From The Economist:
The government is picking off its main opponents one by one. Manuel Rosales, the mayor of Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second city, and the opposition’s defeated candidate in the 2006 presidential election, has gone into hiding to avoid arrest on corruption charges. The government claims he has left the country, although his family and his lawyers deny this.
As for his treatment of a former ally:
On April 2nd, General Raúl Baduel, a former defence minister, was arrested at gunpoint in front of his wife by military-intelligence agents. Also accused of corruption, he was a key ally of Mr Chávez but has been treated by the regime as a traitor since he went into opposition 18 months ago. Several other opposition leaders, as well as former chavista politicians, face similar accusations. Others have been banned from standing for election on the same grounds. Yet Mr Chávez shows no inclination to investigate the many claims of corruption concerning his government.
He has been even less subtle with Antonio Ledezma, an opponent who was elected mayor of Caracas last year. His offices have been taken over by chavista mobs. A law is being rushed through parliament to render his post largely symbolic, by creating a powerful, appointed vice-president for Caracas. According to Mr Ledezma, the government “is acting outside the constitution,” while the courts are more like “firing-squads”.
This Ends Badly
(CNN) -- President Obama doesn't have a one-on-one meeting scheduled with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but if Chavez were to initiate a conversation, Obama would likely go along with it, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Perhaps you can discuss the Facism descending on Venzeula.
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