[Marxism] SF Chron: Chavez foes cheered by fall of Aristide

[Chris Brady <cdbrady@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Venezuela opposition takes hope from Haiti developments
Chavez foes watch fall of Aristide, look to U.S. for aid
by Robert Collier, San Francisco Chronicle, Thurs., March 4, 2004
     URL:
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/04/MNGHG5E0V11.DTL

A couple of quotes:

"Protesters carried banners reading 'Bye-bye Aristide, Chavez you're
next,' and calls grew for the army to overthrow Chavez."

"U.S. officials have supported the opposition's attempts to organize the
referendum on Chavez's presidency. In 2004, at least $763,000 in U.S.
foreign aid is being channeled to groups linked to the opposition -- an
amount, however, markedly less than the $2.9 million budgeted this year
for Haitian anti-Aristide 'civil society' groups."
[Another perspective would be provided by an examination of US$ to
Venezuelan rightists in total since the year 2000. But it's good that
news of these subversive infusions was even broached. --c]

[N.B.: The following pundit Mark Falcoff is "a Latin America analyst at
the American Enterprise Institute."  Note also his use of "seemed"--a
subtle touch, some might think, but a glaring hole for wigglers if one
is acquainted with Nixonesque legal loopholes and written-in escape
clauses for contingencies, i.e., if one is caught red-handed.  We also
mustn't forget that US SOP (standard operating procedures) of deception,
plausible deniability, and cover are not restricted to the CIA.]

"...Falcoff suggested that the parallel to Haiti's events might not be
completely mistaken.

     "Like Haiti, where the Bush administration seemed to acquiesce to
the rebels' advance after it became unstoppable, in Venezuela the
administration might agree to give Chavez a shove if he were teetering.
The pressure could include diplomatic or economic sanctions.

     "'We don't want instability,' Falcoff said. 'But if there were
already instability, then maybe the way to stop it would be to remove
the factor that causes it.'"

[The US is shy of instability for its interests, which is why it
provokes instability abroad, and then so graciously offers to put things
back together properly--at a profit!.]

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