Elections in the Netherlands, Georgia and Venezuela

Dutch Parliamentary Elections

The Netherlands’ ruling center-right party won the most seats in the Dutch parliament, although not a majority.  It has formed a coalition government.  The Netherlands has been fiscally responsible and relatively prosperous.

Georgian Parliamentary Elections

A pro-Russian party defeated the pro-Western party of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in the parliamentary elections in Georgia.  Saakashvili retains the powerful presidency until early 2014, meaning that power will have to be shared, for now.

The Georgian President is responsible for defense and foreign policy, but there will be less effort by Georgia to eliminate Russian dominance over the parts of Georgia it occupied when it invaded the former Soviet republic in 2008 in a conflict that Russia provoked.  Russia has established puppet rulers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which it may intend as a temporary step toward annexation.  As I have observed in previous posts, Russia has gone unpunished for its aggression.  See my posts from September of 2009, Obama Betrays Allies, Appeases Russia, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/09/obama-betrays-allies-appeases-russia.html, NATO Forgives Russia for Georgian Invasion, from April of 2009, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/04/nato-forgives-russia-for-georgian.html and December Foreign Updates: Italy, Georgia, Korea from December of 2010, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-foreign-updates-italy-georgia.html.

Whether or not Georgia will remain democratic and free, or become more authoritarian like Russia, is a larger question than even whether or not it will defend its own territorial sovereignty.

Venezuelan Presidential Elections 

Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez reportedly won reelection in the presidential election, according to the state-controlled election commission, despite exit polling that suggested the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, a former governor, had won a slight majority.  The true winner will never be known, as the state does not permit an independent audit, although Chavez’s reported official margin was lower than his previous win in 2006.

Chavez had pushed through constitutional amendments that permitted him to seek another term.  The Dictator of Venezuela has ruled as president for 14 years, meaning he will have served for 20 years if he survives his term.

            The Venezuelan strongman, who has limited dissent and severely compromised the independence of the judiciary, had expropriated industries and doled out the country’s oil wealth to win the support of the poor and implemented other public works near the time of the election.  Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves.  Chavez has limited dissent and compromised the independence of the judiciary by intimidation.  Despite double-digit inflation, high crime, electricity blackouts, and an increase in bureaucracy and public corruption, many poor Venezuelans backed Chavez’s socialist revolution. 

Under Chavez, Venezuela has allied itself with the Communist Castro regime of Cuba, providing a lifeline to the Cuban dictatorship, and has formed an anti-American alliance with other leftist regimes, such as Nicaragua, Ecuador and Bolivia as part of his so-called “Bolivarian Revolution.”  For example, the Chavez-led alliance supports the Marxist narco-terrorists in Colombia responsible for much of the cocaine shipped to the United States.  Venezuela also has supported ETA, the Basque terrorists, and has provided financial safe harbor for Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Shi’ite terrorist organization from Lebanon.  Chavez has warm relations with Iran, among other members of what I call “the Axis of Rogues.”

I have called for the designation of Venezuela as a state-sponsor of terrorism in my post from February of 2012, Designate Venezuela a State Sponsor of Terrorism, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/02/designate-venezuela-state-sponsor-of.html and posted about U.S. Congressional proposal to that effect in my post, 2,000 Visits to My Blog, from July of 2010, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2010/08/2000-visits-to-my-blog.html, but U.S. President Barack Obama has dismissed Venezuela as not much of a threat to the U.S.