MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
New gameboard for Maduro after US-Cuba reconciliation
Analysts agree that the Venezuelan president will need to put aside some of his anti-imperialist jargon and socialist practices to stay in play. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesJust wait, there will be yet another attempt to assasinate him from the west!
Dec 19th, 2014 - 10:15 am - Link - Report abuse 0This Venezuelan Baboon is alone, floating on a raft in a big sea.
He is going no where except down
No, no!
Dec 19th, 2014 - 10:26 am - Link - Report abuse 0It's all going swimmingly: glug, glug, glug!
Back to driving busses soon, if they have the fuel. :o)
OR, more likely, going to meet his former boss. Trouble is there is no afterlife, so that's ruined that.
Actually, no one from the outside will kill him, he will probably be run over by a bus.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 10:32 am - Link - Report abuse 0Remember that the Cuban advisers to Venezuelan intelligence ultimately take orders from Castro in Havana, and not Maduro.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 10:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0He will now be kept on a short leash.
Wont Ecuador give him asylum...lol
Dec 19th, 2014 - 11:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0It seems to me Obama is trying to hasten up what it would called “his legacy” there is not much to shout about his 6 years in office and now the GOP is in control of the House and Senate.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 01:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0For Cuba its more about geopolitics and about securing loans and sources of finance as Chavista VZLA is going down the toilet.
“How is he going to justify his anti-imperialist politics when his principal ally has become an ally of the empire?”
An ”ally of the Empire” thats a long shot. I think RC is going to show some sort of nominal support for Maduro in the coming months or weeks.
I do not see nor ever see Cuba becoming a USA ally, but I understand what you are saying.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 01:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Cuba did well with the USSR, then they fell.
Enter stage left.......Venezuela and Chubby Chavo to prop Cuba back up for the incompetent management that all commies do to their economies.
Then the massive mis-management of Veneuzuela's world's LARGEST proven oil reserves, broke a potentially world's richest country in natural resources. No more support for Cuba.
Now Cuba is resorting to bartering.....fucking bartering like in medieval times and the dark ages. I think Cuba needs to do what is right for them and fuck SA and the USA sees this as the beginning of the end for South American communism.
7.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 01:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Do you think that as the USA becomes more populist and left wing and looks more a like the socialist countries of South America and Central America the dictators will find it harder to be different from the “empire”?
The USA is NOT becoming more populist, it is clear with the last 2 elections and hopefully the next that we are swinging back to conservatism.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 03:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Clearly Liberal/Populist/Odumbo policies have failed.
You are right that Odumbo is trying to secure some sort of legacy after 6 yrs of failure and being named the worse President in the History of the USA.
My guess is Congress will block anything he tries to do over the next 2 year and he'll walk away with nothing good to show for his 8 yrs in office.
The good part about this is the Dems have most likely lost Florida for the foreseeable future. So hopefully that has secured a Repub Prez next.
Populist and left.........gag me with a fucking spoon. If you polled the American public on ...say 20 major issues, you would find 1/3 of the issues would have a liberal take, 1/3 a neutral take and the balance a conservation take.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 03:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You will not see me insult my commander in Chief despite my differences with him or others. That kind of respect for differences is firstly taught at home and then in the military. That being said, most of the public is middle ground and are easily swayed. The next two years, the USA Congress with be seated with a conservative platform. Some of those Republicans are good, others are the conservative equivalent of Maduro.
The problem with democrats is that they are spinless and want to give everything away without working for it.
The problem with the Republicans is that they are Corp whores who see non wealthy people as useless indentured pawns and owe their being to corp payouts. Thje American political system is AWEFUL......if Republicans get their way........we will be: the United States of America, Inc. You should see first hand how the republicans fucked the military while serving in the middle east by outsourcing EVERYTHING for corporate entities that the military use to do. But, you would have to had been in the military to know that and been in the middleeast to get fucked.
I really fail to see how you can make that leap and say the USA is a populist or moving that way. If we were, there would be many changes, spying on Americans for starters.
http://s82.photobucket.com/user/JohnnyGunn/media/2015Governors_zpsc15e9f41.jpg.html
Dec 19th, 2014 - 03:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0And next elections there should be at least 4 new red states. Getting rid of the hold over that missed out this year. :)
Hopefully this means Maduro can finally be kicked out. Unfortunately it will be ugly, and the chavistas will keep ruling the country for a very long time. The opposition is powerless and will have to keep their heads down and slowly build power for a couple of decades before having another shot.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 03:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The only way the bus drive is leaving is via a coupe and he's been paying the military. Very soon he will have to choose between public (as small as it is) spending and military. The hand he chooses not to feed is going to rise and bite him.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 03:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 013. That would be a great New Years present!
Dec 19th, 2014 - 04:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There is 47 MM people on food stamps
Dec 19th, 2014 - 04:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Record welfare spending
http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/economics/item/17367-welfare-hits-record-levels-after-50-years-of-war-on-poverty
Its peronism and Latam socialism in the making, the difference is within the health that the democratic instituitions and the rule of law is still prevalent in the US
15. That's because during the recession the Dems widened the net so for example University students not living at home qualify.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 04:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0That will change in the next Congress, all of those giveaways will be reigned back in.
You don't have a very good grasp outside of Argentina. You should really stick to what you know.
this supports the idea that the USA has gone populist?
Dec 19th, 2014 - 04:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 017.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 04:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It depends what you define “populism” as. Conceptualy populism can only exist with a large state.
Populism as it exists in SA we call mob mentality. For the most part, the USA leadership regardless of the polls do what is in the best interest of the country. Sometimes it is what the people want and sometimes it is not.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 04:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for food stamps, they are dwindling and the are two groups.....one totally depends on them and the second is a subsidy. I have every faith the the conservatives will remove many of these parasites over the next two years and get them jobs as Walmart greets for minimum wage and no benefits. SO these numbers will surely drop.
19.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 05:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The US cant be a dictorship of the mob because you have two parties who are far to powerful and well established, even if there is not to much difference in terms of actual policy.
I think that the first years of the Bush war on terror had clear elements of populism in it. Wars, defence spendig, military industrial complex does demand you to have a large State to support it.
In the Obama year you had welfare and stimulous spending vastly expanded to fuel up the economy, but Keynesian economics ware meant to be counter cyclical -if they actually work-
Is Ron Paul off for the next election in 2016??
I disagree.....any US President would wanted to reach and and kill many after that. That happens to be a situation where everyone.....politicians, the public, liberals and conservatives alike all wanted heads served on platters. BTW......I never claimed the USA as a dictatorship. I think the USA has vast political problems and the American people need to wrestle the country AND government back from the politicians and stop drinking the kool-aid.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 06:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ron Paul is over. It's really going to be interesting because the Republicans need to show that they can govern and lead and not be a problem and more so, show that the people of the USA matter more than the Corporate world of the USA.
As for Democrats, Obamas failed policies, and many at the hands of Republican obstructionism tactics, need to be overcome. It was funny to see an outright, unchanged Republican created bill brought to the floorby Democrats only to be killed because it was.....a democrat. Democrats want to spend too much on the backs on the working class and give too much away.
Somewhere in the middle lays the solution that no one in politics will find. Americans in general are not politically savvy and will vote based on the stupidest things. It makes not sense to say I am this or that unless you actually work in politics. For me...depending on the issue.....I may have a conservative leaning or a liberal. But to say across the board I am a conservation or a liberal IMHO is ludicrous.
#19 populism is making political choices based upon the effect it will have on your level of political support amount the masses as opposed to what you think is best for the country.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 06:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0U.S. presidents have gradually become more populist since the start of the 20th C and it has been aggravated by the instant media generation. They still have to balance their populist actions with some kind of rationale because the U.S. still has its quasi working system of accountability and what political Commentators like to Call checks and balances. This means that they will still get slated for big or obvious mistakes even if they can be used to whip up popular support in the short term.
As for the current moves, if Obama can make them happen he will be judged on what happens to human rights in Cuba and the economic benefits to the USA. It is still, after all, the economy stupid.
21.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 06:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The thing I admire of American people is that they were the only peoples in the world who actually movilized demanding less governmetn instead of demanding the head of the government for not doing this or that and prevent the crisis or getting them out of the crisis. That is the sort of spirit, that is admirable and quite unike in the world.
In Spain for example Podemos has sprung up and its leading polls and they are communists who promise to take back all the money from the rich, increase the minnimum wage, have the State come back in, terminate the cut backs and everything will be automatically solved.
I know you dont like the Tea Party and I believe like people like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann rubbish, but you have dumb, unprofessional and uneducated people in politics anyway.
I would like to vote something like Ron Paul in Argentina but it doesnt exist in the electoral market, not because people that think like him dont exist in politics like Lopez Murphy, its that the country is populists and wants the State to be the answer for everything.
If you have less and less people like Ron Paul or who think like him, then the road to populism starts
Libertarianism is a pretty big movement at the moment especially in Millennials . People feel like the State is too big and too involved in our lives. There is a general sense that the Federal Gov't needs to be reigned in, the easiest way to do that is through budgeting.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 06:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It will happen.
My bet is through budgeting in Oct 2015 the country will be on a different path.
It takes a long time to turn a ship like the USA around.
I started thinking the Tea Party was interesting until they marginalized themselves and moved to the fringe with extremist POV's. George Washington could have been Emperor of the USA......however he wanted a citizen government.....and I agree. Being stupid should not prevent someone from being voted into office. That should be identifiable in the election process.......Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman........hell Sonny Bono got elected. But......the same can be said about the voters.....being stupid should not prevent someone from voting. Usually the people with a few brain cells can see through these idiots running. They may make it in the districts but fall flat on the national stage ......is in running for President. But in general......I love grass root movements.....that's how we got out of Vietnam.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 06:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The point of the Tea Party was to drag the Republican party back to conservative principals. They did their job but went a bit too far as those groups usually do. Now you don't hear about them very much any longer.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 07:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The Dems have the same problem with their extreme liberal base with that crazy Fauxcahontas from Mass leading the way.
I can't wait to see how that rolls out for them.
I agree yb I loath extremism anywhere. Both parties are fucked. There is no fix in the immediate future. We currently are and will continue to drift aimlessly through a small channel between this massive realms of polarization. Two caucus's is not in the best interest of this country anymore.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 07:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I don't see it the same way. Most Americans are a little right of center, so the parties keep dragging people back and forth against the middle.
Dec 19th, 2014 - 08:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Theoretically it would be nice to have multiple parties but then you end up like Argentina with a disorganized opposition that can never get traction.
Or you have a parliamentary system like Italy (on the Extreme) that has a different gov't every few months or Belgium that hasn't had a gov't in years.
I think we have the best system going, nothing seems to work well but we have the best of the worst.
Maduro is SO SCREWED. Cuba is being pragmatic, and looking out for it's own interests... and Venezuela just isn't there. The Russians want influence in the region, but have major problems of their own. Other socialist nations in the region don't have much to bring to the table. The Chinese have plenty of financial power and consumer goods to bring (that would help with the consumer shortages), if they want to, but they're NOT going to do anything unless it's in THEIR best interest. They'll make you pay one way or the other.
Dec 20th, 2014 - 12:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Now, keep in mind that it can be a LONG-TERM Chinese interest prompting them to do something, if they feel confident Venezuela will abide by contracts / agreements in the future... but they demand a LOT in return, because of the risk.
Who knows, maybe Maduro could make an agreement for China to operate the petroleum business for Venezuela. They are VERY skilled technically, work like crazy, could bring more $$$ and goods to the country, increase the output, lower the costs while increasing the revenue. All this while getting more petroleum as payment. No cash flow issues. The only real problem would be some displaced industry workers... but that could be worked out with cash infusions and the newly available Chinese goods.
Right now the potential of leadership change in Caracas is very real, and could come from out of nowhere. You don't need outside governments to make it happen. World markets (particularly for petroleum) and the unbelievably inefficient (and some would include the comment “corrupt”) operations of the Venezuelan government are in play here. We'll see what happens when the military and government employees truly get cut back on their special status / benefits. It may get ugly... and fast. POOF!
That he is......like the book name......Dead Man Walking......and he is too stupid to know that red bead on his forehead.
Dec 21st, 2014 - 05:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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