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revolution has swept the continent, with leftist governments elected in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and Venezuela, the leftist candidate Correa ahead in the polls in Ecuador, and a strong leftist movement in Peru; also, closer to home, there is a strong leftist movement in Mexico, and Ortega's victory in Nicaragua. These governments and movements have common themes: regional political and economic cooperation and self-determination, and anti-World Bank/IMF/U.S. corporate influence. It is also a revolution against U.S./Bushite interference with the phony "war on drugs" (killing poor peasants and leftists) and support for fascists (as with the attempted violent military coup in Venezuela in '02). In both Bolivia and Argentina, the grass roots political movements that put leftists in office were specifically targeted against U.S. corporate interference--in Bolivia, Bechtel Corp., in Argentina, the World Bank/IMF.
South American countries are banding together. For instance, the World Bank/IMF crashed Argentina's economy with crippling loans (typically accepted by rightwing governments, with the rich ripping off the money, and the poor left with the debt). Argentina's poor and middle classes rose up against World Bank/IMF policy and went round with tiny hammers breaking all the bank ATM display windows in the country, in protest. Three governments later--in quick succession--they finally got a leftist government that promised to get them out of World Bank debt and never to get in such debt again. They began paying off the loans, at great cost; then Venezuela intervened and bought up a big chunk of the debt on easy terms. Argentina quickly began to recover; all indicators are now up; and, as a consequence, Argentina and Brazil have begun discussions about a common currency, such as the euro (to get off the dollar).
In Bolivia, Bechtel Corp. privatized the water in one Bolivian city, then jacked up the prices to the poorest of the poor--even charging poor peasants for collecting rainwater! The Bolivian people rose up against this and threw Bechtel out of their country--and elected socialist Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia. When Morales was inaugurated, Hugo Chavez presented him with Simon Bolivar's sword. Bolivar was the great South American revolutionary hero, who led the struggle for independence from Spain, and free the slaves, and dreamed of a "United States of South America," but died too young to realize it. The Bolivarian Revolution--of which Chavez is the most prominent leader--seeks strength in unity against the current "colonial" power, the U.S.
Brazil's president, former steelworker Lula da Silva, recently visited Venezuela to open a bridge over the Orinoco River between their two countries, but also as act of solidarity in the leadup to Venezuela's presidential election in December (in which Chavez is heavily favored). There are rumors about Venezuela's rich oil elite planning another coup attempt, with Bushite support (using our taxpayers' money, by the way, which Bush is pouring into the political opposition to Chavez). I think Lulu wanted to make it very clear that South Americans will not tolerate US interference in Venezuela's election. (As before, the OAS will be monitoring that election, and the EU's election monitoring group has 130 election monitors on the way to Venezuela. The Carter Center will likely again take part. Venezuela has the most highly monitored elections on earth.)
The Chileans recently elected their first women president, socialist Michele Batchelet, who was tortured by the U.S.-backed dictator Pinochet. (Members of her family were also tortured and killed.) The brutal history of US interference in South and Central America is a spur to this democratic revolution. But it also has a positive foundation, and positive goals, as described above, summed up in the phrase self-determination.
What we are seeing is an awesome, full scale rebellion against U.S. interference, and most particularly against the Bush Junta. It is like an ocean wave. It is unstoppable. And this revolution really cannot be decapitated. It has too much grass roots strength. The South Americans have also worked long and hard on TRANSPARENT elections and other strengthenings of democratic, representative government.
As Evo Morales has said: "The time of the people has come." And the Bushites may well be planning a private corporate war against democracy in South America--there is plenty of evidence of it in Bushite activity in Colombia and Paraguay (the preliminaries funded with billions of our tax dollars). But I don't think they will succeed.
When "the time of the people has come"--as with our own Revolution--nothing can stop it.
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