[Peace-discuss] Comment re. "South of the Border"

[John W.]

Blum is correct.  Thanks for the perspective, Mort.


On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 9:13 PM, Brussel Morton K. <mkbrussel at comcast.net>wrote:

>From Bill Blum:
> http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html
> The secret to understanding US foreign policy
>
> In one of his regular "Reflections" essays, Fidel Castro recently discussed
> United States hostility towards Venezuela. "What they really want is
> Venezuela's oil," wrote the Cuban leader. 9<http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html#note-9>This is a commonly-held viewpoint within the international left. The point
> is put forth, for example, in Oliver Stone's recent film "South of the
> Border". I must, however, take exception.
>
> In the post-World War Two period, in Latin America alone, the US has had a
> similar hostile policy toward progressive governments and movements in
> Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Grenada, Dominican Republic,
> Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and Bolivia. What these governments and
> movements all had in common was that they were/are leftist; nothing to do
> with oil. For more than half a century Washington has been trying to block
> the rise of any government in Latin America that threatens to offer a viable
> alternative to the capitalist model. Venezuela of course fits perfectly into
> that scenario; oil or no oil.
>
> This ideology was the essence of the Cold War all over the world.
>
> The secret to understanding US foreign policy is that there is no secret.
> Principally, one must come to the realization that the United States strives
> to dominate the world. Once one understands that, much of the apparent
> confusion, contradiction, and ambiguity surrounding Washington's policies
> fades away. To express this striving for dominance numerically, one can
> consider that since the end of World War Two the United States has:
>
>    - Endeavored to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, most of
>    which were democratically-elected.
>    - Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries.
>    - Waged war/military action, either directly or in conjunction with a
>    proxy army, in some 30 countries.
>    - Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.
>    - Dropped bombs on the people of some 30 countries.
>    - Suppressed dozens of populist/nationalist movements in every corner
>    of the world. 10 <http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html#note-10>
>
> The United States institutional war machine has long been, and remains, on
> automatic pilot.
>
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