Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Police State Alert!

No, not here. Well, here, but not this post.

I fear for the direction of Venezuela. This is not good, and it unfortunately lends credence to the Opposition's complaints about Chávez moving toward authoritarianism. It may not be any worse than Herr AssKKKroft, but it's no better.

Venezuelan security forces will train civilians to gather intelligence on potentially subversive activities in their communities -- part of President Hugo Chávez's plan to involve citizens in defending the nation,
the defense minister said Monday.

Gen. Jorge García Carneiro said the goal was to create ''a substitute military service'' to help the armed forces "get much deeper into intelligence.''

Civilians ''will help us get information when they detect something abnormal in their community,'' García Carneiro said.

Chávez caused an uproar among opposition leaders last week when he announced a plan for the ''massive incorporation of the Venezuelan people in the integral defense of the territory.'' The president said "every citizen should consider himself a soldier.''
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Very bad news indeed.

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....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.