Rising Tide
How intriguing that Rumsfeld, Negroponte and Co. would choose the present moment to lay all their cards on the table. After a State of the Union with not one word about Latin America (or North Korea, for that matter) but a little language about "lessinging our dependence on foreign oil", they get busted with a spy in the Venezuelan embassy and decide to revive the Cold War.
Their arrogant and beligerant language follows a few rhetorical shots over the bow by Chavez, Morales, Bellafonte and of course Fidel, but what is the real game? Showdown between neoliberal capitalism and socialism? At a time when the Empire is mired in an increasingly unpopular war of aggresion, in a nuclear standoff with Iran, facing chaos in Israel/Palestine and trying to soothe rampaging Muslims over a cartoon, it seems absurd to pick another fight in another hemisphere. I forgot bin Laden, he is still in the mix.
But we can always hope. It will be the perfect opportunity to educate our citizens about a little US history.The 1904 Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine gave the USA the right to act as an 'international police power' wherever"chronic wrong-doing,or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society'" required intervention "by some civilized society." This was used to justify the military conquest of half of Mexico's territory, the invasion and occupation of Cuba and Puerto Rico for US sugar interests, of Nicaragua on behalf of the United Fruit company, of Panama for a canal ,etc, etc...This "big stick" approach led us to overthrow governments hostile to US interests and install puppet dictators likely to be friendly to US investors. We can talk about Arbenz in Guatemala, Batista in Cuba, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile. We welcome this opportunity.We can talk about the New American Century and globlal capitalism and finance and trade. Perfect.
I am headed for Venezuela in ten days. If I have to make a choice to defend the Bolivarian Revolution from reactionary, imperialist forces I know which side I will be fighting on. I can only hope they draw such a clear line in the sand,because I know on which side millions and millions of working class people and oppressed indigenous people, and unemployed and underemployed and working poor people world- wide will stand in such a struggle. Rumsfeld may unleash a tide he cannot control.
posted by troutsky @ 11:28 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Brad, I appreciate your comments ,especially since you have direct experience.I didn't mean to give the impression I believe there is complete unanimity, only that there is a growing movement.While it is true there are varied currents and competeing voices (a good thing)would you not admit there is also a class character to what is viewed as a shared struggle? Wouldnt anti-imperialism be a common theme, or a shared distrust of an imposed ,neo-liberal economic agenda? Isnt the concept of politics as a newly accessable arena for the multitude gaining widespread support? That of a more participatory democracy? I, of course ,have my own politics and agenda,and my own support for the movement is evident and filters the information I get.
Troutsky,
I agree with your assessment that there is more than one way to unify the masses. Actually, that should be restated as “more than one way for the masses to unify.” Sure, "campesinos" (the correct spelling) may have varying and divergent forces that motivate their daily actions, but I take extreme exception to the notion that they are being "prodded". I believe Brad innocently misspoke as I am sure he learned after four years in Latin America that: los campesinos pueden afirmarse sin la intervención de los yanquis, y lo que ellos necesitan de nosotros es que terminamos de meternos en los asuntos de otros. Necesitan que nos agachemos y usemos el “prod” en nosotros mismos para que cambie la actitud superior del yanqui de que el resto del mundo su ayuda como si fueran el cargo del hombre blanco. Necesitan que reconozcamos nuestros delitos a propósito los problemas perpetuos en América Latín.
The "prodding" in this current swing to the left in Latin America is exactly as you point out: it is from a groundswell of common sentiments shared among the masses. It is not from above as Brad has suggested. Sharing a grip on the electric "prod" does not preclude the possibility of differences among the masses of working class people, it simply points to the most common denominator (dominator): neoliberal economics, or imperial North America. While a Peruvian highlands farmer may disagree with a Venezuelan farmer about family values or religion or any number of other important cultural issues, the fact remains that the working class as a whole have nothing in common with the ruling class. This common "bondage" supersedes their cultural or ethnic differences since they will not be free to pursue their unique and ontological identities as long as they live below the pressure of their common oppressor. Only by recognizing their common oppressor and deciding to unite to overthrow him, will they finally be free to determine their own future and pursue their "ontological vocation of becoming more fully human."
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