http://www.amnesty.org/en/alfresco_asset/26e626d7-a2c0-11dc-8d74-6f45f39984e5/amr230012007en.htmlIn any case, you don't broker a peace in a 30 year civil war by name-calling. That's how Chavez got two hostages released, by being even-handed. He's even formed a friendship with that little fascist worm and Bush toady, Uribe (who seriously stabbed him in the back--or tried to--during the hostage negotiations). Chavez wants peace. The Bush Junta does not. They will not let stand the new policy in South America, that Chavez has spearheaded, that the vast poor population should benefit from local natural resources (such as the boffo oil deposits in Venezuela and Ecuador, and gas deposits in Bolivia--all three countries now with leftist (majorityist) governments).
My hypothesis: All the anti-Chavez disinformation is aimed at Oil War Theater II: South America, which Donald Rumsfeld outlined very recently, on 12/1/07, in the Washington Post:
"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.htmlThe NeoCons aren't satisfied with having destroyed the peace in the Middle East. They want to spread the oil war to the western hemisphere. They have been stoking the Colombian civil war for seven years, with billions of dollars in military aid to the worst government in South America--Colombia--which tolerates, and indeed has very close ties to, rightwing death squads that chainsaw union leaders and throw their body parts into mass graves, have tortured and killed thousands of peasant farmers, political leftists and human rights workers (also journalists), and that are known drugs/weapons traffickers. The head of the Colombian military, the former head of intelligence and many Uribe office holders (including relatives) are all involved, as are U.S. "war on drugs" (war on the poor) operatives, such as DEA and Blackwater (which has training camps, and has been recruiting for Iraq, in Colombia).
The beneficiaries of rightwing militarism, and Rumsfeld's proposed expanded war, are Occidental Petroleum (FARC, which controls a third of Colombia, has been blowing up their pipelines), Chiquita (murder of union leaders), Monsanto (wants to use farm land for environmentally unsound biofuel production, with local slave labor), the bigger drug lords (farm land used for major cocaine production, not food), U.S. chemical corporations (big profits from pesticide eradication of small peasant farmers), Exxon Mobile (Chavez in Venezuela (borders Colombia) nationalized their oil infrastructure but paid them a fair price), the World Bank/IMF (first world loan sharks who are being driven out of the region by new institutions such as the Bank of the South, led by Venezuela, which favor local control of finances, local development and social justice), and assorted global corporate predators (who seek resources and slave labor, via "free trade" deals, which have become extremely unpopular in South America, with only Colombia and Peru cooperating).
The horrors that the Colombian government has been inflicting on dissidents for 30 years, with massive U.S. assistance--never more than under the Bush Junta--are WHY FARC (armed leftist rebels in Colombia) exists, but you will never hear this from our war profiteering corporate news monopolies, who are shoveling Bush/CIA disinformation at the U.S., in support of Oil War II. Rumsfeld is very desperate for more "black gold" for his and Cheney's pals, and has not really "retired." He is planning a future for our sons and daughters in the military in the mountains of the Andes and the jungles of the Amazon--a future that could be upon us this year, since, as Rumsfeld points out in his op-ed, the Corporate Rulers need a "unitary executive" to "act swiftly" in support of "friends and allies" in South America (fascist thugs plotting coups against Venezuela, Bolivia and others). He suggests destruction of any remaining "checks and balances" in the U.S. government (i.e., that fusty old Congress) to implement open U.S. economic and military warfare in South America.
At least one of the plots to assassinate Chavez was hatched among the rightwing paramilitaries in Colombia. It is likely that destabilization efforts against Bolivia are also originating in Colombia, or Colombia is at least providing arms and funds. Colombia is the Bush Junta's tool and launching pad for these efforts. U.S. military bases in South America are also likely being used for spying and support. Ecuador's new president, Rafael Correa, an ally of Chavez, has promised not to renew the U.S. military base lease in Ecuador when it comes up for renewal this year. The Bolivarian leaders seem to be well aware that the U.S. military and "war on drugs" forces, under Bush, are being used to plot against their democratic governments. And this adds much urgency to Rumsfeld plan for more bloodshed, war and mayhem. The South American left--which has triumphed in election after election over the last half decade--has quickly solidified against U.S./Bush's goal of re-installing fascist dictatorships throughout the continent, but especially in the oil rich Andes democracies. Chavez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia--its first indigenous president), and Rafael Correa (Ecuador--U.S.-educated leftist economist elected last year), have strong allies in the governments (and populations) of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and, to some extent, Chile, and will likely gain yet another ally this year in Paraguay (where the the very popular "bishop of the poor," Fernando Lugo, is running for president).
The times they are a-changing. That's why the disinformation is escalating, and the war plans (PNAC II: South America) are heating up. The NeoCons don't have much time to regain control of the South American oil fields for Occidental Petroleum and Exxon Mobile et al, and to destroy the new--and rather amazing--peace and democracy movement in South America. It is not clear what a Democratic regime in Washington DC will do, given the Democratic faction of pro-labor congress members who are fighting the "free trade" deal with Colombia. Even a corporatist like Hillary Clinton might not be able to (or want to) wage an oil war in this hemisphere.
We, the people in whose name these and other horrifying plans have been launched, need to become educated about these matters, as we seek to repair our own democracy. And we need to learn from the South Americans. For instance, Venezuela's elections put our own to shame, for their transparency. They handcount a whopping 55% of the ballots, in an OPEN SOURCE CODE electronic voting system. We handcount 0% to 1% of the ballots, in an system run on 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations. That's why Venezuela has a government that looks after the interests of its people, and we do not.
We also need to learn to "read between the lines" of corporate news monopoly articles on South America.
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For an alternative view of South America, I recommend www.venezuelanalysis.com, as a start. I also recommend the Irish filmmakers documentary "The Revolution will Not Be Televised," about the U.S.-backed rightwing coup attempt in Venezuela in 2002 (available at YouTube, and at www.axisoflogic.com.) www.NarcoNews.com is also an excellent source on the phony and corrupt U.S. "war on drugs."