lame. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-02-03 16:10 |