Rick Raw: Chavez Seizes Control of Judiciary–Tin-horn Dictator Turning Venezuela into Cuba

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

That little commie tyrant, Hugo Chavez threw respected Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni in jail when she made a ruling Chavez didn’t like–effectively seizing control of the judiciary. This is another step in Chavez’s campaign to turn Venezuela into a Cuba-like banana republic, where everyone is equal–wallowing in poverty-- while El Presidente lives the high life.

Not surprisingly, Chavez’s idol is Fidel Castro. In his last visit to Cuba, Chavez kissed Castro on the lips, like he was in love with the aged Marxist. It was a disgusting display of hero worship by

Castro’s yapping lap dog, Chavez the power monger.

Jailing the tenured judge for freeing a political prisoner is yet another example of Chavez’s iron grip on this once prosperous democracy with vast oil resources. After his election, Chavez nationalized the oil industry, which killed free flowing profit motivation by private companies.

Since my sister-in-law lives in Caracas, Venezuela, I take a more active interest in the politics of this country. She has lived in Caracas for 45 years and has seen the country steadily go down hill under Chavez’s rule. She writes my wife Elaine (her sister) and me with regular updates on the latest outrage committed by the communist tyrant with a nasty barking mouth. Last month they had a water shortage.

Funny, Hugo Chavez’s reign of power can be compared to that piece of crap car, The Hugo as being a complete cheap-ass disaster. The wily Chavez got elected by the poor majority that thought he would help them overcome their poverty.

Like other dictators in history, it was a trick. Now poverty is all these people will ever know without self-determination to start businesses for profit. Chavez’s idol Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, he demanded complete control of private industry, courts, press, and all other personal freedoms. These tyrants are all the same.

In 2007, Chavez attempted to consolidate his power by a sweeping overhaul of the country’s constitution, eliminating term limits, limiting the central bank’s autonomy, and other sinister measures to assure he could hold power indefinitely.

The original referendum was defeated. However, in 2009, Chavez won a referendum to eliminate term limits. The bellicose Chavez wasted no time eliminating freedoms of expression, press, imposing political intimidation, and engaging in human rights abuses.

Clearly, throwing judges in prison is an egregious human rights violation. What about the UN’s position on Chavez’s power grabbing initiatives? Well, the UN is quiet on the matter but the European Parliament passed a February 2010 resolution expressing "concern about Chavez’s movement towards ‘authoritarianism’ (a euphemism for dictatorship)."

The world should wake up and smell the vile odor of Chavez’s Castro-styled paradigm shift to total authority and his divorce from democracy to establishing a Marxist state. Chavez’s iron grip on the judiciary is the most serious loss of freedom. Judges will be puppets of Chavez’s desires to silence opposition and fill up his jails with political prisoners.

More distressing is Chavez’s secret intelligence service (Gestapo) that has arrested dozens of anti-government protesters and opposition leaders in recent months. Now, with no time limits and Chavez’s sweeping powers, he has achieved his goal–to be like his idol, Fidel Castro. Their relationship was sealed with the French kiss of absolute power.