Latest Castro-Chavez admirer takes lead in Ecuador's presidential election - Southern Situation

yahoo.com ^ | October 21, 2002 | MONTE HAYES, AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Two candidates fighting for lead in Ecuador's presidential Election

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador - Two candidates were fighting for the lead in Ecuador's presidential race Sunday, setting the stage for a second round in the closest election since democracy was restored in 1979, early results showed.

With 53.6 percent of the votes counted, Lucio Gutierrez, 45, a dismissed army colonel who is an admirer of Fidel Castro and Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, led with 19 percent of the vote.

Banana magnate Alvaro Noboa, 51, was close behind with 17.6 percent, and the two appeared headed for a runoff election on Nov. 24.

Two other candidates, former President Rodrigo Borja and Xavier Neira, both accepted their defeat. That left moderate leftist Leon Roldos, who had 15.87 percent but his chances of making the runoff were slipping away.

The remaining votes were divided among six candidates. A second round between the two top vote-getters takes place if no candidate receives 50 percent.

Carlos Aguinaga, president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, said many votes remained to be counted before a winner could be announced.

Gutierrez, who led a coup in 2000 that ousted an unpopular president, said it was significant that neither he nor Noboa, Ecuador's wealthiest businessman, was a professional politician.

"It is a sign that the Ecuadorean people are tired of the same politicians of always," he said. "Who is responsible for the country that we have? We have one of the most corrupt, unjust countries, with the greatest inequalities and greatest migration, in Latin America and the world. The moment has arrived to tell those politicians who do not understand the true concept of democracy: Enough."

International election monitors have said they have found no evidence to support fears of electoral fraud. But the distrust displayed by the candidates has raised concern that disappointed losers may take to the streets in protest after the election.

"In past elections there was always a clear sense of which two candidates would be in the second round but not this time," said Carlos Navarrete Castillo, editor of Guayaquil's El Telegrafo newspaper. "There are definitely going to be protests."

At least 30 percent of Ecuadoreans were undecided how to vote just days before the election, reflecting their disenchantment with politicians after years of political and economic turmoil. Absenteeism in the voting reached 34 percent, an all-time high since democracy was restored in 1979 after a decade of dictatorship.

The campaigns of all the presidential candidates revolved around vague plans to combat widespread corruption and poverty.

Ecuador's two-decade-old democracy has suffered trying times in recent years. Since 1996 the country has had five presidents, two of them driven from office in the midst of political and economic upheaval.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Mon Oct 21,12:40 AM ET

Presidential Candidate Lucio Gutierrez appears surrounded by media in Quito, Sunday October 20, 2002. Gutierrez is one of two possible winners of this first electoral round according to unofficial results. With 46 percent of the votes counted, Lucio Gutierrez, a dismissed army colonel who is an admirer of Fidel Castro and Venezuelas leftist President Hugo Chavez, surged into the lead with 18.79 percent of the votes. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

- Castro and Chavez Castro and da Silva (Lula)

Fidel Castro - Cuba

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

Brazil's gathering clouds***Mr. Maisto's tenure as Bill Clinton's ambassador in Venezuela may shed light on his passive approach in Brazil. Columnist Robert Novak reported that Ambassador Maisto "privately advised Congress not to worry about accession of the leftist populist Hugo Chavez to that nation's presidency" in 1999.

In office, Col. Hugo Chavez threw out the constitution and sent armed brigades to attack his civic opposition. He began aiding the FARC terrorists trying to subvert Colombia. Former Reagan National Security Council official Constantine Menges warned in 1998 and 1999 that Mr. Chavez would be an ally of Fidel Castro as well as other state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Iraq. That has happened. Mr. Maisto saw no such problem.

Today Col. Chavez provides a $2 billion petroleum subsidy to Fidel Castro and allies his government with states like Iran, Iraq and communist China. Mr. da Silva calls Col. Chavez "an example to emulate." Col. Chavez calls Mr. da Silva "a great man," and predicts: "The left is going to win in Brazil. Changes are coming step by step on this continent. I think about it day and night."

Robert Novak reports that since arriving at the Rice NSC, Mr. Maisto has "pressed for normalization with communist Cuba" and has worked to maintain the Clinton-era guidelines that impede a stronger U.S. policy against Colombian terrorist groups.

The Washington-based Center for Security Policy, directed by former Pentagon official Frank Gaffney Jr., describes Mr. Maisto as "a career Foreign Service officer known for his soft line on narco-terrorism and other security issues," and says he is "a major roadblock to realization of the President's agenda."

Has Mr. Maisto provided President George W. Bush the advice and help he deserved as the United States seeks to preserve political democracy and avoid what Mr. Menges recently called the possibility of a "nuclear armed axis of evil in the Americas" including Mr. Castro, Mr. Chavez and a radical da Silva regime in Brazil? We will know next month.***

The Southern Threat*** U.S. Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recently drew attention to the economic risks inherent in Brazil's more than $250 billion dollar international debt and caused great concern in the financial community when he said that "throwing the U.S. taxpayer's money at a political uncertainty in Brazil doesn't seem brilliant to me. . . . The situation there is driven by politics, . . . not . . . by economic conditions." A da Silva presidency would likely mean Brazil's default on its debts, which, combined with the crisis in Argentina, could cause immense economic problems in all of Latin America. But worse than the economic downturn would be the effect on the Brazilian people of a radical regime moving toward dictatorship and the risk of destabilization in the region from a Castro-da Silva-Chavez axis.

A da Silva regime in Brazil could soon be followed by the success of the Communist guerrillas in Colombia and the establishment of anti-American regimes in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador (where in January 2000 radicals toppled the government in a few days, with help from military officers recruited by Chavez, though their success was short-lived). Thus, by the end of 2003, the United States might be faced with anti-American regimes in most of South America.

If those regimes recruited only one tenth of one percent of military-aged males for terrorist attacks on the United States, this could mean 30,000 terrorists coming from the south. In addition, many Middle Eastern terrorist organizations, including the PLO, have long collaborated with Castro against the United States and its allies; they and the Iranian-backed terrorists of Hezbollah have hidden among the sizable Middle Eastern communities in Brazil and Venezuela.***

Embattled president threatens to torch Venezuelan oil fields ***But analysts say it is still unclear how deep the Chavez government's willingness to please Washington runs. "They want to show Washington there is cooperation," Shifter said. "But I'm not sure how much there will be.'

Indeed, Chavez continues to play with fire -- at least rhetorically. In the same interview with Harnecker, the Venezuelan president warned that his removal, even by "institutional" means, could set the country -- and in particular the oil fields -- alight. "The country would become a powder keg," he said. "If in Colombia there is sabotage against the oil pipelines, what would happen here, where a whole people and an army see Chavez as the incarnation of hope?"

Other government figures have made the same threat in recent months, one going so far -- in a private meeting with university administrators -- as to say the country would be turned into "another Kuwait" (a reference to Saddam Hussein's torching of the Kuwaiti oil fields after the Gulf War).

How serious is the threat? "It's a bluff," says Romero, the political scientist. The U.S. Embassy is more cautious. "I don't think any of us knows," the spokesman said. There are many reasons why Washington would not want to see Venezuela descend into chaos. But few doubt that political turmoil -- with or without sabotage -- could disrupt the flow of oil. And that alone is a good enough reason for the United States to seek to reject any violent attempt to remove Chavez. ***

Treasury chief, Argentina's leaders talk on money crisis - unemployed blame free market system *** But he said the Bush administration remains averse to even short-term loans like the one to Uruguay -- which must be repaid, with interest, after International Monetary Fund assistance comes through within days. "O'Neill is very uncomfortable about this whole trip, but he has to do it anyway," Bernal said. "He's uncomfortable because his philosophy of the future of capital markets, his basic view, is that bailouts are not efficient."***

Blocking a new axis of evil*** A new terrorist and nuclear weapons/ballistic missile threat may well come from an axis including Cuba's Fidel Castro, the Chavez regime in Venezuela and a newly elected radical president of Brazil, all with links to Iraq, Iran and China. Visiting Iran last year. Mr. Castro said: "Iran and Cuba can bring America to its knees," while Chavez expressed his admiration for Saddam Hussein during a visit to Iraq. The new axis is still preventable, but if the pro-Castro candidate is elected president of Brazil, the results could include a radical regime in Brazil re-establishing its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs, developing close links to state sponsors of terrorism such as Cuba, Iraq and Iran, and participating in the destabilization of fragile neighboring democracies. This could lead to 300 million people in six countries coming under the control of radical anti-U.S. regimes and the possibility that thousands of newly indoctrinated terrorists might try to attack the United States from Latin America. Yet, the administration in Washington seems to be paying little attention.

...... Brazil shares common borders with 10 other countries in South America. This would help da Silva to emulate — as he has said he would — the foreign policy of the pro-Castro and pro-Iraq Chavez regime in Venezuela, which has provided support to the communist narco-terrorist FARC in Colombia as well as other anti-democratic groups in other South American countries. Hugo Chavez worked with Mr. Castro to temporarily destabilize the fragile democracy in Ecuador two years ago. Now both support the radical socialist leader of the cocaine growers, Evo Morales, who hopes to become president of Bolivia this August.***

Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, Bolivian leader to seek close trade ties with U.S.*** U.S. officials in charge of Latin American affairs are breathing easier: Despite the big scare of Bolivia's June 30 elections, in which a radical leftist coca growers' leader nearly won the presidency and triggered fears that he would turn that country into a narco-socialist state, it now appears that Bolivia will remain a close ally of the United States.

Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who won the election by two percentage points and has reached a power-sharing agreement that virtually assures his victory in a runoff vote in Congress this weekend, told me in a telephone interview that one of his priorities after taking office next Tuesday will be to seek a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States.

''We will follow the steps of Chile, and seek a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States,'' Sánchez de Lozada said. ``This is very important for us, because the big problem for small countries like Bolivia is that we don't have markets to sell our products.''

Sánchez de Lozada spoke shortly after the U.S. House approved a bill giving President Bush Trade Promotion Authority to sign new free-trade agreements. The bill is expected to be approved by the Senate this week, clearing the way for a free-trade agreement with Chile this year and creation of a hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005.***

[meenie]

We are fast losing our friends in Latin America to communist leadership. We have won the cold war but have failed to slay the dragon in our neighbors to the South. China is taking complete control of Panama. There is plenty of trouble headed our way in Latin America.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Communist creep: Florida: left-wing UCF activists to use gubernatorial debate as launch pad

[rightwing2]

Lead story on the Center for the National Security Interest's website reports that the latest poll in this weekend's Brazil's presidential election run-off shows the Communist coalition candidate leading by 66-34%. No hope of defeating him at this point. If leftists/Marxists/Castro supporters win the presidential elections in Ecuador and in Argentina in March as now seems likely, the Marxists will control 70-75% of Latin America from about 10% today.

[SLB]

Interesting to see marxism being spread by "free' elections now, rather than the revolutions we saw in the late 50's and early 60's.

[rightwing2]

Interesting to see marxism being spread by "free' elections now, rather than the revolutions we saw in the late 50's and early 60's.

Yes, indeed. The seeds planted by Castro and the Soviets in Latin America decades ago are finally beginning to bear some serious fruit. The dominoes are falling in Latin America even as North Korea threatens the US with nuclear incineration. The question is what the President of the United States of America is going to do about it. The answer is that he is probably going to invade non-nuclear Iraq which will do nothing to solve the greater threats to US national security in South America or East Asia and which will likely go far to aggravate them in the Middle East. Our armed froces are already badly overstretched and are way too spread out across the globe. It is time to focus our military and geopolitical efforts against the greatest threats and Iraq doesn't even make the top five list.

[rightwing2]

Interesting to see marxism being spread by "free' elections now, rather than the revolutions we saw in the late 50's and early 60's.

Yes, indeed. The seeds planted by Castro and the Soviets in Latin America decades ago are finally beginning to bear some serious fruit. The dominoes are falling in Latin America even as North Korea threatens the US with nuclear incineration. The question is what the President of the United States of America is going to do about it. The answer is that he is probably going to invade non-nuclear Iraq which will do nothing to solve the greater threats to US national security in South America or East Asia and which will likely go far to aggravate them in the Middle East. Our armed froces are already badly overstretched and are way too spread out across the globe. It is time to focus our military and geopolitical efforts against the greatest threats and Iraq doesn't even make the top five list.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[Tailgunner Joe]

bttt

[Tailgunner Joe]

The seventh summit of the Free Trade Area of the Americas will be held in Quito Ecuador on October 31st. The left opposes the FTAA. (It's a tool of Kapitalist imperialism, yadda yadda) Conservative objections to FTAA and WTO are bound to be ignored.

West is told to pay poor now

[IronJack]

One more reason I insist that the fall of the "Evil Empire" did absolutely nothing to stop communism. IN fact, it did for communism what a good wind does to thistle seeds: breaks them from the pods and disperses them to all corners of the earth.

We have more to fear from communism today than we ever did when it was concentrated in the Kremlin.

[GOP_1900AD]

Didn't you get the memo? Since Communism supposedly died when we supposedly won the Cold War, then there are no Communists to fight, anywhere in the world. Don't worry about those so called Communists in Latin America, Asia, Africa and, dare I say, Europe, so long as they allow the Golden Arches into their countries, no worries; yeah, that's the ticket....(/sarcasm)

[rightwing2]

Didn't you get the memo? Since Communism supposedly died when we supposedly won the Cold War, then there are no Communists to fight, anywhere in the world.

Communism dead? Yeah right. I guess our policymakers never got around to reading this more recent update of Communism's latest advances:

Dispelling the Myth of the Collapse of Communism

[IronJack]

One of the Devil's greatest accomplishments is convincing people he doesn't exist.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Rival denounces opponent as communist in Ecuador ***QUITO, Ecuador -- A retired colonel who won the most votes in the first round of Ecuador's presidential election appealed Monday for support, but his millionaire opponent denounced him as a "Fidel Castro-style communist" who would wreck this Andean nation. Fresh from winning a surprise first place in Sunday's election, leftist Lucio Gutierrez, 45, who helped lead an Indian revolt two years ago, asked the nation's political leaders to endorse his candidacy for a Nov. 24 runoff. "It is time for national unity," Gutierrez told a television station. He wore his trademark olive-green uniform during the interview. ***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Colombia's civil war drifts south into Ecuador*** Despite being Ecuador's oil capital, it is one of the country's poorest communities - a conglomeration of shacks, seedy bars, and brothels serving oilmen, smugglers, and a steady stream of refugees. The town has fallen easy prey to Colombian combatants - members of the FARC or its rival paramilitary groups. In the past five months more than 100 people have been killed by assassins connected to these groups. Locals in contact with the guerrillas claim that the FARC has a list of 300 people still to be executed. Hundreds of people have been kidnapped along the border, and inhabitants of six villages fled their homes at gunpoint when the FARC moved onto their land in February.

The guerrillas have used the area for supplies and recuperation since the mid-1990s, but they are now coming in greater numbers. In the past two months, the FARC has established its presence in Sucumbios with its own radio station broadcasting propaganda. Many frightened residents are selling their belongings and moving away from the border.

Others are staying on to do business with wealthy Colombian combatants. Hipolito Torres owns a little shop by the rugged dirt road leading out of town. He sells his wares of warm soda and jungle survival gear through heavy iron bars. "There is no way to tell which of the customers buying a Coke are guerrillas or paramilitaries," he says, frowning nervously at a line of unmarked jeeps rumbling in from Colombia. "To tell the truth, I don't want to know. It is safer that way. They pay good money, usually more than local people. Just stay quiet and don't look at them, and they generally won't shoot you.***

[tlrugit]

Interesting to see marxism being spread by "free' elections now, rather than the revolutions we saw in the late 50's and early 60's.

Alas, a not surprising consequence of having a set of brutal and despotic grifters despoil their countries in the name of democracy, all too often backed by the US, sad to say. It seems to be an unfortunate fact that the will to power in humans is linked to a ready willingness to burn, pillage and kill. Their culture does not help them.

[Dqban22]

COMMUNIST ELEMENTS UNLEASH VICIOUS ANTI-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN
By Ralph Rewes



In August 2002, the Communist elements in the USA, Cuba, Argentina, Puerto Rico, etc. have cranked up an unprecedented, vicious Anti-American campaign on the InterNet. The Military regime has used most of the computers recently purchase to open a series of new propaganda sites; they even have an InterNet channel (6) that transmits only rigged news.

There is a noticeable increase of not only Communist propaganda, including that of well known organizations, like The Militant and Perspectivas, but also by newsgroup posters who has a full time task of reproducing every article they can find that would in one way or another discredit the US society.

After analyzing the posting, it becomes obvious, although it may not be so for some Intelligence agencies, that they are being instructed to work on three special fronts:

1. Helping the Palestinian terrorist image and their fight against Israel.

2. Instigating (best of Castro's arsenal of weapons) the internal crypto-communist elements in the USA, pseudo-religious organizations and journalists.

3. Carrying out an all out vicious discrediting campaign against the US democratic society.

It is an orchestrated movement that is preparing the background conditions to oppose any attack on Saddam Hussein. The sole idea that Saddam could be expelled from power gives them the creeps, especially to those who adore the overbearing figure of his Caribbean equivalent.

This campaign, which began with invitation to all kinds of friendly organizations and groups to Havana earlier this year, continues on apparently cheaper means, such as the InterNet. The whole shot in the dark of the Military Regime must be costing a bundle they can barely afford. However, few think that Castro himself supports it with personal funds. It is interesting to realize how some of the followers of this dictatorship still have the wrong idea that they are protecting a civilian society.

Please. Cuba is not a civilian society. It is a Totalitarian regime: Communist Military Gorillas, ruled by one a Mafia-style family, the CASTROS, kept in power by a gang of ruthless thugs, and an unbelievable propaganda apparatus.

[Dqban22]

BRAZIL SOURCE OF SADDAM'S URANIUM? BLOCKING A NEW AXIS OF EVIL

LA NUEVA CUBA
10/25/2002
Constantine C. Menges


"(In Brazil)Between 1965 and 1994, the military actively worked to develop nuclear weapons, it successfully designed two atomic bombs and was reportedly on the verge of testing one nuclear device when a newly elected democratic government and a Brazilian congressional investigation caused the program to be shut down.

That investigation revealed, however, that the military had sold eight tons of uranium to Iraq in 1981. It is also reported that after Brazil's successful ballistic missile program was ended, the general and 24 of the scientists working on it went to work for Iraq. There are reports that with financing from Iraq, a nuclear weapons capability has been covertly maintained contrary to directives from the civilian democratic leaders."

Constantine C. Menges

Colaboración: Paul Echaniz E.U.

La Nueva Cuba

Octubre 25, 2002

---

A new terrorist and nuclear weapons/ballistic missile threat may well come from an axis including Cuba's Fidel Castro, the Chavez regime in Venezuela and a newly elected radical president of Brazil, all with links to Iraq, Iran and China. Visiting Iran last year. Mr. Castro said: "Iran and Cuba can bring America to its knees," while Chavez expressed his admiration for Saddam Hussein during a visit to Iraq.

The new axis is still preventable, but if the pro-Castro candidate is elected president of Brazil, the results could include a radical regime in Brazil re-establishing its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs, developing close links to state sponsors of terrorism such as Cuba, Iraq and Iran, and participating in the destabilization of fragile neighboring democracies. This could lead to 300 million people in six countries coming under the control of radical anti-U.S. regimes and the possibility that thousands of newly indoctrinated terrorists might try to attack the United States from Latin America. Yet, the administration in Washington seems to be paying little attention.

Brazilians will hold presidential elections in October, and if current polling is any guide the winner could be a pro-Castro radical with extensive ties to international terrorism. His name is Luis Inacio da Silva, the presidential candidate of the Workers Party who is currently at about 40 percent in the polls. The Communist candidate is second with 25 percent and the pro-democratic contender is at about 14 percent.

Mr. da Silva makes no secret of his sympathies. He has been an ally of Mr. Castro for more than 25 years. With Mr. Castro's support, Mr.da Silva founded the Sao Paulo Forum in 1990 as an annual meeting of communist and other radical terrorist and political organizations from Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. This has been used to coordinate and plan terrorist and political activities around the world and against the United States. The last meeting was held in Havana, Cuba in December 2001. It involved terrorists from Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, and sharply condemned the Bush administration and its actions against international terrorism.

Like Mr. Castro, Mr. da Silva blames the United States and "neo-liberalism" for all the real social and economic problems still facing Brazil and Latin America. Mr. Da Silva has called the Free Trade Area of the Americas a plot by the United States to "annex" Brazil, and he has said that the international lenders who seek repayment of their $250 billion in loans are "economic terrorists." He has also said that those who are moving their money out of Brazil because they fear his regime are "economic terrorists." This gives a hint about the kind of "war against terrorism" his regime will conduct.

Brazil is a vast, richly endowed country, nearly the size of the United States with a population of about 180 million and the world's eighth largest economy (with a GDP of more than $1.1 trillion). It could soon become one of the world's nuclear armed powers as well. Between 1965 and 1994, the military actively worked to develop nuclear weapons, it successfully designed two atomic bombs and was reportedly on the verge of testing one nuclear device when a newly elected democratic government and a Brazilian congressional investigation caused the program to be shut down.

That investigation revealed, however, that the military had sold eight tons of uranium to Iraq in 1981. It is also reported that after Brazil's successful ballistic missile program was ended, the general and 24 of the scientists working on it went to work for Iraq. There are reports that with financing from Iraq, a nuclear weapons capability has been covertly maintained contrary to directives from the civilian democratic leaders.

Mr. da Silva has said Brazil should have nuclear weapons and move closer to China, which has been actively courting the Brazilian military. China has sold Brazil enriched uranium and has invested in the Brazilian aerospace industry, resulting in a joint imagery/reconnaissance satellite.

Brazil shares common borders with 10 other countries in South America. This would help da Silva to emulate — as he has said he would — the foreign policy of the pro-Castro and pro-Iraq Chavez regime in Venezuela, which has provided support to the communist narco-terrorist FARC in Colombia as well as other anti-democratic groups in other South American countries. Hugo Chavez worked with Mr. Castro to temporarily destabilize the fragile democracy in Ecuador two years ago. Now both support the radical socialist leader of the cocaine growers, Evo Morales, who hopes to become president of Bolivia this August.

Along with helping the communist guerrillas take power in the embattled democracy in Colombia, a da Silva regime in Brazil would be well situated to aide communists, narco-terrorists and other anti-democratic groups in destabilizing the fragile democracies of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, as well as to exploit the deep economic crisis in Argentina and Paraguay.

Further, a da Silva regime is likely to default on its debt, causing a sharp economic downturn in all of Latin America, thereby increasing the vulnerability of its democracies. This could also trigger a second phase of economic downturn in the United Staes as export markets contracted.

A Castro-Chavez-da Silva axis would mean linking 43 years of Fidel Castro's political warfare against the United States with the oil wealth of Venezuela and the nuclear weapons/ ballistic missile and economic potential of Brazil.

Come our own elections in November 2004, Americans may ask: Who lost South America? The United States was politically passive during the Clinton administration, when it ignored the pleas of Venezuela's democratic leaders for help in opposing the anti-constitutional and illegal actions of Mr. Chavez and also ignored his public alliances with state sponsors of terrorism. Why can't the Bush administration act before 20 years of democratic gains in Latin America were allowed to be reversed? Why can't anything be done before a vast new southern flank is opened up in the terrorist threat and our nation menaced by one more radical anti-American regime intent on acquiring nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles?

This disaster for U.S. national security and for the people of Latin America must and can be averted if our policy makers act quickly and decisively, but they must do so now. Timely political attention and actions by the United States and other democracies should include encouragement for the pro-democratic parties in Brazil to unify behind an honest, capable political leader who can represent the hopes of the majority of Brazilians for genuine democracy and who has the resources to mount an effective national campaign.

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Constantine C. Menges, a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute, is a former National Security Council member. >>