Chavez compares Germany's Merkel to Hitler

[anthonyvop]

I am curious to see how some of our German posters feel about Chavez's comments.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080512/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_germany;_ylt=AvPa7c.sMAdaIcNVe45FFOi3IxI F

Chavez criticizes Germany's Merkel

Mon May 12, 6:30 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela - Hugo Chavez accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party of sharing the same ideals as Adolf Hitler and warned he might confront her at Friday's summit of Latin American and European leaders in Peru.

The Venezuelan president lashed out at Merkel late on Sunday, after she told an interviewer that Chavez doesn't speak for all of Latin America.

Chavez described Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union party as "the same right wing that supported Hitler and fascism."

"Ms. Chancellor, you can go to ..." he said, pausing. "Because you are a lady, I won't say any more."

Chavez joked during a weekly broadcast that Merkel might tell him to "shut up" in response — as Spanish King Juan Carlos did when Chavez criticized former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar at a summit last year.

Merkel's spokesman, Thomas Steg, said she would not add to what she told German news agency DPA: that no single country could harm overall relations between the European Union and Latin America.

"President Chavez does not speak for Latin America — every country has its own voice, with which they pursue their own interests," Steg quoted Merkel as saying.

"The comments of President Chavez speak for themselves," Steg told The Associated Press.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday called Merkel a "great democrat," and in a clear reference to Chavez said "inflammatory, populist and aggressive" remarks go against efforts to increase cooperation between Europe and Latin America.

[millencolin]

Big Hugo does it again! The man should really think first before he speaks

[Azumanga Davo]

Loud-mouthed leaders are always the fun ones, aren't they? :p :

[anthonyvop]

Wow!

Not many comments!

Could it be those who approve of Chavez cannot come up with a way to defend his statements?

[donKey jote]

Wow!

Not many comments!

Could it be those who approve of Chavez cannot come up with a way to defend his statements?


Or could it simply be that nobody gives a damn about this thread, let alone what King Chav has to say about Merkel and Germany ? :p :

:dozey:

[BDunnell]

Or could it simply be that nobody gives a damn about this thread, let alone what King Chav has to say about Merkel and Germany ? :p :

:dozey:

No. According to anthonyvop, 'you're either with us or against us'. ;)

My view? Chavez is bonkers, no-one should take him seriously, and that's all there is to it.

[anthonyvop]

No. According to anthonyvop, 'you're either with us or against us'. ;)

My view? Chavez is bonkers, no-one should take him seriously, and that's all there is to it.

Nobody takes him serious?
Just a head of a country sitting on a sh*tload of oil
A few sqaudrons of Migs.
Assisting terrorists both financially and logistically.
Illegally financing election campaigns in other countries.

Nope. No need to take him serious because he is thousands of miles away from you.
Ask the people of South America and the Caribbean basin if they should take him serious.

[BDunnell]

Nobody takes him serious?
Just a head of a country sitting on a sh*tload of oil
A few sqaudrons of Migs.
Assisting terrorists both financially and logistically.
Illegally financing election campaigns in other countries.

Nope. No need to take him serious because he is thousands of miles away from you.
Ask the people of South America and the Caribbean basin if they should take him serious.

I was speaking personally, and I haven't lost much sleep over his activities. I'm sure he's a malign influence in Venezuela and the region, but if the Venezuelans want to elect such a person, I don't think anyone is in a position to stop them.

On the grounds that I expressed the view I did, are you somehow suggesting, using your reasoning, that I am somehow a supporter of his? I would be fascinated to know.

[Tomi]

Looks like that Merkel does not worry too much about him either.

[rah]

Nobody takes him serious?
Just a head of a country sitting on a sh*tload of oil
A few sqaudrons of Migs.
Assisting terrorists both financially and logistically.
Illegally financing election campaigns in other countries.

Nope. No need to take him serious because he is thousands of miles away from you.
Ask the people of South America and the Caribbean basin if they should take him serious.

You know, if you substitute the Migs with the largest military budget in the world, you could have a pretty good description of George W Bush.

[Canada Cornrow]

You know, if you substitute the Migs with the largest military budget in the world, you could have a pretty good description of George W Bush.


Without the sh*tload of oil of course.

[Canada Cornrow]

"Chavez described Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union party as "the same right wing that supported Hitler and fascism."


Not only is Hugo a big-mouth, he doesn't even know what facism is.

[millencolin]

You know, if you substitute the Migs with the largest military budget in the world, you could have a pretty good description of George W Bush.

Gotta make the most of George W Bush jokes, we don't have much time left to make fun of him :p :

I think the American election is going to be a sad sad time for comedians everywhere, cause there goes a large chunk of their material :p :

[Hawkmoon]

Chavez reminds me of an attention starved child who behaves badly so that the adults will pay attention to him.

[millencolin]

Chavez reminds me of an attention starved child who behaves badly so that the adults will pay attention to him.

Thats actually a very good description! Just ignore him and he will quiet down shortly :p :

[rah]

Chavez reminds me of an attention starved child who behaves badly so that the adults will pay attention to him.

He started out ok, he has some different ideas and he actually fulfilled the promises he made to the people which is a different political idea these days. But over the last few years he has degenerated a bit. I think like any politician, he started believing some of the things he said about himself.

But if anyone gets a chance to listen to his address at the UN a year or so ago where he described GWB as the devil, its well worth it.

[Camelopard]

You know, if you substitute the Migs with the largest military budget in the world, you could have a pretty good description of George W Bush.

:D :D :D

[Magnus]

From chavez context, and the situation in his country, I guess that he actually benefits from bold statements like this. There is a common opinion in many countries in latin-america that the rich countries are exploiting them to a certain degree. That may also be the case from some perspectives. With this in mind I think that Chavez statements about leader of the rich countries may actually prove beneficial for him in his own country.
It is another thing that he somewhat destroys the relatons to the "western "countries even though I also belive that most leaders disregard his statements knowing his agenda and purpose. One should also bear in mind that we, people in common, tend to favor loud politicans. The ones with a humble approach needn´t bother most of the time.
IMHO

[anthonyvop]

He started out ok, he has some different ideas and he actually fulfilled the promises he made to the people which is a different political idea these days.
.
Yep!
Only created the highest inflation rate in Latin America from what was then the most stable economy in the region.
Oversaw a huge increase in crime.
Closed down TV and radio stations that had the audacity to disagree with him.

[Canada Cornrow]

But if anyone gets a chance to listen to his address at the UN a year or so ago where he described GWB as the devil, its well worth it.

For the laughs right? We can all laugh at him from afar but we don't have to live in Venezuela either. It would be nice to get a perspective from a Venezuelan poster on this forum. Anybody out there?

[gloomyDAY]

"President Chavez does not speak for Latin America — every country has its own voice, with which they pursue their own interests," Steg quoted Merkel as saying.

I agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Merkel. Chavez is the anchor of Latin America and the eventual destructor of Venezuela. As many countries try to push forward with democracy and a stronger economy (Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, etc.) Chavez is reverting to fascism.

How are the people of Venezuela accepting this villain as a leader? Apparently, Chavez is taking from the rich and giving to the poor, but that's all a charade. In actuallity Chavez is using that Robin Hood fantasy to collapse capitalism.

[anthonyvop]

Smoking gun!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_rebel_computers;_ylt=AuP36VG1Sgt2uXa7N_7M mEFvaA8F

Interpol: Colombia has real rebel data

By FRANK BAJAK and JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writers Fri May 16, 12:02 AM ET

BOGOTA, Colombia - Interpol said Thursday that computer files suggesting Venezuela was arming and financing Colombian guerrillas came from a rebel camp and were not tampered with, discrediting Venezuela's assertions that Colombia faked them.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced the Interpol verdict as "ridiculous," saying a "clown show" surrounded the announcement. But the findings are sure to increase pressure on Chavez to explain his ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

More revelations are likely to emerge, as Interpol also turned over to Colombia 983 files it decrypted.

"We are absolutely certain that the computer exhibits that our experts examined came from a FARC terrorist camp," said Interpol's secretary general, Ronald Noble, adding: "No one can ever question whether or not the Colombian government tampered with the seized FARC computers."

Chavez did just that, calling Noble "a tremendous actor" and an "immoral police officer who applauds killers."

"Do you think we should waste time here on something so ridiculous?" Chavez told reporters. He denies arming or funding the FARC — though he openly sympathizes with Latin America's most powerful rebel army — and threatened on Thursday to scale back economic ties with Colombia over the incident.

Colombian commandos recovered the three Toshiba Satellite laptop computers, two external hard drives and three USB memory sticks in a March 1 cross-border raid into Ecuador that killed FARC foreign minister Raul Reyes and 24 others.

Interpol addressed Chavez charges that no computer could have survived the bombardment, showing photographs in the report and video on its Web site of metal cases that protected them from Colombian bombs.

"Mr. Reyes is now dead. But they were definitely his computers, his disks, his hardware," Noble said.

The Interpol study was done at Colombia's request, and Colombia got a major bonus: Interpol ran 10 computers nonstop for two weeks to crack the encrypted files. Noble said it was up to Colombia to decide whether to make their contents public. Interpol also gave Colombia a separate confidential report for use in criminal investigations.

President Alvaro Uribe expressed satisfaction with the results.

"The only thing Colombia wants is that the terrorism we have so suffered does not affect our brother countries," he said Thursday night in Peru after arriving for a summit at which Chavez was also expected. Terrorism doesn't have borders or ethics."

He refused to answer reporters' question about whether the Interpol report's findings would further damage relations with Venezuela.

The 39-page public forensic report by the France-based international police agency concluded Colombian authorities did not always follow internationally accepted methods for handling computer evidence, but said that didn't taint the data.

Interpol said it reviewed 610 gigabytes of data including 210,888 images, 37,872 written documents, 22,481 Web pages, 10,537 sound and video files, 7,989 e-mail addresses and 452 spreadsheets.

Interpol limited itself to verifying whether Colombia altered the files and correctly handled the evidence, but did not address the contents of the documents, even making a point to use two forensic experts — from Australia and Singapore — who do not read Spanish.

A Colombian anti-terrorism officer accessed the computers before they were handed over to Interpol, leaving multiple traces in operating system files, which Noble said runs against internationally accepted protocol. But Colombian authorities properly told Interpol's experts about the episode and Noble praised their professionalism.

Noble said he tried to get Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, whom the documents also link to the FARC, to work with Interpol in its investigation, but neither responded.

"I've done everything in my power to invite Venezuela and Ecuador to participate," said Noble, a former U.S. Treasury enforcement chief in his second term heading the 186-member police organization.

Colombia has been leaking details from the documents since the day after the raid. The most damning evidence against Chavez was revealed to The Associated Press last week by a senior Colombian official.

More than a dozen rebel messages detail close cooperation with Venezuela, including rebel training facilities on Venezuelan soil and a meeting inside Venezuela's equivalent of the Pentagon. They suggest Venezuela wanted to loan the rebels US$250 million (euro190 million) and help them get Russian weapons and possibly even surface-to-air missiles.

[Azumanga Davo]

Damn, did I miss the Worldwide Syndicated Interpol Clown Show again? I swear to god Sydney has them longer than us... :(

[Roamy]

Well I am finding out two things reading this thread

1. The reason "sniper" rifles are made
2. Euro's again stick their heads in the sand just like they do with Iran

[jso1985]

Big Hugo does it again! The man should really think first before he speaks

problem is he cannot engage any cognitive brain activity...

oh as we're here, hi Evo! :wave: now that you own the telecomunications company you can spy us as much as you want isn't?

[Azumanga Davo]

Someone invite him to the forum please, he might have more "entertaining" views of everything, but I still think the second he meets Garry Walker he will run away. :p :

[BDunnell]

Well I am finding out two things reading this thread

1. The reason "sniper" rifles are made
2. Euro's again stick their heads in the sand just like they do with Iran

I don't think it's a case of sticking heads in the sand. Rather, we are all too well aware of the consequences of taking ill-advised action.