Darkness on Referendum Eve in Caracas
By Aaron Mannes
Lost in the good news that the Venezuelan people rejected President Hugo Chavez’s constitutional referendum is the story that federal police raided the main Jewish social club in Caracas the night before the polls opened for the referendum. This should be a reminder that although Chavez appeared conciliatory when he addressed his supporters there are some very dark tendencies in his regime. These aspects of the regime have not fully manifested themselves - beyond rhetorical chumminess with some of the world’s worst characters such as Iranian President “I want to erase Israel” Ahmadinejad, Cuba’s Castro, and Zimbabwe’s Mugabe. But as Chavez finds his domestic reforms stymied (one aspect of the defeated referendum was to allow the President to be re-elected indefinitely) and his economy implodes (inflation is on the upswing and government controlled pricing has led to food shortages) naked violence and repression may appear openly with tragic consequences for Venezuela and perhaps beyond.
Two things must be made absolutely clear. First, violence, repression and terrorism often start by targeting Jews - but they inevitably move beyond the initial victims.
Second, this raid, ostensibly searching for weapons and explosives, was not an isolated incident - it is part of a pattern of anti-Semitic behavior by the Chavez regime.
Read the complete post here.
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