Hugo Chavez

The Venezuelan president has this country by the balls. He can say or do almost anything he likes, and there is nothing we can do about it. When someone like that insults or disagrees with us we should have the power to say "screw you, we don't need your oil. How do you like that?" But the US is in no position to do that with any country we import oil from. I wonder how that effects our national security interests? How many other countries have us by the balls?

 

You know there's a good way to get around that.


Get off the sauce. (oil)

 

Hugo had better pray that the situation in Iraq is never resolved, because with all those troops at the pres disposal Venezuela could be the next country we give democracy to, whether they want it or not.

 

Right. We have been so successful securing a steady supply of oil from Iraq. Let's repeat that scenario. Good idea.

 

If the president would had taken Pat Robertsons suggestion and authorize the CIA to assassinate him Venezuela would been back to a free nation by now.

 

It would be a nation in absolute chaos, and moreover the entire continent would rise up in outrage.

 

It would be a nation in absolute chaos, and moreover the entire continent would rise up in outrage.
If the president would had taken Pat Robertsons suggestion and authorize the CIA to assassinate him Venezuela would been back to a free nation by now.
Nice illustration of left vs. right. Both, equally thoughtless. Both equally wrong.

 

Hey Beetle Bailey, I know you're new around here, so let me explain how we do things. If you're going to say that someone is wrong, you have to then state how or why they are wrong. Otherwise you just come across as arrogant and its hard for everyone else to take you seriously.

So...care to explain how they're both wrong?

 

Nice one vyo. This is a discussion and debate forum after all.

I love the way you said 'give democracy.' Giving it, like a gift? Or like a smack in the face? Countries don't want America dishing out democracy. They will eventually get round to it themselves, hopefully with a bit more personal freedom that a lot of rich, democratic countries.

And if you were to attack Venezula, I like to think that the whole continent would rise up as one and repel the invaders. There is a strong sense of revolution there, spread by the socialist style governments, and boiled up underneath the more oppressive governments.

 

...

We have bigger things to worry about than what a goofball in Venezuela says to insult us. Obviously he does it for political reasons because the people who voted him in love it. As much as he acts like a dictator, he is still doing things by democratic mandate. The "sky is falling" types should call back when he actually decides to skip an election or kill his opponent.
For the most part Chavez just blows smoke and we exaggerate it a lot. His nationalization process is actually not much different from what a lot of other nations are doing right now... and he is certainly know military threat.
It would be stupid to waste any resources in removing him. He is democratically elected. Haven't we learned anything from our silly Cold War games?

 

By this country, do you mean the US? If so, how?

Sure we are. We import more oil from both Canada and Mexico. Venezuela accounts for 10% of our total imports, and our imports only account for around 50% or 60% of our total consumption. We import almost as much oil from Nigeria as we do from Venezuela.
- http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_m.htm -

We're on it.

If it wasnt Hugo it would be someone else. Venezuela is a democracy...Hugo didnt force himself into power. He was elected...from what I understand, elected by a wide margin.

No, the US should not go around assassinating elected leaders in other democracies. That is retarded.

How do you know that if you cant ask them?

I am unwilling to make that assumption.

 

I couldn't possibly care less who or what you take seriously.

 

I agree.

We could stop using so much oil immediately and incur all the expense of change all at once or we can stretch the change out over years and spread out the expense of change. new technology might even make the change easier.

As long as we understand that the change will come one way or another and that it will be expensive then we don't need to be subject to the whims of other nations. We just need to accept it as an eventuality.

 

Ill tell everyone I would rather have a country that we import oil from say things about dirty things about our President and then turn around and give heating fuel to needy people in this country when American oil companies dont lift a finger. All that being said, it wasnt 15 Venezualans who hijacked and crashed airplanes into landmarks and killed nearly 3,000 innocent people. It was the Saudi Arabians. If anyone has us by the balls and either we cant, but I think it is more a fact that we choose not to do anything about it, that my friends are the tyranical, non-democratic Saudis.

 

A Democratic Saudi Arabia would likely vote Al Qaeda into office. MARK