Hugo, Uncle Ho and Uncle Sam

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/GH26Aa01.html

SPEAKING FREELY
Hugo, Uncle Ho and Uncle Sam
By Curtis A White

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.

After calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a Monday telecast on the Christian Broadcast Network, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson apologized Wednesday by stating: "Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the US is out to kill him."

Robertson's inflammatory rhetoric was minimized by the US State Department, which called his remarks "inappropriate" and said any ideas of hostile action against Chavez or Venezuela were "without fact and baseless". Despite such apologies by Robertson and reassurances by the US, most people know that Robertson said publicly what some in the US have said privately when it comes to the removal of Chavez.

So the question becomes: why is Robertson (and those who share his views) so frustrated with the president of Venezuela? Is he frustrated with Chavez's attempts at building agricultural cooperatives through the implementation of land reform? Is Robertson frustrated with Venezuela using its oil revenue to promote literacy, health and other social programs? Or is it Chavez's call to review all natural resource extraction contracts to make sure that Venezuela is being properly compensated for such assets?

Whatever Robertson's frustrations with Chavez, they seem to be eerily reminiscent of the unwarranted frustrations the US had with the late Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam. The US was unnecessarily frustrated with the probability of having democratically held elections won by a socialist leader in the mid 1950s.

[getmeouttahere]

1. Thanks for this post...good stuff

just more reminders of the good things Chavez is doing. He's no saint, but he's certainly a much stronger and more compassionate leader than BushCo or most other U.S. politicians.

[bridgit]

2. it's all about oil...

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBLDA1ZLCE.html

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. There are those who wish to deny any objective proof that

socialism and democracy are compatible. For them, socialism = communism = dictatorship and it has to be that way if they are to thwart any socialist moves in this country. The idea of a successful socialist democracy is an anathema to them. Hence, the rejection of Ho Chi Minh, the assassination of Allende, the polarizing of the world into communist/socialist vs capitalist/democratic. Hence, also, the aimed for destruction of social security and rejection of national healthcare.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Its the corporate way or no way n/t