There Seems to be a lot of Traitors in Venezuela

Photos

There Seems to be a lot of Traitors in Venezuela

see larger image

uploaded by BigT

Holding a little red book (remind you of someone?) Venezuela’s would
be dictator bashed anyone who opposes the 69 changes to the
constitution, found in that little red book, calling them all “traitors.”

Hugo Chavez has thrown down the gauntlet. It is obvious to anyone
who has been following the political machinations in this South
American country that his ultimate aim is a communist “paradise” like
the one Cuba “enjoys.” And he wants to be the one who leads this
workers “revolution.”

The only way he can achieve a true victory over democracy is if he
gets the power to appoint everyone who makes any decision in his
country. And these referendums up for vote on December 2 will give him
just that.

In Red Star Rising in Venezuela
I delve into the inner workings of how statism wins out over democracy.
Basically, it’s all about creating a personality cult around one man,
Hugo Chavez in this case, and the consolidation of power. Neither one
of these things happens alone, they have a symbiotic relationship.

As his power in the government increases he has the ability to pay
partisans to go around and spread the gospel of Hugo. This turns into
more political power and a greater ability to influence more minds.
Unless it is proactively opposed there isn’t much that can stop Mr
Chavez from gaining his own fiefdom.

Maybe the time for that opposition to firm up is now. According to a recent poll it looks like the Dec. 2 vote is no longer a sure thing for Hugo. Here’s what the poll shows:

Forty-nine percent of likely voters oppose Chavez’s
proposed raft of constitutional changes to expand his powers, compared
with 39 percent in favor, a survey by respected pollster Datanalisis
showed.

Just weeks ago, Chavez had a 10-point lead for his proposed changes
in the OPEC nation that must be approved in a referendum, the polling
company said.

Despite the swing, company head Luis Vicente Leon said he did not rule out a comeback by the popular president.

I included that last part because there is little doubt in my mind
that Chavez will try something so that the vote comes out in his favor.
It’s almost a certainty in my mind that he’s going to use the
government’s money and power to get as many partisans out to vote as
possible. It could be in the form of sandwiches for votes or just cold
hard food vouchers. I don’t think either would give Chavez pause (nor
has it given him any pause considering he’s already doing this).

Chavez probably wouldn’t hesitate to cheat if things got hairy. I
doubt they have electronic voting machines so they can’t use Diebold to
do their cheating for them. Maybe they can use the neo-commies swelling
the ranks of the government to stuff ballots. I just hope they don’t
stick too many ballots in the hole punching machine and leave some of
those nasty hanging and dimpled chads that have plagued other elections.

Venezuela, like so many other countries around the world, seem not
to have learned any lessons from the 20th experimentations with
socialism. There should be opposition parties popping up in all of
these countries ushering in an era of capitalism like we see in the
former Soviet Socialist Republics in Eastern Europe. But we don’t.
Until the people in these countries wake up there is no hope for them. BigT