[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6207-6208]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             THE GATHERING STORM OF VENEZUELA'S HUGO CHAVEZ

  Mr. MACK. Madam Speaker, I ask permission to take my Special Order at 
this time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  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, while freedom is on the march in many places 
around the world, a resurgence of Socialist, Communist and anti-freedom 
governments and movements in Latin America represent an emerging threat 
to freedom and the United States.
  The instigator is Venezuela's Socialist President Hugo Chavez, who is 
using state-owned oil money to underwrite his iron-fisted control of 
the Venezuelan people, and to back his alliances with leftist leaders 
and causes throughout Latin America.
  With Chavez sitting on top of 6.5 percent of the world's proven oil 
reserves, and buoyed by oil at roughly $75 a barrel, Chavez has assumed 
the identity of a modern-day Simon Bolivar, who attempted to unify 
Latin America in the 1800s. Oil is Chavez's ATM to finance a 
``Bolivarian revolution'' that abuses Presidential power in Venezuela 
and fans the flames of Socialists, and regional instability.
  In an interview last year, Chavez was clear in his motives. ``I am a 
revolutionary. I have to support the left wing movements in Latin 
America. We have to change Latin America.'' That is exactly what he is 
doing at the expense of freedom, security and prosperity.
  Democratic institutions are eroding rapidly in Venezuela. The 
legislative branch is controlled by Chavez, made up entirely of Chavez 
allies. The judicial branch is controlled by Chavez. The National 
Electoral Council is controlled by Chavez. It is no longer impartial. 
The Electoral Council addresses the interests of Chavez and the 
government, not civil society.
  The council is no longer acting in conformity to the law, and many 
question the reliability of the electronic voting machines in 
Venezuela.
  Chavez, a former paratrooper, sees the military as an instrument of 
social transformation. And now he is openly recruiting and arming 
civilians to join his newly created militia under the false suspicion 
that the United States is going to invade Venezuela.
  The public prosecutor, the Office of the Comptroller, and the 
People's Advocate are all controlled by Chavez. President Chavez has 
packed the Supreme Court with his supporters, and justices are biased 
in his favor. Make no mistake, the independence of the judiciary has 
been compromised.
  Human rights and fundamental freedoms are under threat. 
Discrimination on political grounds is growing and members of the human 
rights community are often charged with treason and as coup plotters. 
Acts of violence and prosecution of human rights defenders are growing.
  Those active in the defense of democracy in Venezuela are being 
prosecuted and imprisoned without due process. Leaders of the political 
opposition group Sumate are being prosecuted for accepting a small 
grant from the National Endowment for Democracy under a judicial system 
where the nation's courts have been packed with Chavez cronies.
  Freedom of expression is under siege. Chavez is snuffing out a free 
press and free speech with new laws that impose jail terms for 
journalists for gravely offending the President or the government. The 
media is now subject to surveillance, censorship, and intimidation.
  And to ensure the unfettered ability to spread his anti-freedom 
messages throughout the region, Chavez last year launched his own 
television network, Telesur. Telesur announced a formal alliance with 
Al-Jazeera, bolstering Chavez's Socialist-Based propaganda with the 
resources and reach of pro-terrorist programming.
  Chavez is taking control over private banks and confiscating large 
parcels of private property. And to make matters

[[Page 6208]]

worse, Chavez is planning a new assault on the private sector in 
Venezuela by taking major steps towards nationalizing Venezuela's oil 
industry that could hurt American oil companies, reduce production, and 
put further pressure on already high global oil prices.
  He has already seized private oil fields if companies do not convert 
operating contracts to joint ventures in which the Chavez government 
assumes a majority stakeholder share. In free countries, that is called 
extortion.
  Elsewhere in Latin America, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Argentina, Chavez 
is forging alliances with Socialist groups and narcoterrorists. In 
Nicaragua, former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega announced that local 
governments in Nicaragua that are friendly to Sandinista's cause would 
receive low-cost oil from Chavez.
  Venezuela has been flagged as a major transit country for illegal 
drug shipments to the United States and Europe. In fact, more than one-
third of all cocaine that reaches the U.S. travels through Venezuela 
from Chavez's allies' countries.
  What is worse, at the same time Chavez is cracking down on freedom 
within Venezuela and exporting his Socialist revolution throughout 
Latin America, he has embarked on an alarming military build-up.
  Chavez is receiving military and intelligence assistance and training 
from Fidel Castro's government; and he has tried to acquire nuclear 
technologies from Iran, and reports suggest that Iran has actively 
sought uranium supplies inside Venezuela.
  I have introduced a resolution that addresses these problems and 
expresses our support for the people of Venezuela to restore democratic 
institutions. I urge my colleagues to join me in fighting for freedom 
for the Venezuelan people.
  Mr. Speaker, Hugo Chavez seeks nothing less than absolute 
authoritarian power. He despises freedom. He is determined to alter the 
balance of power in the Western Hemisphere, and he is leveraging his 
nation's oil supply to do all he can to achieve his dream of a unified, 
socialist Latin America.
  After all, it was Chavez himself who, with Fidel Castro by his side 
said, ``Fidel, `I think you were always right: It's socialism or 
death.'''

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