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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 12:25 AM
Original message
Cuba accuses Reuters journalist of collaborating with US intelligence
Source: Associated Press

Cuba accuses Reuters journalist of collaborating with US intelligence
By Associated Press,
Monday, April 4, 11:18 PM

HAVANA — Cuban state-television on Monday accused a former bureau chief for the Reuters international news agency of arranging a meeting on a darkened Havana street between an undercover Cuban agent and a U.S. diplomat who the program claimed was really a CIA operative.

The program, dedicated to uncovering supposed plots against Cuba, featured a professor and little-known dissident named Raul Capote, who described himself as “Agent Daniel,” the Cuban intelligence agent who purportedly took part in the meeting.

Capote said he attended a reception with Reuters’ then bureau chief, Anthony Boadle, at the German Embassy, without giving a date. The two left the party by foot two hours later, walking through the quiet Havana night, he said.

“We walked I don’t know how many blocks, until we arrived at a dark place where a car was parked. There was a shadow inside, a man,” Capote said. He said it was Mark Sullivan, a diplomat at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana in 2006-2008 who the program accused of being a CIA agent.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/cuba-accuses-reuters-journalist-of-collaborating-with-us-intelligence/2011/04/04/AFlkSRgC_story.html
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ronnie624 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 02:07 AM
Response to Original message
1. "USAID-funded democracy program"
Obviously, the author of this item believes -- or at least promotes -- the notion that USAID runs programs on behalf of democracy, despite the lengthy U.S. record of installing and/or supporting oppressive regimes all over the world.

No bias there. :sarcasm:
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 04:31 AM
Response to Reply #1
5. They've been doing it so long now, and to democratically elected governments.
We've heard both Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice make statements indicating they believed sometimes the people make the wrong choices in their elecions. Kissinger, speaking in reference to Chile, whose President they destroyed, went as far as to claim he wouldn't "watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people." So damned pathetic.

How can it be these monsters are still running loose, and the basic tone of our government hasn't even changed, after all the torture, massacres, ill-gotten gains, and sadism?
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dipsydoodle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 03:31 AM
Response to Original message
2. Prensa Latina News Agency link
Edited on Tue Apr-05-11 03:32 AM by dipsydoodle
Havana, 5 April (Prensa Latina) Raúl Capote, the agent "Daniel" of Cuban State Security, revealed his identity in the chapter "The Invention of a Leader" of the series "The Reasons of Cuba", today transmitted by national television.

For six years Capote, professor in the University of Pedagogical Sciences in Havana, recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States in 2006, served his country by fulfilling missions for the Cuban state security.

>

The CIA instructed him with collecting several types of information and with promoting, encouraging and inciting groups of right-wing intellectuals through different subversive projects, among them the creation of a literary agency and a virtual library.

According to the testimonial program, the seventh in this series of revelations, this ordinary Cuban, a writer and professor, was studied and contacted by diplomatic personnel of the United States Interests Section (USIS) in Havana.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=277754&Itemid=1
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dipsydoodle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 03:34 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. Cuba Exposes U.S. Maneuvers to Fabricate Leaders in the Island
Havana, Apr 4 (Prensa Latina) Cuban television will broadcast a documentary Monday featuring declassified information on how U.S. intelligence services prioritize the creation of "social leaders" in Cuba by recruiting people.

The documentary, Fabricando un Lider (Fabriacating a Leader), part of the series "Las razones de Cuba" (Cuba's Reasons), shows that this maneuvering is specially carried out among Cuban intellectuals, to get them to serve Washington's interests.

In previous programs of the series, Cuba revealed the identity of double agents who had infiltrated anti-Cuban organizations or had connived directly with U.S. diplomats in Havana, and one of them was invited to the White House and conferred the Medal of Liberty.

Their testimonies are proof of how the U.S. Government pushes forward its subversive plans against Cuba.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=277541&Itemid=1
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 04:20 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. Dipsydoodle, this is unexpected, and invaluable.
Edited on Tue Apr-05-11 04:21 AM by Judi Lynn
Hope to find out as much as possible about this.

Please make sure to cross post this material in the Latin America forum, to make sure it gets as much exposure as possible.

You really have injected so much energy into the subject. It will be fascinating seeing what developes.

Thank you.
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dipsydoodle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 04:37 AM
Response to Reply #4
6. btw - apologies
I replied to myself in error.....doh.

:hi:
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 04:49 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. Ha! I've done that, too!
:bounce: :hi: :woohoo:
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clixtox Donating Member (941 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 04:45 AM
Response to Original message
7. The CIA must be dismantled! The CIA is a rogue...

organization that murdered JFK most notoriously, but who knows how many others, in service to our greed driven corporate overlords.

After perpetrating basically a coup on 11/22/63, then assassinating RFK and MLK, plus being responsible for the deaths of untold millions around the world, the CIA is obviously the most dangerous, most deadly, terrorist organization in the history of the planet.

It's no wonder that some allege that every POTUS since JFK has been firmly controlled by the uber-wealthy, and their "spook" minions, who run the country through "Inverted Totalitarianism". A system so sophisticated that most victims haven't a clue about how they are being oppressed, over-taxed and under-served.

If there were actually any real democratic ideals or practice in the USA there wouldn't be a CIA. Their main function is to keep us, the citizens of the USA, ignorant, confused and bamboozled. The CIA has been unbelievably inept in predicting many of the major political changes, as in Central and South America, through the years, except those coups they create themselves.

The USA today is overrun with "Intelligence Agencies", it is analogous to East Germany prior to their fall. When the "Stasi's "secret" files were examined after Germany was reunified they were completely banal and useless except as lessons in waste, and creating fear.

Close the CIA down now and save billions and billions of dollars, and many lives too.
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 05:02 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. Who knows how many of them are involved in our news, now? We've known since the Church Committee
in 1975 that the CIA was working in journalism, and that's a very long time. No doubt they've gotten much more proficient at their tactics by now. From an article posted by a great DU'er a few years ago:
The Media

Journalism is a perfect cover for CIA agents. People talk freely to journalists, and few think suspiciously of a journalist aggressively searching for information. Journalists also have power, influence and clout. Not surprisingly, the CIA began a mission in the late 1940s to recruit American journalists on a wide scale, a mission it dubbed Operation MOCKINGBIRD. The agency wanted these journalists not only to relay any sensitive information they discovered, but also to write anti-communist, pro-capitalist propaganda when needed.

The instigators of MOCKINGBIRD were Frank Wisner, Allan Dulles, Richard Helms and Philip Graham. Graham was the husband of Katherine Graham, today’s publisher of the Washington Post. In fact, it was the Post’s ties to the CIA that allowed it to grow so quickly after the war, both in readership and influence. (8)

MOCKINGBIRD was extraordinarily successful. In no time, the agency had recruited at least 25 media organizations to disseminate CIA propaganda. At least 400 journalists would eventually join the CIA payroll, according to the CIA’s testimony before a stunned Church Committee in 1975. (The committee felt the true number was considerably higher.) The names of those recruited reads like a Who's Who of journalism:
  • Philip and Katharine Graham (Publishers, Washington Post)
  • William Paley (President, CBS)
  • Henry Luce (Publisher, Time and Life magazine)
  • Arthur Hays Sulzberger (Publisher, N.Y. Times)
  • Jerry O'Leary (Washington Star)
  • Hal Hendrix (Pulitzer Prize winner, Miami News)
  • Barry Bingham Sr., (Louisville Courier-Journal)
  • James Copley (Copley News Services)
  • Joseph Harrison (Editor, Christian Science Monitor)
  • C.D. Jackson (Fortune)
  • Walter Pincus (Reporter, Washington Post)
  • ABC
  • NBC
  • Associated Press
  • United Press International
  • Reuters
  • Hearst Newspapers
  • Scripps-Howard
  • Newsweek magazine
  • Mutual Broadcasting System
  • Miami Herald
  • Old Saturday Evening Post
  • New York Herald-Tribune
More:
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-overclass.html
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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 11:50 AM
Response to Reply #7
15. I agree with you, clixtox--especially on the coup of 11/22/1963.
Been covered up all this time--the CIA rot at the center of our government.

Have you read James Douglass' book, "JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters"? Great, great book!
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clixtox Donating Member (941 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 06:15 PM
Response to Reply #15
18. Yes, I just finished reading...

JFK and the Unspeakable by James W. Douglass.

Just as you recommend this startling, revelatory book, so do I!

Absolutely a MUST READ.
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robcon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 10:47 AM
Response to Original message
10. Castro has to find spies everywhere to keep the illusion of relevance.
Don't the Castro brothers know that nobody cares what they're doing?
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ronnie624 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 11:50 AM
Response to Reply #10
14. It isn't that easy to disseminate misinformation here.
Edited on Tue Apr-05-11 11:52 AM by ronnie624
Everyone knows quite well, the U.S. political establishment "cares" very deeply about what the Cuban government is "doing".
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-06-11 05:00 PM
Response to Reply #14
19. Sad, isn't it? It makes you wince to see the desperation. n/t
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ronnie624 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-06-11 11:52 PM
Response to Reply #19
25. The comment was completely inconsistent with documented reality.
I find it very odd that people say such things.
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bemildred Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 11:00 AM
Response to Original message
11. All of our MSM career "journalists" collaborate with the government. nt
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nalnn Donating Member (528 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 11:11 AM
Response to Original message
12. Hahaha
A Reuters Journalist working with the CIA? HAHAHAHA!!!
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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 11:46 AM
Response to Original message
13. Interesting convergence of the Associated Pukes, Washington Pest and Rotters in this article.
You gotta wonder what's going on, when two CIA copy-and-paste operations report dirty rotten spy accusations against a third CIA copy-and-paste operation--even if they heavily color the report to make readers think that Cuba is inventing the whole thing. (Color = "without giving a date," "grainy secret footage, creepy music and stylized dramatizations," etc.)

This may be the key...

---

"While Cuban state-run media often denounce the foreign press as being biased, it is unusual to single out individuals or make such a serious and public accusation." --Associated Pukes (Washington Pest)

---

In other words, Cuba has got the goods on Rotters. So, in order to maintain any credibility (power) at all, in this very changed Latin American political landscape of leftist democracies, the Associated Pukes and the Washington Pest had to get out ahead of this story and act all innocent and wondrous and 'gee, ain't Cuba a gas? what'll it think of next?'

I suspect they're all in on the current CIA-designed op in Cuba, to segue the Mideast "democracy protests" into destabilization/toppling of the government in Cuba, to put the Miami mafia back in charge of the island. For one thing, this would aid the CIA's trillion-plus dollar cocaine revenue stream out of the U.S. client state of Colombia, but perhaps even more than this, the Pentagon clearly has a "circle the wagons" region--Central America/the Caribbean--that they have been consolidating, against the rise of democracy in South America and in particular against the recently founded UNASUR (an EU type institution to which all South American countries belong, and which has been moved along by the leftist leaders, in their efforts to create regional economic/political solidarity and independence).

Here is some of the evidence for the Pentagon's Central America/Caribbean "circle the wagons" region....

---the Bush Junta reconstitution of the U.S. 4th Fleet in the Caribbean (mothballed since WW II). (Even Lula da Silva said that this was a "threat to Brazil's oil," and proposed a common defense within the context of UNASUR).

--the U.S. supported/funded rightwing coup d'etat in Honduras (traditional U.S. stepping stool to aggression in the region)--lying Obamaites to the contrary notwithstanding. One of the coup generals said that their coup was "to prevent communism from Venezuela reaching the United States." Pentagon base in Palmerola, Honduras (Soto Cano Air Base), was used to refuel the plane carrying the elected president of Honduras out of the country at gunpoint. Zelaya wanted to convert that base to a badly needed international commercial airport. The Pentagon is now building MORE bases in Honduras. (Next target: Nicaragua.) (Again.)

--U.S. occupation of Haiti, gross interference in Haiti's elections and blackmailing/bludgeoning of Haiti with U.S. control of $9 billion in international humanitarian aid. The U.S. shit going on in Haiti is unbelievable, and bear in mind that Haiti is only a few miles off of Cuba--both of them essential assets in this "circle the wagons" region.

--U.S. utter fucking over of Colombia--$7 BILLION in U.S. aid to "death squad" criminals running the government and military--thousands of trade unionists, teachers, community activists, human rights workers, journalists, peasant farmers and others MURDERED. Massively criminal government--death squads, drug trafficking, bribery, fraudulent elections, vast illegal domestic spying, vast theft of peasant farm lands, terrorization of the peasant population. Numerous new U.S. military bases and "forward operating locations" in Colombia, including a base overlooking the Gulf of Venezuela (major oil ops), only 20 miles from Venezuela's border. (Colombia constitutes the southern rim of the Pentagon's "circle the wagons" area.)

--U.S. military bases on the Dutch islands right off Venezuela's oil coast, from which they have been doing illegal overflights spying on Venezuela. (Venezuela's Caribbean oil coast and its northern oil provinces constitute the other part of the southern rim of the Pentagon's "circle the wagons" region.)

--U.S. utter fucking over of Mexico--more BILLIONS to the fascists and militarists, not to mention ATF guns to the drug gangs--deliberate creation of civil war mayhem to create fear/terror (much like as in Colombia) to foster the election of fascists and prevent the election of leftists (real reps of the people). A leftist almost won the presidency of Mexico in the last election--came within a hairsbreadth, 0.05%. This must be prevented at all costs--the murder of thousands in the "drug wars" of no consequence to Washington--they PREFER murder and mayhem to orderly representative government.

--possible U.S. collusion in a rightwing plot to overthrow the leftist government of Guatemala.

--U.S. use of "war on drugs" (and possibly use of death squads) to oppress/terrorize the left in El Salvador (which elected a leftist government). The U.S. certainly used the fascist coup d'etat in Honduras to bully the leftist government of El Salvador into withdrawing its application to ALBA (Venezuela-Cuba organized barter trade group). Now there are reports of death squad activity and fascist terror in El Salvador (as in Honduras).

--Pentagon maneuvers, under cover of the "war on drugs" in supposedly demilitarized Costa Rica.

--Lots of evidence of U.S. efforts to "divide and conquer" South American leftist alliances, most especially Brazil/Venezuela (unsuccessful).

This is only SOME of the evidence of U.S. hatred of democracy in Latin America and of its strategy of creating a bulwark against South America's collective, leftist economic/political clout (with strong leftist leaders elected in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Paraguay). The U.S. "circle the wagons" plan has two aspects: 1) U.S.-run "free trade for the rich" in this region (CAFTA--slave labor, unfettered corporate access to natural resources) and, 2) U.S. military enforcement of U.S.-run "free trade for the rich" (with the U.S. war machine and U.S. corporate "globalization" fueled by Latin American oil--chief target Venezuela, with the biggest oil reserve on earth--twice Saudi Arabia's, according to the USGS). (With regard to this, U.S. corps and war profiteers find it GALLING that Venezuela is using oil profits to benefit the poor, and to help small countries like Cuba.)

Now consider the final paragraphs of this Associated Pukes/Washington Pest article on Cuba's accusations against Rotters....

---

"In recent months, Cuba has denied press accreditation for a number of foreign journalists and has pushed for them to stop working on the island.

In February, the Communist Party newspaper Granma carried an article denouncing The Wall Street Journal for an editorial that drew parallels between Cuba and Egypt, where a popular uprising forced former President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

The editorial was published days after Cuban media lashed out at CNN’s Spanish-language channel for reporting that an opposition demonstration was going to take place in Havana. The protest never occurred.

Cuban state cable TV providers in January removed CNN’s Spanish service from a package of channels provided mostly to hotels, foreign companies and diplomats on the island, though no reason was given."
--Associated Pukes (Washington Pest)

---

Here we get the Wall Street Urinal into the mix, plus C-Nonny-Nonny (Espanol). My guess: These fuckers have ALL been COLLUDING on a CIA plot--with Alan Gross no doubt right in the middle of it--to stage "protests" (a la the "women in white" only bigger), report on the phony "protests" using CIA-provided satellite phones, and stir up hysteria in Florida and support throughout the U.S. for U.S. intervention in Cuba, much like they did re Libya. Florida's Miami mafia reps in Congress met with Latin American fascists way back in December 2010 and basically called for war against Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua. This plot against Cuba was no doubt the discussion in the back rooms of that House of Representatives-sponsored meeting (fascist cabal).

As usual, we get bits and pieces of the truth in articles like this (CYA articles), and have to put the bits and pieces of the CIA jigsaw puzzle together ourselves. I've been wondering about Alan Gross all along. The CIA doesn't provide equipment (satellite phones) for the hell of it (or for any good purpose--i.e. "free speech"--Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!). They do it for STRATEGIC reasons, as part of a PLAN. (They thought they had Jewish groups lined up as "cover" for the strategic asset part of this plan--or Gross did--and they found out otherwise.)

So, likely, this was THE PLAN. The Wall Street Urinal maybe jumped the gun, and put it in an editorial (or did so to create a climate of "acceptance" should the CIA plot work out). (It really makes me suspicious about Egypt--especially since the U.S.-funded military is now in charge in Egypt.) In any case, we see many of the pieces referred to obliquely in this article--of what seems to have been a failed CIA plan. And apparently, Cuba--which has one helluva good intelligence service (or they wouldn't still be the "communist island" right off the U.S. coast)--got some hard evidence on Rotters through use of this double-agent.

Rotters is quite as bad as--and often worse than--the Associated Pukes in their reporting on Latin America. They are ALL bad--wretched, in fact--including the New York Slimes and (somewhat shockingly) the BBCons. But the Pukes and Rotters have a special function of distorting "breaking events" with hit piece headlines and very little content. And the man now in charge of EDITING this rotten journalism at Rotters 'news' service in Washington DC is none other than the Cuba-accused CIA liaison, Anthony Boadle. Editing is the chief propaganda tool of this kind of "cut and paste" journalism. They get the "talking point" from Langley and cut, edit, "frame" and distort whatever news item comes across their desks, to fit the "talking point" --for instance, that Hugo Chavez opposes "free speech," or is anti-semitic, or is "increasingly authoritarian." They will NEVER give you the evidence to the contrary--which, in most instances, re Chavez COMPLETELY CONTRADICTS the "talking point." This is one clue to what they are doing--if you have some alternative sources of news with which to compare it (--you have to search for them, but they do exist). The INCOMPLETENESS of the "news" narrative is the giveaway. They utilize this short format (almost a news bulletin format, in the case of the Pukes and Rotters) to AX all context, background, circumstances, history that might explain, for instance, WHY the Chavez government denied a broadcast license renewal to RCTV (they were fully justified in doing so, in my opinion).

I have long suspected the Associated Pukes of merely "cutting and pasting" emailed points from Langley (or from some private PR 'contractor' working for Langley--at our expense). (You never know, these days, whether it's private or government--all paid for by us, though). (Christ, even the voting machines--EVEN THE VOTING MACHINES--have been PRIVATIZED in the U.S.!) But I thought Rotters was merely reflecting its Euro-corporate masters and banksters. I think we can be pretty certain now that Rotters is also CIA. (The Washington Pest has always been, I think. The New York Slimes may be a more recently acquired asset. And the rest of them--including the alphabet soup of corporate TV/radio--take their cues from these four.)

Another conclusion we might draw from this article is that it was a FAILED plot against Cuba. We can't be sure yet. Maybe it's still running. But Alan Gross got caught. Rotters' "bureau chief" got caught. The U.S. Embassy ("Interests Section") got caught. The Wall Street Urinal let 'the cat out of the bag.' The plot is leaking, perhaps fatally.
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-06-11 05:15 PM
Response to Reply #13
20. I have one small detail to mention, concerning Honduras' airport,
which Zelaya had intended to retrieve for domestic use. As you pointed out, it's so badly needed. The reason Honduras needs another airport for their OWN citizens' use, is because the airport in the capital is, and has been for ages, the SECOND MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORT IN THE WORLD. Planes go down there frequently, with hideous results.

The COUNTRY needs that goddamned airport, and it had been planned that Zelaya would return it to use by and for Hondurans. As soon as Zelaya announced his plans for that airport, the end to his Presidency was probably on its way. So damned sad.

Thank you for this wonderfully done post, Peace Patriot.

We always learn something from you. Surely appreciate it.
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Rage for Order Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-06-11 05:43 PM
Response to Reply #13
21. How much longer before the start of "Oil War II: South America"?
This oil war was predicted with uncanny, laser-like accuracy just over 3 years ago!!!

:rofl:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3196259&mesg_id=3196406
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-06-11 06:00 PM
Response to Reply #21
23. Don't embarrass yourself. You can't afford it. n/t
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Rage for Order Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-06-11 07:55 PM
Response to Reply #23
24. Your concern is duly noted, but don't worry...
I won't be embarrassed because I don't make predictions that have no basis in reality.
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Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-09-11 12:52 PM
Response to Reply #21
26. Thanks for the link. It was good to read that post again.
Here's something I was lucky enough to read when EFerrari posted it in the Latin America forum last night:
Latin America shakes off the US yokeThe current spat with Ecuador is symptomatic of Washington's failure to grasp that it no longer exercises regional hegemony
Mark Weisbrot guardian.co.uk,
Friday 8 April 2011 18.38 BST

~snip~
Although the Bush administration intervened in the internal affairs of countries such as Bolivia and even Brazil, it was somewhat better at keeping its "eyes on the prize" and avoiding fights that would distract from its main goal. The prize, of course, is Venezuela – home to the largest oil reserves in the world, estimated by the US Geological Survey at 500bn barrels. Washington's goal there for the last decade has been regime change. The Bush team understood that the more they fought with other countries in the region, the less credible would be their public relations story that Venezuela was the problem.

It's nothing personal, really – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez could have chosen to be the perfect diplomat and he would still be treated in much the same manner by the US government. And it's not the oil itself, since Venezuela still sells the US more than 1m barrels a day and there is a world market for oil, in any case. It's just that any country with that much oil is going to have regional influence; and Washington just doesn't want to deal with someone who has regional influence and doesn't line up with its own goals for the region – not if it can get rid of them. And they have come close to getting rid of Chávez, in the 2002 coup – so they are not giving up.

But Washington is losing ground there, too. A big blow was the change in Colombia's foreign policy last summer, when President Juan Manuel Santos took office. An important part of Washington's strategy in Venezuela is to maintain tension between Colombia and Venezuela. They have a head start on this project since the 2,000km border between the two countries has been plagued by paramilitary and guerrilla violence for decades. Conflict between Venezuela and Colombia is also important to Washington's electoral strategy in Venezuela. When there is trouble between the two countries, as in 2009, when Venezuela cut off bilateral trade in response to the US effort to expand its military presence in Colombia, it has a negative impact on a lot of Venezuelans in border states. This helps garner some anti-Chávez votes in border states, as in last year's congressional election in Venezuela. And accusations of Venezuelan support for the Farc guerrillas in Colombia – despite Washington's failure to offer any evidence – are a key element of bringing its anti-Venezuela efforts under the "war on terror" umbrella.

Although Colombia's previous president, Álvaro Uribe, was – in recent years – very much allied with the United States' strategy toward Venezuela, Santos immediately rejected it and decided to make peace with Chávez. This turned out to be quite easy to do, despite their past fights when Santos was Uribe's defence minister. As anyone who follows Venezuela knows, Chávez is friendly to any head of state or government that is friendly to Venezuela.
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/apr/08/venezuela-ecuador

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Mika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 12:46 PM
Response to Original message
16. I guess we're supposed to forget the Pentagon intelligence officer embeds at the cable news channels
There must have been hundreds of threads on that topic in the youthful days of DU.

But, if Cuba says it then it must be Castronian propaganda. :rofl:





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RedCloud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-05-11 12:57 PM
Response to Original message
17. The old trick they tried on the Bolshevicks too.
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JVS Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-06-11 05:47 PM
Response to Original message
22. The accusation is probably true.
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