Go back to the peanut farm and enjoy your sunset years
Jimmy Carter really needs to Shut The Fuck Up at times...
From
Breitbart/AFP:
US might have been involved in 2002 Chavez coup: Carter
The United States knew about an abortive coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2002, and may even have taken part, former US president Jimmy Carter has told a Colombian newspaper.
"I think there is no doubt that in 2002, the United States had at the very least full knowledge about the coup, and could even have been directly involved," Carter said in an interview with El Tiempo published Sunday.
The former US leader said it is understandable that Chavez continues to blame the United States for the failed overthrow attempt.
The Venezuelan president, considered a bulwark of leftism in Latin America, was overthrown by a civilian-military junta for about 48 hours in April 2002, before returning to power.
Then-president George W. Bush denied any US involvement in the abortive coup and called on Chavez, a fierce US critic, to "learn a lesson" from the attempted overthrow.
Carter told El Tiempo that he believed Chavez was elected in a "fair" vote in 1999, had carried out necessary reforms for Venezuela and ensured that "those who are traditionally excluded are able to get a larger share of the national wealth."
Emphasis mine -- that "fair vote" was about as fair as Zelaya's vote in Honduras. The computers with the vote counting software were found when Zelaya was escorted from the country and the results were already in for an election that had not happened yet.
Chavez has had three coup attempts and he himself tried one back in 1992 against the popular president
Carlos Andr�s P�rez. P�rez was brought down by a financial scandal, not a popular vote.
At that time, the term limit was four years with two successive terms being the limit. Chavez winkled this up to six years with a congressional referendum in 2000 just like Zelaya tried to do.
Chavez' 2006 election results were certified by the Carter Center (beginning to see some rot in the foundation here?) and as of February 2009, the
term limits have been removed...
Chavez is not stealing the wealth of Venezuela but he is squandering it. When the Oil reserves dry up, Venezuela will become a third-world hell-hole as it has no other resources -- Chavez is not building universities, factories, expanding agriculture. He is playing bread and circuses and destroying the nation entrusted to his care...
Posted by DaveH at September 21, 2009 6:13 AM