CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR):
Yesterday, the devil came here. Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of. Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.
I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world. An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: "The Devil's Recipe."
As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated. The world parent's statement -- cynical, hypocritical, full of this imperial hypocrisy from the need they have to control everything. They say they want to impose a democratic model. But that's their democratic model. It's the false democracy of elites, and, I would say, a very original democracy that's imposed by weapons and bombs and firing weapons.
What a strange democracy. Aristotle might not recognize it or others who are at the root of democracy. What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs? The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I'm quoting, "Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom."
Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother -- he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him. The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It's not that we are extremists. It's that the world is waking up. It's waking up all over. And people are standing up. I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.
Yes, you can call us extremists, but we are rising up against the empire, against the model of domination.
Here is a link to the rest of the transcript for you to copy and paste:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000893.html?referrer=emailarticle
How do we respond to rhetoric like this? There is a lot in what Chavez says that sounds agreeable. Chavez sees the United States as having imperialist interests in building an empire, he sees the leadership of the United States as overly influenced by oil interests, he sees Bush as being more interested in persuading with bombs than with reason. Yes, we can agree with much of what Chavez says.
Be careful. In an interview with Amy Goodman, Chavez commented on his drive from the airport in New York to the United Nations building. He observed that most cars contained only one person and that there were few buses on the roads. He told Goodman that in his mind this is a demonstration of the evils of individuality.
Chavez is a centrist. He believes government is smarter than people.
You believe in individual liberty. Tell me, why do you agree with Chavez's criticism of Bush? How can you agree with a Communist – a believer in strong central government? There is a good reason. The world today is the staging area for a struggle between believers in power centered in government. Their job is to confuse us, to obliterate our view of the real issue.
There is no internationally recognized advocate of individual liberty. Chavez and Bush are in the same camp. They disagree about method, but they agree that government should wield power over people. You are bound to find something to agree with as you observe this battle. Bush is on top because he has bigger guns. Chavez does not have military supremacy; therefore, like the President of Iran, Chavez pleads for the supremacy of ideas instead of the supremacy of military power.
However, at the heart of the struggle, the real string pullers have one concern. They want a world with one single Central Bank controlling one Central Federal World Government. These bankers control the creation of money in Western Nations. They have one great big problem. Some nations in the world have Central Banks controlled by devout Muslims. Those Muslim bankers take seriously the Koran's prohibition against usury.
Western Bankers live on usury. Muslim bankers forbid usury.
Therefore, Muslim bankers must be removed from any connection with any Central Bank in any nation. One by one, these Muslim nations will be attacked by the West. Meanwhile, the Hugo Chavezes of the world will watch, will pontificate – and will distract the attention of the world from this central struggle.
There is no harm in agreeing with what Chavez says, but be careful about agreeing with Chavez.