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South America, with leftist (majorityist) governments elected in Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador--virtually the entire continent has gone "blue"; a leftist winning in Nicaragua, in Central America, a leftist coming within a hairsbreadth of winning--0.05%--in Mexico, and a leftist ahead in the runoff in troubled Guatemala.
Paraguay is very likely one of the key components in Bush Junta/global corporate predator plans to destroy this democracy movement. I suspect that the rumor is true that the Bush Cartel bought several hundred thousands acres of land over a major water aquifer, near a U.S.-taxpayer funded U.S. air base expansion, in Paraguay. With most S/A countries now hostile to U.S. interference, the Bushites have a paucity of training grounds for rightwing paramilitary death squads, and smugglers' coves for illicit drugs and arms traffic, as well as launching pads for destabilizing democratic countries and re-installing fascist dictatorships.
Colombia, Peru and Paraguay are basically it--as to places where the Bushites and their local fascist colluders can operate with impunity--and Colombia is getting a bit "hot," with courageous prosecutors, judges and human rights advocates exposing a government (Uribe--Bush's pal) that has received billions of our tax dollars from Bush in military aid and that has very close ties to rightwing death squads and drug lords, who have been plotting to assassinate Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, among other things. Even the U.S. Congress has begun to balk at the Bushite-run corruption and horrors in Colombia.
Colombia and Peru are getting bribed--and kneecapped--with "free trade" deals that involve major corporate predator resource extraction and labor exploitation. In a typical pattern, the local rich elite rips off the vast poor population, but the biggest chunk of ungodly profits goes out of the country to multi-national financiers, and oil and ag predators (Exxon, Monsanto, Chiquita--all the usual suspects).
I'm not sure of the status of "free trade" (global corporate predation) in Paraguay. It's an extremely poor country with a very corrupt "centrist" government. But it's interesting that Paraguay, under its current regime, joined the Bank of the South--a Venezuela-organized project to free the region from the World Bank/IMF loan sharks. This was no doubt partly the result of internal political pressure from the gathering leftist revolution, as well as just plain common sense. Regional self-determination (and self-financing) is good for everybody.
In addition to these considerations--the Bushites' need for jungles to hide in, and friendly fascist environments--a true leftist like Fernando Lugo winning the Paraguay election will be read in the stinking, blood-drenched halls of power in Washington DC, as another "domino" lost by the "New American Century" plotters. The new political/economic alignment that is occurring in South America--and Latin America in general--is quite stunningly pro-independence, pro-social justice, pro-democracy, and anti-U.S. fascist. If the Paraguay election is generally clean and fair, Lugo will win, hands down, and the alignment in S/A will look like this:
Leaders of the Boliviarian revolution in power*:
Venezuela Bolivia Ecuador Argentina Central America/Caribbean: Nicaragua, Cuba.
Cooperators/sympathizers with the Bolivarian revolution--other leftist governments in power: Brazil Uruguay Paraguay Chile Central America: Guatemala may go left this year.
Rightwing dinosaurs (still inviting the U.S. to fuck their people over):
Colombia (--huge rightwing scandals breaking every day) Peru (--will very likely go left in the next election--in 2 yrs) Central America: Mexico's rightwing hanging on by a toe nail--had to steal the recent election; Costa Rica's center/right government having a hard time stealing the referendum on CAFTA.
You see the problem presented by this leftist movement to Bushites, their Democratic Party colluders and global corporate predators. Democracy is WINNING! And that poses the mortal threat of fair taxation of foreign resource extractors, nationalization of vital natural resources, disempowerment of the local rich fascist elites (as operatives for the U.S./global corporations), enforcement of labor protections, land reform, regulation/protection of the environment, social justice, and loss of the U.S. "war on drugs" military/police-state boondoggle.
In short, South Americans are taking their own destinies into their own hands for the first time since the original Bolivarian revolution (--independence from Spain and Portugal). And Central Americans are following suit. The methods of this revolution are grass roots organization, and long hard work on strengthening democratic institutions (such as transparent elections), so that the vast poor majority is finally coming into its rightful power, often led by the indigenous.
A nightmare for the Bushites--an unstoppable and PEACEFUL revolution, that cannot be defeated by assassination, or guns and tanks, because it is so widespread and solidly grounded. And Paraguay is next.
The Vatican is also a player in Paraguay. They are holding "excommunication" over Lugo's head, for having resigned his priesthood and bishopric (which they say he cannot do). But they have to play this one carefully, because Lugo--the "bishop of the poor"--is hugely popular, and a move against him might just empty the churches. The struggle between the pro-poor people, "liberation theology" church (by far the majority of priests, nuns and members) vs. the Vatican and its fascist cardinals and financiers, will be an important factor in this election.
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*(Note: There is a whole lot of oil, gas, minerals, forests, fresh water and other natural resources represented on this list of the Andean democracies--one of the chief reasons, of course, that the Bush Junta wants to destroy their democratic governments.)
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