With elections fast approaching in Nicaragua, the US is MIGHTILY concerned that their old nemisis, Daniel Ortega, appears to be in a position to clinch the victory. So , in an act of such blatant hypocricy one has to wonder what these fools are smoking, the usual assortment of conservative congressmen, state department lackeys and pundits are directly interfering in the sovereign internal workings of a countries democratic process. They are intimidating and threatening the voters of Nicaragua through various low down and underhanded means including a threat to block the remittances sent home to families in Nicaragua by members living and working in the States. Remittances play a large role in the economy of this impoverished nation, a further injustice who's structural underpinnings lie in capitalist exploitation and for which I would need another page and a half to rant about.
Suffice to say, when somebody like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez DARES to express support for a candidate in, say, the Peruvian elections, the US oligarchy goes ballistic with charges of "meddling". The "democracy" the US supports is the kind where our handpicked technocrat wins, something like the purple fingered farce in Iraq. The kind of democracy we punish is the kind where less-than neoliberal or War on Terror-friendly candidates come out on top...think Hamas victory in Palestine.
4 comments:
yeah, the strangest part is that the Sandinistas are nothing like they were back in the 80s. They're now a third way social democrat party kinda like Lula in Brazil.
You bring up a good point. I read an article about this a month ago and I remember thinking the exact same thing
Here are some classic quotes from Chomsky's 1993 article titled: "Teaching Nicaragua a Lesson."
"In October 1988, an even worse natural disaster struck Nicaragua -- Hurricane Joan. We didn't send a penny for that, because if we had, it would probably have gotten to the people, not just into the pockets of some rich thug. We also pressured our allies to send very little aid."
"This devastating hurricane, with its welcome prospects of mass starvation and long-term ecological damage, reinforced our efforts. We wanted Nicaraguans to starve so we could accuse the Sandinistas of economic mismanagement. Because they weren't under our control, Nicaraguans had to suffer and die."
"As the election campaign opened, the US made it clear that the embargo that was strangling the country and the contra terror would continue if the Sandinistas won the election...You have to be some kind of Nazi or unreconstructed Stalinist to regard an election conducted under such conditions as free and fair -- and south of the border, few succumbed to such delusions."
"If anything like that were ever done by our enemies... I leave the media reaction to your imagination. The amazing part of it was that the Sandinistas still got 40% of the vote, while New York Times headlines proclaimed that Americans were "United in Joy" over this "Victory for US Fair Play."
What can be said of the blatant public interference the U.S. is using in Nicaragua? This tactic of public intervention might highlight the lack of resources the U.S. has to fight real democracy. No doubt the imperial death grip with which the U.S. strangles the rest of the world is loosening.
Well it's official now. Ortega was quick however, after the election, to say he wants to continue CAFTA and keep capitalism. Nothing sadder than a sell out scab like Ortega. Nothing to see here. More poverty for Nicargua....
Post a Comment