They do hold elections in Cuba ... are you kidding me?

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, June 06, 2003 By: Luis Zuleta

Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 15:00:45 -0300 From: Luis Zuleta luiszuleta@hotmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Right to vote

Dear Editor: It's unbelievable what I just read from Dawn Gable. I was actually going to comment on the note by Mr. Elio Cequea and how in typical Chavista fashion he claims that whoever does not support the "government" of Mr. Chavez is misinformed and basically an idiot ... but then I read this and couldn't stop my fingers.

You have be insane or actually really dumb to go on public record to use "elections" in Cuba as an example on any democratic process, I was particularly appalled by the emphasis on "they do hold elections in Cuba"... Are you kidding me?

Wait, maybe Saddam did have the support of 100% of the Iraqi people (you forgot this example of elections) and maybe the Venezuelan media made up all the celebration that took place when he was removed from power ... Just a thought.

Second, I am still trying to figure out how, or why, you would have to earn a constitutional right like the right to vote. I guess black people in America had to earn that right? All this time I thought they fought to make local and federal governments respect their right, not to prove that they had earned it. Same goes with women when they fought for their right to vote. Since we are at it, maybe if you're a bad woman or a bad black person then you may have the right to vote taken away from you since you're not "earning" it.

Then, I also guess that once you decide that you want, or have to move abroad, then you basically become a non-existent entity and lose all your inherence in any election since you will not be allowed to take part in the decision-making process or where you now live and also your right to vote in your country of birth is taken away.

Venezuelans (and for that matter Americans) are citizens of their countries REGARDLESS of where they are and as such have the right to vote to decide who the President of their country is going to be. The only way you lose that right is if you become a citizen of another country and then you will have (don't have to earn it) the right to decide the fate of your new country.

This isn't even that hard to understand.

Hey, maybe like in Cuba or Iraq, we could hold a free and democratic election on the matter to decide what's fair, although it will be difficult to gather 99.5% to 100% of the votes on way or the other like the beloved Mr. Castro does in Cuba or Saddam used to do in Iraq.

Luis Zuleta luiszuleta@hotmail.com