It's starting to happen. The vortex of lies is accelerating for another US-backed coup in Venezuela.
Just a week before the (ignored) protest demanding the US "keep [its] hands off Venezuela and Cuba," Rep Dan Burton(R-Ind.) introduced a measure on May 11th condemning Venezuela for failing to enthusiastically support the drug war.
The Venezuelan government faces the most antithetical national mass media on the planet, funded by the business-elite of Venezuela who were the recipients of power during the 2002 coup, and yet 70% shun the media in enthusiastic approval; and we want to take him out, again.
Cry "Havoc", and let loose the dogs of war...
Can you imagine what kind of democratic spirit must exist for a country of unarmed peasants to rescue a kidnapped president and defeat a US-supported coup by a coalition of its richest most powerful citizens? And they did it in 3 days!
It is shocking and awe-inspiring what the people of Venezuela have done, they have shown a stronger committment to democracy than we have shown since the revolution, and we shit on them.
Chavez's job approval rating is over 70%, Bush's is 29%. Chavez faces the most brutal anti-government media on the planet. We have the American media corpse. Which leads inexorably to...
Rep. Dan Burton introduced a resolution in the house to condemn Venezuela for failing to support US drug policy in South America.
Colombia is now an Island of support for the US in South America, and not coincidentally, its US-taxpayer financed military is the worst offender of human rights in the hemisphere. And we are introducing resolutions against countries that, gasp, refuse to get with that program.
But that's not the real kicker, the kicker is that Venezuela is still kicking ass in the real drug war. Ask a (non-politico) officer at the DEA, they just jointly busted a huge trafficking ring including the baddest mother in Cocaine, Pablo Rayo Montana, that's right 'Don Pablo'. And guess who was part of the 9-country squad? Venezuela.
What's going on in Colombia is a disgrace and every one of its neighbors has shunned the US policy. Unfortunately, our law-enforcement officials don't have as much say in drug policy as they used to; drugs are tending to be a peripheral concern in international drug policy these days.
The brutal campaign in Colombia is causing there to be less narco-trafficking in Colombia for sure, however they're not going to jail, they're moving across the borders. This problem is ridiculously called "ballooning" and was dismissed out of hand until it as finally become completely undeniable. You might be able to imagine why Colombia's neighbors have a problem with the policy...
The scariest part about the whole thing is that it comes shortly before Chavez is scheduled (June 1st) to ask OPEC to officially recognize that he has more oil than Saudi Arabia (which he does, not light nor sweet, but there's a lot more of it). When he does this Big Oil-Republicans are going to explode.
There is nowhere on earth that US policy has paralleled the kind of broad contempt for democracy that it has shown in Latin America, from United Fruit's overthow of Arbenz's Guatemala 50 years ago to the lust for PDVSA fields that funded a (breifly successful) coup against Chavez's Venezuela in 2002, we have a despicable record of ousting leaders who are strongly supported by their people. Guatemala, Nicauragua, Chile, Venezuela have all had democratically elected, popular leaders overthrown with US taxpayer dollars, for access to natural resources.
The history of regime change in Latin America provides the most shameful example of long-term anti-democratic US foreign policy, which we must stop hiding from, if we are to have any real pride. But this policy continues right up through the May 11th resolution. In this age of information its no longer just the fault of our elected leaders, we have access to the facts, its our own shame if we can't stop it.
I'm sorry to vent, I can just see this disgrace coming down the pipe and its making me sick...