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Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

It was nice knowing you.

Chavez is now going to be running the show 'by decree', legally able to bypass Congress. This is a good history lesson, happening now, for future students. Watch how a Latin American country descends into a dictatorship.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6277379.stm

matttheboy · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 854 Location: Valparaiso, Chile

shame moonraven's not around to see this thread, or possibly not around at all to see what's become of her beloved democratic revolutionary leader.

it's just a way of ensuring he keeps control of the country when he's spent all the money made during the oil price boom. if you can simply bypass pretty much any law on the books you don't have to bribe the people with social schemes which are economically unviable in the long-term (that doesn't mean the schemes are without merit, of course).

Aramas · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:22 am Post subject:

Give them a few years and they'll be just like the USA Smile

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 2:01 am Post subject:

It is interesting, isn't it. Passing a law democratically to modify presidential powers is somehow undemocratic?

Meanwhile, in that beacon of democracy, the old US of A, they got a president who believes in, and practices, the idea that the president has the right to modify laws passed by the congress through signing statements without any democratic process whatsoever. It's just a case of extending executive power through practice, not through process. ANd don't get me started on wiretapping...

Anyway, a similar resolution was passed some time ago in Venezuela, for a fixed term, like this one. Chavez didn't go nuts, and didn't set up 1984- he just used the changed powers to nationalize some resources that weren't working for the good of the nation. If this is so dangerous, where were the negative consequences then?

It's interesting to me that in the first world, where mostly the economic situation is good, people tend to see democracy as automatically good. But third world citizens, who have often been fucked by the democratic process, often in favour of foreign interests, are less convinced.

It's been said that democracy is the worst system there is, except for all the others. What do you think?

Best,
Justin

John Hall · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:37 pm Post subject:

I think most Nicaraguans would agree with that.