Ortega! Are the communist taking over south America?
815352
Chavez is preaching his Marxist socialism to the surrounding countries in South and Central America.  The one main difference is that with him being a strong arm dictator in control of the military (and eliminating any political or military competition) he can get away with nationalizing private enterprise and can sell it as a redistribution of wealth.\n\nBut you'll notice that Venezuela has a serious gap between the "haves" and "have nots".  Essentially he is eliminating the middle class because the companies he is nationalizing are mom and pop establishments, not major corporations.  And for an oil rich nation in the throes of socialism not a lot of the oil profits are trickling down to the masses, even the infrastructures are poor.\n\nThere is a very small upper class and a very large lower class, and through nationalization not much of a middle class.\n\nThis sort of socialism is destined to fail in the countries where there is not a strong army to keep the government in power.  Taking away people's ownership of he little they own for the better of the country won't play well in most of these countries where most businesses are small enterprises.\n\nBut I predict a few countries will follow Chavez' lead until the bubble bursts.
938459
Probably "Petrobraz" in Brazil
723602
I think it is partly because the US government has been so bogged down in the mess it has created in Iraq and Afghanistan that it hasn't got the resources to impose its agenda on South America, and people are waking up, too.  As a consequence of American imposed policies through IMF, World Bank, puppet regimes, training secret police and torturers to cut dissent, etc.  millions and millions of people have been exploited, but as the saying goes, you can't fool all the people all the time...so now presidents who are more sensitive to people's agenda instead of catering to US interests and the corporate agenda are being elected.  For example in the case of Chavez in Venezuela, US tried to bring about a coup and get rid of him, but thank God it didn't work...times aren't like they were when the democratically elected president of Chile was killed and replaced by the monster, General Pinochet.  And God willing, this just the beginning...I hope American people will wake up, too, because they are also being betrayed.
821138
Find something or somebody in Washington DC that is/was non-political, if he was given a directive and did what he was told then that is all that matters. People in the intelligence agencies or security committees leaking information to the press is for political gain is not  "conscientous", it's treason.  The Contras were percieved as a greater threat than the Iranians, and the Soviet influence in the Middle East a greater threat than militant Islam. Now Ortega has come back into power, the Russians and China aiding, arming and encouraging Iran, Syria and North Korea. The situation has decayed into further chaos, but he's familiar with all the players.
879055
ELECTIONS-NICARAGUA:\nThe Sandinistas Are Back\nJosé Adán Silva\n\nMANAGUA, Nov 6 (IPS) - They swore they would return. And today, 16 years after losing their grip on power in national elections, Nicaragua's Sandinistas appear to have made it back, according to the preliminary results from Sunday's elections. \n\nThe leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front's (FSLN) presidential candidate Daniel Ortega took 40 percent of the vote, while the right-wing Eduardo Montealegre of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) and José Rizo of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC) garnered 33 and 20 percent, respectively, the Supreme Electoral Court announced after 40 percent of the votes were tallied. \n\nUnder Nicaraguan law, Ortega needs either 40 percent of the vote, or just 35 percent and a five-point lead over his nearest rival, to avoid a run-off. \n\nThe news that Ortega was ahead prompted FSLN supporters to take to the streets to celebrate, with flags, t-shirts and signs bearing Ortega's image, while singing protest songs and election jingles. \n\nInternational election observers sent by the Organisation of American States (OAS), the European Union and the Carter Centre (led by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter) said the elections went smoothly and were clean and transparent. \n\nOnly the mission of observers sent by the White House issued a statement reporting "anomalies". \n\nTwo local non-governmental election monitoring groups, the Institute for the Development of Democracy, and Ethics and Transparency, issued their own parallel counts, based on information gathered by more than 12,000 observers. \n\nAccording to their results, former president Ortega (1985-1990) will score a first-round victory. \n\nEthics and Transparency gave Ortega 38.5 percent of the vote and a nearly 10 percent lead over Montealegre, said the group's president, Pablo Ayón. \n\nThe watchdog group said Montealegre took 29.5 percent, Rizo 24 percent, and Edmundo Jarquín of the Sandinista Renewal Movement, a dissident faction of the FSLN, 7.4 percent -- similar to the 7.5 percent reported by the official tally. \n\n"We understand that some candidates have doubts and say they might have actually performed better, but our results, which no one can object to, will not be affected by the ‘irregularities' that were mentioned," Ayón told IPS. \n\nThe Institute for the Development of Democracy, meanwhile, said its findings showed that Ortega was ahead with 39 percent of the vote, while Montealegre took 29 percent and Rizo 25 percent. \n\n"These are not official results, but we have all of the elements necessary to reliably state that these tendencies will not budge," Mauricio Zuñiga, the head of the Institute, told IPS. "It must be recognised: Ortega won." \n\nSo far, the ALN and PLC candidates have refused to accept either the official or unofficial results, and have not ruled out the possibility of a "surprise" in the final count. \n\nMontealegre is demanding a vote-by-vote recount -- something that is not provided for in Nicaragua's election laws. \n\nThe ALN candidate said that according to his own tally and those of "serious organisations," the outcome points to the need for a second round, and protested that "irregularities" were committed. \n\nRizo also called for a recount, even though the final tally has not even been completed. \n\n"The PLC can't lose like this, the counting of our rural votes has not been completed, and we are not going to accept any winner until the very last vote is counted," said the party's spokesman Leonel Téller. \n\nThe 60-year-old Ortega first seized power in 1979 after the FSLN guerrillas overthrew the brutal Somoza family dictatorship -- which ruled the country for 40 years -- and established a revolutionary junta. \n\nIn 1984, Ortega ran for president and won the elections in the midst of a bloody
1074814
Yes, and they plan on taking over the world. They have developed a super duper black helicopter contrail that defeats all tin foil hat defenses. \n\nBwahahahahahaha!
356743
It's a long standing vendetta against Castro? Time to put it to bed. And make it a great vacation spot.\nCastro will be dead in the near future.
700980
They have never stopped loving Fidel or worshipping Che.  Don't forget the little crush they have on Kim Jong of North Korea.  \nAnd here's to hoping that Danny Ortega can stage a comeback in Nicaragua. \n\nThe Liberals lament is so many dictators to love, so little time
363416
Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuala have lef-wing governments. I am not sure how many of them was elected after Bush took the office. However, it is true that there is an anti-American left wing trend in Latin countries. There is going to be election in 10 more latin countries till the end of this year. I guess we’ll see the exact picture at the end of this year. Please look over the following link.\n\n\nANALYSIS: HOW THE US 'LOST' LATIN AMERICA \n“There is trouble ahead for Uncle Sam in his own backyard. Big trouble…….… there is a wave of profound anti-American feeling stretching from the Texas border to the Antarctic.”\nhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4861320.stm
388170
i believe they already have. just look at today's issues.\n\ngun control??? abortion??? income redistribution to such an extreme?????  secularization????\ncommunist countries typically have these things.\n\n\nwe are flirting with communism.
652565
We sell airplanes to other countries, why not Russia?  Don't worry about it.  Cuba probably has a few 29's flying around.  Our Navy needs something to play with from time to time.  Just ask the Libyans.  As for who is Hugo Chavez...he is Venezuela's Fidel Castro.  Pro Communist and Anti-American President.
906233
Yeah! Take that you commie bastards!
475094
Bush government may attack to Iran(an attack to Syria is also within possibilities) or support the attack of Israel. But I don’t think that it is going to be within one year at least since USA may have some trouble in its backyard within forthcoming months. Brazil-China relations become closer. There is already a tension with Venezuela. There will be elections in around 10 South-America countries in 2006. At the end of this year, USA may have other Chavezes to deal with. USA is already in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is risky to attack not only Iran but any other country before having stability in the backyard. \n\nYou may look over the following link to see whats going there.\nAnalysis: How the US 'lost' Latin America \nhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4861320.stm
584375
They're trying to stir up trouble just like the people who post topic after topic spouting "Bush is Hitler!" and "Should Bush be impeached?".\n\nBuncha flamers.\n\nBy the way, Communism 99% of the time won't work unless it's a very small, agrarian community. When it comes to larger, more prosperous countries it won't work. There will always be people in the government that are greedy and feel they are better than everyone else, plus don't you think Communism is unfair? A server at McDonalds would get the exact same amount of everything as a doctor or lawyer, do you think anyone would be motivated to go to college anymore?
926682
they have no right whatsoever - but that won't stop them - they have been meddling in South American politics for decades - largely to the detriment of the indigenous people.\n\nYet they seem to soon get up in arms as soon as another country dares to criticise them!
604753
to "unite" the world under communism.  Now the largest remnant (Russia) just wants to annihilate the US (although they won't admit it publically until they pull it off).
588845
Great idea in principle, but I would avoid Bolivia as Bebobz6 is sponsoring a child there, and might be a tad upset about it.\n\nWhy not nuke Argentina instead ?  Not even other Latin Americans like them.