Kerry and Venezuela

[Charlie Brown]

I was talking with my very Republican uncle today, and he told me that Kerry had pledged to invade/send troops to Venezuela. I, of course, had heard nothing about this & strongly suspect it's not true. I've found three statements the Kerry campaign has made regarding Venezuela/Latin America. They appear to support stronger pressure on the referrendum process in opposition to President Chavez. The most recent statement (June 26) indicates that we should maintain relations with figures like Chavez and Aristide even though they are not the most respected leaders.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=102-06262004

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/foreignpolicy/venezuela_statement.html

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0319d.html

Am I missing something, or is my uncle making sh*t up, or extremely misinformed?

[kikiek]

1. Well since the referendum is going to be voted in Aug. it looks like

they will vote on if they want Chavez or not. That is what Kerry said repeatedly he should allow. If he is there it is because the people want him and he will respect that. He certainly isn't flip flopping if that's what you're trying to imply.

[reorg]

2. funny comment on that May 27 statement

can be found here:


http://www.bigleftoutside.com/archives/000416.php


As to your uncle's comment, I suppose you could read this statement (paragraph below) as an ultimatum to get ready to actively participate in Plan Colombia, or else ...

"President Chavez’s policies have been detrimental to our interests and those of his neighbors. He has compromised efforts to eradicate drug cultivation by allowing Venezuela to become a haven for narco-terrorists, and sowed instability in the region by supporting anti-government insurgents in Colombia."

I was recently in Ecuador and have read about FARC guerillas occasionally hiding out accross the border, and about sightings of Coca growers seeking land. It is feared that with the Colombian army gaining ground, the situation will be getting worse and that finally the Ecuadorian army will be drawn into this conflict. Maybe it is not much different in Venezuela.

Just my two cents.

[Charlie Brown]

3. funny stuff

For me this is such a peripheral issue, that it's difficult to be moved one way or the other by Kerry's statements. The drug trade will likely continue regardless of who's in power, just like it has in Afghanistan & Panama. I really can't see South America becoming a hot spot of U. S. intervention (probably be politically unwise to send in special forces, etc.) The statements were typical election year rhetoric to a specific demographic of voters.

[reorg]

6. depends on how you define hot spot

on one hand, the US is already participating in the war in Colombia. They have a large military base in Manta, Ecuador, from where Awacs planes are taking off to monitor the air space. On the other hand, this war is essentially not so much about drugs as it is an attempt to eliminate the threat posed by the anti-government left wing guerilla.

This is froam an article on Venezuelan fears of a Colombian, US-backed invasion:

"Even mainstream Latin American history books (e.g. A History of Latin America, by Keen and Haynes, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2004) state that Plan Colombia is not so much about US anti-drug policy as it is about securing the Colombian oil industry that had been under attack by leftist guerrillas. Besides outsourcing the task of taking back control of guerrilla-controlled areas to paramilitary death squads responsible for the slaughter of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocents, and providing juicy multimillion dollar contracts to US companies such as Monsanto and DynCorp, there have been few visible accomplishments for Plan Colombia.

It is not inconceivable that part of Plan Colombia would be to destabilize and overthrow the Chavez government and install puppet leaders to make US access to Venezuelan petroleum resources easier and cheaper."

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=17569
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1162

[kikiek]

4. Personally I don't see anything funny about it. I see it

as inflammatory and cutting. What were you trying to show here? That there is someone out there who doesn't care for Kerry's position on Venezuela and has decided to mock him on it? I find that very arrogant. We cannot right every wrong in this world either financially or physically. Corporations are no doubt the real problem, but they are much more powerful than any president we will ever have. The crooks we have in office now are no better than Chavez just better at hiding it. Their only interest in the region is their God oil. They don't give a shit about people in this country so you can bet any laid claims to humanitarian involvement there is bullshit rhetoric.

[reorg]

7. yes it is funny

because it illustrates - with a sort of benevolent humor - what non-anti Chavez people were thinking, namely:

"... For many, it (Kerry's statement on Venezuela) evidenced an overall lack of understanding of the political strife that nation has been living during the past two years. Kerry’s call for more pressure on the Chavez administration to permit a recall referendum on the president’s mandate was criticized by progressives for its apparent misinterpretation of Venezuelan law. Despite widespread outcry from the progressive community in the United States, Kerry did not retract or rephrase his declarations on Venezuela. Many democrats and progressives dismissed the statement as a mere proclamation authored by the conservative Rand Beers, hired by the Kerry camp to bring in the sought-after South Florida voting block."

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1265


I don't know what you mean by "the crooks we have in office now are no better than Chavez ..." - seriously, are you nuts to compare Chavez with the Bushistas? There is not the slightest whiff of similarity here!

[eridani]

5. Some news free of your usual corporado BS

No wonder the ususal gang of thugs living behind high walls with glass and barbed wire on top hate the guy.

http://www.narconews.com/Issue29/article746.html

Although the Venezuelan commercial media -- controlled by giant multinational corporations and under pressures from the US government -- attack the Bolivarian government twenty-four hours a day, one can't help but see important changes here, changes that benefit the public.

During the last two years, the government has built 150,000 new housing units. Fifteen thousand of these units were handed over to the victims of catastrophic foods that hit the coastal state of Vargas in 1999. Three thousand Bolivarian Schools have opened, where children get the attention and adequate nutrition they once lacked. More than two million people have drinkable running water for the first time. More than three thousand Venezuelans have received free medical treatment in Cuba. Millions of small farmers have benefited from the ‘Land Law,’ which redistributes unused farmland. The government has tripled the public university budget and raised teachers’ salaries. The privatization of the electric, gas, and water industries has been stopped.

[bigbillhaywood]

8. Viva Chavez! Best thing to happen to Venezuela in years. The people

love him and the corporate elite hate him. Sounds good to me. Kerry's just taking the same US imperialism for corporate interests line that the Democratic Party has been on since the 1830s.