Posted on 01/22/2006 8:16:50 PM PST by FairOpinion
As he took office yesterday, Bolivia's new president, Evo Morales, railed against "radical neoliberalism" and hailed revolutionaries such as Che Guevara with an enthusiasm that confirms he has joined the growing legion of leaders tilting Latin America leftward.
The new leaders in countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay join the region's two veteran leftists and U.S.-bashers, Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. Later this year, leftists will have a shot at the top spot in Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua, where candidates include the Sandinista revolutionary dinosaur and former president, Daniel Ortega.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
No wonder S. America loves China and China loves them.
And China would love to increase their influence over Latin America and we can't let them.
Three words:
CLOSE THE BORDER!
Paraguay should start a 'Surrounded by Idiots' tour.
Tomorrow's headline:
"South America Lobbies US for Aid"
Two weks ago Ralph Peters did a column on Bolivia and Venezuela. His advice was for the US to let it be. Why? The East Germans could not make socialism work. Do you think the Bolivians can?
I'm not exactly concerned about Bolivia. Consider that that GDP of Bolivia is $7.9 billion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia#Economy
By comparison the U.S. state with the lowest Gross Product is Vermont at ~ $22 billion.
http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/GSPNewsRelease.htm
We're not exactly talking about the big leagues here.
"By comparison the U.S. state with the lowest Gross Product is Vermont at ~ $22 billion. "
Half of that is Ben and Jerry's.
No surprise. Bolivia is the 2nd-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Look onto this whole deal a little closer and you will find that the US has had a major role in penalizing the native people of Bolivia and now they are in power and all Marxist and there's no love lost between them and us.
The Chinese have prevailed there as they have in many other So American "neighbor " countries.
Ref: Wikipedia-Bolivia
It's a lopsided pendulum. It swings to the left, to the center, and back to the left again.
I agree with that 100%. Left to their own devices the leaders of these nations (eg Morales and Chavez) basically lose their luster and fade away. However, if we interfere, these kook leaders (who are quite adept demagogues by the way) basically have enough ammo to just keep the rabble under their sway. For instance Pat Robertson gave Chavez what is tantamount to an early Christmas present when he said what he said a few months back. Chavez basically milked that statement for all that is was worth.
However left to their own devices these leaders will fail, and they will lose face and standing. Their communist ideologies will fail (communism will ALWAYS fail ....it only looks good on paper but is IMPOSSIBLE to make work in the real world). However if we interfere suddenly these men get boosted to the stratosphere.
Say Castro for example. That guy owes the CIA a whole lot of thanks for some of the things that happened in decades past.
Evo Morales is a coca farmer! He's almost certainly, thereby, a member of a drug cartel, if not all of them.
Bolivia has just 'elected' yet another drug cartel (or several) to "lead" Bolivia! He fits right in with Hugo Chavez of the other cartels (probably all one and the same) and thier pal, Castro, who thinks that cocaine and heroin are just what the U.S. needs!
These guys are all narco terrorists. But, never forget the "narco" as the first name of all of them.
Poor Bolivia. We certainly DO "need to keep an eye on them," no kidding.
Hahaha!
Don't forget Peru, who should start one of their own: the "Surrounded by More Idiots" tour.
Oh, right, like the U.S. should NOT "penalize" drug cartels?
Bolivia's chief industry is the growing and manufacture of cocaine. Secondary is the heroin poppy and it's product.
Spend a little time getting to understand why Bolivia going Marxist as well as other of our South American neighbors is not regarded as a positive development.
Save your on-the -fly judicial commentary for flamers and lurkers and other members in this open-air asylumn...they are more likely to appreciate shooting from the hip.
"The real boogeyman here isn’t the populist leader from an obscure Latin American country, but China and its insatiable appetite for energy sources. China is desperate for oil and gas."
All we need is is arm-chair first responders telling us it's OK.
Go ahead. Tell us how small Bolivia is economically.
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