Home > Chávez and Maradona Lead Massive Rebuke of Bush

Chávez and Maradona Lead Massive Rebuke of Bush

by Open-Publishing - Wednesday 9 November 2005
16 comments

Edito Governments USA South/Latin America

by Jordana Timerman

Some aspects of George Bush’s travels have become commonplace, including massive protests, sporadic violence and tight security operations. All of these usual elements—notably the imperial-style arrival of the US president with an entourage of 2,000 people and four AWACS surveillance systems—were present at the Fourth Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

But the opposition to Bush and his proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), as well as neoconservative economic policies and capitalism in general, took on a creative twist this time, with a massive march that ended in a rally at a sports stadium involving a heterogeneous group of Latin American leaders: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Bolivian socialist leader Evo Morales, Argentine leaders of the unemployed, Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, singers from all over the continent, and, of course, Diego Maradona, legendary soccer hero.

A counter-meeting, the Summit of the People, began in the city on Monday, and concluded on Thursday with recommendations to summarily suspend FTAA talks, combat inequality in the region, and "energetically reject the militarization of the continent promoted by the empire of the north."

At the culminating event of the march against Bush, Chávez called the stadium in which over 25,000 demonstrators had gathered the "gravesite of the FTAA."

He also proposed a Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean (ALBA, a Spanish acronym meaning "dawn") to replace the controversial FTAA. Regional opponents of Bush’s free trade agreement accuse it of fomenting inequality and placing poorer countries at the mercy of wealthier ones. The Bolivarian alternative proposes regional integration with the goal of fighting poverty and social exclusion.

Chávez’s speech reflected the diplomatic problems encountered in the writing of the Summit of the Americas final text. Venezuela refused to agree to a note, inserted by US representatives, mentioning "the 96 million people who live in extreme poverty," in Latin America and the Caribbean unless there was also mention of the "37 million poor" living in the United States.

ALBA, according to Chávez "must be built from the bottom...It will not be built up from the elites, but from below, from our roots." He listed examples of ALBA in action, citing the sale of Venezuelan petroleum to fourteen Caribbean countries at a 40 percent discount and with an interest rate of one percent over twenty-five years, with the ability to pay off the debt with goods and services instead of cash.

"It was a turning point in Latin American history," claims Marcelo Langieri, academic secretary of the Sociology faculty at the University of Buenos Aires. Langieri, who was one of 160 cultural and political leaders invited to travel the 400 kilometers from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata on a train dubbed the ALBA Express, emphasized what he considers a paradigm shift in the dialogue. "Not only was the FTAA questioned, but also the neoconservative economic model and capitalism," and by somebody in a position of power such as Chávez’s.

Chávez revealed that he would be presenting an Alliance Against Hunger plan to the Summit leaders. He promised $1 million from Venezuela for the project, which proposes eradicating starvation within the next decade.

Signs carried by the crowd included "Stop Bush" and "Pirate Bush, out of Mar del Plata." Crowd estimates varied, from 25,000 cited in the New York Times to 50,000 people cited by organizers.

The march and rally at the soccer stadium had an important celebrity factor attracting further attention to the cause. The ALBA Express, which included a special VIP car for Maradona, was cheered on by fans along the way to Mar del Plata, and stopped several times in the night to greet people gathered at stations.

Soccer legend Maradona attracted considerable attention to the march by announcing on his Monday night television show that he would be protesting Bush’s arrival in Argentina. Maradona, who is not known for his political views, has a close relationship with Cuban president Fidel Castro, built during recent years when he spent time recovering from drug addiction in Cuba. In a press conference on Thursday Maradona referred to Bush as "human garbage." However, he did not actually march, going directly from the train to the stadium.

"Argentina is worthy; Let’s kick Bush out," was Maradona’s message to the stadium protesters.

Langieri discards the idea of separating Maradona’s star power from the anti-Bush cause. For Langieri the importance of the message is expressed by the fact that a national hero such as Maradona would promote it. "Maradona is not a politician. What Diego said is the truth."

Though the march to the stadium and the gathering there were peaceful, a separate demonstration by far-left groups ended in chaos and violence. Reaching the barrier area, a group that spread out over an avenue for over six blocks faced off against police forces. A segment of this group—about 200 people—were prepared for confrontation, masking themselves to avoid recognition and as protection from tear gas. Most of the demonstrators fled when police forces responded to rock-throwing with tear gas, but others turned on storefronts—setting a bank on fire and breaking windows.

The Summit of the Americas ended Saturday in a deadlock: Mexico, the United States and 29 other nations pushed to set an April deadline for more talks on free trade, but that was opposed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela, the Associated Press reported. And in the end It is not clear what effect the opposition to Bush will have on regional cooperation. Will the promise of unity demonstrated by the Summit of the People and the peaceful marches lead to real alternatives to US foreign policy? Or is Bush merely the latest rallying point for anti-capitalism leading to riots and vandalism? Regardless, it seems to be that opposition toward Bush and his policies has created a powerful space, one which regional leaders, especially Chávez, are more than willing to take advantage of.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051121/timerman

Forum posts

  • Bush arrogance will not allow anyone to criticise him, much less someone from an inferior country who is not a crony and doesn’t possess atomic weapons. How dare they stand up to him. He is our immortal leader, who talks to God, and can do anything he pleases because he IS the law.
    His neo-con group plans to dominate the world, using deceit, lies, bullying and preemption, true Republican Christian values. They utter 9/11 thousands of times to excuse anything they want to do, including the killing of many thousands of innocent Muslims with Shock and Awe. They suckered the entire congress with their lies about WMD’s, and scared the entire country with their lies about Saddam sending pilotless planes to the U.S. with nuclear bombs aboard, imminently endangering the entire country. They know no shame in their lust for power or in their arrogance of enornously exaggerated self-worth for insignificant frat-boys, cowardly war-hawks.
    They still have plans to invade Iran and Syria, and had such plans for years. Condi Rice almost daily reminds them that the U.S. is keeping an eye on them, and will use any excuse to send cruise missles into those countries, followed by Bush’s "brave boys" who will furnish cannon fodder.
    We know that Bush had and has plans to castigate Venezuela for its daring to criticize him. We know his minions have tried to overthrow the govenment of Venezuela and substitute the Falange type of saboteurs beloved by Bush to destablize the regime. But the Republican Senators say it is all hogwash, trivial, nothing to it, and support the arrogant pretensions of Bush every inch of his lying ways.

    • Being arrogant means you have some brains. Your great American leader doesn’t have anything of those! Period. Those who follow him have even less!

    • I couldn’t have said it better myself.. thanks for putting it into print.... ;-)

    • The neo-cons WANTED a Pearl Harbor-like incident to happen in order to gain support for the invasion into Iraq, to pass the Patriot Act, to gain humongous profits for the military, oil, and other large corporations....without any question or opposition of significance.

      If they needed a Pearl Harbor-like tragedy to take place in order to carry out their agenda, it certainly makes me think that 9/11 was definitely part of the plan. Yes, indeed, I believe there has been a HUGE CONSPIRACY.

      Ridiculing and trying to intimidate people who accuse Republicans of carrying out a conspiracy, is part of the pre-planned (Rove) manipulation.

      Claiming that Bush/Cheney represent Christian values is a (rove) trick to gain votes and support from the religious right. Bush, Cheney and Assoc. do not have Christian values in any manner, shape or form.

      Steaing the elections was also part of the plan.

      These guys are incredibly devious.

    • add some pitchers and ya got yerself a first class comic book.

  • Very few world leaders respect Bush, he is hated world wide. Bush is mentally unstable and dangerous. He must be arrested now! Bush has aleady done enough irreversible damage.

  • God bless you folks! Keep up the good fight! Reclaim your continent. Go Hugo!

    We up here know GW and his band of thugs are lunatics and we’re trying to get them out. It will change. It will take some time.

    familia en espiritus

  • Professor thinks bombs, not planes, toppled WTC

    Deseret Morning News | November 11, 2005
    By Elaine Jarvik

    RELATED:
    Prof. Jones’ Article Questioning the ’Official Story’ of 9/11

    Steven E. Jones Bio & CV

    The controlled demolition of the twin towers and building 7

    Prisonplanet WTC 7 Archive

    Case For WTC Tower Demolition Sealed By Griffin

    The physics of 9/11 — including how fast and symmetrically one of the World Trade Center buildings fell — prove that official explanations of the collapses are wrong, says a Brigham Young University physics professor.

    In fact, it’s likely that there were "pre-positioned explosives" in all three buildings at ground zero, says Steven E. Jones.

    In a paper posted online Tuesday and accepted for peer-reviewed publication next year, Jones adds his voice to those of previous skeptics, including the authors of the Web site www.wtc7.net, whose research Jones quotes. Jones’ article can be found here.

    Jones, who conducts research in fusion and solar energy at BYU, is calling for an independent, international scientific investigation "guided not by politicized notions and constraints but rather by observations and calculations.

    Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News

    "It is quite plausible that explosives were pre-planted in all three (WTC) buildings," BYU physics professor Steven E. Jones says.

    "It is quite plausible that explosives were pre-planted in all three buildings and set off after the two plane crashes — which were actually a diversion tactic," he writes. "Muslims are (probably) not to blame for bringing down the WTC buildings after all," Jones writes.

    As for speculation about who might have planted the explosives, Jones said, "I don’t usually go there. There’s no point in doing that until we do the scientific investigation."

    Previous investigations, including those of FEMA, the 9/11 Commission and NIST (the National Institutes of Standards and Technology), ignore the physics and chemistry of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, to the Twin Towers and the 47-story building known as WTC 7, he says. The official explanation — that fires caused structural damage that caused the buildings to collapse — can’t be backed up by either testing or history, he says.

    Jones acknowledges that there have been "junk science" conspiracy theories about what happened on 9/11, but "the explosive demolition hypothesis better satisfies tests of repeatability and parsimony and therefore is not ’junk science.’ "

    In a 9,000-word article that Jones says will be published in the book "The Hidden History of 9/11," by Elsevier, Jones offers these arguments: • The three buildings collapsed nearly symmetrically, falling down into their footprints, a phenomenon associated with "controlled demolition" — and even then it’s very difficult, he says. "Why would terrorists undertake straight-down collapses of WTC-7 and the Towers when ’toppling over’ falls would require much less work and would do much more damage in downtown Manhattan?" Jones asks. "And where would they obtain the necessary skills and access to the buildings for a symmetrical implosion anyway? The ’symmetry data’ emphasized here, along with other data, provide strong evidence for an ’inside’ job."

    • No steel-frame building, before or after the WTC buildings, has ever collapsed due to fire. But explosives can effectively sever steel columns, he says.

    • WTC 7, which was not hit by hijacked planes, collapsed in 6.6 seconds, just .6 of a second longer than it would take an object dropped from the roof to hit the ground. "Where is the delay that must be expected due to conservation of momentum, one of the foundational laws of physics?" he asks. "That is, as upper-falling floors strike lower floors — and intact steel support columns — the fall must be significantly impeded by the impacted mass. . . . How do the upper floors fall so quickly, then, and still conserve momentum in the collapsing buildings?" The paradox, he says, "is easily resolved by the explosive demolition hypothesis, whereby explosives quickly removed lower-floor material, including steel support columns, and allow near free-fall-speed collapses." These observations were not analyzed by FEMA, NIST nor the 9/11 Commission, he says.

    • With non-explosive-caused collapse there would typically be a piling up of shattering concrete. But most of the material in the towers was converted to flour-like powder while the buildings were falling, he says. "How can we understand this strange behavior, without explosives? Remarkable, amazing — and demanding scrutiny since the U.S. government-funded reports failed to analyze this phenomenon."

    • Horizontal puffs of smoke, known as squibs, were observed proceeding up the side the building, a phenomenon common when pre-positioned explosives are used to demolish buildings, he says.

    • Steel supports were "partly evaporated," but it would require temperatures near 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit to evaporate steel — and neither office materials nor diesel fuel can generate temperatures that hot. Fires caused by jet fuel from the hijacked planes lasted at most a few minutes, and office material fires would burn out within about 20 minutes in any given location, he says.

    • Molten metal found in the debris of the World Trade Center may have been the result of a high-temperature reaction of a commonly used explosive such as thermite, he says. Buildings not felled by explosives "have insufficient directed energy to result in melting of large quantities of metal," Jones says.

    • Multiple loud explosions in rapid sequence were reported by numerous observers in and near the towers, and these explosions occurred far below the region where the planes struck, he says.

    Jones says he became interested in the physics of the WTC collapse after attending a talk last spring given by a woman who had had a near-death experience. The woman mentioned in passing that "if you think the World Trade Center buildings came down just due to fire, you have a lot of surprises ahead of you," Jones remembers, at which point "everyone around me started applauding."

    Following several months of study, he presented his findings at a talk at BYU in September.

    Jones says he would like the government to release 6,899 photographs and 6,977 segments of video footage for "independent scrutiny." He would also like to analyze a small sample of the molten metal found at Ground Zero.

  • The Harold Wallace Rosenthal Interview 1976

    The Hidden Tyranny

    INTRODUCTION

    This booklet contains the text of a most revealing and shocking interview of a Jew by the name of Harold Rosenthal, which was conducted in 1976, by a concerned patriot, a Walter White, Jr.. Mr. Rosenthal, an influential Jew learned in the Jewish ways and involved in the workings of government in Washington, D.C., explained the Jewish involvement and cause of the major problems we face today.

    Rosenthal, in exposing certain aspects of the ’inner invisible world of Jewry’, revealed the modes and tactics Jews have used in destroying Christian civilization and covertly attaining control over our lives and governments. The result has been a ’hidden tyranny’ upon us like the tyranny waged against the Saints by the red beast system of Revelation referred to as ’Mystery Babylon’.

    But how could such a small number of Jews enslave so many people and gain such an overwhelming control over their governments, especially without their being aware of it? The answer to this may be found in Christ’s parable of the unjust steward, which represents Jewry. They are able to prevail in the world despite their ungodly ways because of their cunning and shrewd ways. As Christ said "For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." (Luke 16:8)

    In other words, the Jew, with his worldly mind set, is wiser than God’s Christian people. When you read the words of Mr. Rosenthal the reality of this statement will come to light. This problem was so prevalent and important for us to overcome that Christ had instructed us to "be wise as serpents". (Matthew 10:16)

    America and the world is now covered in political, economic, moral and social problems which need to be acted upon by Christian people. As Edmund Burke stated: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." But before we can properly act we need a proper (not just a superficial) understanding of the problem. This booklet will help provide the reader with that understanding.

    Charles A. Weisman June, 1992

    In a highly confidential interview with a Jewish administrative assistant to one of this nation’s ranking senators, he said, "It is a marvel that the american people do not rise up and drive every JEW out of this country." The Jew, Mr. Harold Wallace Rosenthal, made this statement after admitting Jewish dominance in all sighificant national programs. He said, "We Jews continue to be amazed with the ease by which Christian Americans have fallen into our hands. While the naive Americans wait for Khrushchev to bury them, we have taught them to submit to our every demand." Asked how a nation could be captured without their knowing it, Mr. Rosenthal attributed this victory to absolute control of the media. He boasted of Jewish control of ALL NEWS. Any newspaper which refused to acquewsce to controlled news was brought to its knees by withdrawing advertising. Failing in this, the Jews stop the supply of news print and ink. "It’s a very simple matter," he stated. Asked about men in high political office, Mr Rosenthal said that no one in the last three decades has achieved any political power without Jewish approval. "Americns have not had a presidential choice since 1932. Roosevelt was our man; every president since Roosevelt has been our man."In a discussion about George Wallace, Mr. Rosenthal smiled and suggested that we note where Wallace stands today.

    When the U.S. foreign policy was mentioned, the bedroom confidence of the interview was all but set aside. With disdain and mockery he sneered at the American stupidity in failing to see through the entire scope of Kissinger’s foreign policy. "It is Zionist-Communist policy from beginning to end. Yet the citizens think this Jewish policy will benefit America." He cited "detente" and Angola as examples of Jewish diplomacy. The credulous nature of Americans drew only contempt from him.

    The interview continued on an almost omniscient plane. "We Jews have put issue upon issue to the American people. Then we promote both sides of the issue as confusion reigns. With their eye’s fixed on the issues, they fail to see who is behind every scene. We Jews toy with the American public as a cat toys with a mouse."

    As the conversation went on into the late hours, one could sense that perhaps America deserves the reign of terror being planned for her. The Jewish mind pits every ethnic group against the other. "The blood of the masses will flow as we wait for our day of world victory," Mr. Rosenthal said coldly.

    For hours after this incredible discussion, a sense of inadequacy prevailed. Is it possible that another group of "human being" could be so treacherous in spirit, so evil in intent? Yet, the words heard and the evidence at hand are real. Is it possible that the American people can remain docile, even while their life’s blood is being drained from them? It seems so.

    WHAT DOES ALL THIS SAY TO US? Since what you have just read plus the lengthy inerview that followed, Mr. Harold Wallace Rosenthal, age 29, the administrative assistant to Senator Jacob K. Javits of New York was killed in an alleged sky-jacking attempt on an Israeli airliner in Istanbul, Turkey, August 12, 1976.

    It would appear that Mr. Rosenthal might have "talked too freely" because although four people were killed and some 30 injured during the sky-jacking attempt, Rosenthal was not killed by a random bullet as were the others. From reports secured at the time, it seems amazing and strange that of all the people involved in this incident Mr.. Rosenthal should have been fatally wounded. Meanwhile, I Walter White who conducted this confidential interview, can now state after much investigation, expense and travel, that Harold Rosenthal was undoubtedly murdered at the Istanbul Airport, in what was to appear as a hijacking probably by his own people

    We had no desire to hurt anyone and especially members of the Rosenthal family who had suffered enough in this tragedy. We corresponded with his mother and father in Philadelphia and his brother Mark David Rosenthal who is attending college in Northern California. In fact, it was he who advised me that Harold’s friends in Washington had set up a memorial fund in Harold W. Rosenthal’s name. He sent us a copy of "The Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations" American Jewish committee, Washington Chapter, 818-18th street N.W. Washington,D.C. 20006. It lists some of the "who’s who" and the honorary Co-Chairmen are Vice President Walter F. Mondale and Senator Jacob K. Javits. Out of respect, we decided to wait until a year had passed since the death of Harold Wallace Rosenthal so we delayed publishing everything he gave us on the memorable day and evening. And as stated before, the interview was lengthy as he seemed to enjoy pouring out this information and at times it was broken and went on into the evening. This writer and editor is not easily shocked but as this egotist Harold W. Rosenthal raved on and on I found so much of what he said actually horrifying the actual betrayal of which he admittedly was a part and he appeared to gloat over the apparent success of a Jewish World Conspiracy. This, mind you, comes form an "administrative assistant" to one of our ranking Senator’s Jacob K. Javits of New York.

    What you are about to read should act as a WARNING to all non-Jews throughout the world. It hopefully should open the eyes of many who knew him in Washington government circles. It becomes indeed obvious that what he discloses is not fiction. It is not imagination! He was not pretending as he spoke with knowledge and intelligence. Many things have been said and written about the One World Jewish Conspiracy but never has it been described so openly. It staggers the imagination. Their plans are shocking and many will be astonished at the contents of this document. NOTHING like it has ever been told before. We prefer not to elaborate. You be the judge. Looking back to the time of this interview and having had time to analyze Harold Rosenthal’s candidness, we are compelled to think of him as a conceited, boastful yet very knowledgeable person. I would classify him as an egotist and a egoist. At times his cruelty surfaced with a venom, especially as he describes the STUPID CHRISTIANS or "goys" as he so often referred to "us."

  • Yes, if only we could un-elect Bush, we’d be as prosperous and free as the Venezuelans.

    [this is a test to see if my third banishment from this site is still in effect.]

    MTT

  • Now explain, I made not agree with Bush but I dont see him any different than Chavez and Maradona. Bush has started a war and the other has destroyed Venezuela. Chavez follows Castros teaching look at Cuba now. The only people that live well is the goverment and the tourist and the rest have to depend on long lines of goverment gifts of life.

    " Chavez,Maradona y Castro son Communista"

    • Get a grip! Chavez has not destroyed Venezuela. He has given his country new life. He is extremely popular there simply because he has focused most of his attention on his country’s poor. Here in America, the poor are despised as lepers.
      Chavez is a new style socialist very different from Castro. They are both in the same camp out of expediency, but they do share the same contempt for American arrogance and domination which has been stifling Latin America’s progress throughout its history.
      Most Americans are as ignorant of Latin American history as they are of the entire world’s. This ignorance, and yes arrogance often comes from the willfully ignorant, is the major reason why America’s tenure as the world’s major superpower will be very short lived indeed. This ignorance runs much deeper when it comes to global economics, where most Americans don’t have a clue as to why our Federal Government has managed to keep running despite having a debt of $7 trillion, that is growing every day. The answer is very simple; the rest of the world pays for its enormous deficits by holding trillions of dollars in US Treasury securities.
      All it would take is for the world’s central banks, Japan, China, Singapore, the Caribean Basin, etc. to stop funneling their hard earned money into the US Treasury, and the US economy will collapse in less than a year. The Nazis & the Soviets would never have set themselves up for such an easy fall, but the US has.
      The rest of the world should stop feeding this monster that doesn’t even bother returning a decent dividend for an honest investment. God, this world is indeed full of dupes, dupes with deep pockets.

  • Man, he would look great in stipes or crosshairs.

    • Sure. Chavez appears to be guilty of the ’crime’ of trying to help the poor of his nation rather than funneling billions into the coffers of multi-national corporate parasites. He must go. We can’t have such behavior interfering with the plans of the Bush/Cheney NeoCON Fascists to make the world safe for CRONIE capitalists. I see a "terrorist" visit from Al-CIA-da in Chavez’s future.

  • What the hell is Madonna doing with Chavez? What is Madonna doing in Venezuela? I thought she lived in England.