Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
 

Is Hugo Chavez a threat to US National Security, or is he the democratically elected (3 times) head of a sovereign nation with the right to do as he sees fit with his country's resources and international relationships?
Please don't just say yea or nay, at least give a sentence or 2 of your opinion. :)

Yes he's a threat to US National Security in the same way every country that does not follow a US line on their economy and government potentially is. Because the US as with any Imperialist regime cannot abide governments who do not obey their rule and offer any possible alternative.

I'd say the same about any Imperialist rule.

He can be a threat based on two factors:

1) He controls a large part of the US oil supply.

2) He's been known to cavort around with some other threats to the US.

I don't think it's an "either...or" question.
He is certainly a democratically elected head of a sovereign nation and he has the right to do what is in the best interests of Venezuela.
It can be argued that every country poses a threat to US National Security. The questions are really "how much of a threat?" and "what should we do about it?"
There are many different levels of threats and different levels of responses that we may undertake to counter that threat.
In the case of Chavez, I think his anti-Bush rhetoric is just a way of scoring political points at home. His cavorting with other threats is more of the same. It's just a stunt, just like the way he's offered to send aid and medical care to Katrina victims. Beneath it all, he is a minor threat compared to others. Once Bush leaves office, Chavez will probably become less significant.

He isn't a threat to the US. He is a threat to Ameican oil companies that have holdings in Venezuela.

Of course, this sort of threat on American corporate interests has tended to lead to US intervention... either as full on war or clandestine subterfuge.

For evidence of this please read up on the Contras in Central America and the US supported ousting of Iran's democratically elected prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953, among other examples.

He is a far bigger threat to Venezuela than the US.

This depends on the Venezuelan you are speaking to at the time. Many in Venezuela feel he is doing a great job. They keep giving him a majority of votes.

LOL...true on many levels.

I heard somewhere that he should be assasinated....hmmm.

Yeah, but bush got reelected here, one time he even got the majority of votes, so there's no accounting for taste.

I was thinking of that irony as I posted... Maybe some other nation will try to over throw the US government the way the US meddles in other nations...

Ha! That is funny. I got one: Yeah I heard that too, but it's just a bunch of extremist/fundamentalist talk...

I think Pat Robertson is a bigger threat to the health and well-being of the US than Hugo Chavez. I saw the episode where Robertson prayed for, "something to happen" on the supreme court to allow Bush to further move it to the right. It was transparent that nutty Pat was praying for a justice to die, but he probably meant Ginsburg.

very true, and good point about american oil companies, anyone else read the story of mr chavez trading oil for doctors from cuba.

Sorry. For clarification, how is this a threat to Venezuela?

There's a whole nother thread where we dealt with this several weeks ago.

But chavez isn't a bad man, he can get you a real nice deal on a barrel of oil if you ask him nicely...

He is only if you believe the rumor, probably spread by Bush staffers, that he's harboring Al Qaeda. I personally don't believe the rumor; there's not a shred of evidence. But it's one of those things: if you like Bush, then you're inclined to believe it, and vice-versa. So it goes.

The CIA has a long history of spreading these sorts of rumours... I'm not surprised in the least.

Yeah, and people like Ted Koppel can't wait to get on the air to repeat them.

Because by not following what the US imperialists want he risks being assassinated, economic interference and the weight of US propaganda and influence against his government.

Follow us, obey us or we destabilise you. :crazy:

I wonder if he appoints his unqualified political friends to important posts in government agencies and then soundly endorses their performance right before they get reassigned for incompetence?

He has essentially absolute power, so most likely.

I wish I knew how to get gigs like that. I guess I haven't engaged in enough cronyism.

Carlos Lanz is a Chavez crony who has been appointed head of Alcasa, the aluminum provider for Venezeula. His main background was in guerilla tactics, kidnapping and the like. There are other appointments similar to that.

Chavez is an avowed socialist and sees conservative capitalists as the enemy, so, yeah, the current administration is not going to be his fan club by any means.

Kinda curious about that one too - it suggests a strong knowledge of Venezualan politics, something I'm sure most of us cannot claim.

This is what I love about TF'ers, you ask a question, and learn new stuff.......
That's a great deal, oil for doctors. To any US doctors who may be reading this, I'll trade real beer (Canadian) for services rendered!