Venezuela accuses enemies of poisoning ailing Chavez

[cali]

Venezuela accused the domestic and foreign enemies of Venezuela of poisoning ailing President Hugo Chavez and expelled a U.S. Embassy attache who it said was seeking military support for a plot against the government, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday.

David Del Monaco, an Air Force attache for the U.S. Embassy, had been expelled Tuesday "for being implicated in conspiratorial plan, the information ministry said.

Some day, he told the press in a lengthy statement, there will be "scientific proof" that Chavez, fighting a battle with cancer, was poisoned. He also called Venezuela's political right-wing an "oligarchy" and an "enemy of the nation." Maduro urged supporters to close ranks and exercise "unity and discipline."

<snip>

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/05/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-main/?hpt=hp_t2

[Cleita]

1. They did it to Arafat apparently. This is not that far fetched considering. n/t

[cali]

3. He's dying of cancer. And he's been dying of cancer for some time.

Why bother poisoning him?

[ananda]

5. I've read that it was a poison that causes cancer..

.. like radiating the food and/or drink or something.

[Cleita]

7. Just a little tin foil hat here.

Arafat was ailing from other diseases as well. Could be a poison that works on someone who is weakened with disease to begin with. Of course, now I'm going into unfounded conspiracy theory territory, I know. However, considering the dirty dealings our CIA have done in the past to world leaders that didn't march in lockstep with what the USA wants, it makes me wonder.

[RZM]

9. That sounds like a lot of unnecessary risk

As cali mentioned upthread, he's already dying. Why bother with an operation that could become a major scandal when you can just let nature take its course?

[Cleita]

10. But what if he wasn't dying? What if surgery and chemotherapy were

enough to put him in remission? I have had several friends today who have beaten cancer, some of it serious that would have killed someone thirty years ago. But when you have cancer and are doing chemotherapy your immune system is vulnerable and easy to attack. Wouldn't this be a perfect poisoner's situation, where he could kill somebody off and yet it would go mostly undetected because in a normal person, it wouldn't be lethal?

[RZM]

11. I'm pretty convinced he's not long for this world

Like everybody else, I have no inside information. But to me, the near-blackout imposed by the Venezuelan government is evidence that his prognosis is not good. Given that Chavez has spent years cultivating a larger than life image, this would not be how a road to recovery would be portrayed by the government.

I guess the scenario you present is plausible enough, but it assumes that the US government has a strong desire to kill him in the first place. I don't think that's the case. Not that he's popular in Washington, but I would think such an operation would be immediately rejected out of hand as wildly unnecessary and way too risky, optics-wise. My guess is that the plan with Chavez over the last few years has been to wait until he leaves power/dies/self-destructs and then take it from there.

[Cleita]

12. Look at history. Our government has always had a strong desire

to overthrow Chavez one way or the other. He made big enemies with our oil interests down there. They tried to overthrow him in a coup that it turns out our CIA was behind.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/800

[RZM]

13. Apparently Maduro just announced his death n/t

[Cleita]

15. I think I'll wait for some more confirmation.

It seems his death has been announced periodically since Jan. 4 of this year as google shows.

[RZM]

16. Yeah this is straight from the VP though

Not some 'ex ambassador.' I think it's real. We'll see though.

[Cleita]

19. Apparently, it is. It's all over the news now.

RIP Chavez. I hope your successor finishes what you started.

[RZM]

20. Kinda weird

We're speculating about his prognosis and his death is announced right in the middle of the conversation.

Going to be very interesting for sure. I'm no expert, but I think that his successors will continue the general thrust of his policies. At least for now.

[madokie]

2. I wouldn't put some of our own (cough) interest

above doing something like that. I know this in tenfoilie but our shadow government has been in the business of over throwing governments they didn't like for years.

[HiPointDem]

14. +1

[geek tragedy]

18. Did they zap him with a cancer ray? nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. There better be a smoking syringe or they're just going to come off as paranoid.

[sharp_stick]

6. They gave him a DPT vaccine

and this whole thing is an obvious reaction to the thimerosal.

Quick someone fly Andrew Wakefield down there to invent a study.

[RZM]

8. LOL n/t

[X_Digger]

23. Oh that's bad. Well done! :) n/t

[geek tragedy]

17. Next stop: blaming 'Zionists' and Freemasons

Not encouraging that the VP of Venezuela, who would take over, is batshit insane.

[jsr]

21. Well, he's dead.

[Zax2me]

22. Has the Obama admin replied to these accusations?

Or better yet, just take the high road.

[name not needed]

24. No, because Obama would have to acknowledge the existence of his secret CIA cancer machine