Why does Bush fear Venezuela?

Why does Bush fear Venezuela?

Saturday, Dec 13, 2003

By: Leigh Phillips, New Stateman, December 15th, 2003

Venezuela has become a haven for Islamic terrorist groups, if you believe General James Hill, head of US Southern Command - the US military's command centre responsible for keeping Latin America in line. His claim that Margarita Island, off the Venezuelan coast, is a hotbed of Arab "money laundering, drug trafficking, or arms deals" appeared in US News & World Report in October.

Earlier in the year, the neoconservative Weekly Standard magazine called for the US Congress and the Organisation of American States to impose sanctions on Venezuela. It reported that a Venezuelan pilot who had "defected" to the US was claiming that President Hugo Chavez had links with al-Qaeda. In one transaction, Chavez was alleged to have paid Osama Bin Laden $1m (although why the near-bankrupt Venezuela would subsidise the billionaire Bin Laden was not clear).

?Que pasa? Such stories, with their unnamed government officials, inventions, supposed defectors and links to international terror groups, pop up more and more frequently in the US press. They are so reminiscent of an earlier era of government-sanctioned propaganda - disclosed by the Iran-Contra investigation - that they raise the question: "Who's now advising George Bush on Latin America?"

The answer is Otto Reich, special envoy to the western hemisphere. It was Reich who, in the 1980s, as head of the US State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy, planted disinformation in the US press about Nicaragua's left-wing San-dinista government. One of his fabrications - reported in some credulous newspapers - was that tiny Nicaragua had bought MiG fighter jets to attack the US. As the Iran-Contra scandal unravelled, the US comptroller-general concluded that Reich's office had "engaged in prohibited, covert propaganda activity". Now, despite protests from the Senate, he's in from the political wilderness, concentrating on Venezuela and Chavez. (snip/...)

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1075

The head of the gov was going to keep it for the people of the country so we sent some of our army in to protect the oil line for that corp.That is what we seem to be doing around the world. Protecting our 'businesses'not hardly the American people.

Seems our misadmin should not be as zealous to eliminate the middle class here as they appear to be.

Nearly everything this admin does involves oil and corporate interests.

The part about multinational corps reminds me of my days way back in banking. We were "strongly persuaded" to write our representatives in favor of interstate banking laws. We even had to turn the letters in to our supervisors. No letter, no $50 Christmas bonus for you this year and you got stuck on the X-mas and New Years Eve ghost shifts.

The final paragraph is very telling of Shrubs policies these days.

...is advising caution or a steady hand in Venezuela. Their goal is to topple Chavez. They won't stop until they've done it.

This is the conservative notion of free trade and democracy. If a country starts to act like it is sovereign and wants to negotiate on a level playing field, the American policy is to topple its government.

Venezuela was supposed to have been overthrown by a US (wink, wink, okie dokied) Business partner, Pedro Carmona. The news media owned by decadent wealthy was to have helped overthrow Chávez by blasting him before the overthrow, but remaining "ignorant" about the coup as it transpired and not informing the people as the pro-Chávez people vastly outnumber the opposition rich.

But there is a saying in Venezuela from the TV comedy shows: "Tú no contabas con mi austicia". (You were not taking into account my cleverness.) Thus Chávez is able to outwit the business takeover coup with US silent approval. The Internet and cell phones also helped get him back!

This is a sad day for Bush. First a non-oil loving man fought the two big Venezuelan political parties AD and COPEI (social democrats and christian democrats) and brought those two powerhouses to the brink of extinction. Never forget that! Chávez defeated decades of political corruption and media collabaoration to win overwhelmingly.

I also heard he uses government money to actually rebuild the poor community "Los ladrillos rojos" (The red bricks)instead of waging a military war of extermination against the poor! Such a man is a true threat to any plutocracy!