Taking them to Disney 'World' OW--not just the undelinated 'Disney'.
Everyone who is anyone in Latin America takes their kids to Disney World.
And the people that can't don't count--at least that is the drift of the sentiment for the WSJ editorial crowd, who have always been so rightwing that their office in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean, that's how over-the-top rightwing they are.
At this point, I still think that empire has many more tricks up its diabolical sleeve. Count on the "Haiti" treatment.
I still think that this is entirely possible--a spike in oil prices will be swallowed, because the entire drift of Latin America is at stake. Once people get used to the idea that they are not condemned to living in abject poverty and having the US control their governments, there is no going back to the farm.
What I find interesting is the seeming extreme delusion in the US State Department's thinking. These are some seriously out-of-touch folks up there. They are wedded to a pattern of thinking that they are incapable of revising.
But this is typical of the myopia of empire, as it is the oligarch.
How many US Confederate slave owners became deeply depressed when the slaves left the plantation with empancipation. They just couldn't understand why their slaves did not see their innate benificence.
Indeed wacked.
Keep up the good work OW!
Jim
Did you ever see this from about a month ago on the blog:
http://oilwars.blogspot.com/2005...untry-
near.html
An amazing report. Go to their web-site and read the whole thing. They are definitely going to go all out in their propoganda offensive against Venezuela. Attacks on countries and governments are always proceeded by propoganda offensives (as the report mentions). Thats why all supporters of Chavez have to be prepared to fight back. I sure will be. Hope you will too.
OW: Due to your post I understand that human rights violations are being investigated against Machado for neglect of necessary material for the upbringing of privileged children and their not receiving their just dues.
"This shows why the U.S. doesn’t like votes on international questions. It much prefers to have these questions decided based on who has the most aircraft carriers and cruise missiles. [There is a report, as yet unconfirmed, that in response to not being able to win any recent OAS votes the U.S. has decided to unilaterally change the OAS so that each STATE in the U.S. gets a vote – ie the U.S. as a whole gets 50 votes and always wins. Stay tuned for updates]
In no small way is this the reality that would result from acceptance of these shenanigans. This is where Chavez' words ring true where he states that this is not the old OAS! No Sir you must deal with democracy as it comes. I am reminded of the time when the US wished to invade Afghanistan and needed the support of Pakistan. After agreeing to allow US troops - Lo and Behold Musharraff wins a referendum to extend his presidency (muchly contested as undemocratic) which lends the reasonable observer to conclude that this was a part of the deal. So we have the US fighting to bring democracy to Afghanistan while undermining the same in Pakistan. NICE!!! dble standards abound.
SO every state may gets a vote then - Well then lets repartition Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina, Can you imagine a state consisting of a tribe of Amazon indigenous not a bad idea if you ask me, let them have a governor and/or mayor that will fight for their own cause. It wont get that far though, that would give the each US state too much power within the federal Gov. on International affairs for their liking – Next thing you know you’ll have Alabama making unilateral agreements with Cuba if this sort of thing were allowed to make a precedent.
"No Sir you must deal with democracy as it comes"
Not if you're the US you don't have to. Remember when Bush said that before invading Iraq he would have of second vote in the UN. And then when he saw he didn't have the votes he decided he didn't need the second vote at all. Having a huge military means you get to avoid messy things linke votes. Its only the little people ( or little countries) that have to deal with things like votes.
What I see as critical are exposure and acurrate information.
Even an ideological dissident AP reporter can report somewhat straight--after all there are layers of power--with worker ants dong various functions--that need somewhat accurate information to sustain status quo relationships. Reporting cannot remain too, too far outside the bounds of reality for too long.
"Objectivity" for human social relations means the outer limints of rational and emotional thinking/feeling/acting, that point when the domiant thinking no longer becomes a viable 'discourse/ideology' where it can sustain the human species in perpetuity, where we become extinct because we developed the means to destroy ourselves and we could/can 'not' alter our development by any other means than by destroying ourselves.
Bascially, the decision is ours: remain enslaved to outmoded ways of socially interacting, or further the demise of humankind.
Oligarchy and imperialism becomes unviable for the species at that point to where we develop the means of destroying ourselves, in total. Humans are already there--but the mass of the human population has little say as to whether we become extinct or not.
Oligarchy and imperialism, because it is based on human exploitation and pathological greed, does't deserve to be the domiant helmsman for the destiny of humankind. It must be overcome, and gone beyond. It is up to us to bring it there, beyond.
Bolivarianism is a varient of an alteration in the dominant code of individual, social, national, and international relations--and it is in direct competion for the mind and soul of humankind with the forces of reaction, those who are currently furthering the diseased destruction of the earth's ecological systems. Oligarchy and imperialism have become a fetter, an outmoded and ecocidal form of internation and individual oppression/suicide.
"Objectivity" in this context, pertaining to the Bolivarian project, should entail just telling the truth, forming common cause with fellow humans, and a highly developed ethical commitment to practice reciprocity with all forms of live and the ecological webs that we find ourselves amid.
The US is using the discourse of "democracy" as its ideal weapon for actually imposing oliarchy and imperialism.
OUr job should be to loudly reinforce the more acurrate meaning of democracy--the belief that the majority of the people can make wise decisions of their individual and collective fate. This entails a society where the collective "self", at the level of the individual, can actualize a reality that is healthful and socially fulfilling, creative, and, ultimately ecologically sustaining.
Doing this in a mass society context is difficult proposition.
To repeat because this needs emphasis: How oligarchy and imperialism becomes dominant and hegemonic is by keeping people divided, conflicted, marginalized and aliented--not capable of of making wise social decisions and acti
Jim:
"Bascially, the decision is ours: remain enslaved to outmoded ways of socially interacting, or further the demise of humankind.
This my brother is is the key to understanding that escapes most. The status quo is much to happy to see things continue as they have known them to be, be it for want of control or for sheer ignorance. I want to believe that it is ignorance (or lack of adequate education) that drive people to preserve all that is contained within society today. As they go about being "mall rats" as you call them they have no concept, not an iota of how these things come to market for their benefit! If they are femenists, then they should stand against the labor practices that subject thier fellow women on other countries to working conditions that exploit thier femeninity. But that is all lost when the silk hits the skin and all is good from that point on. There is a level of consciousness that others would much rather have "all" disregard in thier consumption habits but it must be told and those that claim one thing but do others must be held to task. Unless im mistaken and all are wise wealthy persons benefited by education due to thier wealth and this is all a charade in an attempt to dominate the world. I dont know sometimes but I have to believe that some are ignorant and not knowing of the damage they are causing.
Comandante--I believe in the typical human's capacity to make healthy decisions, but his depends on the type of humans that societies produce.
I am sorry to say that i don't have much faith in the people in the "mainstream" of US society to make wise choices for the rest of the Earth's people.
For me the hope resides in the ability of heretofore marginalized people, especially indigenous, to excert their voice and their creativity at this crucial juncture.
For the Bolivarian revolution an ecological/indigenous discourse needs to be nurtured and brought to the fore. This will enable the Bolivarian revolution to 'go beyond', so to speak.
I hope i am not being overly abstract in my line of thinking tonight. But this line of speculation entails abstraction--bringing such abstractions (like "going beyond") requires the next move: bringing the emotional/rational intensity behind the abstraction into the 'fact/context' of live lived, or lived-life.
Chavez gov. bolivarian project has suceeded because of its ability to develop 'what-could-be' into the rhelm of the 'developing-now', social life as it is being lived on the ground, the social-fact that entails Chavez being in Miraflores now, and Carmona being in retirement in Colombia.
OW:
Unfortunately for them they didn’t even get that. No sooner than the conference gets going than the president of Bolivia gets overthrown completely upstaging whatever boring stories on
Venezuela’s “warts” may have been about to come out.
Lets not mix words to give the connotation that the marches against the Bolivian Government were illegal in any way. Much like the Venezuelan opposition marches, those marches wished that this would have been the result in Venezuela, in their sad attempt to shame Chavez into Submission. he Bolivian President offered to resign. A big difference. If the Venezuelan opposition marches did not have the muster to oust the popular president, then that should not reflect on the effective Bolivian opposition. Of course the difference being that one acted in violation of the law (Ven. Oppo) where they changed the scheduled route of the march and subsequently ended in the storming of the presidential residence. The other (Bolivian oppo) has acted within their rights.
If Chavez did not buckle under pressure it is a testimony to his resolve in addressing the issues that brought him into office, with a majority of democratically won votes. The effects of which are bearing
fruit borne of its conception as we speak and as you have posted. Lets not confuse the two with semantics that will give cause for some pendejos con fronteras derechistas (because that is what they all are) an excuse. The lines are distinct and Dare we say we Believe that this
Confrontation would result in anything resembling the Venezuelan oppositions illegal attempts at overthrowing a democratic government.
Hey OW:
I have acquired some new inspiration that I want to share with you. Its actually a great idea. I have seen it work, and it works well and you my friend should incorporate it.
here it is:
Get lots of opposition to write stuff against your posts - good amounts. Then BAN them outright. But wait here is the kicker - Post a good significant article then gloat about how no opposition has answered your claims. Genius!!! Absolutely Genius!!! I must say the idea was not mine but it is a doozy.
LOL What a Moron.
Pulpo:
On Bolivia you're right. Funny even when writing it I realized I was off base. Truth is I know very little about Bolivia which is part of why I don't write about it. And even when I mention it tangentially I screw it up!!! So I'll stick to Venezuela
Uhhh, lets NOT gets lots of opposition people to post here. If there is discussion I want intelligent discussion - not the kindergarten stuff one sees on the opposition sites. Notice the few opposition types that bothered to show up left. They didn't have any arguements that they could make so they left. Really, if you have posts with stats on the poor having their income go up 33% or posts with direct and contradictory quotes by the US on terrorism what are they going to say? Nothing because they don't have anything to say.
Entrevista con Simón Sáez Mérida:
"- Es famosa la entrevista que diste hace algún tiempo para el diario El Nacional. Fuiste la primera persona que, desde una perspectiva de izquierda, hizo cuestionamientos a lo que representaba Hugo Chávez en el poder. ¿Por qué consideraste pertinente hacer ese deslinde en aquel momento?
- Me ofrecieron hacer una entrevista y aproveché las circunstancias. Me pareció justo decir lo que tenía que decir, porque habían insinuaciones muy graves. Primero, Chávez era la continuación de la Agenda Venezuela. Había dicho que iba a pedir una mora para la deuda externa y no llegó a pedir nada. En segundo lugar el nuevo endeudamiento. Chávez lo estaba llevando de 24 mil millones de dólares a 36 mil millones de dólares. Imagínate tú si le aceptan el plan petrolero que va a llevar a 40 mil millones más la deuda. 40 y 36: 76 mil millones. Y luego el endeudamiento interno, que creo está en 16 mil millones y que en ese entonces estaba en 12 mil millones. El problema de la corrupción. El problema del fraude electoral. Por que a pesar de que Chávez ganó ampliamente, hubo un fraude electoral sobre seguro para que la Constituyente fuera algo sin ninguna oposición. Es absurdo que en un Proceso Constituyente saquen 4 diputados la oposición. Dije que la Constitución era un proyecto importantísimo. Luego dije varias cosas, hable del personalismo, que aquí no estaban funcionando las instituciones porque estaban defendiendo la voluntad de Chávez. Aquí es lo que diga el Comandante. Te estoy hablando del 2002, febrero, comenzando. [...]"
http://www.nodo50.org/
ellibertar...eriodistica.doc
interesting article. I'll comment on it later. If it wasn't so long to translate I would maybe do a post on it.
GP, The article didn't turn out to be as good as I had hoped at first glance. The author seems to be a resentido politico. He only knows how to be on the outside looking in and doing everything he can to find fault with others. I noticed very little constructive criticism in the interview.
Even a lot of the criticisms were way off base. He claims the opposition parties are more democratic than the MVR!! So how come the MVR just celebrated primaries whereas people like Primera Justicia only have self appointed candidates? His assertion that corruption is much more prevelant now is laughable. It sure makes you wonder where he was all through the bank collapses of the 90s for example. There is simply nothing that compares to that in the Vth Republic. And then he bitches that Chavez fights with everyone. Is that the case or is it a bunch of vested interests who had it good under the old system fight with Chavez because they see him taking away their privelages.
Also, what in the world does he mean "Si tu eres Presidente de la Republica, veras que hay que negociar. 'Aqui esta la prensa, vamos a tratar de neutralizar El Nacional.' Empliezas a ofrecerles cosas, eso lo hace calquier gobeierno."
Tell me GP, what do you think that is about? What would he offer El Nacional? And what would he expect in return? Is this favorable coverage being bought and sold? Sounds like to me. Sorry but that is the way of the IVth Republic, not the way of Chavez.
So after reading it beginning to end I have to say I didn't find it to be of much value. Mainly just hot air from a megalomaniac who prefers to criticize others (often wrongly) rather than try to actually accomplish something himself. I don't have much respect for that. I expect people to do what Chavez is doing; to take positions, try to accomplish things, and be judged on their successes and failures. People who want to be perpetual opposition and just throw stones at those who do try aren't people I have any use for. I can't tell you how many people I've heard say: " I don't support Chavez but I didin't support the Fourth Republic either - I've been in the opposition to all the governments". That to me is the mark of whiners who don't want to be accountable for anything and who don't want solutions problems but rather simly want someone to blame for there own shortcomings.
It says a lot to me that you don't know who Simón Sáez Mérida is and what a crucial figure he was in the Venezuelan left before his unfortunate death recently.
Not to get essentialist here but, where are the Venezuelans on this blog?
I suppose it's a good things that non-Venezuelans such as yourself are now interested in the country and its future. I simply have some doubts as to your intentions.
Regardless, I say this with respect and wish you well in this endeavor.
Yes, of course, that towering illustrious figure of the Venezuelan left...how could I not have known? Had I realized who it was I would never have dared to critique - I'd have bowed down and kissed his writing.
Somehow GP I get the sense you are of that special breed that could be standing in Petare and not see a single "Venezuelan". Just guessing, but that is the sense I get.
In any effent, do you have any contributions of your own to make or are you sufficiently feeble minded that you have to limit yourself to cutting and pasting?
OW, interesting the silence from GP.
This is the person who exposed the address of the famous Steven H. from opposition blogs. This opened the guy up to harassment from the gov. and othe wackos.
Pretty low. Notice how he tried to make nationality/race an issue. This from a guy firmly ensconched in the belly of the imperial beast.
Seems that he doesn't have the will to engage sustained discussion or debate in a blog where censorship is not the norm, where the directors of the blog ban people when they get tired of free and open dissemination of ideas and opinions.
By the way--really, OW? You have never hear of Simon Saez?
You have absolutely no credibilty, you opinion on the happenings in Venezuela are of no value.
How dare you talk about Venezuela without having studied the sage writings of one of the preeminent leftists of the country. He actually protested against US lead Viet Nam war.
Shame! LOL
Its hard to debate when all you can do is cut and paste. This is a common problem with opposition types. They are used to the media always giving them their talking points so they don't even have to think, someone else is thinking for them. Look at some of the opposition web-sites - they mainly copy articles out of opposition papers. So when they get in a situation when where they have to think for themselves and don't have someone else telling them what to say they are screwed.
"Silence, exile, cuning."
(James Joyce)
"cunning"
Jim R,
I need help before I get completely humiliated. Who is James Joyce? 
"No home but the struggle
Gareth Jenkins
The novelist Edward Upward recently celebrated his 100th birthday. He is the last link with a generation of writers--writers like the novelist Christopher Isherwood and the poet W H Auden--who were radicalised in the 1930s by the horrors of fascism and the struggle of ordinary people for a better world.
Upward is a forgotten writer, 'an unmentionable man', to quote the title of one of his short stories. The main reason is that Upward remained true to revolutionary politics. Most of his contemporaries abandoned left politics. The critics decided that Upward's commitment to politics was incompatible with a commitment to art.
Upward himself experienced enormous difficulties. He published very little in the 1930s. Partly this was because of his own exacting standards. But it was also because he felt that the struggle against fascism and capitalism had to be the priority.
Upward came from a privileged background. He went to public school and then to Cambridge. At school he became close friends with Christopher Isherwood--a friendship which continued at university and beyond.
They were both in revolt against their backgrounds, against the false values and snobbery of the people among whom they had been brought up and who dominated every aspect of their world and its culture. What we today might call the 'establishment' they called the 'poshocracy'. They took literary revenge on this world by creating a private fantasy world--a mythical village of Mortmere, peopled by weird but recognisably upper class characters. Unpublished, the short stories achieved a kind of cult status among their literary friends, including the poet W H Auden.
(...)
http://pubs.socialistreviewindex...278/
jenkins.htm
wow, I'm getting quite an education here.
Lets see how my reading comprehension is. Is the moral of the story that if you become a communist you live to be 100? If so, how do you become a communist?
“A mí la enfermedad me obsequió unas alianzas”
(Patricia Guzmán)
http://huesohumero.perucultural....rg.pe/
452.shtml
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