Chavez says Cuba is more democratic than U.S.

[cali]

By Bridget Johnson
Posted: 04/17/09 02:02 PM

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, hosting an alternative leftist summit including Cuba before meeting President Obama and other Western Hemisphere leaders this weekend, said Thursday that the U.S. is less democratic than Cuba.

Opening his Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our Americas east of Caracas, Chavez lambasted a final draft of the declaration -- which affirms a commitment "to build stronger democratic institutions" -- to be adopted by leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

"Where is there more democracy -- is it in Cuba or is it in the United States?" Chavez said when opening his summit with Cuban President Raul Castro by his side. "I have no doubts that in Cuba there is more democracy than in the United States. I have no doubts at all!"

Before even stepping foot in Trinidad and Tobago, Chavez said he will veto the summit declaration. "We do not have great expectations about the Summit of the Americas," Chavez said. "The final declaration is hard to digest. It is misplaced both in time and space, as if time had stopped."

Jeff Davidow, Obama's adviser on the summit, said Thursday that the rejection came as a surprise. "The declaration of the summit is a document, a fairly lengthy document that's been negotiated for the last nine months by all 34 countries, including Venezuela," he said during a pre-summit briefing with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "It's been a laborious process of negotiation. Many of Venezuela's points were accepted, as were the points of the United States and other countries.

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http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/chavez-says-cuba-is-more-democratic-than-u.s.-2009-04-17.html

[blueclown]

1. Chavez is right on a few (important) things, but he's an idiot on everything else.

[cali]

2. he's never dull.

[movonne]

3. What is everything else???...

[NeedleCast]

4. He's Wrong.

[valerief]

5. U.S.A, Democracy in Name Only. nt

[Chulanowa]

6. He's so cute.

I like the guy, but he doesn't seem to think too hard before he speaks half the time.

[cali]

7. He's a grandstander supreme.

all things else aside, that most certainly is true.

[JeanGrey]

8. Has he suffered some brain injury?

Yup, they float over here on barrels because it is so wonderful in Cuba.

[blindpig]

9. He has a point.

Everyone in Cuba has the vote, it's a very grassroots arrangement. Not having capitalists owning the government as they do here is certainly a point in Mr Chavez's favor.

[Occam Bandage]

10. So when's Castro going to be up for election? What is the opposition party?

Come on. Cuba is the only non-democratic state in the entire Americas. A garnish of local elections between preapproved candidates does not a democracy make.

[cali]

11. sorry, having 50 years of the same head of state is NOT a democracy

it's a piss poor idea. And the current head of state? Know what that's called, right?

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. Yes, Chavez has decreed Cuba to be more Democratic

Of course it is so; he has decreed it.

Goldy, silvery, irony.

[creeksneakers2]

19. Where can I get the results of the last presidential election?

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. Kick...waiting for the apologists to defend this

eferrari? judi lynn?

[originalpckelly]

14. Hugo Chavez is right.

After all, Cuba doesn't have the power to nuke the world/end all/almost all human civilization, on the authority of a small group of people.

[cali]

16. lol. none of those factor into the definition of democracy.

[originalpckelly]

17. Of course, that's because the people who define what democracy is...

have decided to leave nuclear weapons out of the mix.

[cali]

18. democracy was defined long before

there were nuclear weapons. A really excellent definition of democracy is E.M. Forster's. It can be found by googling "Two Cheers for Democracy".

[originalpckelly]

24. Yes, but can any nation with nukes in the hands of so few...

ever be considered a democracy?

[cali]

26. yes of course. the possession or non-possession of arms

has absolutely nothing to do with whether a country is or is not a democracy.

[Mudoria]

29. Perhaps President Obama should have handed Chavez that book as a return gift

:patriot:

[creeksneakers2]

20. Cuba's leaders have the authority

The nukes is the part they hopefully don't have.

[originalpckelly]

25. Their authority is over one island.

The nuclear option applies to all humanity.

[flamingdem]

15. Reality Check: it ain't no democracy

as we know it ... though they do have local elections. The election of the heads of state was a joke. They announce the vote count and it's always 698 in favor of ______ put your favorite Raul crony name there. Next, 699 in favor of _______ .

They are all over 70 and now Raul has booted out some of the more reform minded like Carlos Lage and Felipe Perez Roque. AND THEY LACK TRANSPARENCY so you don't even know why it happened... You cannot say that FEAR doesn't play a role when Carlos Lage had to apologize and we won't know what really happened until things change. I support their right to do as they wish as a country and probably over half of Cubans support their government but it's much less than democratic, especially now that Raul's military buddies are in favor.

[Vidar]

21. I tend to agree with Chavez. We have some slight choice

of which millionaires we elect to ignore the mandates they only pay lip service.

[cali]

27. lol yeah, because having the same head of state for fifty years is

more democratic than electing millionaires. Oh, and none of my congressional reps are millinaires. We do a pretty good job of keeping those folks out of Washington.

[Union Yes]

22. Democracy in America has trampled human rights..

as badly as any dictatorship ever has.

Slavery
Racism
Wealth divide.

Really no need to look any further than those 3 examples.

I agree with Chavez about 90% of the time.

I love how he won't be bullied by America.

[scrinmaster]

23. Well, yeah. America must be the only country to ever have those problems, right?

[cali]

28. Actually it hasn't.

if you think that Amerikkka has trampled rights as badly as any dictatorship in history, you're just ignorant. Not saying that it hasn't trampled rights but please, as badly as Stalin? As Hitler? Get a grip and a clue.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

30. Chavez is wrong. N.T.