the U.S., not the other way around, as Hillary Clinton would have it...
"If I am entrusted with the presidency, America will have the courage, once again, to meet with our adversaries. But I will not be penciling in the leaders of Iran or North Korea or Venezuela or Cuba on the presidential calendar without preconditions, until we have assessed through lower level diplomacy, the motivations and intentions of these dictators. --Hillary Clinton (at GW University, 2/25/08)
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=6196Interesting how she echoes Donald Rumsfeld...
"The Smart Way to Beat Tyrants Like Chávez," by Donald Rumsfeld, 12/1/07http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113001800.htmlThe Bush Junta's nefarious activities in South America--from trying to topple the peaceful, democratic, leftist (majorityist) government of Venezuela, with a violent rightwing/military coup, to the Bush/CIA "suitcase full of money" caper out of Miami, recently, intended to "divide and conquer" Venezuela-Argentina, to the use of Peace Corps volunteers for spying in Bolivia, to the funding of rightwing groups and coup plotters throughout the Andes region, and to the use of the murderous, corrupt U.S. "war on drugs" for killing and poisoning peasant farmers--require APOLOGY from us, and should require the "precondition" for any talks between South American countries and the U.S., that the U.S. disavow these and other egregious violations of human rights, of the OAS and UN charters, and of individual's countries' sovereignty.
Hillary Clinton has got it upside, backwards and inside out--just like everything in Bush's "Alice in Wonderland." How dare she demand "preconditions" from Venezuela--a democratic government that the Bushites and collusive Congresses have repeatedly sought to destabilize and overthrow? How dare she call Chavez a "dictator"--who has harmed no one, who has presided over a scrupulously lawful government for ten years, who enjoys a 70% approval rating in Venezuela, and close friendship with the leaders of Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil, every one of whom has come to his defense against these lying, slanderous, warmongering, Bushite charges.
Anyway, I am so glad to see a South American country defending itself, and bringing the fight right into the "heart of darkness," Washington DC, and demanding explanations, and putting the spotlight of truth on this murderous cabal.
These "news" stories don't explain the half of it, as usual (or even the 10th of it, or 1% of it!): The Bush Junta, through the USAID-NED budget--and covert budgets--is funding and organizing rightwing fascist bigots and thugs who are plotting the division of Bolivia into two parts--the rich rural landowner part, where all the gas and oil reserves are located, and the poor urban part, where millions of displaced peasant farmers and indigenous have been driven off their small plots of land into shantytowns, where they can no longer feed their families and communities, and where jobs are scarce. The rich rural landowners thus hope to deny the poor majority any benefit of the country's natural resources.
This rightwing separatist movement also plays into Donald Rumsfeld's hands--who is planning Oil War II: South America. It's my guess that it will begin in Bolivia, where Rumsfeld hopes to create a fascist enclave from which to launch hostilities against his main target, Venezuela. His overall goal is to topple the Andes democracies, and regain global corporate predator control of the Andes oilfields--in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, where the leftist governments believe in using the country's resources to bootstrap their poverty-stricken populations. These governments are strong allies. Rumsfeld & co. want to break the back of this alliance.
They won't succeed. Presidential Minister Juan Ramon Quintana's actions are emblematic of why they won't and can't succeed in their dirty rotten fascist/corporate schemes. The South Americans have had it with this Bush Junta crap. They really have. And they are fighting back in the best ways possible--with strong emphasis on grass roots democracy and organization, the strengthening of democratic institutions, such as transparent elections, the creation of regional bulwarks like the Bank of the South, and the ALBA and Mercosur trade groups, and unprecedented regional cooperation on goals of social justice, local development and economic and political independence.
Democracy is a beautiful thing to behold. It is strong like a willow tree--flexible, creative, fertile and both rooted and flying high with ease. It provides a nation with the ability to change course, to respond to needs, and to create an atmosphere in which all may prosper and grow. Willow trees do exactly that. They are the pioneer species that rebuilds broken ecosystems. Their bendability makes them strong/flexible against winds in deforested areas. Their fertility enables them to cover an area quickly. Their roots systems stabilize streamsides, and attract the soil and nutrients for other species to take hold. Similarly, democracy creates the fundamental conditions in which people can achieve their best and highest potential. It is perhaps the greatest achievement of the human race. It makes so many other things possible.
We are starved of this beauty here--the beauty of democracy. Perhaps South America will teach us how it's done.
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