Presidents
Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega: Are these
men and the philosophies they espouse just old news?
El Nuevo Diario, Nicaragua
'Revolutionary Gerontocracies' Should Grab Obama's Hand
"The
governments and parties of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are lost in the past,
and don't recognize Barack Obama’s presidency as an opportunity to redefine the
terms of relations between the world power and our countries … This doesn't
mean we should swoon into the arms of imperialism and submit to its august
majesty like a Jewish masochist surrendering to an Arian dominatrix. Not in the
least!"
By Artemio Cruz
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka
June 18, 2009
Nicaragua - El Nuevo Diario - Original Article
(Spanish)
At the University of Al-Azhar
in Cairo, Egypt, on June 4, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a speech that, together
with the one he gave in Ankara, Turkey on April 7, turned out to be two extraordinary pieces
of oratory. But beyond the rhetoric, they constitute a new outline for a
foreign policy based on cultural integration through tolerance and
understanding of the other, a reconciliation of the parties in conflict, the defense
of human rights, the preservation of the environment and the building of peace.
The speeches and the policies
they espouse are the children of North American pragmatism, but also the vital,
libertarian and democratic visions of Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman [photos below].
The policies have been thought out for the Middle East and its surrounding areas, but they undoubtedly possess nutritious
tidbits for the goose as well as the gander. Geopolitically, the Middle East and its surroundings are “hot” areas; and in practice, the most
important starting point for the unleashing of war or the preservation of peace
anywhere in the world. I don’t think I exaggerate when by means of analysis and
synthesis - I derive evidence of a new foreign policy for the United States of America - based on the above-mentioned principles.
Ralph
Waldo Emerson; Henry David Thoreau and
Walt Whitman:
Are these men the intellectual source
of President
Obama's core foreign policies?
These principles -
integration, human rights, peace-building - are the foundations of the most
progressive and revolutionary vision of 
contemporary humanity and it is perfectly plausible that
they should be embraced in a responsible and consequential way by the greatest
military power in the world. The United States, like any great power, has its
own geostrategic, economic, political and ideological interests; it would be naive
to think that the new U.S. leadership is formulating these lines out of a pure love
of art and with a total Kantian
lack of an agenda [Emmanual Kant photo, left]. They are doing it simply because
neither they nor the world can bear it any longer. Our ecological presence has
reached its self-destructive limits and we confront a precarious geopolitical
situation within a suicidal system of war and peace.
The shepherds (us) have to grip our staves, as the harvest time (in the biosphere) is over.
Because of this, I find it naive,
backward and malevolent that the governments and parties of Cuba, Venezuela and
Nicaragua are lost in the past, and don't recognize Barack Obama’s presidency
as an opportunity to redefine the terms of relations between the world power
and our countries - countries of dependency, secular poverty, obsolete,
reactionary and backward ideologies, anchored in a nearly-evaporated
meta-totalitarian past that is frankly headed toward extinction. This doesn't
mean we should swoon into the arms of imperialism and submit to its august
majesty, like a Jewish masochist surrendering to an Arian dominatrix. Not in
the least! We are talking about recovering the historical perspective that,
since the dialectic of Heraclites,
via Hegel and Marx, has taught us that things and people change, they are not immutable.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
That Colonel [Hugo] Chávez has come to know Marx-Engels-Lenin-Mao at a rather mature
age is not reason enough to prevent him from minting a self-styled socialism of
the 21st century. But after the socialisms of the 20th century and now, those small
contemporary manifestations of that immortal Frankenstein (totalitarian
socialism which is bureaucratic and estranged), we know this produces only horror at
the thought of its possible realization.
Without going too far, this
very same Chávez is living proof that human beings
change, because when he was busy trying to suppress revolutionary movements in Latin America, some of us risked our skins for the cause of
liberty, equality and the well-being of the Continent's masses. Why shouldn’t the
Organization of American States - the former Yankee Ministry of Colonies -
change, if its leadership has changed? Why can’t the United States of America change? Are they immutable entities? Or is it simply that
some don’t want them to change - so they don't have to change?
The causes of liberation and
revolution are not well served by totalitarian ideologies. They are a total
failure, leading only to holocausts, gulags, and Pol-Pot
like regimes. All of this recent political phenomena offer concrete evidence
and proof.
These and other fruits of any
ideology of totalitarian and dictatorial propensities, which practice with
shameless impunity the violation of human rights, the contamination of the
environment, and that advocates violent solutions to conflicts, that damage
with fraud the fragile balance of democracy, or that dogmatically believe that
members of any party or totalitarian populist are superior to the rest of the
population. Corruption is engaged in for the illicit personal enrichment of
their people and families and for the sake of perpetuating the power of a
leader, family or party on the altar of stability, thinking that this is the
best thing that can happen to any society; and finally, at a fart or an insult,
they are ready to beat the drums of war and start a civil war or international
conflict.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Fortunately, in Latin America, the revolutionary gerontocracies will soon be replaced
with new blood, new vision and new leadership. I have no doubt that attempts to
revive the Stalinist gerontocracy of Latin America, in
the world where there is no room for a milestone passed due to its own failure,
are just the senile tantrums or senile immature shrieks of an age that in its
Alzheimer's, believes it lives in eternal adolescence. Old Karl Marx himself
taught us that ideology is the worst opposite of reality. Mirror, mirror on the
wall … Who is the best and prettiest revolutionary of them all?
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
La Stampa, Italy:
As Vatican Seeks Muslim Souls, Europe Fears U.S. Abandonment
Die Zeit, Germany:
Thanks to Obama, U.S. No Longer a Convincing 'Great Satan'
de Volkskrant, The Netherlands:
Muslims' Great Fear: 'Obama Can't Do It'
Izvestia, Russia: Russia Can Help Obama With Muslims
Al Madina, Saudi Arabia:
With Obama, a 'New Beginning'
Kitabat, Iraq:
Thank You, Mr. Obama. We Hope Our Leaders Got the Message
Le Quotidien d'Oran, Algeria:
Muslim 'Suspicion' Over Obama's 'Operation Seduction'
L'Orient Le Jour, Lebanon:
'Hussein' is for Bold
L'Express, France:
Prince Obama and His Muslim Cinderella
Die Welt, Germany:
Can the Words of Obama Begin to Change the World?
Liberation, France:
Obama Calls France Out on Banning Muslim Veil
Liberation, France:
Obama: Speaker of Verities
The Nation, Pakistan:
Obama Must Make Real His Belief in Koranic Principles
Amal Al Ummah, Egypt:
Prince Obama and His Muslim Cinderella
Amal Al Ummah, Egypt:
If America Can Change, Why Not Egypt?
Al Araby, Egypt:
Five U.S. Presidencies is Too Long for Mubarak
Kuwait Times, Kuwait:
For an Obama on the Make, Egypt is the Wise Choice
Alhayat Aljadeeda, Palestine:
As Palestinians Await Obama's Speech, We Must Unify
Amal Al Ummah, Egypt:
Don't Be Fooled By Obama's Egypt Speech
Amal Al Ummah, Egypt:
Egypt's Comments on Israeli Nukes a Betrayal of Muslims
Al-Arab al-Yawm, Jordan:
World Must Not Fall for Obama PR Onslaught
Al Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
Obama: A Humble Leader Worthy of His Great Nation
Al Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
Obama Interview with Al-Arabiya Cause for Arab Shame
Le Quotidien d'Oran, Algeria
Arab Leaders Prefer to 'Listen to Obama's Fables'
Al Watan, Oman:
When 'Hussein' is the Most Beautiful Word
L'Orient Le Jour, Lebanon:
Stars, Stripes and the Muslim Crescent
L'Orient Le Jour, Lebanon:
Arab Leaders Should Heed Obama's Words
CLICK HERE FOR SPANISH VERSION
[Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US June 24, 3:49am]
