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To "Contain" Chavez

By Paul Street at Mar 16, 2005

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The Bushcons are paying some new attention to Latin America, which they fear has been slipping out of Yankee neoliberal/necolonial control during the recent American campaign to deliver "peace" and "freedom" to the Arab world ---a wonderful expression of loving kindness that killed 98,000 Iraqi civilians between March 2003 and October 2004 (according to the moderate British medical journal The Lancet). I should be more exact. They are focusing on the terrible threat posed by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. With the election of Uruguay's new head of state Tabaré Vasquez last week, Latin America now boasts a considerable cadre of presidents with ostensibly left-wing credentials and a shared taste for speaking negatively about the interrelated evils of neoliberalism and Yankee imperialism: Ricardo Lagos in Chile, Lula da Silva in Brazil, Lucio Guttierez in Ecuador, and Nestor Kirchner in Argentina. There is a strong, largely indigenous, and politically significant social movement in Bolivia (headed by Evo Morales) and an ongoing civil war in Columbia. There are resistance currents across the continent and Central America. The Castro regime hangs on as a living if fading symbol that Uncle Sam can be faced down. The Bush administration is politically isolated and the neoliberal "Washington Consensus" is largely discredited in official opinion across Latin America. Buschcon concerns are especially focused, however, on Chavez, for interesting reasons. Venezuela is a major oil producer whose popular and populist --- indeed now officially socialist ---- President Chavez is determined to defy Uncle Sam's ancient claim to special low-cost access to Latin-America's natural resources. It supplies nearly a sixth of US oil imports and the US buys 60 percent of Venezuela's oil output. The Chavez government seeks full state government control over Venezuela's oil sector and uses oil profits to --- imagine ---- eliminate poverty. The other thing about Venezuela is that, as Canandian writer Sam Gindin recently pointed out in a ZNet Commentary, "President Hugo Chávez has made common cause with social movements, community organizations, and most importantly, the masses of unorganized Venezuelan poor. Perhaps what most sets Chávez apart from his regional counterparts is the fact that, as a recent article in the Economist noted, since Chávez emerged victorious from two electoral contests in 2004 'some of his words are turning into deeds.' Unlike other left-of-center governments in the region, Chávez has not abandoned the radical platform on which he was elected. Venezuelan voters have reacted, supporting the President in 9 electoral contests and referenda held in the last six years.'" In a region where anti-imperialist talk is cheap and policy tends to diverge from left-populist rhetoric, Chavez appears to be the real left deal. His accomplishments include a significant ongoing political mobilization of the poor and a considerable expansion of social welfare programs and investment that is improving the standard of living of Venezuela's disadvantaged majority. Chavez has the oil wealth to fund that improvement. He also has the will to pursue social-democratic goals, to piss off the national and global business classes, and to politically engage the masses and raise their expectations. He appears to have won considerable loyalty among the armed forces. It's a dangerous combination as far as the White House is concerned. Sensing the dangers of the man and his base in a strategic same-hemisphere oil state, the Bush administration ecstatically welcomed the ridiculously illegitemate "television coup" that briefy overthrew Chavez in April 2002 (see the marvelous film account "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"...http://www.chavezthefilm.com/index_ex.htm) The White House instantly recognized the nation's laughable new businessman president, announcing that the restoration of "stability" would provide the basis for strong new "development" (meaning development that coincided with the profit needs of American petroleum corporations and the strategic designs of American empire). The "liberal" (some American proto-fascists even say "leftist") New York Times shamefully chimed in along identical lines. The United States and its NGO tentacles (including the deliberately mis-named "National Endowment for Democracy") were certainly involved. But when the people resisted and restored their leader Chavez within THREE DAYS, the State Department claimed that noble America had zero prior knowledge of the shameful events. The wacky goings-on in Caracas were purely internal to the over-heated arteries of the steamy Venezuelans the way the Bushcon publicists shucked and jived. Claiming interest in a "peaceful" and "democratic" resolution, the Yankee imperialists turned to an unsuccessful effort to remove their number two bad boy ---- after Saddam, who also happened to sit on a bit of oil lusted over by the great white imperial petro-imperialists and their loyal black foreign policy operative Condi Chevron Rice --- through the referendum process. In a story I've pasted in (below) from the conservative Anglo-American Financial Times, we learn that the running-dog Bush imperialists have now identified Chavez as the devlish source of social and political unrest throughout Latin America. Messianic militarist boy-king George and his bewitching workout partner and world-geography tutor Condi Rice (a former Chevron director who once had a Chevron tanker named after her...ok?) have asked their subordinates to draft "a policy to 'contain' Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president." Their underlings now allege that Chavez seeks "to 'subvert' Latin America's least stable states" through "a hyena strategy in the region." Was "Death Squad John" (Negroponte) consulted on Latin-American state-destabilization through "hyena" methods? Man, don't you just hate hyenas? I mean if Chavez is going with a "hyena strategy"...well, that just really pisses me off, as an American. US spokespersons suggest that a Chavez conspiracy is the dark force behind social and politial unrest in Latin America... NOT the savage socioeconomic inequality, racial disparity, and dire poverty that has long stalked the region. It's all straight out of the US foreign policy playbook stretching back through and before the Cold War. Study the history. Resist these bastards. They're just...well, they're hyenas --- big hyenas. White House hyenas, that's what they are. Bush orders policy to ‘contain' Chávez By Andy Webb-Vidal in Miami Financial Times March 13 2005 21:42 Senior US administration officials are working on a policy to “contain” Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, and what they allege is his drive to “subvert” Latin America's least stable states. A strategy aimed at fencing in the government of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter is being prepared at the request of President George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, senior US officials say. The move signals a renewed interest by the administration in a region that has been relatively neglected in recent years. Roger Pardo-Maurer, deputy assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs at the US Department of Defense, said the Venezuela policy was being developed because Mr Chávez was employing a “hyena strategy” in the region. “Chávez is a problem because he is clearly using his oil money and influence to introduce his conflictive style into the politics of other countries,” Mr Pardo-Maurer said in an interview with the Financial Times. “He's picking on the countries whose social fabric is the weakest,” he added. “In some cases it's downright subversion.” Mr Chávez, whose government has enjoyed bumper export revenues during his six years in office thanks to high oil prices, has denied that he is aiding insurgent groups in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. But a tougher stance from the US appears to be in the offing, a move that is likely to worsen strained bilateral relations. The policy shift in Washington, which a US military officer said is at an early stage but is centred on the goal of “containment”, could also have implications for the world oil market. Mr Chávez has threatened to suspend oil shipments to the US if it attempts to oust him. He and Fidel Castro, the Cuban president, have alleged, without offering proof, that the Bush administration was plotting to assassinate the Venezuelan leader, an allegation that US officials have dismissed as “wild”. Suggestions that Mr Chávez backs subversive groups surface frequently, although so far also with scant evidence. Colombian officials close to President Alvaro Uribe say Venezuela is giving sanctuary to Colombian guerrillas, deemed “terrorists” by the US and Europe. US officials say Mr Chávez financed Evo Morales, the Bolivian indigenous leader whose followers last week unsuccessfully tried to force President Carlos Mesa's resignation. In Peru allegations emerged suggesting that Mr Chávez financed a rogue army officer who tried to incite a rebellion against President Alejandro Toledo in December. Mr Chávez has dismissed such claims as fabrications designed to undermine his attempts to foster greater political and economic integration in Latin America. Mr Pardo-Maurer said Washington has run out of patience: “We have reached the end of the road of the current approach.” http://news.ft.com/cms/s/77d0a418-93ff-11d9-9d6e-00000e2511c8,ft_acl=,s01=2.html

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Piegnet, Jonathan at Apr 02, 2005 01:50 AM
i cannot wait until the mainstream picks up on hugo chavez. so far for now, only fox news has done anything regarding venezuela and it focused on hc's "combative style of politics" and his connection to fidel. but my main question is how will the u.s. ruling elites / media frame the venezuelan controversy? obviously, their best bet is to brand hc a communist (or worst, a communist sympathizer). but will that actually make sense to a majority of the population? surely, old white dudes will fall for it given their prolonged exposure to anti-castro propaganda, but will others? best believe, though, that there will videos of him wearing his red beret, and discussion of his own atttempt to overthrow his government. hopefully some media will mention his party's and his own successful elections that have peacefully transformed the country from puppet regime to democracy. what is truly hilarious,however, is that the U.S.' domino theory is becoming a reality. the threat (to the elites) of a good example (arbenz' guatemala and allende's chile) has becomed intensified as multiple anti-U.S. actors join forces. notice how the chavez-castro alliance has helped both countries greatly. castro's economy/goverment/society stays healthy and stable, while chavez gains doctors, teachers, and the institutions that helped cuba survive the embargo.

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Rekouche, Koceilah at Mar 18, 2005 05:09 AM
Apologies in advance this has nothing to do with the original post, but I had to tell you guys about this story: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=7939227 Apparently Wolfowitz (nominated for the new head of the World Bank) chummed it up with U2's bono today over 2 phone coversations, discussing how they can work together in the future. Maybe Wolfman can also help out Bono by getting some totally hot Indonesian slave prostitutes to groupie his next Asian tour.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Hesed00, Hesed at Mar 18, 2005 00:49 AM
See if you can get me a Visa while you're at it?

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Street, Paul at Mar 18, 2005 00:39 AM
Hesed, "Keep on Rocking in the Free World" (Neil Young) is a minor key song and D works as good as any other but no cellos for sure.cryofan I don't do the JFK thing; if I go there I'll never come out...it'll be my heart of darkness. jokerman I just found a Citgo on the near north side of Chicago (Chicago and Wells); they didn't have any autographed pictures of Hugo C. I knew (and so did jokerman come to think of it) a Marxist-Lenninist history professor who bought a FIAT because he claimed to know it was made by Italian Communist Party members in the 1980s. ebogan4 with all the leftist stuff I say and write its talking about racism inside the US that will do the most to elicit death threats. I will forward Hesed and ebogan's policy recommendations to the Bolivarian authorities.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 17, 2005 07:19 AM
Sorry to go a bit offtopic here, but I am gonna turn you onto a real treat: this links to a movie (windows media) and a mp3 interview that some of you here may find quite interesting. What is about is the JFK assassination. But it is about more than that. It is really about the triumph of American fascism via a large collection of high level....umm...mobsters, that might be the word to use. I know this is going to seem like conspiracy theory stuff to you, but I watched the movie and listened to the interview, and it all comes together for me on a logical level. But that aint proof. But it does maybe explain some things..... Just listen and watch, and tell me: Is the maker of this movie crazy? Am I crazy?

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Hesed00, Hesed at Mar 17, 2005 06:15 AM
Paul writes: "I hate to say it but be prepared to defend yourself by any means necessary in this post-9/11 American context, which Norman Mailer claimed is one dirty bomb or depression away from a possible descent into actual fascism." Don't worry Paul. I guarantee you that 60 years from now when the story of our life and times is celebrated on PBS, it aint going to be newsreels set to cello in D minor. It's gonna be all rock and roll!

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4101

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Servo, Tom at Mar 17, 2005 05:23 AM
Muchas Gracias, maestro!

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Street, Paul at Mar 17, 2005 05:09 AM
This is just too much. Check out: http://www.pdv.com/en/noticias/2005/marzo/050313_01_en.htm Maybe Bush needs to formally include Chavez in "the Axis of Evil." Fill'er up...with Bolivarian please.

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4101

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Servo, Tom at Mar 17, 2005 04:31 AM
If you mean "know" as in know very much about him, you are probably quite right. But what they do know of him from the TV, press, and radio is that he stands up to Bush and speaks his mind publicly (he has called Bush an idiot and warmonger in front of tens of thousands), unlike Vicente Fox, who they see as too timid to really pressure Bush, something they thought that he would do back in 2000 when he was elected. P.S. Any thoughts on my effort to help Chavez by buying gas from Citgo and other stations that sell Citgo gas?

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Rekouche, Koceilah at Mar 17, 2005 03:24 AM
I work with many Mexican immigrants (mostly probably legally here) and while I haven't asked anyone, have the distinct feeling that very few even know who Chavez is. Funny thing though, the cable man who came to install my sister's 500-channel system was from Venezuala (was in his mid 20's, came here 2-3 years ago, knew a little bit English) said that he didn't like Chavez because he was taking the jobs away (presumably from his slightly-above class social group). I didn't know who Chavez was until sometime in 2003/early 2004 from reading ZNet and his 2004 World Social Forum speech transcript. A quote from it: "I want to tell you - and this is a true and verifiable data - that each cow grazing in the European Union receives in its four stomachs 2.20 dollars a day in subsidies, thus having a better situation than 2.5 billion poor people in the South who hardly survive with an income less than 2 dollars a day. "

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Street, Paul at Mar 17, 2005 02:56 AM
They have histories of abuse written all over them. They carry an enormous amount of anger and tend to come from middling to lower-middling (petit-bourgeois)backgrounds stuck between the (for them) soft rich and the evil poor. Somehow they are blocked in terms of directing their rage upward and so they displace it downward and outward in the class/race/gender systems both domestic and global. Many of us might have been produced in the same way and were spared by the lottery of birth and socialization. Good sign of a fascist is obsession with radicals and the left. Hitler for example couldn't get hatred of "Marxists" out of his head; that hatred is all over Mein Kampf. As a teacher I used to get some of these sorts (at an adult-student engineering night school interestingly enough) who were curiously drawn to reading left literature but ended up writing papers that were darkly authoritarian and racist. I hate to say it but be prepared to defend yourself by any means necessary in this post-9/11 American context, which Norman Mailer claimed is one dirty bomb or depression away from a possible descent into actual fascism. I will not pretend to know what Chavez should do but will join others in pressing my government to leave him the Hell alone.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Street, Paul at Mar 17, 2005 02:52 AM
All joking aside, this episode is also a reminder of something many left writers and/or speakers can tell you about... American Free Speech is not free as some people think in this great land. Get publicly on the wrong side of some people on the right and you will get threatened. MH's statements, while chilling, are actually mild compared to some of what comes over personal e-mail. There are plenty of angry white guys prepared to threaten violence and some prepared to act on the threat. They think quite seriously about taking down a public liberal or leftist. MH is typical of many of these folks...who really are part of a kind of American fascist sub-culture that romanticizes militarism and weapons, declares hyper-masculinist and often enough mysgonist values, spouts "self-reliant" and commonly "capitalist" values, blames black Americans for their continuing broadly subordinate position, conflates liberals and the left, and derives nearly sexual gratification from images of US-murdered and/or humiliated Arabs...ctd.

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Person

By Jautter, Mind at Mar 17, 2005 02:23 AM
P.S.-MaybeB.S.[blog script] Good to see WTGN back, he makes the rest of us feel good about ourselves.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Jautter, Mind at Mar 17, 2005 01:17 AM
It would appear Chavez owes a debt of gratitude to Osama and Saddam.While the Eye in Mordor was focusing on the Middle East,he was able proceed with his agenda.Luckily,W's as good at walking while chewing gum as he is" putting food on the family."

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Gammon101, Bwong at Mar 16, 2005 22:19 PM
I meant Robert Fisk, not "Frisk". Must be a Freudian slip.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Gammon101, Bwong at Mar 16, 2005 21:16 PM
BTW, wtgn likes to throw around links and quotes, but this guy does not check or even read his sources carefully as people who do bother to verify them have demonstrated. Sometimes he links you to sources that supposedly support his views, but they turn out to say exactly the opposite. In the razor site there was a commentary about John Pilger being beaten up in Afghanistan(of cause Robert Fisk was the one being beaten up)On the usually nasty commentary he posted a link. I clicked on it, lo and behold, the very first sentence said the vitim of the beating was Frisk. So don't get fooled by his matter of fact tone.The guy is really sloppy.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Gammon101, Bwong at Mar 16, 2005 21:02 PM
I agree with Hesed. Chavez should force the U.s into some kind of non agression pact when he still has a chance. He is marked, regardless whether he plays the hard ball or not.Like all bullies, the U.S wouldn't abuse you less if you try to avoid conflict by not standing up for yourself. History has proved that very conclusively. Jesus, this wtgn guy really needs some heavy duty therapy, so much anger and hate in his site. Now his bullying and fascist mentality perfectly captures "American value" in its dealing with Latin America, quite befitting for this blog.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 20:46 PM
jokerman wrote: 1) he is all over the US spanish language press: television as well as print and radio. 2) the vast majority of undocumented workers from Mexico that I know love him... Excellent! I had no idea that was the case, but I was HOPING that something like that would happen. Political leftism has been slumbering in Mexico for decades, but apparently Obrador is going to make a run to replace Fox, so I really hope Mexico undergoes a political leftism resurgence, and that somehow that can help upset the neoliberal apple cart here in America.

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4101

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Servo, Tom at Mar 16, 2005 18:34 PM
The beauty of Vanezuela owning Citgo is that even if Chavez decides to embargo the US, Citgo will purchase gas from Iran and elsewhere, and sell it to the US market. Venezuela, which will still be selling crude and/or refined oil elsewhere, will still profit from the gluttonous apetite here in the US by continuing its retail arm.

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4101

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Servo, Tom at Mar 16, 2005 17:42 PM
Random thoughts on Hugo Chavez: 1) he is all over the US spanish language press: television as well as print and radio. 2) the vast majority of undocumented workers from Mexico that I know love him, if only because he has the guts to publicly insult Bush, and use oil (a nationalized resource in Mexico as well) as a weapon. I would describe these folks at best as apathetic and/or apolitical to the politics of either the US or Mexico ("que podemos hacer?"). I would love to see a survey among the Latin- American immigrants, documented or not, as to who is more popular in the US: Chavez or Bush. 3) Venezuela wholly owns Citgo. Both of the RoadRangers and the 7-11 in Dekalb sell Citgo gasoline. Guess who I will be buying my gas from? Confirmation: http://www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO.jsp 4) Any attempt by the US to remove Chavez will provoke anti-Bush as well as anti-American sentiment around the world. Good call on the "Bush is too busy in Iraq to do much about Chavez."

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Hesed00, Hesed at Mar 16, 2005 11:48 AM
Joe, I understand that reasoning. But the fact that there were no WMD's in Iraq or that inspectors knew that there weren't any WMD's, in no way served to stave off American military action. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I believe the decision about Venezuela has already been made, as it was for Iraq and that no amount of PR or internal positioning on Chavez' part is going to change the course of events that are being set into motion. I think his only way to survive is to press the issue now and get it to the forefront while America is incapable of responding in the typical way which is to make shit up about someone then crush them. Oh and I went to "The Razors Edge"...it looked a little rusty and dull to me.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 10:03 AM
Man, it is sure funny. The cultural-political journey I have taken over the last 20 years... When I served in the US Navy, I had little conception or understanding of what was going on in the world. I can now scarely imagine myself of that era wanting some other world leader or country to somehow best and humiliate the USA. But now I do hope that Chavez and Latin America can somehow teach Americans a lesson we desperately need to learn.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 09:56 AM
Yeah, it wasn't hard to ferret him out. He apparently plagued indymedia for quite some time. They have the lowdown on him. According to one of their messages discussing him, he lives in Missouri. The WTGN stands for "White Trash Gun Nut." A nickname he gave himself, apparently.... I actually feel kinda sorry for the guy. I myself was not all that much different from him some years ago. And many many Americans of his age and background suffer from similar psychosocial cultural "programming." Actually, he is like some sort of archetype for many of us white male Americans of a certain age and circumstance. Somehow I found my way out of it.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Hesed00, Hesed at Mar 16, 2005 07:27 AM
I think Chavez should stop threatening to cut off the US oil supply and just do it already. While he's making threats, the forces that be are building up the case that he is the new terror king of Latin America. He has some room to manuever RIGHT NOW so I think he should. I think if he sits on his hands he might miss an opportunity to lock America into a treaty. It's Venezuelas oil and they can sell it to whomever they want and China, who's consumption will increase 30% this year is foaming at the mouth for it. Bush has NO political capital with the international community and our military isn't in very good shape either. Now is a great time to provoke Bush by cutting off US oil because the US would have no choice but to sign a treaty with Chavez. What's he waiting for?

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Street, Paul at Mar 16, 2005 07:04 AM
Mike appears to have a background in (or attachment to) engineering (many professional journals listed) and...of course, guns. Also likes classical music and of course dogs. The site includes a good blog roll on the hard hateful (just short of explicitly fascist) right. There's praise for Horowotiz and Hitchens; unmitigated scorn for Chomsky, Klein, Common Dreams, Alternet..Marxists, pointy headed academics and Alterman (funny because Alterman is quite nasty about Chomsky) Classic fascist conflation of left with liberals ...no sense of the difference. Blog logo shows a big strapping fighter pilot getting out of WWII era jet and then reads "YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP, WEL'LL PROTECT AMERICA...KEEP OUT OF OUR WAY FUCKING LIBERAL PUSSIES." Well, now that would be sort of explicitly fascist...in an American sort of way. Textbook. Interesting. The American right is at once fascinating (ask the folks at Political Research Associates) and disturbing. Hanson proudly quotes an e-mailer who called him "mysgonist." Feel the hatred. For the alias and actual name linked: http://archives.lists.indymedia.org/www-newswire/2002-January/003356.html Isn't the Internet fun?

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Street, Paul at Mar 16, 2005 06:54 AM
That's a good call cryofan. Here's our boy (Mike Hanson/WTGN): See "The Razor's Edge" at http://whoisabitch.blogspot.com/2002_10_01_whoisabitch_archive.html. It's a stone-cold match. Want to read some hateful right-wing stuff then this is your place. The give-aways include reference to him liking dogs (in context of discussion that it doesn't make him a Nazi that Hitler liked dogs too) and reference to N. Klein as "that cxnt," which was precisely the usage that got him banned before. The language is unmistakeable.

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 05:57 AM
I should add to my three comments above, that I think that the US power brokers are getting rattled by Chavez and the leftist sentiment he is brewing, and they are trying to keep Mexico from catching the fever.

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 05:55 AM
Mike Hanson wrote the following: Comment by WTGN2 posted on Tuesday, March 15 at 08:55 PM And remember Paul, your address is a matter of a very public record. Now, now, Mike, that certainly was not nice. I do not think that sort of comment is prudent. Sometimes people take that sort of comment the wrong way....

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Street, Paul at Mar 16, 2005 05:46 AM
Actually, wtgn I predicted your return as..."WTGN2." Didn't ban you, pal: system administrators did...because, well,... let's be honest,... you made public threats. You crossed the line. Maybe you should talk to someone about that. A human being, preferably. Really. You have your points and seem to read a lot of right-wing sources but sorry there's no debate given these circumstances.

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Person

Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 05:37 AM
Here are excerpts from the latest media : scare-propaganda: FBI warns of 'special interest' aliens excerpts: WASHINGTON -- FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress on Tuesday that people from countries with ties to al-Qaida have crossed into the United States from Mexico, using false identities. "We are concerned, Homeland Security is concerned about special interest aliens entering the United States," Mueller said, using a term for people from countries where al-Qaida is known to be active. Under persistent questioning from Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, Mueller said he was aware of one route that takes people to Brazil, where they assume false identities, and then to Mexico before crossing the U.S. border. He also said that in some instances people with Middle Eastern names have adopted Hispanic last names before trying to get into the United States.

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 05:36 AM
And this propaganda buildup is meant to tell the Mexican business class and power brokers that they had better steal this election--or else. Or else the American govt will crack down on the border and by slowing down illegal immigration, slow the flow of money from earners here in America back to families in Mexico, which is a huge economic boon to Mexico. This propaganda drive could also warn of slowed commerce and could scare away tourism. We have seen what sort of murderous, criminal shenanigans the American power brokers will perpetrate in order to stop leftism south of Mexico, in Central America, and even in South America (see Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile--the blood has been flowing for decades). So would they do any less in order to stop leftism right at America's border, I think not.

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Mar 16, 2005 05:34 AM
Am I the only one who has noticed that the US govt (and its nefarious collaborators in the elite media and the multinational corporations) has been ramping up on scare news related to crime and terrorism on the US Mexican border? I have to wonder whether the neoliberals are hedging their bets or even making a veiled threat? What am I talking about? I am talking about Manual Lopez Obrador, Mayor of Mexico City, who is to all appearances and personal history, a genuine Leftist. Obrador is ahead in the polls for the race to be the next President of Mexico! I suspect that this escalation of scare talk is meant to tell the Mexican middle classes they best not vote for Obrador--or else!

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Wtgn2, Wtgn2 at Mar 16, 2005 04:56 AM
Can you smell what the Rock ... er I mean WTGN is a cookin!

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Wtgn2, Wtgn2 at Mar 16, 2005 04:55 AM
And remember Paul, your address is a matter of a very public record, but I am unknown and anonymous. You can ban me again if you like, but it'l just show the depth of your tolerance to dissent (dissent is after all relative to ones surroundings). A right you demand that you have in the public sphere, but will not allow on an largely marginalized and much ignored weblog. Well, that and once I change ISP's and get dynamic, there will be no stopping me!

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Wtgn2, Wtgn2 at Mar 16, 2005 04:51 AM
Its also interesting to see that on the one hand you denounce the US for tightening freedoms. but embrace an up and coming autocrat like Chavez. Echoes of another leftist POS, Lynne Stewart "I'm such a strange amalgam of old-line things and new-line things. I don't have any problem with Mao or Stalin or the Vietnamese leaders or certainly Fidel locking up people they see as dangerous. Because so often, dissidence has been used by the greater powers to undermine a people's revolution. The CIA pays a thousand people and cuts them loose, and they will undermine any revolution in the name of freedom of speech."

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Re: To "Contain" Chavez

By Wtgn2, Wtgn2 at Mar 16, 2005 04:46 AM
That was slick Paul, you know banning my IP and all, but thankfully I still have my was. Seriously, how fucking weak are you that you cant take on the likes of me? But now for a little on Chavez's real legacy 1. GDP per capita is down 11% in the last six years 2. inflation is up 292% in the last six years, 3. food inflation, which is the one that hits the poorest the most. is up 383% in this same period 4. A mandatory ID card, and get this, the Cuban government is bieng outsourced to set this up and administer it! And befor you go off all cockeyed griping that it was the oposition that ruined the economy, dont you all think that Chavez bears even a bit of the blame?

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