Venezuelan Democracy Toppled

Started by Nefaro, March 31, 2017, 02:14:15 PM

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Nefaro

We all saw this coming a long time ago.  Just a matter of when..

(and not that it was much of a "democracy" already)


Top Venezuela official breaks with government, protests mount
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN1721P8




Quote

Having already shot down most of the National Assembly's measures since the opposition won control in 2015, the pro-Maduro Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was assuming the legislature's functions because it was in "contempt" of the law.

Quote
OAS head Luis Almagro, whom the Venezuelan government views as a pawn of Washington, has been pushing for its suspension from the 34-nation regional bloc and wants an emergency meeting after the latest developments.

But suspension appears unlikely, diplomats say, given Venezuela's support from other leftist governments and small nations who have benefited from its oil largesse.

"It's false there has been a coup d'etat in Venezuela," Venezuela's foreign ministry said, alleging a regional right-wing conspiracy.

"On the contrary, institutions have adopted legal correctives to stop the deviant and coup-seeking actions of opposition parliamentarians."








bbmike

Quote from: Nefaro on March 31, 2017, 02:14:15 PM
We all saw this coming a long time ago.  Just a matter of when..

(and not that it was much of a "democracy" already)


Top Venezuela official breaks with government, protests mount
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN1721P8




Quote

Having already shot down most of the National Assembly's measures since the opposition won control in 2015, the pro-Maduro Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was assuming the legislature's functions because it was in "contempt" of the law.

Quote
OAS head Luis Almagro, whom the Venezuelan government views as a pawn of Washington, has been pushing for its suspension from the 34-nation regional bloc and wants an emergency meeting after the latest developments.

But suspension appears unlikely, diplomats say, given Venezuela's support from other leftist governments and small nations who have benefited from its oil largesse.

"It's false there has been a coup d'etat in Venezuela," Venezuela's foreign ministry said, alleging a regional right-wing conspiracy.

"On the contrary, institutions have adopted legal correctives to stop the deviant and coup-seeking actions of opposition parliamentarians."

Yeah, this is just a formality. Chavez took away Democracy a long time ago.
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steve58

Probably won't be much longer before a coup attempt or civil war breaks out there.
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Staggerwing

Yeah, with the lives of the average Jose & Juana going right in the dumpster soon the only way left for Maduro and his cronies to stay in power will be to go all-out Nork.
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OJsDad

Their supreme court reversed itself today

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/venezuela-court-drops-moves-to-tighten-presidents-grip/ar-BBza1BZ?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

QuoteVenezuela's Supreme Court on Saturday abandoned measures to seize power from the opposition-controlled legislature after the moves drew international condemnation and raised pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.

In a rare climb-down by the president's allies, the pro-Maduro court retreated from the rulings that had sparked opposition calls for mass protest marches in a volatile country stricken by an economic and political crisis.

The court said in a ruling published on its website that it was revoking a March 29 decision to take over legislative powers from the National Assembly, a move opponents had branded a "coup d'etat."

It also revoked an earlier ruling that stripped lawmakers of their immunity from prosecution and ended emergency security powers it had conferred on Maduro in the crisis.

Maduro had earlier hinted at the coming announcement in a televised address, hours after his own attorney general broke ranks to condemn the court rulings.

"We have reached an important agreement to solve this controversy," he said.

- Internal criticism -

Maduro faced the strongest criticism ever from within his own camp when Attorney General Luisa Ortega condemned Wednesday's Supreme Court rulings that strengthened the socialist president's grip on the levers of power.

The court decisions neutralized the opposition-majority National Assembly and revoked lawmakers' immunity from prosecution.

Ortega called them a "rupture of constitutional order."

Maduro's opponents had called on Venezuelans to take to the streets Saturday and urged the army to abandon him.

It remained uncertain whether protests would go ahead and what the next maneuvers in the more than year-long political standoff will be.

- Opposition defiant -

The opposition leader of the National Assembly, Julio Borges, earlier called on the military and other institutions to follow Ortega's example and speak up against Maduro.

"Now is the time to obey the orders of your conscience," he said.

Pressure against Maduro also increased abroad. In Washington, the Organization of American States (OAS) scheduled an emergency session for Monday to discuss the Venezuelan crisis.

Thirteen OAS nations, including heavyweights Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, as well as the United States, had called for the Venezuelan court rulings to be declared "incompatible with democracy and a violation of the constitutional order."

The head of the OAS, Luis Almagro, has strongly criticized the Maduro government in the past.

South American regional bloc Mercosur -- which suspended Venezuela in December -- will hold crisis talks Saturday, Argentina announced.

- Power struggle -

The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) won a landslide in legislative elections in December 2015.

But the court has overturned every law passed by the current legislature.

Venezuela has the world's biggest oil reserves, but the collapse in energy prices has sapped its revenues, prompting shortages of food, medicine and basic goods and a surge in violent crime.

Maduro is not up for re-election until October 2018. But he has been forced to fend off opposition efforts to call a vote on removing him from power.

- Frustration in street -

Venezuela emerged from dictatorship after an uprising in 1958 and has seen three further attempted military coups since 1992.

Tension has grown since Maduro took over from his late predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2013. Both have been fierce critics of the United States.

In a speech to cheering supporters late Friday, Maduro insisted "the constitution; civil, political and human rights, and people power are in full force."

Outside a supermarket in Caracas on Friday, Venezuelans queueing to buy food rations vented their frustration.

"I don't support either side," said Yandry Diaz, 18, who works in a shoe shop.

"What they want is to have us in the street, fighting and killing each other so that they can hold onto power."
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

JasonPratt

Quote
"I don't support either side," said Yandry Diaz, 18, who works in a shoe shop.

"What they want is to have us in the street, fighting and killing each other so that they can hold onto power."

I can't lie, I don't understand the political jibberjabs going on there at all. But I ONE THOUSAND PERCENT AGREE WITH THIS GUY! To paraphrase Chesterton (on a rather similar topic now that I think of it), those words should be hung in gold and adamant above every main door everywhere on the planet.
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Gusington

^I have to agree with you and that guy.

Also, I think life there has already sucked for the average person for a while, with little food, gasoline, etc. and their currency basically worthless.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

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Nefaro

Quote from: Gusington on April 02, 2017, 11:45:30 AM

Also, I think life there has already sucked for the average person for a while, with little food, gasoline, etc. and their currency basically worthless.



I still like the Communist Toilet Paper theory:

When a recently minted Commie nation reaches the point where it can't keep enough shit-paper stocked on the shelves, the collapse into a totalitarian Communist state is imminent.

:))


Venezuela passed that point a few years ago.  I remember reading the article with the TP shortage specifically mentioned.

Gusington

When ~30M can't find TP there is an issue.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Nefaro

Situation continues to plummet in Paraíso Rojo with another landmark moment breached.   :hide:





Venezuelan opposition leader "disappears" in government prison

May 8, 2017 by Jazz Shaw


If you live in the United States and you loudly and strongly criticize President Trump, you're invited to effectively become a guest host on MSNBC and your face and voice become well known across the land. In Venezuela, if you loudly and strongly criticize President Nicolas Maduro, you're invited to take up residence in a heavily fortified prison where you eventually disappear from sight... assuming you're still even alive.

That seems to be what's happened to opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. For those not familiar, Lopez was one the earliest public opponents of Maduro's regime, speaking out and calling for reforms. His reward for his civic participation was to be locked away in the heavily guarded Ramo Verde prison. And that took place back in 2014, just as a reminder to those of you who might think that Maduro's tyrannical antics only began recently. For a couple of years he was at least getting visits from his wife and other relatives, but in April of this year Lopez simply disappeared and nobody was allowed to see him. I caught this news from our friend Fausta at Fausta's Blog. (Still an indispensable resource for all political news from the Latin American world.) Here's one of the key clues to how things got this bad.

<...snip..>

Read Fausta's full coverage at the link because this is a staggeringly awful story, but one of the key elements is the brutal reprisal against Lopez by the government and their attempts to apparently cover it up. More than a month ago, authorities reportedly demanded that Lopez go out from his prison cell and denounce the protests in the streets, hoping to use his appeal among the public to tamp things down. Lopez refused and was allegedly beaten severely, suffering abdominal injuries. Since that time nobody has seen him. When the family demanded "proof of life" the government supplied a video of a young, healthy looking man who apparently wasn't even Lopez.

So is he alive or dead? The story is finally getting some traction in the MSM, with ABC covering it this week.


continued  ~~>  http://hotair.com/archives/2017/05/08/venezuelan-opposition-leader-disappears-government-prison/

airboy

The average weight of Venezuelans is down 19 pounds.

I remember taking flack back in the Chavez days "on another site" pointing out how Venezuela was becoming a dictatorship and how it would end badly.  It did not take a lot of foresight to see this coming - but it was beyond many.

Nefaro

Quote from: airboy on May 09, 2017, 06:26:02 PM
The average weight of Venezuelans is down 19 pounds.

I remember taking flack back in the Chavez days "on another site" pointing out how Venezuela was becoming a dictatorship and how it would end badly.  It did not take a lot of foresight to see this coming - but it was beyond many.

I did the same, long ago, in forums elsewhere. 

Was surprised some people were defending Chavez' nationalization policies and such at the time. 

I recall one European guy, obviously the "Communism just hasn't yet been done right" type who even stated he would enjoy living in Venezuela since it was becoming such a great place for people living there.  Didn't believe a word of warning how these things end up.   #:-)  Sadly, I don't think his beliefs were quite as rare as we'd think.

Steelgrave

Quote from: Nefaro on May 10, 2017, 10:33:38 AM
I recall one European guy, obviously the "Communism just hasn't yet been done right" type who even stated he would enjoy living in Venezuela since it was becoming such a great place for people living there.  Didn't believe a word of warning how these things end up.   #:-)  Sadly, I don't think his beliefs were quite as rare as we'd think.

Lucky for him he didn't have the courage of his convictions and move there.....

OJsDad

I would think bernies supporters would be flocking there to see how great it is.
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

Steelgrave

Quote from: OJsDad on May 10, 2017, 12:09:42 PM
I would think bernies supporters would be flocking there to see how great it is.

Latte' liberals and college snowflakes leaving their "safe places"? Nah, don't see that happening.   O0