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Posts Tagged ‘chavez’

Hugo Chavez Says “Drink Your Juice, Support Iran”

22 Jun 2009

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez continues his quest to drive the population towards consumption of local goods and, like a good marketer, he’s telling his people to set down their Coca Cola and pick up a new grape juice product called Juvita. On Chavez’s weekly TV show this past weekend, the message rang like a late-night informercial: Juvita means eternal youth, Coke means evil. From Reuters TV transcripts:

“It is a soft drink that is healthy, nutritious, here it is, its called Juvita. To maintain eternal youth, Juvita. Drink Juvita. Be young eternally instead of drinking that soft drink that, I don’t know, coca, I don’t know, cola, I don’t know what. Drink Juvita. Let’s taste it to see, to stay young eternally. You fathers and the mothers, encourage all parents to drink Juvita.” CHAVEZ BEGINS TO DRINK FROM BOTTLE OF JUVITA SOFT DRINK, SAYING: “Let’s see. Ah, eternal youth. Drink Juvita. How tasty. Did you all try?”

Getting Latin Americans to put down Coca-Cola is a mission impossible. Kind of like getting people in América Latina to give up corn-based products. Not gonna happen. Read more…

Galeano Book Blowing Up on Amazon Thanks to Chavez-Obama Exchange

19 Apr 2009

The Eduardo Galeano book that Hugo Chavez gave President Obama yesterday, “The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent”, has gone from an Amazon rank of 54,295 to number 2 today. Hey, not bad in just over 24 hours, and if this gets Americans to understand the history of the U.S. and Europe in Latin America, all the better.

Check out the interview with Chavez above where he talks about giving the book to Obama and how apparently awesome his meeting with the U.S. president was.

Via / AP

Chavez on Obama: “Poor Ignoramous”

6:47 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Latin America| Obama| Politics| Venezuela · 5 Comments

23 Mar 2009

A couple months after saying that he “stinks like Bush”, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is once again striking out against U.S. President Barack Obama. He’s spittin’ mad for comments allegedly made by the U.S. leader and calls Obama “pobre ignorante” (”poor ignoramous”) on his TV show Aló Presidente (video above):

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama was at best an “ignoramus” for saying the socialist leader exported terrorism and obstructed progress in Latin America.

“He goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he’s a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality,” said Chavez, who heads a group of left-wing Latin American leaders opposed to the U.S. influence in the region.

Did Obama really say this? I can’t seem to find the citation anywhere, and it seems strange to me that someone who said he would sit down with Castro and Chavez and is reaching out to Iran would dare rock the boat with Venezuela, a country with which the U.S. already has a tenuous relationship. Does anyone know if this statement was actually made?

If it is true, it has absolutely zero basis in my eyes. Venezuela export terrorism? You can love or hate Chavez, but that statement is just not factual and wreaks of exaggeration and Republican scare tactics.

Via / Reuters

Baseball Player Booed for Supporting Chavez

12:03 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Controversia| Politics| Sports| Venezuela · Comments Off

19 Mar 2009

t_abn_27_11_2007_maglio_sisi_chavez_190 Being a Chavez supporter can have its ups and downs. It really depends on the crowd you’re with, and in the case of Detroit Tigers All-Star player Magglio Ordoñez, the crowd is the fans and the reaction to Ordoñez’s support of Huguito has been anything but positive. NPR reports that Ordoñez has had to face all sorts of criticism from fans, most recently at the World Baseball Classic:

After every at-bat boos rain down on Ordonez from his team’s own supporters, and cheers erupt from Venezuelans in the stands when Ordonez strikes out. At issue is Ordonez’s vocal support of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president known for his commitment to socialism and the glee he takes in criticizing the United States. Other famous Venezuelan players past and present have voiced support for President Chavez, and the fans have cut them a break.

Venezuelan baseball expert Leonte Landino says in the cases of Melvin Mora, Ozzie Guillen, Dave Concepcion and Francisco Rodriguez, fans acknowledge “you can think different from me, but still you’re a baseball player and you’re representing Venezuela.”

But Ordonez is in another category, says Landino, who was working as a producer for ESPN Deportes during the World Baseball Classic games. Ordonez actively campaigned with Chavez, even appearing at softball events held to promote a vote to change the Venezuelan Constitution and eliminate term limits. That effort succeeded, allowing Chavez to run for re-election again in 2012.

This has earned Ordoñez the wrath of some Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans. Chavez himself has called Ordoñez a “patriot” and the fans’ reaction “shameful”.

This makes me wonder: if it’s acceptable to mix sports with politics, why don’t we boo all the baseball players who supported Bush?

Via / NPR

With Obama Win, Will Chavez Open Up to Relations with U.S.?

7:35 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia| Cuba| Latin America| Politics| Venezuela · Comments Off

2 Jan 2009

President-elect Obama’s openness to sit down with the leaders of countries the Bush administration has either alienated or straight out offended — a campaign trail promise and a point in his favor over opponent Hillary Clinton — will soon be put to the test.

The Castros of Cuba appear to be willing to reciprocate, but there is still some doubt about the willingness of Fidel’s BFF, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who has said that Obama is no different than the Republicans in “attacking” his country.

One Venezuelan diplomacy scholar, María Teresa Romero of the Central University of Venezuela, agrees that the ball is pretty much in Chavez’s court, and isn’t very hopeful about future U.S.-Venezuela relations:

“This is, or should be, a moment of change for Hugo Chavez, but I don’t think that will happen. He might do it with words, but will end up fighting again, having impasses with the U.S., because unfortunately so-called revolutionary and radical leftist regimens always need to have an enemy to confront and an anti-imperialist rhetoric.”

Pitiyanquis: Hugo Chavez’s Definition of Sellouts

11:35 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia| Latin America| Politics| Venezuela · Comments Off

5 Sep 2008

Hugo Chávez, often heard throwing punches at other countries is throwing them now at his own countrymen. One term has been uttered, according to AFP, “an average of ten times per speech” in his latest appearances: Pitinyanqui.

Pitinyanqui is a Venezuelanism meant to qualify those who look up to the United States too much or imitates Americans. Chávez is making the term his own to call out sell-outs and what he considers “a new enemy for Venezuela”: “vendepatria”, “arrastrado”, “oligarca” “lleno de amargura”, sinvergüenza y anti-revolucionario.

“The pitiyanquis should give thanks to God because this revolution is peaceful. Because there are many of us and if it was violent there wouldn’t be even one trace of pitiyanqui in this country,” the Venezuelan leader recently said.

Pitiyanqui, a word that should be pronounced with disgust to be believable, has become a recurring theme in the pre-campaign for the regional elections in November, in which Chávez risks more than just a handful of states.

I know sellouts exist but it seems this rhetoric of division might backfire in Chávez’s face. Venezuelans might believe that the U.S. or Colombia is an enemy — there is good reason to think so — but their own countrymen might be a harder sell.

Via / AFP

Chavez and the King: Reunited and it Feels So Good

9:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Latin America| Politics| Spain| Venezuela| World · Comments Off

25 Jul 2008

Who says broken relationships can’t be mended? Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and his archenemy King Juan Carlos of Spain are putting the past behind them and mending fences today in Mallorca, in one of the most anticipated meetings of the year:

The best part is that in this encounter, instead of a “Por qué no te callas?!” there was a “Por qué no vamos a la playa?” The president and the king joked around as Chavez proposed a jaunt to the beach.

Or maybe that’s not the best part. The best part is that Spanish press is reporting that King Juan Carlos gave Chavez one of those famous “por qué no te callas?!” t-shirts!!!

Via / El Pais

Spaniards Hate Chavez More than Bush?

12:05 pm By Maegan La Mala · Latin America| Politics| Spain| Venezuela| World · Comments Off

2 Jun 2008

Wow, that’s saying a lot, because the Spanish hate them some Dubya. According to a recent poll:

Spaniards dislike Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez most among world leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush, a poll indicated.

The survey of 2,500 Spaniards in 2007 found the leftist Chavez ranks first among major world leaders the Spanish do not care for, ahead of the U.S. president and Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro.

Bush was the most disliked world leader among Spaniards in the 2006 version of the poll, El Pais reported Friday.

I wonder how those two feel about being in the same category…

Who holds the Spanish people’s heart in their hands? Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ranks as one of the most admired leaders for Spaniards.

Via / UPI

Chavez: FARC Aren’t Terrorists

5:30 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Latin America| Politics| Venezuela · Comments Off

11 Jan 2008

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said today that he doesn’t consider the FARC a terrorist group and therefore should be removed from the list of international terrorist organizations:

“The FARC and the ELN are not terrorist groups, they are armies, real armies that occupy a space in Colombia. The FARC and the ELN must be given recognition. They are insurgent forces that have a political and Bolivarian project, and that is respected here.”

That was the message Chavez was sending to other Latin American governments in hopes that it wouldn’t fall on deaf ears, especially in Colombia. No such luck, as the Colombian government didn’t waste time in responding via its press secretary:

“The government of Colombia, will not for any reason accept that the title of terrorists be lifted…the government of Colombia with its army and its constitution will continue the struggle until we defeat these groups which have received the most generous offers of peace.”

Press Secretary César Mauricio Velásquez said the FARC’s actions go against basic human rights, and that they are terrorists because “they kidnap, indiscriminately place bombs, recruit and murder children, murder pregnant women, the elderly and utilize land mines, leaving thousands of victims in their wake.”

Via / El Universal

Maradona wants to add Chavez to his collection

11:20 am By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities| Cuba| Latin America| Sports| Venezuela · Comments Off

18 Dec 2007

Ever the provocateur, soccer legend Diego Maradona says he wants to add a new face to his tattoo collection — which already features the visages of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara — la jeta de Hugo Chávez:

Diego Maradona said today that he wishes to get a tattoo of the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, after having branded his skin with the faces of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Argentine-Cuban guerrillero Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

“I would really like to tattoo myself with something of Chávez,”said Maradona in the northern province of Tucumán, where he was playing a game of “showbol”, a type of indoor soccer between veteran players from Argentina and Paraguay.

Maradona also told reporters that he’s doing well and wants to extend his radio show from Buenos Aires to other parts of Argentina, and invite people like singer Chayanne on “so that they can be seen by all Argentines”. Something tells me Chayanne is already pretty popular in Argentina without Maradona’s help.

Via / El Universal (Mexico)

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