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CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez suffered a stinging defeat Monday in a vote on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely
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Voters defeated the sweeping measures by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent
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“This was a photo finish,” Chavez said immediately after the vote, adding that unlike past Venezuelan governments, his respects the people’s will.
Originally posted by BitRaiser
As to those who are afraid of socialism... I totally fail to understand the connection between socialism and less freedom. Do you really measure your freedom only in terms of you capital wealth?
Originally posted by Karlhungis
Now, BitRaiser you obviously know more about him than I do. Your opinion of him should certainly hold more weight with people than mine does. I hope that you are right and that he really is a good guy that is out for the best interests of his people. I hope you can understand where I am coming from.
Originally posted by DINSTAAR
I think he is a power hungry person. He wants to stifle the individual and remove freedoms for his own personal gain.
His amendments will allow him to be president for life if his people vote for him,
but if he controls the wealth of the country as well as the media, he is already a shoo-in. He can now easily take control of the media if he just demonizes the people that own it.
Basically, I do not like Chavez because he is against individual freedom.
Originally posted by Beachcoma
It's because a lot of people can't tell the difference between socialism and communism. The two terms have been used interchangeably for so long that the distinction has been blurred.
First off, he doesn't control the media.
What's wrong with that? Isn't that the core of democracy?
As long as the voting remains fair (remember, previous claims of unfair voting have been made because he encouraged to poor to vote), I don't see how you can call the removal of term limits an infraction of freedom.
He's not against freedom... he's against the rampent greed and corruption that has come to define Western Capitalism. His belief is that if you are a productive member of the nation, you should get the benefits of that nation, rather than a few greedy scumbuckets taking everything for themselves.
So yeah... I guess he is against the freedom to be a greedy scumbucket. Ya know what, though?
So am I.
Originally posted by DINSTAAR
He is a power hungry person (See his attempted military coup attempt in 1992).
I'm curious... if Democracy is a Joke, Capitalism is corrupt, and Socialism is evil, what do you suggest? Don't tell me you're one of those Libertarianists...