Tim Lund wrote:All good points Chris, I'm sure - I'll leave it to any Lib Dems or Tories who might be out there to contest them. But in the meantime, how come your colleague Mike Harris
Tim, I am afraid you went a bit over the top. Must remember that Chavez, whether you like the man or not, has won every election he has run on, all of them closely monitored by international NGOs. Chavez has never been charged with the atrocities attributed to Lukashenko.
Quoting Wikipedia as a reliable source of the link between Chavez and the FARC is not even wise.
I am far from being a Chavez supporter, but I am afraid ignorance of the facts can be a dangerous thing. There are many other things that are wrong with Chavez, but the fact that he has won elections in a clear, clean way is not one of them... Think about it. I am talking about elections. Please do not read other things in what I wrote.
I certainly wouldn't insist that anyone takes what the read on Wikipedia or from Amnesty International on trust. But on the fairness of Venezuelan elections, we'll probably not agree.
The point I was making was that elections are not the be all and end all of good government - in other posts recently I've mentioned various human rights as also being necessary. I could have said 'rule of law', but human rights is a usefully broader concept, because there can be laws which are contrary to human rights.
Glad to know you're not a Chavez supporter - that might have put you in uncomfortable company:
Fantastic, Tim! You probably had a late night Wednesday.
Now you should add the pictures of the British, European and American government officials who have had their pictures taken with all these and other rulers. And do not forget Mubarak...
But is hard to argue with someone who is not prepared to listen. So there. Have an early night.
