Babalu Blog: castro's che guevara dreams in Bolivia

September 22, 2005

castro's che guevara dreams in Bolivia

The repellent fidel castro retains his dreams of continental domination in Bolivia. He's now fueled by Hugo Chavez's money. Here is an Investor's Business Daily editorial that is on the front page of Real Clear Politics today:

Castro's Web
Posted 9/21/2005

Latin America: Bolivia has a presidential election coming up that could affect an entire continent. Maybe that's why the dictator of Cuba has "a big plan" to win it.

At first blush, Fidel Castro's interest in Bolivian affairs seems far-fetched. For 40 years, he treated the Andean state with indifference. He seemed to lose interest after angry Bolivians knocked off the invading Che Guevara in 1967.

All that aside, it looks like Castro's old dreams of continental dominion have awakened amid opportunity.

Since passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement in July, Castro and his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, have swung south in their effort to influence hemispheric affairs. And in Bolivia they've found an increasingly grim political situation ripe for exploitation.

Their Bolivian political apprentice, Evo Morales, is closing in on the presidency ahead of the Dec. 4 election. His rapid rise in the polls is a direct result of Castro's pump priming.

Cuban state media recently trumped a new "cooperation" program for Bolivia's municipalities. Bolivian villages affiliated with Cuba's openly favored leftist party will now get "free" Cuban doctors at their doors, eye surgery in Cuba, sports programs, medical scholarships and "services" for children and the elderly.

Morales, leader of Bolivia's coca-growers' union, plans to be Castro's second willing domino on the South American continent.

On his own, he commands only 18% of the vote on a basis of angry ethnic and urban politics. But Castro's and Chavez's "aid" seems to be changing that. Morales has now taken the lead, with 28% of voters saying he's the man, enough to secure victory in Congress. Huey Long-style politics, even if Castro does it, seems to work pretty well in weak Latin American economies with depressed democracies.

The tactic is the same one that Chavez, at Castro's direction, used to buy support for himself during his recall referendum last year in Venezuela.

As Morales benefits from Marxist patronage from abroad, he has a second advantage because he is up against a caretaker government of few resources, meaning no competing pork-barrel programs.

Morales saw to that in June when he toppled his second president in two years by blocking roads and threatening to nationalize the energy industry. Not surprisingly, 80% of foreign investment in energy exploration fled in just three months.

Why should this matter? Bolivia is the most strategically important country in South America. Bolivia borders five states and has a large indigenous population influential in Peru and Ecuador. It has vast potential in natural gas, and is critical to Brazil. Bolivia supplies about 30% of the energy used by 30 million people in the Sao Paulo region. That's 50% of Brazil's economy, which is big as Mexico's.

It's also important to Argentina, supplying at least 24% of its natural gas, and indirectly to Chile, which, due to an 1873 war with Bolivia, illicitly buys from Argentina.

As Brazil desperately tries to switch to other forms of energy, the control or even loss of these Bolivian gas pipelines will effectively hammerlock the largest part of the South American economy. It'll also push already soaring natural gas prices higher as this region seeks energy elsewhere.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld seems to be aware of the problem. He visited Paraguay and Peru this summer to discuss Cuba's growing influence on their neighbor. For this, he was mocked mercilessly in the U.S. media.

Mock as they will, Rumsfeld's attention to South America is all about a critical country about to slide into the Chavez-Castro orbit, one that controls critical world energy supplies that will be used not to enrich Bolivia's people, but to cash in on spoils and spread trouble as far as it can. Only Castro can emerge the winner from this.

Posted by Mora at September 22, 2005 12:41 PM

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Comments

You know, in a perverse way, maybe it is time for some of these countries, like Argentina, who want to constantly spout off tired and tiresome anti-American rhetoric, and laud kagaSStro as a "leader," to face being surrounded and undermined by the likes of Chavez and Morales. Then they'll find out the "imperialists" they profess to hate are not so bad, when the alternative is the loss of independence to the Marxist plague. Maybe that is what they deserve.
My prediction is that, should they fail to collectively and proactively defend their security and independence against the mini-me-kagaSStro axis, in the end they'll go down - literally in flames - as Hitler's little satellites (Rumania, Hungary, etc)did.

Of course, they will then expect the "vile imperialists" to come help rebuild and lavish them with mucho dolares. Instead, what they should get is mucho DOLOR.

Posted by: Alberto Quiroga at September 22, 2005 02:27 PM

Jeez, having created the preconditions for a world war against Islamofascism, Jimmy Carter couldn't just let well enough alone and has to go help Latin American commies get a foothold again through his rubber stamping election fraud. I wonder how many more wars he'll be able to lay the infrastructure for before he dies.

Posted by: Murel Bailey at September 22, 2005 02:30 PM

Well said, Alberto and Murel. I agree with you both. I wonder if those Argies need to learn the hard way. They always do.

Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at September 22, 2005 04:56 PM

Unfortunately I've become really jaded lately. I only care about Cuba. If Venezuela wants communism, fine. If Bolivia wants it fine. Let Argentina see what their fave son, Che, had in store for them. Honestly the only way these people will ever understand the evil of communism is to experience it for themselves. Kind of like being attracted to the hot burner on the stove. I don't give a crap any more. Let em get burned.

Posted by: conductor at September 22, 2005 06:22 PM

Conductor: I understand your point of view. But do you want castro controlling a continent? I don't want him to have that much power. Dead is better.

What will that mean for the USA? Do you think he will stop at South America?

Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at September 22, 2005 11:50 PM

Hey The Peanut man sure has messed up this Coutnry and the world for good, eh.

Posted by: Ramon at September 23, 2005 12:35 AM

Mora,

"one that controls critical world energy supplies that will be used not to enrich Bolivia's people, but to cash in on spoils and spread trouble as far as it can."

The problem is it's not enriching the people now. That's why people like Morales have support. When you get rid of the corruption that exists in Latin America, and just as importantly the exploitation, you get rid of the Morales's of the world. Do you think all the violence in Bolivia has been because of Cuba and Marxism? Poverty is the key. And don't forget the severe racism.

Rumsfeld should worry about the Bolivian people, not Castro.

Posted by: Fielding at September 23, 2005 01:40 PM

Mora,

I don't know that you'll see this response because this topic is little old but there is an irony to be seen here. Kennedy made a deal with the Soviets that we would not intervene in Cuba. When the USSR collapsed, the world had changed and the country could not stomach an intervention in a country that "did not pose a threat" to the US. So the irony is that the stronger Fidel and his version of the axis of evil grows, the more Cuba is the US radar screen. My point about Venezuela, etc. is that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Many Cuban exiles went to Venezuela when they left Cuba. Venezuelans should have known better than to elect Chavez. Then when they had him out, they should have known better than to allow him back. And then they should known better than to vote for him in that referendum. It's on them. They need to learn their own lesson now.

Posted by: conductor at September 25, 2005 11:25 AM

Posted by: TczheYIqSK at October 1, 2005 01:07 PM