Ellner on Today's Events in Venezuela

["Jay Moore" <pieinsky@xxxxxxx>]

Jay: Well the march came and went. Chavez deserves the Nobel Prize for
resisting provocation. The opposition plays so dirty that it makes you
wonder whether they're for real. The other day the editorial of El Nacional
(the 'premier' newspaper of Venezuela) compared Chavez with the Nazis
attacking the Jews in the 1930s. The fact of the matter is that the
political opposition and the oligarchy (which become clearly identified as
one of the same) desperately wants Chavez out right now. Why? Andres
Openheimer (not exactly someone sympathetic to leftist causes) says (on
CNN-Spanish) that its because they fear that Chavez's position will be
strengthened with a. Lula's victory in 2 weeks and b. a war with Iraq which
will jack up oil prices. That's a good reason to try to overthrow a
president. In any case, everything is more or less calm (there was one
death - a Chavista was killed in the  in the state of Guarico), but the
march in Caracas was peaceful. That in itself undermines the opposition's
justification for insisting that Chavez exist - namely that he is implanting
Castro-Communism! In any case Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue
is quoted in today's NY Times as saying that the U.S. ambassador Shapiro has
snubbed the opposition because he considers them completely incompetent. I
could not agree more, even though I keep telling myself 'don't underestimate
the enemy." Regards to Judy. Steve



----- Original Message -----
From: "Jay Moore" <pieinsky@xxxxxxx>
To: "Steve Ellner" <esteve74@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 5:53 PM
Subject: Situation in Venezuela?


> Hi Steve -- What's happening on the ground in Venezuela today?  I'm
hearing
> rumors on another coup attempt piggybacking on today anti-Chavez march.
> Here we're fighting tooth and nail to try to halt Bush's insane rush to
war
> against Iraq.  However, the pusillanimous House just voted this afternoon
to
> support the Emperor.  It's going to be a long fight, just like the one
> against the Vietnam War.  I hope for greater success where you are.
>
> best regards,
> jay
>
>




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