Venezuela on brink of dictatorship, prelate says; prez demands apology

[JimG]

I agree Hugo Chavez is dangerous. And he is a good friend of Fidel Castro. Like Castro, he gives hours long speeches on his own TV channel. He is not supported by academics, intelligentsia, or the Church. But, he’s very popular in the barrios. When it comes to Latin America, the Church and the U.S., need to find some middle ground between right-wing dictators and left-wing dictators. Catholic teachings on social justice would be a good place to start.

For five centuries, Venezuela has been run by a minority of very white people, pure-blood descendants of the Spanish conquistadors. To most of the 80 percent of Venezuelans who are brown, Hugo Chavez is their Nelson Mandela, the man who will smash the economic and social apartheid that has kept the dark-skinned millions stacked in cardboard houses in the hills above Caracas while the whites live in high-rise splendor in the city center. Chavez, as one white Caracas reporter told me with a sneer, gives them bricks and milk, and so they vote for him.
alternet.org/story/16255/

cowboyincaracas.com/article.php?story=20060108204354776

 

[marvin]

bones_IV:

Do you think the Cardinal said anything wrong? Seems like the president of the Bishops in Venezuala has given into modernism.

No, I just can’t believe that anyone thinks that the Chavez government is in any way democratic. Chavez is basically telling the Cathollic clergy to keep quiet if they know what’s good for them.

I’m sorry though, I’m not sure what you mean about the president of the Bishops in Venezuela. I must have missed something.

 

[Corki]

a_cermak:

In order to unseat him, the opposition must coopt that support he has among the poor by promising that the systems he has put in place for their betterment and welfare, will continue after he is gone. So far the opposition looks more like a coalition of the “haves” in society. They need to broaden their base of support.

Pax,

Amy

The biggest problem with that is that the “systems” Chavez has put into place for the poor are built on a house of cards. Anyone promising to continue them would be doomed to failure. Just one example, Chavez got a lot of press about building new schools in poor neighborhoods. However, at the same time, he cut or eliminated financial aid for university students (college used to be free). So he now has a bunch of pretty new schools but a horrible shortage of teachers. Many of the “premiums” he gave away (free clothing, free transportation, interest free loans etc.) to supporters in the 2004 election were funded by the money he got by seizing the pensions of about 10,000 workers who signed the petition to have a referendum election. That money is all spent now and the cash flow from oil is mostly going into the military.

The Chavez regime is not “on the brink” of dictatorship - it is already there. That being said, the Church has to walk a careful line. Yes, we stand with the “have nots” but not to the point of inciting violence or injury to others. This was the fatal flaw of liberation theology.

The biggest problem that the opposition has in Venezuela is splintering. The media made a big deal about the win that Chavez’s party made in gubernatorial and local elections. In most cases, his party got about 20-30% of the vote. The opposition got the rest but it was divided up between several different parties and interest groups. And in the election at the end of 2005, the opposition boycotted the election and, for the most part, didn’t vote. There is no “personality” to unite the opposition at present. As soon as that happens, Chavez will go down the tubes.

 

[Matt25]

marvin:

I’m sorry though, I’m not sure what you mean about the president of the Bishops in Venezuela. I must have missed something.

english.eluniversal.com/2006/01/21/en_pol_art_21A658435.shtml

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez claimed to be pleased with the top Catholic representatives, who distanced themselves from the remarks by Rosalio Cardinal Castillo Lara against the government.

• “I am really happy that the president of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference (CEV,) Monsignor Ubaldo Santana; Caracas Archbishop, Monsignor (Jorge) Urosa Sabino; as well as Monsignor Tulio Chirivella, from Barquisimeto; and especially the top leader of our Catholic Church, the Papal Nuncio, representative of His Holiness the Pope, have distanced themselves from the declaration and embarrassment caused by that retired Cardinal.”

Caracas archbishop, Monsignor Jorge Urosa, reiterated that the religious acts “should never be turned into political acts of any trend whatsoever,” that is why he considers as “inopportune and inconvenient” that Rosalio Cardinal Castillo Lara has expressed his personal political opinions at the homily.

• Monsignor Urosa set clear that “Monsignor Castillo Lara (…) does not belong to the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference (CEV); his political opinions are only his and the CEV is not responsible for them.”
• However, he emphasized that Cardinal’s personal opinions “do not form part of any conspiracy at all,” as President Hugo Chávez has claimed.

 

[stillsmallvoice]

Hi all!

Corki:

The biggest problem that the opposition has in Venezuela is splintering…

The other very big problem is that a good part of the opposition to Chavez are the same corrupt, ineffectual clowns who ran Venezuela into the ground, ignored the poor & working classes, etc. and left very many people willing to embrace Chavez.

As I recall, the beginning of the end of Argentina’s Juan Peron (with whom Chavez shares some similarities) the first time, in 1955, was when he tangled with the Roman Catholic Church. Hopefully Chavez will be as stupid as Peron was.

Be well!

ssv (who is thinking Black and Gold thoughts)

 

[Holly3278]

I pray for the nation of Venezuela.