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During the ColdWar we boosted democracy (interfered?) in Greece, France and Italy by supporting and financing Christian Democratic type parties against the Communist Party, Trade Unions and Left/Socialist Parties.

Castro, the Carribean, and Terrorism

I was in Brazil last June/July. Visited several friends in towns where the so called Workers Party had mayors installed in those cities. So far, workers movement has a temporary stronghold in those cities, but the populace was already getting tired of their rhetoric. This movement will be a fad for about 8 to 12 years. After that, the people will see right through it and that the government won't be any better than the old government. So far, this has been a peaceful and democratic movement. I think if we have the hands off approach, and attempt to work with them, they can still be our allies,even though they are socialist government. I have never felt threatened with anti-Americanism while there, in fact, most Brazilians like the US (although they are a silent majority). It will be interesting to see how all of this develops. Another curiosity, the current movement is also faith based...most churches and church members that I visited (Baptist, Presbiterian, Methodist) while I was down there supported the workers movement, yet they were more fundamental in their beliefs than most of the protestant churches here in the US - interesting.

Nations, like people, should be allowed to commit suicide. Having said that, we should cordon off the idiots - not a penny in aid or forgiven loans -and let them stew in their own juices.

Like communism? Here's a gun, shoot yourself in the head - it's quicker and less painful.

I BELIEVE THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM.

However, the Charismatic/Pentecostal church there is a growing and vibrant one. I wouldn't count them out quite yet. They know how to pray, at least.

BUMP!

." In previous years he had stated he favored nuclear weapons for Brazil and a much closer relationship with Communist Cuba and China, but he had kept his views about international issues out of the campaign. Then on Sept. 13, Mr. da Silva publicly said Brazil should move toward resuming its nuclear weapons program by leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/757143/posts , Brazil uranium sales to Iraq stir debate

Recent allegations by a dissident Iraqi scientist that Saddam Hussein's regime is constructing nuclear weapons using uranium supplied by Brazil during the early 1980s have led to the re-emergence of claims that the country smuggled large amounts of the material to Iraq in exchange for oil and nuclear weapons technology

Despite the denials, Kucinsky said that he believes Brazil's military dictators had an ulterior motive in the early '80s for forging a relationship with Iraq -- namely, the creation of the country's own nuclear weapons program. Brazil was conducting what many then referred to as "parallel nuclear programs." One was an aboveboard financing of projects utilizing nuclear power as an energy source; another was the regime's unofficial pursuit of nuclear warheads
"So it is possible that the agreement included also the exchange of nuclear information," said Kucinsky. "Brazil would get nuclear help from Iraq as oil in exchange for its uranium."
What aroused suspicions at the time that Brazil's relationship with Iraq wasn't what it appeared was the June 7, 1981, bombing by Israeli fighter jets of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in Osirak.
"This is what attracted attention to the whole issue," he said.
Twenty-one years later, a possible new clue to the exact nature of Brazilian-Iraqi ties is adding further credence to the theory that Brazil indeed sold weapons-ready uranium to Iraq in exchange for help in developing its own nuclear program.
Jornal da Tarde reported last week that about 40 Brazilian scientists were in the Osirak power plant during the 1981 Israeli bombing.
"This brings forth the suspicion that this agreement between Iraq and Brazil was not only in exchange for oil but also there was some sort of nuclear, scientific cooperation between the two countries to develop nuclear weapons," Kucinsky said.
While not an admission to collaborating with Iraq on nuclear weapons, a Brazilian nuclear commission official told UPI on condition of anonymity that during the 1980s, "Iraq was seen as just one more commercial partner." The official said that "Saddam was not at that time, the monster that he is today."
The Times interview with Hamza notes another possible clue tog the nature of Brazil-Iraq relations in the early 1980s.
Before leaving Iraq in 1998 -- just days before U.S.-led air strikes -- U.N. weapons inspectors had dismantled an illegally imported German centrifuge installation that had been used to refine progressively natural or low-enriched uranium until it became suitable for weapons, the Times reported
German scientist Karl-Heinz Schaab -- who had been sought by German authorities since 1990 on charges of selling German uranium enrichment technology to Iraq before the Gulf War -- had spent time in Rio de Janeiro while eluding German authorities. He was captured returning to Germany and convicted of treason in 1999.
In March 1998, Brazil's Federal Supreme Court turned down an extradition request for Schaab, saying he was charged with a politically motivated crime, which meant that under Brazilian law, could not be extradited

If the past is any indication, we'd better be paying attention...