Oil Crisis, Threats - In America's "backyard"
International News Analysis Today Exclusive Report
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2002 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
While the world awaits Washington's response to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, a life-and-death struggle is erupting in America's own "backyard" - a struggle potentially affecting every American.
A general strike has crippled the oil production of
one of America's most important oil suppliers in an
attempt to force out President Hugo Chavez, the Marxist
leader of the South American nation of Venezuela, the
fith largest oil producer in the world.
The struggle against Chavez involves not just oil, but also the little reported resurgence of communism in Latin America, as well as terrorism, and the drug trade.
Chavez' opponents fear the establishment of a Cuba-style, communist police state. Although elected with 60 percent of the vote, Chavez now is opposed by over 70 percent, according to the online version of the French news daily, Le Figaro. Chavez has already survived a failed army coup in April.
Should disorders continue, Chavez will declare a state of emergency, making himself a virtual dictator, according to a recent British Broadcasting Corporation report.
Chavez has been implicated in assisting the Marxist guerrilla groups who control much of the South American nation of Colombia. The communist-held areas of Colombia are known staging areas for Mideast terrorists, including Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network.
Chavez is also an admirer of Cuban Marxist leader, Fidel Castro.
Although dismissed as a living anachronism, Castro - and communist Cuba - are experiencing a startling increase in influence south of America's borders, from Central America to Brazil, the "green giant" of Latin America.
Havana's door is open not only to Chavez -- a close, personal friend of Castro -- but also to a wide variety of leftist politicians, guerrilla fighters, and drug smugglers.
For years Cuba has sought to ingratiate itself with its neighbors, supplying Cuban medical personnel to poor regions of the continent. The strategy is paying off; high Cuban officials are now invited to continent-wide governmental conferences.
Cuba's celebrated leap into the market economy is largely illusory. The number of small-scale Cuban entrepreneurs is actually decreasing -- from 209,00 in 1996 to the present total of 150,000 - while the Communist Party controls virtually every aspect of market development, according to a recent Miami Herald report.
America is prepared to launch a crushing blow to Saddam Hussein's dictatorship,
committing some 250,000 troops in the assault, and to
a prolonged occupation of Iraq. While the U.S. is engaged
in that attack - and keeping Afghanistan under control
as well - Latin America falls ever deeper into a crisis
little understood, or reported, in the United States.
Ignoring South America while committing large numbers of troops thousands of miles from home may be an error of monumental proportions.
Copyright 2002 International News Analysis Today
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