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Tuesday, 03 October 2006 18:01 |
 | | Roland Martin |
CHICAGO ÇƒÓ You gotta admit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has got some guts.
In a stinging speech at the United Nations in New York, the fiery leader denounced President George W. Bush as being the "devil" and declaring that the end is near for the United Statesë domination on the world stage.
Then he went a step further during a speech at a church in Harlem the following day, even calling him an "alcoholic and a sick man" for his past battle with substance abuse. According to a story by Ian James of The Associated Press, "Chavez received a round of applause from the crowd at Mount Baptist Olive Church, which included activists and other supporters as well as actor Danny Glover.
Bush has acknowledged that he had a drinking problem when he was young but gave up alcohol 20 years ago.
"Chavez also
called Bushës policies in Iraq criminal, adding he hopes Americans will
before long ǃÚawakenë and elect a better president. The Venezuelan said
that while he opposes Bush, the American people ǃÚare our friends.ë"
His comments drew a stroke rebuke from Democrats.
"You donët come
into my country; you donët come into my congressional district and you
donët condemn my president," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.,
according to CNN.com.
He added: "If thereës any criticism of President Bush, it should be restricted to Americans, whether they voted for him or not.
"I just want to
make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any other president: Donët
come to the United States and think, because we have problems with our
president, that any foreigner can come to our country and not think
that Americans do not feel offended when you offend our chief of state."
"He is an everyday thug," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was quoted as saying.
Like many
people, I was taken aback by Chavezës denunciations of Bush and found
them intensely sophomoric. Yet Iëve always taken the time to ask a
critical question: "Why would he make such a statement?"
Many folks know
that Chavez, elected president in 1998, has been a thorn in Bushës side
for quite some time. American officials donët like the fact that a
socialist like Chavez is leader of a country with such a huge oil
reserve. He has championed efforts by Latin American nations to wean
them from the financial support of the United States and to stand on
their own two feet. Chavez has long contended that American interests
in the continent have too long been placed ahead of the needs of the
countries.
An admirer of
Cuban President Fidel Castro, Chavez is the leading candidate to assume
the mantle of being the voice against American imperialism once Cubaës
longtime leader is no longer on the scene.
Chavez has long
asserted that the Bush administration is behind a plot to overthrow
him. They have denied such claims, but looking at the history of the
U.S., he has every reason to raise the issue.
Take the time and read Steven Kinzerës "Overthrow: Americaës Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq."
In a detailed
analysis of American foreign policy, he lays out a compelling study of
the intervention of the United States into the internal affairs of a
number of countries based on the desires of American interests,
especially U.S. companies.
For instance,
Americans commemorated the deadly attacks of the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. But on Sept. 11, 1973, a U.S.-backed
coup, led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, took over Chile, turning that
country over to a dictator who raped and pillaged it for years. America
sowed the seeds of discontent by using newspapers funded by the CIA,
and paying off mobs of rebels, to protest and condemn the election of
President Salvador Allende ÇƒÓ a democratically elected leader.
What does any of
this have to do with Chavez? It is an example of the kind of "gunboat
diplomacy" that the United States has practiced for 110 years, and
Chavez is the manifestation of those policies.
We keep asking,
"Why do they hate us?" but never want to learn the answer. History
reveals it: America cares about American interests, but doesnët take
too kindly when other countries assert their nationalism and demand to
make their "interests" a priority.
Rangel, Pelosi
and countless others may be highly upset with Chavezës personal attack
on the president, and they very well should be ÇƒÓ we all defend our
people when they get attacked. But when the dust settles, letës stop
being naive and acting as if our own policies havenët contributed to
the tremendous dislike that people have for the United States of
America.
ï
Roland S. Martin, editor of The Chicago Defender newspaper, is author of "Speak, Brother! A Black Manës View of America."
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