Venezuelans Stand Up for Liberty
December 3rd, 2007 at 01:59am Mark Noonan
Though it remains to be seen whether or not Chavez will accept the verdict of his own people:
Voters in Venezuela defeated a contentious referendum that would have given President Hugo Chávez sweeping new powers, the Election Commission announced early Monday.
The results were a stunning defeat for a leader who was trying to extend already broad powers and lead his country in a radical new direction.
The commission said 50.7 percent voted against the referendum and 49.3 percent voted in favor. The results were all the more surprising given that Chávez and his supporters control nearly all of the levers of power.
“The result is quarrelsome,” Vice President Jorge Rodríguez said in comments broadcast on national television.
Opposition leaders were more upbeat. “Tonight, Venezuela has won,” said Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia State and the opposition’s candidate in presidential elections last year.
Chavez is a rather thuggish man who is a legend in his own mind - hopefully, his supporters will tell him to just accept this and go on to the next thing; he could, on the other hand, conduct a coup against his own government and just start dictating and hoping that a civil war doesn’t break out.
At any rate, congratulations to the people of Venezuela for seeing through the Chavez scam, and prayers for peace in Venezuela.
Entry Filed under: Foreign Affairs
8 Comments
1. Kahn | December 3rd, 2007 at 2:24 am
Mark, I wonder if he’ll ignore it. So far, he’s had the veil of public support to rant behind. If he ignores the people will, then his authority (not his power) is lessened. And well, those aggressive moves he’s always accusing us of may actually become real.
I wonder what he’ll do.
2. Dittohead4Life | December 3rd, 2007 at 5:31 am
Mark, it’s only a matter of time before our puke lemming trolls come up with something like, “If only we could get a referendum on Bush/Cheney/Rice/Halliburton/Blackwater, and limit their powers, then we wouldn’t be living under the veil of fascism.”
I’ll bet they’re already doing it over at the three major lefty blogs.
How ’bout it, Diane? liberetardT? C’mon, lemmings, let’s have a post about your freedoms and liberties being diminished under the Bush/Cheney/Rice/Halliburton/Blackwater regime. It’s all you’re good for these days–pissin’ and moanin’ ’bout how bad life here is in America. That’s right, 1H8L1B5, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
3. bozo the neoclown | December 3rd, 2007 at 5:59 am
Dittohead4Life is English your first language? Just wondering since your post does not make any sense. Perhaps you should not skip taking your meds.
4. neocon | December 3rd, 2007 at 8:45 am
Isn’t it ironic that Danny Glovers buddy and friend to all Hollywood liberals is doing exactly what they accuse Bush of trying to do?
Apparently though they’re not at all concerned how it will effect the people of Venezuela. Aw, the compassion of liberals is heartwarming.
5. Diana Powe | December 3rd, 2007 at 9:46 am
Mark,
I absolutely agree. Considering the distinct probability that the vote was tampered with by pro-Chavez supporters, it’s likely the real margin in favor of the Venezuelan Constitution was even greater. Let’s only hope that Chavez’s authoritarian impulses don’t lead him to ignore the will of the people of Venezuela.
6. Ricorun | December 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
Diana Powe: Let?s only hope that Chavez?s authoritarian impulses don?t lead him to ignore the will of the people of Venezuela.
He’s already vowed to keep trying, so I guess we’ll see. Nonetheless, it was a good day for Venezuela.
7. phnx | December 3rd, 2007 at 10:33 am
The importance of this outcome for all of Latin America can not be over stated.
8. Aaron | December 3rd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
This in fact demonstrates that the voting process in Venezuela is fair and free of tampering, as many observers have certified in other election. The margin was only 0.7% - it wouldn’t have taken much to commit just enough fraud to get a result favorable to Chavez. And that didn’t happen.
As much as you on the Right dislike Chavez, you have to accept the fact that he won 3 elections fair and square (2 elections, and 1 referendum). The majority of Venezuelans supported him (and likely continue to). But, they have drawn the line at Chavez being granted more Constitutional power. Good for them. Democracy won.
Long live democracy.
Chavez is not the only democratically elected leftist leader in the region. He is by far the most activist, and the most powerful considering his oil wealth. But leftist governments have been ushered in throughout the hemisphere. Again, democracy at work.
Too many times in the past, the US has paid lip service to democracy in Latin America, only to brutally remove a democratically elected government if it happens to oppose US policies. The US sponsored a military coup against the freely elected government of Guatemala in 1954, accusing it of being leftist. They did the same thing in Chile in 1973. And they tried to do the same thing against Chavez in 2001. But with Washington obsessing over the Middle east and bogged down in Iraq, Latin America has finally been able to elect leaders that represent them, without meddling from the US. And in the long run, this can only benefit US interests.
US intervention, on the other hand, has proven time and time again to be against our own long term interests. Look at the mess stemming from our thwarting of democracy in Iran in 1953. We will be paying the price for that for a long time to come.
It does remain to be seen whether Chavez will accept the will of the people on this vote. But this is a great day for democracy.