Chavez death echoes with leftists worldwide
Updated 4:40 a.m. EST March 6, 2013
HAVANA, Cuba Reactions to the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were as mixed, polemical and outsized as the leader was in life, with some saying his passing was a tragic loss and others calling it an opportunity for Venezuela to escape his long shadow.
Seen as a hero by some for his anti-U.S. rhetoric and gifts of cut-rate oil, others considered him a bully.
A teary-eyed Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of Chavez's closest allies and most loyal disciples, declared that "Chavez is more alive than ever."
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"Chavez will continue to be an inspiration for all peoples who fight for their liberation," Morales said Tuesday in a televised speech. "Chavez will always be present in all the regions of the world and all social sectors. Hugo Chavez will always be with us, accompanying us."
In Cuba, President Raul Castro's government declared two days of national mourning and ordered the flag to fly at half-staff.
"It is with deep and excruciating sorrow that our people and the revolutionary government have learned of President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias' decease," it said in a statement read on the nightly state TV newscast. "The Cuban people view him as one of their most outstanding sons."
Some islanders worried that the loss of the country's No. 1 ally, who has sent billions of dollars of oil to Cuba at preferential terms, could have a negative ripple effect there.
"It's a very tough blow. ... Now I wonder, what is to become of us?" said Maite Sierra, a 72-year-old Havana resident.
"It's troubling what could come now, first for Venezuela but also for Cuba," said Sergio Duran, a Havana resident. "Everything will depend on what happens in Venezuela, but in any case it will never be the same as with Chavez, even if Chavez's party wins" in upcoming elections.
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad sent a message of condolence, says the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), citing a report from the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA).
"Hugo Chavez was the symbol and heir of all brave and the glorious as well as sad history of Latin American countries. He was the manifestation of the free spirit of the oppressed people of these nations and all oppressed nations around the world. He is the hoisted flag of all fighters against colonization and justice-seekers, and the pioneer of friendship amongst nations," the agency quoted Ahmadinezhad's letter as saying.
Iran declared a day of national mourning on Wednesday and Ahmadinejad may attend Chavez's funeral, Reuters quotes Iran's state news agency, IRNA as reporting.
In the United States, where relations with Venezuela were strained under Chavez, President Obama issued a statement reaffirming Washington's support for the "Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government."
"As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights," the statement read.
Hugo Chavez: 1954-2013
Filmmaker Oliver Stone, who produced a film about Chavez and his leftist allies, wrote in his Twitter account, "I mourn a great hero to the majority of his people and those who struggle throughout the world ... Hated by the entrenched classes, Hugo Chavez will live forever in history. My friend, rest finally in a peace long earned."
Some of the estimated 189,219 Venezuelan immigrants living in the United States — about half of them in Florida — turned out cheering and waving their country's flag and expressed hope Tuesday that change would come to their homeland.
"He's gone!" dozens in a largely anti-Chavez community chanted after word spread of the socialist's death
Hugo Chavez: The 60 Minutes interview
"We are not celebrating death," Ana San Jorge, 37, said amid a jubilant crowd in the Miami suburb of Doral. "We are celebrating the opening of a new door, of hope and change."
Wearing caps and T-shirts in the Venezuelan colors of yellow, blue and red, many expressed cautious optimism and concern.
"Although we might all be united here celebrating today, we don't know what the future holds," said Francisco Gamez, 18, at El Arepazo, a popular Venezuelan restaurant in Doral.
"I always knew that for things to get better they had to get worse," said Mario Di Giovanni, a Venezuelan student activist in Miami who helped organize voters for last October's election. "So I guess this is the first step toward real change in Venezuela."
Republican U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida called Chavez's death "an opportunity for democracy in Venezuela."
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, another Chavez ally, declared three days of mourning nationwide.
She and President Jose Mujica of neighboring Uruguay also prepared to travel to Venezuela for the funeral.
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In Nicaragua, another nation that broadly benefited from Venezuelan cut-rate oil, Rosario Murillo, the wife and spokeswoman of President Daniel Ortega, said Chavez is "one of the dead who never die."
"We are all Chavez," she said in televised comments.
But Raul Martinez, a leader of the leftist, pro-government Sandinista Youth group, acknowledged in an interview with a local television station that "it is a hard blow,"
"Hugo Chavez was our best ally, but we are confident that the Venezuelans we will continue their support," Martinez.
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Expected the biggest Leftist of them all - Herr Obama - to have weighed in.
check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_response_to_Hurricane_Katrina
"What is wrong with Pat Robertson? He is a good and moral man protecting decency in an indecent "secular" world."
If Pat Robertson is a good and moral man then I must be Jesus compared to him. And this "secular world" he's protecting us from is the same secularism that is the foundation of the US. We need secularism to prevent all of the denominations of Christianity from killing each other like in the "good ol' days".
I might also remind you that socialism has a lot more in common with Christ's teachings than the type of capitalism we've been seeing for the last 30 years or more. In fact, you could just as easily substitute capitalists for moneychangers and say Christ threw the capitalists out of the temple.
Bottom line is that Chavez apparently won his elections fair and square. I don't remember the election watchers declaring it rigged. It doesn't matter whether we liked him or not. He was their choice and they have the right to choose their own leader.
Pat Robertson was a equally irritating voice with harsh rhetoric against Chavez, who on his own tv show, "The 700 Club" publicly called for "taking down" Chavez....a deed equally reminiscent of the late Ayatollah Khomeini.
There are many of us with long memories and open minds, who won't judge Chavez so harshly. Many of us ask some solid questions which prompt and spawn serious thought. Here are a few:
1. Why do nations with poor socioeconomic conditions become so easily destabilized?
2. Why do nations with their majority in poor economic health easily shun capitalism and rally behind a socialist leader?
3. Why does traditional religion itself easily reinforce socialist ideologies in their endeavors to care for the poor and ailing segments of any nation's society, making clerics align more easily with socialist leaders?
Realistically, socialist societies are highly ordered and don't pose threat to other nations...as long their majority easily see benefit that doesn't require pride to prop up patriotism.
Venezuela is not completely socialist any more than the USA is completely capitalist. Only hardline capitalists fear Chavez and others...which can easily be seen as paranoia that a business empire will crumble if too many citizens become economically deprived.
Those who allow the news media to do their thinking for them, will never be able to cut their puppet strings and think for them selves.
There are a lot worse things that could have happened to Venezuela than Hugo Chavez...they could have had a G.W. Bush or Dick Cheney for a leader and wrongfully invaded countries and destabilized the global economy.
Hugo's gone and Bashar Assad is ready to run (he's packing his bags now), so where does all this leave the Ayatollahs? I think they're feeling a bit, what's the word... isolated. It's about time some of these thugs bite the dust.
Here's a bit of dirty laundry for you to look at! ~ United States support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, against post-revolutionary Iran, included several billion dollars worth of economic aid, the sale of dual-use technology, non-U.S. origin weaponry, military intelligence, Special Operations training, and direct involvement in warfare against Iran.
What is St. Peter going to be saying to the former President Bush's?
Sadly due to the presence(20% of global reserves)of the countries rich oil deposits, major oil companies will be salivating and scheming how to get some corrupt puppet dictatorship into power, whilst milking the country and its people for what it can get!
That dirty word 'OIL' rears its ugly head and just as in Nigeria and Ecuador, peoples political and environmental rights go clean out of the window!!