President Obama To The Left Of Chavez & Castro

[Conan71]

According to Uncle Hugo (It's even from Reuters, not Faux):

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday that he and Cuban ally Fidel Castro risk being more conservative than U.S. President Barack Obama as Washington prepares to take control of General Motors Corp.

During one of Chavez's customary lectures on the "curse" of capitalism and the bonanzas of socialism, the Venezuelan leader made reference to GM's bankruptcy filing, which is expected to give the U.S. government a 60 percent stake in the 100-year-old former symbol of American might.

"Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right," Chavez joked on a live television broadcast.

During a decade in government, Chavez has nationalized most of Venezuela's key economic sectors, including multibillion dollar oil projects, often via joint ventures with the private sector that give the state a 60 percent controlling stake.

Obama has vowed to quickly sell off General Motors once the auto giant is back on its feet, but the government will initially control the company after a $30 billion injection of taxpayer funds.

Chavez, a vehement critic of the U.S. "empire," has toned down his rhetoric since Obama took office in January and the two men shook hands during a summit in Trinidad and Tobago in April.

(Reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel, Editing by Jackie Frank)

http://www.reuters.com/article/ObamaEconomy/idUSTRE5520GX20090603?feedType=RSS&feedName=ObamaEconomy&virtualBrandChannel=10441

[cannon_fodder]

In a somewhat related matter, the owner of a TV Station that remains critical of Chavez was arrested today . . .

[nathanm]

In a somewhat related matter, the owner of a TV Station that remains critical of Chavez was arrested today . . .

It's things like this that make me not like Chavez. At one point the right wing TV stations were out and out attempting to foment revolution, but AFAIK they quit openly attempting to overthrow the government outside the democratic process.

As far as GM goes, it sounds like pretty standard DIP financing, just provided by the taxpayers. Which is good. We all have a strong interest in GM's orderly exit from bankruptcy or orderly closure. Having GM just up and stop doing business tomorrow would be a huge shock to the economy with no upside whatsoever compared to a proper unwinding.