Hugo Chavez Dies From Cancer At 58

[bendejo]

Agree or not with him, try to be more respectful for the deceased

Pretty Catholic sentiment, sounds like something one of my relatives would say.

Doesn't matter what a piece of waste a person was when alive, when dead they immediately became a saint. Yeah, right.

On the other hand I recall a heated argument between my grandmother and grandfather one day, grandma telling the old man that she will outlive him long enough to p_iss on his grave. She outlived him, but don't know it she made good on the promise. Crazy old Scot that she was I could see her casually squatting unobtrusively ...

With this in mind, I would guess they'll have to place guards near Hugo's grave to keep it from becoming a health hazard.

[sabaijai]

March 5, 2013

THE NEW YORKER

Postscript: Hugo Chávez, 1954-2013

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frias, who died on Tuesday, from cancer, at the age of fifty-eight, was one of the most flamboyantly provocative leaders on the world scene in recent years. His death came after months in which his health was a national mystery, the subject of obfuscation and rumors; he spent inauguration day for his fourth term in a hospital bed in Cuba. Vice-President Nicolás Maduro, who made the announcement, is one of the politicians now maneuvering to control Venezuela, where elections will be held within thirty days.

A one-time army paratrooper who served two years in prison after leading a botched military coup against Venezuela’s government in 1992, Chávez emerged from behind bars, after an amnesty, with a renewed determination to achieve power, and sought the support of Cuba’s veteran Communist leader Fidel Castro to do so. In 1998, Chávez won Venezuela’s Presidential elections, promising to change things in his country forever, from top to bottom. Since the day he was first sworn in as President, in February, 1999, he devoted himself to doing precisely that. What he has left is a country that, in some ways, will never be the same, and which, in other ways, is the same Venezuela as ever: one of the world’s most oil-rich but socially unequal countries, with a large number of its citizens living in some of Latin America’s most violent slums.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/03/postscript-hugo-chavez-1954-2013.html

Edited March 6, 2013 by Rimmer
Edited to reflect fair use

[amecth]

Agree or not with him, try to be more respectful for the deceased

So does this mean that since Hitler, Osama Bin Ladin, Pol Pot, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Jimmy Saville are deceased I have to be respectful of them too? I feel the same way about Hugo Chavez as I feel about the aforementioned individuals.

You cannot compare Hugo Chavez with serial killers, terrorists and Adolf... c'mon

No, but you can compare him with many ruthless leaders throughout the world and even in death,why should we show respect to him or them?

[Steely Dan]

He had some bold, some might say crazy ideas. Such as that South America should unite as one to defeat the USA. As is typical with populist charismatic leaders, he won't be soon forgotten.

Jing, Sometimes I wonder, I bet you would be less charitable if you had to live in Venezuela. He was antisemitic to his very core and I for one am glad he is gone. Perhaps some covert initiative should be undertaken by the CIA to facilitate a true democratic replacement as oppose to a despotic banana republic.

http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2013/1/4/chavez-and-the-jews-a-sorry-tale.html

[canman]

I'm curious about the diplomatic protocol at his funeral.

Of course his South American buddies will be prominent.

Raul Castro will be a star. Assuming Fidel too frail to attend.

What about Ahmadinejad of Iran? Will the USA send a representative? Perhaps the Vice President's intern? Of course, there is no way Obama is going.

Statement from the White House:

At this challenging time of President Hugo Chávez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people,” President

Obama says in remarks at the White House.

Note the lack of praise for Chavez.

I am sure Holliwood will be well represented at the funeral with the likes of Sean Penn and Danny Glover

[Fookhaht]

I'm curious about the diplomatic protocol at his funeral.

Of course his South American buddies will be prominent.

Raul Castro will be a star. Assuming Fidel too frail to attend.

What about Ahmadinejad of Iran? Will the USA send a representative? Perhaps the Vice President's intern? Of course, there is no way Obama is going.

Statement from the White House:

At this challenging time of President Hugo Chávez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people,” President

Obama says in remarks at the White House.

Note the lack of praise for Chavez.

I am sure Holliwood will be well represented at the funeral with the likes of Sean Penn and Danny Glover

I propose sending Woody Allen or call on our Brit Monty Python friends to lend an air of solemnity to the occasion.

[oldsailor35]

One thing when it comes to dictators of any kind is that people only see the bad, which is natural. HOWEVER to be a dictator of a country and rule it for as long as he has, one has to be a very very very smart man.

But was he a "Goodie" or a "Baddie" ?

[meatballs]

I'm sure the US govt. thinks they "scored one" today. But hopefully his policies and ideas will live on. He did a lot of good things for the poor. Of course the fascist US govt. cannot tolerate such policies. May Venezuela remain a thorn in America's side.

RIP

[submaniac]

I'm curious about the diplomatic protocol at his funeral.

Of course his South American buddies will be prominent.

Raul Castro will be a star. Assuming Fidel too frail to attend.

What about Ahmadinejad of Iran? Will the USA send a representative? Perhaps the Vice President's intern? Of course, there is no way Obama is going.

Statement from the White House:

At this challenging time of President Hugo Chávez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people,” President

Obama says in remarks at the White House.

Note the lack of praise for Chavez.

I am sure Holliwood will be well represented at the funeral with the likes of Sean Penn and Danny Glover

I propose sending Woody Allen or call on our Brit Monty Python friends to lend an air of solemnity to the occasion.

I propose Jeremy Clarkson and/or The Stig drive the hearst during the funeral procession....

[Jingthing]

He had some bold, some might say crazy ideas. Such as that South America should unite as one to defeat the USA. As is typical with populist charismatic leaders, he won't be soon forgotten.

Jing, Sometimes I wonder, I bet you would be less charitable if you had to live in Venezuela. He was antisemitic to his very core and I for one am glad he is gone. Perhaps some covert initiative should be undertaken by the CIA to facilitate a true democratic replacement as oppose to a despotic banana republic.

http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2013/1/4/chavez-and-the-jews-a-sorry-tale.html

That's funny. I didn't think I was being charitable. I think his Bolivarian ideas were basically INSANE. Didn't you get the hint? Anyway, it looks like he made a mistake in picking such a DUD vice president and that if the Venezualan people are lucky enough to get to VOTE soon as they are entitled to under their constitution, they will reject Chavez's party in favor of the worthy opposition. I fear the Chavez forces will attempt to reinterpret the constitution in a way to prevent the new election.

Some pics of Chavez and his buddies:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/03/hugo_chavez_a_photo_gallery_on_the_life_of_the_venezuelan_dictator.html

Edited March 6, 2013 by Jingthing

[ezzra]

What goes around...comes around!

Better yet, what goes around, usually end up under ground...

[kotsak]

One of his best performance..

Edited March 6, 2013 by kotsak

[Jingthing]

Chavez's lackey says he has some evidence. That's rich.

[SteeleJoe]

Well have you heard of any retards coming to power and controlling the entire country for 16 years?

So people are either "retards" or very, very, very smart?

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

Edited March 6, 2013 by SteeleJoe

[SteeleJoe]

That depends who is looking at it.

Many in Iraq believe they were much better off when Saddam was in power, and look at Egypt now.

Chavez, was not liked by the West and made friends with the worst, but he did look after his people

Because some feel they were better off under Saddam doesn't mean he is worthy of respect ( and that has been said to one degree or another about all dictators).

Chavez " looked after" SOME of his people.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

[Potosi]

Fortunes of dictators are always created on the backs of the poor. Hard to drum up sympathy for a man like this who also thrived on trying to unsettle international relationships (except for his "poor" Cuban friends--his only friends). It was just a matter of time before he would have ended up as much of a loose-cannon threat as Iran or North Korea.

The world is better without him.

Wait a minute, don't the rich deserve respect for their success? Doesn't Chavez' wealth trickle down, creating jobs and opportunities?

[Mosha]

Fortunes of dictators are always created on the backs of the poor. Hard to drum up sympathy for a man like this who also thrived on trying to unsettle international relationships (except for his "poor" Cuban friends--his only friends). It was just a matter of time before he would have ended up as much of a loose-cannon threat as Iran or North Korea.

The world is better without him.

Wait a minute, don't the rich deserve respect for their success? Doesn't Chavez' wealth trickle down, creating jobs and opportunities?

He could have taken a leaf out of another SA President's book. Uraguay I think, he drives around in an old VW Beetle and donates a large part of his monthly wage to charity.

[Jingthing]

South America has good examples of leftist leaders who didn't go as far to the extremes and ethical black holes that Chavez manifested.

[Gary A]

I think he did tremendous damage to the country for now and for the future.That said, I wouldn't wish that type of suffering on any man or animal.

[Taco]

Good riddance. Asside from providing cheep gasoline, his policies did very little to help the people of Venezuela. If his stirring of the pot did some good maybe one could respect his problematic "charisma". I fully agree on the comment that he couldn't even get proper health care in his own country after 16 years of improving it with socialism. Good Job Hugo.

[Nowhereman60]

one less dictator, Castro is next.

[metisdead]

Conspiracy theory posts and replies have been removed.

[NeverSure]

I'm sure the US govt. thinks they "scored one" today. But hopefully his policies and ideas will live on. He did a lot of good things for the poor. Of course the fascist US govt. cannot tolerate such policies. May Venezuela remain a thorn in America's side.

RIP

I'll have to let this go since you obviously don't know the definition of fascist.

However, why don't you look up fascism, get a grasp on the concept, and then compare it line for line to what Chavez was doing.

Do you seriously think that Chavez was a thorn in the side of the US? He was a paper tiger. A nuisance. A thorn is a N. Korea with an idiot at the helm, or a Persia with an idiot at the helm and both having, or nearing having nukes.

While the whole world seriously worries about a war between Japan and China over land disputes, and the US moves in most of it's naval fleet including a new agreement with The Philippines to repopulate former naval and other military bases as we speak, you think Chavez was a thorn.

Well I don't think he's much of a thorn to anyone right now. Dust to dust and ashes to ashes.

[LeeThayer]

How did that socialist medicine work out for you? RIP.

[Chopperboy]

The country's vice president Nicolas Maduro said that the long-standing president died at 4:25pm local time in the country's capital Caracas, using the broadcast to call for 'unity, tranquility and understanding'.

‘We have no doubt that commander Chavez was attacked with this illness,’ added Mr Maduro, fingering ‘imperialist’ foes led by the United States.

He said: 'The old enemies of our fatherland looked for a way to harm his health.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2288704/Hugo-Chavez-dead-Venezuelan-president-Hugo-Chavez-dies-severe-infection-battle-cancer.html

Edited March 6, 2013 by Chopperboy

[smotherb]

One thing when it comes to dictators of any kind is that people only see the bad, which is natural. HOWEVER to be a dictator of a country and rule it for as long as he has, one has to be a very very very smart man.

Are you so sure?

>I have always said, heard, that it would not be strange that there had

been civilization on Mars. But maybe capitalism

arrived there, imperialism arrived, and finished off the p

lanet.

Hugo Chavez

I'd say he was a very CHARISMATIC man.

Well have you heard of any retards coming to power and controlling the entire country for 16 years?

a few kings of England come to mind

[NeverSure]

The country's vice president Nicolas Maduro said that the long-standing president died at 4:25pm local time in the country's capital Caracas, using the broadcast to call for 'unity, tranquility and understanding'.

‘We have no doubt that commander Chavez was attacked with this illness,’ added Mr Maduro, fingering ‘imperialist’ foes led by the United States.

He said: 'The old enemies of our fatherland looked for a way to harm his health.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2288704/Hugo-Chavez-dead-Venezuelan-president-Hugo-Chavez-dies-severe-infection-battle-cancer.html

Haha. So even his cancer was caused by the "imperialist" US. Why don't they look up the definition of "imperialist." That is also the last thing the US is, next to fascist, LOL.

I would be proud of the US if they caused his cancer. But the truth is, had he asked the US for help at the very onset of his cancer, he would have gotten the red carpet treatment and he might still be alive. Health practitioners have an oath to save lives without regard to what they think of the patient.

Go to Cuba for treatment for Cripes sake? How hateful and stubborn to the death.

[bendejo]

Transcript of an imaginary conversation recorded five years ago.

Fidel: What? He's back? But he just left three days ago!

Raoul: He wants to be here when you die. He already has the speech memorized.

Fidel: We had better take care of this...

(I hope somebody else remembers back that far)

I don't think the current US admin cared enough about him to put him out of business. He was just noise. On the other hand, if Venezuela was becoming a gateway for certain Eastern Hemisphere miscreants who are trying to enter the US with ill intent I could see that earning some attention.

Even he had the sense not to declare war on his best customer, though he wasn't shy about busting their balls.

Mugabe will be joining him soon.

[khunken]

He did a lot more for the poor people in his country than many other world leaders.

He had a justifiable hatred of the US after a US-supported coup failed some years ago. He went to Cuba for medical treatment because, however one can demonise that country, it has a very good health system.

RIP Hugo Chavez. You stood up for what you believed in.

[harryfrompattaya]

A good brave man died. He was not afraid to tell the US and Israel Gov. the truth.RIP

But a fool his familiy and many of friends believe the US gave him cancer

If he was smart he would not have cross him