Any one else see this?

the line of questioning was provocative, as is usual with larry king, but most seemed to be aimed at undermining him, as presenting him as a ultra-radical nut-job. The translation was horrible, i speak spanish and portugese rather fluently and the woman doing the translating did not really get the true gist of what he answered 100% correct, but sort of....

here are some highlights

Larry King asks him:

"Our secretary of state, hillary clinton, is afraid that you will start an arms race in all of south america, that will destabalize the region. Why are you spending billions of dollars in military acquisitions from Russia?" (something like that)

Chavez Answers:

"That woman does not know what she is talking about. My country has one of the lowest defense budgets in this hemisphere. My country also has some of the biggest oil reserves in the world. I only wish to have minimum protection for my people and my country. A MINIMUM PROTECTION. I only want peace. I ONLY WANT PEACE WITH MY NEIGHBORS. If Colombia says they think i will try and take over they are wrong, my country has it's own problems that need to be solved. I am not concerned with what the US or other countries is doing, the US should stop meddling in other countries affairs and focus it's time and resources in it's own health care, education, security and finances."

he also stated at one point in this line of questioning:

Larry king: who are you so afraid of, that you need so many weapons?

Chavez: "The empire. I'm afraid of the american empire. The United States has built 12 bases in colombia in the last 3 years. They have enough military equipment in place to take over my country. This is why I need Iranian and Russian Allies. I need to protect my soil and my people. If you think I will sit by and let the US take over my people, my resources without a fight you are crazy" (The translator botched this part... i can't remember what she said, i remember what HE said.....)


Larry King goes on to say at some point:

"but why then are you planning to develop nuclear technology?"

Chavez answers:

"What you are saying is wrong. I met with Russian and Iranian leaders to discuss the possibility of developing a nuclear ENERGY program. You are implying that I mean to use the technology for war purposes. Whoever is saying I am trying to build a nuclear arsenal is completely wrong. Either way we are years away from even beginning this. I want to begin exploring nuclear energy because we are poisoning this planet making energy now, every country has a right to develop this technology but us?? that is not fair. We only want peace, we are not planning on developing nuclear weapons. I do not understand where this information comes from."

Larry King asks: "why do you say israel is a bigger problem for world security than you are? tiny little israel, a country so small. how can THEY be a big problem?" (this question is obviously a pro-zionist question meant to throw the leader off)

Chavez answers:

"a small country with nuclear weapons. That tiny tiny country has nuclear weapons and a bigger military than they will admit. That little country has shown the most aggression, second only to the US, than any other country in the last 50 years. to ignore the fact that country is a ticking bomb is being willfully ignorant"...

the interview was incredible...

opinions??

any one else see this one?

I had no idea Chavez was going to be on Larry King.. I wonder if they have episodes online...

I don't know anything about Venezuela, but what he says about the US is spot-on.

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A government big enough to give you everything you want, makes Santa Claus pretty much obsolete.

yes he was.

if you missed it you missed a unique view on one of the most colorful people in world politics.

He was spot-on with all of his answers, I understood everything he said(the translator was not spot-on, almost but not quite).., he's a leader that understands just how rich his country really is, that richness gives them the ability to exert influence on a worldwide stage, he wants to protect his land from foreign interests exploiting his resources and his people.....

it was real interesting to see this person conservatives HATE, give intelligent, logical, and REAL answers to questions. he did not beat around the bush, he did not avoid questions, he answered everything with the truth....it was beautiful....

a leader that wants what's best for his land, his people, and his country; not special interest groups, not corporations, not his rich friends....

if only our government had leaders like that....

They only hate him because he's the leader of a socialist country, and they've been brainwashed to believe that socialism in all forms is something to be avoided (even though we have quite a socialist influence in our own country that they refuse to see). Oh, and he's critical of US foreign policy (but honestly, who isn't?). He seems to me to be a man who truly believes in democracy (real democracy, not the off-brand of democracy we have here), and maybe we can all learn something from that.

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A government big enough to give you everything you want, makes Santa Claus pretty much obsolete.

"True" Democracy always fails, always.

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It is far easier to ignorantly control others than it is to wisely control yourself.

I hope that interview was better than the one that he did with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last night. Seemed like everytime the man was answering a question they cut to break or King was screaming over him. I really wish we had an interviewer that would ask a question, wait for an answer no matter how convoluted it may be, and then follow-up. It is really irritating watching some guy yelling over the other guy. Also it would be nice if world leaders were granted commercial free interviews OR go to break AFTER a question is answered. Nothing more disrespectful than interrupting a leader of a country to go to a commerical break

Yeah it was pretty bad. The iranian pres is a good speaker as well, in my opinion he took King to town. I know it was an interview but Larry was being an ass and it made him look bad. to me anyway. He even told Larry to quit forcing his opinions on him thru his questions.

Those were panic breaks not regular commercial breaks. One segment was like no mre than 40 seconds then another break because Ahmadinejad was talking.

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I am a very giving person. I'll throw my 2 cents in.
SideWazeDaze!!!!!

Yeah, King was definitely trying to get a sound bite out of him. It was gotcha journalism at it's worst - he couldn't get Ahmadinejad to slip. King got outsmarted and it made King look like an ass.

It was irritating to watch the interruptions and commercial breaks. I just wanted to hear him speak.

i couldn't catch the iranian president interview. FUCK! I had people over, and they wanted to watch some other bullshit...

i wouldn't doubt the fact that happened. it happened with hugo chavez, it's a shame...

I just saw a video clip of Fox News "reporters" trying to interview Chavez. He basically told them they were a bunch of hate-mongering liars. It was pretty funny. Go Chavez!

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A government big enough to give you everything you want, makes Santa Claus pretty much obsolete.