I have the honour of translating Hector Mondragon’s work. He is a very under-appreciated analyst and activist who lives underground in Colombia because he’s on paramilitary hit lists. His latest piece calls attention to the imperial visits Bush has been making and the lack of success Bush has been having in these whirlwind trips. Canadians can take heart – after planning to address parliament and stay for a couple of days, it now looks like Bush is going to breeze through Ottawa and head to Halifax before heading home. My prediction is he’ll change his schedule again. That’s not just because of fear of protests and public opinion, it’s also because of the bitter experience Bush has been having on his world tour. Odd, isn’t it, how the rest of the world doesn’t seem to accept the ‘mandate’ and the ‘political capital’ that he was given by the American people? (Aside – interesting how Bush said he was going to ‘spend’ his ‘political capital’, no? Aren’t smart capitalists supposed to invest capital?)
Bush’s visit to Colombia lasted 3 hours. Hector discusses the implications of the visit for Colombia’s president Uribe, who is still trying to swim desperately against the tide in Latin America. The battleground is there, between Colombia and Venezuela. That’s the lynchpin. If Bush and Uribe can make their terrorism work in Venezuela, they might be able to reverse that tide. Check out Hector’s explanation — it’s a ZNet Sustainer commentary…
