a recall organized by the rich oil elite, funded by the Bush administration--was monitored by hundreds of international voting rights groups, including the Carter Center. Chavez won it hands down, despite the oil elite's total control of all media and outside (U.S.) funding of the recall opposition.
All of these hundreds of monitoring groups including the Carter Center confirmed Chavez's victory in the recall. Chavez is the overwhelming choice of the vast majority of Venezuelans. The vast majority of Venezuelans are dirt poor peasants and have never benefited from V.'s oil profits. They had no schools, no medical care, no land, etc. Chavez's very mild "leftist" policy is to spread V.'s oil wealth around a bit. And that policy is having an enormous impact. The poor are getting educated and getting organized--so much so that I think Venezuelan democracy could now survive the assassination of Chavez that the Bush Cartel has planned (and tried once before).
The oil elite in Venezuela is a small group of very rich people who have hoarded V.'s oil money for themselves. They could not get rid of Chavez (after his first two elections) by kidnapping and assassination (thousands of poor Venezuelans filled the streets, surrounded the presidential palace and prevented it). So they tried the recall. And they threw extensive temper tantrums after Chavez won the recall, full of disinformation--much like our Freepers. But their whines of agony at Chavez's third electoral victory went nowhere--because there was no substance to their complaints.
The recall election was done on electronic voting machines, but with a paper ballot backing up every vote, and open source code, and they also used fingerprinting for voter ID. Venezuela's poor stood all day in lines to vote. Their organizers went through the poor neighborhoods banging pans and drums to awaken voters early on election day, to go get in line to vote. They won. And it was a great victory for democracy, as well as for Chavez and the poor.
The irony is that Chavez himself backed the writing of a V. Constitution which contained the recall provision that was used against him, and has fought hard for the rule of law in V. He was a military man at one time, and certainly did try to take power by a coup, initially, in the mid-90s (completely justified, in my opinion, given V.'s history of oppression of the poor). But that coup failed. Chavez then ran for the office of president and won--won by nearly 2/3 of the vote! Then his party won most of the seats in the Constituent Assembly in the by-elections.
Chavez is the first "negro e indio"--Black and Indian--to head this overwhelmingly "negro e indio" country, and is extremely well-liked by most Venezuelans--apart from the educated, privileged, white, oil-rich elite, who hate him. He has been instrumental in promoting democracy and peaceful change. He is one of the good guys in the world today, from all I can see.
Recently, Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro both issued statements warning that the Bush Cartel has put out contract on Chavez. I have no doubt whatever that that is the case.
tech3149, you wrote: "dictator wannabe Hugo Chavez won Carter's approval of an almost certainly rigged recall election that Chavez officially survived."
This is really wrong information. Chavez is NOT a "wannabe dictator." And his third electoral victory, the recall, was NOT rigged.
What I feel about Jimmy Carter and his role in verifying Chavez's recall victory, is that, whatever Carter's motives (and I think they were mixed), he helped prevent bloodshed in Venezuela (assassination of Chavez by Bush Cartel/oil elite thugs, installation of a dictator, and peasant rebellion). The poor peasant population there is no longer going to put up with the kinds of oppression they have suffered throughout V.'s history. And the rich elite was determined to deprive them of their majority power and their majority-chosen president.
What U.S. and global financial interests want is an assured supply of V.'s oil. Civil disruption (caused by the elite's denial of the rights of the poor) was not conducive to a steady oil supply. An orderly, well-monitored recall election was the solution. Enter Carter and the many other election monitoring groups. Chavez WANTS to supply oil to the U.S. and others. He just doesn't want all the profits to go to the already rich. He is a revolutionary, but not of the old style bloody revolution type. He has called for a "Bolivarian" revolution: reform of the courts and the police (corrupt beyond description under the old ruling elite); organization of poor neighborhoods, townships and projects, and bringing ordinary people and the poor into the activities of the government. (80% of the population exist in dire poverty amidst V.'s oil wealth, with the poor not having food or land, and the rich running around in Jaguars.)
He has NOT suppressed or jailed those who oppose him. He has NOT seized control of the media (which totally opposes him). He has NOT engaged in purges or in oppression of any kind. He has strongly upheld the rule of law. He seems to quite genuinely believe in democracy.
The disinformation about Chavez and the V. recall election from the U.S. news monopolies is as bad as their disinformation about Bush and the 2004 election. I followed events in Venezuela closely in alternative media sources, and I think I got a pretty good read on the situation.
The Bush Cartel are a bunch of thugs, assassins and mass murderers. They thought nothing of slaughtering 100,000 Iraqis for oil and power. Their ideas for getting/keeping control of V.'s oil were kidnapping and assassination of a popular leader and continued oppression of the poor--right in line with V.'s oil elite's intentions. (And we know what Negroponte & Co. did in El Salvador and Nicaragua, under Reagan--and also what they did recently in Haiti.)
Carter was a third force--a sort of middle way. Let them have their president, and a bit of the wealth, as long as the oil keeps coming at a reasonable price. In other words, democracy is okay if it serves global corporate goals--BUT, with operatives like Cheney and Negroponte in power, beware. They would think nothing of creating a war in South America and probably have contingency plans for just that. Another factor in the success of democracy in Venezuela (and in Carter's participation in confirming Chavez's election)--is that the Bush Cartel is a bit preoccupied in Iraq and Afghanistan at the moment, and way overstretched. They really don't have the resources to do what they would prefer to do in South America--kill the poor and steal their wealth. So I think they compromised with Carter on Venezuela (for the moment).
For all these reasons, I'm glad to see Jimmy Carter on this U.S. elections commission. I think if anyone can handle James Baker, it is Carter. It's just the kind of situation that Carter acts well in--one in which there are deadly powers arrayed against the poor and against democracy. He seems to me to be a pretty fearless guy, and a near miraculous negotiator. (He nearly pulled off peace in the Middle East when he was president--but was done in by the Reagan gang who illegally and treasonously negotiated with Iran's hostage takers, during the 1976 election, and sold arms to Iran.)
And don't forget what Carter said about the 2004 U.S. election--that our election system is so non-transparent, the Carter Center could not monitor it. It didn't satisfy the minimum requirements for a verifiable election!
I DO think Carter is a globalist, in league with the World Bank, etc. And I don't understand fully who he is truly allied with, and who/what is behind him. But I think we may want a power player on our side in this situation, i.e., countering James Baker. If Carter's purpose is to prevent bloody revolution in the U.S.--as seemed to be his purpose in Venezuela--that's okay with me. Bloody revolution generally benefits no one but the arms dealers.
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For a bit of background, see Greg Palast's article:
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0816-03.htm
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