[Editorial]
Are we on the verge of invading Venezuela?
If so, it would not be the first time we inserted ourselves into the affairs of Central and South America. You might think of the United Fruit Company and the “banana republics.” You might think of Teddy Roosevelt and the Marines in Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
And you might think even farther back to the Monroe Doctrine—remember that from your history classes? The policy that declared any attempt by European powers to influence or control countries in North or South America would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States.
Take a look at the long-term results of those actions: Cuba, decades of political unrest, guerrilla movements that morphed into drug cartels—much of it can be traced back to those presidents’ decisions.
Look back, to the period after World War I, when the victors divided up the Middle East—and consider where we are today.
When we couldn’t get oil from Iran, we helped engineer a revolution and installed the Shah. And now?
What will any new intervention mean for future generations? Will our great-grandchildren still be living with the consequences?
[/Editorial]
I will never forget September 11, 1973, when, with amerikkkan backing, the armed forces, led by General Augusto Pinochet, overthrew the democratically elected socialist government of President Salvador Allende, installing a military dictatorship that lasted until 1990. This marked the beginning of a brutal regime with widespread human rights abuses, supported by the CIA, war criminal Henry Kissinger, war criminal Richard Nixon, and their fellow travelers.
ReplyDeleteMy then-boyfriend Miguel and I had just come back to NYC from the West Coast and were living down on Lafayette Street when we heard the news. Miguel was from Chile and, of course, feared for his family, who were Socialists. Communications in and out of the country were cut off, but when his mother got through, she told him that his sister, her husband, and other friends had been taken away. Months went by, and finally Miguel decided to leave the U.S and make his way back to Chile against the wishes of the Chilean community in NYC, who had escaped. I never heard from him again.
On September 11, I do not mourn the dead of NYC, knowing full well that the chickens came home to roost. I sing the song Venceremos, in honor of the thousands whose lives were taken by the military of Chile with the help of the government of the U.S.A.
If any readers do not know the story of what happened to our people, the LGBTQI+ Community, and many others, perhaps some study is in order, if only to see how quickly the fascists can take over and how quickly they can kill you. Hopefully, within this story, one can find among the horrors, compasses and weapons that we can use to fight off the fascists in this country who are breathing down our necks and ready to pound at our door.