General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: No progressives should be demanding new elections in Venezuela due to Chavez' health... [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)USA. Everyone would be wondering what the deal was.
Last time I checked, all of us lived on the Big Blue Marble.
If Kim Jong Un disappeared, we'd be talking about it. If King Abdullah disappeared, we'd be talking about it. If Hollande of France took a powder, we'd be talking about it.
What makes Hugo "special" so that he gets this foolish attempt at "off limits" treatment you're trying to convince us is somehow necessary? You might as well just acknowledge your concern--if there was nothing to fear, then speculation wouldn't matter.
Your insistence that everyone just shut up and stop talking about this is bizarre.. A leader of a nation that is a trading partner with the US and many other nations on this globe hasn't been seen for a month. No picture, no audio tape, even--NOTHING.
The President of Uruguay was very recently told he would not be allowed to see the guy.
Like it or not, this situation is BIG news--even if you want to play the "Nothing to see here" game. The more you say "Stop talking about it" the more people come to believe that there's something really, really wrong.
....a statement signed by 38 professors from various law schools said Chavez must either take the oath or demonstrate that he is still capable of governing by formally asking for a temporary delay. If Chavez is permanently incapacitated, the president of the National Assembly must assume power temporarily and call a new presidential election.
"A different solution goes against the constitution, extends a presidential period that has already lapsed and moreover generates unnecessary uncertainty that affects constitutional security and stability," said Enrique Sanchez Falcon, a constitutional law expert at Central University of Venezuela.
The professors were addressing the constitutional crisis enveloping Venezuela with the approach of the end of Chavez's third term Thursday and scheduled start of his fourth. They said an approved absence for heath reasons does not mean the oath-taking can be deferred as well, which is the argument that Chavistas are making.
Chavez has not been seen or heard from in nearly a month. The issue at the root of the wrangling is whether he is truly on the road to recovery and in possession of his mental capacities, as his supporters say, or at death's door and incapable of governing....