are larding billions of our taxpayer dollars in military aid. The Uribe government and its military have very close ties with rightwing paramilitary death squads, who not only torture and kill reporters, but also chainsaw union leaders and throw their body parts into mass graves, and kill thousands of innocent people --community organizers, political leftists, small peasant farmers--anyone who gets in the way of Big Corp (Monsanto, Chiquita et al), or big time drugs/weapons traffic. (You can just imagine what the already corrupt U.S. "war on drugs" has become under the Bushites.) And who does the Bush Junta and its lapdog press revile? And who do they spend multi-millions of our tax dollars in overt/covert budgets to destabilize? Venezuela, a democracy, with a very popular government into social justice. Bolivia, a democracy, with a very popular government into social justice, and which recently elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales. Also Ecuador, the same (very popular president with close ties to the indigenous). Three oil/gas rich countries.
'Our' government and its echo chamber corporate press hate, revile and constantly lie about the good governments in South America, and love--and cover up for--the worst, the murderers, the torturers, the highly corrupt.
Colombia is the dinosaur of the continent. Most other South American countries have gone leftist and enlightened (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile; also Nicaragua). The Colombian fascists would like to be able to quietly snuff out FARC (armed leftist guerrillas) as they have the unarmed opposition, with no fuss and bother. That's why they would consider mere reporting to be "advocacy." From their point of view, it is "advocacy" to give any of their intended murder victims a voice. As I said, Bush's pals. But don't be smug. There are plenty of Democrats willing to wink at mass murder of journalists and union organizers, in order to please their corporate masters. Donald Rumsfeld intends to bully them into a "free trade" (global corporate predator) deal with Colombia, before the year is out, and to "streamline" the U.S. government so that it can act "swiftly" in support of "friends and allies" in South America (fascist thugs planning coup attempts). Theater II of the Corporate Oil War: South America.
"The Smart Way to Beat Tyrants Like Chávez," by Donald Rumsfeld, 12/1/07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113001800.htmlSOME Democrats in Congress oppose the chainsawing of union leaders and slaughter of journalists, but by no means all. The Prez candidates haven't said much (except for Clinton who takes Rumsfeld's view--bashing Hugo Chavez, an elected president who has harmed no one and has helped many--and she'll "free trade" with literally anybody.) (I'll have to do some research on the rest, on this particular topic, but I presume that Kucinich and Edwards do not support chainsawing union leaders.) (I mean, what's to argue about here? Is this the Democratic Party or the Global Corporate Predator Party?)