Back in Jan 07. Missed it at the time. Well worth our attention, because Serrano objects to the overweaning anti-Castro Miami lobby, which prompted DEMOCRATS in Congress to pass a voice-vote (so we can't identify the voters) resolution linking all of the new ELECTED leftist governments in South America to "Iranian terrorism." Serrano brings SANITY to this discussion, bless his soul!
http://www.borev.net/2007/11/an_army_of_jose.htmlWhy is this important in a thread about Bolivia's Constitution? Because the Bush/U.S. embassy in Bolivia is distributing millions of OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS to the rich, fascist, rural landowners who want to split their gas/oil rich provinces off from the central government of Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia (in a majority indigenous country), and are furthermore SPYING on leftist political and social justice groups in Bolivia, all the better to--as DONALD RUMSFELD said THIS LAST DECEMBER, in the Washington Post--implement "swift" U.S. action in support of Bush "friends and allies" in South America (fascist thugs planning coups)...
"The Smart Way to Beat
Tyrants Like Chávez," by
Donald Rumsfeld, 12/1/07http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...Hillary Clinton echoes Rumsfeld here:
"If I am entrusted with the presidency, America will have the courage, once again, to meet with our adversaries. But I will not be penciling in the leaders of Iran or North Korea or
Venezuela or Cuba on the presidential calendar without preconditions, until we have assessed through lower level diplomacy, the motivations and intentions of
these dictators. --
Hillary Clinton (at GW University,
2/25/08)
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=6196Obama's statements about Chavez (read: Oil War II) have been more ambiguous and circumspect, but not particularly comforting. Neither Clinton nor Obama seem to understand that Chavez is NOT a "tyrant," has run a scrupulously lawful, elected government for ten years, and has a 70% approval rating. What do the Venezuelans know that our political establishment is deliberately hiding from us? That Venezuela has transparent elections, and we do not? That the poor majority deserves more than warm spit--they deserve REAL representation of their interests in government?
Congressman Joe Serrano puts all of this in context--in regard not just to Hugo Chavez but also Evo Morales (Bolivia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Nestor and Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) and other new, elected, leftist leaders. He basically says that U.S. rhetoric toward Latin America has always been "democracy, democracy" (in contrast to U.S. behavior--supporting rightwing dictators), and that, now that they HAVE democracy, why the hell is the U.S. not CELEBRATING this fact, instead of undermining and berating, and trying to overturn, these DEMOCRATIC governments?
He singles out Evo Morales as an example. Here we have the FIRST INDIGENOUS PRESIDENT of Bolivia, in an overwhelmingly indigenous country. It is a mighty victory for democracy! It overturned hundreds of years of bigotry and oppression. And what does our hairbrained, oil-mad government do, with the DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS echoing this garbage? They try to demonize Evo Morales as somehow connected to "demon" Iran.
I would go further than Congressman Serrano. I would say that Donald Rumsfeld is planning Oil War II: South America--and that at least Hillary Clinton goes along with this crap (not sure about Obama). But Serrano didn't have the events of the last year and early this year as context--Rumsfeld's op-ed, Exxon Mobil's recent move to freeze $12 billion of Venezuela's assets (over a dispute about Venezuela's 60% share in its own oil revenues--Exxon Mobil's move is stage one of this war: destabilization), the Miama/CIA "suitcase full of money" caper (aimed at "divide and conquer" of Venezuela-Argentina), the Bush/U.S. attempted sabotage of the release of FARC hostages in Colombia which Chavez has negotiated (--an event that bodes well for peace in Colombia's 40+ year civil war--a war stoked by billions in military aid from Bush/U.S. to the fascist government of Colombia), and other events pointing to the REASONS for all the propaganda and disinformation about Chavez, Morales, Correa and others.
This is a coordinated, intentional war campaign to regain global corporate predator control of the Andes oil fields and other resources. Venezuela and Ecuador are members of OPEC, and have lots and lots of oil. Bolivia has some oil, but mostly gas. And there was a recent big oil find in Argentina. These governments are strongly allied with each other, and are all leftist (majorityist) social justice governments. It's my guess that Rumsfeld/Bush will pick on the most vulnerable first--Bolivia--and use this rightwing landowner attempt to split up Bolivia (to prevent the gas/oil wealth from benefiting the poor), during the Constitution re-write process, as the excuse to intervene directly in the Andes region, and create a fascist enclave in Bolivia, from which to launch hostilities against the other countries, and, possibly, to draw Chavez and Venezuela into the fray, in defense of Bolivia and the Morales government. I think that's the plan. Exxon Mobil's move against Venezuela was to weaken Bolivia's strongest ally, as a preliminary to more hostile action. I think we're going to see Bush-instigated trouble in South America before the end of the year. And I find Hillary Clinton's stupid, uninformed, kneejerk categorization of Hugo Chavez as a "dictator" very disturbing in this regard. If she gets the nomination, are we going to see Clinton-McCain unity on destroying democracy in South America? Or, if Obama wins the nomination, are we going to see a situation of U.S. troops in peril on the ground in South America, and demonization of Obama cuz he doesn't wear a U.S. flag lapel pin?
"Swift action" in support of "friends and allies" in South America. That's what Rumsfeld says. We--and the world--were mind-boggled by what he did in Iraq. And are we about to be mind-boggled again, by what he is capable of doing in his "retirement"? I fear so. And I feel that the American people are as unprepared for this--uninformed, un-warned--as they were for Iraq--due, of course, to the lies and disinformation that our war profiteering corporate 'news' monopolies promulgate about South America, echoed by more than half the Democratic Party leadership.
For the uninformed, I recommend the following as a start on understanding this situation: www.venezuelanalysis.com, the Irish filmmakers' documentary "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (available at YouTube and at www.axisoflogic.com), and www.BoRev.net (itself--and its many informative links).
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