Brett:
Same old same old, there John. No matter how undemocratic Chavez acted -
and
that of course depends on which group of Venezuelans you listen to - he was
democratically elected and ousted in a military-business led coup. The old
right wing groups of old. Oh, and suddenly oil production was to increase.
What a coincidence.
And who supported that coup? The US. Full stop. Period. End.
Me:
That is true, of course, only if you believe all accusations that cast the
US in a bad light and ignore all evidence to the contrary. The US did not,
of course, support the coup. Was the Administration insufficiently active
in deterring it? Yes, I think so. If it had acted, of course, no doubt
all across Latin America people would be blaming us for interfering in
their internal affairs. It should have acted - but there's a very large
difference between _supporting_ a coup and _failing to stop_ a coup, oddly
enough. Find an official statement by the American government saying that
we supported the overthrow of Chavez. Even one. Otherwise, stop throwing
around accusations where you have no evidence except conspiracy theories.
Gautam
