At least it wasn't a bloodbath -- this time, but it's obvious that the Bush Administration was up to its eyeballs in the attempted coup in Venezuela this past week, which has the rest of the Americas wondering what it is the colossus to the North really values these days. And whether this is a return to the Gunboat Diplomacy of past eras when Uncle Sam bullied the governments of Central and South America to get what the corporations wanted, and overthrew governments that wouldn't cooperate.
Who would've thought that an American President would let those who came to him with a plan to overthrow a democratically elected, legally constituted government slide with little or no warning. Even Bush the Elder came out in support of the leftist, democratically elected government of Haiti when it was overthrown. So what's different now?
Part of it is certainly that President Chavez of Venezuela doesn't toady to the United States, even in public. That may be part of why his people like him. He stands up to the world's only Superpower, doing what he thinks is right. It may also have something to do with him cozying up to Fidel Castro, the perennial thorn in the side of every U.S. administration since JFK. It is also likely that Chavez's petroleum policy may have a bit to do with it -- he's making noises about nationalizing at least part of Venezuela's oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela, which is the third largest supplier of oil to the U.S., making up a significant portion of the 57% of the US oil supply coming from Venezuela.
Perhaps the Younger Bush thought he could keep the coup leaders under his thumb, or at least quiet.
The disturbing part is not the allegations about the oil, or that the Bush Administration kept quiet when approached by the conspirators, but the fact that they just accepted the news of Chavez's forced "resignation" as if it were normal and acceptable. The Bush Administration even had the gall to chastise Chavez after the people of Venezuela insisted that he re-claim his office, saying that they hoped he would pay more attention to the "democratic" process.
Excuse me? The Bush Administration attempting to lecture others in the exercise of democratic freedoms? This from the Administration that said, ""He was democratically elected. Legitimacy is something that is conferred not just by a majority of the voters, however." This from the group that opposed recounts in Florida on the basis that machines had already recounted the ballots once? This from the group that illegally used State of Florida resources to run their campaign? This from the group that has systematically attacked the 1st and 4th Amendments to a Constitution they are sworn to uphold and defend?
The troubling thing here is that our President, his advisors, and their mouthpieces do not value the democratic process, and seek to undermine it wherever it gets in their way. We are no longer "nation building". We are no longer "defending freedom". We are no longer even "the supporters of democracy everywhere, but the defenders of only our own". We have moved into realpolitik of the sort practiced by the old Great Powers of Europe, just with less skill, finesse, and panache.