Chavez Policy a Threat to US Imperialism.
Harold Hamlet | 02.12.2007 18:30 | Anti-militarism | Workers' Movements | World
President Chavez Crossing the Rubicon:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/386875.html, I believe that he has indeed crossed the Rubican.
The Chavez government’s domestic policy of redistributing the Venezuelan Democratic Republic’s wealth has eroded the USA´s imperial power in South America, whose policy has been the contrary since it began its imperial period.
The twice democratically elected Chavez has used his influence to counter US military and financial domination globally too. Even if Chavez were removed from power by a CIA supported coup or assassinated now, his significant impact most probably could not be reversed.
Last week, Hugo Chavez's and the Iranian President failed to push OPEC away from trading in the dollar last week. If this attempt had been successful it would have dealt a serious blow to the status of the dollar as the worlds most favoured and stable currency. However, just sewing the seeds of the idea is the first step to realising the threat.
A consequence of the loss of dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency (as it were as good as gold reserves), is it’s financial muscle and relative purchasing power around the world would decrease, so eventually the US would not be able to afford to maintains it’s empire; for example its military presence in over 100 countries around the world. There would most probably be other serious negative effects, even on the US domestic economy.
Some hold the view that what finally convinced the US neocons to invade Iraq was Sadam Hussein’s switch from selling Iraq’s oil for dollars and then depositing them in US investment banks, to selling it for Euros and avoiding US banks. There is no worst crime in the eyes US elites than to challenge the status and power of the dollar and the US economy.
So Chavez’s threat is real, and its consequences of a similar switch by OPEC would be a devastating blow to the US.
Chavez has been busy of late challenging imperialist foreign policy, both directly and symbolically. . The Spanish King recently told Chavez to •"Shut Up¨ at the recent summit in Chile of South American State’s when Chavez publicly denounced Spain’s former imperial presence in SA directly to the King and Spanish President, Zapeteoro He called former Spanish prime minister Aznar a fascist, and accused Aznar and the King of having prior notice of the unsuccessful coup attempt against him that was supported by the CIA. Chavez didn’t shut up so the King threw his dummy out of the pram and walked out.
Chavez’s refusal to "Shut Up" symbolised South America’s new found confidence and courage, to stand up to the Imperialist countries after centuries of being under their jackboots, as Noam Chomsky would say, and being murdered or removed from power by the imperialists, that is if they didn’t shut up, and become a subservient ally.
The consequences of not shutting up have been very serious for the defenders of countries and peoples over the last hundred years. In this case Bush’s religious advisor and Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson's called for the assassination of Chavez on US TV last year.
Chavez has confidently stepped across every US red-line, and as the author says above, probably the Rubicon too. With the US military tied up in disastrous imperialist military adventures in Iraq and Iran, it no longer seems to have the financial and military resources to deal with countries which use its resources to help its people, and not allow foreign countries benefit from them - a crime that has been sufficient enough in the past for much of the USA´s aggression, which includes the slaughter of people around the world - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Chile, Nicaragua ...and so on .. and so on … and so on:
Oil, the dollar’s steady decline in the recent period, coupled with irrational and counter productive US foreign policy have put a break on US imperialism, and actually appear to be reversing it.
Additionally, the resistance of countries like Venezuela and Iran to US financial imperialism and neo-liberalism being used along with the emergence of the Far East and the EU as challenge to the USA´s economic mite, are accelerating the process that could bring an end not just to the dominance of the dollar in international finance and the US financial and military empire, but liberation from imperial, financial and other forms oppression.
Yours
Harold Hamlet.
Harold Hamlet