Chavez: U.S. With Obama "still smells of sulfur" as in the Bush era

[WriteDown]

Source: El Universal

09:44 AM Copenhagen .- Under the presidency of Barack Obama, USA "follows the smell of sulfur", as in the Bush era, said President Hugo Chávez, from the rostrum of the climate conference in Copenhagen.

"Obama vino, habló y salió por la puerta de atrás", afirmó Chávez en una intervención ante el pleno de los 193 países que participan en la reunión, reseñó AFP. "Obama came, spoke and walked out the back door," Chavez said in a speech before the plenary of the 193 countries participating in the meeting, AFP reported.

"Por cierto, huele a azufre aquí, sigue oliendo a azufre en este mundo", dijo desde la tribuna donde un poco antes había hablado su homólogo estadounidense. "Indeed, it smells of sulfur here, still smelling of sulfur in this world," he said from the podium where he spoke shortly before its U.S. counterpart.

Chávez retomaba así un comentario que ya hizo en la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas en 2006, en referencia al entonces presidente estadounidense George W. Chavez returned and a comment that it did in the UN General Assembly in 2006, referring to then U.S. President George W. Bush. Bush.

"Es el imperio, el imperio que llega a medianoche, y en la oscuridad, a espaldas de la mayoría, de manera antidemocrática pretende cocinar un documento que nosotros no aceptamos, ni aceptaremos", agregó Chávez. "It's the empire, the empire that reaches midnight, and in the darkness, unbeknownst to most, so undemocratic aims cook a document that we do not accept, or accept," Chavez said.

Hacía referencia a las discusiones de un grupo restringido de unos 30 jefes de Estado, a los que Obama se sumó hoy por la mañana inmediatamente después de su llegada a la capital danesa. He referred to discussions of a select group of some 30 heads of state, who joined Obama this morning immediately after arriving in the Danish capital.....

Read more: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eluniversal.com%2F2009%2F12%2F18%2Fpol_ava_chavez%3A-con-obama-ee_18A3208893.shtml&sl=es&tl=en

---

Chavistas your orders have been issued. President Obama must be destroyed (politically)!

Translated into English for those that cannot read Spanish.

[Pirate Smile]

1. People will love that here.

[WriteDown]

2. Already an unrec...

The True Believers must defend their leader at all costs.

[Renew Deal]

29. What part of Venezuala do you live in?

[WriteDown]

30. The sulfuric part. nt

[Renew Deal]

32. Sounds like it.

[bitchkitty]

108. Any part he wants to. This is the Net, remember? n/t

[polichick]

3. It always smells of sulfur where corporations are allowed to unload their toxic waste. nt

[WriteDown]

5. Luckily, the oil extraction in Venezuela uses Clean Oil technology...

It's kind of like Clean Coal technology.

[polichick]

7. I've been to Venezuela and it's a mess - my statement applies to all countries...

...and all leaders.

[WriteDown]

10. Ah....got ya. nt

[TomClash]

4. Definitely an unrec

Want to smell sulfur, go to Caracas.

[netsurfer2]

15. Hugo the comedian

Hey Hugo, whats your entire economy based on? Seeling fossil fuel's to capitalist countries.

[galileoreloaded]

6. That guy has HUGE brass ones..hasn't he figured out we have drones and USE them???n/t

[pjt7]

8. Russia has

Chavez's back.

[WriteDown]

9. And dioxin or polonium if things go sour. nt

[galileoreloaded]

13. Russia has Russia's back.

What Chavez and Venezuela have, is absolutely, positively worth a low level regional conflict to get. And they are targets, perhaps of opportunity, but targets nonetheless.

Russia won't do anymore to us than we did to them RE: Georgia. Well, expect to split the spoils.

[Pavulon]

20. No, russia would sell him down the river

with zero hesitation. He is a large mouth fool, subject to no term limits.

[Wilms]

99. You mean he has to face an electorate? What's the banana republics coming to? n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. That's WHY he's saying that.

Obama did virtually nothing about the coup in Honduras. Continued the buildup of the 'drug war' in Colombia, putting US troops on the Venezuelan border.

What has Obama done to alleviate worries about further corporate/CIA interference in Latin America? Chavez, rightly, I believe, still feels threatened by the US.

[galileoreloaded]

14. Chavez IS threatened. Who here thinks they won't get to him sooner rather that later??

[netsurfer2]

17. Me

Hugo is like that kid in school who acts out to get attention. I suspect that there's a part of him who wants the US to come after him so he can become a martyr. But I doubt it would ever happen.

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. There mere fact that he is paranoid does not mean nobody's

out to get him.

[netsurfer2]

82. Who exactly?

[WriteDown]

16. We should have definitely intervened militarily in Honduras...

and reinstalled Zelaya.

Or at least his Bush-like hat.

[JackRiddler]

24. The US has intervened in Honduras MILITARILY every day for many decades.

The Honduran oligarchy is propped up by a militarized state with officers trained at the School of the Americas and in the past often enough financed by US military aid.

And as usual your biggest problem with Chavez seems to be when he tells the truth.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

25. Does having ties with the military necessarily always equal intervening militarily?

[JackRiddler]

27. No, but running the military of an imperial dependency does.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

31. We "run" their military?

[WriteDown]

26. So its good that Zelaya is gone because he was.....

with officers trained at the School of the Americas and financed by US military aid. I bet Bush even gave him that hat!

[dipsydoodle]

11. and walked out the back door

on "his" plane to Hawaii.

edit - just heard on TV news that he returned to the building. :shrug:

[Psephos]

18. The sulfur smell comes from trying to refine Venezuela's extra-heavy, sulfurous crude.

It looks like warm tar under the best of circumstances, and it's full of uglies: Orinoco Extra Heavy (by far, VZ's most common grade) contains 3.5% sulfur, as well as nickel and vanadium.

Where's the EPA? when you need them? :shrug: That stuff should be banned.

[HughMoran]

23. Irony

Chavez = :crazy:

[polly7]

83. So boycott it.

Boycott the purchase and useage of any dirty oil, including that of the oilsands in Canada. How can you with good consience continue to support buying this stuff?

[tritsofme]

21. The answer is no, apparently.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3393934

[Better Today]

22. As recently as three weeks ago, I would've said he stepped way over the line,

but today, it's hard to disagree with his assessment.

[Froward69]

28. and yet the republicans

still call them buddies.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

33. What does Ahmadinejad smell like? n/t

[Garam_Masala]

105. Old sweat! eom

[Xenotime]

34. Everybody is mis-reading this i think

What he is saying is that * did so much to ruin this world, that there is still work to do. This isn't an "Obama" problem this is something the whole US has to fix.

[denem]

35. Chavez says U.S. climate proposals laughable (to be merged)

Source: Reuters

COPENHAGEN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the United States "the great polluter" on Friday and accused President Barack Obama of trying to fix a climate deal behind the backs of other leaders.

"The emperor who comes in the middle of the night and in the darkness, then behind everyone's back and in an anti-democratic way cooks up a document....that we will not accept," Chavez told a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. ...

At another UN meeting in 2006, Chavez took on then-President George W. Bush, calling him a "devil" and adding that the podium where Bush had spoken a day earlier "still smells of sulfur today." Chavez continued in that vein in Copenhagen, saying: "I still smell sulfur. I still smell sulfur in this world."


As for Washington's pledge to do its "fair share" in contributing to a short-term $10 billion annual fund by rich countries to help developing countries fight global warming, Chavez called the amount "laughable" and he contrasted it to a $700-billion banking industry bailout the United States government structured last year.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE5BH1IJ.htm

---

I've been looking for a report that does justice to Chavez' speech: A full broadside at the United States met with rapturous applause.

[HughMoran]

36. Child throwing stones

Amazing people promote this fucking dingbat loser here - he's lost his fucking mind and he's become an effective dictator to boot.

Chavez = :crazy:

Now, let me say: "thank you sir, may I have another" :spank:

[denem]

37. I am far from promoting Chavez. I heard his speech live

and the huge applause from the delegates. He is promoting a walk out. That's news.

[HughMoran]

40. Yeah, it's just that I've seen quite a few posts about his rant getting lots of recs

The guy is an attention whore who gets his fame doing a comedy routine attacking the US. It's not "NEW"s if this is the same old routine from the same tired old tyrant.

[EFerrari]

42. Did you read that speech? It wasn't a rant.

It was a very carefully crafted disquisition and it was very well received.

[HughMoran]

49. Source = joke, speech = joke

Sorry, he turned into just another tin-pot dictator and I can never respect him again. He's been stupid far too often to carry any gravitas with me.

[EFerrari]

51. I'm sure President Chavez and all his supporters are crushed.

[HughMoran]

53. No, they're not. Why? Because dictators don't care what anybody thinks

He is :crazy:

[EFerrari]

54. You are the one in this discussion discounting the regard of others.

Including a roomful of delegates who were brought to their feet by the speech.

By your own logic, :crazy:

[HughMoran]

55. I cheer when a comedian does a good show too

Doesn't mean I want to worship a comedian just because he's funny.

:crazy:

[EFerrari]

59. Silly, silly hyperbole.

Some of my friends here at DU know that I wrote comedy for a living, was married to a headliner and even booked comedy in SF. I don't think "comedian" means what you think it means.

You have a nice day, HughMoran. I think I'm all done with this exchange.

[HughMoran]

60. Yes, his humor is SARDONIC

I think you're sophisticated enough to know the difference.

[EFerrari]

61. SARDONIC?! Oh, my. In all the years I wrote comedy

I never ran across the concept. :sarcasm:

Seriously, if you can't be bothered to read the speech and all you can do is recycle stupid baseless right wing bs, I have more productive things to do right now. Ciao.

[HughMoran]

62. Chavez is a whack-job and I can't let any sane person defend him

Just because he's a leftist dictator, doesn't mean he's to be worshiped.

[AlphaCentauri]

75. I'll say the same about corporate sell outs

they are losing my respect

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

46. Do you speak/read/understand Spanish?

Because if so, there are some links up in the LatAm forum.

[AngryAmish]

57. It's a mistranslation

[EFerrari]

64. And you would come to that conclusion how, compa?

I myself am a certified interpreter. You? :)

[AngryAmish]

65. I'm just a loudmouth jerkoff on the internet.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

66. What would a walk out accomplish, past raising his status in the world?

Which, after all, seems to be his main concern in all of this.

[EFerrari]

41. Ignorance must be bliss. Oh, and he got a standing ovation

from the roomful of people who agreed with him at Copenhagen.

[HughMoran]

45. Yes, we know what you find to be "intelligent" - basically ANYTHING from a Ctr/South American source

You dare to call me ignorant just because his comedy routine got a standing ovation.

Anybody who dares attack the US is applauded in certain venues - big fucking whoop.

It's infantile and anybody who thinks otherwise has their head squarely up their asses.

[EFerrari]

47. You didn't read the speech, did you?

Yes, ignorance must be bliss.

ETA: Venezuela isn't in Central America, btw. :)

[HughMoran]

50. He's a joke

The end.

[EFerrari]

52. The delegates to the summit disagree with you as do I.

The End.

[TheWatcher]

97. Demonstrating once again your flourish for "intelligent discussion."

I rest My Case.

The End.

The Joke is you, as usual. :rofl:

[Judi Lynn]

56. Ah, Central America. No wonder you know so much about Hugo Chavez.

He has really laid waste to Central America, hasn't he? They still haven't recovered from the death squads, and the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of Central American citizens. Oh, wait. EFerrari's right. Hugo Chavez is in SOUTH AMERICA.

http://www.tallrite.com.nyud.net:8090/weblog/blogimages/refs2006/AmericanWorld.gif

http://www.thetruckersreport.com.nyud.net:8090/truckingindustryforum/attachments/the-world-is-a-joke/4373d1243693805-american-world-map-472f2713d9a0famerican_world_map16.jpg

[HughMoran]

58. Yeah, I fixed it

I typed too fast & made a mistake. Hope is was as good for you as it was for me ;)

[TheWatcher]

98. Suuuuuuuuuuure you did.

Classic. :rofl:

[fascisthunter]

63. lol... awesome

[EFerrari]

69. . . .

:rofl:

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

67. Ranting about capitalism will often get a lot of people on their feet

In the end, what has he brought to the table?

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

70. It's pretty fucking sad quite frankly. The leftbaggers rage is making them stupid.

[Peace Patriot]

38. I posted the full text of Chavez's speech in the Latin American forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x28130

[denem]

43. Right. Thank you. I searched google for some time after hearing it

(translated) live, looking for a reputable source. Fox was on to it first of course.

[WriteDown]

39. This from a guy who's economy is based on selling low-grade fossil fuels?

Is there an irony smilie?

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

68. No replies to this, I see.

[ronnie624]

84. Since Venezuela is a producer of heavy crude,

if Chavez criticizes U.S. imperialism, it makes him a hypocrite? Is that what you mean? You do realize that the 'smell of sulfur' is a metaphor for the lingering presence of the empire, don't you? Chavez did not mean that the room really did smell like sulfur.

I wouldn't want to suggest that you overexert yourself or anything by typing more than a dozen or so words or simply posting a smiley, but could you perhaps expand just a little on the irony you mentioned. It hardly seems logical. How is Chavez's use of a metaphor, or his criticism of U.S. intervention, at odds with the fact that Venezuela is a heavy crude producer?

[WriteDown]

87. Irony isn't your forte is it?

He speaks of "the smell of sulfur(sic)" and environmental protection, when his economy is based on heavy sulfur petro = irony.

[ronnie624]

90. Venezuela cannot bear the burden of responsibility for the entire world.

It is a small country and it is trapped in the same system as the rest of us, and Chavez did not create the Venezuelan oil industry. Production of crude oil is a major source of national income for Venezuela, as well as a significant source of energy for the U.S., so clearly it would be unrealistic to expect the country to stop producing right now. If it is hypocritical for President Chavez to discuss environmental issues, then it is hypocritical for anyone to do so, since we all use crude oil as a primary energy source. So there is no more irony in Chavez addressing the issue than if anyone else does so.

The Chavez 'critics' are always grasping for a weapon to use against him, but as usual, their 'reasoning' doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

[WriteDown]

91. Don't throw stones in glass houses...

I read Chavez's speech. What was his proposal exactly?

Does he want us to use less of his oil? Sounds good to me.

[ronnie624]

92. The U.S. is the biggest consumer of crude oil on earth.

Presumably it is the biggest economic and political power as well. By comparison, Venezuela is insignificant in that regard. The world would probably be better served if the U.S. took the initiative on environmental issues.

[WriteDown]

93. And yet...

We are not the biggest producer of CO2. What do you base the classification of "biggest economic" power on? Wouldn't both of those be China especially since they have a huge trade surplus? Odd that Chavez didn't mention them at all.

Venezuela could also adopt many measures to cut its carbon usage. Did Hugo mention the steps he'd be taking to make his oil industry more eco-friendly?

[ronnie624]

95. The U.S. has a bigger economy than any other country,

producing 20% of the global economic output. It leverages more influence in the world than any other country. These facts are not debatable. Insinuating that Venezuela has an equal share of responsibility as the U.S. on environmental issues is nonsensical.

[WriteDown]

96. Nice sidestep....

Like I said, the US is not the #1 producer of greenhouse gasses. The US leverages military influence, not economic these days. These facts are not debatable.

Not equal share, but do you disagree that all countries must take personal responsibility for their own pollution and make efforts to curb it? Shouldn't Venezuela lead by example.

And you still haven't mentioned why Hugo made no mention of China (the world's #1 greenhouse gas producer with a huge expanding economy)

[Laughing Mirror]

44. $10 billion as opposed to $700 billion

Yeah, it is pretty laughable. Were it not so tragic.

[WriteDown]

48. Wow, Chavez offered to put up 700 Billion or was he talking about China?

Good for him.

[iandhr]

71. If Hugo is mad at us

we must be doing somthing right

[bvar22]

72. Lets do a quick review:

Chavez has diverted American Corporate Profits to:

*Feed the Hungry

*House the Homeless

*Heal the Sick

*Educate the Ignorant

Why HELL!
I can see why some at DU hate him.
He must be crazy.

[AlphaCentauri]

76. Ouch! that certanly hurt

[The abyss]

77. Nice!

Nice because this is what Chaves does with the Sheckels, Bucks, Dollars, Rubles, etc….

He plunges those pesos back into the local infrastructure

Cracking the nasty high-sulfur, high-density metal bearing tars into usable fuels and lubricants is a constantly shifting axis dealt with by chemical engineers the wold over.

Venezuela, geologically speaking, resides on one of the vastest differentiated areas in the entire world. The lightest sweetest oils to the heaviest metal bearing tars.

Does the US want to control these vast fields?

Does a bear shit in the woods?

[ChangoLoa]

81. Do you have at least some data to back your claims?

Other than monetary poverty? Houses built by the state, hospitals, universities, schools, illiteracy rate, etc...

Which American corporate profits btw? I suppose you can't be talking about Exxon's peanuts in the oil business in Venezuela...

[AlphaCentauri]

89. "hospitals, universities, schools, illiteracy rate"

I guess those number will not satisfy anyone

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2004/609/31227

Can we compare that to the presidency of Carlos Andres Perez just to make sure there have not been any improvements.

[ChangoLoa]

103. When you look for compared stats, you should go to official sources, get the time series and compare

The numbers presented in the 2004 article you posted present a mediocre historical performance as a success.
A 1.5 million increase of school attendance in 4 years for a country where there's a 400,000-500,000 growth in demand for schooling per year is a mediocre average performance. Mediocre is the author of the article too, whose only sources are other articles from venezuelanalysis.

Why doesn't he go to the INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas) for example? The numbers are there. I assume it's because that would give a real picture that's not really in favor of his pseudo-argument.

Concerning illiteracy, it has been shown before with UNESCO or INE stats that the performance of Chavez's government is not better than previous governments'.

Adult literacy rate: 1981=84.7% ; 1990=89.8% ; 2001=93% ; 2007=95.2%
Youth .............: 1981=93.1% ; 1990=95.4% ; 2001=97.2% ; 2007= 98.4%
Retrieve the data in
http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=136&IF_Language=eng&BR_Topic=0

[AlphaCentauri]

106. Thank for the statistics it confirms that thing are much better than with Andres Perez n/t

[ChangoLoa]

107. Andres Perez...

:)

You can't make that conclusion after the numbers I gave you. CA Pérez's periods were 1973-1978 and 1988-1992. You only have one year within his period in this series, 1990. You would need 2 years from his presidency if you want to calculate the rhythm of growth of the literacy rate during his mandate. Simple logic.

[WriteDown]

88. When are you moving?

Plenty of housing.

[steven johnson]

73. Chávez es un payaso, pero es un payaso peligroso.

Chavex is a clown, but a dangerous clown.

Another addition to the Axis of Idiots.

[Politicub]

74. What an utter and total douche

Not just because he's criticizing President Obama, but because what he is saying is useless.

[bvar22]

78. Your opinion does NOT matter.

Chavez enjoys wide popular support in Venezuela.
Venezuela BELONGS to the Venezuelans.

They don't care what YOU think,
nor should they.

[Politicub]

79. Right, they shouldn't. And true, my opinion is insignificant

But it sure got a rise out of you, Mr. Guy Fawkes mask.

I'm sure Chavez does a fine job governing the people, but my opinion is that it is ignorant for him to draw a parallel between the Obama and Bush admins. But, whatever floats your boat. It's ironic to say something about sulfur being that Venezuela is an oil producing country, don't you think?

[steven johnson]

80. Chavez ranked worst leader by Latin Americans and in October his approval rating dropped below 50%

The newly released poll of 20,200 people in 18 Latin American countries conducted by Latinobarometro, a Chilean-based firm, shows that when asked to evaluate foreign leaders on a scale from zero to 10 -- with zero being "very bad" and 10 being "very good" -- Latin Americans gave Chavez the worst rating among a list of 17 regional and world leaders.


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/hugo-chavez-cant-buy-love-79599427.html

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez's popularity has slipped and a majority of Venezuelans view the situation in their country negatively, according to a poll published October.

The survey by the Caracas-based polling firm Datanalisis found that 46 percent responded positively when asked how they view Chavez's presidency, down from 53 percent a month earlier.

The survey, published by the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, also found that 59 percent said they saw the situation in the country as negative.

The results are based on the responses of 1,300 randomly selected Venezuelans questioned between Sept. 23 and Oct. 8. The poll had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=62077343&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281

[slackmaster]

85. Too bad they still don't have enough electricity or drinking water

They can keep it.

[ShortnFiery]

86. Sadly, I must agree with Chavez. eom

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

100. What's new?

[madmx19790]

94. he's right, i'm sad to say

[steven johnson]

101. Chavez is a narcissistic, egomaniacal bufoon, but even they can be 50% right on true-false questions

[marasinghe]

102. agree with you somewhat; but then again, that description could be extrapolated to obama as well.

i mean to say: there's the war-speech on the occasion of receiving the nobel peace prize; there's the health care reform sellout; there's the tarp bailout thingy. don't think i need go on, ad nauseam.

at least chavez had the good manners, not to bring up the smell of burning civilian flesh in iraq, afghanistan, pakistan & now yemen.

[dave29]

104. What's with his devil fetish?

[Blandocyte]

109. Hugo doesn't like my prez? I'm gonna cry

Eff off, Hugo.