Condi Keepin' It Real
Condi Rice (aka The Junta's Trophy Wife) spoke to the meeting of the OAS in Fort Lauderdale this past weekend, and she weighed in on the side of democracy. Hurray! The Bush Administration's in favor of democracy!
Wait a tick ... aren't WE a democracy?
Oh, she meant that the OAS needs to foster and support democracy among the other nations in the hemisphere, which you have to admit is a laudable goal. However, she also urged the assembly to set up a mechanism for intervention if necessary, which leaves a sour taste in many mouths.
Several of the nations that make up the OAS have a deep mistrust of their big neighbor to the North. The US has taken upon itself at times to regard the rest of the Americas as its private backyard, and has traditionally had a dim view of any shenanigans that the US didn't start. Witness the CIA-backed coups in Guatemala and Chile, and the military interventions in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Haiti, Grenada and Panama.
And let's throw in the contras in Nicaragua, and our "advisors" in El Salvador.
Now we have some shakiness in the current Bolivian government, Haiti is still a bleeding wound, Argentina's economy is still queasy, and Venezuela's openly contemptuous of the US (which is actually fun to watch). They recognize the need for democracy, and to foster and strengthen democratic ideals.
They just don't want them on the US's terms.
Wait a tick ... aren't WE a democracy?
Oh, she meant that the OAS needs to foster and support democracy among the other nations in the hemisphere, which you have to admit is a laudable goal. However, she also urged the assembly to set up a mechanism for intervention if necessary, which leaves a sour taste in many mouths.
Several of the nations that make up the OAS have a deep mistrust of their big neighbor to the North. The US has taken upon itself at times to regard the rest of the Americas as its private backyard, and has traditionally had a dim view of any shenanigans that the US didn't start. Witness the CIA-backed coups in Guatemala and Chile, and the military interventions in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Haiti, Grenada and Panama.
And let's throw in the contras in Nicaragua, and our "advisors" in El Salvador.
Now we have some shakiness in the current Bolivian government, Haiti is still a bleeding wound, Argentina's economy is still queasy, and Venezuela's openly contemptuous of the US (which is actually fun to watch). They recognize the need for democracy, and to foster and strengthen democratic ideals.
They just don't want them on the US's terms.
posted by Walt at 4:37 AM
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