Palast - VENEZUELA IN BLACK AND WHITE

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=293&row=0

snip
Here's Venezuela in a snapshot.

The matronly blonde in the stylish leaopard - patterned blouse doesn't like the President of this Latin state. Correction: Maria Christina Tortosa hates, despises, sees red when she speaks of President Hugo Chavez. "A co-moon-ist!" she avers in English.

Her polite interlocutor -- red t-shirt, brown skin, eyes impatiently averted -- is in a good mood. Jorge Lara collected six thousand signatures of local voters seeking to recall members of Congress who oppose his hero Chavez.

And that's what it's all about. Race and class. Whatever else you hear about Venezuela, this is the story in a single frame. Like apartheid-riven South Africa, the whites, 20% of the population, have the nation's wealth under lock and key. The Rich Fifth have command of the oil wealth, the best jobs, the English-language lessons, the imported clothes, the vacations in Miami, the plantations.

That is, until Hugo Chavez came along.

Now the brown people, like community activist Lara -- and President Chavez himself-- have a piece of the action. "Negro e indio," Chavez calls himself. Black and Indian. And the blondes don't like it.
/snip

[Cha]

1. Communists! Yeah! Why should we share the

wealth with those filty poor wretches..sarcasm off.

And they probably don't believe in birth control or choice, either.

[4morewars]

2. Eat the rich !!!!!

I have no pity for these a-holes !!!! We need to start making similiar changes here. The dick cheneys of this world need to be ended !

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Be sure to use Heinz ketchup as your condiment of choice.

[aquart]

3. Tough noogies.

Stay out of small planes, Chavez.

[burrowowl]

4. Can't wait

until the count is in.
Apparently the polls will close at midnight EDT.
Chavez should win. Appears there is a caste system like in Mexico, although in Mexico, the Indios are getting more vocal and active, but you wouldn't know it from the 'soaps' and society pages.

[K-W]

5. I thought they closed at 8?

[burrowowl]

9. Was extended

should be closing now.

[Mikimouse]

6. <sigh>, and those blond, white Venezuelans are MY relatives...

Damnit! The European/Venez 'upper class' will do anything they can to ensure the continued suppression of equality for the native Venez population. I also suspect that my dear niece is somehow involved in the Venez community in Florida. Grrrrrrrrrr!

[Tatiana]

11. Don't feel bad.

I've got some misguided relatives who voted earlier in Chicago to recall Chavez. It's sickening. Their main beef is that they have to pay estate taxes now. They've inherited property in Caracas valued at nearly $1 million US. Why the F shouldn't they have to pay their fair share of taxes on it??? These are the GREEDIEST people ever.

They want things back to they way they were under former President Carlos Andres Perez, who by the way, was removed from office by the Senate and CONVICTED OF MISUSING GOVERNMENT FUNDS (read: LOOTING THE TREASURY, STEALING GOVERNMENT FUNDS TO ENRICH HIMSELF AND HIS CRONIES). Of course, Perez is enjoying a life of prosperity here as most wealthy Venezuelans will after Chavez wins the referendum. They can join the wealthy Cubans in Miami and form an even bigger Mafia to wage class warfare from abroad.

G-d I hate these people.

[stevedeshazer]

7. Thanks for attempting to educate regarding Venezuela...

...and Chavez and what it all means. I can't believe some of the knee-jerk stuff that gets posted here about it by ostensibly liberal people who can't be bothered to do at least a little bit of reading before pecking their keyboards.

[nolabels]

8. The fashion magazines are all the rave with the 'blond stuff'

:puke: I hate it when fascists use a recessive gene as some kind of 'I am in the In Crowd' statement :puke:


A voter shouts slogans outside a polling center in Caracas，Venezuela Aug. 15, 2004. Some 14 million Venezuelan voters turned out on Sunday to cast ballots in the country's first recall vote to decide whether President Hugo Chavez should continue in power or cut short his term of office.(Xinhua Photo)
(snip)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1796056.htm

This from news portal east Asia :wtf:

[lanparty]

10. So lemme guess, the moderates are ...

bleach blonde, like we see above?????

[tigereye]

12. Chavez how does it look for this election?

What is likely to happen ( or has happened given the time difference)? And how has Chavez done so far to earn the votes? I thought about you today when I was reading about this election.

:hi:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

14. just got this message this am and...

Chávez Wins!!! Chávez Wins!!! Chávez Wins!!!

[tigereye]

15. great to hear!

[lanparty]

18. Go CHAVEZ!!!!

Shove it right up the ass of the Bush crime family and the NAFTA/WTO world domination group.

[nolabels]

13. Most of my family members are dirty-dish-water blonde's

I am older balding male member, and so...

What I am saying is these clicks (as Greg describes in his article) are not a happy bunch and have got things twisted around against themselves by their own actions. They did it to themselves. Now some would like to spin it as they are being oppressed (after these transplanted euros mussed things up by buying the fools gold sold to them by the Wall Street / Madison Avenue types). Should a guy like me feel sorry for them 'blonde's' because they might have the same skin tone or something?

The ideas of sharing we learned in our early years of schooling seem so lost now.

These 'blonde's' don't know it, but they are being used just like a tool also. Brainwashed by a corporate controlled media they think is on their side. These corporate owners really only want to create divisions so extraction of resources can continue. Continue on the corporations terms instead of the good large majority of the people.

I have many more friends with darker skin tones than than that of the 'In Stuff' (color me not surprised)

Nothing against anybody really except when start using my skin tone or anybody elses to tell me which side I HAVE to be on, it's all ugly and needs to stop

The only thing in the middle of the road is dead Armadillos

[Jack Rabbit]

16. This is one of Palast's best pieces

I've posted it more than once in the past.

It goes a long ways in explaining yesterday's results.

This is at least the third time the Bushies have attempted and failed to oust Chávez. It's time to oust the Bushies.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

19. I Just Posted a Follow-Up to This Article

It is amazing:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2221688

DTH