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"It's not about Miami vs Havana anymore, it's not CIA vs Castro anymore, it really isn't. The old talking points are falling into obscurity even as we speak."
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The Miami mafia reps in Congress had a meeting with Latin American fascists before Christmas, in their glee and salivation over the prospects for creating mayhem and bloodshed in Latin American leftist countries, by means of the new Scumbag Congress (compliments of Diebold/ES&S). They basically called for a U.S. war on Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and other leftist democracies.
I think you very much underestimate the long term, entrenched power, and control over U.S. foreign policy, of the Miami mafia, and perhaps have fallen for the notion that the Obama State Dept/CIA is different from past U.S. State Dept/CIA's. It is not. Its goals are the same--creation of entirely dominated, intimidated, bullied and bought-and-paid-for U.S. client states, where U.S.-based transglobal corporations can freely ravage resources and workforces for the profit of the rich. The only difference is that the Obama State Dept/CIA faces a different situation--the vast leftist democracy movement that has swept the region--so their intent is re-conquest of the region while trying to hang on, by tooth and claw, to U.S. client states like Honduras. This has not been easy for them, when countries like Brazil, in close alliance with Venezuela and other leftist democracies, absolutely refuse to play the U.S. "divide and conquer" game.
And all this very much IS about "Miami vs Havanna" in the eyes of U.S. policymakers. One of the main reasons for the U.S. backed rightwing coup d'etat in Honduras was that leftist President Mel Zelaya had joined ALBA, the Venezuela-Cuba organized barter trade group, which was created to provide some collective economic/political clout for the smaller and/or poorer countries of the Central America/Caribbean region, in opposition to U.S. "free trade for the rich." The U.S. considers ALBA to be a dire threat. They brutally overthrew Honduras' democracy, mainly because of it (ALBA), and warned off El Salvador, which had applied to join ALBA and decided not to, after the Honduran coup.
What is the threat? The threat is social justice, of which Cuba is the long-standing icon, with Venezuela arising, more recently, as the regional champion and pioneer.
One of the coup generals in Honduras stated that their coup was intended to "prevent communism from Venezuela reaching the United States" (--quoted in a report on the coup from the Zelaya government-in-exile).
"Communism," in this general's mind, and in the minds of U.S. policymakers (who likely planted this idea in his head) = universal health care, universal free education through college, decent wages and benefits, pensions for the elderly poor, use of a country's resources to benefit the people who live there, government as the defender of the poor majority vs "organized money" (as FDR put it), and, in general, government "of, by and for the people" as manifested in the clean elections and high voter turnouts and public participation in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and other leftist countries (and even by the weird hybrid government--part monarchy, part democracy--that has developed in Cuba).
With the exception of Cuba (which has some aspects of democracy but, because of its unique history, is really very hard to categorize), this U.S. stance in Latin America puts the U.S. on the wrong side of every democracy struggle--and, in fact, the U.S. is actively funding and supporting rightwing groups and fascist operatives throughout the region. This is the policy of the Miami mafia. They don't just have a vicious hatred of the Cuba government, which has thoroughly infected U.S. government policy, they hate the Chavez government in Venezuela (honestly elected, very democratic and beneficial), the Morales government in Bolivia (honestly elected, very democratic and beneficial), the Correa government in Ecuador (honestly elected, very democratic and beneficial), etc. They hate democracy in Latin America and so does the U.S. government.
Cuba has never been just about Cuba, ever, in the eyes of the Miami mafia and U.S. government policymakers. It is about imposing the fascist will of the Miami mafia and its allies in Latin America, on Latin American countries, which coincides with the will of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Drummond Coal, Chiquita, Bechtel and all the other U.S. multinational corporations, including war profiteers like Dyncorp, and U.S. and European banksters (IMF/World Bank) to grossly exploit Latin American resources and workers.
This has not changed one bit, and it is evidenced everywhere you look at U.S. activities in the region and in the activities of its ONLY allies in the region--the few, the elite, the rightwingers and the fascists and militarists. Countries where the majority rules--where democracy is real--are targeted for overthrow. U.S policy in Latin American is extremely anti-democratic--one of the more excruciating ironies of its hatred of Cuba and its non-stop criticism of Cuba as "undemocratic." The USAID funneling multi-millions of our tax dollars to rightwing groups all over Latin America is one of the most anti-democratic activities possible, short of supporting outright coup d'etats in Venezuela '02 (failed), Bolivia '08 (failed) and Honduras '09 (successful), which the U.S. is also guilty of.
These utterly hypocritical U.S. policies and actions--not to mention their dire impacts in murder, mayhem and poverty--derive directly from the untoward influence of the Miami mafia in Washington in alliance with U.S. multinational corporate and war profiteer interests.
This has not changed. The U.S. is virulently anti-democratic in Latin America. So is the Miami mafia. And they are in close accord, with an anti-democratic, anti-social justice agenda that goes back half a century, psychotically focused on Cuba because Cuba alone resisted the U.S. installation of heinous fascist dictators throughout the region.
The Obama administration does have a different strategy with regard to Cuba (and has been forced into a different strategy in the region by the success and the unity of leftist governments--for instance, the Brazil-Venezuela alliance). They are trying to take advantage of the old age of Fidel and Raul Castro to worm their way into Cuba to overthrow its social justice government and open the island up to U.S. "free trade for the rich." Cuba is central to the U.S. "circle the wagons" region (Central America/Caribbean) against the coming prosperity and clout of UNASUR (South American EU-type common market). This is also the region of heavy U.S. military presence including numerous U.S. military bases and the newly reconstituted U.S. 4th Fleet in the Caribbean. The U.S. military is the enforcer of "free trade for the rich." They are there to keep the client states in line (and have been quite active in various situations to that purpose--including in Colombia, Honduras, Haiti, Costa Rica and Panama) and to be ready to expand that "circle the wagons' area, when called upon, to, for instance, add Venezuela's Caribbean oil coast and northern oil provinces to the U.S. "sphere of influence" (or, rather, "sphere of domination").
Cuba is at the center of all this--historically, economically, politically. It is targeted for inclusion in the U.S. "circle the wagons" region and will be a particularly resonant triumph for U.S. corporations and war profiteers, however it is done. It will likely take a long time to break the Cuban people--and, for instance, to destroy their free health care and education systems (particular targets of U.S. multinationals)--but that is the goal.
The Cuban people should have no illusions about this. They themselves may want to take advantage of the old age of the Castros to re-make their system--and, for instance, jettison its monarchical aspects and introduce more "marketplace" openness and investment. In studying up on their current system, and with the help of our more learned DUers, I've come to conclusion that Cubans have had considerable experience of democracy--totally hidden from our view, here in the U.S.--and should be quite capable of re-organizing their system in whatever ways they think best, in the interest of their people and their country. But I hope that they remain extremely cautious as to U.S. intentions, for those intentions are terrible. We have only to look at Colombia and Honduras to see how terrible--U.S. supported murder of thousands of trade unionists, human rights workers, teachers, community activists, journalists, peasant farmers and others. They should look to the other end of the island of Cuba for the fate that may be theirs, at U.S. hands. And if Cuba falls, as a country committed to social justice, it could signal the end of all hopes for social justice in Central America and the Caribbean.
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