Skip to main content

An almost forgotten continent

News from South America rates poorly in Australia. It's a continent far away from Australia and seemingly of no interest in the general scheme of things. That is unfortunate for what needs to be remembered is that South America figures in the American "orbit" of things.

Exhibit #1 - Venezuela. Venezuela has just had an election in which the US has, unsuccesfully, attempted to see its preferred candidate elected President.

The Independent reports:

"Emboldened by a landslide election victory, the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez is poised to forge ahead with his "Bolivarian revolution" - but analysts warned that the US may continue to try to undermine him.

Mr Chavez secured about 61 per cent of Sunday's vote and immediately told supporters that his third term would see an "expansion of the revolution" that has seen the establishment of social programmes for the poor using the country's oil wealth.

"Long live the revolution. Venezuela is demonstrating that a new and better world is possible and we are building it," Mr Chavez said from the balcony of the presidential palace on Sunday evening. Repeating an attack on the US President, George Bush, he said: "It's another defeat for the devil, who tries to dominate the world. Down with imperialism."

Comments

MPH said…
We here in the US have much to learn from this greatest of great men. Here is a list of suggestions:

-Perhaps we too may capture fingerprints of the US electorate before they vote. It is vital that that Venezuelans allow El Comandante Chavez keep tabs on the enemies of freedom so that they may be punished. This is the only path to a free and OPEN election. I suppose this is easier to accomplish when the voting machine company is owned by the State. Diebold, beware.

-We ought to consider shutting down private news services here as well. The imperialists are poison and this is essentially a national health issue at the heart of it all. Congratulations Chavez on clamping down the Corporate Media. There is no need to be timid any more when the enemies’ goals are so plain.

Popular posts from this blog

Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives?  In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t

The NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) goes on hold.....because of one non-Treaty member (Israel)

Isn't there something radically wrong here?    Israel, a non-signatory to the NPT has, evidently, been the cause for those countries that are Treaty members, notably Canada, the US and the UK, after 4 weeks of negotiation, effectively blocking off any meaningful progress in ensuring the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.    IPS reports ..... "After nearly four weeks of negotiations, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference ended in a predictable outcome: a text overwhelmingly reflecting the views and interests of the nuclear-armed states and some of their nuclear-dependent allies. “The process to develop the draft Review Conference outcome document was anti-democratic and nontransparent,” Ray Acheson, director, Reaching Critical Will, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), told IPS. “This Review Conference has demonstrated beyond any doubt that continuing to rely on the nuclear-armed states or their nuclear-dependent allies for l

#1 Prize for a bizarre story.....and lying!

No comment called for in this piece from CommonDreams: Another young black man: The strange sad case of 21-year-old Chavis Carter. Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas  stopped  him and two friends, found some marijuana, searched put Carter, then put him handcuffed  behind his back  into their patrol car, where they say he  shot himself  in the head with a gun they failed to find. The FBI is investigating. Police Chief Michael Yates, who stands behind his officers' story,  says in an interview  that the death is "definitely bizarre and defies logic at first glance." You think?