[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 95 (Thursday, July 14, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H5886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     A NEW EMERGING THREAT TO FREEDOM IN LATIN AMERICA: HUGO CHAVEZ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mack) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MACK. Madam Speaker, I ran for Congress on the ideals of freedom 
security and prosperity because these are the ideals that define 
America, and they are the necessary ingredients for a better quality of 
life for people around the world.
  And though freedom is on the march in many places around world, in 
Latin America, a resurgence of socialists, communists and anti-freedom 
movements and alliances represent a new emerging threat that must be 
stopped.
  At the root of Latin America's renewed anti-Americanism is 
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. In the years since Hugo Chavez first took 
office as a democratically elected leader, he has retreated from the 
ideals of freedom, security, and prosperity and began his own march 
toward oppression and socialism modeled after his mentor, Fidel Castro.
  And let me give a few examples: In Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, there is 
no free press. Just state-controlled, anti-American, anti-freedom 
propaganda. There is no freedom of speech, no freedom of dissent, and 
no freedom to stand in opposition to the Chavez regime. Just days ago, 
for example, several leaders of the opposition group Sumate were 
charged with treason and conspiracy simply for accepting money from the 
National Endowment for Democracy to help educate their fellow citizens 
about Venezuela's constitutional referendum process. In Hugo Chavez's 
Venezuela, the government owns the country's key industries and 
controls the economy, the flow of capital, jobs and opportunity. Hugo 
Chavez holds the hopes, dreams and opportunities for an entire nation 
firmly in his fists.
  In the years since he came to power, Hugo Chavez has hijacked the 
courts and installed his cronies and allies to manipulate the country's 
constitution and legal system. He has forged a dangerous alliance with 
Fidel Castro and is now receiving military and intelligence assistance 
and training from Castro's government. He has acquired 100,000 machine 
guns from Russia and admitted to trying to acquire nuclear technology 
from Iran. And he has threatened to end diplomatic relations with the 
United States.
  Madam Speaker, Hugo Chavez is an enemy of freedom who threatens the 
balance of power in our hemisphere. Today I call on the United States 
to pursue a three point plan that will promote freedom, security and 
prosperity for the people of Venezuela.
  First, the United States should promote the creation of institutions 
that will foster a free press, free markets, and the freedom of speech 
and religion and free and fair elections for Venezuela, including the 
establishment of a Venezuelan counterpart of Radio and TV Marti.
  Second, the United States should establish a Venezuelan Security Zone 
that will isolate Chavez and limit his ability to destabilize Latin 
America. This new zone would restrict Hugo Chavez's ability to purchase 
arms, nuclear information and technologies, and weapons of mass 
destruction. It would also make it more difficult for Hugo Chavez to 
enter into commerce, trade or alliances with other nations led by 
dictators and anti-American fanatics. And it would require the 
restoration of an independent judiciary committed to representing and 
protecting the rights of all Venezuelans.
  Third, the United States should promote economic development in 
Venezuela through free markets, privatization and other means that will 
create lasting prosperity and opportunity for all Venezuelans.
  Madam Speaker, President Reagan tore down a wall and liberated a 
generation. President Reagan once said, ``Freedom is a fragile thing 
and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not 
ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by 
each generation.''
  President Reagan's steadfast commitment to freedom should have left a 
lasting lesson on all of us, but it did not. And the foreign policy 
debate in this body could not be more dramatic. Those on the left have 
demonstrated they believe in peace at any price even if that price is 
the loss of freedom.
  Those of us on the right believe that freedom is worth fighting for 
and that together freedom, security, and prosperity will yield lasting 
peace.
  Madam Speaker, make no mistake about it, Hugo Chavez is a threat. We 
must take him seriously, and we must act now.

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