Skurken och socialisten Hugo Chavez vann igår valet i Venezuela. I metro (20061204) kunde man ta del av en ovanligt ärlig rapportering från TT:

Segerviss sträckte i går Chávez för en gångs skull ut handen till ”imperiet” USA, vars kapitalistiska marknad han är beroende av men ofta spyr galla över.
– För oss förtjänar alla länder respekt. Vi vill ha de bästa förbindelser med dem, även USA.

Presidentens dilemma är att han måste fortsätta sälja dyr olja till ”djävulen”, som han brukar kalla USA-kollegan George W Bush, för att ha råd med fattigprogrammen som gör honom populär.

Tala om att erkänna sin egen och därmed socialismens oförmåga och tala om att USA ger ”offrets medgivande” genom att låta Chavez sitta kvar vid makten. Kom ihåg att Chavez i praktiken är en diktator. Kom ihåg att Chavez stöder och stöds av USA:s fiender (Kuba och Iran).

För mer än en månad sedan skrev Carlos Alberto Montaner en artikel med ett mycket tydligt budskap.

What has to happen before the Latin Americans disqualify a politician at the polls and reject him on moral grounds?

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Roughly, half of the Venezuelans are ready to support Hugo Chávez in his reelection bid next December. Many have supported Chávez since 1992, when this gentleman shot his way into the presidential building with the intention of killing the country’s legitimate president and installing a military dictatorship.

In the late ’90s, a majority of Venezuelans elected Chávez, who immediately began to commit all kinds of misdeeds: He changed the laws at will, took over the institutions, allowed his goons to machine-gun unarmed demonstrators, fixed elections, began to use public funds as his private bank account and, while he was at it, beat his wife so badly that she landed in the hospital — just so she wouldn’t forget who wore the pants in the house. But none of that seems to disqualify him in the eyes of a substantial sector of Venezuelan society. They couldn’t care less. What ethical values do these voters uphold?

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The problem is worrisome because the stability of the rule of law rests on the moral values of society, not on the juridical structure outlined in the Constitution. The people of Latin American are victims not of a stubbornly corrupt ruling class but of their own tolerance toward those who violate the laws and of their own indifference toward the breakdown of standards.

The old dictum that says people have the government they deserve almost always contains a bitter truth. If we don’t mind electing rogues, we have no right to complain.

Jag hoppas att venezuelanerna får vad de förtjänar. Och vad lär vänta dem? Jo, ännu mer av det här:

Today there are more than 200 political prisoners in Venezuela. Many more Venezuelans, including present and former elected officials, former Supreme Court justices, journalists, military officers, trade union leaders, and members of civil society defending democracy and human rights, are forced to divide their energies between fighting to improve their country and avoiding arbitrary imprisonment.

The government has passed laws restricting freedom of expression, including one making it a crime to express ”disrespect” for the president and other public officials, even in private conversations. Additionally, Venezuela’s counterpart to the US attorney general regularly uses his powers as a weapon against Chávez’s opponents.

In Chávez’s Venezuela there is not only political persecution but also political discrimination. More than 3 million citizens are segregated for having signed a petition for a constitutional recall referendum against Chávez in 2004. The list of those who signed was placed into a database and published by a pro-Chávez national assemblyman on his website. Thousands on that list have unjustly lost their public-sector jobs or been denied government services.

Telephone conversations of Chávez’s opponents are taped and aired on government-owned TV stations. The minister of communications read one of my e-mails on a government channel.

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Additionally, Chávez controls virtually every public institution, including those that remain independent in genuine democracies. The Supreme Court was expanded from 20 to 32 members and packed with Chávez supporters. Chávez even controls the National Electoral Council, which oversees all elections. Last December, more than 80 percent of registered voters boycotted parliamentary elections because of distrust in the fairness and secrecy of the electronic voting system.

None of this can be rationalized by Chávez’s purported efforts to help the poor. Venezuela’s economic performance under Chávez has been dismal. Despite record oil revenues, poverty has not declined and the middle class has shrunk.

De flesta offer, kanske samtliga, för de orättvisor och övergrepp som Chavez har gjort sig skyldig till hittills förtjänar förmodligen inte sitt öde. De har säkert blivit utsatta för dessa brott eftersom de har försökt göra sig av med honom. Men man måste nog vara mentalt efterbliven om man verkligen tror att det endast är motståndarna till Chavez som kommer att falla offer för hans brottsliga socialism.

Och socialisterna är sig lika. Hyllar de inte andra diktatorer och massmördare som Lenin, Hitler, Stalin och Mao, så hyllar de Castro och Chavez. Om tio-tjugo år lär de förmodligen förneka att de såg på Chavez som en ”hjälte”, som ett levande ”hopp för en annan bättre värld”, som ett ”bevis” för att man kan utmana ”tron på kapitalism”. Fast det är ju klart. Om tjugo år får de kanske chansen att spendera fyra timmar på statlig nationell TV för att fira Hugos 30 år vid makten.