Thursday, March 06, 2014

Gettin' Lackey With It

Things aren't getting any better in Venezuela, but the insults are pretty good:
Venezuela's President severed diplomatic relations with Panama Wednesday, accusing the Central American nation of being a "lackey" for the United States in a conspiracy plot against his government.

"There are maneuvers by the U.S. government plotting with a lackey government that has a right-wing president who is leaving in the next few months, who is not worthy of his people, who has been working actively against Venezuela," President Nicolas Maduro said in televised remarks.

He accused Panama of pushing for regional organizations to intervene in Venezuela. As a result, Maduro said he was cutting off diplomatic and political ties and freezing trade relations with Panama's current government "in defense of the homeland's sovereignty."
Maduro is also concerned about the lickspittle government of Uruguay and the henchman government of Suriname.

I joke a little, but actually it's not a laughing matter in Venezuela. The mess that Hugo Chavez left behind is getting worse under Maduro, who lacks the charisma of Chavez and rarely wears a parrot on his shoulder. If you're going to succeed as a socially acceptable caudillo, you need to have better rhetorical skills and the willingness to put down a whole lot more people. And by "put down," I don't mean calling them lackeys. By whining, Maduro is inviting his eventual fate, which is the full Ceaucescu. Don't click the link if you're squeamish, by the way.

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