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In reply to the discussion: No progressives should be demanding new elections in Venezuela due to Chavez' health... [View all]Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)And the fact that you used the word "INTEREST" in all-caps is part of the problem.
Every horrific thing we've ever done in Latin America was justified by those who did it as being "necessary to protect 'our interests'". That word has been used to rationalize embargoes, invasions, coups, and the acceptance of torture.
And the "discussion" isn't really about having a sincere political debate...it's about helping feed a sense of uncertainty about Venezuela's direction...and such uncertainty has also been part of our legacy of blood in the region-because the imposition of a "man on horseback" has been the usual U.S. solution to "uncertainty".
It would be different if our country's leaders hadn't, over and over again, defended our "INTERESTS" with the blood of the hemisphere's poor.
I'm not against free speech-I'm against the possible abetting of a coup.
If Chavez was dead, they'd tell us. It's that simple and that straightforward. You have no call to imply that he's dead if you don't have proof...to imply it speculatively could put the lives of all of the poor of Venezuela in danger.
I don't want the poor of Venezuela to get slaughtered, which would have to happen in a coup. Do YOU care about that?
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