U.S. policy failures in South America
Re “The failure of Hugo-bashing,” Opinion, March 9
Mark Weisbot’s article bucks the trend of most opinion pieces written by “free market” mavens who bash Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez.
The abject failure of this administration’s (and all recent administrations’) policies in South America (and Chavez’s success) is crystal clear to Latin Americans and to anyone who reads a bit of Spanish and gets their news straight from Latin American media sources.
The Bush administration hates Chavez, and the typical news or opinion article reflects that animosity. He is always referred to as a demagogue, strongman or would-be dictator.
Chavez is immensely popular in Latin America because he is a democratically elected populist who is sharing his nation’s wealth with his people (and ours), and he’s using it to cut the purse strings to U.S. credit sources.
That’s a good thing for them -- and for us in the long run. The U.S. has long favored brutal right-wing dictators over democratic leaders.
Bush is squandering our influence there, and, in 20 years, people will ask, “Who lost Latin America?” The answer will be clear: George W. Bush.
DALE JENNINGS
Boulevard, Calif.
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