Reply #18: The most important event in the history of the Western Hemisphere

[Peace Patriot]

in the last century--the formative meeting of CELAC (all Latin American countries represented; U.S. and Canada not invited), and all you are concerned about is misfired celebratory fireworks?

This is the petty, peevish sort of thing that Venezuela's USAID-funded rightwing opposition is notorious for. It's why I find them contemptible. They remind me of the "Tea Party" here. They don't have the intellectual depth to come up with their own platform of positive change and then get all in a snit when they are ignored by everybody except the Corporate Media. The leaders of Latin America, who have worked with such vision and courage toward Latin American independence, prosperity and social justice don't give a hoot about these self-interested rightwingers and their noisemakers--and will drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st Century--Latin America's century!

You want to hang onto the past and the oil elite's looting of Venezuela and U.S. corporate looting of the whole region? Fine. That's your choice. But PLEASE don't bother the rest of us with such a silly post. We have more serious things to think about, such as our Corporate Rulers, having looted Latin America, now looting us.

I say "Hoorah!" for CELAC, for Hugo Chavez and his government, who have played an important role in the formation of CELAC and for all the leaders of Latin America for their vision and courage!

And I also say this: I WISH that there was an opposition party in Venezuela that was worthy of admiration--that had ideas worth considering and people of real stature running for office, and were not just naysayers and obstructionists (like our Republican Party has become here). I DO wish this--but I DON'T see it. It was the Chavez administration that pulled Venezuela out of the long night of poverty and oppression that had gone on for decades prior to it, and, much like FDR's New Deal here, has created a more equitable society ("THE most equal country in Latin America," according to the UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean). What's needed is NOT naysaying, NOT whining, NOT focusing on stupid shit like this (how the fireworks were or weren't timed) but legitimate, native (not U.S. funded), local, constructive criticism, in a context of approval of the more just society that Venezuela has become! What I see is well-off crybabies trying to claw their way back into power in order to loot Venezuela all over again and give its resources away to transglobal monsters like Exxon Mobil--so like the rightwingers here!

There is no more important question facing the world right now than balancing the benefits of "the marketplace" with social justice. I DO think that "marketplaces" are beneficial and are a human need. But what we have seen here is the triumph of a "dog eat dog" jungle--not a "marketplace," a jungle of predators--over human needs. Where is the balance of these two needs of human society? The Venezuelan people and their government have been experimenting with what I would call "classic" socialism (with parts of it rather like European socialism) and with strong central but democratic control of resources, as opposed, say, to Brazil, which is much more like the U.S. in the 1960s--regulated capitalism with strong social spending and controls. I say "opposed" but they are not really "opposed"--they are just different models of social justice, and their leaders are very much in accord on most fundamental questions. What is wholesale "opposed" is U.S. predatory capitalism which is bankrupting a good part of the world in order to make the rich richer.


And just about the only region that has been exempt from that bankruptcy is South America and that is entirely due to LEFTIST government policy in the region--with the people of Venezuela and their government in the lead.

What do you or other opposers of the Chavez government have to say to this? What does the rightwing or centrist opposition in Venezuela have to say to this? What do they offer as solutions? I DON'T CARE what you think about the fireworks! And I am sick and tired of the kneejerk opposition to the Chavez government in the Corporate Press and in your posts that NEVER acknowledges the REALITY of Chavez government accomplishments and ALWAYS and ONLY mentions ANYTHING negative that can be stressed or invented. This is NOT reality. The reality is that Chavez is a highly respected leader. That is WHY Latin American governments held this important meeting in Caracas. And the reality is that the Chavez government has won fair and honest elections in Venezuela, time and gain (much like our FDR) for GOOD REASONS. So--given that reality--how do you, a) criticize it in a reasonable and constructive manner, and b) improve upon it (retain its social justice advances, improve upon them and solve problems that the Chavez government has not solved--such as street crime)?

What is the positive program that you are advancing? Is there one? Can you articulate it? It's not enough to be against Chavez. You have to be FOR something else. What is it? Let us see it--so that we can make our own assessment of its merits, on this vital question: Marketplace vs socialism. Or strong central government vs more local control. Or however you want to frame what you are FOR, not just what you are against.