The Last Throes Of A Fat Guy In A Red Shirt

[Dino Velvet]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/12/28/venezuelan-president-chavez-hints-us-could-be-behind-cancers-affecting-south/

Venezuelan President Chavez Hints U.S. Could Be Behind Cancers Affecting South American Leaders



http://americanmoxie.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Ch%C3%A1vez-01.jpg

[Erika1487]

Just as I suspected Mr Potato Head is a Communist dictator!!!:yayo:

[robertlouis]

I suppose it's worth adding that the US has a long and miserable history of propping up dozens of Latin American dictators every bit as extreme as Chavez but who just happened to be rabidly right-wing.....

Venezuala aside, the emergence of centrist democracies in South America has to be one of the most heartening geo-political developments of the past twenty years. Their success has been achieved from within and often in spite of the US instinct to support their incumbent right-wing strongman.

[Erika1487]

I suppose it's worth adding that the US has a long and miserable history of propping up dozens of Latin American dictators every bit as extreme as Chavez but who just happened to be rabidly right-wing.....

Venezuala aside, the emergence of centrist democracies in South America has to be one of the most heartening geo-political developments of the past twenty years. Their success has been achieved from within and often in spite of the US instinct to support their incumbent right-wing strongman.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Pinochet_de_Civil.jpg

I agree with you to an extent, but we did give this guy the green light:yayo:
I am all for supporting anyone who is not a Chavez type leader, but you have to strike a balance. Pinochet was a reflection of his genaration, I don't believe he was a fascist. His term was right wing much in the same since Thacther and the Tory's where.......

[robertlouis]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Pinochet_de_Civil.jpg

I agree with you to an extent, but we did give this guy the green light:yayo:
I am all for supporting anyone who is not a Chavez type leader, but you have to strike a balance. Pinochet was a reflection of his genaration, I don't believe he was a fascist. His term was right wing much in the same since Thacther and the Tory's where.......

What??? Erika, I'm hoping you don't know the facts or you're guilty of a hideous misinterpretation of history. There can be no excuses for Pinochet, who was one of the worst and bloodiest right-wing dictators to come out of Latin America since 1945. The CIA openly and actively intervened and supported the violent overthrow of Allende's democratically-elected regime, yet another example of the utter cynicism of US policy towards Latin America.

Thatcher and the Tories may have tolerated the evil old bastard and committed many hateful things, but they didn't massacre thousands of their own people as Pinochet did after his coup in 1973.

[Erika1487]

What??? Erika, I'm hoping you don't know the facts or you're guilty of a hideous misinterpretation of history. There can be no excuses for Pinochet, who was one of the worst and bloodiest right-wing dictators to come out of Latin America since 1945. The CIA openly and actively intervened and supported the violent overthrow of Allende's democratically-elected regime, yet another example of the utter cynicism of US policy towards Latin America.

Thatcher and the Tories may have tolerated the evil old bastard and committed many hateful things, but they didn't massacre thousands of their own people as Pinochet did after his coup in 1973.

Robert I cannot attest for what Pinochet did or did not due in his tenure. I know that under his rule Chlie gained great econmic sucess, it does not excuse his rule with an iron fist mantality.
Many of the the leaders of South America countries rule this way weather Right or Left leaning!!!!!

[robertlouis]

Robert I cannot attest for what Pinochet did or did not due in his tenure. I know that under his rule Chlie gained great econmic sucess, it does not excuse his rule with an iron fist mantality.
Many of the the leaders of South America countries rule this way weather Right or Left leaning!!!!!

His regime was responsible directly for the deaths of over 3,000 Chileans and the torture of another 30,000 including men, women and children. Prior to his coup, Chile had been a beacon of democracy amongst all the dictatorships.

"An iron fist mentality" is not the same as deliberate acts of murder, terror and torture.

It really pisses me off that many in the US seem all set to jump on Chavez as the sole example of a left-wing dictator in Latin America, while they happily forget or excuse the US's tacit and active support for so many right-wing terror regimes there over the decades.

And check your recent and current history as well, Erika. Now that the baleful influence of the CIA has been removed from the sphere, many South American countries are enjoying stable, pluralist democracy for the first time in decades.

[Prospero]

Erika - I'll add my voice to that of Robert in being astounded that you can defend Pinochet whose record on torture and murder of thousands is a vile blemish on his nation's history and that of the Western powers that supported him. Yes dictators can achieve some economic success. Mussolini famously made the trains run on time.

[trish]

‘Tis saddly true. Pinochet is right up there with Idi Amin and Papa Doc. Murderous tryrannical rule can take any political form, left or right. Power corrupts regardless of political stripe. Pinochet, for a while, was propped up by the C.I.A. The U.S. has a history of backing dictators (we seem mostly to prefer those who lean right) to advance the financial gain of corporate and private interests that grease the wheels in Washington. Power corrupts. Money is power. Many corporations have bank balances that rival those of wealthy nations. Look into the history of the United Fruit Company known in Latin America as The Octopus.

[Erika1487]

‘Tis saddly true. Pinochet is right up there with Idi Amin and Papa Doc. Murderous tryrannical rule can take any political form, left or right. Power corrupts regardless of political stripe. Pinochet, for a while, was propped up by the C.I.A. The U.S. has a history of backing dictators (we seem mostly to prefer those who lean right) to advance the financial gain of corporate and private interests that grease the wheels in Washington. Power corrupts. Money is power. Many corporations have bank balances that rival those of wealthy nations. Look into the history of the United Fruit Company known in Latin America as The Octopus.

Trish I agree with you on about 80% of that it must me a record!! ;)


Erika - I'll add my voice to that of Robert in being astounded that you can defend Pinochet whose record on torture and murder of thousands is a vile blemish on his nation's history and that of the Western powers that supported him. Yes dictators can achieve some economic success. Mussolini famously made the trains run on time.


His regime was responsible directly for the deaths of over 3,000 Chileans and the torture of another 30,000 including men, women and children. Prior to his coup, Chile had been a beacon of democracy amongst all the dictatorships.

"An iron fist mentality" is not the same as deliberate acts of murder, terror and torture.

It really pisses me off that many in the US seem all set to jump on Chavez as the sole example of a left-wing dictator in Latin America, while they happily forget or excuse the US's tacit and active support for so many right-wing terror regimes there over the decades.

And check your recent and current history as well, Erika. Now that the baleful influence of the CIA has been removed from the sphere, many South American countries are enjoying stable, pluralist democracy for the first time in decades.

Robert, Prospero the issue at hand was Nixion's and Kissinger's they decided he was the lesser of two evils and gave it a go. I think that given the tone of the cold war at the time it seemed to make since to prop up anyone who was not considered a 'Commie'! Many things in the Nixion administration have not aged well with time this is just another example.