Monday, January 25, 2010

Morales of Bolivia Parrots Venezuela's Leftist Rhetoric

By Jerry Brewer

Bolivian President Evo Morales, a former coca farmer, has been sworn in for a second five-year term.  This following suit with his professed role model, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

That ploy obviously did not work in Honduras when the Honduran government stood firm and rejected President Manuel Zelaya’s attempts at a referendum to eliminate term barriers to reelection.  He was quickly accused of violating the Honduran Constitution in an action that was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, and quickly flown into exile on their orders.

Quick on the draw was Venezuela’s Chavez, calling for “armed action.”  Even Nicaragua’s leftist President Daniel Ortega was accused of positioning troops on the Honduran border.  Zelaya had also been accused of “morphing into a radical leftist.”

President Morales was surrounded by many of his Latin American left leading partners at his swearing-in ceremony.  Morales won reelection against Manfred Reyes Villa, a former conservative governor.  Reyes quickly fled Bolivia, citing threats by Morales “to jail him for alleged tax evasion.”  This possibly a wise decision, given the Morales track record of following suit with Chavez in kicking out U.S. officials, including U.S. anti-narcotics officials.

Morales has nationalized key industries to the detriment of Bolivia’s indigenous majority by alienating much-needed foreign investment.  Again, following Chavez’s lead, he refers to his actions as a socialist “revolution.”  In his reelection speech, Morales swore to rule “for the country and the people.”  He joined Chavez in the usual anti-U.S. rhetoric in referring to the massive humanitarian aid to the victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake as a U.S. military occupation of Haiti.  Too, with a straight face, he stated that the “U.S. humanitarian mission could lead to bloodshed.” 

These symbolic words stand firm in the minds of nations led by regimes that have great restrictions on their news media.  Chavez’s often and reckless accusations that the U.S. is planning to invade Venezuela is a clever ploy to use his own media protagonists in spreading fear and keeping world attention focused on conspiracy theories to further his socialist agenda.

Morales, as a staunch Chavez ally, stated last week that he promised to help the poor and the impoverished nation by advancing leftwing policies.  He said his dream is the “downtrodden will have access to health, basic services and education.”  This contrasting Chavez’s struggles to simply keep the lights on in Venezuela, amongst massive oil revenue and military expenditures.  Although Morales’ efforts to assist the poor could also be significantly hindered by state inefficiency and corruption.

President Chavez, in adopting the previous Soviet-styled Cuban intelligence (DGI) apparatus for Venezuela’s security service known as the DISIP, appears to be recommending Cuba’s communist trained spies as the standard leftist doctrine.  Morales announced government plans to create a state intelligence directorate to centralize the control of intelligence.  This, in apparent fear of what he claimed was a “new attempt to overthrow the Movement towards Socialism.”

Cuba’s DGI history is graphically and accurately one in which they trained thousands of communist guerrillas and terrorists, as well as sponsoring violent acts of aggression and subversion in most democratic nations of the southwestern hemisphere. 

The clues in the intense fascination of leftist regimes with Cuban-styled intelligence are indeed plain.  The rejection and ousting of the U.S. military operating base at Manta, by Ecuador, and Chavez’s intense fear of Venezuela allowing substitutes, leads to logic and scholarly-like questions.  What is the significance and rationale behind the subterfuge and rhetoric in resisting U.S. drug and terrorism initiatives in defense of Latin America?  After all, Colombia’s successes against the FARC guerrillas, aided by the U.S. Southern Command and other drug enforcement operators in Latin America, are well documented. 

Do not be misled by leftist rejection of U.S. anti-narcotics and anti-terrorism initiatives in Latin America.  Most real democracies that respect human rights and have a high value for human life recognize the critical need for proactive interdiction and are part of the solution.

The U.S. will continue to be the left’s scapegoat in domestic political rhetoric in any assistance brought on by natural or manmade disasters, as well as criminal/guerrilla interdiction efforts.  The Cuban intelligence branches and their links to other Latin American neighbors clearly have missions to subvert U.S. interests globally. 

Bolivia’s professed intelligence needs may be disguised in their recent purchases from China of ten Russian-made helicopters and six other military aircraft, from credit given to them by Moscow for US$100 million.

Bolivia, a substantially poor and impoverished nation, needs an operating model of democracy that promotes effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency, rather than military armament which isn’t good for the digestion.

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Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Miami, Florida.  His website is located at www.cjiausa.org.