| “Lap
Dog” of a Cuban Dictatorship
Maritza Ramirez de Agena
VP Public Relations, Group 11abril.com
November 19, 2005
During his regular Sunday broadcast on November 13,
2005, Chavez threatened President Fox using a Venezuelan
saying: “I am like a thornbush that offers it’s
fragrance to those who contemplate it; but pricks
those who mess with it… Gentleman, do not mess
with me, because you will be pricked.”
During the Summit of the Americas, Chavez proclaimed
to have buried the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) and recently called Fox “Lap dog”
of US imperialism, for backing Washington’s
trade policies.
The Monday following President Chavez’s broadcast;
I was driving in Los Angeles when I heard on the radio
about the diplomatic impasse between Venezuela and
Mexico. A Spanish talk show played a segment of President
Chavez’s Sunday broadcast.
One of the radio hosts said it was completely inappropriate
for one president to threaten the president of another
nation, he added that such verbal aggression tantamount
to a declaration of war. The radio host proceeded
to offer his apologies to the people of Venezuela
for his crudeness; he said he knew Chavez had been
reelected and that the president could count on the
support of the Venezuelan people.
I began driving recklessly while trying to get my
cell phone out of my handbag to dial the radio station.
I was outraged and needed to say my piece.
Yes! I agree with the fact that President Chavez’s
attack on President Fox is totally unacceptable; but
I also wanted to tell the Mexican radio host that
the Venezuelan people, to this day, do not know, beyond
a reasonable doubt, whether Chavez won the recall
referendum or committed a massive electoral fraud.
We owe this tragic situation to the unforgivably poor
performance of the Carter Center (CC) and the Organization
of the American States (OAS). The CC and the OAS let
down the Venezuelan people in the most critical point
of the worst political crisis in the country’s
history. Most likely, the two organizations allowed
the Chavez’s government to get away with “murder”,
by not preventing the implementation of a very questionable
“automated” voting system -- the Venezuelan
government owes 28% of the company that supplied the
software for the voting machines.
Fortunately, two phone calls got through immediately
after the radio host spoke. The lady who called first,
said she was Venezuelan and felt very embarrassed
for Chavez’s attack on President Fox. She proceeded
to say that Chavez did not have the support of the
Venezuelan people. The radio host insisted on saying
that Chavez had the support of the Venezuelan people
because he had been reelected. The lady responded
by saying: “Chavez has the support of the Venezuelan
people in the same way Fidel Castro has the support
of the Cuban people… that is by threatening
and terrorizing them. If you are a dissident in Venezuela,
you better be prepared to pay the consequences, for
you or someone in your family certainly will”.
The next caller was also Venezuelan, and said she
felt embarrassed for what Chavez had done. She said
that Chavez is buying people’s loyalty in the
same way he managed to buy his reelection. She added:
“Money can buy anything, you know”.
Chavez said during his controversial broadcast last
Sunday, that “It is sad that the heroic people
of Mexico have a president who kneels down before
the empire.” I say, it is sad that the brave
people of Venezuela have a president who kneels down
before a dictator who has brought nothing but destruction,
poverty and despair to his own people. Sad is the
fact that the pupil has surpassed the teacher!
Norma Gutierrez, a Mexican legislator said: “Chavez’s
offences are unfounded. We cannot expect less of a
dictator who does not know morals or freedom. Chavez
does not respect human rights and governs his people
in an autocratic manner”. Nobody, besides the
Venezuelan people, can truly understand what it is
like living in Venezuela under Chavez. Nonetheless,
it brings me a little consolation to know that Chavez’s
hostility is probably making people of other nationalities
question the legitimacy of the Chavez administration.
I would like the people of Mexico to know that we
Venezuelans value very much their friendship and solidarity
and that we consider President Chavez’s behavior
regrettable. I congratulate President Fox and the
Mexican Department of State for demanding a public
apology from the Venezuelan president. I equally congratulate
the Mexican legislators who voted in favor of the
proposal presented by Norma Gutierrez from the Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI).
The proposal, aimed to exhort the Mexican Congress
to pass a motion to declare Chavez “persona
non grata” in Mexico. It was not approved because
legislators from the Party of the Democratic Revolution
(PRD) voted against it. The PRD holds majority within
the Legislative Assembly of the Mexican Federal District
(ALDF) and purportedly depend upon the support of
President Chavez.
Gerardo Fernandez Noroña, spokesman of the
PRD said it is a “perverse maneuvering”
that which tries to discredit his political party
by connecting it to Chavez.
Let’s keep an eye on them, it is possible they
are hoping for Venezuelan oil money to finance Manuel
López Obrador’s presidential campaign.
In Venezuela, we have a saying: “¡El que
tiene rabo de paja no se acerca a la candela!”
Literally, He who has a backside made of straw shouldn’t
get close to the candle!
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