[Marxism] Joaquin Villalobos & the "Salvador Option"

["Eli Stephens" <elishastephens@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Newsweek reporter Christopher Dickey lets us know about the evolution of
former Salvadorean guerilla leader Joaquin Villalobos:

Because we're talking about the supposed Salvador Option, I figured I'd get
back in touch with Joaqun Villalobos, El Salvador's most brilliant guerrilla
leader . Now at Oxford, he favored the Iraq war in 2003, but is dumbfounded
by the direction the conflict has taken. Villalobos was dryly analytical, as
ever. "The problem of repression and its possible effectiveness corresponds
to five basic elements: proportionality, the scope of the conflict, time, a
context that favors a multiplier effect or not, and the ability to control
what you're doing." If so, a helluva lot more fine tuning is needed than
we're likely to see in Iraq any time soon. "If the generals think that with
the hatred against the United States that exists in the region, with the
divisions in Iraqi society, with Syria, Iran and others around, starting a
dirty war is something that will give them an edge, they are totally and
absolutely lost and desperate," says Villalobos. "Invading Iraq without a
post-war plan created chaos, subsequent mistakes converted the chaos into
organized resistance, and if they keep blundering ahead blindly, they'll
convert the resistance into a real civil war."

Full: <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814231/site/newsweek/>

And here's an earlier article from Dickey where he let us know about
Villalobos' trajectory:

Villalobos, 52, is still full of surprises. The former Marxist firebrand has
become, if not a neocon, something of a Neo-Com since the stalemated
Salvadoran war finally ended in the early 1990s. Villalobos is now an
advisor to Colombia's conservative President Alvaro Uribe in his tough
U.S.-backed fight against "narco-guerrillas." Villalobos enthusiastically
supported the invasion of Iraq and the ouster of Saddam Hussein. And he
talks about the "old left" of Latin America and Europe, his erstwhile
supporters, with undisguised contempt. The Che-Guevara-T-shirt crowd thinks
anti-Americanism is more important than basic humanity, he wrote recently,
even to the point where they're "cheering bin Laden, celebrating terrorism
and getting downhearted over the capture of Saddam Hussein."

Villalobos sees himself now as a pragmatic humanitarian, still fighting
despots, but in a world that's been turned upside down over the last 20
years. Washington used to defend dictators and "supported groups that
tortured and disappeared people, even as the military bombed Vietnam without
pity." But now "the situation is completely different," says Villalobos.
"The United States steps in to defeat dictators and stop massacres, as in
Yugoslavia." Putting aside all the other baggage that was carried into
Iraq--all that stuff about weapons of mass destruction and
terrorism--Villalobos figures getting rid of the Butcher of Baghdad should
have set a good precedent.

Too bad, then, that American policymakers fumbled the liberation so badly.
"Humanitarian intervention is a very big challenge," says Villalobos. "The
big problem is how to conduct the occupation." And in this case "the
guerrillas are the result of the chaos that was created after the invasion."

Full: <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3980464/site/newsweek/>

Eli Stephens
 Left I on the News
 http://lefti.blogspot.com



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