i generally love chavez but he went too far with some of the proposals.
they should have concentrated on the social security and communal property issues etc etc and less on the consolidating political power and trying to say he could be prez for several more terms if elected.

but this battle isn't over, regardless of the one time vote outcome. venezuela is going to the left along with the rest of latin america, and good thing too.

Rumsfeld shut up? I have a bridge for you.

Since when has it mattered to the nattering classes whether any South American country is democratic? Did it matter in Chile?

There was a referendum, the people spoke, the people won. What's the problem?

I think you answered your own question there!

Yeah I'm so incredibly "thankful" this thing didn't pass.

First of all, the only thing ANY non-Venezuelan among us (including myself) should be thankful for is that the voting was free and fair and reflected the DEMOCRATIC will of the people.  PERIOD.

Frankly I don't care if they were voting to make the Cat in the Hat hat required dress on Sundays.  It's their country.

Secondly, the vote was incredibly close, as close as Bush and Gore in 2000.  Instead of what Bush did, Chavez conceded the loss immediately.

Third, let's all "celebrate" some of the proposed amendments, including those that:

prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and health condition (art. 21), including young people in the political process by lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 years (art. 64), requiring gender parity in candidacies for elected office (art. 64), protecting people from having their primary home expropriated due to bankruptcy (art. 82), introducing a social security fund for self- and informally employed Venezuelans (art. 87), guaranteeing free university education (art. 103),[6] recognizing and promoting the culture Venezuelans of African descent (art. 100), and giving university students parity in the election of university authorities

Sounds like Miller Time down in old Caracas.

As for the abolition of presidential term limits, I always find it particularly hilarious that the United States managed to do just fine for 160 years with no term limits but screams bloody murder if Venezuela wants to democratically change their system after less than 50 years.

And let's not even forget the U.S. backed a dictator, a military GENERAL for over 17 years in this century in Venezuela.  Guess term limits wasn't such a BIG DEAL in those days, eh?

And I'd really like to know when Donald Rumsfeld became a "prominent" American.

p.s. Hugo Chavez didn't lose.  A policy supported by 49.3% of those who voted lost to the 50.7% who voted against it.  Todo ya es tuanis.

Pax

Night and day you can find me Flogging the Simian

To me, the significance of all this is that the referendum lost and Chavez gracefully accepted the will of the voters. There was no discussion of overriding the rule of law. If Chavez is such a "dictator", maybe what the US needs is more dictatorship. Maybe then we, too, could remember what rule of law feels like.

FDR's response to progressive demands: "I agree. Now go out and make me do it."

All that hysteria about Chavez as dictator -- for what? Now we don't even get to topple him or kill him in a 'plane crash'.

Also, note how little was said about Putin's overwhelming victory at the polls. Maybe the Bushies and the village have learned to pick their battles.

Guess that's what happens when you are an impotent, rotting empire...

People like Roger Cohen at NYTimes do not realize that the movement that Chavez headed up is now millions strong.He has enfranchised the blacks, mulattoes,Indians and Mestizos of Venezuela who were dispossessed by the white Spanish aristocracy for a long time.Those days are never going to return.

So long as the people of Venezuela minus the white oligarchy have  power at the ballot box, the US and its fellow travelers will have to face many thousands of Chavezes in the coming years.

Chavez has won and won big.

The crazyness that surrounds our administration regarding Chavez is almost funny-almost because after all they are crazy and still could do something really stupid regarding Venezuela(not likely but)...still it's nice to see that there is someone who is giving them fits because they couldn't buy him off and not only that he's actually doing good things for his people-regular people. I'm sure that is truly what galls bushco-regular people finally getting a break.  Maybe we need to send Chavez to New Orleans.

I'm just happy as an interested observer that people there are finally getting a fair shake and are able to express themselves democratically with their voting process.

Does our government always pick the wrong leaders to worry about?

'Poverty is the worst form of violence'--Gandhi