Sean Penn and Hugo Chavez are BFF

[GatewaySnayke]

I think this is something newsworthy because it shows how unbelievably naive self-righteous actors like Sean Penn are. For someone who claims to be so informed, he must've missed the part where Hugo Chavez is some sort of Uncle Joe to people in this country even though behind closed doors he's a giant d-bag.

[Arthur Dent]

I think this is something newsworthy because it shows how unbelievably naive self-righteous actors like Sean Penn are. For someone who claims to be so informed, he must've missed the part where Hugo Chavez is some sort of Uncle Joe to people in this country even though behind closed doors he's a giant d-bag.

Is "Uncle Joe" Joesph Stalin? Whatever you may think of Hugo Chavez's politics, he's quite popular in Venezuela. That's why he's won two elections by wide margins, survived a recall attempt by another large margin, and was even reinstated after a U.S. backed coup attempt because a popular uprising rejected the coup.

[GatewaySnayke]

Despite his popularity, I think it's impotant to note that Venezuela is not Shangri-La. Caracas is one of the most dangerous cities in South America, and if his politics were really at work that shouldn't be the case. Then there's the whole human rights violations and anti-Semitic stuff. Simply put, he's not someone I would align myself with.

[clement]

I'm really not a fan of Hugo Chavez so I don't want to necessarily defend him, though I agree with him on certain things. But the guy won two elections in Venezuela, then was ousted by a coup. The US immediately backed the new unelected government, which was soon beat back and Chavez regained power. Chavez is convinced that Bush, the US, and the CIA were behind the failed coup attempt. Given our country's history in that part of the world, do you blame him for thinking that? Frankly, I would be surprised if we weren't involved.

Chavez is hugely popular with many people in the world, particularly people in Latin America. Of course he is very polarizing, people seem to either love him or hate him. He may indeed be a douchebag. In fact, he probably is. But in my opinion so are Dick Cheney, GW Bush, and a whole host of other politicos around the world.

I'm really not sure what the crime is, or even what the naivete of Sean Penn is. These issues are not black and white. Maybe Sean Penn agrees with some of the main principles that Chavez stands for? That doesn't necessarily endorse every single thing he has ever done or said. Meeting that douchebag elicits a lot of heated criticism. What if some celebrity meets with some other political douchebag who happens to be an ally of the US? If he had met with Musharraf would that have been ok? At least Chavez has won an election (and I'm not anti-Musharraf). What about Putin, who has basically been popularly trampling on freedoms in Russia as he has restored strength and a strong economy over there? And how many celebrities have met with our president, who outside of the US is far less popular than he is within, including less popular than Chavez. In fact, I don't know if there is anyone in the world who is considered more dangerous to world peace and stability than Bush is today, and that is saying a lot.

[Arthur Dent]

anti-Semitic stuff

That's largely invented:

As to the anti-Semitic interpretation of Chavez' Christmas Eve remarks by O'Grady and Mannes, who in fact were echoing a formal protest to Caracas last week by the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre, it was explicitly rejected by Fred Pressner, president of the Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela (CAIV), as well as two major U.S. Jewish groups.

"You have interfered in the political status, in the security, and in the well-being of our community," according to a draft letter from the CIAV to the Wiesenthal Centre obtained by The Forward, the largest-circulation Jewish newspaper in the United States. "You have acted on your own, without consulting us, on issues that you don't know or understand."

"We believe the president was not talking about Jews and that the Jewish world must learn to work together," according to the draft letter, which noted that the latest protest was the third time that the Wiesenthal Center had publicly criticised Chavez without first consulting the local community.

The two U.S. groups -- the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress, both of which have Latin America divisions -- echoed Pressner's contention that Chavez' comments, when considered in their full context, including sentences that both preceded and followed the (already-abridged) sentence quoted by O'Grady and Mannes, were not aimed at Jews.

Rather, they believe the target was the white oligarchy that has dominated Venezuela's and South America's economy since colonial times -- a theme that has dominated much of Chavez' political rhetoric for the past seven years.

You, me, or Sean Penn's opinions of the Chavez presidency aren't really relevant though. It's up to Venezuelans to decide who should be their president. I think what ought to be relevant to us is opposing U.S. attempts to subvert Venezuelan democracy.

[Michael]

You, me, or Sean Penn's opinions of the Chavez presidency aren't really relevant though. It's up to Venezuelans to decide who should be their president. I think what ought to be relevant to us is opposing U.S. attempts to subvert Venezuelan democracy.

Well, Chavez has worked hard to stifle opposition voices within his country. It's not exactly "land of the free" over there.

[Popeye_Card]

You, me, or Sean Penn's opinions of the Chavez presidency aren't really relevant though. It's up to Venezuelans to decide who should be their president. I think what ought to be relevant to us is opposing U.S. attempts to subvert Venezuelan democracy.

Well, Chavez has worked hard to stifle opposition voices within his country. It's not exactly "land of the free" over there.

One could say that the Bush administration is trying to also stiffle Chavez's voice of opposition to the US in the UN and worldwide by assisting with his ousting in Venezuela.

Not saying who is right, but are we sure we know who's wrong?

--P--

[Michael]

You, me, or Sean Penn's opinions of the Chavez presidency aren't really relevant though. It's up to Venezuelans to decide who should be their president. I think what ought to be relevant to us is opposing U.S. attempts to subvert Venezuelan democracy.

Well, Chavez has worked hard to stifle opposition voices within his country. It's not exactly "land of the free" over there.

One could say that the Bush administration is trying to also stiffle Chavez's voice of opposition to the US in the UN and worldwide by assisting with his ousting in Venezuela.

Not saying who is right, but are we sure we know who's wrong?

--P--

Has anyone proved we assisted his ousting? Besides, my comment had nothing to do with Bush administration policies, only Chavez's. I think his efforts to shut down the news media are terrible.

I guess we can never know "who is right or who is wrong" but can't we have opinions?

[Arthur Dent]

Well, Chavez has worked hard to stifle opposition voices within his country.

Not really. In fact the new constitution that he campaigned for introduced the provision for presidential recall to which he was subjected. The latest accusation is about the non-renewal of the broadcast license for a television station controlled by the opposition. This is the same station that had functioned as a key player in the 2002 coup and which refused to cover the news when Chavez was reinstated. If such a thing had happened in the U.S., would you really expect the station to have its license renewed?

[Michael]

If such a thing had happened in the U.S., would you really expect the station to have its license renewed?

I'd damn well hope so.