Chavez wins big in Venezuela!

[techumseh]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/12/04/venezuela-051204.html

[snoopy369]

That's a shocker.

[snoopy369]

[q=cbc]The poll was boycotted by the country's five main opposition parties, who accused election officials of favouring Chavez and manipulating electronic voting machines.[/q]

[q=cbc]The lawmakers needed more seats to push through key measures on their agenda, including constitutional changes that would allow a president to serve more than two consecutive terms.[/q]

Yet another South American dictator pretending to support 'the people'

[joncha]

Nice try.

[q=cbc]Chavez noted that only 10 per cent of candidates – 556 of them – had withdrawn from the race, leaving about 5,000 others to compete for 167 seats in the National Assembly[/q]

[q=cbc]Pre-election polls had suggested the pro-Chavez contingent would greatly increase its grip on congress.[/q]

Boycotting works great when you would have lost anyway.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by snoopy369
[q=cbc]The poll was boycotted by the country's five main opposition parties, who accused election officials of favouring Chavez and manipulating electronic voting machines.[/q]

[q=cbc]The lawmakers needed more seats to push through key measures on their agenda, including constitutional changes that would allow a president to serve more than two consecutive terms.[/q]

Yet another South American dictator pretending to support 'the people'

Did you actually read the article?

Although boycotting candidates had called the election a sham, some Chavez supporters and outside analysts said they withdrew only when polls indicated they were facing a resounding loss.

Dude, face it. Chavez may be a nutjob, but the majority of Venezuelans actually like him.

[KrazyHorse]

Most OAS and EU observers don't seem to feel as though there was anything significantly wrong with the vote.

[snoopy369]

I actually read the article. Noticing statements disagreeing with my points doesn't make them any less valid.

I'm not necessarily sure there's anything directly wrong with the vote; honestly I'm not that interested to directly investigate it. (That plane ticket would cost some serious $$$ )

My second quote, actually, was the more damning one. Any time the 'main item' on the party's agenda is changing the rules so that their charismatic leader can stay in power longer ... you have to take a long, hard look at that party and that leader.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse

Dude, face it. Chavez may be a nutjob, but the majority of Venezuelans actually like him.

How does this change anything? The majority of Germans liked Hitler until his insanity became clear, too ...

[Kuciwalker]

Godwin in seven posts!

[joncha]

This thread went from 0-to-Godwin in 7 replies. Impressive.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by joncha
Nice try.

[q=cbc]Chavez noted that only 10 per cent of candidates – 556 of them – had withdrawn from the race, leaving about 5,000 others to compete for 167 seats in the National Assembly[/q]

[q=cbc]Pre-election polls had suggested the pro-Chavez contingent would greatly increase its grip on congress.[/q]

Boycotting works great when you would have lost anyway.

Both of those stats come from Chavez, by my understanding ... certainly the first one.

556 out of 5550 candidates sounds pretty tiny - except when you consider how many seats they're running for.

167 seats. That means for every seat that's won, over 3 candidates will have boycotted the election... sounds to me like the 5,000 people are either an over-run by Chavez' party and allied parties, ensuring that they win, or a bunch of people who just want to run and know full well they have no chance. Three people leaving for every seat tells me that it's quite possible that 2 or 3 major parties could have left the election ...

[Sava]

@ snoopy369

Chavez is elected legitimately.

Venezuelan elections are probably less corrupt than elections in America.

It's a shame you have to insult the guy like this because you disagree with his politics.

[joncha]

[q=cbc]Although boycotting candidates had called the election a sham, some Chavez supporters and outside analysts said they withdrew only when polls indicated they were facing a resounding loss.

The opposition parties had agreed to participate in the vote if officials got rid of electronic fingerprint machines, which they said violated confidentiality.

The electoral commission agreed, but the opposition called a boycott anyway. [/q]

The only thing in Venezuala loonier than Chavez is the opposition to him.

[Sava]

looks like a Carolina Hurricanes fan behind him

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Sava
@ snoopy369

Chavez is elected legitimately.

Venezuelan elections are probably less corrupt than elections in America.

It's a shame you have to insult the guy like this because you disagree with his politics.

I have to doubt that, Sava. He may have been elected legitimately, but their elections are not less corrupt than ours, democrat fearmongering aside.

He's an ex-army general, who wants to be president for life. Please tell me you remember hearing this before ...