Tag: Chavez

The Monroe Doctrine? (Again?)

Inkwell Institute

International Studies

Latin American Desk

Do you remember the Monroe Doctrine?  In case your history is a bit shaky….

policy that was introduced on December 2, 1823, which stated that further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the United States of America as acts of aggression requiring US intervention.

Okay you got your history lesson in for the week….but what the Hell am I going on about?

The Doctrine has been used on Cuba, Grenada and a couple of other countries in Central and South America….but why is it being dredged up again?

Do you recall about three years ago when the “Tripartite of Demons”  were North Korea, Iran and Venezuela, well at least the Chavez was the demon?    But in the last couple of years the rhetoric toward Chavez has seem to cool down…..but there is something that I cannot understand…that is that the silence of the Neocons on a developing situation in Venezuela……

Russia has agreed to help Venezuela draw up plans to build a nuclear power plant.

Atomic energy was one of many areas of cooperation discussed as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his first trip to the South American country.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday the goal of the power plant is to develop nuclear energy for “peaceful purposes,” and not to develop a bomb.

In the past Chavez has been a concern to the US…mainly because of his desire for a build up of arms and such…..will he be a thorn in the side of the US?

We have our problems with Iran, North Korea and minor ones for Pakistan, India and Israel…not to mention all the countries that are moving to build nuke power plants (for peaceful purposes) (sarcasm was intended)…..

I will be waiting to hear from the Hispanic-phobes on this situation…and just what exactly will the response be from the US of A….

Years ago…I predicted that there would be a new ever expanding “Cold War” and arms race….and it looks like the weapon of choice is the ever popular nuke….go figure…..and yes…that was also sarcasm….

And there is more….the US has an agreement with Russia on arms and the news coming out of Moscow is not good……

The new U.S.-Russian arms control treaty is a much better deal for Russia than its predecessor, but Moscow reserves the right to withdraw from it if a planned U.S. missile defense system grows into a threat, Russia’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

The deal can be used somehow to justify the nukes for Venezuela?  I wait for those darn pesky Neocons to jump all over this as a talking point against the Obama agenda….and I wait!

OMG! He Shook Chavez’s Hand!

Is there anything that the Repubs will not jump on to find a hook to the American people?  The airways are full of the political whining and accusations.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tore into Pres. Obama Monday for his friendly greeting off Hugo Chavez, saying Obama is bolstering the “enemies of America.”

Gingrich appeared on a number of morning talk shows comparing Obama to President Jimmy Carter for the smiling, hearty handshake he offered Chavez, one of the harshest critics of the United States, during the Summit of the Americas.

I would like to point out a few facts about Venezuela….before the hate starts…..I am speaking of what has been done for the people, not the political posturing that is going on.

Chavez is in a unique position as the democratically elected populist president of 6th largest country in Latin America (and the first in regards to natural resources), to reject the neo-liberal policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the U.S. Treasury department and he has the financial ability to do so. This makes him extremely unpopular with the Washington Consensus and the global interests that they advance.

This alone is not enough. The average citizen in the Western world has no idea how the IMF works, who the World Bank is, or what the U.S. Treasury department actually does. If they are lucky enough to have a Union job they may have a vague idea of what the World Trade Organization is about. (Mostly regarding the relocation of their jobs overseas.)

Hugo Chavez is unpopular because the media portrays him as either, a) a charismatic demagogue, or b) a would-be dictator. Rarely is he portrayed as a popularly elected leader and social reformer despite the overwhelming evidence in support of that conclusion. This is because newspaper editors generally defer to stories which support and protect U.S. interests.

For instance, the program that brought 14,000 Cuban doctors who in turn established 11,000 neighborhood clinics in some of the poorest districts in Venezuela has largely gone unnoticed in the Western media. The same oversight applies to the literacy programs that have taught over a million adults how to read and write throughout the country. Where are the stories on the new schools and universities that have been built, most in the poorest districts? Where are the positive reports on the offer to sell discounted fuel for heating after the oil shortages during Hurricane Katrina?

Chavez is openly anti-American. But what exactly does that mean? He doesn’t like American foreign policy and the naked self-interests that it protects. But is the media really that patriotic? Doubtful.

I am not saying that the man is a fine example of how to win friends and influence people, most times he would be more effective if he would just shut up.

Keep in mind, while you are hating, that Chavez was popularly elected, whether you like his politics or not, the people of Venezuela elected him as their president.

Obama Throws First Stone

Is this what we have to look forward to in Latin American policy?

In an interview shown in the past week on the Spanish-language network Univision, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said that Venezuela’s firebrand president, Hugo Chávez, has hindered progress in Latin America, and he expressed concern that Chávez’s leftist government has assisted Colombia’s biggest guerrilla movement, a group the United States considers a terrorist organization. Chávez responded this weekend by saying that Obama had “the same stench” as President Bush, a frequent target of Chávez’s remarks.

The interview with the president-elect, shown in two segments that aired Sunday and last Tuesday, included Obama’s most extensive comments to date about Venezuela, Cuba and Mexico — countries that are expected to require swift attention from the new administration. Mexico is convulsed by drug violence that is spilling into the United States; Cuba’s longtime leader, Fidel Castro, is suffering from a serious undisclosed illness; and Chávez’s government is reinforcing ties with such U.S. adversaries as Iran and, authorities in Bogota say, Colombian rebels.

Obama said his administration is open to starting talks with Chávez to improve relations, which have frayed badly since the Bush administration celebrated Chávez’s brief overthrow at the hands of rebellious military officers in 2002. But in the 13-minute interview aired by Univision, Obama said Chávez had “been a force that has interrupted progress in the region.”

Ok I have read all this stuff and feel I need to comment……interrupted progress?  what the hell does that mean?  If he is talking aboput the screwing that American corporations took then , it depends on your way of thinking.  If you are talking about the programs that Chavez has started to aid the poor then I would say that it was not interrupted.  Is Chavez a tool?  Most assuredly.  Have the poor of Venezuela profited from his presidency?  Absolutely.

Maybe he, Obama, should wait until he is the official president before he starts alienating other countries.  Just a thought.

Maybe people should realize that Latin America is a two class system…..wealthy and poor, the middle class does not exist Chavez has done some amazing things for the poor, but in the same breath I have to say that he will be a thorn in Obama’s side.  But unfortunately, he has to be dealt with.  And dealings most be done with the poor of the country in mind.

A Softer, More Gentle Chavez?

The armed revolutionary has no place in modern Latin America, the Venezuelan President has declared. Catching his critics off guard, Hugo Chavez called on the Marxist rebel army in neighbouring Colombia to lay down its arms and release its hostages, declaring that guerrilla armies are now “out of place”.

Adopting the mantle of international statesman, the Venezuelan President appeared to be stepping forward finally to turn a page of history for a continent that for decades has been blighted by eruptions of insurgent violence, not just in Colombia but also Nicaragua and El Salvador. As most of those conflicts have come to an end, Colombia has been alone in failing to end its own internal strife.

In his statement, Mr Chavez offered a reason of his own to bring Farc’s campaign to an end, pointing to the US. “You in the Farc should know something,” he offered. “You have become an excuse for the empire to threaten all of us.” He often uses the term “empire” to refer to the United States. Washington has made no secret of its desire to isolate Mr Chavez from other governments in Latin America.

Is Venezuela Important Enough To Provoke?

A U.S. Navy jet violated Venezuelan airspace around two small Caribbean islands over the weekend in what the South American country said was a provocation coordinated with neighbouring Colombia.

Venezuela and the United States bicker over everything from energy policy to arms sales. The incursion comes amid heightened tensions over accusations that Venezuela helped a guerrilla army fighting the government in U.S. ally Colombia.

The Pentagon said a Navy aircraft on a counternarcotics mission had navigation problems that led it to stray into Venezuelan airspace on Saturday.

The U.S. ambassador in Caracas was being summoned to explain the incident, Venezuela’s foreign minister said.

“In the event a U.S. aircraft unintentionally enters into the sovereign airspace of another nation, its crew is required to take swift action to exit the airspace and report the incident to their immediate chain of command, which this aircrew apparently did,” said U.S. Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.

Really?

It sounds like a provocation in the making…..get Chavez to over-react and then you have a reason for any actions that may be deemed necessary…..it worked in Vietnam…it worked in Iraq……could it work now?