Libyan leader Gaddafi files motion to partition Switzerland at UN

[KRonn]

I honestly can't understand the hate Chavez gets in American media and from americans. Even though the European media is rather leftist, even our liberal (in the classical meaning) and conservative media paints Chavez not even close to how he is portraited in american media.

A dictator wannabe, left wing demagogue, running rough shod over his country, trampling rights of people, media and business. And trying to whip up other nations in the region to be on the same page with his ideologies. That's what I see in him.

[Ape]

You cannot understand why we hate populist caudillos who have been looting and devastating South America from the right and left for 200 years?

Maybe because we actually want Latin America to be successful?

Successfull like Salvador Allende?

Or Chiquitas?

USA or it's citizens pointing fingers at any government of Latinamerica is rather sanctimonious. The only contries that have behaved worse towards the Latin American countries are Spain and Portugal, and that was 500 years ago.

[Viking]

did Qaddafi forget his swiss bank account number?

[DGuller]

Successfull like Salvador Allende?

No, actually successful.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Gaddafi is set to present his bizarre plan when Libya takes over the year-long presidency of the U.N. general Assembly on September 15.

And you guys wonder why we laugh at the UN.

I'm sure its credibility will increase when the Sudan and Red China share the Human Rights Commission chair again. 

[Ape]

Successfull like Salvador Allende?

No, actually successful.

Sorry I could possibly have expressed myself better.

What I meant was that after the democratically elected socialist Allende was diposed in a CIA sponsored military coup in Chile, that country went down the drain. What might have happend to Chile had the CIA decided not to meddle where they weren't supposed to we will never know, but it could hardly have been worse.
So any attempts by the US government and media to paint Chavez as a left-wing populist demagouge sounds rather hollow.

[KRonn]

You cannot understand why we hate populist caudillos who have been looting and devastating South America from the right and left for 200 years?

Maybe because we actually want Latin America to be successful?

Successfull like Salvador Allende?

Or Chiquitas?

USA or it's citizens pointing fingers at any government of Latinamerica is rather sanctimonious. The only contries that have behaved worse towards the Latin American countries are Spain and Portugal, and that was 500 years ago.

I don't think it's sanctimonious to have an opinion or voice a view, just because we haven't been perfect in our dealings over history. Still have to address and deal with the here and now, regardless of past errors.

[Valmy]

Successfull like Salvador Allende?

Or Chiquitas?

USA or it's citizens pointing fingers at any government of Latinamerica is rather sanctimonious. The only contries that have behaved worse towards the Latin American countries are Spain and Portugal, and that was 500 years ago.

Oh I knew I would get the 'but the USA has done bad things in Latin America therefore how can YOU ever have an opinion on anything' nonsense.

We have also invested tons of money in and helped out Latin America also but as usual every thing we ever did wrong really happened and is important but everything we did good never happened and is a figment of our fucking imaginations.  Bullshit.

Anyway even if we are the Hitler of the hemisphere(tm) I still fail to see why I should be in favor of everything that goes on in Latin America.  What sort of ridiculous standard is that?

[DGuller]

Sorry I could possibly have expressed myself better.

What I meant was that after the democratically elected socialist Allende was diposed in a CIA sponsored military coup in Chile, that country went down the drain. What might have happend to Chile had the CIA decided not to meddle where they weren't supposed to we will never know, but it could hardly have been worse.
So any attempts by the US government and media to paint Chavez as a left-wing populist demagouge sounds rather hollow.

Did Chile actually go down the drain?  Isn't it one of the most successful countries in South America?

[citizen k]

Oh I knew I would get the 'but the USA has done bad things in Latin America therefore how can YOU ever have an opinion on anything' nonsense.

I'm actually disappointed in Ape. I never had him pegged as a Scandi Martim Silva. 

[Valmy]

What I meant was that after the democratically elected socialist Allende was diposed in a CIA sponsored military coup in Chile, that country went down the drain. What might have happend to Chile had the CIA decided not to meddle where they weren't supposed to we will never know, but it could hardly have been worse.
So any attempts by the US government and media to paint Chavez as a left-wing populist demagouge sounds rather hollow.

How do you know Allende wouldn't have been overthrown anyway?  Coups were not exactly super rare back then.  Who knows?

Anyway the US government isn't painting Chavez as anything you goofy Dane, he is perfectly capable of being a populist demagogue on his own.  He does a good job actually.

[Ape]

Did Chile actually go down the drain?  Isn't it one of the most successful countries in South America?

Today after some 50 years, but ask a Chilean that question, please. And then tell him you are from the USA and ask him if it was worth it.

[Valmy]

Today after some 50 years, but ask a Chilean that question, please. And then tell him you are from the USA and ask him if it was worth it.

50 years?  WTF?

That is rich of the Chileans to blame the whole thing on us, they had tons of people lined up ready to overthrow the dude we hardly had to do much more than be for it.  Typical South American victim mentality.  They bear a huge responsibility for it as well.

[The Minsky Moment]

What I meant was that after the democratically elected socialist Allende was diposed in a CIA sponsored military coup in Chile, that country went down the drain.

Chile's per capita GDP is higher than Venezuela, even though Venezuela is literally sitting on an ocean of oil, whereas Chile's main resources other than copper are cod, plums and avocados.

Pinochet was an awful man who did terrible things, but it simply is not accurate to say the country went down the drain.

The tragedy of Chavez is that he took a country that had real prospects and a core of talented and skilled professionals and sabotaged it, looting the country to fund his political slush funds.  If an evil genius concoted a sinister plan to systematically destroy the underpinnings of the Venezuelan economy, he could not have done a more efficient job of it than Chavez has done.

At this very moment Venezuela is sitting on one of the most lucrative, unexploited oil field discoveries on the planet, in Carabobo.  They tried to launch a tender for the development rights in 2008, but had to postpone it last month because no one was prepared to put in serious bids.  The oil ministry has stated that they will get a deal done by the end of the year, but people in the industry have given statements off the record basically saying that even though the potential of the project is very lucrative and there are no technical barriers, the terms required under the "bolivarian" system are ridiculous, and no one trusts the government to keep to whatever contract it signs.

[Barrister]

Successfull like Salvador Allende?

No, actually successful.

Sorry I could possibly have expressed myself better.

What I meant was that after the democratically elected socialist Allende was diposed in a CIA sponsored military coup in Chile, that country went down the drain. What might have happend to Chile had the CIA decided not to meddle where they weren't supposed to we will never know, but it could hardly have been worse.
So any attempts by the US government and media to paint Chavez as a left-wing populist demagouge sounds rather hollow.

Are you kidding me?

Were you aware that Chile has the HIGHEST GDP per capita of all of South America?  Of course Chile could be worse - it could be like the rest of the continent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_American_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)