When Hugo Chavez says that he will not resign even if the opposition gets 90% of the vote in the referendum asking him to voluntarily resign, I cant help but think what a cynical pathological liar he is. Hugo Chavez' only true belief is Hugo Chavez, he has gone back on almost everything he ever said he believed in, when he was a candidate or very popular. To me this sentence yesterday by our President is remarrkable because people seem to have forgotten about the Quebec Declaration. In April of 2001, the leaders of the American Continent met in Quebec, mostly to talk about setting a timetable for a free trade zone in the Americas called ALCA. Since Hugo Chavez could say little about whether ALCA was good or bad, he chose instead to put a sour note on the meeting by refusing to sign the declaration on the grounds that he did not believe in a representative democracy (the term used in it) but in a participatory democracy. Just so that it is clear I am not putting words in his mouth here is a quote about the event (incident?):
"The choice of Venezuela is not accidental. Alone among summit participants, Mr. Chavez refused to agree to parts of the final declaration, including passages that referred to "representative democracy." He has sought to implement what he calls "participatory democracy" in Venezuela, downgrading the status of the legislature and making extensive use of popular consultations and referendums"
Of course, that was then, when it was convenient for him to disagree, be different. What is clear is that he does not care, he only cares about Hugo Chavez. To talk about participatory democracy was just a pose, like many others in Chavez' life. Like when he said that he attempted a coup in 1992 to stop what was going on, while he had sworn a decade earlier to overthrow the Government. Or when he said that if in two years after being elected there were abandoned kids in the streets, he would resign. In fact, I have a video right here in this weblog where he says (twice!) that he would resign if people asked him to? Could it be any clearer than this? Chavez simply loves Hugo Chavez, as long as the people say they love him they rule, but if they don't he knows better.
9:45:56 PM 
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