Posted on 05/02/2006 5:31:13 AM PDT by SJackson
Millions of illegal immigrants are marching in America's streets and boycotting jobs, schools and merchants. Their explicit purpose is to blackmail our government into granting rights to which they are not entitled. Good Here, Bad There These activities demonstrate two realities: First, life is good in this country and the opportunities for economic advancement are extraordinary for those willing to work hard. Second, life is typically not so good in Mexico and the other Latin American nations from which these illegal aliens principally come. Unfortunately, if present political, economic and social trends continue south of our border, there will likely be many more immigrants coming here unlawfully in search of better lives, and to flee increasingly hard ones in their own countries. In fact, a prospective surge in illegal immigration - perhaps coupled with a further radicalization of those already in this country - are just some of the reasons why these worrisome trends should command far greater attention from American policy-makers and citizens alike. Despite the serious and almost-without-exception adverse implications of events throughout Central and South America for our strategic, trade and security interests, however, neither the Bush Administration nor either party in Congress is doing much to address them. Among the indicators of trouble ahead are the following ominous developments: Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has been rescued from oblivion by the oil wealth and vaulting strategic ambitions of his most promising prot?g?, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The two authoritarians have adopted a new strategy, born of the realization that radical anti-American leftists can be brought to power throughout the hemisphere the same way Chavez was - by ballots, rather than bullets. Funding and organizational support from Venezuela is making the electoral playing-field uneven across the region, giving a formidable advantage to populist revolutionaries over their democratic opponents. Once in office, the latter can rely not only on money from Chavez and his Islamofascist (for example, Iranian) and Chinese friends. They can also elicit muscle from Castro's foreign legion (Communist Cuban special forces, police, praetorian guards, doctors and teachers) to help consolidate control and eliminate their opponents. This phenomenon is already well-advanced in Bolivia, where Evo Morales was elected president in December, after fomenting populist upheavals to topple not one but two elected governments. He has moved rapidly in the ensuing months to neutralize the parliament, constitution and judiciary that might act as checks on his steady accretion and exercise of power. In Peru, another would-be dictator, Ollanta Humala, has won the first round of balloting to replace outgoing President Alejandro Toledo. While it is not clear at this writing whether he will prevail in the upcoming run-off, Humala's inflammatory rhetoric (threatening the country's political elite and its constitutional democracy, admiring the violent terrorist group known as the Shining Path and signaling a willingness to go to war with neighboring Chile) represents a frightening prospect for Peru, the region and U.S. interests. Even if Humala loses, it is not clear that he will refrain from fomenting trouble for the new government - and the rest of us. Bolivia and Peru are relatively distant and it is seductive to discount them as security problems for the United States. The same cannot be said of Mexico, which will hold a presidential election in July. Polls have long suggested that the likely winner will be Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the rabidly anti-American former mayor of Mexico City. Like others of his persuasion, Lopez Obrador's bid appears to have benefited from financing and help on the ground from his soulmates in Caracas and Havana, who clearly relish the prospect of extending their axis to the border of the United States. While the race has of late become increasingly competitive, as the conservative PAN party's candidate Felipe Calderon has gained ground, Washington confronts the distinct possibility of having an explicitly hostile government in Mexico. The implications of such an outcome could be far-reaching for the integrity of our southern frontier, illegal immigration, drug-trafficking, terrorism, trade and the radical "reconquista" movement (which is intent on "taking back" at least parts of the United States for Mexico). Even under the relatively friendly government of Vincente Fox, as Heather MacDonald pointed out last November, "Mexican officials here and abroad are involved in a massive and almost daily interference in American sovereignty." Imagine what representatives of an unfriendly Mexican apparat might do. Then, there is Nicaragua. All other things being equal, the Marxist Sandinista party still led by Commandante Daniel Ortega is poised - with help, ironically, from both the Venezuelan and American governments - to win national elections in November. For his part, Chavez is pumping money and possibly agents into his allies' campaign. The Bush Administration is doing its part by unabashedly and ham-handedly backing Eduardo Montealegre, a foreign minister under the discredited former president, Arnoldo Aleman. Montealegre has fractured the anti-Sandinista democrats and his candidacy seems likely to precipitate their defeat. Yet, Washington refuses to reconsider and either support the candidate of the largest and best organized pro-democracy party, the Constitutionalist Liberals, because of its association with Aleman - or at least remain neutral. The Bottom Line The consequence of all these elections may well be the complete undoing of Ronald Reagan's legacy of successfully countering and, with the notable exception of Castro's Cuba, defeating totalitarianism in our hemisphere. At some point in the not-too-distant future, the question will be asked, probably with political repercussions: "Who lost Latin America?" There is still time for the Bush Administration and Congress to avoid this stigma by countering these trends and their strategic implications. But to do so, they will have to engage far more vigorously against Latin America's enemies of freedom, investing considerably greater human and financial resources, high-level attention and political capital in once again securing our hemisphere.
VISTA – Law officers from around the county raced into Vista on Monday night to help quell what sheriff's officials called a riot, with crowds throwing rocks and bottles at deputies. Authorities estimated 800 to 1,200 people swarming the streets after a rally to protest the proposed federal immigration bill had broken up at Wildwood Park on East Vista Way at Escondido Avenue.
Topics: Riots, first night of new protests, illegal immigration, aliens, police, gas, dogs, crimes, Americans
By Pauline Repard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 1, 2006
Nearly 200 officers poured into town in the hours after Vista deputies radioed for help about 8 p.m.
Officers dressed in riot gear, and with police dogs, were starting to order crowds to disperse about 11 p.m.
Deputies had been monitoring the park rally, then reported that people were throwing bottles at them, sheriff's Capt. Glenn Revell said. He said deputies retreated and were not injured.
Revell said crowds split into three groups, some staying near Wildwood Park, while others congregated along Melrose Drive. Others sat down and blocked the intersection at North Santa Fe Avenue and Bobier Street until officers converged to break up the crowd.
Some 200 people walked up and down Santa Fe Avenue from Bobier Drive to Vista Village Drive. About 10:30 p.m., 40 to 50 police cars lined Santa Fe Avenue. Many officers wore helmets and padding.
“It's not supposed to be a riot, it's supposed to be peaceful,” said Adrian Olivos, 21, of Vista. “I don't know why there is all the commotion.”
“It was spontaneous,” said Christina Colt, 19, of Vista. “People were waving the Mexican and American flags. They all just came together, and out of nowhere cops just started pouring in, and canines.”
Near Wildwood Park, a mob swarmed two television trucks, throwing rocks and trying to overturn them.
“The Sheriff's Department is not placing blame on the demonstrators,” Revell said. “We believe this is a very small group of people who are making this protest for criminal behavior.”
Councilman Frank Lopez said the park rally had been peaceful but loud.
“It was calm, people were enjoying themselves,” Lopez said. He added that later in the evening, he could hear young people racing up and down the streets in trucks, waving flags and yelling.
“I saw a lot of officers go by” soon after that, Lopez said.
Sheriff's officials requested mutual aid from law agencies around the county. Five Carlsbad officers headed to Vista about 8:30 p.m.
About 9 p.m., the California Highway Patrol sent eight officers from its El Cajon-area office. A short time later, 20 San Diego police officers started racing, lights and sirens on, toward Vista. Escondido sent 19 officers and Oceanside sent nine.
They came from as far away as Coronado and La Mesa, which each sent three officers, while El Cajon sent five, National City six and Chula Vista 11.
Many officers came with patrol dogs, forming lines in the street. Some officers reported no scenes of violence as the evening wore on, but that disturbances popped up in different parts of town.
Mayor Morris Vance said the Wildwood Park cultural event featured a lot of music and speakers, but was breaking up in the late afternoon. He knew of no one with permits to march afterward.
I hope their "employers" give them all a permanent holiday. They can march and wave flags all the way back across the border.
The current alien invasion from the south serves BOTH the elites who run Mexico – and many of the OTHER states of Central and South America -- and the political ruling class who increasingly run the United States:
· It takes pressure off the 25 families who control approximately 80% of the wealth in Mexico. Without the northern “safety valve” (the United States) for their poor, those poor MIGHT be inclined to do what America’s early colonists found it necessary to do: Revolt! Parenthetically, that would be MY suggestion for them: Instead of fleeing here – and converting “here” to a larger, more poverty infested version of “there,” they ought to stay there and make “there” into their version of “here,” whatever that would be. Revolutions ARE messy and there are no guarantees that they will produce the desired result. But – according to one T. Jefferson – they are often necessary. Never forget that THIS country was born in revolution!
· For the NAFTA/CAFTA coveting US national ruling class – especially those who, in varying degrees, quest after some sort of One-World utopia run by guess who? – it provides yet another level of insecurity and tension among the indigenous populace which can be used to justify new and more draconian limits to freedom here. Instead of securing the borders, allow millions of illegals to come in and when the natives become alarmed, require a national ID card. “Your papers, please!” will soon become a phrase familiar to all. It’s Mr. Franklin’s trade of freedom for (false) security. It’s also the time-tested Hegelian Dialectic the One-Worlders have successfully worked like a rented mule.
While they occasionally squabble among themselves, the elites of history have ALL had one thing in common: They will do ANYTHING to remain in charge. And throughout that history, except for the 230 year-old experiment in freedom called “America,” most of the men who have walked the earth have lived as slaves to these elites whether they call themselves kings, emperors, potentates, sultans, czars – or presidents.
Get ready, folks. Unless some SERIOUS changes are made and the handful of Americans who CARE about liberty get involved, that history will almost certainly repeat here.
We are experiencing the results of years of unrelenting disinformation and Leftist propaganda that have seriously mislead the American people.
Dick speaks like a man with great political and historical background. YOU Are so right. And now is the time, and THIS is the place. Greetings from Ole Mexico. Many surprises are in for many people, and some of the youth here in this country are enflamed with love for their people, having a heart to serve, and are committed to social changes. Some of the kids in the University are asking good questions, and things just might be turning. It's a FUN time to be alive, and exiting. We are stoking the fires for people to base their families on values, principles, character and ethics.
Deport them all or a one way bus ticket to Crawford,Tex.
Yup. Once Reagan was out of the way, the Nixonite RINOs have reasserted themselves.
It's more likely we'll read 'Who lost the US?'.
You are so right.
The cold war is over, and Communism is less a threat to our security. That is the BIG PICTURE. However, there is a big footnote to that statement. The legacy of Communism coupled with socialists appear to be reversing a positive trend in Latin America. The problem with Latin America is that corrupt politicians have not reformed their economies or political systems enough to allow the free market to improve the economic lives of the people. Chile is the only exception, because Pinochet, despite his autocratic methods brought University of Chicago economic reform to his country for decades of reform.
The left preaches that multinational corporations (mainly US) cause the poverty of Latin America from "sweatshops." WRONG, poverty is caused by corrupt politicians and socialist policies that conflict with the free market.
What do we do? The CIA aided Pinochet's takeover from Salvador Allende (who was turning Chile into another socialist paradise!). Can we do that in Venezuela. I don't think so? Castro will die in the next 10 years, and Communism in Cuba will fade into history. Eventually the left cycle will move back to the right. I doubt if we can send the CIA to overthrow half a dozen Latin countries leaders.
Our Latin American policy was a disaster under Clinton and enabled many waning leftists to start building up again (witness the fact that he forced Colombia to cede a large amount of its territory to FARC, a policy that Bush changed). But in general, it hasn't been any better under Bush, because he had the leftist losers at State under Powell advising him. The one good thing he did was congratulate the people who dumped Hugo, but he didn't give them any support and he backed down as soon as they made the stupid decision (which some people say was urged by us) not to kill Hugo at the airport or fly him out of the country. Actually, as soon as he got criticized by the left, he backed down. What we should have done was strenghthened our support, insisted that Hugo go into exile or get dead, and insisted that the groups that had overthrown him unite and form a functioning government.
Five years later and we now have a terrorist state on our continent, one that is also playing footsie with Iran and has a government filled with Islamics, and I think it will be only a matter of time until we have some kind of attack that will come through VZ. There is some indication that Chavez was involved in the organization of yesterday's May Day marches, and he also has his "Bolivarian circles" all through the US, so he is already interfering in the US.
In short, we don't have time to wait for a natural death to solve all these problems. I think Bush has let them get significantly worse, and I have been very disappointed in Rice's bland policy of just looking the other way on Latin America.
Thank you for the kind words. May your tribe increase and may your efforts to reform the corruption there meet with great and freedom bestowing success.
And when you get done down there, c'mon up and give us a hand cleaning house in Washington if we haven't done the job already.
Good comments, but any attacks on Chavez would be problematic.
Interesting post
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1625351/posts
That's true, they would be. It would have been a lot easier to nip him in the bud a few years ago. My feeling is that he will probably overplay his hand in some way that will lead to his downfall or give us an opening to do something about him.
You may be right. If he tries to bring in Chinese intermediate range missiles, that could be the trip wire. Of course, someone in his country may do him in. He is hated by a large percentage of the population.
wtc911 ping
The Russians and Chinese are behind the Latin American Communists.
The US foreign policy makers think that Russia and China will come aboard with sanctions on Iran. Too much wishful thinking.
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