I don't agree with the US involvement in Venezuela's affairs and I don't agree with the generalalized "democratic" assessment of his government.
Hugo Chavez' biggest crime was to turn the profits from the nation's oil reserves away from foreign investors and toward the poor in his country, providing basic medical treatment (especially in rural areas) and embarking upon the most agressive literacy campaign in the nation's history.
The people he's working to help have been ass fucked by "democratic" government which actually has worked more like feudalism for the last 100 years while the oil profits that didn't go overseas stayed in the hands of a few ruling families and the poor got jack shit.
The worst crime you can commit in our "civilized democratic society" is to be poor. If you are found protecting the poor and actually placing their interests and needs ahead of corporate profiteers and their government stooges then you're a f'ing communist? Bullshit!
The U.S. and global big oil hates Chavez for exactly the same reason that the Romans hated Christ. Go ahead and believe the hype if you want to but if they martyr Chavez, there will be thousands who will rise to replace him. Listen to his address to the oil company executives upon his first election. Take an open minded look at what's going on in the provinces, 60 year old peasants getting free medical care and learning how to read. He's making a lot of good things happen for people who really need it and
IMO anyone who thinks that helping the poor is a bad thing is on the wrong side of righteousness.
I just hope we get over this national obsession with telling everyone else how to live and concentrate on building better relations through policies based on fairness and mutual respect. I miss that Venezuelan punani....
I firmly believe that the greatest potential for economic growth in the next century is in Latin America once they throw off the yoke of old world based feudalism and properly develop their human resources. Let's hope that
their version of democracy can teach ours a thing or two.
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