The Cold War That Threatens Democracy By Tom Hayden Source: Tomhayden March 18, 2014 zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-cold-war-that-threatens-democracy/# “,,,the growing US pattern of ignoring democratic electoral outcomes where they are inconvenient, in the name of “promoting democracy.” Ultimately this process of “democracy through intervention” reinforces bureaucratic authoritarian trends in both East and West. The thrust of this US foreign policy mirrors conservatives’ efforts at home to limit and divide the ascending multicultural American political majority. It should be remembered that Al Gore’s election by a half-million vote majority in 2000, and his apparent win in Florida that year, did not prevent Republican mobs, Republican apparatchiks and Republican judges from forcing the Bush Era upon America. Many of those same forces are willing to do whatever is necessary abroad to thwart democratic electoral outcomes not to their liking.” “ Venezuela and the New Domino Theory The original Cold War was premised on a baseless “domino theory” – that any communist victory anywhere would cause the toppling of neighboring states. The new Cold War doctrine is that democratically elected nationalist or socialist leaders are new dominos threatening the fall of a US-controlled order. In the first Cold War, Cuba was the Soviet domino whose “fall” justified the dispatch of CIA and Special Forces across Latin America and the propping up of oligarchs, military dictators, and regimes that employed death squads. These policies resulted in thousands of deaths and mass suffering, but in the end failed to prevent the collapse of dictatorial regimes through free and democratic elections across Latin America. Far from being defeated or isolated, the Cuban government eventually was recognized by every country in Central and Latin America.” “ ,, resurrected Cold War thinking sees an opportunity to destroy all the dominos, including Cuba, by destabilizing and wrecking Venezuela. Suddenly, the Cuban right-wing exiles in the US, in collaboration with the US government, are building strong congressional and media support for imposing an escalating spiral of sanctions on Venezuela. If they are successful, they believe that all the dominos of the “bad left” will fall, or perhaps fall into line, due to lack of Venezuelan oil, and that the regional effort at institutional integration, led in part by Venezuela, and following the dreams of Bolivar and Marti, will be set back before it can be consolidated. Twenty-first century socialism will be upended, they think, as the US regains its dominance. Cuba, the original inspiration and base for Marti’s vision of “Our America”, will be crippled by the loss of Venezuelan oil, face an internal uprising and be returned to the US orbit. Of course much is left out of this fanciful neo-con scenario. It is more faith-based than fact based. The tendency of the Latin American region to become more unified in the face of outside aggression is ignored. “
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 03:04:03 +0000