While he may be dead in the
corporal sense, the spirit of Simon Bolivar continues to wage
the struggle for freedom from oppression. Hugo Chavez is
perhaps the most familiar incarnation of Bolivar's élan vital as he
defies the neocolonial policies of the United States, a nation which
has supplanted the European colonial empires as looters of
Latin American bounty. Bolivar's spiritual essence also burns
brightly in Evo Morales, another leader of the poor and
oppressed in Latin America. Barring a CIA-orchestrated
assasination or sabotage of the election process, in December
Morales will be the next democratically-elected president of
Bolivia. And deservedly so.
The only thing they
have to fear is fear itself....or is there something more?
As they have with Chavez,
the United States government and its lapdogs in the mainstream media
have vilified Morales. Morales and Chavez are both portrayed as
"threats" to the United States and have been characterized
as "enemies". It is mind-boggling that the leaders of the
wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of humanity can
view these men or their tiny nations (neither of which have the
military might to overpower the state of Rhode Island) as legitimate
threats. Is the US power elite suffering from delusional
paranoia? Actually, their fears are well-founded, but one needs to
analyze the situation a bit more closely to discern the root cause
of their trepidations.
The "Least of
my Brethren"
Hugo Chavez has
publicly castigated the United States (and Bush II in particular) on
several occasions. Drawing calls for his assasination from
"respected US Christian leader" Pat Robertson, Chavez has
clearly stated his intention to use his vast petroleum
resources as a geopolitical weapon against the United States. He
drew thunderous applause at the UN for his speech in which he
maligned the United States government and its policies. As the
democratically-elected president of Venezuela, a member of the
indigenous population, a survivor of a US-sponsored coup in 2002,
and the winner of a recall referendum in 2004, Chavez has utilized
his nation's rich oil reserves to wage a war on poverty. He has used
oil revenues to provide schools, medical care, and basic necessities
at subsidized prices to the 80% of Venezuelans who live below the
poverty line. He has also instituted land reforms to provide
impoverished farmers an opportunity at ownership.
Aligning himself closely
with Fidel Castro, a man who has been a thorn in the collective
sides of the United States ruling elite for years, Chavez has drawn
further ire from US leaders. Since 1959, Castro has bedeviled the US
government as the Cuban leader who deposed Fulgencio Batista, a
ruthless dictator whom the US government supported. While ruling
Cuba, Batista widened the wealth gap to a chasm (sound familiar?)
and dispatched his death squads, which captured, tortured, and
murdered thousands of "Leftists". Castro is certainly no
saint, but Cuba was not exactly a paradise under America's
proxy either.
Trading oil for the use of
many of Cuba's superbly-trained physicians, Chavez has parlayed his
relationship with Castro to an advantage for the poor of his nation.
Ironically, the infinitely benevolent and wise leaders of the United
States rejected offers of help from both Chavez and Castro during
Hurricane Katrina. While the Bush regime spurned overtures of help
from our "enemies", over a thousand Americans died in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a result of criminal neglect and
incompetence on the part of a US government now geared almost
solely to represent and sustain the interests of the wealthy,
corporations and the military industrial complex.
Chavez is not alone
as the revolution gains momentum
Meanwhile, in Bolivia, a
man named Evo Morales represents another incarnation of the spirit
of Simon Bolivar as he fights to squelch US imperial interests in
his nation. Standing on the brink of winning the presidency in
the elections scheduled for December of 2005, Morales represents the
next link in the chain of fierce Latin American resistance to US
exploitation of their people and resources.
Juan Evo Morales Ayma was
born in 1959 in Orinco to a family of indigenous Quechuans, but
moved to Chapare province in the 1980's to cultivate coca leaf.
Growing coca leaf is a practice dating back to the Incan
Empire. While the Indigenous people of Bolivia, who comprise over
50% of the population, chew coca leaves to ease hunger and make folk
medicines, coca leaf is also the primary ingredient in cocaine. As
part of its "War on Drugs", the United States began a
program in the 1990's to eradicate coca production. In 1998, Plan
Dignity, a barbaric and violent US-sponsored effort,
resulted in the elimination of nearly 80% of coca production and
left the campesinos in Bolivia with no economically viable
alternative crops to cultivate. Supplied and supported by the United
States, the Expeditionary Task Force, a paramilitary unit which the
locals called "America's Mercenaries", reportedly engaged
in violence and murder. Just imagine if Canada financed paramilitary
forces in the United States which wiped out 80% of the production of
Sudafed and Iodine because they are used in the manufacture of
crystal meth. How long would Americans stand for that?
In response to the
intrusive, oppressive policies of the United States and its
puppet Bolivian president, Hugo Banzer, Evo Morales emerged as
a leader of the Cocaleros, an opposition movement comprised
primarily of coca growers. His support in Chapare and Carrasco de
Cochabamba was strong enough that he was elected to the national
Congress in Bolivia in 1997 by the widest margin amongst the 68
Congresspeople who won in that election.
In the words of
Morales:
'There is a
unanimous defence of coca because the coca leaf is becoming the
banner for national unity, a symbol of national unity in defence of
our dignity. Since coca is a victim of the United States, as coca
growers we are also victims of the United States, but then we rise
up to question these policies to eradicate coca.
'Now is the
moment to see the defence of coca as the defence of all natural
resources, just like hydrocarbon, oil, gas; and this consciousness
is growing. That is why it is an issue of national unity.'
As a leader with
widespread popular support, and a powerful force within the Movement
to Socialism (MAS) party, Morales began to broaden his agenda beyond
that of supporting the cultivation of coca. Like Chavez in
Venezuela, Morales has emerged as a champion of the poor and
oppressed, and by default, a fierce opponent of the blatantly
corrupt plutocracy in Washington DC.
The (Corporate)
"American Way"
In early 2000, Morales
began intense efforts to stymie the imperial policies of the United
States, which enable multinational corporations to engage in obscene
exploitation of other nations. Demonstrating the depths of the
cruelty of the "free market", neoliberal economic policies
which the corporatocracy of the United States imposes on other
nations, a large multi-national corporation called Aguas de
Tanari was on the verge of purchasing the water works in
Cochabamba, a Morales strong-hold. Under their business plan, 65% of
the locals would not have been able to afford drinking water.
Supporting Aguas de Tanari's dreams of imposing nightmares
on the people, local laws were passed which criminalized catching
and using rain water. Morales and his allies led powerful protests,
which included road-blocks, and eventually crushed the
despicable effort to inflict misery and suffering to generate
profit.
Down, but
definitely not out
In early 2002, the
Bolivian government issued Supreme Decree 26415, which essentially
prohibited the sale of coca-leaf. Riots broke out in Sacaba, which
was home to a legal coca market. Four campesinos and three
Bolivian soldiers were killed. Pressure from the US embassy led to
the removal of Morales from his Congressional seat for his
involvement in so called "terrorism" in Sacaba. His
removal was later determined to be unconstitutional.
The next round of
elections in Bolivia in June of 2002 whisked Morales back into
office. In pre-election polling, MAS barely registered with a paltry
4%. However, thanks to powerful opposition to US presence and
influence in their nation, 20.94% of Bolivians supported MAS in
the election. MAS came in only slightly behind the winning party.
Unfortunately for the Bolivian people, they traded one proponent of
US policies for another. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada replaced Jorge
Quiroga.
Leave our
hydrocarbons alone!
Lozada's allegiance to
US interests eventually cost him his presidency. Bolivia possesses
vast natural gas reserves, which until the Bolivian Gas War in 2003,
were exploited by multi-nationals through neoliberal policies
instituted by the United States. In October of 2003, the Bolivian
military killed nearly one hundred members of the poor and working
class who participated in strikes and created road blocks in
opposition to the theft of their nation's precious resources. Lozada
resigned and fled the country, leaving his vice-president, Carlos
Mesa, to rule Bolivia.
More protests against
Bolivian government-enabled exploitation of the nation's hydrocarbon
resources erupted in mid-2005. Morales was instrumental in the
protests and in the subsequent ouster of Mesa as president.
Attacking from yet another angle, Morales (and his increasingly
powerful MAS party) also called for the indictments of Mesa, Quiroga,
and Lozada for their complicity in partnering with multi-national
corporations in plundering Bolivian oil and natural gas
(without the approval of the Bolivian Congress).
Take another
moment to empathize here
Envision LUKoil of
Russia seizing control of the oil industry in Alaska. In
return for paying small royalties and minimal taxes, LUKoil
gets to pump, keep, and sell as much American oil as it chooses.
LUKoil profits handsomely while consuming our resources
with minimal return to the United States. Somehow, I do not
think that would fly with the American public. Yet our
government enables powerful corporations to treat
Bolivians in this manner. Maybe that is why they are
called free market policies. Hypocrisy be
thy name.
As Morales gears up for
the impending presidential election in December, his commitment to
economic justice and human rights in the face of the oppressive,
malevolent agenda of the United States government and its proxies in
Bolivia remains clear and strong.
Summarizing his
position succinctly, Morales stated,
"The
worst enemy of humanity is capitalism. That is what provokes
uprisings like our own, a rebellion against a system, against a
neoliberal model, which is the representation of a savage
capitalism. If the entire world doesn't acknowledge this reality,
that the national states are not providing even minimally for
health, education and nourishment, then each day the most
fundamental human rights are being violated."
To what conclusion
do the facts lead?
After careful consideration
of the facts, it becomes quite clear why the corporate
interests and incredibly wealthy hijackers of our
constitutional republic in the United States are so desperate to
convince their "electorate" that men like Hugo Chavez and
Evo Morales are our "enemies". These men do pose a grave
threat. If they maintain their hold on power and continue to advance
the Bolivarian Revolution throughout Central and South America,
powerful corporations will lose their capacity to commit legal
larceny by plundering resources (a practice which leaves much of the
Latin American population living in abject poverty). Morales is
undermining the charade our government calls the "War on
Drugs", which is simply another means of employing military
intervention in the region and supporting ruthless leaders who implement
policies favorable to the interests of the wealthy elite of the
United States.
Yes, Morales is a dangerous
man indeed. Like Chavez, he is rising like an
ominous storm on the horizon, poised to strike powerful bolts of
lightening through the fat wallets of the proponents of
neoliberal economic policies (which are modern means of non-violent
colonization). The Bush regime has legitimate reasons for fearing
these men. They are imminent threats to the health of US cash cows
throughout the Latin American region.
Based on the fact that
the US government and media are defining Morales and Chavez as
our "enemies" because they champion human rights and
economic equality for their people in the face of American
neocolonialism, I conclude that the Bush regime and many
members of our Fourth Estate are morally bankrupt. What is even more
distressing about their persistent efforts to convince
Americans that Morales and Chavez are Antichrists is the fact
that those who stand to "suffer" from this Bolivarian "diabolical
scheme" to end US economic exploitation and oppression in Latin
America represent a small fraction of the US population.
Who will "feel
the pain" if multi-nationals can no longer steal from Latin
Americans?
Members of the Bush
regime....do you really care?
The 1% of Americans who own
33% of the wealth....yawn
Executives and major
share-holders of large corporations.....oh, the pain,
the pain
Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez
are friends to the majority of Americans, and to most of humanity.
Each step of success for the Bolivarian Revolution will be a step in
the evolution of humanity toward the fulfillment of the teachings
and dreams of Christ, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and other
great spiritual leaders throughout human history. Progress for
the Bolivarians means regression for the cancer on humanity referred
to as neoliberalism, or more appropriately, economic imperial
conquest.
So the next time Fox or CNN
portrays Morales and Chavez as enemies of the United
States, remember that sometimes rooting for the "bad guys"
can be a good thing.
Jason Miller is a
38 year old activist writer with a degree in liberal arts. He
works as a loan counselor in the transportation industry, and is a
husband with three sons. His affiliations include Amnesty
International and the ACLU. He welcomes responses at willpowerful@hotmail.com
or comments on his blog, Thomas Paine's Corner, at
http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/.
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