[Cincinatus' Wife]

Fidel Castro - Cuba

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

December 29, 2000 - Fidel, Saddam and Hugo --An improbable but growing friendship of three military revolutionaries ***Mr. Chávez is the most intriguing new leader to emerge in Latin America since Mr. Castro - and he is the lynchpin between Mr. Castro and Mr. Saddam. Although Cuba had been sending doctors and health workers to Iraq for years, there had not been any major contacts between the two countries until Mr. Chávez appeared on the scene. This fall, Mr. Chávez became the first democratically elected foreign head of state to visit Iraq since the Gulf War, ostensibly to invite Mr. Saddam to a summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But it also was an in-your face gesture toward the United States.

………………..The Iraqi link is one aspect of Mr. Chávez's international involvements that the United States must not underestimate, with Cuba playing a central role. Since he took office in February 1999, Mr. Chávez has proclaimed his "identification" with the Cuban revolution. He visited Havana and entertained Mr. Castro in Caracas for five days last October. Mr. Castro treated Mr. Chávez as a son, an attitude seldom displayed by the Cuban leader toward any young people. During that same visit, Mr. Chávez granted Cuba large crude-oil price discounts, as he has done selectively elsewhere in the Caribbean, and agreed to help complete building a Cuban oil refinery.***

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[Hugin]

Ironically, Freedom House points out, five of the 16 most repressive countries -- China, Cuba, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria -- are all members of the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

Umm, that's six countries, isn't it?

[NetValue]

" The idea of a broader, more aggressive U.S. policy comes with its own set of potential risks and rewards. "

Here they go again; too risky, too soon, too costly, too inflamatory......if you listen to them, Democrats and their media outlets will lead America to failure.

America - If not us, who? If not now, when? If not here, where?

[pragmatic_asian]

Castro isn't an idiot. His crack down comes at a time when even Cuban exiles favored increased engagement. Castro saw what that did to the commies in Europe. The crackdown was also time for when most of the world was paying attention to the Iraq war. Castro just wants to maintain Cuba as his personal fiefdom.

[headsonpikes]

The UN is merely a Protective Association for states, no matter how depraved, all the noble rhetoric about 'Human Rights' notwithstanding.

It is a forum for tinpot dictators and a trough for sleek predatory bureaucrats.

It is perhaps the worst of many enemies of mankind and liberty, perverting as it does the genuine human desire for peace, liberty, and prosperity.