Chaos: The Hugo Chavez Doctrine

Chaos: The Hugo Chavez Doctrine

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Trouble in Venezuela, Trouble for Chavez

"Venezuela is going to rack and ruin. Chavez is in serious trouble. The economy is in the sewer," said Robert Amsterdam today on 'Montel Across America' on the Air America Radio Network. The international attorney explained that Chavez has devalued the currency by 50% in order to "have more money to throw around to keep his movement going", however, "the man can't manage his way out of a paper bag and is starting to lose control." Corruption in Venezuela is massive and on an unparalled scale, complicated by incompetent management, he explained. Opposition has begun to form against Chavez, including the present mayor of Caracas, but whether Chavez can be toppled is questionable.

"It remains important for the world to recognize how dangerous Chavez is, to understand how he has thrown his lot in with Russia and Iran and is laundering Iranian money and nationalizing banks which want to return to the rule of international law."

Amsterdam's client, businessman Eligio Cedeno, was recently freed by a Venezuelan judge after years in prison and is now living freely in the United States. In retaliation, Chavez threw the judge in jail with prisoners she had previously sentenced. Those prisoners have subsequently tried to murder her on three occasions, including attempting to light her on fire.

Asked whether the human rights abuses in Iran and Venezuela would result in revolution and the overthrow of Ahmadinejad and Chavez, Amsterdam replied, "It's like I say about Russia when people ask me when my client, Khordorkovsky, will be freed. When you have chaos, there is no way to know specifically. President Reagan said in 1989 that he never imagined he would live to see the end of totalitarianism. And he did. And look at the speed with which Iran has become destabilized. There are vast institutional controls that keep these ships afloat, but when the state starts to weaken, watch out."