Ecuador: Mouse That Roars

[Peace Patriot]

6. "...Chavez ruined Venezuela..."?

"...Correa is a very smart guy and he also realizes Chavez ruined Venezuela..." --Socialistlemur

-----------------

Last year, Venezuelans rated their own country FIFTH IN THE WORLD, in the Gallup Well-being poll, on their own sense of well-being and future prospects. They re-elected Chavez for a third term by a hefty margin, and just after doing that, threw out most of the rightwing governors in favor of pro-Chavez socialists in the by-election--all in an election system that Jimmy Carter recently described as "the best in the world."

So, you're saying that Correa, being "a very smart guy," thinks Venezuelans are insane? stupid peasants? can't comprehend their own misery?

Those are pretty dumb ideas and if Correa believes them, as you say, he's a pretty dumb guy. But there is not a scrap of evidence anywhere that Correa believes that "Chavez ruined Venezuela." Indeed, the opposite is true. Venezuelans have never had it so good. That is WHY Venezuelans have voted for chavistas time and again and rated their own country FIFTH IN THE WORLD on their well-being and future prospects!

People who rely on the corporate 'news' wouldn't know that Venezuelans have never had it so good, but Venezuelans know it and have, time and again, defeated the corporate 'news' moguls and those whom they serve, in order for the benefits of the Chavez government to continue.

Among them...

--Chavez re-negotiated the oil contracts to change the formula of 90% profit to the likes of Exxon Mobil and 10% profit to Venezuelans, to 50-50 profit sharing, and invested the new Venezuelan revenues in education, health care, pensions for small business people, the elderly poor and others, housing construction, land reform and other public good projects.

--Under Chavez, economic growth has never been higher (a sizzling economic growth rate of 10% for five straight years, 2003 to 2008, all of this in the private sector not including oil, and it's back up to 5+% now).

--Under Chavez, Venezuela's inflation rate has never been LOWER. Prior rightwing/neo-liberal governments produced inflation up to 99% (!) with no benefit to the poor majority!

--The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean recently designated Venezuela "THE most equal country in Latin America" on income distribution.

--The Chavez government cut poverty IN HALF and extreme poverty by over 70%!

--The Chavez government hugely expanded educational opportunity and has provided free health to the poor including health care to many groups and regions that never had ANY health care before.

--With the Chavez government, public participation and voter turnouts have never been higher--ordinary people feel included, previously excluded groups feel included, neglected communities feel empowered and democracy has flourished. That is why Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, said, of Chavez, "They can invent all kinds of things to criticize Chavez but not on democracy!"

--The Chavez government furthermore has led the region in a political revolution for social justice, peace and Latin American independence.

Correa, being "a very smart guy," realizes all of the above, and realizes that the corporate 'news' moguls LIE ABOUT leftist-created prosperity and social progress--they all do it to him, too--and that is why he is one of the biggest supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution. He is the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution in Ecuador, where similar social justice and independence policies are being pursued.

You are quite wrong on this point, as on many others. And as for the following statement of yours...

"Now that Chavez is dead there is a struggle between the radical autocracies (Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua), versus pragmatic leftists (Brazil, Peru, Uruguay)."

...all I can say is, IN YOUR DREAMS. There is NO such "struggle." The CIA wants there to be a "struggle" among Latin American leftist governments, and has done everything it can to induce it. But you know what? These new leaders of Latin America are, indeed, very smart men and women, and they are having NONE OF IT. They understand very well that united they stand and divided they fall. That has been the foundation of their success--their electoral success, their success at producing prosperity and sharing prosperity, and their success at creating a multi-lateral world, on the international political scene, and a level playing field as to investment in their countries' rich resources.

YOUR division of LatAm countries into "radical autocracies" versus "pragmatic leftists" simply doesn't exist, except in the dreams and schemes of those who serve U.S. transglobal corporate/bankster/war profiteer interests. Venezuela and Nicaragua are DEMOCRACIES, in truth far better democracies than our own. And their governments are very closely allied with the governments of Brazil and Uruguay. Peru only recently elected a leftist government which is saddled with a U.S./Bush Junta-designed "free trade for the rich" agreement, and thus is a less strong ally on social justice and LatAm independence. Brazil is going to go further to the left after these recent demonstrations by the poor. And Chile is going to elect a socialist as president this year, who, in her prior term, was a key leader of the LatAm UNITY movement. And ALL LatAm governments are defenders of Cuba, which has its own entirely unique history which I won't go into here (--its position vis a vis the U.S. and in the world is too complex), except to say that the Cuban government's devotion to social justice, to peaceful change and to LatAm independence have inspired these good goals throughout the region, and it is a huge mistake--it is simply NOT TRUE--to say that Venezuela's and Nicaragua's governments are "radical autocracies." They are NOT. They are DEMOCRATIC examples of social justice, much like our own "New Deal" here--TRUE democracy which includes economic FAIRNESS.

You have entirely misread diversity as "struggle against." That is a wish, not a reality. The reality is that, diverse as they are, Latin American countries passionately desire independence from the U.S., with the many new leftist governments leading this awesome movement, in full awareness of U.S. "divide and conquer" tactics and using many counter-tactics to pull everybody together.

Even rightwing governments in U.S. client states have to pay lip service to LatAm independence. But it is the leftist leaders who have taken it seriously and have created new institutions specifically designed to exclude the U.S. and to bolster regional prosperity, independence and social justice. It is the leftist leaders who have virtually evicted the World Bank/IMF (those dastardly exploiters) from the region. It is the leftist leaders who led the creation of Unasur (all-South American alternative to the U.S.-dominated OAS) and CELAC (all Latin American alternative to the OAS), as well as the Bank of the South and independent trade groups, such as Mercosur and ALBA. It is the leftist countries that are prospering and spreading the wealth, and they are very, very aware that their inter-dependence, their having each other's backs, their trade policies (preferring "south-south" trade), and their new sense of unity and cooperation, are ESSENTIAL to their individual success as countries, and that this--their unprecedented UNITY--is an historic moment and a true revolution in the western hemisphere.

The U.S. is floundering around--was doing so under Bush, is now doing so under Obama--with crude coup d'etats (Honduras, Paraguay), crude use of the corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs" for Pentagon expansion in U.S. client states, crude USAID funding/"training" of rightwing/fascist causes and plotters, crude propaganda against leftist leaders (including Correa in Ecuador) infused into compliant corporate 'news' trumpets and crude shilling for the likes of Exxon Mobil, Drummond Coal, Chiquita and other malevolent corporations.

It is laughable to assert that Correa doesn't know this. He knows very well that he is in a category with Chavez, Maduro, Ortega and others, TO BE OVERTHROWN if possible, and "divided and conquered" if possible, in the eyes of the schemers in Washington DC. And it is laughable to assert that Dilma Rousseff, president of Brazil, doesn't know this--she was horribly tortured by U.S. -supported fascists when she was young--and that Michele Batchelet (who will be elected president of Chile this year) doesn't know this--her father was horribly tortured and murdered by U.S.-supported fascists and she was forced to flee Chile when she was young. It is laughable to assert that Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay, doesn't know this. He, too, was imprisoned and tortured by U.S.-supported fascists. It is laughable to assert that Evo Morales doesn't know this. He was kidnapped and beaten up DEA-connected police for union organizing. It is laughable to assert that Lula da Silva--Latin America's most revered leader, former president of Brazil and Rousseff's mentor--doesn't know this. He, too, was imprisoned for union organizing by U.S.-backed fascists, and he, along with Chavez and the Kirchners in Argentina were the key leaders--the pioneers--of the awesome revolt against U.S. dictation in its early stages in the mid-2000s.

These are the new leaders of Latin America. They have been through the fire of U.S. torture, murder and exploitation. And their singular goal is to END U.S. domination of Latin America and create an autonomous region with ITS OWN policies of social justice, peace and local and international trade. And they know--because they are "smart people"--that every one of them is a U.S. target.