On November 23rd, Venezuela is set to hold state & city elections across the country. According to Reuters, over the weekend Hugo Chavez decided to mention "tanks" & the use of them if his party should lose power.
Chavez is expected to lose control of some key states and cities in the November 23 nationwide elections for governors and mayors. In Carabobo, where a Chavez loyalist and former late-night talk show host risks losing the governorship, Chavez told party activists he might use the tanks to "defend the people."
"If you let the oligarchy return to government then maybe I'll end up sending the tanks of the armoured brigade out to defend the revolutionary government," he said late on Saturday.
In recent weeks the former tank officer also has threatened to jail the country's top opposition leader, Manuel Rosales, whom he accuses of corruption and of plotting to kill him.
Threatening with a column of tanks might be a great way to intimidate voters I guess, but probably not the best way to start off with the soon to be new boss in Washington D.C., or the crazy old boss who still has 2 months on the job. Recently, Chavez has been accused of corruption after Argentine customs authorities found an agent of the Venezuelan government with $800,000 in a suitcase.
Also, where the hell is the Coffee?
Coffee has disappeared from many Venezuelan supermarkets, highlighting economic problems ahead of local and regional elections in which politicians allied with President Hugo Chavez may lose key posts.
Venezuelans go to the polls on Nov. 23 to elect state governors and city mayors in a test of support for leftist Chavez a year after he lost his first national vote since winning power in 1998. Venezuela last year struggled with widespread shortages of staples such as milk and beef, which pollsters say contributed to Chavez's defeat in a December referendum that would have let him stay in office as long as he kept winning elections.
The government largely eliminated shortages earlier this year. But in recent weeks, shoppers have been unable to find coffee in stores, though cafes still serve it and street vendors are selling it at about twice the regulated price. Business leaders say the problem is largely driven by strict price controls that the government uses to contain the highest inflation in Latin America. The government blames hoarding by unscrupulous businesses.