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Videos The world wars that began in 1914 and 1939 showed the foolishness and incompetence of the participants. If similar outbreaks occurred today, the costs would be unimaginable. Historians agree that the earlier conflicts could have been avoided. We must hope that present-day leaders will not fall into the errors of the past; and that those who are parties to a conflict will act speedily and sensibly to avert a catastrophe. The United States has a weak flank. If hostilities break out, the regimes of Cuba and Venezuela—which remain in power by violence and (in Venezuela’s case) by money—will offer quarter to America’s enemies. The U.S. needs to remedy this matter before a crisis overtakes it. Otherwise, it won’t be meeting its responsibilities. To the Streets - August 19, 2008 Hugo Chávez has perverted his country’s institutions, both civil and military. He has squandered riches on subversive adventures directed by Cuba and increased the power of the militias. While some Venezuelans keep up their hope for electoral change, all decisions are taken in Havana. They reflect the ruined economy of Cuba, whose regime wants to guarantee the continuing stream of support from Venezuela. But numerous Venezuelans also resent the outrage of Chávez having surrendered their nation and sovereignty to Cuba, which pays with the thousands of security agents that keep Chávez in power. And clear-thinking men and women are urging their people to take to the streets, not to abandon them until an honorable ruler is installed in the Miraflores Palace. When governments and peoples part ways, society loses its principal function, which is to defend the well-being of all. And a contradiction arises: governors become anti-social, while society is defended by its opponents. Cuba and Venezuela are blazing examples of society-wide alienation. The non-conformists who form the massive majority, and the opposition who are a scant minority, fail to relate to their surroundings, while governors are deluded, because they live in a false reality of their own making, Castro and Chávez will vanish into the quagmires of history. But the Cuban and Venezuelan peoples will be in an even lower place, because by failing to rebel, they have betrayed their own history, and have insulted the legacy of those who gave them nationhood.
Latin American states frustrate efforts to define
themselves, through a mixture of good works and noble traditions on one hand,
and corruption, crime, incapacity and carelessness on the other. Some leaders—the Castro brothers, Chávez, Morales, the Kirchners, Ortega—are called communist or leftist or populist. But really these are illusionists who have no true ideology or political belief, and who have squandered the work and wealth of their nations. Two recent news items point to a revival of Castro-style manipulations. The first, lately denied by Defense Ministry spokesmen in Moscow, alleges that long range Russian bombers, with nuclear capabilities, would be refueled in Cuba The second, also emanating from Moscow, is that Chávez has offered Venezuela’s territory for Russian bases, just as Castro did more than 40 years ago. The rapprochement between Russia and the U.S. has been one of the most favorable developments in recent history. But it seems that the two Caribbean regimes, with their banana-republic leaders, are trying to sour relations between those two global powers.
Chaos & Coherence - July 13, 2008 By David Landau Colombia’s rescue operation, resulting in the liberation of 15 hostages from the FARC, is the best piece of news to come from Latin America in a long time. First and foremost is the saving of human life without the firing of a shot. The rescue is a body-blow to the FARC. It presages difficulties for a group that has been and is a most pernicious influence. Life is suddenly more difficult for the anti-popular regimes in Havana and Caracas that have been pillars of support to the FARC, for decades in Cuba’s case. And leaders of the Democratic Party in the United States will now be hard-pressed to justify their attacks on Colombia, which clearly defends human rights in the most basic sense. Interests & Rackets - July 1st, 2008 In a democracy, the interests of governors and governed are identical. Power is won through elections. Able politicians work to satisfy the people’s will. A well-served electorate, or one that wishes to be, will favor politicians who are sensitive to its needs. In totalitarian societies like Cuba’s, political and economic interests are fused. Rulers give their undivided allegiance to a minority and suppress the majority. Governors are quick to use violence. As time passes they use it less; for people have internalized the terror and become passive. To hope for progress under Raúl Castro is pure madness. The interests of governors and governed are dead opposites. Leaders derive their power from a weakened and frustrated populace. That’s the racket they’re in. The European Union has lifted sanctions against the Cuban regime. It’s another effort to recover bad loans to Cuba, and keep a good climate for future commerce. Spain, with its massive investments on the island, has been the main instigator in Europe’s move. The Spaniards are trying to convince the Old World that it has a special influence in Cuba. Some European nations are actually buying it. Those nations, whose investments have kept the Castro regime in power, are now saying they are concerned about Cuba’s repressive policies, and express hope for democratic reforms. It’s the customary window-dressing. In despair over monies lost, Europeans are counting on the U.S. to open credits to Cuba. It’s their last, best hope to recover what they’ve blown.
Telling the Obvious - June 14, 2008 Follow the Money - June 2nd., 2008 Colombia’s narcoguerrillas and their friends produce cocaine and promote its global distribution, mainly in the United States. Their annual income is estimated at many billions of dollars. These finances allow for politicians and officials to be bought, and for governments to be influenced or even controlled. Such things have transpired in Latin America and elsewhere. To run this money through international channels, while hiding its origin, requires complicity by many officials and organizations. To unmask, judge and punish these complicit parties is a vital task for the democratic nations. The Colombian drug cartels, especially with their ties to radical Islam, pose a real danger to the hemisphere. Our intelligence services need to know who is hiding and laundering their fortunes. On June 26, 1963, in Germany, President John F. Kennedy famously said: “I am a Berliner”. Laying down the challenge to his communist rivals, he proclaimed: “Let them come to Berlin”. His confidence in the progress of freedom was prophetic. Tomorrow, May 26, 2008, the United States marks its Memorial Day, honoring those who have died while serving this country. “Let them come to Washington” might be a summons to recall how this nation fights for people, all over the world, who suffer or are threatened with oppression. Many Americans have fallen in this effort. Washington is the capital of a people who are constantly advancing toward a greater well-being—certain that, in their progress, they will never cease being free. Who’s to blame—people or governments? Castro’s regime denounces the U.S. “blockade” while the U.S. keeps trading with Cuba. Havana rebukes “imperialism” so American politicians will heed the Cuban-American vote. Washington will normalize relations if Cuba moves toward democracy. Havana will not alter its “socialism”. That reassures Cuba’s investors, like the Spanish, and those who want more business with Cuba, like the Americans. Venezuelans are short of necessities, while Chávez proclaims a government “for the poor”. His word is the only law, while his opponents say they are acting “within the law”. He arms himself to the teeth, while his opponents have confidence in elections. And people keep saying that if you’re not happy with things, it’s because you don’t want to be. Responsibility - April 30, 2008 By David Landau During Pope Benedict’s recent visit to the United States, it was suggested that, as one writer expressed it, “Both the pope and President Bush have immense responsibilities before God and the Cuban people.” Since the Vatican has accepted responsibility for Cuba, that part of the statement is understandable. But the U.S. president has accepted no such responsibility, and it’s not in his job description. Unfortunately, and incorrectly, a century of Cuban tradition has insisted on U.S. responsibility for the island. Indeed, Fidel Castro made this idea a basis for his rule. Until Cubans learn to hold their own leaders, and their own selves, as the responsible parties, Cuba will remain in the predicament it has suffered for so long. Colombia’s narcotraffickers are America’s enemies. With huge financial resources, they spread drug addiction and threaten this country. They have extensive international support, including that of governments. Especially dangerous is their alliance to radical Islam. The Castro regime works with the drug trade and money-laundering because it’s immensely profitable. The narcotraffickers’ most dedicated enemies are Colombia’s government and rural populace, who have mounted their own defense against the drug armies. A group of legislators in the United States has attacked Colombia’s government. These people are helping the narcotraffickers, who are America’s enemies. In law, this attitude is defined as treason. The U.S. Justice Department should bring charges against these people, even if they are legislators. Bogus Opposition - April 11, 2008 Names and complaints are not guns or bombs. They don’t dislodge usurpers who steal a people’s liberty. They’re the devices of bogus opponents or of cowards who pretend to fight while they dance with illusion. In Latin America, they advocate peaceful and legal organizing. They play dice with opponents who use knives and don’t care who gets in their way. They live under tyrannies that are ruled by extortion, imprisonment and murder. These opponents want to create a united front which, with all the regime’s infiltrators and stool-pigeons, is a physical impossibility. Cubans have been living in this situation for nearly 50 years. And so now are the Venezuelans, infiltrated by Cuban agents who pretend to be opponents.
Vital Support - April 1st., 2008
Back to Basics - March 22, 2008 The Plot Thickens - March 16, 2008 We can now understand Hugo Chávez’s aggressive rearmament, his spreading petrodollars around Latin America and his far-reaching designs, which exceed his personal talents. He has looked like a tool of the Castro regime. But he’s gone beyond that by demanding international recognition for the FARC. Havana wants that, because it wants to rule over Colombia, but would proceed much more discreetly. Information captured by the Colombian army shows Chávez at the center of a far-flung conspiracy. FARC is looking for state-of-the-art weaponry and is trying to find uranium. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. For the moment, Chávez says he wants to resolve tensions with Uribe, but he’s just trying to buy time for the FARC to recover from its latest reverses.
Armed Conflict - March 3, 2008
Mistaken Instinct - February 24, 2008 Vulnerability - February 18, 2008 Miami news media often mention the “human contraband” arriving on these shores by motorboat. The organizers of the boat-trips receive at least $10,000 per passenger. Their frequency and regularity denotes a business amounting to millions of dollars every month—and also suggests how exposed our national territory is. Throughout Cuba, many thousands of informants are keeping a round-the-clock lookout, especially along the coasts. It’s obvious that the commerce in human contraband is well-known to Cuban officials. The chance to take part in the earnings would be a compelling reason for them to allow it. Given the terrorist threat, America is especially exposed on its Caribbean flank. Perhaps it’s time to give the Coast Guard more and better means to protect it. Freedom’s Forge - February 5, 2008 Throughout history we have had masters and slaves, despots and subjects. Looking past that simple fact, we see an underlying truth. The master depends on the servant; the subject empowers the despot. It’s not the other way around. And it’s a reality that refuses to be ignored. One can obstinately believe that when the despot leaves, freedom will appear. But instead what happens is that those who have grown fond of serving look for another master. And this new master becomes the next instrument for enslaving everybody. Liberty is grasped only by the strong. It is they who must educate others in its necessity. Freedom is a law of iron that’s forged deep inside every one of us. Fatal Distraction - January 27, 2008 The United States influences world affairs by inaction as well as by its actions. This has been true of global powers throughout history. Hostile forces, in the jungles of Colombia, are now counting on the U.S. being distracted by presidential elections as well as by war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Venezuelan petrodollars, linked to income from drug-trafficking, have been buying politicians and governments throughout the region. They are also looking for alliances in the Middle East for the purpose of creating military mischief and economic instability. There are countries in South America with resources to re-conquer the Colombian jungles from the narco-traffickers. The U.S. can contribute the leadership and technologies that are needed in this battle. There are governments that assault a public’s right to free opinion, expression and political organization. These regimes impose their yoke on a generation, and they corrode succeeding ones that feel the absence of rights to be normal. Eventually, the subjugated may come to understand that armed resistance is their only option. With their wealth of funds and their international networks, Chávez and Colombia’s drug gangs are attacking and destroying the orderly life of Latin America. To this common danger, a response must come from all azimuths. Armies can prevent the flight of criminals. Thousands of guerrilla counterinsurgents can attack along many fronts. And urban guerrillas can undermine Chávez’s power, terrorizing his henchmen. Orwell’s Newspeak, the satirical language of his novel “1984”, is being purveyed for real around Latin America. This language destroys rational thought by distorting concepts and making their expression impossible. In “1984” Newspeak was a propaganda tool. Today it’s an instrument for winning political power. Hugo Chávez uses the word “insurgents” to describe Colombia’s drug gangs. This is in line with Havana’s decades-old aim to seize power in Colombia. Chávez would give the same title to kidnappers, who use the grief of victimized families to cripple entire governments. All of South America is the target of a subversive campaign financed by Venezuela. And throughout the continent, grown men are acting like children who shut their eyes to make their abductors disappear. Servant & Master - January 5, 2008 History shows that the servant establishes his servile condition and lives by it. Subordination is not his plight but his pleasure. He prefers the yoke over free will. Having a master lightens his load. This trait of self-suppression belongs to a portion of the populace that includes able, hard-working people. Those people choose not to use their powers of reason, because they fear to think and decide for themselves. They prefer the protection of their masters, who think and decide for them. When a tyrant falls, many people believe that the yoke has been shattered. Perhaps it has. But just as likely, while the majority debates over how to form a new government, the servants, who are well-organized, quickly choose a new overlord.
Under the Yoke - December 29, 2007 Dissatisfaction is
a useful trait. Primitive man shares with modern man the instincts of survival,
shelter and reproduction. More sophisticated behaviors, like tilling the soil,
diversifying crops and shaping the environment, mark the passage from man’s
hunter-gatherer phase to that of modern societies and governments. Likely implications - December 8, 2007 Through eight
years in power, Chávez has utterly disregarded the existing
Two Trajectories - November 30, 2007
Vision and Cowardice - November 21, 2007 Subjugation - November 10, 2007 Property is a basic right in free societies. If for justifiable reasons the In obtaining from tyrants what has been taken from others, and what they have never earned for themselves, these new owners--as they later discover--only subjugate themselves to a tyrant's will. They don't really own what they've have been given. And in their subjugation, they even lose the power to create legacies.
Let This Voice Be Heard - November 5, 2007 It's and old wisdom that the best place to solve problems is at their source, while allowing them to grow makes them insoluble. Latin America is now playing a high price for allowing Hugo Chavez and his group, minions of Cuba, to remain in power. Perhaps Sarney's speech will be the disruption that brings an end to
Souls in Limbo - November 1st, 2007 Some Iowans - October 25, 2007 Let’s hope American capital floods into Cuba after the Castro regime’s downfall. This would promote the reconstruction of a devastated country and create commercial ties that benefit both nations. It’s fitting, since the U.S. is home to two million Cubans and their offspring—and since the U.S. has not been an economic accomplice of the Cuban regime, as many others still are. So it’s hinky that officials and businesspeople from Iowa paid a return visit to Cuba early in October to make agreements with the regime. Those Iowans, who have grown rich from federal agricultural subsidies, are not staving off poverty but only fattening themselves up. They pretend not to see the slavery and agony of most Cubans. It leaves a foul stench. Red herrings - October 15, 2007 From Venezuela’s history, one can be confident that the stain of Chavez’s regime will sooner or later be erased. For this reason, many people believe published reports that give details of conspiracies to destroy the regime—conspiracies that might be unfolding in the army, in the state security or even in Chavez’s inner circle. It could also be that those reports have been planted by the Chavez regime on instructions of Castro’s agents. The aim would be to immobilize those people who might otherwise play decisive roles in overthrowing Chavez. Meanwhile, those discussions about constitutional and other reforms, in a country where laws and institutions have no meaning, are only devices to distract the people.
Distracted - October 11, 2007
Strength in Numbers - October 4, 2007
All That Matters Is Reality - September 27,
2007
Counterpoint - September 15, 2007
Reconstruction - September 6, 2007
Cuba’s grinding poverty, its economic misery, its ruined agriculture and industries, are almost unbelievable in view of the foreign aid received and the debt accumulated. And all this is to say nothing of Cuba’s natural riches. Even so, according to estimates by the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy and others, the country will quickly reconstruct itself when the Castro regime disappears. This resurgence will be fueled by the industry and entrepreneurial spirit of Cuba’s people, as exemplified by the success of the expatriates and the island’s private operators. Cuba will rebuild itself from its foundations. Good opportunities for foreign investors and for Cuban expatriates will abound. Perhaps the time is close at hand. It's an error to suppose that history does not teach. History teaches; what it does not do is educate. To educate requires teachers and curricula. Educators either teach a body of doctrine, which presents answers on a given subject, or guide a journey of investigation, which poses questions. But the human and material losses resulting from totalitarian regimes are already well-known. Hideous examples scar all of Latin America. Tyrannies run by play-actors like Castro and Chavez show how the personal triumphs of a despot are paid by the ruin of their peoples. May those peoples learn the futility of arguments and protests, misguided efforts amounting to no more than armchair heroism. May they be educated in the necessity of destroying despotism today, not tomorrow.
Involuntary Support - August 17, 2007
Why Act Against Our Own Interests? - August 11, 2007 There are countries poor in natural resources that enjoy economic prosperity and rates of development among the highest in the world. Their legal systems, entrepreneurial traditions, gifted and hardworking peoples driven toward common goals, have produced a general well-being and unlimited prospects of growth. Then again, other countries rich in natural resources, in talented and industrious populations, with ample potentials for well-being, are plagued by scarcity; where the high cost of basic goods condemns the people to a state of subsistence with no end in sight. Such negative examples abound in Latin America. So it is that some peoples tolerate millenarian chieftains who preach and sell utopias even as they and their closest associates rob the riches that belong to everyone.
The Medium Is the Message - July 23, 2007
A Reward, Not a Gift - July 13, 2007
Any government is capable of abuses and transgressions. These must be denounced and stopped; the responsible parties punished, and restitution made to the victims. Information media and parliaments are essential to this process; while judicial tribunals determine the seriousness of the crimes as well as the appropriate punishments and remedies. Under despotic regimes, parliaments and tribunals are merely “virtual”—apparitions, not real bodies. The media are either official or self-censoring, under a perpetual threat of dissolution. Suffering imposed by tyranny effaces the people, who lose themselves in sorrow or hope for miracles. But they can be taught that liberty can only come about from struggle—when people take risks and accept sacrifices. That’s the price of freedom. In the Caribbean - July 1st, 2007
Venezuela’s people have an urgent need to remove Hugo
Chavez from power. His looting of the country, the vulgar displays of
wealth by his officials, the impunity of common criminals, the endless
incidence of killings, are the legacy of a regime that ignores its
people’s needs—and now trouble is brewing outside the country.
Castro’s subversive campaign, underwritten by Chavez’s armaments, is creating concerns across the continent. No wonder Latin American governments are considering multilateral efforts to contain that threat. Radical Islam, with visions of world conquest, is making friends in the Caribbean, at the doorway to the U.S. When the rulers in Caracas and Teheran start working together, they will jointly use their power as oil producers. That could call for military thinking. Concerted Action - June 28, 2007 The road to arms laid down by Hugo Chavez has international consequences. Plans are underway to subvert other nations. And covert alliances are being formed with parties outside the hemisphere. The effort to destroy Colombia’s government is only the start of a much broader campaign—which obviously surpasses the mental means of the Venezuelan colonel. Day by day, the influence of Castro’s security organs in Venezuela is increasing. Castro, who has long-standing expertise in this matter, is aiming to suppress and dominate Venezuela’s people as he has, for 48 years, the Cuban people. Venezuela’s students are in the vanguard of the anti-Chavez, pro-democracy struggle. It’s in the interest of all Latin America that they succeed. The Conspiracy Against Colombia - June 18, 2007 Colombia’s President Uribe is under attack in the American press. And public figures here are vilifying him. It seems odd that this should be happening while America is preoccupied with the war in Iraq, while President Bush is fighting with Congress, and while the 2008 presidential election race is going on. Something is out of joint. Signs point to a conspiracy against Colombia, to unfold imminently. This is coming from Cuba via Venezuela, where subversive designs are being hatched against all of Latin America. Castro wants to strike while America’s attention is elsewhere. Hugo Chavez, a friend of radical Islam, has been using Venezuela’s wealth to push insurrection in countries throughout the world. Now, it seems, his petrodollars are influencing the U.S. Someone should find out who is taking that money, and for what purpose. The forest for the trees - June 8, 2007 By not renewing RCTV’s license, Chavez has indeed claimed more space for his regime’s broadcasts. Moreover, he’s trying to limit the influence of a TV station that speaks out against him. Nevertheless, RCTV will continue its programs on other frequencies. The initial difficulty involved in making such a transition will not deter them. But making an issue of RCTV should not cloud perception of the whole. Venezuela has lost its sovereignty. Hugo Chavez has surrendered it to Fidel Castro. Havana’s state security apparatus dictates the dispensation of benefits and privileges in Caracas. Castro’s state security decides how Venezuelan resources are used to fund subversive activities in Latin America and agents in the United States. May Venezuelans recover their fatherland. The rest will be added unto them. Time for Statesmanship - June 3, 2007 Latin America’s crisis of the seventies and
eighties is reappearing. Those The closing of Radio Caracas TV will easily be seen by Venezuelans as a further step toward totalitarian rule, as mandated from Havana. The station’s programs are harmless entertainments, devoid of political shading. But they take time away from the regime and from its hammer-blows of indoctrination in the style of Hitler, Stalin and Castro. In an apparent parody of Orwell’s 1984, Venezuela’s rulers would like to make people believe that war is peace, that hatred is love, and that everyone must love Hugo Chavez. Venezuela has begun an arms buildup in South America and threatens to bring radical Islam to the Caribbean. Closing a TV station is a small piece of its larger design. Loyalty to one’s environs—the land we inhabit, its people—is a recognition that our lives and relationships dwell therein. This ancestral trait varies over time and place, and has many names. So it was in Sparta and Athens and on Samos, just as more recently in Austro-Hungary and Yugoslavia. The struggle to survive creates frontiers, hierarchies and rulers. This fact of life has crossed deserts, forests, oceans, villages and empires. As we love our native soil, so do we cherish our epoch, which is also our home. Cubans and Venezuelans do love their homelands, but the epochs of Castro and Chavez are alien, and they should fight them. May they set those days on fire to fertilize their soil and make it fruitful again. Everyone governs and cares for what’s his. Whether a home, a neighborhood, a city or country, it’s the charge of those who live there. And whatever is beyond the individual’s reach is administered by those whom the majority lawfully elects. Public resources are allocated with an eye to the future, in accord with established social values. At times certain people try to impose new values by force. Through these armed adventurers, the people suffer the consequences of improvisation. When they lack the courage to defend what’s theirs, they delude themselves into thinking that help will come from outside. And they pass their lives in servitude—forgetting what they owe to themselves, to their descendants and to their native soil.
Subversion, and how to answer it - April 24, 2007 Territoriality--our adherence to habitat--is human nature.
Our customary surroundings enable us to have life, families, languages and
social groups. Over generations, groups develop the ability for political
organization. It's an irrational, chance-ridden process. Failure, success and
constant conflict lead to survival or extinction. Dave Heineman, Governor of Nebraska - March 29, 2007 Two days ago The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial about
annual federal agricultural subsidies. This aid is for the rich--often for the
very rich--rather than for the needy farmer. And it's one of the corruptions
that undermine the values of our democracy. The word “persona” has its origin in the masks that play-actors used in ancient Greece. Those masks were for letting the public tell, from a distance, which voice went with which character. In politics, masks are used for similar purposes: to portray a character and to let his voice reach far. The stage is the nation, and the masked actors have an impact on everyone. Masks in common use today are “socialist”, “leftist”, “progressive”, “communist”. Their characters make promises and announce programs. They pay for their performances by sacking the nation’s wealth. If these actors are not pushed off the stage, their performances will bring their peoples to ruin. An indelible stain - March 13, 2007 We humans sometimes confuse our desires with reality; we call this tendency “magic thinking” or “daydreaming”. The thoughtful individual soon realizes that such thoughts are fantasies, and returns to solid ground. The masses, however, have no such capacity for reflection. They prefer to forget their lives and disappear into the collective. They do away with themselves in order to join the crowd; they even feel proud to submit. They are perfect instruments for demagogues who intimidate, provoke and inflame them. Many Cubans are waiting for Castro to die. They seem to forget that if he dies in power, an indelible stain will be left upon the Cuban people, who never knew how to break his yoke or dared to try Impending Conflict - March 5, 2007 Hugo Chavez’s ego is leading him to outsized adventures. The rape of his nation’s wealth gets him praise from the beneficiaries of his ridiculous generosity. Indeed, he is winning support throughout Latin America and beyond. Overjoyed by the prospect of sudden wealth, and encouraged by Venezuela’s president, certain leaders of the radical Islamic movement are now planning to establish a beachhead on this continent, very close to the United States. Chavez, with the help of other Latin American leaders, is undermining his society’s structure and making alliances with religious extremists from the Middle East. These steps could lead to a devastating multinational conflict. It’s now the job of Venezuela’s army to nullify Chavez’s efforts. There’s not much time to prevent a slaughter. A state of war - February 21, 2007 The Bush Doctrine expresses the right of the U.S. to make attacks that prevent hostilities against the nation—thereby neutralizing possible damage from wars that others might wish to start. Latin American countries are now under attack by Hugo Chavez, who is acting through other governments that he has enrolled in his cause. A rather unintelligent leader who’s full of ego and rich in resources, Chavez is building up an arsenal and purposely threatening the stability of an entire continent. In the face of this assault on their liberty, which threatens to decimate many countries and ruin their economies, it falls to the likely victims—peoples and governments—to unleash a preventive war against Chavez and the accomplices whom he’s bought. The supporters - February 18, 2007 The outcome of any effort is clear to see from the ends that result. An official program, for instance, can be ruinous for a nation even as it enriches those in power. The people are defeated while their rulers are exalted. The many are deprived in order that a handful benefit. A signal example in Latin America is Castro’s Cuba. Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador are now headed down that ruinous path. Chavez, Morales and Correa are imitating Castro’s example; and they have supporters who are helping themselves. History shows that when such regimes fall, the rulers are the ones who reap the blame. Let’s not forget those who have supported them.
The human path - February 11, 2007 Mockery, February 5, 2007 Showcases & Realities, January 29, 2007 Various Latin American rulers are allies or sympathizers of Fidel Castro. When they come to Cuba, they don’t experience daily life. They visit official showcases and call them realities. The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) has published more than 11 books containing hundreds of studies by officials of international institutions and governments, and by distinguished persons from the private sector. These studies show the real Cuba—a nation that will take years and generations to reconstruct itself. The studies do not omit the positives. And now numerous Latin American governments have announced that they will follow the Cuban model. They will bring poverty and economic ruin to their peoples, and they will blame the United States for their problems. Human evolution is unique in having developed
the capacity for thought. Liberty is intrinsic to humans, because ideas create
new vistas and lead to change.
With such enemies, who needs friends? - January 9, 2007 Since the elections of November 2006, President Bush, his advisors and lawmakers of both parties have been reconsidering U.S. policy in Iraq. It is well understood that the electoral outcome was shaped by opinions about that policy. A conflict that has such a high cost in lives and resources is bound to raise differing judgments and perceptions about what has transpired and about what outcome is desirable. It would raise the public spirit to know that members of the Bush administration and of Congress have children serving on the battlefield. The U.S. is a democracy, and the war touches on the lives of all its citizens. In meeting the cost, one would hope that everyone is willing to pay in the same coin. In duty and in war, equals - December 28, 2006 Prince Harry, third in line
to the British throne, will be serving in combat in Iraq as of May 2007.
An officer and a graduate of
Sandhurst military academy, the prince has repeatedly stated that being a
member of the royal family does not exempt him‹nor should it exempt
him--from facing the same dangers as his countrymen. The academy¹s officials
have expressed respect for this typically British attitude on Prince Harry¹s
part
In wartime, a people gains in
solidarity from the idea that a member of the privileged classes will fight
and face death, just like any other citizen. When the ruling classes do not
accept these risks, their hold on power grows tenuous.
The price of not paying - December 18,. 2006
A bipartisan group of Congresspeople returned, on December 17, from a
three-day trip to Havana. They indicated that dialogue is underway
between the U.S. and Cuba; that Cuban leaders are reluctant to discuss
the issues of press freedom, human rights or elections; and that more
visits and dialogue are coming.
This visit was instigated by people who want to do business in Cuba. Such activity is normal among Americans, who consider differences of opinion to be a matter of course. The idea, it seems, is to reach an agreement with Cuba¹s regime for commercial exchanges and then sweeten it with platitudes about human rights and "peaceful transition" to democracy.
It's a consequence of not paying the price in blood that is always
demanded by liberty.
Cuba and Venezuela are collapsing. Hugo Chavez
is propping up Castro, while the petroleum bonanza is masking the crisis in
both countries.
Castro's absence, and the recent Venezuelan
elections, gave hopes of improvement. These were not illusory, but they were
based on surface impressions.
Castro and Chavez are not causes but effects.
Cubans hate the Castro regime, but they collude in the concentration of
power and in the prostitution of their children. Likewise, many Venezuelans
have prospered through the sacking of their nation's riches.
In both countries people long for freedom and
progress, but they want it at no cost to themselves. They need to take a
leaf from the book of America, a country whose every generation pays, in
blood, the cost of freedom.
Manuel Rosales,
the opposition candidate in Venezuela, has acknowledged his defeat in the Dec. 3
elections. Irregularities were noted, but they were not pivotal.
Reclaiming a birthright - December 1st, 2006 Elections? - November 24, 2006 In law it's well settled that violence voids
consent. And elections, Venezuela's people
will regain their sovereignty on December 3 by stifling the electoral fraud now
being prepared by the regime of Hugo Chavez and his Castroite agents. Evelyn Trejo de Rosales - November 8, 2006 Hugo Chavez handed
Venezuela's national sovereignty over to Fidel In December 2005,
nearly 80 per cent of Venezuelans who were eligible to Nearing elections, October 14, 2006 The forthcoming elections in Venezuela on December 3 are of
supreme Rosales vs. Castro. October 8, 2006 On
December 3, Venezuelans decide whether Manuel Rosales can recoup the national
sovereignty that's been usurped by Fidel Castro. Virtual vs. real, October 2, 2006 Virtual reality is
imaginary, non-existent. It ignores and denies the senses. In politics one must
distinguish virtual from real, in order to have a correct perception of the
milieu that one wants to influence. That's a basic requirement for bringing
about change.
Farcical leaders, September 17, 2006 Cubans and
Venezuelans harbor hopes for the disappearance of Castro and Chavez--but those
hopes are unwarranted. Governments don't fall from the sky; they are created by
their peoples. Corruption and non-enforcement of laws are developed over time
through indifference, the greatest of social ills. "We the people...", September 11, 2006
The
passage of generations--the ongoing encounter between ideas and programs,
between programs and their implementation--gives rise to values and creates the
embodiment of society in the form of the State. It's a trial-by-error process,
forged by abuse and sacrifice, illumined by exceptional men and epochs. Any effort to challenge Castro and Chávez or to
destroy their regimes requires a careful assessment of forces and circumstances. Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez are the latest in a
line of Latin American chieftains whose rule is absolute, who favor and enrich
their followers while oppressing or destroying their opponents. If they seem
worse than their predecessors, it's probably because they're here while their
predecessors are gone. Defenders of the State, August 13, 2006 The subversion
that gripped Latin America from the sixties through the eighties was
orchestrated by Fidel Castro, who with Soviet support was able to train
thousands of guerrillas in Cuba and supplied them with money, material and
propaganda techniques. Rulers and chieftains - July 23, 2006 The office-holder, according to contract,
represents others and acts in their name. In political theory, the office-holder
looks after the public interest. The people choose officials who will obey their
will. And the people oversee their officials. In exceptional cases, power will
be held by the leader of the armed forces, or by one whom the army has appointed
to rule. At all times, public service is an honorable calling when it guards the
public interest. Fidel Castro has
done the impossible: he has made Cuba poor. This is |
