That according to Publius Pundit, discussing dictator Hugo Chavez's decision to steal all the phone lines and electricity in Venezuela.
It's not hard to find lefties who admire Chavez's use of oil revenues, particularly when they are barbed attacks on American capitalism. In the alternet article, one Democrat says:
"The truth of the matter is that the Bush Administration is unhappy that the people of Venezuela democratically elected a president who does not pledge full allegiance to American interests," said Congressman Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., in an August press statement. "Therefore they cannot resist attacking President Hugo Chávez every chance they get and blaming him for every development in the region that they dislike."
Yes, that's exactly what the Bush Administration doesn't like. I'm sure confiscating all electricity and phone service is what every democratically elected president does, right? From Publius Pundit:
Chavez intends to control all the media and information all through the country. CANTV’s stock has now plunged 16% on the NYSE until it was yanked from floor trading, due to its precipitous fall. Nobody thinks Chavez is going to compensate anyone fairly for his forced expropriation and the market is responding accordingly.
But more significantly, with the prospect of Chavez owning the entire phone line system — oh and what a shame this will be because Venezuela’s phone lines are the clearest in all South America, and they’ll go to hell under state ownership — Chavez will be able to listen in on any phone call he wants, especially with all the great electronic help he’s getting from Cuba’s communist electronic warfare experts who are now in Caracas. Worse yet, he’ll be able to cut off electricity to any dissident or group, effectively ending any possible power to dissemimate news via electronic media. The only way to get any serious news out of Venezuela now will be to fly into Venezuela. If you can get a visa.
Notwithstanding some of the nuttier claims on the left that the government controls all the media in this country (if so, how do they get their information?), it should concern all Americans that Chavez is tightening his grip on the country.
This isn’t all the thug is up to, by the way. He’s also stealing the entire central bank, by ending autonomy for it. He’s turning that into an instrument for money-printing, now that he’s badly mismanaged the entire oil bonanza, wrecked the oil fields, fired all of the talent who could clean up this situation, and wasted hundreds of billions of dollars of oil earnings on stealing, corruption and socialist mismanagement.
In short, Chavez is turning Venezuela into the wasteland of nothingness that is communist Cuba.
The article has links to stories from individuals in Venezuela. Read them while you can.
Cross-posted at Common Sense Political Thought.
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