Chavez is at it... again... and again...

Today is another day of voting for the people of Venezuela, in yet another attempt to extend his stronghold on the oil rich country, Chavez has called another referendum that would allow him to remain in power as long as he can win elections. As a Canadian, I can't really complain about this, because this system is exactly what we have here in Canada, but as an outside observer I can't help but think that the people of Venezuela have told him no before and he should let sleeping dogs lie. IN fact the slogan of the opposition is "No is No!"

According to Reuters Chavez has deported an independent European lawyer who was in Caracas to observe the voting process. Showing yet again that Chavez has no interest in a fair democratic process and he fears that an independent observer might expose questionable practices in the voting process.

It has also been reported that Chavez's supporters have taken to calling him "El Comandante" the name once reserved for his mentor, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. If this nickname and his having kicked out an observer aren't enough to make any sane person cringe there is also the case of his campaign fliers that list the two reasons people should vote in favor of Chavez:
"Chavez loves us and love is repaid with love."
"Chavez is incapable of doing us harm."
I'm guessing that there will be a special 6 hour episode of "Hello President" today where Chavez proves his love for his country, bad mouths the US and scares people into voting for his reform.

The larger question is: Are the people really propping up the government of this Castro doppelganger or (with the lack of independent observation) is this government being kept in power by lies and votes that never happened?

Muchacho Enfermo

Protest in support of "Shoe Thrower" held in Montreal and Toronto

The Canadian Press reported that yesterday protest were were held in Toronto and Montreal to show support for the shoe thrower who tried to hit outgoing President George Bush with both of his shoes.

40 or so protesters in Montreal went to the US consulate and threw shoes at black and white pictures of the president. One of the first to do this was new elected Amir Khadir who ran for the separatist party Quebec Solidaire. Protesters spoke to anyone they could find in the media and made sure to mention that this was a "humorous protest". After the shoe throwing was over the Montreal protesters walked over to the Canadian Armed Forces recruiting Center and protested something else.

In the Toronto group of protesters was an Iraqi refugee by the name Ahmed Habib who stated he hopes that Canadian journalists start throwing shoes at Stephen Harper.

Normally, I like protest and I'm really happy that as Canadians we have the right to protest. I just wish people would pick their causes a little better. Don't get me wrong I was the first to laugh when the reporter threw his shoes at Bush but holding protests in solidarity of him and trying to equate his actions towards Bush as something that should somehow be done against our Prime Minister? I don't think so, I'm pretty sure if you asked the shoe thrower himself what he though of Stephen Harper he wouldn't even know or care about who he was.

Also, I just think the manner in which this protest was conducted, especially in Montreal, exhibited a complete lack of control and is a black eye on this city.

Not to mention that if any protest should be in Canada right now it should be about having blogger and fellow Canadian Hossein Derakhshan released from jail in Iran for speaking his mind. This seems a little bit more important to me then showing your solidarity for the shoe thrower. Just my two cents.

Muchacho Enfermo

What happened to the shoe thrower?

The associated press today put out a video by Ed Donahue in which he reports that the Iraqi journalist that threw his shoes at Dubya hasn't been seen since being handed over to the Iraqi judicial system directly after the incident. The man's employer says he was seriously harmed in the aftermath of the shoe hurling while other officials say he is in good health. The White House also states they have confidence in the Iraqi judicial system.

One wonders if the Iraqis will judge him harshly to cozy up to the US or if they will grant him clemency because of world wide press coverage...

Muchacho Enfermo