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As I see all these Americans going to Cuba, it’s never been so clear to me how good communism was for America. Because “our” (today multi-nationals) corporations actually had to employ Americans, with so many countries closed off to them in the world.
US companies did do some activity in some communist nations, the “libertarian” Kochs for example made their fortune in the Soviet Union as I understand. But for the most part American corporations were shut out of the communist world, at least until Richard Nixon went to China. And so, before we “won” the Cold War we actually had an economy!
As for Obama’s Cuba “rapprochement” I’ve just seen it suggested today that with the tensions with Russia riding as high as they’ve been since that was a communist nation, perhaps this olive branch to Cuba is an effort to prohibit Russia from stationing anything of military significance there. Not that crazy of an idea, because I’d imagine neighboring nations of Russia will be increasingly armored and militarized up until the point that this new Cold War ends. And so, as Obama may be at least ostensibly a peacemaker in one arena, we should never forget the number of fronts that America is still on the offensive — and that in fact Obama is doing the bidding — for the financial oligarchs and others through whose “beneficence” as well “charity” that he indeed “reigns”.
Not only is Guantanamo Bay an illicit torture and concentration camp for alleged terrorists, but numerous legitimately recognized legal scholars have called into question the continued acceptance for the US government to still be occupying its military enclave there. Additionally, many of the purported “terrorist” poor unfortunates who continue to reside there, were actually individuals who were picked up in avaricious sweeps — by less than utterly scrupulous people — in return for bounties/reward money. The government of Cuba, of course, thinks that the US has far overstayed its welcome and is certainly in contravention of international laws and standards by retaining a foothold at “its” age-old military stomping grounds. And moreover, indeed the former head of the U.S. interests section in Havana from 2005-2008 Michael Parmly has stated that, “Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is not U.S. territory. Cuba is the ultimate owner.”
President Theodore Roosevelt dictated the terms to the Cuban Constitutional Assembly in 1903 that the base would be leased in perpetuity. The agreement does, however, conclusively and unreservedly state that the ultimate sovereign over the base is the government of Cuba. A provision that is, of course, rendered superfluous today by the empire’s authoritative and domineering actions. And so in other words, the United States is unequivocally bullying the government of Cuba, which is only something that Secretary of State John Kerry recently lectured Vladimir Putin on vis a vis his ongoing reaction to the situation in Crimea/the Ukraine. Additionally, Cuba also refuses to cash monthly checks of $4,085 that it receives ostensibly in payment for the American purported lease of the base. It has only has ever cashed one such check at all; however, and that was only in error in the early days of the tumult and instability of the nascent Cuban Revolution.
Does this sound like a democratic practice, by free association — the means of which that the empire retains a hold/control over this military base? The resounding message from the Republic of Cuba seems to be akin to like that of which one would want to send to an unwanted house guest. The patron no longer cares what the guest is willing to barter, trade, or dicker in exchange for some continuous refuge, it’s simply just; there frankly isn’t any other easy way to put it, gotten/deteriorated to the point of (getting the person out of there) anyway and how! Indeed, it’s of course said in the lexicon that a creature — such as a leopard — never changes its spots. And so, in the context of our current question it’s not unreasonable then to lead one to wonder, if a bully is a creature that is ever prone to change any of its such body insignia/demarcations either? In fact, in a recent Guardian of London article President Maduro of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, seemed to verify that in the case of the United States a chronic, deep-seated, and moreover incorrigible behavior might be something that’s at fault here.
In the article President Maduro elucidated that, “Is 100 years of intervention… enough: against Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chile, Grenada, Brazil? Is the coup attempt against President Chávez by the Bush administration not enough? Why does the US have 2,000 military bases in the world? To dominate it. I have told President Obama: we are not your backyard anymore.” This penetrating quotation, to be sure, may suggest that what’s at the root of the US imperialism/neo-colonialism is a personality disorder of sorts, and of extreme proportion that afflicts the American body politic on a widespread and indeed on a comprehensive scale. In fact, the patient could be on the gurney — and the doctors might be at the ready, but if an unwilling subject is abetted by a static constitution and is not amenable to humanitarian intervention; then the odds of a solution emerging, are about as unlikely as nearly anything that one is thoroughly capable (or even predisposed or inordinately prone) to quite vividly imagine.
“I like Latin America; I view South America as the underdog in this situation. As a moviemaker I tend to make movies about people who don’t get a fair shake.” – Academy Award winning filmmaker, Oliver Stone
“One of the hemisphere’s great democratic leaders.” – George H.W. Bush on Carlos Andres Perez
Obama sounds very ignorant and uniformed and shortsighted, when he speaks on the issue of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Poverty’s down, literacy is up, education is up, and there are even more alternative voices in the Venezuelan media — which is actually largely right-wing. Obama’s blathering on Venezuela, would seem to be lacking a lot of verifiable substance and certifiable facts; and indeed, most Latin American countries had US puppets in power for years, and with dismal/wanting results. Chavez and all the others, in fact, represent, the failure of decades of US policy in Latin America.
Apparently, Obama didn’t read Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America, given to him by Chavez; I don’t think Obama reads anything but the sports pages (we already know that he loves to fill out the NCAA brackets). And as to the issue of Venezuela’s relations with so-called rogue states — as determined by the incomparable rogue state the US — Cuba is now going the way of China, and it has become increasingly ridiculous for our power elite to criticize its “socialist” path. In relation to Iran, Venezuela, of course — unlike the United States — has a foreign policy, that doesn’t involve hating upon countries, that have different systems (or ways of being) than it does.
Chavez has even negotiated better relations with the US bosom puppet state, Colombia, since Juan Manuel Santos came to power. Santos has proven to be somewhat more pragmatic vis-a-vis Venezuela, than his predecessor Alvaro Uribe aka “little Bush”, who Chavez even efforted to work with at times. Uribe strongly attacked his successor for, ultimately, coming to amicable terms with the Bolivarian President. And Chavez was attacked by some on the left for appeasement with the reactionary, serial human rights violating — and supine to the United States — Colombian regime.
Regarding, all of the hoopla relating to the shutting down of the anti-regime channel RCTV, the actual truth of the matter is that the Venezuelan media, is probably freer — and far more open — than the United States media is. Certainly, at least, as a check or an opposition. And moreover, the Venezuelan state media actually has very limited pull; and in fact, the United States media, often acts as a state run media, and not one that is free to report in its pertinent, exacting and judicious role would.
For example, when Obama went into Libya, he did not even consider the Constitution — which was sparsely reported by the MSM. And moreover, the US and NATO almost immediately violated the Libyan UN Resolution in their bombing campaign against that country; and the legalities of that were again sparsely, if at all, commented upon by the mainstream press. In addition, the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens with drones, has not been given its due attention — and has not been rigorously debated — in the US mainstream media so-called dialogue and/or “public square”.
Noam Chomsky, I think, is an illustrative example of the narrow limitations of the US mainstream press. He is, unequivocally, one of the preeminent scholars in the United States — who is in the same “citation league” as Marx, Lenin, Shakespeare, Plato, Cicero, Aristotle and Freud — and he is rarely seen or heard from in the US corporatist press. Why this is so, is certainly up for question/debate, but his sentiment on Israel is certainly a likely culprit; for this, seemingly troubling and irrational stance.
Numerous other noted scholars, authors, and commentators are completely blacklisted from the United States “mainstream” media and press. The media landscape is, in fact, filled with platitude repeating dittoheads and so-called political experts that willfully, and willingly seek to assuage the professional political class. The alleged watchdog role of the media, has certainly seemed to have deteriorated, to that of a lap dog press.
Returning to the question of Venezuela, however, Chavez actually originally came to notoriety, leading a movement against the US-backed Carlos Andres Perez regime. At the time hundreds, were killed in an anti-IMF riot, and his supporters now commonly refer to that day as ‘4F’. Although, Chavez was involved in an attempted coup d’etat, on that occasion, his supporters say this action took place — within the backdrop of a society — that was highly undemocratic and remarkably socially unjust. And not only that, but popular demonstrations, were violently suppressed under this US-backed “democratic” administration. One wonders what the private citizen Obama, was enunciating back then — if anything at all?
Obama — who has hailed Ronald Reagan more than once — is just once again showing his true, nauseating and despicable inner colors. Though he has now long since been unmasked (for any who would care to look), it is just so saddening to see this kind of anachronistic mentality, still being pushed on to emancipating nations of the Global South. Particularly by Obama, of course — a man of partial Kenyan ancestry, proffering this sort of cipherous bile, ridiculous claptrap, and preposterous trash. Venezuela, a comparatively diminutive country, is simply seeking to set out upon an autonomous path. It is a country that is after its own singularly unique, robust and purposeful course.
The Anything and Everything 