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control of Venezuela's oil, Ecuador's oil, Bolivia's gas and oil, and other Latin American resources. Democracy got in their way. In Venezuela--which holds elections that are far, far more transparent than our own--tens of thousands of people poured into the streets, in support of their Constitution and their elected government, when Bush's fascist tools in Venezuela staged a violent military coup, back in 2002. Venezuela was pretty much all alone, at that time. Venezuelans had to restore their democracy without the help of the many kindred leftist governments that have been elected since that time, all over South and Central America. Now these governments have each other as allies, in fending off U.S.-instigated coups, as they did for Evo Morales' government in Bolivia this last September. They also came to Rafael Correa's aid, when the US/Colombia bombed/raided Ecuador earlier last year.
And they have been stalwarts in backing the Chavez government against relentless lies and propaganda aimed at demonizing Chavez. Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, said, "They can invent a lot of criticisms of Chavez, but not on democracy!" When the Bushwacks sent word down to South American leaders that they must "isolate" Chavez, Nestor Kirchner, then president of Argentina, replied, "But he's my brother!" And when Rafael Correa was asked about Chavez's remark at the UN that Bush is "the devil," he said it was "an insult to the devil." Also, post Bolivia coup attempt, Michele Batchelet, president of Chile, told this joke to a group of US investors: "Why has there never been a coup in the United States?" Her answer: "Because there are no U.S. embassies in the United States!" (She got laughs, by the way.)
Democratic leaders--true representatives of their people--supporting each other, fending off coups, and cooperating on numerous economic, political and security issues. This is a wondrous development in Latin America. And it is, quite tragically, not characteristic of the Middle East. Latin Americans have climbed up out of the ruins of US-sponsored, heinous military juntas, and have succeeded at the long and difficult work of creating democratic institutions. The Middle East, equally devastated by US and British interference--for instance, the outright destruction of Iranian democracy in the mid-1950s, and installation of the horrible Shah of Iran--has not recovered, and got headed in a bad direction--religious fundamentalism--for self-protection. The only country that did well, as to secular civil society and general prosperity, was Iraq, but at the cost of dictatorship (ironic as that is). Iraq is now a basketcase of US interference, and a tremendous threat to the region, as the launching pad for US and other aggression. Iran is not the threat. Iraq is. Our government is just frigging lying about this. The opposite of what they say is the truth. And they are telling an almost identical lie about Venezuela being a threat, when it is the US-client state of Colombia--a country with one of the worst human rights records on earth--that threatens the peace and well-being of South and Central America.
And now add Honduras to that threat--another US client state, run by the Pentagon--with a long history of being a "lily pad" country for US aggression in Latin America. It is no wonder that Latin America leaders are worried about this, and are demanding that the coup step down. They have enough worries as it is, given the $6 BILLION in US taxpayer military funding to Colombia, and the plans for five US military bases in that country, and the multi-millions being funneled to rightwing groups within their own countries, through USAID, John McCain's (US taxpayer funded) "International Republican Institute," CIA, DEA and other budgets. Can Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala--all now with democratic leftist governments--turn back this coup, and fend off other threats? They can--if they stick together. They have democracy on their side--the support of their own people--and that is very strong glue for effective action against tyranny.
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