But I guess I must be one of the few writers out there who actually take the time to cross-check, verify and investigate ... before I open my big mouth.
George Maynard, a 4th-semester natural resources management and engineering major, certainly doesn't hear that little voice ... he probably only hears his own voice. The thing is, how could such a supposedly educated character like 'George-know-it-all' ever aspire to become an honest engineer if he write dishonest stuff? I wouldn't trust him. I wouldn't hire him ... but I am quite sure that George-the-war-monger would.
Anyway, he, George, wrote an article entitled, Chavez And FARC - A Match Made In Hell in which he says things with little backing of any sort ... a sad affair.
Let us begin to tear his writing apart, bit by bit shall we?
He begins with "Hugo Chavez has once again proven himself to be a blustering, pompous fool with little concern for anything other than his own posturing as some sort of 'anti-imperialist hero.' "
Okay, little concern for anything? Like what?
He addresses this issue at the end of his article. He continues, "To this end, Chavez has given
verbal and - allegedly - financial support for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Chavez' government and FARC share the common ideology that Marxist socialism needs to be spread across South America to protect the continent from "imperialist" forces of the United States."
Wrong!
'George-the-all-knowing.' Chavez and the FARC do not share the same Marxist ideology. I guess Georgie has never watched "Alo Presidente," Chavez' almost-weekly Sunday television program. Here is the link: http://www.vtv.gob.ve/envivo.php Try to inform yourself before you make such a ridiculous statement ... oh ... and I assume you speak enough Spanish to watch 'Alo Presidente' since you appear to be an expert on Venezuela:
By the way ... in case George cannot understand Spanish ... Chavez is socialist, not a communist or a Marxist ... and Chavez is pushing for socialism versus unabashed capitalism. Canada, England and whole host of other European countries are socialist states, in case you didn't know, George ... and Venezuela, by the way, is not a socialist country, yet. It is a country of extreme capitalism, more capitalist than the USA. However, since Chavez has come to power, he has managed to set up several parallel socialist systems, such as free health care, free education,
etc. ... but Venezuela remains one of the most capitalist countries I have ever been to ... and I have been to 34 and worked in 12, including in Kuwait during the first invasion of Iraq by the USA, the Gulf War.
Maybe you should visit Venezuela ... and see the number of new vehicles on the road, the giant
billboards advertising the latest styles, the packed restaurants, the huge shopping centers ... full of people. I live in Venezuela.
Then he continues on with stuff about Chavez and the FARC, without providing any dates or example or references ... and then he says "Chavez has decided that Colombia's president is an imperialist stooge and seems to be continually looking for an excuse to provoke Colombia into open war."
Chavez is provoking Colombia into open war?
How precisely is that, George? Can you explain?
He doesn't ... he conveniently skips over this issue and delves directly into bad-mouthing the
FARC, which I am sure he has never met, and which I am sure he would be too chicken to go meet.
Let me tell you about provocation, 'George-the-great' ... a couple of years back, the Colombian government was caught red-handed assisting about 100 Colombian mercenaries while they set up camp in Caracas with the intent to either assassinate Chavez or cause internal violence. In early 2003, the Colombian embassy was bombed in Chacaito (Caracas) and it was found out to have been a set-up to blame Chavez. The blast took place at about 4 a.m. and I was there to see it with my own eyes at about 8 a.m.
Provocation, you say? There are many more examples, but this will suffice ... however, I am
presently in the process of beginning an investigation of Colombian paramilitaries such as the AUC, which are traditionally linked to the Colombian government elite, who are said to have been infiltrating the shantytown of Petare, one of Caracas' largest barrios, in order to cause violence so as to blame Chavez, again.
Provocation you say ... hummm. Ding, dong, ding, dong ...
Oh ... and I almost forgot ... Chavez did not decide that Colombia's president (Uribe) is an imperialist stooge, Uribe did ... and anyone with an ounce of reason knows that. It is quite obvious.
He then goes on to bad-mouth the FARC, but he "forgets" to compare the few deaths caused by the FARC over 40 years+ to the thousands of deaths caused by the Colombian government and its puppet organizations such as the AUC. Here is a quote about the AUC from Wikipedia:
According to the Colombian National Police, in the first ten months of 2000 the AUC conducted 804 assassinations, 203 kidnappings, and 75 massacres with 507 victims.
For the matter of argument, if you multiply this over a period of about 9 years (about 100 months), one gets the following figures:8040 assassinations, 2030 kidnappings, 750 massacres with 5070 victims. This is a far far cry from anything that the FARC has ever done ... don't you think George-of-the-concrete-jungle?
Try to find any information about such things having been perpetrated by FARC. Yes, there have been a few incidents, but nothing compared to what the AUC and the Colombian military and the US mercenary forces have been doing in Colombia for the last 10 years or so.
It should also be recalled that the AUC was set up to protect the elite, who are the same ones that run the Colombian government ... and that the USA supports and finances the Colombian government through, amongst other things, Plan Colombia. Do you the link Sir George ... AUC, Colombian elite, Colombian government, the USA?
You may also not know, George-Bush-alike, that between 1948 and 1958 over 200,000 deaths occurred in Colombia after a populist political leader was assassinated.
Then George-the-almighty says something that is completely out of whack ... because he hides pertinent information. He says, "Most of FARC's funding comes from the production and smuggling of this illicit drug, making it just a drug cartel that wants to control the entirety of the country it operates in."
Perhaps he does not want his readers to know that the AUC, the mercenary forces which back the Colombian elite also fund themselves with drug-running? You can read it clearly in
Wikipedia. Here is a quote: The AUC asserted itself as a regional and national counter-insurgent force. Former AUC leader Carlos Castaño Gil in 2000 claimed 70 percent of the AUC's operational costs were financed with drug-related earnings, the rest coming from "donations" from its sponsors.
I wonder who exactly were the AUC "sponsors," King George? Let me guess. Surely and without a doubt, the Colombian elite, since the AUC was set up to work for them. How about the Colombian government? Probably.
How about the US government? How about Plan Colombia? I twiddle my thumbs.
Then George-of-the-USA says, "Chavez, however, is so blindly anti-American that he refuses to see the damage FARC is wreaking on Colombia's civilians. He simply views the conflict as America and Colombia versus the oppressed rebels."
Chavez is a brilliant man ... and he is far from being blind. By the way, George-the-smart-student, I live a portion of the year in Venezuela along the Colombian border. Of course Chavez is anti-American ... like most people in this entire world.
- You may not know this ... but my estimate is that about 80% of the non-USA world's population hate Americans ... does that mean we are all blind too?
"Use your coco," as my father used to say!
Then he goes on with this, "In addition to his military posturing, Chavez has also shut down all commerce between Colombia and Venezuela, to the detriment of the poor on both sides of the
border." Then George-the-master-inventor goes on with details, as if he were some sort of expert "Colombia is a large exporter of cheap food into Venezuela. Venezuela, meanwhile, exports cheap oil to Colombia. Without the influx of low-cost food from Colombia, hunger will begin to rear its ugly head in Venezuela. Of course, the poor will be the hardest hit because they won't be able to afford food as prices rise and supply drops. In Colombia, the poor will be unable to afford oil for heat or gas for their vehicles and machinery. By enforcing this blockade, which will hurt the already impoverished people of that region, Chavez is showing his true colors. Just like the terrorists he is defending, Chavez has no real concern for the poor, only selfish concern for himself and his political dogma."
What? Detriment to the poor?
George, hello? I guess you don't know the area around San Cristobal, Urena, San Antonio, Orope, Casigua del Cubo, Santa Barbara del Zulia, etc. I know the area very well ... I have a grocery store in the area. I deal with the imports and exports in the area ... and you are completely full of
horse manure to state that "the poor" are suffering from whatever trade problems exist. The fact is that the speculators and the middlemen are suffering ... not the poor. The entire region along the borders is farmland and ranching territory ... all sorts of food grows there.
Yes, perhaps "the poor" may be suffering because they now cannot buy luxury items imported from Colombia?
I have to assume that George has never lived in Venezuela for he has no idea of what is going on here. Previous to Chavez, the poorer Venezuelan, accounting for up to 80% of the population had very little or no access to education, health care, fair wages, food, housing and government
programs (the very few that existed).
Never in the history of Venezuela have the poorer people had as much food as they have now. They were consistently and systematically (because of the apartheid-like society) exploited not only by the Venezuelan mid-to-upper classes, but by giant US-based corporations which basically evaded taxes, piling up huge profits at the expense of the poorer 80%.
This is changing in Venezuela since Chavez has been in power.
It is only because of Chavez that poverty has been dramatically reduced for the first time in Venezuelan history ... and meanwhile, people like you George, and the US State Department and the US mass media and US "analysts" and "experts," most of whom have never stepped foot in Venezuela, let alone in a shantytown (where I live), continue to slander Venezuela, slander Chavez and blame everything on him instead of looking in the mirror.
Oscar Heck
oscarheck111@yahoo.com
But these people aren't interested in the truth a whole lot, are they? They're only really interested in spinning up justification for the ruling-class' interventionist policies.
ReplyDeleteI mean, what real interest would some snot-nosed engineering student in the U.S. have in América Latina at all, let alone in the details of people's lives in Colombia and Venezuela? There's only one reason his malign interest has come to rest on Venezuela momentarily: his masters on the TV have dictated it so. And so he complies, little puppet fool that he is.
But I'm sure he's expecting a payoff somewhere down the line too, for toeing this Party line.