Venezuela primary called off

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, August 10, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
Venezuela primary called off
By Chris Kraul

Los Angeles Times

CARACAS, Venezuela — Eight candidates opposing Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called off a primary election set for Sunday, saying they had unanimously agreed to support the front-runner and best-financed among them, Gov. Manuel Rosales.

The announcement is seen as yielding to the financial and political costs of holding a primary and to the reality that Rosales stands the best chance against Chávez in the Dec. 3 presidential race.

Previously, Rosales, the governor of Zulia state, and seven other politicians had decided to participate in a winner-take-all primary to choose a candidate whom they all would support.

The presidential campaign kicks off this week, and Chávez is expected to file for re-election Saturday. The former army paratrooper, who took power in 1999 and has survived a coup attempt, a crippling general strike and a recall election, is the heavy favorite to win another term.
(snip/...)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/20031...



Hugo Chavez, Gov. Manuel Rosales

[Judi Lynn]

1. Feeding Ourselves: Organic Urban Gardens in Caracas, Venezuela

Feeding Ourselves: Organic Urban Gardens in Caracas, Venezuela
Written by April M. Howard
Thursday, 10 August 2006



In the middle of the modern, concrete city of Caracas, Venezuela, Noralí Verenzuela is standing in a garden dressed in jeans and work boots. She is the director of the Organopónico Bolivar I, the first urban, organic garden to show its green face in the heart of the city of Caracas, Venezuela.
One afternoon while international crowds swarmed the city for the World Social Forum, I visited the "organoponic" garden to talk with Verenzuela about the garden’s place in the city and Venezuelan politics. To Verenzuela, the garden represents a shift in the ways that Venezuelans get their food. "People are waking up," she told the press. "We've been dependent on McDonald's and Wendy's for so long. Now people are learning to eat what we can produce ourselves."<[1>]

Busy commuters might miss the corner of green between busy sidewalks at the Bellas Artes metro stop and the shiny skyscrapers of the Caracas Hilton. Still, if you pass by several times, your eye might wander toward the color of plants in the otherwise concrete city. At the edge of the garden, a squat concrete shed has a window onto the sidewalk. Inside, shelves display bunches of lettuce and carrots for sale to the public at much cheaper prices than found in the grocery stores.

This 1.2-acre plot tucked into what was an empty lot is part of a plan led by the government of President Hugo Chavez to shift the Venezuelan economy toward what it calls "endogenous development." Defined by its roots, the word "endogenous" means "inwardly creating," which is what the leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution would like to make the economy of Venezuela.
(snip/...)

http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/869 /

[w4rma]

2. They sure are a democratic bunch. Canceling their election is so

pro-democratic.

[phillinweird247]

5. They cancelled the primary to see who would run against Chavez

and just picked the most likely
The presidential election is on Dec. 3.
Their just WAY more civilized than our current bunch of A-holes...UM Lieberman comes to mind

Viva Chavez!

[Vidar]

3. Viva Chavez!

[gorbal]

4. Who is this guy

he is talking about spending money on the poor, just like Chavez. What does anyone know about him?

[w4rma]

6. Some neo-liberal/neo-con con artist guy, probably.

There is no way he can lead that right-wing coalition without huge support from big business.

[DemCapitalist]

7. Good luck, Gov. Rosales.

You are going to need it.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[McKinneyIsAHero]

9. The good Governor can always call in Washington for support

And he probably will.

[Judi Lynn]

11. No doubt at all they'll be in touch! Maybe they'll fly him, too, just as

the did the coup plotters, to Washington to confer with people in the State Department to plot his course.

[hogwyld]

10. Viva Chavez!! Otra vez!

We need to keep Chavez in power for as long as we can. He's still trying to fix things from the past idiocy. Socialism works with the right leaders.

[mike923]

12. I get a little shaky rooting for a third term for anybody.

The whole i idea of "third terms" scares the crap out of me.

[Laughing Mirror]

13. You were a little shaky voting for Roosevelt the third time?

Scared he would die in office and Truman would take over?

[happyslug]

15. No, that Henry Wallace would succeed him

Truman became FDR's VP on FDR's FOURTH Presidential Run. On FDR's Third his VP was Henry Wallace.

[Flanker]

14. Fourth term really....

Well maybe ninth term if you include all the elections him/his allies have won...

It really is a second term, he was elected under the old constitution in late 98 and elected under the new one in mid 2000.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Thanks for mentioning it. I knew the poster doesn't know about it,

and I couldn't think of a quick way to explain the fact he had just been elected when they decided to create a new constitution, and it involved holding a new election all over again (which he won).

It helps if they pay attention and keep up like every one else must in order to know what the hell is going on.

[PeaceProgProsp]

17. America would do well to have ten terms of FDR and a couple

of Chavez is probably what America is going to be need to get back to representing people rather than super powerful CEOs.