a portion of the article, go to the url for the rest, it's rich. time for chris hitchens to get out an article condemning Chomsky for being soft on Lula:
Hyde Urges Bush to Help Oust Venezuelan President Posted Oct. 29, 2002 By J. Michael Waller
Warning of the formation of a potential "Axis of Evil" in the Americas, an influential lawmaker has called on President George W. Bush to support the ouster of left-wing Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez.
Just days before Brazilians elected radical populist Lula da Silva as their president on Oct. 27, House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) sent President Bush a powerfully phrased letter warning that a triumvirate of political extremists leading economic powerhouse Brazil, oil giant Venezuela and the terrorist-sponsoring regime of Cuba constitute an emerging "Axis of Evil" that the United States must stop.
Insight obtained a copy of the two-page letter, dated Oct. 24.
Hyde is concerned that da Silva's professed desire to renew Brazil's nuclear-weapons program and his hints at building the country's economy and global stature through proliferation of advanced weapons, is particularly alarming - especially in light of the Brazilian leader's open support for hemispheric terrorist organizations.
Combined with the State Department's continued listing of Cuba as a sponsor of international terrorism and the Venezuelan paratrooper-turned-president's open embrace of Havana and fellow terrorist regimes in Iran and Iraq, Hyde has become alarmed at the administration's apparent inaction.
Hyde recounts the Chavez regime's record, which, according to the letter, includes "fundamental" violation of the Venezuelan constitution and usurpation of powers of the legislative and judicial branches; "public alliances with state sponsors of terrorism including Cuba, Iraq and Iran" and subsidizing the Fidel Castro regime with oil; and support for "terrorist organizations attacking nearby fragile democracies including the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] in Colombia and radical antidemocratic groups seeking to destabilize Bolivia and Ecuador."
Hyde Urges Bush to Help Oust Venezuelan President Posted Oct. 29, 2002 By J. Michael Waller
Warning of the formation of a potential "Axis of Evil" in the Americas, an influential lawmaker has called on President George W. Bush to support the ouster of left-wing Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez.
Just days before Brazilians elected radical populist Lula da Silva as their president on Oct. 27, House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) sent President Bush a powerfully phrased letter warning that a triumvirate of political extremists leading economic powerhouse Brazil, oil giant Venezuela and the terrorist-sponsoring regime of Cuba constitute an emerging "Axis of Evil" that the United States must stop.
Insight obtained a copy of the two-page letter, dated Oct. 24.
Hyde is concerned that da Silva's professed desire to renew Brazil's nuclear-weapons program and his hints at building the country's economy and global stature through proliferation of advanced weapons, is particularly alarming - especially in light of the Brazilian leader's open support for hemispheric terrorist organizations.
Combined with the State Department's continued listing of Cuba as a sponsor of international terrorism and the Venezuelan paratrooper-turned-president's open embrace of Havana and fellow terrorist regimes in Iran and Iraq, Hyde has become alarmed at the administration's apparent inaction.
Hyde recounts the Chavez regime's record, which, according to the letter, includes "fundamental" violation of the Venezuelan constitution and usurpation of powers of the legislative and judicial branches; "public alliances with state sponsors of terrorism including Cuba, Iraq and Iran" and subsidizing the Fidel Castro regime with oil; and support for "terrorist organizations attacking nearby fragile democracies including the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] in Colombia and radical antidemocratic groups seeking to destabilize Bolivia and Ecuador."
continued at url above....