Brazzil

augi, u are full of s**t!

there are so many one sided looks at south america, its a breath of fresh air to read something against the normal grain of articles written on the south american dynamic...

is every one such good freinds in south america ? yeah right

one situation that could arise in the future is, since hugo is going to be in office for a while, what if , a brazilian who isnt as socialist freindly as lula is, gets elected as president ? there at least would be some distance in ideals with hugos...

there definilty have been enough snafus between brazil and bolivia,equador, paraguay and argentina to know that things arnt just peaches and cream between neihbors

i give lula a lot of credit for being as diplomatic as he has been during his administration

Part 1 of 2


Augustus: Venezuela has recently established a mini-alliance composed of a growing list of smaller, faithful, and poorer client states (Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and possibly Honduras in the near future) and undoubtedly intends to assume the role of regional leading power.


*****


Ricardo: I am sorry to say that but your mindset is frozen in the past regarding Cuba and its influence in South America. I know that Lula and Chavez stop in Cuba for a photo-up with Fidel Castro – but at the end of the day Fidel is at the end of his life – for all practical purposes he is history.

You must be kidding when you said the following on your article: “assume the role of regional leading power.” At best these countries that you mentioned will be a drain on the oil revenue resources of Venezuela – other than Venezuela they are a bunch of destitute countries and nothing else.


*****


Augustus: Unlike Cuba during the 20th Century, Venezuela has embraced a relatively more discrete version of Fidel Castro's revolutionary ideals, currently labeled as "Bolivarian", but whose ultimate goal is also to spread its radical political-economical ideals throughout the region, thereby transforming Caracas into a 21st Century version of a "Latin Moscow" or "New Havana" of the modern Western Hemisphere.


*****


Ricardo: I don’t share your views on this matter. First, I think it is Hugo Chavez business if he decides to unite the countries that use to belong to the Spanish Empire in South America. If he wants to become the new Simon Bolivar good for him – it is his business and the other countries that would be involved in such a union. No different than the European Union as far as I am concerned. Let him build his new Bolivarian Union.

As long as what Chavez decides to do in South America it does not involve Brazil.

My view of Cuba is that as soon as Fidel Castro is dead that island will become a new capitalist country with a health tourism industry, new casinos with gambling, and lots of oil revenues from the new oil fields right around Cuba. That is the future of Cuba my friend.

Be careful the way you use today the term “Latin Moscow.” Do you mean that you expect that they are going to become a mafia heaven?

.

Part 2 of 2


Augustus: its current administration ultimately intends to secure African support and to be perceived by the developed world and the United Nations, as a robust adolescent who has recently reached maturity and is therefore ready to join the Main Group of nations either at the "bottom of a possible G-9" or at least to obtain a permanent seat in the Security Council.


*****


Ricardo: I have no idea what you are talking about. By African support I assume that you mean South Africa, and Angola.

Brazil is missing the main credential necessary to qualify for a permanent seat in the Security Council. Brazil does not have an arsenal of nuclear weapons.

India, North Korea, and Pakistan have a better chance to qualify before they consider Brazil.

The UN Security Council is for the big boys the members that are armed with nuclear weapons and they can take care of protecting their own territory – now Brazil show up at the UN armed with a slingshot, and “bow and arrow” and the other members of the UN Security Council first have a good laugh, then they would tell Brazil to get lost.

Come back when you are armed with nukes then we can see what we can do for you, until then: c'est la vie.


*****


Augustus: Clearly, due to its growing pride and self-delusion, the current administration in Brasília seems to be determined neither to remain passively watching major global decisions from afar - at a remote UN seat - nor to continue being invited to G-8 meetings merely for having "dessert" (using the Brazilian's president words).


*****


Ricardo: You are out of touch about the reality regarding Brazil’s prestige around the world today. Why are you so condescending regarding Brazil?

Brazil is not self-delusional – Today Brazil is the “Real Thing.”


*****


Augustus: the Venezuelan elected dictator appears adamant to reach an equivalent agreement for Latin America today with his plans to establish the Bank of the South (designed to be based in Caracas) in order to allegedly unite the "financial needs" of a socialist Latin brotherhood for the current millennium.


*****


Ricardo: It is not wrong with that from Brazil’s perspective – if Hugo Chavez wants to piss away the resources of his country it is his business and the Venezuelan people. He might even be able to help some poorer country along the way.


*****


Augustus: Almost certainly, an endless stream of funds and other assets is bound to flow into secrete private accounts of Venezuelan agents entrusted to "finance" electoral campaigns of left-wing candidates across Latin America with the support of La Paz, Quito, Havana and Managua.


*****


Ricardo: You are being very unfair regarding the current Venezuelan government.

Venezuela has improved a lot for the average people since Chavez became their leader.

The prior rulers of Venezuela did nothing for their country for decades, as soon as the oil money was available a handful of crooks lined their pockets and the money went back to their personal bank accounts in New York.

Do you prefer a system in which a few crooks end up with all the resources of that country on their private bank accounts and did nothing to improve their country?

.

Part 3

Augustus: As such, either spreading neo-Marxist ideals within a region scarcely prepared to embrace its inevitable totalitarian populist values or promoting questionable ideals of "economic integration" whereas fomenting discord in international forums, Venezuela AND Brazil proceed with alleged "common plans" without any actual regional consensus, each pursuing completely disparate and unrealistic goals in order to be poised, in the long run, to achieve their hidden agendas; thereby rendering most "agreements" between these nations as inevitable sources of significant conflict.


*****


Ricardo: You are completely out of touch with what is happening around the world.

You seem to be a very conservative almost radical on your views that is completely blind and can’t see the direction that countries are heading for in the coming years regarding economic matters.

You said: “promoting questionable ideals of "economic integration" whereas fomenting discord in international forums…”

Based on your writing I assume that you are completely against the formation of the European Union – and you must think that these neo-Marxists used questionable ideals of "economic integration" and they had the nerve to create the European Union, and a new currency the euro.

You also must think that these neo-Marxists idiots used questionable ideals of "economic integration" and they had the nerve to create NAFTA; including the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Is this what you think about the countries that are part of NAFTA, and the European Union? …each pursuing completely disparate and unrealistic goals in order to be poised, in the long run, to achieve their hidden agendas; thereby rendering most "agreements" between these nations as inevitable sources of significant conflict.

.

i live in brazil, have been here for 23 years...

and, the daily reports of drug and arms violence coming out of the big cities is devastating...the amount of reports about crack busts in my small city is unbeleivable...

the ties to the big city gangs , the pcc and fernando beiramar, to farc are extremly well documented...

the ties of chavez and correa to farc are extremly well documented...

yet, in your various articles and posts about the south american dynamic, you are painfully silent about this extremly urgent situation...

i dont think you really get how chavez and his cronies are tied in with the arms and drug trade and their support for a marxist terrorist group is contributing greatly to instability in the region, that definitly directly affects brazil

its hard to take you seriously if you dont include these things in your opinions of what is going on in south america

its like you arnt here so you dont feel the cancer up close...i do

even more confusing is you arnt ideologicaly aligned with the pt or pc but your nationalistic implications of what the usa is doing in colombia only implicate a head in the sand with cold war paranoia of what it could mean to brazil....


farc is not the only one dealing arms and drugs to brazil gangs, but, they are a major player in the process with chavez and his puppets seriously with their fingers in the pie

Yet another well timed article by Mr.Severus, considering that a) in the next 17 months 3 South American countries will be going for the Presidential elections. b)in two others, their rulers are busy messing with their constitutions to become life long Presidents.

I always enjoy reading the articles and comments written by our Expats about their home country, like that of the foreigners who have chosen Brasil as their second homes. This article is very interesting in the sense that Mr.Severus is questioning the personality cults promoted by our leaders to compete and consolidate their power and whether it is healthy for the democratic governance of their respective nations they are leading. Mr.Amaral has come out with some interesting comments and so has our well informed fellow blogger ASP.

Is Mr.Severus condescending to Brasil? IMHO, no, he is not. His article as well as his regular comments in this site do not imply that. His views merely reflect that of several well informed Brasilians.

Even though his article is short, Mr.Severus has raised several relevant issues that are very important for the Brasilians who are going to the polls next year. My kudos to him.

Firstly I will address the initial comments, specifically:

Ricardo: I am sorry to say that but your mindset is frozen in the past regarding Cuba and its influence in South America. I know that Lula and Chavez stop in Cuba for a photo-up with Fidel Castro – but at the end of the day Fidel is at the end of his life – for all practical purposes he is history.

You must be kidding when you said the following on your article: “assume the role of regional leading power.” At best these countries that you mentioned will be a drain on the oil revenue resources of Venezuela – other than Venezuela they are a bunch of destitute countries and nothing else.

As I have already conceded elsewhere, during a similar comment, I agree that I may be significantly influenced by the historical events related to the 20th century cold war, since I was an avid student of US-Soviet relations, and dedicated years studying the political structure of the former USSR and the intricacies of espionage and weapons control negotiations… HOWEVER, I must contend that your naïveté on this matters strikes me as astounding, since you do not appear to understand the changes taking place in Venezuela (which is truly being CUBANIZED) and that such changes are being exported to Bolivia (and very soon to Ecuador). In fact, as soon as this article got published, I received a distressing e-mail from an ANTI-CHAVEZ Venezuelan group, with which I have strongly sympathized – In this connection, I will quote the ending paragraph of the communiqué (in Spanish) which I’m certain you will be able to understand (since any educated Brazilian can extrapolate what is written in most Spanish Texts)

La Constitución ya no le sirve al Presidente Chávez. Las leyes recientemente aprobadas la violan en varios de sus artículos y principios fundamentales mientras que muchos países siguen pensando, o les conviene pensar para continuar haciendo negocios con Venezuela, que existe un régimen democrático simplemente porque Chávez fue elegido en las urnas.

El control total del sistema electoral, la ideologización de la educación, la pérdida de la propiedad privada y las amenazas constantes a la libertad de expresión en Venezuela, deben llamar a la reflexión a todos aquellos que se hacen llamar demócratas y dicen defender la democracia.

In essence, it’s a shame the rapid deterioration of conditions in Venezuela where freedom of Expression, private property, and disrespect for the Venezuelan Constitution represent blatant examples of the distressing abuses taking place in Venezuela under the criminal HUGO CHAVEZ.
FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT / ACCESS THE ADDRESS / LINK BELOW:
AlertaVenezuela.com info@alertavenezuela.com
Home/Opinión y Análisis/Tiempo político/Documentos/Enlaces/Quienes somos/Regístrese/Contáctenos/English



Proceeding to your next objection, I MUST STRONGLY DISAGREE.

Ricardo: I don’t share your views on this matter. First, I think it is Hugo Chavez business if he decides to unite the countries that use to belong to the Spanish Empire in South America. If he wants to become the new Simon Bolivar good for him – it is his business and the other countries that would be involved in such a union. No different than the European Union as far as I am concerned. Let him build his new Bolivarian Union.

As long as what Chavez decides to do in South America it does not involve Brazil.

As already mentioned, the naïveté of Ricardo Amaral and his apparent inability to see beyond the short term strikes me as surprising; I’m appalled by Ricardo’s failure to extrapolate upon what would have happened in the event the monstrous Hugo Chavez were EVER to completely dominate the Spanish Speaking countries of South America neighboring Brazil… Does Ricardo really expect that it Hugo Chavez would remain indefinitely maintaining a hands-off approach to Brazil? Just considering the possibility that any successful tyrant, would consider adopting LIMITS for his thirst? Would individuals like Ricardo, feel more comfortable ignoring the obvious, presuming a continued Friendly posture towards Brazil, after successfully encircling the nation with a large “new Spain” or Greater Bolivarian Republic. By that point, it would be too LATE for Brazil to wake up and smell the coffee.
Latin Americans should, in this connection remember the EUROPEN MISTAKE committed in during the late 1930’s when Mr. Chamberlain (the British Prime minister at the time) who was satisfied with “Mr. Hitler’s assurance that Germany’s invasion of the Czech Sudetenland (which had followed the Anschluss Österreichs). When Mr. Chamberlain existed the plane in London returning from Berlin, he provided the self-delusional statement that he was totally satisfied with Mr. Hitler’s assurance that the Sudetenland annexation had represented the very LAST claim by the German Reich in Europe.
Ricardo…. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF!!! NEVER PRESUME IN TERMS OF SECURITY!!!

While thanking both of you for the continued support and appreciation, I must reiterate Joao's worlds:

considering that a) in the next 17 months 3 South American countries will be going for the Presidential elections. b)in two others, their rulers are busy messing with their constitutions to become life long Presidents

Indeed this is a crucial time for Latin America and the danger posed by Hugo Chavez should neither ignored nor dismissed, for his intension should never be underestimated. NEITHER should Chavez' continued support to FARC be questions (particularly because FARC is undoubtedly one of the main underground contributors to the growing violence in Brazil's two metropolises; NOR should his clear intentions to encircle Brazil with strong supporters in order to be poised to exert direct influence in Brasilia, in the long run

Firstly, I will address the following statements:

I have no idea what you are talking about. By African support I assume that you mean South Africa, and Angola.

Brazil is missing the main credential necessary to qualify for a permanent seat in the Security Council. Brazil does not have an arsenal of nuclear weapons.

India, North Korea, and Pakistan have a better chance to qualify before they consider Brazil.

The UN Security Council is for the big boys the members that are armed with nuclear weapons and they can take care of protecting their own territory – now Brazil show up at the UN armed with a slingshot, and “bow and arrow” and the other members of the UN Security Council first have a good laugh, then they would tell Brazil to get lost.

Come back when you are armed with nukes then we can see what we can do for you, until then: c'est la vie.

In Connection with the “courting of Africa” by Lula, I’m afraid your single minded dedication to specific issues, may have precluded you from reading about or extrapolating the big picture.
Quote and excerpt from the SEOULD TIMES published today (since it’s already AUG 26, 2009 in East Asia)

Brazil has been quick to follow China's lead: President Lula da Silva apologized for 400 hundred years of slave trade on a visit to Senegal. Brazil is in contention with China and India as superpower; courting Africa is vital to Lula's diplomacy, with bilateral agreements with Ghana, Nigeria, and Mozambique. Lula is "digging beneath the layers of guilt and sorrow to find commercial and geopolitical issues."

.
Lula’s courting of the African continent goes well being just South African (which, jointly with India composes the IBSA group) and Angola (a fellow Portuguese speaking nation) and extends to most of the continent.
Quoting ALLAFRICA.COM

Hot On China's Heels, Brazil is Coming2 Feb 2007 ... But just China is not alone in courting Africa

OR, quoting www.OutlookIndia.com

1 Dec 2007 ... seat in the United Nations Security Council in 2010. ... More than 125 countries voted in the UN General Assembly in September ... Pakistan opposes India's bid, Italy is against Germany's inclusion and Argentina is against Brazil. ... India is definitely courting Africa with vigour after losing ...

Finally, quoting BUSINESS ACTION FOR AFRICA

Business Action for Africa - newsBut just China is not alone in courting Africa. Observers think that India and Brazil, who are also in the race for the next ... president to accept U.N. peacekeepers and resolve the four-year conflict there. ... the United Nations' top humanitarian official told IRIN in a telephone interview from New York. UN ...

As a result, I hope it is now clear that Brazil, along with India (with Nukes), Germany (no Nukes) and Japan (no Nukes) are heaving courting Africa in order to secure a permanent seat at the United Nations. In addition, it should also have been clarified that, although you may be correct in as much as possession of Atomic weapons may represent a CONCELEAD pre-requisite for admission in the U.N. Security council, only one of the four serious contestants for permanent seat, as outlined above, has Nuclear capabilities. Finally, the “African Courting is clearly (and correctly perceived by everyone as a correct, labor intensive strategy, in order to reach that goal.

Finally, since you appear to be friendly to President Lula (WHAT A NAME!!! I SHALL NEVER ACCEPT SUCH A NAME FOR A PRESIDENT), I would like to bring to your attention that attaining a permanent seat at the United Nations does not only represent a Brazilian Goal, but rather has been transformed into a LULA OBSESSION! Why else do you think his seat in the Palacio do Planalto has been vacant for at least a third of the time, as the Brazilian president is busy touring the world, to promote his (ridiculous) stature among the world’s capital?

Augustus: HOWEVER, I must contend that your naïveté on this matters strikes me as astounding, since you do not appear to understand the changes taking place in Venezuela (which is truly being CUBANIZED) and that such changes are being exported to Bolivia (and very soon to Ecuador).

… In essence, it’s a shame the rapid deterioration of conditions in Venezuela where freedom of Expression, private property, and disrespect for the Venezuelan Constitution represent blatant examples of the distressing abuses taking place in Venezuela under the criminal HUGO CHAVEZ.


*****


Ricardo: You are obsessed with Cuba the Soviet Union and a time long gone. I am sure that the people in Ecuador and in Bolivia have heard before about Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and communism.

Hugo Chavez is acting as a dictator, and he is taking over Venezuela one step at the time, and to do that he needs to neutralize the mainstream media and so forth – just like many other dictators from around the world.

Who cares that Chavez is buying with cash the support of the governments of Ecuador, and Bolivia – two very destitute countries, and they need the cash coming from Chavez.

All these people are trying to do is survive the best way they can – and Chavez is the guy with the deep pockets right now.


*****


Augustus: As already mentioned, the naïveté of Ricardo Amaral and his apparent inability to see beyond the short term strikes me as surprising; I’m appalled by Ricardo’s failure to extrapolate upon what would have happened in the event the monstrous Hugo Chavez were EVER to completely dominate the Spanish Speaking countries of South America neighboring Brazil… Does Ricardo really expect that it Hugo Chavez would remain indefinitely maintaining a hands-off approach to Brazil? Just considering the possibility that any successful tyrant, would consider adopting LIMITS for his thirst? Would individuals like Ricardo, feel more comfortable ignoring the obvious, presuming a continued Friendly posture towards Brazil, after successfully encircling the nation with a large “new Spain” or Greater Bolivarian Republic. By that point, it would be too LATE for Brazil to wake up and smell the coffee.

Latin Americans should, in this connection remember the EUROPEN MISTAKE committed in during the late 1930’s when Mr. Chamberlain (the British Prime minister at the time) who was satisfied with “Mr. Hitler’s assurance that Germany’s invasion of the Czech Sudetenland (which had followed the Anschluss Österreichs). When Mr. Chamberlain existed the plane in London returning from Berlin, he provided the self-delusional statement that he was totally satisfied with Mr. Hitler’s assurance that the Sudetenland annexation had represented the very LAST claim by the German Reich in Europe.

Ricardo…. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF!!! NEVER PRESUME IN TERMS OF SECURITY!!!


*****


Ricardo: First, every time I see in the news Hugo Chavez sitting on his desk at the presidents palace, behind his chair there is a picture of Simon Bolivar that takes almost the entire wall. In another words Chavez is trying to say to the rest of the world loud and clear: I want to become a version of Simon Bolivar.

By the way, Simon Bolivar is his real hero and not Fidel Castro or Che Gurvara as you are so obsessed about.

Second, lets follow some of your reasoning and parallels between Hugo Chavez and Venezuela today, and Hitler’s Germany in the past.

I guess just like Hitler yesterday, today Hugo Chavez will be able to get the backing of the industrialists and financiers of Venezuela and use that vast industrial base that they have in Venezuela, and tap into the brightest pool of scientists and engineers in the world just like Hitler had on his time.

Then he would take his little army of mostly uneducated peasants with the help of Evo Morales from Bolivia and his native Indians armed with bow and arrow, and together they would go right across the Amazon jungle and drive his army to Brasilia to take over the country.

A similar situation just like in Europe when Hitler occupied many countries a long time ago.

The fact that the Brazilian population is 10 times larger than Venezuela’s is a little detail to be worked out by Chavez and Evo as they move to take over Brazil.

The other little problem that Hugo and Evo still have to work out is the fact that it is easy to move from Germany to take over their neighbours in Europoe, but in South America there is a little jungle of the size of a continent separating Brazil from its foes.

As you can see Hugo Chavez has a bunch of little problems to iron it out before he can follow the Adolph Hitler’s footsteps.

All I can tell you is that I am not going to lose one second of sleep over the threat coming from Hugo and Evo.

The problem between Brazil - and Farc, and the drug traffickers is another story that should be handled in another way.

.

Pakistan opposes India's bid, Italy is against Germany's inclusion and Argentina is against Brazil.

If Argentina opposes Brazil´s bid, how the hell do you all expect it to collaborate with us to build a Nuclear Bomb ? Bang goes the theory of "Two Giants" joining together for the "future well being of MERCOSUL".

In spite of my being reasonably informed, I missed this important news. Ah, one more thing. Brasil doesn't need to get to build a N-Bomb to get a seat into the U.N. Security Council knowing full well that this U.N. has become highly politicized and dying the slow death of "The League of Nations".

Hopefully, "DnB", "The Guest", "Lloyd Cata", etc; get to read this article as well as the comments underneath.

To Mr.Severus: Yes, we "the voiceless and educated" Brasilians do understand Spanish! Thanks for the info. Another surprise to me is that you read "Seoul Times", "Outlook India" and other foreign Newspapers.

The problem between Brazil - and Farc, and the drug traffickers is another story that should be handled in another way.

Hi Ricardo,

How do you propose to handle this issue? The comments made by ASP are true and to the point. Whether we like it or not, what he has brought up is an alarming matter and it does not affect just the big cities like Rio or SP. Even the small towns are under their control. The security of the unarmed (and law abiding) Brasilians is taken as a joke. That really bothers people like me.

It would be a great pleasure to have additional contributions to these important discussions, particularly entries which could be posted by the individuals mentioned in Joao's previous entry.

Nevertheless, I feel compelled to provide a single caveat: we do not need comments which might be cluttered with endless (and pointless) biblical quotations, as they fail to provide ANY VALUE whatsoever, for our discussions should not include absurd, irrelevant mythological analogies.

Nevertheless, I feel compelled to provide a single caveat: we do not need comments which might be cluttered with endless (and pointless) biblical quotations,

Nor do I. But...But.... still I think that (as Lloyd Cata said correctly) that Brazil is at a turning point of the history in Latin America. It is up to us to keep it as a Plantation or move forward to become a Real Power. One thing I liked about your article is that it is very timely. BTW, I did go through the site on Venezuela and the comments make sense.Hugh doesn't have to physically invade Brasil, but he can export his ideology through other means. Somehow, my friend, that guy reminds me of a President of ours who was impeached a few years ago.

You said: Hi Ricardo, How do you propose to handle this issue?


*****


Ricardo: That strategy I can’t put in writing on this website, and I leave it up to your imagination. Anyway, our favorite General would be part of the plan.

.

"The problem between Brazil - and Farc, and the drug traffickers is another story that should be handled in another way."

João, I have been reading but not commenting but for once I have to agree with Ricardo's statement above.

It is due to the lack of Brasilian governmental will and corrupt policing why "The security of the unarmed (and law abiding) Brasilians is taken as a joke." Criminals just like law abiding citizens look for opportunities.
The question to be answered is why are law abiding Brasilians so willing to turn over their cities and small towns to corrupt politicians, police and drug traffickers? In my opinion, Farc and the drug traffickers are involved in a business deal which has the blessing of law abiding Brasilians. Things will only change when good Brasilians decide that they had enough and take concrete steps to enforce the rule of law.

If enforcing the rule of law worked then we would have had safe streets in Brazil.

Those guys don't follow any rule of the law - we just need to play their game with their rules of engagement for a while until this massive mess is under control and the streets in Brazil are safe again.

My motto for that clean up campaign would be: "we take no prisoners".

.

In connection with your reply to GUEST, I must concede that on this issue I agree wholeheartedly with your motto:

My motto for that clean up campaign would be: "we take no prisoners

You have my full support on that particular issue.

Caracas is the largest dump in Latin America. It's so dangerous and ugly with shantytowns everywhere.

Hi Ricardo,

Regarding your last comment addressed to me, you are right. However, I am sure you are aware that there is an campaign over the Internet to recruit that Gentleman through ballots!!!

Things will only change when good Brasilians decide that they had enough and take concrete steps to enforce the rule of law.

Absolutely correct and it is time for the good ones to stand and speak up. Mind you, there are plenty of them in this country, as you are quite aware. When you said "for once you agree with Ricardo": I don't agree with him nor Augustus all the time either, but at least they speak up, without being afraid of being branded as "Politically Incorrect". We belong to the group that acknowledges the existence of problems and try to come out with alternative solutions, instead of saying "All ist blau" or "Não fui eu"!!!

It is great to hear your comments and hopefully you will contribute further while you are still on "Dry Land"

You said: “Regarding your last comment addressed to me, you are right. However, I am sure you are aware that there is an campaign over the Internet to recruit that Gentleman through ballots!!!”


*****


Ricardo: I am not aware that there is a campaign over the Internet to recruit that Gentleman through ballots.

If he becomes one of the presidential candidates in 2010, he has my vote.

Please can you send to my email address the web address of that internet site that you mentioned. My email address is at the end of all my articles.

I believe in free speech and there is no such a thing as “politically correct” speech. The people who believe in “politically correct” speech also believe in “censorship”.

By the way, today I received a real nasty email from an American reader of Brazzil magazine calling me nasty names because of my article about the renationalization of Petrobras, and also because former president Jose Sarney got out of the hook.

.

We cant play the the game by there rules as that would be rong.
and we all know in government two rongs do not make a right .

PBO KNOWS THIS ALL SO WELL he just says we are sorry the whole country.

I dont want him saying i am sorry for me
I wonder how many people have voters remorse now.
I even have hurd Blacks saying he is half white not a true black so dont judge them as if he speaks for all of them .

like chaves ,lula, morlas ,castro .PBO

brazilian is almost as bad as Caracas except brasil has more minor prositutes serving the senators

http://terramagazine.terra.com...00-General Farc desestabiliza mais que bases dos EUA.html

here is a fantastic on the money look at the amazon situation and the american agreement by columbia by a general from brazil. he hits a lot of nails on the head...this is a good mind about what is happening down here

this is a very worth while article to track down...

this guy really is on the money

I am posting the correct link to that article you mentioned in your two comments so that by double clicking it, our buddies in NYC and NJ can easily access it:

http://terramagazine.terra.com...s EUA.html

Jeeze, I have to teach an Yank how to post the link correctly.

My apologies. It doesn't work by double clicking

The first link is:http://terramagazine.terra.com.br/

There comes the head line.If they cant see the headline

The second link is:http://terramagazine.terra.com.br/interna/0,,OI3940740-EI6578,00-General Farc desestabiliza mais que bases dos EUA.html

They have to type it manually the web address and try to double click. Very interesting article and thanks for posting it.

Please can you send to my email address the web address of that internet site that you mentioned. My email address is at the end of all my articles.

I am posting it for everyone to see:

http://www.generalhelenopresid...ogspot.com

If by double clicking, it doesn't work, please type it in your browser. Lately I have been having problem in sending the links in this site. You might be surprised to know that the web address was sent to me by some "Paulistanos"!

By the way, today I received a real nasty email from an American reader of Brazzil magazine calling me nasty names because of my article about the renationalization of Petrobras, and also because former president Jose Sarney got out of the hook.

Probably, this American is better informed like many other Gringos who have family ties with Brasil. As you know, I (like many other Southerners) am not a big admirer of Mr.Sarney. There again, there are many others who changed their tunes after 1985!!

Magazine - O ministro Celso Amorim disse que as bases dos EUA na Colômbia "importam problemas" para a região. O senhor concorda?
General Lessa - Não são as bases que vão importar problemas. Há quantos anos os Estados Unidos estão lá com o Plano Colômbia? O problema é separar bem o que é atividade norte-americana dentro da Colômbia, envolvido com o problema do narcotráfico e eventualmente com o problema da guerrilha das Farc... Mas isso não quer dizer que ele (o acordo para a instalação de bases dos EUA) pode extrapolar. O problema atual das bases não é nada diferente do problema anterior, onde já se tinha três bases. Agora ele ampliou o conceito de base. Eu não vejo uma diferença sensível entre a posição de hoje e a posição de anos atrás.

Esse aumento da presença militar norte-americana não indica uma mudança de postura em relação ao continente?
A posição da Colômbia diz que não haverá uma base exclusivamente norte-americana no país. Eu não vejo um perigo maior, mesmo porque é estranha a posição do Itamaraty só com relação à Colômbia. Por que o Itamaraty não fala do pacto da Venezuela com a Rússia? Isso aí é tão ou mais preocupante do que o pacto dos Estados Unidos. A Venezuela tem um pacto firmado com a Rússia, não apenas de comercialização de material militar, mas também de uso de instalações venezuelanas pela Rússia. Por que o Itamaraty não aborda esse problema? É porque ali tem uma doutrina chamada de bolivariana, essa sim que quer expandir um socialismo atrasado e retrógrado para o Brasil. Essa que não nos serve de maneira alguma. Por que o Itamaraty não fala nisso? É o outro lado da moeda.

A postura da Venezuela ajuda a aumentar a presença norte-americana na Colômbia?
É lógico. O problema Venezuela, equatoriano, boliviano, tudo isso faz com que os Estados Unidos tenham um pé mais firme na Colômbia, mas não quer dizer que a posição brasileira vá impedi-los de fazer algo em outro país. A posição brasileira ainda é muito débil e fraca para uma mudança de posição. Quem é militar tem de ser realista com as coisas. O que é estranho na diplomacia do Itamaraty é a falta de harmonia nos seus conceitos. A pressão russa em cima da Venezuela, por exemplo, é nítida. Já fizeram até exercícios militares em conjunto. É tendenciosa essa posição do Itamaraty.

Mas na Venezuela não há presença militar estrangeira, enquanto na Colômbia há...
Tem uma diferença, porque é um acordo militar (entre Colômbia e EUA). Mas a Venezuela já ofereceu bases para a Rússia, tem declarações do Chávez nesse sentido. Só que a Rússia não concretizou. E há uma mudança de política muito interessante: a nova estratégia de defesa da Rússia prevê intervenções em várias partes do mundo, inclusive há algumas declarações recentes dos dirigentes russos até para auxiliar os nossos amigos venezuelanos. E parece que o Brasil não está absolutamente preocupado com o problema da Venezuela, só com a Colômbia, um país que luta há muitos anos contra o narcotráfico e contra um movimento guerrilheiro que quer impor uma nova ordem no país. A Colômbia já reduziu muito o narcotráfico; não destruiu, mas debilitou muito as Farc; eles estão no caminho certo, e os Estados Unidos estão apoiando. Esse é o aspecto que tem que ser encarado. Dizer que isso vai resultar em ameaça para os outros países, vai uma distância muito grande.

Esse argumento de combate às Farc e ao narcotráfico não esconde um interesse geopolítico maior dos Estados Unidos?
É lógico que oculta. Uma grande potência como os EUA tem um pé em várias partes do globo. É do seu interesse estratégico. Na realidade, esse problema de controle das Farc e do narcotráfico também embute um interesse estratégico dos Estados Unidos.

E esse interesse não pode ser prejudicial ao Brasil ou, pelo menos, conflitante?
Não. O Brasil tem até hoje relações muito boas com os Estados Unidos, e não vai ser a base colombiana que vai entrar em choque conosco. O problema é o seguinte: (garantir) que as operações colombianas contra as Farc fiquem no território da Colômbia, e não extravasem para o Brasil. Esse é o problema. Pode ser que uma pressão maior faça com que forças guerrilheiras colombianas extravasem para o Brasil. Essa é uma preocupação que nós temos que ter, para que isso não aconteça.

O presidente colombiano Álvaro Uribe propôs à Unasul que discutisse as relações das Farc com países do continente e o acordo entre o Brasil e a França para a compra de equipamentos militares. Vê nisso uma retaliação?
Não é retaliação. A Unasul é para tratar desses assuntos. A posição da Colômbia está certa? "Por que só querem ver o meu problema?". Quem está sendo o elemento complicador na política (do continente) são as Farc, e é aí que está o olho torto, vesgo do Itamaraty. A existência das Farc é que está sendo o fator perturbador nas relações entre os países sul-americanos. Foi graças às Farc se estremeceram as relações entre Colômbia e Venezuela, entre Colômbia e Equador, entre Colômbia e Bolívia. Agora, vai reunir a Unasul para falar em bases norte-americanas e não nas Farc? Isso é um contra-senso. É uma política absolutamente tendenciosa, e o Brasil sempre se caracterizou por uma política de equilíbrio. Parece que agora não: é uma política que só quer olhar lado da moeda; tem que olhar os dois. A Colômbia e o Uribe estão certos. Eu acho que eles estão no direito de exigir (uma discussão entre o acordo militar Brasil-França), a gente não tem nada o que esconder.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please pay attention to this important stretch of Gen.Lessa´s statement:

É uma política absolutamente tendenciosa, e o Brasil sempre se caracterizou por uma política de equilíbrio. Parece que agora não

He is absolutely right and lets not forget that Brasil is a very friendly country, open to all religions, nationalities, etc;

To Augustus who wrote:

here it is (thanks for helping joao)

I don't want to steal the credit that our distinguished fellow blogger ASP richly deserves for reading and retransmitting this important interview.My thanks to both of ya.

As I said earlier to Ricardo, these Gringos who live here are well informed.

true but you forgot to add the not so little and not so poor country that Argentina is. Argentina is 100 % PRO CHAVEZ !
But also true that the countries you mentionned and Argentina are PRO CHAVEZ only as long as they get HIS FINANCINGS !

And what about THE brazilian ...INIACIO..., nicknamed Robbing Hook....HIMSELF TOTALLY PRO CHAVEZ ?
I just underline HIM, not the brazilians politicians ANTI CHAVEZ !

Somewhat funny that these NOW ANTI CHAVEZ were mostly PRO-PRO-PRO CHAVEZ JUST 2-3 YEARS EARLIER when there were big talks, HUGE talks and promises made, close friendships, best friendships, at the time of your mega PIPELINE PROJECT between Venezuela-Brazil-Argentina !!!!

Fact is BRAZIL IS ALWAYS THE BEST FRIENDS WHEN THESE FRIENDS FINANCE BRAZIL !
BUT THEN CAME ..... THE TUPI FIELDS !
THUS OBVIOUSLY...THE PRO CHAVEZ BECAME ANTI CHAVEZ !

Hmmmmm !

Lets face it, the countries you stated and the two I stated (Brazil & Argentina) are one and the same : VERY GOOD FRIENDS...AS LONG AS THE FRIENDS AND WHOEVER THESE FRIENDS ARE PROVIDE MONEY ON THE TABLE !

NOTHING ELSE ! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE !
THE ONLY EXCEPTION WAS CUBA...BUT DUE TO THE LEFTISTS MINDS THAT BRAZILIANS ARE.
Leftists to a certain point. Just as long BRAZILIANS dont have to pay a fair MARKET price !
We have seen it between Brazil-Bolivia for the gas price.
We are seing it for the Brazil-Paraguay for the KWH price.
But Brazilians were NEUTRAL of course and did not intervene when there was the paper mills problems between Argentina and Uruguay.
Not even when Brazil had the Presidency of the Mercosur...OF COURSE !

WHO IS FAIR, FAITHFUL AND TRUSTABLE IN SOUTH AMERICA ?
Certainly not Argentina,Ecuador or Venezuela.
But BRAZIL EVEN LESS !

VIVA...CHILE & PERU...for the time being !
THEY DONT MAKE NOISE AND ARE NOT AS ARROGANT AS BRAZIL AND OTHERS IN THE REGION !
Better yet they had and will still have a HIGHER economic growth rate than the ARRRRRRRROGANT BRAZIL WHO SIMPLY OPENLY LIE AS USUAL WHEN THEY STATE THAT
BRAZIL IS THE WORLD STRONGEST EMERGING NATION - BRIC COUNTRIES.
But Proven by Nooooo factual stats, also as usual !
How could they ?

"We belong to the group that acknowledges the existence of problems and try to come out with alternative solutions, instead of saying "All ist blau" or "Não fui eu"!!!"

I agree with you. Solutions are derived by the exchange of ideas.

"It is great to hear your comments and hopefully you will contribute further while you are still on "Dry Land"

I will try to participate as much as I can. Right now I am in school in Fort Lauderdale renewing some certificates for work while I have the time.

Because of the extremely corrupt, populist family which is currently in charge of the Argentinean government (in a shameful plot whereby husband & wife appear poised to take turns at the country’s presidency), I will agree that Buenos Aires is closely allied with Caracas in a perverse exchange of favors, representing a clear alliance of convenience.

Similar to Argentina, the Ecuadorian president, who is disgraceful traitor of his own class in his absurd support for the ridiculous Bolivarian ideals sponsored by Hugo Chavez, actually represent a “political marriage of convenience” primarily because of Venezuelan bribes and “financing” of so-called projects.

As for the Venezuelan wretched, destitute client states of Bolivia and Nicaragua, I actually believe there may exist strong populist and neo-Marxist bonds with Hugo Chavez Bolivarian ideals, and are likely to be committed to Caracas’ intention to spread its philosophy throughout Latin America.

The semi-illiterate Brazilian president on the other hand, probably fits Ch-c allegations of adopting cynical, flip-flop positions in order to pursue unrealistic megalomaniacal goals of Greatness for Brazil, but entirely for the sake of attaining extremely selfish, egotistical, and concealed purposes which are bound to combine personal economical goals along with “self-delusional expectation to exaggerate and embellish his historical legacy as some type of moderate socialist savior… In short Lula represents the epitome of hypocrisy and selfishness!

Regarding Chile, as mentioned several times I uphold the greatest admiration and respect for their admirable president – Ms. Michelle Bachelet – who not only is a well intended and truly moderate socialist politician, in charge of a country which is not only politically stable, economically sound, and, I daresay (in Latin American terms) nearly corruption-free. If only the remaining Latin American countries could follow the Chilean model and example, the region would be more prosperous, stable, and, most importantly, would have earned the respect of the civilized nations of our planet.

Finally, while I resent being compelled to remind everyone that, although I have been posting my views in this blog for little more than one year, most regular participants will agree that I have always opposed the Venezuelan dictator. In fact, from the very moment Hugo Chavez was first elected, I have adopted an unwaveringly, strong position against his hypocritical, obsolete, and unfeasible political ideals, his deplorable cliché-style populist outlook, his intolerably loud, obnoxious conduct in international forums, his refusal to display the most basic civility towards European Monarchs, and his complete disrespect for fellow heads of state.

As such, I must unfortunately voice my profound resentment vis-à-vis the ill-intent displayed by some intolerant fellow bloggers who, in their blind quest to spill out unwarranted hatred for all Brazilians, fail to adopt the expected impartial stance required for objective criticism, extrapolates character judgment-calls in exceedingly unfair fashion, and refuses to consider making exceptions in any ruling involving Brazilian issues while consistently avoiding any kind gestures (let alone the use of gentile words) towards any given Brazilian citizen, under every possible circumstance…

Ricardo: There’s plenty of interesting information about General Augusto Heleno on the internet. And he might be the right General to be in charge of the major clean up job of the drug trafficking and widespread crime gangs that are terrorizing people all over Brazil. It seems that he has the right credentials to do that very important job. And also keep the Farc away from Brazilian territory.


*****


Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira.

Part 1 of 3


*****


“Aiding Oppression in Haiti: Kofi Annan and General Heleno’s Complicity in Latortue’s Jackal Regime”
By: Seth R. DeLong, Ph.D - COHA Senior Research Fellow
Thursday, 16 December 2004

President Bush’s Haiti Policy undermines his proclaimed ideal of valuing democracy as well as stability.

As Kofi Annan comes to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell, among others, he is prepared to do Washington’s bidding regarding Haiti.

Most likely, the interim government of Prime-Minister Gerard Latortue will indefinitely postpone, sabotage or find some other pretext to ban the pro-Aristide Lavalas party from participating in the 2005 presidential election.

Among the responsibilities of MINUSTAH, the UN Peacekeeping force in Haiti, is to ensure the safety of the polling stations and the integrity of the electoral process. This means the UN peacekeeping mandate must prohibit Latortue and interim Justice Minister Bernard Gousse from further brutalizing Lavalas supporters.

Though it remains unclear who is to blame for the four deaths on December 15 in the pro-Aristide slum of Cite Soleil, MINUSTAH’s actions there could eventually provide part of the basis for banning Lavalas.

The head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission, Brazilian Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno, should be replaced given his deference, in word and deed, to Latortue’s excesses.

President Lula is ultimately responsible for Heleno’s reckless actions. Does Lula know he is sacrificing Haiti’s poor for his international ambitions?

…Currently the UN force, led by General Augusto Heleno of Brazil, is highly prejudiced in the use of its power. Far from abiding by the impartial language of the mandate “to support the constitutional and political processes under way in Haiti . . . and foster principles and democratic governance and institutional development,” MINUSTAH continually sides with the inherently lawless Haitian police during the latter’s repeated raids on Aristide supporters, and with a Justice Minister who has no regard for due process. As described by Chief of Mission of the Haiti embassy in Washington, Raymond A. Joseph, to COHA, “a situation of war exists in Haiti. In war a lot of things are not quite legal, but you have to take measures to protect yourself.”


Latortue’s Stooge

In an interview with Haiti’s Radio Metropole on October 8, General Heleno, during what must have been an unguarded moment, declared: “We must kill the bandits, but it will have to be the bandits only, not everybody.” This statement might even be comforting if we knew it were directed at the roving rebel gangs, former death squad members and rapists - released or broken out from prison following the chaos brought on by the pre-coup turbulence - who terrorized the country throughout the rule of the military junta (1991 – 1994). As one COFEVIH member claimed, “the same people who raped us in 1991 are again in power. All those prisoners who were let out are raping women.” Unfortunately, the general was not referencing such brigands but rather the pro-Lavalas, poor urban youths.

…Clearly, Heleno was eager to place blame for inciting the shootings and unwarranted arrests carried out in raids in the pro-Aristide slums of Port-au-Prince at the feet of John Kerry. But even more ominously, he implies what the Security Council has never said; that advocating Aristide’s return to Haiti would be illegal. Essentially, Heleno was saying that had Kerry not exhibited the sheer audacity of suggesting that the Haitian people should be led by their democratically-elected president, the violence could have been avoided. Given that the Brazilian commander apparently sees his mandate extending only to aiding the current regime’s suppression of the Lavalas democracy movement, he needs to be withdrawn for the sake of the Haitian people, the sake of the UN’s credibility and, lastly, for the sake of Lula’s democratic credentials.

This analysis was authored by COHA Senior Research Fellow, Seth R.
DeLong, Ph.D.

http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_...o edit.htm


.

Part 2 of 3


*****


“We endorse the Augusto Heleno Petition to Gen.Augusto Heleno”

http://www.petitiononline.com/...xptoxpto&1


*****


Você votaria no General Augusto Heleno para Presidente da República?
Como todos devem ter acompanhado nos noticiários recentes, o General Augusto Heleno está sendo muito elogiado pela atitude de coragem que teve em relação ao Governo. Algumas comunidades do orkut estão cogitando a hipótese de sua candidatura à Presidência da República. Você apóia esta idéia?

http://answers.yahoo.co.nz/que...457AAtShob


*****


“UN Troops Attack Port-au-Prince, Kill 23 People”

On July 6th, more than 300 heavily armed UN troops carried out a full-blown military attack on a densely-populated section of Port-au-Prince. Multiple sources confirm the "peacekeepers" killed at least 23 people. Eyewitnesses reported the UN troops used helicopters, tanks, machine guns and tear gas in the operation. Lt.General Augusto Heleno, the Brazilian commander of UN troops in Haiti, defended the operation as a "success."

http://www.indybay.org/newsite.../33932.php


*****


May 2, 2007

The UN stabilization mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is currently on its third or fourth general.

Their first commander was a Brazilian, Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira. He made the news (which everyone seems to have ignored) in December, 2004, when he testified before a congressional commission in Brazil that:

We are under extreme pressure from the international community to use violence.... I command a peace-keeping force, not an occupation force... we are not there to carry out violence, this will not happen for as long as I'm in charge of the force.

He was pretty clear that the US, Canada and France were responsible for a lot of that pressure. In August of 2005, he resigned. The story that I've heard (but haven't found a source for) is that he was afraid of being brought up on war crimes charges at some point in the future.

http://bcholmes.dreamwidth.org...ad=1438004


*****


Twenty-four people confirmed dead after more than 300 heavily-armed UN troops, assisted by the Haitian National Police, carry out a major pre-dawn military raid in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest communities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in what eyewitnesses claim was not a firefight, but a slaughter, using machine guns, tanks, 83-CC grenades, and tear gas. Eyewitnesses reported that when people fled to escape the tear gas, UN troops shot them from behind. The UN military commander, Lieutenant General Augusto Heleno, claimed the operation a success, and that the victims were "outlaws".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_6,_2005


*****


O comandante militar da Amazônia, general Augusto Heleno, herói dos que se opõem à política indigenista caótica e entreguista do governo, foi submetido a cirurgia, nesta terça-feira, para corrigir uma ruptura no manguito rotator, conjunto de músculos localizado no ombro e que permite os movimentos de girar e levantar o braço.

http://kiminda.wordpress.com/2...e-operado/


*****


“General Heleno Presidente do Brasil”

NÃO TEMOS TEMPO A PERDER !

VOCÊ APOIA O MOVIMENTO GENERAL HELENO PRESIDENTE DO BRASIL?

NELE O BRASIL CONFIA !

É DESTEMIDO E LEGÍTIMO ENTRE SEUS PARES, NAS TRÊS FORÇAS ARMADAS.

http://generalhelenopresidente...eleno.html


.

Part 3 of 3


*****


Jobim conversa com chefe do Exército sobre críticas
04/03/2009 — rizzolot

BRASÍLIA – Informado sobre resistências à Estratégia Nacional de Defesa na alta cúpula do Exército, o ministro da Defesa, Nelson Jobim, telefonou ontem ao comandante da Força, general Enzo Martins Peri, que participava da reunião com generais, para saber da extensão das críticas e de seu alcance na caserna. Na conversa, Enzo tranquilizou Jobim e disse que os documentos com críticas apresentados por três generais de Exército, como revelou o Estado, são pessoais.

Segundo ele, as críticas são pontuais e foram apresentadas aos demais generais com objetivo de deixar registrados seus pontos de vista. Dois dos três generais que se manifestaram ontem sobre a Estratégia de Defesa, formulada pelo próprio Jobim, estão deixando o serviço ativo no dia 31. Algumas das críticas passam pelo que chamam de temor de politização das Forças Armadas. Eles protestam contra o fato de que os militares poderão ser ainda mais afastados dos círculos decisórios.

Nos documentos, deixam clara ainda a insatisfação com a parte que coube ao Exército no plano de Defesa, que evidencia uma desproporção no que tange aos objetivos das Forças Armadas. Para os generais, não está previsto para o Exército nenhum projeto de modernidade, ao contrário do que ocorre em relação à Marinha e à Força Aérea. Os militares condenam ainda o artigo do plano de Defesa que unifica as compras do ministério. Um dos documentos cita que essa centralização permite a introdução de idiossincrasias típicas da administração civil, como a corrupção e o tráfico de influência. As informações são do jornal O Estado de S. Paulo.

Rizzolo: O Comandante do Exército general Enzo Martins Peri, ao que parece, falando em nome do Exército brasileiro, o qual é o Comandante, minimizou as críticas ao afirmar que eram pontos de vista ” pessoais”, e que de certa forma não devemos nos preocupar, porque ” dois deles já estão deixando o serviço ativo “.

Interpretações à parte, como cidadão brasileiro, advogado, patriota, também vou emitir minha opinão pessoal: entendo que nos dias de hoje, a intelectualidade militar tem que ser ouvida, sim, principalmente nos assuntos que dizem respeito à segurança nacional.

A estigmatização do papel dos militares no passado por alguns setores do governo, faz com que a mordaça seja imposta aos jovens militares, que como já disse, nem sequer tinham nascido na época da repressão. Na verdade, na minha concepção, entendo ser um desserviço à Nação, sermos obrigados a desprestigiarmos a cultura, a opinião, a experiência, a dedicação, o preparo profissional e o patriotismo daqueles que defendem o Brasil. É isso aí!


Publicado em Brasil, Direitos Humanos, Forças Armadas, General Augusto Heleno, Maçonaria e a defesa da Amazônia, News, Política, Principal, Raposa Serra do Sol, comportamento, cotidiano, cultura, em defesa da Amazônia, faz bem para o Brasil., geral, maçonaria, notícias, últimas notícias. Tags: Alto Comando do Exército, Assuntos Estratégicos, chefe do Departamento de Ensino, crítica, defesa, Estratégia Nacional de Defesa, exército, Forças Armadas não foram ouvidas, Generais criticam ‘politização’ na Defesa, general Luiz Cesário da Silveira Filho, General Maynard Marques de Santa Rosa, general Paulo César de Castro, insatisfação da Força, intelectualidade militar, Mangabeira Unger, ministros da Defesa, nelson jobim, passado rancoroso, Paulo César de Castro.

http://rizzolot.wordpress.com/...-criticas/


.

You said: “ARRRRRRRROGANT BRAZIL WHO SIMPLY OPENLY LIE AS USUAL WHEN THEY STATE THAT BRAZIL IS THE WORLD STRONGEST EMERGING NATION - BRIC COUNTRIES.

But Proven by Nooooo factual stats, also as usual !

How could they ?


*****


Ricardo: Let’s talk about Switzerland for a change.

Is that the country that got all kinds of money from American citizens over the years with the promise of complete secrecy regarding these money transactions, and then a few years later decided to turn over to the US government all that information creating a major problem to thousands of people.

Today it has become a FACT: you can’t trust the bastards from Switzerland.




.

Question: WHO IS FAIR, FAITHFUL AND TRUSTABLE IN EUROPE?


Answer: Certainly not the bastards from Switzerland.

Based on everything that I have read - so far - I fully intend to provide full support to General Augusto Heleno in the event he elects to run for the post of Brazilian President; for if our nation were to have an honest, steady, strong, and independent LEADER, an incalculably huge "BREATH OF FRESH AIR" would be granted to all Brazilian citizens as well as to any remaining democratic, independent, anti-populist Brazilian partner in Latin America (such as Chile, Uruguai and Peru).
Most importantly, with an individual such as General Heleno residing at the Pacacio do Planalto, we would see - finally - the indispensible implementation of drastic measures to dent and reverse FARC operations within Brazilian territory, the crucial upgrade of Brazilian military forces (in weaporing upgrade, increase in manpower, and hopefully, the pursuit of nuclear "capabilities for the long-term defense of the nation), and most importantly introducing a credible and significant counter-weight to the growing mulitifaceted dangerous views and policies, currently undermining Latin American peace & security, emanating from the populist dictator Hugo Chavez and his gang of destitute, neo-Marxist client states!

Hi Ricardo,

Nice research and informative comments on your part, Ricardo. I had not read the article written by the "Senior Research Fellow" of COHA and thanks for including it. Many articles of COHA pro leftist and only writer with balanced views from that organization is Alex Sanchez (I think he is a Peruvian). Hopefully, he sees our discussions under this article and comes and joins us to express his opinion.

Fortunately, COHA articles are not read by most Brasilians and besides, it is up to us to decide whether to elect a General, Union Leader, a mere "Pedreiro", etc; to occupy the highest elected post in the country. I am sure Augustus shares my views.

In connection with Joao's statement, under the previous entry, namely:

it is up to us to decide whether to elect a General, Union Leader, a mere "Pedreiro", etc; to occupy the highest elected post in the country. I am sure Augustus shares my views.

While I would rather prefer to see a highly educated individual (such as an University Professor, a former Judge, or a senior Economist elected for the most important office of the country, I must concur with Joao's statement, but with a CRUCIAL CAVEAT...
The people would have the right to elect a seemingly inept, uneducated member of the lower classes for the nation's presidency PROVIDED THAT the electorate was composed by a mostly LITERATE population (most of which having undergone the most beaic education - as it's the case in Western Europe, Australia, USA, CANADA, N.ZEALAND, JAPAN & SOUTH KOREA.

"The semi-illiterate Brazilian president on the other hand, probably fits Ch-c allegations of adopting cynical, flip-flop positions in order to pursue unrealistic megalomaniacal goals of Greatness for Brazil, but entirely for the sake of attaining extremely selfish, egotistical, and concealed purposes which are bound to combine personal economical goals along with “self-delusional expectation to exaggerate and embellish his historical legacy as some type of moderate socialist savior… In short Lula represents the epitome of hypocrisy and selfishness!

As someone who "represents the epitome of hypocrisy and selfishness, the semi-illiterate Brazilian president," Lula and "his historical legacy" is not the person you need to worry about. Your concern should be the so call educated to whom the reign will pass next year.

Lula knew his intelectual limitations so he surrounded himself with people who could help him achieve his goals. He and his team did well; however, not well enough for me to give him a passing grade on anything except keeping brazil's economy stable.
The vital reforms which would have taken Brazil to the next level in its development were not implemented, but soon we will get to see what his successor will do. Do not cry for the one who is leaving my friend because his legacy is already written.

The people would have the right to elect a seemingly inept, uneducated member of the lower classes for the nation's presidency PROVIDED THAT the electorate was composed by a mostly LITERATE population

Perhaps you mistook me. I already know what your views and that of Ricardo about this issue of electing "illiterates" and I share them. My point is that outside organizations like COHA, FARC, etc; can not dictate whom we should elect or not. Fine, we elected a "Caudilho", "A College Professor" and "An Union Leader" after 1985. That is part of the democracy and I think that we are mature enough to decide whom we want as a "Real Leader", without outside interference.

I think that our "Private TV networks" can do a great job in educating the "Illiterates" about "Civic Sense", "Democracy", etc; But...But... unfortunately, they are not doing an adequate job, because they have their "Rabos Presos".

LITERATE population (most of which having undergone the most beaic education - as it's the case in Western Europe, Australia, USA, CANADA, N.ZEALAND, JAPAN & SOUTH KOREA.

I agree with most of the countries you listed. But...But.... except about the U.S.A.!!!!!!!!!!!!! I leave it to our distinguished fellow American bloggers to discuss and debate about this particular issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW, I do not watch much of the Brasilian TVs nor Fox.

The vital reforms which would have taken Brazil to the next level in its development were not implemented, but soon we will get to see what his successor will do.

A great statement. You would be surprised to know that I was echoing the same thoughts a few hours ago to a bunch of people. HE blew a fantastic opportunity with 85% popularity to leave HIS legacy!!!!!!

Whilst the peoples of this planet often look like a bunch of primitive, murderous crooks, sometimes they get to surprise everyone!
One wonders if there might be hope of the dominant species of planet Earth

The Guest: Lula knew his intellectual limitations so he surrounded himself with people who could help him achieve his goals. He and his team did well; however, not well enough for me to give him a passing grade on anything except keeping Brazil's economy stable. The vital reforms, which would have taken Brazil to the next level in its development, were not implemented, but soon we will get to see what his successor will do. Do not cry for the one who is leaving my friend because his legacy is already written.


*****


Ricardo: I agree with you. Lula knew his intellectual limitations and he surrounded himself with competent people from former president Jose Sarney to Henrique Meirelles, and so on…

And Lula will be turning over Brazil in January 2011 to the next president – a country in excellent shape economically and a country in the position to take the next step toward the top and be placed among the elite countries from around the world.

When we take in consideration: for a man with a 4th grade education, and a man who came from roots of real destitution and poverty – all I can say is that president Lula has been doing a superb job so far. And he surprised me with his actual performance since he became president of Brazil.

.

Augustus: Based on everything that I have read - so far - I fully intend to provide full support to General Augusto Heleno in the event he elects to run for the post of Brazilian President; for if our nation were to have an honest, steady, strong, and independent LEADER, an incalculably huge "BREATH OF FRESH AIR" would be granted to all Brazilian citizens as well as to any remaining democratic, independent, anti-populist Brazilian partner in Latin America (such as Chile, Uruguai and Peru).
Most importantly, with an individual such as General Heleno residing at the Pacacio do Planalto, we would see - finally - the indispensible implementation of drastic measures to dent and reverse FARC operations within Brazilian territory, the crucial upgrade of Brazilian military forces (in weaporing upgrade, increase in manpower, and hopefully, the pursuit of nuclear "capabilities for the long-term defense of the nation),…


*****


Ricardo: My first choice for president of Brazil would be someone of the intellectual caliber of a Bill Clinton – the former US president, but today we have more pressing needs in Brazil and we need a strong General such as General Augusto Heleno to call the shots.

Priority number one for Brazil in the coming years it should be to get rid of all drug traffickers, and the criminal gangs that terrorize and intimidate the average Brazilian all over our country. General Augusto Heleno would have to do something drastic to get rid of all that cancer.

And during his campaign to clean up our country of these criminals the motto of his government should be: We take no prisoners.

We need to get our country back from these criminals before we can move forward to the next level.


.

One wonders if there might be hope of the dominant species of planet Earth

Hey, ET. Did you pay any attention to my complaint about COHA interfering in our electoral process? If you had, you wouldn't be making such comments. Why don't you go back to your own planet and stop interfering with "Earthly Affairs", though I must concede that you are quite familiar with such "Affairs".

Ricardo: Only a moron would not realize that when a foreign superpower has established 7 military bases inside your country then your country status becomes a country under foreign military occupation. And for all practical purposes your country has lost its sovereignty as an independent country. And that is what is happening right now in Colombia.

The big question is: why Colombia decided to give up its independence and sovereignty as a country, and become just a country under foreign military occupation.

Why the Colombian leaders decided to turn the sovereignty of their country to the United States?

Tomorrow when the members of Unasul meet in Bariloche (South of Argentina) to discuss these surprising developments who is going to represent Colombia?

The former members of the Colombian government that are giving up on Colombia’s country sovereignty status, or the new representatives of the military occupying forces of the United States?

My guess would be: the new representatives of the military occupying forces of the United States since today they are the ones that hold real power in Colombia.


*****


“Colômbia pedirá respeito à soberania em cúpula da Unasul
Publicidade”
da Efe, em Cartagena (Colômbia)
Publicado: Folha Online – August 28, 2009

O governo colombiano disse nesta quinta-feira que pedirá respeito à sua soberania na cúpula da Unasul (União de Nações Sul-americanas), que, segundo disse, será uma "feliz ocasião" para falar de temas como a cooperação internacional, a corrida armamentista e a tolerância ao narcotráfico e ao crime internacional.

"A Colômbia mantém um absoluto respeito pela soberania de outros países e exige o mesmo", disse o ministro da Defesa, Gabriel Silva, na Base Naval ARC Bolívar, na cidade de Cartagena (norte).

O ministro visitou a base com um grupo de congressistas, aos quais explicou o acordo que permitirá ao Exército americano usar instalações militares colombianas.

Segundo o governo colombiano, o pacto, que gerou polêmica em países como Venezuela, Equador e Bolívia, só deve ser temido por terroristas e narcotraficantes.

Ontem, o ministro brasileiro da Defesa, Nelson Jobim, que na terça havia se reunido com Silva em Bogotá, afirmou que o governo colombiano está disposto a dar garantias de que o acordo não afetará países terceiros.

O pacto entre Colômbia e EUA é um dos assuntos que os participantes da Unasul debaterão amanhã em Bariloche (sul da Argentina).

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/f...5789.shtml


.

Are all earthlings one-sided? Or would this be the case of a Latin American trait?
Hmmmm... Something just doesn't add up here...
Let's go over this dilemma one mo' time...
So... it's not OK for Colombias to accept American Troops. NO NO NO, God forbit!
BUT it's quite OK for the Venezuelans to invite the Russians to do the samething in Venezuela and use their installations? Yeh! The Chavez caudillo is just doing... "his thing"... Nothing to worry about... In fact, why even talk about it? Let's concentrate on Colombia ONLY...
Hmmmm....
Something still does not seem right with this picture... I don't knoooowwww... I only wonder what it could be... You guys tell me, for I'm just a silly outsider

For any chance do you know something that we don't know?

Are the Russians building 7 new military bases in Venezuela and also taking over that country?

All that I am aware is that Chavez bought a few billion US dollars of military hardware from the Russians.

And Brazil should do the same thing - build a new military in Brazil for them to be prepared to defend our territory in Brazil from any military threat from anybody.

Besides the Russians don't need any of the oil from South America including Brazil and Venezuela since they have a large oil reserves.

The Russians also have an immense country full of all kinds of untaped natural resources and the Russians don't need to takeover the natural resources of other countries.

Besides today for all practical purposes Russia is a new capitalist dictatorship state, ruled mostly by the mafia, and not the old communist Soviet Union state.

.

Ricardo: My first choice for president of Brazil would be someone of the intellectual caliber of a Bill Clinton – the former US president, but today we have more pressing needs in Brazil and we need a strong General such as General Augusto Heleno to call the shots.

Ricardo, are you implying that our Generals lack the necessary "intellectual ability" to lead the nation?

Priority number one for Brazil in the coming years it should be to get rid of all drug traffickers, and the criminal gangs that terrorize and intimidate the average Brazilian all over our country.

Obviously,you are expecting him to use just brute force to "pacify" the population and not to address other "pressing needs" such as education, creation of jobs,etc; to reduce violence.

If I were the General, I would say a loud "No, thanks" to attempts by any party to recruit him and let the group of "intellectuals" that is ruling the country to choose one of its own members to run for the job in 2010. My prediction is that he would just do that !

your theories, like the a bomb statement that america commited genocide to drop the bombs ( which is a peice of crap, i had an uncle waiting on the boats to invade japan, thank god they dropped the bombs and save millions of japanese and american lives. didnt you hear of the dresdin fire bombs? it was world war 2 , 42 million people lost thier lives, only people examining american hemmoroids up close get uptight about this), are hot air.

you make these grandiose statements but cant back them up, it reminds me of your theories before the obama election, which didnt make you look too knowledgable.

you just loose a lot of credibility.

give me the mind of general lessa any day....

The vital reforms which would have taken Brazil to the next level in its development were not implemented, but soon we will get to see what his successor will do.

You can't expect miracles from individuals when groups are illiterate and act like they are in the 18th century. No single person will move Brazil forward in a quantum leap. For those Brazilians here debating Brazil's future potential arguing which single individual will somehow miraculously remove nationwide stupidity, I suggest you leave the quaint comfortable alcoves of Brazil's south and spend time in places like Maranhao, Sergipe, Para, Amapa (let's just say parts that REALLY reflect Brazil) to see the full scale of the task.

You might like to read the following link, in case you haven't done it already:

http://www.estadao.com.br/naci...6019,0.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08...ml?_r=1&hp

here is nobel prize winner krugman saying that the debt the usa is incurring can be dealt with ..if.. the jerko republican conservatives like rush limbaugh and co dont sabatoge the country with its bulls**t,they can deal with it ( are you paying attention forrest, because sometimes you sound like you swallowed the koolaid, you are talking a lot of right wing party line crap latley, long live obamba, may he be elected to a second term)

yeah, the states could go way down if these ass holes have their way...way down...

there hasnt been anything you have said in an attempt to rebut my statements that you have said that convinces me in any way...

hell, i dont blame you, like you said you work around some of the biggest a*****es in america, greedy bastards who would send their own mothers to hell to earn a profit...they sure have sent their children to hell ....anyone who would do that is lower than scum

its just not set in stone yet...but, you go ahead and bet on china and keep thinking the usa will go down to hell...we will just have to see, wont we...

e sentido, esse seria um problema "importado" pelas bases, como disse Celso Amorim?
Mas já existia esse problema. O Plano Colômbia existe há quantos anos? Nós já tivemos pequenas escaramuças na fronteira, elas vão encontrar as Forças Armadas brasileiras pela frente. O que é estranho na posição do Itamaraty é que ele só está batendo agora na Colômbia, como que querendo tirar deles a autodeterminação, um dos princípios básicos da política exterior brasileira. E ele (Celso Amorim) fica pressionando a Colômbia nesse sentido. A Colômbia já deu as explicações que tinha que dar. Na hora de abrir os planos militares, ninguém abre, porque esse é o continente da desconfiança. Todo mundo desconfia de todo mundo, particularmente entre os países de língua espanhola. É Peru contra Chile, contra Bolívia, Colômbia contra Venezuela... É um saco de gato, todo mundo desconfia de todo mundo. A Unasul (União das Nações Sul Americanas) vai fazer o quê? Quando alguém quiser fazer algo, vai fazer independente de A, B ou C. Eu não vejo uma pressão maior dos EUA. Eu não tenho dúvida de que essa é uma posição de força (dos EUA) perante a Venezuela, Bolívia, eu não tenho dúvida de que é. É um objetivo tão importante quanto combater as Farc ou o narcotráfico.

O presidente colombiano Álvaro Uribe propôs à Unasul que discutisse as relações das Farc com países do continente e o acordo entre o Brasil e a França para a compra de equipamentos militares. Vê nisso uma retaliação?
Não é retaliação. A Unasul é para tratar desses assuntos. A posição da Colômbia está certa? "Por que só querem ver o meu problema?". Quem está sendo o elemento complicador na política (do continente) são as Farc, e é aí que está o olho torto, vesgo do Itamaraty. A existência das Farc é que está sendo o fator perturbador nas relações entre os países sul-americanos. Foi graças às Farc se estremeceram as relações entre Colômbia e Venezuela, entre Colômbia e Equador, entre Colômbia e Bolívia. Agora, vai reunir a Unasul para falar em bases norte-americanas e não nas Farc?

the second part i brought in before, and is worth seeing agian, the first part i just couldnt fit in before

i like how lula is playing his cards about this with chavez

Joao da Silva: Ricardo, are you implying that our Generals lack the necessary "intellectual ability" to lead the nation?


*****


Ricardo: No. I am not. The Generals did a superb job on the past regarding the Brazilian economy.

I mentioned the name of former president Bill Clinton just as a general guide for the intellectual caliber of a person that I would like to see running Brazil.

I greatly admire former president Bill Clinton for his intellectual abilities – his is a Rhodes Scholar and various members of his cabinet mentioned over the years that when they were explaining to Bill Clinton the most complex subjects, in a matter of minutes he was asking relevant questions on that subject, and that implied that he had complete understanding of what was being discussed – the subject could be regarding financing or most complex issues.

He still is a great politician, and a very smart one, and basically he represents the best the United States has to offer to the world.


*****


Joao da Silva: Obviously,you are expecting him to use just brute force to "pacify" the population and not to address other "pressing needs" such as education, creation of jobs,etc; to reduce violence.

If I were the General, I would say a loud "No, thanks" to attempts by any party to recruit him and let the group of "intellectuals" that is ruling the country to choose one of its own members to run for the job in 2010. My prediction is that he would just do that !


*****


Ricardo: I don’t like to talk about this subject, but I am aware of the damage that is being done in Brazil by the drug traffickers and the criminal gangs that are completely out of control.

What good is education, and creation of jobs when a lot of people in many cities in Brazil are afraid of leaving their homes because of these criminal gangs. And I know that the criminal gangs are affecting many businesses on a very negative way, because people are afraid to go home after a certain time in the evening.

Every time I talk to people about how well the Brazilian economy is doing – the usual reply is that Brazilian society is under siege and falling apart because of the crime wave all across Brazil – and it’s not in the big cities anymore, the criminal gangs are growing all over the place including in small communities.

It is like a cancer that is consuming Brazil.


*****


Asp: your theories, like the a bomb statement that america commited genocide to drop the bombs ( which is a peice of crap, i had an uncle waiting on the boats to invade japan, thank god they dropped the bombs and save millions of japanese and american lives. didnt you hear of the dresdin fire bombs? it was world war 2 , 42 million people lost thier lives, only people examining american hemmoroids up close get uptight about this), are hot air.


*****


Ricardo: After the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, there’s no justification in hell for the United States to have dropped the second atomic bomb only a few days later.

The United States did not give the Japanese enough time for them to realize what had happen after the US dropped the first nuke.

Let me explain one thing for you that you might not realize – they did not have in those days CNN 24/7, or the immediate communication system that we have today with the internet. The communication systems in 1945 were very slow, and the US did not give enough time for the Japanese to realize what had happened with the first nuke.

It is pure bulls**t what you are saying about saving millions of Japanese and American lives. If the United States had waited another week or two to drop the second nuke during that period the Japanese would had the time to access the damaged caused by the first nuke.

The truth is the United States dropped the second nuke just 3 days later because they wanted to test which type of atomic weapon was more effective in mass destruction.

You said: “you make these grandiose statements but can’t back them up”

I don’t need any special back up to the most basic human common sense.

.

good article joao. and here is more by general lessa

Thanks,ASP. Lessa´s statements, the opinions of the Brasilian readers of the article I sent and the last sentence of your latest entry justify the title and the contents of this article written by Augustus. I too think a "polarization" is inevitable, but with the same personal goals in mind!! For an "amateur historian", Augustus is quite perceptive.

Ricardo: No. I am not. The Generals did a superb job on the past regarding the Brazilian economy.

Thanks for the clarification. If you remember the history, it was accomplished by listening to the civilians like Roberto Campos.

Ricardo: I don’t like to talk about this subject, but I am aware of the damage that is being done in Brazil by the drug traffickers and the criminal gangs that are completely out of control.

I do not want to discuss about it either. But we have to recognize that it is the job of the Governors of each state to confront this problem. They do have their PMs and all they have to do is to take the problems seriously and ensure that the command of the PM is not politicized and the army is called in only when the PM can not handle the problems. The army is to protect the frontier as well as to keep the FARC and their associates at bay.

What good is education, and creation of jobs when a lot of people in many cities in Brazil are afraid of leaving their homes because of these criminal gangs.

Good education and creation of well paid jobs do reduce the crime. A strong middle class does help the poor to get out of poverty and the example was shown during 1964-85. We need Professional managers who place the interest of the country above that of their own and unlike the current ones who are ready to jump the ship when things go badly. For good or bad, our Military Academies produce charismatic leaders and managers and why not tap their potential and put them on the ballot for the people to decide?

BTW, one thing I loved about the municipal elections in São Paulo last year was the outcome. Paulistanos got tired of all the blah,blah, of the pseudo leftists and elected an Engineer/Economist who was a toddler in 1964. His task is formidable, but he is logical and talks sense. He is another favorite candidate of mine for 2010, but knows he doesn't stand a chance.

you speak like you know exactly what was happening then...that is ridiculas,did you know the japanese looked on surrender as weakness...?

its called a 1 2 punch . how in gods name can you condemn the usa for dropping a second bomb when 42 million people were killed that war? certainly any country who had the bomb woudl have done the same thing. we can say its ghastly , but you cant condemn the usa for it...they didnt even know what the f**k they had, they sent usa troops out on the desert training to see if they could stand the blast and them go in for an invasion...

you are speaking in hindsight through the stupid soviet union propaganda page that started circulating to make the usa look bad

even more ridiculas since you arnt a red flagger...you swallowed that bull s**t.

no i dont buy what you are saying for one second...it was f**king world war 2, the most devastating demonstration of mans inhumanity to man that you can find...and you are going to acuse the usa of genocide for dropping the second bomb of a 1 2 punch?

you , and all the warped american haters, can beleive that bull if you want, it doesnt cut it in reality

but that is all right, amoral, you work with some pigs, who would slit their mothers throat for a profit, i can see how you are developing a loathing for america...they sure are some of the worst types there

not every one is drinking the koolaid in south america

Asp: you are speaking in hindsight through the stupid soviet union propaganda page that started circulating to make the usa look bad …even more ridiculas since you arnt a red flagger...you swallowed that bull s**t.


*****


Ricardo: I have no idea what you are talking about, since I never read wherever you mentioned on your posting and you certainly did read it.

Your reasoning is clouded by the old propaganda that you have been reading regarding that subject.

Maybe you are not aware of but I did a lot of research on the subject of nuclear weapons when was I writing the various articles that I wrote about Brazil and nuclear weapons over the years.

I think it is “Pathetic” that you guys still trying to use the Soviet Union and communism as an excuse for a lot of things – the Soviet Union it has been dead for 2 decades. Get on with the program, and forget about the old propaganda it does not work anymore.

I am not part of the herd, and if you have been reading most of my articles then you should know that. I am an independent thinker and I do my own research.

.

Hey, Embora. Long time no hear.

For those Brazilians here debating Brazil's future potential arguing which single individual will somehow miraculously remove nationwide stupidity, I suggest you leave the quaint comfortable alcoves of Brazil's south and spend time in places like Maranhao, Sergipe, Para, Amapa (let's just say parts that REALLY reflect Brazil) to see the full scale of the task.

Instead of leaving my "quaint comfortable alcoves", I have decided to leave this task into the capable hands of Ribamars, Barbalhos, de Mellos,etc in the senate to take care of their respective plantations in those states you listed.

In the meantime, I am building an electrified fence to keep those bothersome kittens away.

i guarentee you i am not stuck decades ago in some anti comunist stance. what amazes me is to see so many thinkers in south america stuck in cold war dogma and keep refering to it from a one sided stance of how bad the usa was without ever mentioning the other side...i discoverd all this propaganda when i got to brazil, and its like a rampant brain washed disease...lucky there are guys like gereral lessa and others who see thought this bs

its the prevailing winds in south america that wants to forget the reaal story in the cold war and invent that the usa was th only big bad bully, when the soviet union by castro was playing the same game. it is these prevailing winds that have chaves mouthing off and people even winning local elections on anti american stances...let me tell you, the usa doesnt come close to doing anything as bad as the local corrupt people who are truly raping south america, and hiding behind anti american stances or any stance that gets them off the hook

as i said, you are no red flagger, even more astounding to hear you put forth the old anti american dribble about the usa's wrong doing about dropping 2 a bombs to get japan to surrender. that is where they start every time " the evils of the usa , they dropped 2 atom bombs on japan, went to correa , viet nam etc etc". and i have noticed that many people in south america automaticly accept this, even who are not red flaggers, based on the cold war. which again is repeatadly misrepresented.

the problem is that the usa is no rose to smell , but, when you look at everyone else, they fit right in.the usa is looking out after its own interests.... like every one else, and after realising the true nature of the world from world war 2, the usa decided to be engaged, right or wrong, with the world.

i would never tell south america that the usa is your best friend, but, it sure aint south americas worst enemy...

maybe you have done a lot of reseach on nuclear weapons, but that doesnt justify saying the usa commited genocide on japan.or, in hindsight imply it was wrong when every one else was hacking away at each other.

this thought they didnt do it to germany because they were white is ridiculas. the soviet union was taking care of conquering germany and the fire bombing of dresdin and other cities was more damaging than the a bombs...

the thing, amoral,is, it takes away from any good ideas you do have...you ought to try to sort these things out...

but, man,i sure sympathise with you having to be next to those punk bitches who are going to leave their children with less than their fathers gave them, these scumy greedy low life ass holes. they make me seethe inside from a long way away, it must be a living hell for you up close...hang in there man

for joao, augustus wrote a timly article and general lessa proves it...

May be Gen.Lessa is Augustus´s cousin.

On a serious note, our Army officers graduated out of AMAN don't bulls**t. Some of them even have done their stint at West Point (In case you know where it is)

You happy with the weather?

ahhh manda chuva...i seem to recognise your cadence from some where...

but, to answer your point , general lessa was the general in command in the amazon before he retired. this is one up close point of veiw...and one i respect very much, just look at it, so right on the money

just because he went to west point , do you think he would compromise brazils interest ? correa was educated at the university of illinois, probably piping a lot of that corn fed pussy....it didn compormise his principles....

Asp maybe you have done a lot of reseach on nuclear weapons, but that doesnt justify saying the usa commited genocide on japan.or, in hindsight imply it was wrong when every one else was hacking away at each other.


*****


Ricardo: I never used the word genocide in any of my postings – that is your conclusion.

I said that the United States had two completely different types of nuclear weapons, and the US needed to test both nuclear weapons to see which one was the most effective nuclear weapon of mass destruction.

Get over your guilt trip, and stop making excuses. The US dropped the second nuke over Japan because the US needed to test the second nuclear weapon. It was just a scientific test to move forward the knowledge for mankind about nuclear weapons – as I hear all the time on US television when a bunch of innocent people die, because a US made bombs kill senior citizens, woman, and children – they are justified just as a case of “Collateral Damage.”

Please don’t feel bad since when you use the term “Collateral Damage” that fix everything, and becomes O.K. to destroy vulnerable and innocent people.


*****


Just a reminder:

… the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday,[1] August 6, 1945, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are to date the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.

The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, with roughly half of those deaths occurring on the days of the bombings. Amongst these, 15–20% died from injuries or the combined effects of flash burns, trauma, and radiation burns, compounded by illness, malnutrition and radiation sickness. Since then, more have died from leukemia and solid cancers attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians.


*****


As you can see the “Collateral Damage” in Nagasaki were just 80,000 people.

If you want to feel better about that event then just ask yourself why it was a case of “Collateral Damage” in the Nagasaki case?

Because all these innocent people – most were civilians - were in the wrong place at the wrong time – somehow they found themselves on the path of an exploding US nuclear bomb.

I saw the actual films that they have from that event when they went inside these cities after the US nuked them – and most of the people who were nuked to a crisp were senior citizens, woman and children. Neither city was a military target.

If you read most of my articles you see that my mindset is not stuck in the past – Soviet Union, communism, cold war, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Holocaust and so on…

I write about what Brazil has to do to move into the future, a great future, and a prosperous future, and I am not inside the box looking for all kinds of excuses why Brazil can’t accomplish this or that.

Regarding Brazil’s future I don’t see any limitations that can’t be overcome.

I don’t give a s**t about Hugo Chavez, and all these other guys from Latin America.

When I say that the future of Brazil is more connected to China, and not with the United States it is because I am a realist – I live in the United States and I can see how everything is collapsing around here, and becoming obsolete very fast – and how the US economy today is completely distorted by massive US government intervention of every kind. The US economy is on imploding mode.

Today I was reading the latest issue of “Business Week” magazine and the cover story is about the decline of US technological know how. The very issue many Americans think is going to help them to create new jobs and help them get out of this massive economic mess.

My view of the United States has nothing to do with the past the communism bulls**t and everything else, and the anti-American propaganda. My view of the United States it has to do with the future, and what is in store for Brazil, and the United States.

I can write an entire book showing all aspects of US economic decline in the coming years, and its impact on US prestige around the world, its imploding economy, its massive cumulative debt, and everything else.

I posted something that I wrote this morning about the holocaust on the following website:

http://www.brazzil.com/compone...erica.html

.

First you are not a citisen of the US show dont hold any guilt for the US and dont even go with PBO and say we are sorry for what we did in the time of war

the coulmbians have not given up there country and the US is not building 7 baces we will coshare them with coulmbia most the US troops will be trainers and observes . as PBO does not want the US military to kill any thing that he may have to say in sorry for

ans yes chaves has given russia and irian his okay to have troops in his country and help in training .
and if the US is going down than why are you still there move to china enjoy the new commie econey

The US dropped the second nuke over Japan because the US needed to test the second nuclear weapon.

First, Japan did not surrender after the first nuke, opening the door for the opportunity to drop the second.

Most importantly, the U.S. had the foresight to see that their next great adversary was the U.S.S.R. The second nuke was more for them than it was for Japan.

You can't expect miracles from individuals when groups are illiterate and act like they are in the 18th century. No single person will move Brazil forward in a quantum leap. For those Brazilians here debating Brazil's future potential arguing which single individual will somehow miraculously remove nationwide stupidity, I suggest you leave the quaint comfortable alcoves of Brazil's south and spend time in places like Maranhao, Sergipe, Para, Amapa (let's just say parts that REALLY reflect Brazil) to see the full scale of the task.

You said a mouthful there....and you forgot to mention Alagoas, Pernambuco, Piaui, basically the entire north/northeast. I've been experiencing it firsthand for a decade. It's time to move on. No one person is ever going to change these places. It's going to take generations....and quite a few at that and only AFTER they decide to make a real, sincere, investment in education.

Forrest Allen Brown: the coulmbians have not given up there country and the US is not building 7 baces we will coshare them with coulmbia most the US troops will be trainers and observes .


*****


Ricardo: The US does not co-share military bases – the US tells them what to do.

What this agreement is saying to the rest of the world is that the Colombian Army is so incompetent that they had to outsource the defense of their country to the United States.

I don’t blame Hugo Chavez for thinking that he has the right to rebuild his new Simon Bolivar Empire – when a piece of the empire has been given away for nothing by a very incompetent supposed government of Colombia.

It is one thing to have some foreign military advisers, but it is another thing when you turn over to a foreign superpower your entire military defense capabilities – the way is happening right now in Colombia.

The Colombians are too stupid to figure out, but Israel has been receiving a massive amount of foreign aid from the United States for over 30 years – these foreign aid is mostly made of all kinds of toys that can be used in war – and most of these toys were in display when Israel destroyed almost the entire country of Lebanon about 2 years ago.

But the Israelis never turned over all their military bases to the United States – they still are in control of their own destiny.

The “Pathetic” Colombians are turning over the control of their military bases to a foreign superpower in turn they are becoming a country under foreign military occupation. The Colombians are just a bunch of idiots if you ask me.

They are not even smart enough to figure out that they could have played the old cold war games, and get a lot of stuff from the United States without having to give up their sovereignty status as an independent country, and become a third-rate country under foreign military occupation.

And some people want to create a union in South America similar to the European Union. Anyway why Brazil should even consider, and who in his right mind would want to be part of any union made up with such a “Pathetic” losers?


*****


Forrest Allen Brown: ans yes chaves has given russia and irian his okay to have troops in his country and help in training .


*****


Ricardo: And so what?

What did you expect?

Chavez just bought billions of dollars in all kinds of new weapons from Russia from helicopters and so on… Do you expect that the basically uneducated people from Venezuela would know how to use the new toys without some training from the Russians?

The Russians are not building or taking over all the military bases in Venezuela. They are there just for training purposes and possibly trying to sell even more stuff to Chavez.


*****


Forrest Allen Brown: and if the US is going down than why are you still there move to china enjoy the new commie econey


*****


Ricardo: Why should I move to China, when I can go back to the greatest country in the world – Brazil?

Look the way you refer to China: “china enjoy the new commie econey” – that tells me more about your mindset than anything else – that it is frozen on the past and that it is not aware of the massive transformation that has been going on for many years.

You need to lose that commie BS and get on with the new program. Today China is giving lessons about capitalism to the United States, and China is the country that is holding the US economy afloat.

Those “commies” as you said on your posting are holding the US by its balls to the tune of trillion of US dollars. Those commies are becoming the new masters, and the old master is slowly becoming the slave. When your country is in debt to its eyeballs you are in deep trouble – and there is no two ways about it.

.

where ever did you get that impresion...

i dont agree with your theory at all...it was world war 2 , 42 million people died...

it was war, it wasnt to test the bomb or show the russians...

you cant predict the furture if you are all wrong about the past

you blew it badly about the obama election, i have no reason to beleive what you are saying

What do the Brasilians think about the U.S. military bases in Columbia?

http://www.estadao.com.br/enqu...-entre-eua

Though it is not statistically valid, still an interesting result!

like i said, if you dont know the past, you cant even try to predict the future and you sure sound like you dont know the past...

there is nothing like the numbers of people dying and displcaced going on in the last 50 years.....except the khemer rouge and what is happening in the congo

people like you just dont get it, but, world war 2 is still too close in the memory to just forget about it.

you think you arnt stuck in the cold war mentality but your arguments keep coming from the falacies of that era.your perception of history is warped and stunted like many of the american haters out there.im not even saying you hate america but you have bought into these falacies.and they affect your analysis of what is going down today and in the future

and all you are doing is guessing about the future,wild blanket guesses that are coming out of flawed falacies..and you have been massivly wrong in the past (about obama). you have very little credibility with me...all i say is lets see what happens...

but i understand.your perception of america and history is shaped by having to work with all those motha fuggin greedy finacial ass holes on wall street who tanked the f**k out of the usa...they damned near destroyed it and the concervatives are doing their damnest to destroy it...i even say its on decline and could get worse, but i also say it could get better in the right hands and with the right mentality and aproach

but, these hindsight conspiracy theories like they were just testing the bomb and the insignifacance of the holocaust are really pathetic

yeah the bombs were ghastly, but no more than the fire bombings, where is your head at? i dont think you have any idea of what you are talking about or the real ramifications of world war 2 that reach right into today and the future

trying to anialate 6 million people in some of the most horrific ways is something you just dont milk over the years. my respect for your ideas just goes down each time you make ridicuals statements like that

we can not be happy with isreals actions but never dismiss what the germans did to the jewish people in world war 2

i consider arguments from people like you false nationalism. you think you are speaking on brazils behalf but it comes out really naive

Asp: your holocaust ideas are full of ignorance


*****


Ricardo: Which Holocaust ideas are you talking about?

All I said is that the Jews used that theme too many times, and most people are saturated of that story, and basically we are sick and tired of that subject.

Besides the Jews have learned nothing from their experiences from the time when they were repressed from biblical times to the 1940’s.

The first chance they had they became the people who are repressing other people – the Palestinians from Gaza comes to mind. And they have not learned a lesson on humanity as well – and the entire world have been witnessing all the time on CNN news and on the BBC news the Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip, and the devastation that they live behind – most of these attacks kill senior citizens, woman, and children. And CNN news and the BBC news also covered in detail the destruction that Israel inflicted on Lebanon 2 years ago - and again the real people who were affected by this massive destruction were the vulnerable members of society; senior citizens, woman, and children.

That is the modern image of the Jews in Israel to the rest of the world. Today they are the people who is doing the damage and the repression, and the entire world have been following it some times live on CNN news and on the BBC news.

And the more we watch on a regular basis that stuff on CNN news, and on the BBC news the more the old memories of the Holocaust is erased and it is replaced by the new realities and events.

A picture is worth a thousand words – and CNN news and the BBC news are documenting the new Jewish and Israel realities.

Anyway, for some reason the Jews believe that they have a monopoly regarding human holocausts.


*****


Asp: there is nothing like the numbers of people dying and displcaced going on in the last 50 years.....except the khemer rouge and what is happening in the congo


*****

Ricardo: What all that has to do with the future of Brazil?

Besides you forgot to list a lot of misery that happened and still happening around the world such as in the Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, the millions of people who died in China, and so on…


*****


Asp: people like you just dont get it, but, world war 2 is still too close in the memory to just forget about it.


*****


Ricardo: What is the cut off point for this memory stuff?

What happens to the memories of WW I, the US Civil War, the other holocausts that happened around the world, the holocaust of the native American Indians in the United States, and so on…?


*****


Asp: and all you are doing is guessing about the future


*****


Ricardo: Please tell me what is the alternative.


*****


Asp: and you have been massivly wrong in the past (about obama).


*****


Ricardo: Yes, I was a diehard supporter of “Al Gore” all the way to the end.

I am very disappointed that Al Gore did not enter the presidential race last year, but I understand why he didn’t – he is making a ton of money as a private citizen.

When he lost the presidential election in 2000, he had a personal net worth of about US$ 2 million dollars, and last year it is estimated that his personal net worth to be around US$ 200 million dollars. His personal net worth grew 100 times in just a matter of years.

And as a private citizen he can continue making a ton of money.


*****


Asp: insignifacance of the holocaust


*****


Ricardo: Most people that I know are saturated about the stories of the holocaust. You just can hear about that stuff up to a point and have a sense of sympathy, and after that it became a subject that loses its initial impact and it becomes a story that that were over used.

When you beat to death any story eventually people just became saturated of it, and that is how works human nature.

By the way, why you use 2 different names to post on Brazzil magazine?

Asp = Forrest Allen Brown


.

so japan is outsorceing its safety to the US ???? as there defence force is shareing baces in japan .
Brasilian military personal serve time at US navy ships afloat and the US has paid for all the brasilian navy fuel for all its navel manuvers they shared the past 10 years .
and when wa the last time you were in china or chaves land ??????
yes china is holding paper from the US and brasil and dozens more countries . but with there over expantion has come at a grate price
over building , poulition of all sorts no stoping the tong mafia hunger , flooding ,during the olmips you should have see the military police keeping the poor people at bay with water cannons , and batons.

As far as me i am holding to no country i call them as i have seen them and i have seen the worst of them and the best . as long as the illeagle alians keep pileing up in the US it still must be better than where they came , and one of the grate countries they come from in droves like you Brasil , China , the works .
even if the US is going down its better than that sh** hole you are trying to defend and come from .

are you a leagle resident of the US ????????/you come from privlage in brasil but the US is still better as it sinks under PBO rule

RULE #1...No matter what you see, hear, or do, you don't know anybody and you don't know nothing!
RULE #2...If you capture something on tape or camera, it doesn't reveal nothing!
RULE #3...If you know what everybody knows in Brasil , well, you still don't know nothing..
If coulmbia is such a rotton country than why has there GNP risin 8% each year sence eurbi was electid .

his military has got the FARC on the run until chaves and ecudor started paying them to kidnap and kill more important coulmbians and kidnap forgin business men .

Chave has been caught many times in the past with ties to FARC and several other paramilitary groups .

And lets see the sacking of nanking by japan where they killed by soward or shot burned alive over a 100.000 chinese old young alike .
and what they did in keora killing women by cutting the babies out of there wombs, sipan singapore all were put under the boot of the army of japan and killed by the thosands , the phillipens we still do not have any idea how many the japs killed there .
so the nukes were justfied as to save lives around the world .

and as i remember the US built 12 air baces in brasil during ww2 whitch most are still used as civil airports today and 6 ports were built and the navy still emploeys 3 of them today and if you look hard in europ you will find about 50.000 graves brasilians whom died there along with others from many countries .

i ask you find where the US is going to build new baces in coulmbia

1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people)are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8 Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L. A. Are Spanish speaking.
10.. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County )

(All 10 of the above are from the Los Angeles Times)

Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare. Over 70% of the United States ' annual population growth(and over 90% of California , Florida , and New York ) results from immigration. 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens .

I cant access it now either. But...But.... the question was:

"Você acredita que o acordo militar entre EUA e Colômbia para instalação de bases representa uma ameaça para a região?"

At the time of my reading, around 2700 readers had voted and 71% said NÃO!

i would never generalise and think all brazilians feel one way...and i know there are good thinkers in brazil, like general lessa...he hits the nails right on the head.

r amoral...your arguments are so grandiose and generalised that many people of many differant back grounds disagree with you. yet you seem to think i am thinking the same as forrest

my god, if you have been reading the posts of both of us we have many disagreements. i am a big obama suporter and forest sounds like he is channeling rush limbaugh..

not only that, i am a huge brazil supporter, even to the point i dont have anything against your nuclear aspirations for brazil.

and i love my country and at the same time can ackowledge the mistakes it has made, but not the bulls**t that depicts america as something it is not and people try to rewrite history ( you have absolutly no idea what the leaders had in mind with dropping two bombs....you know there are a lot dumb people beleiving a french guys book saying that a missle went into the pentagon..and they really beleive it)

i just have an antenna up that smells when people put out funny arguments that dont add up

yeah, there isnt a cut off point at this time about trying to understand world war 2 ( good point about chinas millions dying under their comunist regime , though). and i made it clear , i dont support isreal's brutal responce but i also see the stupedness of the other side, they could have had a lot by now if they had stopped the dumber than dumb bombing campains against isreal.

like i said, you wont be able to address the future if you dont understand the past "those who dont learn from the past are doomed to repeat it"

how you can think chavez is irrelevant to brazil is mind boggling. any thinking brazilian who has been following this sob , understanding he and correa are supporting farc,knows farc is raping brazil...

you arnt down here, you dont see the cancer and how it adds up....report after report of coke bust and crack busts....in laid back small cities....tv reports and more reports linking fernando beira mar from rio doing business with farc, even from jail, and the pcc doing business with farc, and different reports of young people being kidnapped off the border to do slave labor for farc....a tv report of a specific brazilian border town where colombians are fleeing the violence and farc memebers come over to look for victoms to do assasinations...etc etc

i see the cancer up close and dont beleive when some brazilians actualy get uptight about americans going to colombian bases...and people like you thinking colombia is giving up its sovernty...that just sounds foolish, like some bufoonish argument pulled out of the ass hole

you can do better than that amoral. you are intelegent , have some interesting ideas and do research , but that just shows , without life wisdom, education is meaningless

like some of your ideas it is very rong to think

I am also ASP he is a very long way from me i am at COCOS ON KEELINGS ISLANDS EAST INDIA OCEAN

ASP is cold and wet in the south of brasil chaseing one of your cousins

and forest sounds like he is channeling rush limbaugh..

Objections.Objections. How dare you compare Mr.Brown with that idiot Rush Limbaugh?

you can do better than that amoral. you are intelegent , have some interesting ideas

Here there are no objections. Mr. Amaral is sound in strategy, but has to hone his tactics further. Should have spent some quality time in AMAN.

KEELINGS ISLANDS EAST INDIA OCEAN

It appears that we are all blogging at real time. It must be around 3 A.M. Sunday there, Forrest. Are those Islands part of the Andaman and belong to India? Did you spend any time in Sri Lanka?

ASP is cold and wet in the south of brasil chaseing one of your cousins

Wrong on both counts. Ask ASP why.

To Ricardo: I can guarantee that FAB and ASP are two different "Sujeitos"!

To All, including the author of this article:

Here is a gem to read:

http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/11145/1/

An interesting statement of a third General is:

The Non Governmental Organizations, NGOs, from "European metropolis, not from Iberia" are the real threat for Brazilian interests in the Amazon, as well as the Indian reservations with no boundaries, writes Rocha Paiva in the São Paulo newspaper.

I don't have the foggiest idea about what "European Metropolis", he is talking about and I suspect it is Paris or London.

ASP: If you get to find the link in "Estadão" and read the original interview, please post it please. The article in brazzilmag in English is not very clear.

Also I suggest we discuss about the issue here in this thread.

Ok, I managed to find the link and the article. Here is the link:

http://www.estadao.com.br/esta...5361,0.php

Food for thoughts. Gen.Paiva has even given the number of U.S. "advisers" are in Columbia.

Hope Augustus and Ricardo get to read the article.

Asp: r amaral...your arguments are so grandiose and generalised that many people of many differant back grounds disagree with you.


*****


Ricardo: You really believe that people from other parts of the world such as in Africa, and Asia, disagree with me on this subject?

Then you agree that in the last 40 years the most important news around the world is coming from Israel, and that the entire world should be hostage to what happens in Israel all the time.

Israel has been hogging the news for a long time at least here where I live. I know a lot of very intelligent people who has tuned Israel off completely.

People are saturated of that subject to the point of they don’t care to what happens to that country anymore.

People started realizing that there is more important things happening around the world than the never ending problems of Israel.

It is completely disproportional the attention that Israel gets all the time from the main stream media and the size of its economy, population, and so forth…In my opinion, the constant support that the United States gives to Israel goes completely against the self-interests of the United States as a country in the short and long-term.

On your mind you might consider it a grandiose statement, but if you give a minimum amount of rational thinking to this subject then you would realize that I am right.

The world is getting sick and tired of the old holocaust theme – Israel can’t keep using that same old line of: poor me I am a victim of the holocaust, and at the same time they have been inflicting all kinds of pain and misery on a regular basis on the other vulnerable people around their neighborhood.

I am not religious, I don’t practice any religion, and I don’t attend any religious services of any kind, and I don’t care what kind of religion most people practice themselves. It does not matter to me a bit if someone practice any religion including the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Moslem (Shiite or Sunni), Buddhist, or any other type of religion.

When I look at the Israel case as a country, the subject of religion does not influence me, and my point of view, only the facts and common sense.

This is not generalizing unless you are disconnected from the world news provided by CNN news, and the BBC news:


*****


Ricardo: Which Holocaust ideas are you talking about?

All I said is that the Jews used that theme too many times, and most people are saturated of that story, and basically we are sick and tired of that subject.

Besides the Jews have learned nothing from their experiences from the time when they were repressed from biblical times to the 1940’s.

The first chance they had they became the people who are repressing other people – the Palestinians from Gaza comes to mind. And they have not learned a lesson on humanity as well – and the entire world have been witnessing all the time on CNN news and on the BBC news the Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip, and the devastation that they live behind – most of these attacks kill senior citizens, woman, and children. And CNN news and the BBC news also covered in detail the destruction that Israel inflicted on Lebanon 2 years ago - and again the real people who were affected by this massive destruction were the vulnerable members of society; senior citizens, woman, and children.

That is the modern image of the Jews in Israel to the rest of the world. Today they are the people who is doing the damage and the repression, and the entire world have been following it some times live on CNN news and on the BBC news.

And the more we watch on a regular basis that stuff on CNN news, and on the BBC news the more the old memories of the Holocaust is erased and it is replaced by the new realities and events.

A picture is worth a thousand words – and CNN news and the BBC news are documenting the new Jewish and Israel realities.

Anyway, for some reason the Jews believe that they have a monopoly regarding human holocausts.

Most people that I know are saturated about the stories of the holocaust. You just can hear about that stuff up to a point and have a sense of sympathy, and after that it became a subject that loses its initial impact and it becomes a story that that were over used.

When you beat to death any story eventually people just became saturated of it, and that is how works human nature.

.

.

By the way, there are more important issues for the rest of the world to focus on in the 21st century than Israel.

Why the world should waste any more time on the subject of Israel when we know that it would be a waste of time trying to deal with those fools. Barack Obama or anybody else are going to get anywhere with Israel – that is a dead end cause and issue.

The world should move its attention to countries such as Brazil, China, India, Russia, and even the African continent – and that would be a more productive use of everybody’s time and effort on the coming years.

It is very clear on my articles that I am a nationalist, and so what.

.

Barack Obama or anybody else for that matter is going to get nowhere with Israel – because Israel is a dead end cause and issue. And a big waste of anybody's time.

.

I know a lot of very intelligent people who has tuned Israel off completely.

Though I do not belong to that group of "intelligent people", I turned it off a very long time ago!! Incredible it may sound, I have some very nice Jewish friends (of Nth generation) in U.S. that really don't give a s**t either. They are proud of their religion, but not fanatics.

I am not religious, I don’t practice any religion, and I don’t attend any religious services of any kind, and I don’t care what kind of religion most people practice themselves. It does not matter to me a bit if someone practice any religion including the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Moslem (Shiite or Sunni), Buddhist, or any other type of religion.

Now you are talking like a real Brasilian. Not many outsiders know that Brasilians are very secular whether during the Military Government or under the democracy. Unless the Gringos have lived here for sometime, they would never understand this fact.

Why the world should waste any more time on the subject of Israel when we know that it would be a waste of time trying to deal with those fools.

A very good question, though I wouldn't classify all the citizens of Israel as "Fools"!! In a way, yes. They are also being lead by a bunch of "old and senile fools".

BTW, is Ariel Sharon still alive?

You said a mouthful there....and you forgot to mention Alagoas, Pernambuco, Piaui, basically the entire north/northeast. I've been experiencing it firsthand for a decade. It's time to move on. No one person is ever going to change these places. It's going to take generations....and quite a few at that and only AFTER they decide to make a real, sincere, investment in education.

What are you bitching about,Bo ? Your plantations are being ruled by many VIPs whom you rub shoulders with. The states you listed are represented in the senate by two Ex-Presidents, the current President, Ex-Minister of Justice,etc; The President of OAB whom you admire so much is working tirelessly to make your region better. Therefore, I see no reason for your cynical comment "it is time to move on". You stay where you are and continue pissing everybody off , especially your ex-wife!

BTW, how did your trip to Miami go?

for sure interesting article.i like what general lessa sais a little more, but, they both say similar things and that shows they have a handle on some of the real concerns in the area

what i didnt quite get was his worries about indians and ngos and natural recources as being a big threat. i get what he is saying, but, i feel these things can be dealt with one on one as they come up. it takes vigilance and not the deixa eles concept, but its not an outright threat.

the usa is never going to invade brazil for natural recources or oil or anything.they will try to negociate for it.the usa never invaded south america anyway. they gave tacit support to dictators and had cia messing around and looked out for their interests, but, never militarily invaded...and they arnt going to

the only way i could see the usa getting involved in fire fights is if chavez did some crazy military prevoking and started military conflicts with colombia. then i could see the usa getting involved...colombia isnt going to start it with venezuela, but they may border cross after farc , as they should if chavez or correa are blatenly hiding them and helping them. that is the big hypocracy here. as long as those sobs help and hide farc, in my opinion uribe should do what he wants...by the way, correa is threatening closing down a tv station...when will people get it about these poeple?

Joao da Silva: Though I do not belong to that group of "intelligent people", I turned it off a very long time ago!! Incredible it may sound, I have some very nice Jewish friends (of Nth generation) in U.S. that really don't give a s**t either. They are proud of their religion, but not fanatics.


*****


Ricardo: What I am trying to say is that even the most intelligent group of people have been tuning off all matters related to Israel. Everybody is getting tired of listening to the same old story over and over again.


*****


Joao da Silva: Now you are talking like a real Brasilian. Not many outsiders know that Brasilians are very secular whether during the Military Government or under the democracy.


*****


Ricardo: Many of my friends are also secular people. It seems to me that the more education one has the less emphasis they place on religion when they talk about most subjects.


*****


Joao da Silva: A very good question, though I wouldn't classify all the citizens of Israel as "Fools"!! In a way, yes. They are also being lead by a bunch of "old and senile fools".


*****


Ricardo: As I mentioned before a number of times I am not anti-Semitic. I know that the Jews are among the smartest group of people around, and most Jews that I have met over the years were very intelligent, and very smart. And you can see it on the list of names of the Nobel Prize laureates over the decades. And I have a number of friends who are Jewish. I even had a friend who was Jewish (he passed away about 2 years ago) that hated the state of Israel and he also thought that many of their leaders are just troublemakers.

When I said they are a bunch of Fools I was referring to the current group of old leaders that are in power right now in Israel, and these old Fools don’t know when it is time for them to retire and get out of the way.

.

i consider general lessa a real nationalist. is able to see above the bs to perceive what are the real threats to brazil .

false brazilian nationalism would not address the real problem facing the area in farc and support by chavez and correa and their bolivian revolution, and cant even look at the daily urban chaos and violent deaths and destuction due to the sub ecnomy of arms and drugs especialy coke that is tied right in with farc as well as others involved.i do beleive in personal responsibility also, and the people that deal the drugs and carry the arms and the bribed officials that let it happen and ever flowing corruption are at the fore front. the sub economy forced by such bad social conditions.but, farc and its coke drug deals and arms deals are an undenialbe part of that fabric...

false brazilian nationalism is stuck in phobias about the usa, not really getting the big picture of the cold war and beleiving the hype that the usa is the biggest enemy to south america.the usa is not the best freind of brazil but isnt the worst enemy. one has to be vigilant against the usa's attempts to get things its way, but, once that vigilance is set in place its just hard negocieting

false brazilian nationalism wont acknowledge the race problem and sluff it off by saying there is none

a real brazilian nationalist would want to confront its histroy and recognise the great barriors in its society and be concerned how to fix it.he would want to do that because that is what would be the best for the brazilian people and brazil

a false nationalist actualy thinks ideologies like marxism can confront the problem , and even have a soft spot for castro and the cuban revolution ( certainly not your case, amoral,ive said that many times so you know i never stereotyped you into that. i only say you are suckered into making stock moda phrases about the usa that you dont even realise came from the stale soviet union propaganda page )

im not going to get in a long discusion about isreal and the middle east. its a much more complex issue than your black and white cartoonish portrayal.

im not tired of remembering world war 2 and the holocaust. it just educates me more and more of the real evil and depth of horror that humans can go to and makes me happy that my country is engaged in the world, inspite of having made some horrible blunders under really bad leadership...no i dont want to forget at all

Asp: false brazilian nationalism is stuck in phobias about the usa, not really getting the big picture of the cold war and beleiving the hype that the usa is the biggest enemy to south america.the usa is not the best freind of brazil but isnt the worst enemy. one has to be vigilant against the usa's attempts to get things its way, but, once that vigilance is set in place its just hard negocieting


*****


Ricardo: I leave you on your cave and your own world going nuts about the cold war days – being afraid that Castro is coming to get you plus the Farc, Correa, Che Guevara, Hugo Chavez, the Soviets, and all the commies are out to get you.

Please give a break from all your bs about phobias against the US, about the US being the biggest enmy and so forth.

Who needs your soap opera about poor old USA?

If you have been reading my articles over the years then you would know that the USA could care less about South America after the implosion of the Soviet Union, and that was before they started finding all this oil in South America.

Brazil instead of crying over spilled milk moved forward and made many new connections around the world including with China, and some of the countries of the Middle East. And the new strategy worked great for Brazil.

Since various countries in South America started discovering lot of new oil, then suddenly the United States want to go back to a time long gone – the days that the US had major influence in South America.

The US abandoned South America and now the US is begging to get its influence back.

I guess it is a bit too late since all the action today is happening in China, and not in the United States.

In essence today the United States represents the past, and Asia represents the future.


*****


Asp: false brazilian nationalism wont acknowledge the race problem and sluff it off by saying there is none - a real brazilian nationalist would want to confront its histroy and recognise the great barriors in its society and be concerned how to fix it.he would want to do that because that is what would be the best for the brazilian people and brazil

a false nationalist actualy thinks ideologies like marxism can confront the problem , and even have a soft spot for castro and the cuban revolution ( certainly not your case, amoral,ive said that many times so you know i never stereotyped you into that. i only say you are suckered into making stock moda phrases about the usa that you dont even realise came from the stale soviet union propaganda page )


*****


Ricardo: You are so brainwashed about communism, Marxism, Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolution, and your mind is buried in that past – you live on a world long gone. I am sorry for you. And Fidel Castro is one of the last links to your world, and he will be gone before you realize it - And then what?

What happens when the “bicho papao” is gone?

I know the Soviet Union and communism is going to rise from the dead and get all of you.

I am not a slave to any ideologies of the past or present, but it seems to me that you are. Your mindset is pure cold war propaganda and nothing else. That is why you are so afraid of all these minor league characters that scare you so much; including Chavez and so on…For all practical purposes Fidel Castro already has one of his foot on his grave.

Your mindset is buried in the past, but are you aware that former presidential candidate Bill Richardson and the current Governor of New Mexico spent the past week in Cuba negotiating for a new relationship between Cuba and the United States.

I know you have the right to be stuck and to live in the world of Cuban revolution and so forth, but right now the reality is that even the Cubans are ready to move forward into the future with new ideas, prosperity and a new way of life.

But if you are enjoying the Che Guevara era and the Cuban revolution please stay there – very often I go and visit a friend on a nursing home and a number of people living on that nursing home also live in the past – and some even live in complete La La Land.

.

Asp: im not going to get in a long discusion about isreal and the middle east. its a much more complex issue than your black and white cartoonish portrayal.


*****


Ricardo: There’s nothing “cartoonish” about what I see on the news on a regular basis.

A Palestian boy with a slingshot being shot to death by heavily armed Israeli soldiers that made headlines around the world.

Or the complete destruction of a country from the air – dropping a massive amount of cluster bombs that still killing many kids in Lebanon to this day because they think that these little pieces of metal left behind by these bombs are toys and then they blow up on the kids face.

We saw the devastation on a daily basis and the bodies of senior citizens, woman and children on the news as the result of where the Israelis had dropped their bombs.

We see all the time the same devastation happening on the Gaza strip where Israeli gunships come on a regular basis and bombard civilian areas to the ground.

There’s nothing “cartoonish” about any of these constant Massacres (carnificina) inflicted by the Israelis on very vulnerable and unprotected people.

And that is the image that has been projected by the mainstream media to the rest of world to see about Israel – an image of severe repression, ruthlessness, and unbridled tyranny.


*****


Asp: im not tired of remembering world war 2 and the holocaust. it just educates me more and more of the real evil and depth of horror that humans can go to and makes me happy that my country is engaged in the world, inspite of having made some horrible blunders under really bad leadership...no i dont want to forget at all


*****


Ricardo: You have the right to live on the past. Maybe if you live long enough in the 1940’s to 1960’s then you might be able to fix it the way you want.

Sorry my friend, but I am more concerned and interested about the future and the things that can be accomplished today and in the future.

.

What are you bitching about,Bo ? Your plantations are being ruled by many VIPs whom you rub shoulders with. The states you listed are represented in the senate by two Ex-Presidents, the current President, Ex-Minister of Justice,etc; The President of OAB whom you admire so much is working tirelessly to make your region better. Therefore, I see no reason for your cynical comment "it is time to move on". You stay where you are and continue pissing everybody off , especially your ex-wife!

BTW, how did your trip to Miami go?

My comment, "it's time to move on", is a personal one. I'm moving on. I'm halfway there. As has been mentioned here, no one person is ever going to change this place and certainly not me. I've spent more than enough time here attempting to fight the ignorance.....it's a losing battle.

As far as the people that I know here, I wouldn't exaggerate the facts. I know them, have a certain amount of respect for them, but certainly don't agree with them regarding numerous issues. As far as my ex, you, or anyone on this board, really aren't qualified to comment. And if my presence pisses her off, that's her problem. The important issue is my daughter and when you get down to it that's all that really matters.

As far as my trip to Miami, it was delayed, until the week after next, and Miami is just one leg of the trip.

after reading your comment initially it appears that I took the gist of it the wrong way.

Sorry.

You can comment about my ex-wife all you want!!!

im in a country with the pc, mst, pt militants etc...where is your head at? are you for real about what you said?

you got my arguments based on the bulls**t that holds people back i see in your country, i really dont care if south america never does anything with the usa again...

before i came to brazil, before 1986, i could give a f**k about comunism. everyone knew it was dead and flawed and useless...

its when i came to south america i start hearing a whole lot of hate, resentments and acuasations about the usa steeped in cold war red flag dogma. since then i made an intense effort to become informed about what these resentments and acuasations were and why they were being made.

and , for sure in my efforts ,i found out what the usa did that made people feel that way, but i also found out something else...the huge ability that a lot of people in south america have to not look in the mirror to see what really caused these things. the whole story doesnt get told, nobody wants to admit that everyone was dirty. and this lack of telling that whole story plays out very powerfully in the present into the future in the south american dynamic

in south america you better know its alive and well

your logic is ridiculas...you are so ready to not look at the past or the present. you are lost in your theories and generalisations, and you are a false nationalist

you can have your theories and generalisations. you cant even understand what is happening in your own country. the daily slaughter in your big cities from the drug wars is a cancer that is taking an enormas toll, but you cant even look at the reality of it.you cant even see how chavez, and correa and morales take their cues right from fidel, right now and into the future , and work the drug money and arms sales to fortify their ideological stances in the region. this is the dynamic that is dominating south america right now, but you cant see it.

its not me getting f**ked over, its the people of brazil getting f**ked over and raped , and i care what happens to them.if i didnt care i would say go ahead and let the slaughter and the ridiculas political ideologies take their toll

luckily there are plenty of brazilians who do understand the dynamic , like general lessa. there are plenty of factors besides the neo com wave that contribute to this .but, i just smell huge hypocracy in the area when people like you get uptight about colombia inviting the usa in to their bases to help deal with scum who are aiding and abetting their ideological brothers to do their dirty drug and arms deals that do affect brazil directly...

you are in gaga land, a fantacy about what you think is happening mixed with your fairy tales of how you think it will go

as far as isreal, to not mention the fundamentalist total hate and desire for the destruction of isreal and their network of terror going to iran, then your picture is a flawed steaming peice of crap.its so much more complex than you are making it out to be. but im not here to defend isreal so go ahead and blow your hot air all you want

you are making big crappy generalisations about what the future holds. just like you wanted al gore to win, you made some of the most stupid arguments i have ever seen against obama.you loose big time , anything you say i have to look at with great scepticism..

but, i know you are playing to the peanut gallery ...there has been a lot of stupid bulls**t said about brazil on here and i know you feel you have to dish some back. it just doesnt cut it with me ...i know you dont care if one more person thinks you are a bag of hot air

and one thing for sure, we can see in the next 10 years if your predictions will play out.im saying lets see, one cant really know where things are going , but you have stuck your nose out there and said this and this will happen...

if you are wrong, you are going to look like one stupid mother f**ker

Palestian does any of you think if they would stop blowing up buss full of children than so would the jews if they stoped firing missels into there country the jews would not respond with gunships .
IT is tit for tat in a big way and it is based on 2 different ideas of whom is right .

take coulmbia and vensula the share a comon bordor and have had many a war over where it is now you have chaves whom is spending his country into the same state the US government has done . and you have food shortages power outages and the people are finding out all is not well at home .
then you have euribe with its GNP growning , the FARC does not set off bombs any time any where , they have buying power , tourtist from all over the world to see the country not for child prostitution .

the US never gave up on the south just stoped trying to sell them on the same ideas that the US is based om but with all the courpition inbeded there its better to let it kill its self off .

does hounduras sound like it was rong ??????

some time you have to let it die and some times you have to kill it off

ASP i dont listen to that fool and others like him on eather sides
as they omly bitch about it but never try to change it by taking office , just making money off fear factor of what they are saying

all based on greed

yes joao to your question no not much time in SL as still a bit uneasy after the seas fire pig out on there food .

have seen so called boarding boats the past trip and one here in the bay so eyes open dog outside guns c**ked locked and ready to rock .

i own the night and the day with total control of my relm

Bo we all have exwives or dead ones if they make you feel bad than they have won

you dont understand why i have my defences against the red flag dogma?

you werent here when jornal do brasil published a disclaimer to the false rumors going around brasil and the media that the usa had a text book that said "the amazon belongs to every one and the usa has a right to come in and defend it...( it was al gore who started that bulls**t by the way but he never said the usa would come down and defend it)"

i cut that out and xeroxed it because teachers in public schools were filling my son's head with that red flag nationalistic dogma...i mean the national paper outright said it was false , yet large portions of red flag nationalists thought it was fact .spoke like it was the truth

and my son kept hearing really strange false statements by various professors in his classes about the south american dynamic and you dont think that is a reality that there is a lot of misinformation shrouded by red flag dogma being passed around? you are out of touch ...

you can think anything you want but im down here in the day to day reality and way of thinking...its up close

when you dismiss it you sound like an old drunk flailing away uselessly in a fight...it just doesnt ring true

like i said, the usa isnt brazils best freind but it sure isnt their worst enemy

Part 1 of 2


Asp: you can have your theories and generalisations. you cant even understand what is happening in your own country. the daily slaughter in your big cities from the drug wars is a cancer that is taking an enormas toll, but you cant even look at the reality of it.you cant even see how chavez, and correa and morales take their cues right from fidel, right now and into the future , and work the drug money and arms sales to fortify their ideological stances in the region. this is the dynamic that is dominating south america right now, but you cant see it.


*****


Ricardo: Let me put in a way that you can understand a little better.

There is serie “A” where you have your major players then there is serie “B” where you have the minor league players. For all practical purposes Chavez, Correa and Morales are part of the minor league players.

But you are so in love with these players that you want very badly to elevate them to serie “A” status.

But at the end of the day, they still are mediocre players and they belong to serie “B”.

Your perception that they belong in serie “A” it does not make these guys serie “A” material.


*****


Asp: .but, i just smell huge hypocracy in the area when people like you get uptight about colombia inviting the usa in to their bases to help deal with scum who are aiding and abetting their ideological brothers to do their dirty drug and arms deals that do affect brazil directly...


*****


Ricardo: Please save the bulls**t that the US is trying to take over Colombia because of the drug traffickers. That has been going on for decades. That’s a very old story.

The Civil War in Colombia has been going on for almost 40 years – and the United States could not give a s**t about the Farc, and the civil war in Colombia.

The only thing that has changed is that they started finding oil in Ecuador, Colombia, new reserves in Venezuela, and an immense amount of oil in Brazil.

If we did not have all this new oil discoveries, then the US could care less for South America, the Farc, and the drug traffickers.

Not even the Russians and the Chinese follow communism today. I understand that you have been brainwashed and all these guys are going to get you.

But the essence of these new US military bases in Colombia it is about chasing new sources of oil supplies. IT”S ABOUT OIL and other natural resources. The US is desperate about its current oil prospects and the future.

These military bases in Colombia will be only temporary anyway.

Remember we have an imploding economy in the United States, and at the same time we have exploding red ink of the US government budget – about 3 days ago the latest estimates of the US government shows that in the next ten years the US government deficit spending will reach at least $ 9 trillion dollars.

The US government annual budget is exploding with red ink as far as the eye can see.
The US also has an exploding senior citizen population (the people over 65-years old).
The baby boom generation is getting old, and every year from now on there are an extra 3 million Americans for the US government to take care and provide Social Security, Medicare, Pension, and so on – these old folks are growing at a geometric rate.

Let me see the options that will be available for the US government:

1) The US government has been pissing away massive amounts of money in military bases and wars around the world.

The mainstream media in the US has been reporting that the United States is losing the war in Afghanistan even tough Barack Obama doubled the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan since he became president in January 2009.

There is a major difference between Vietnam and the current war in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is where former superpowers go to die a slow death – and the Soviet Union comes to mind, and now it is the United States turn.

The US still has that mess in Iraq to deal with, and that mess cost a ton of money.

Now the US want to piss away even more money on its pursuit of oil resources in Colombia and its neighbors.

The ironic part of all this is that the US government is trying to run all its global military adventures on borrowed money – mainly from China today. In 2009 the United States will borrow about $ 500 billion dollars from China to keep the US government afloat.

.

Part 2 of 2


2) On the other hand the United States has this massive amount of senior citizens making all kinds of demands of the US government budget.

But there’s a difference here, these old folks vote and the politicians don’t want to get this group of people mad.

What is going to be?

A) Continue to piss away lots of money in military adventures around the world including in Colombia.

or

B) Take care of the old folks at home with their massive demand on the US government annual budget.

There is another problem on top of that.

Who is going to finance all of this in the coming years?

The Chinese are waking up, and they started to realize that all the money they are lending to the US government, their US assets is being turned into Confetti. (In plain English is becoming worthless over time.)


*****


Asp: you are in gaga land, a fantacy about what you think is happening mixed with your fairy tales of how you think it will go


*****


Ricardo: In the fantasy world that I live in we had a complete collapse of the capitalist system; including the demise of the investment banking system of the United States. These major banking houses survived the US civil war, 2 world wars, a major economic depression, but they all died a sudden death in 2008.

We did not have a total economic meltdown only because of massive US government intervention that still is going on.

The US economy that everybody associates with the United States it does not exist anymore. It is gone – died of a massive heart attack in 2008.

The latest issue of Business Week the cover story is about the decline of US hi-tech. I am not surprised, since I am aware that 100,000 Indians – the new generation – went back to India from the United States – and these are the person who starts new hi-tech businesses in Silicon Valley.

These young entrepreneurs think that they have a better future in India than in the United States, and they moved on to better pastures.

In the last 2 years for the first time the United States is having reverse immigration of the illegal population that live in the US. And during the years of 2007, and 2008 about 2 million illegal immigrants returned to their countries from the United States. These people are like the canary in the coal mine and they serve as an alert sign regarding the disastrous state of the US economy.

It is not only Wall Street that exploded in 2008. In 2009 the auto industry in the United States the symbols of American capitalism such as General Motors, and Chrysler had to file for bankruptcy protection, and these major companies re- emerged after bankruptcy just as a little ghost of its prior selves.

In a Nutshell: The United States that most people think of that country does not exist anymore for all practical purposes. What we have today is just the carcass of the old country that people still think that it is alive.

The days of military adventures around the world it is just a matter of time for it to catch up with the new realities affecting the United States economic system.

Look at what happened to the Russian military budget after the fall of the Soviet Union, and that might serve as a very good guide about what is in store for the United States military budget in the coming years.

Eventually the military adventures has to end since the taxpayers at home have to make hard decisions regarding the annual government budget – it is very expensive to keep the military adventures going forever.

Money is the issue that put the British Empire out of business, and also the Soviet Empire. Now it is the turn of the United States.

At a certain point everybody runs out of money or credit; as it is the case of the United States today.

The world is not going to allow the United States to continue with its military adventurers around the world on credit.

The party is over.

.

after reading your comment initially it appears that I took the gist of it the wrong way.

Sorry.

You can comment about my ex-wife all you want!!!

No need to apologize, Bo. You have told us your story before and that the only thing has been holding you here is you daughter. If you have an option to leave now, better not to let that factor to impede you from doing so. As Forrest said correctly "Many have ex-wives and dead ones and if they make you feel bad, they have won".

As for my previous comments regarding your "friends", I was just venting my anger at the politicians in general and especially the ones from your region.

Further clarification:

The latest issue of Business Week the cover story is about the decline of US hi-tech. I am not surprised, since I am aware that 100,000 Indians – the new generation – went back to India from the United States – and these are the person who starts new hi-tech businesses in Silicon Valley.

The Indian exodus from the United States - that number is for the year of 2008 alone. That trend probably still going on strong in 2009.

.

In the last 2 years for the first time the United States is having reverse immigration of the illegal population that live in the US. And during the years of 2007, and 2008 about 2 million illegal immigrants returned to their countries from the United States. These people are like the canary in the coal mine and they serve as an "red flag" regarding the disastrous state of the US economy.
.

Hi Ricardo,

I have been reading the comments exchanged between you and ASP with lots of interest. The latest comments of yours about the Indians going back to their homeland and the illegals going back to their countries aroused my curiosity, especially the following stretch:

In the last 2 years for the first time the United States is having reverse immigration of the illegal population that live in the US. And during the years of 2007, and 2008 about 2 million illegal immigrants returned to their countries from the United States. These people are like the canary in the coal mine and they serve as an "red flag" regarding the disastrous state of the US economy.

My questions: a) Are these illegals returning out of their own will? b)Why are so many Brasilian poor and unskilled wanting to get into the U.S. illegally and stay there forever, if our economy is doing so well?

first of all the illeagle population of the US is the biggest drain on the in house ecomey in dallas texas alone the public hospital delivered 43,000 babies to illeagles read my post on what they have done to california.
our jails are exploding from them and now you say reverce immigration of illeagles , sure some are from the down turn by looseing there jobs but also close to 1 million were sent back to there home countries including some 37 thousand brasilian who just never went back after there vacations , ( you never said if you were a card caring resident of the US ???)

yes some troops for oil but remember ecudor did not let the US stay there as the farc wqas running out of places to hide and transport there drugs .

And why was lula omited from the list of B players ???????

as far as the drug war in the US a lot less people killed than in rio SP it is safer to be in the military than walk the streets of rio and SP , and several other cityies .
texas is having a fit with its mexicans drug gangs shooting across the bordor at the police and ICE and we are told by mexico we cant fire back as we may hurt incenot people . same with coulmbia farc fires at them and chaves calls it a internitonal crime fro coulmbians to fire back .

The people in the US have gotton tired of its government spending monay it does not have , the medicial take over , banks , automobile , all bought with there money but never paied back to them just wasted on some other usless government project .
spend millions get nothing thank you PBO and bushes , clinton , but know we have reed and nancy well we be hosed for good they want to give the country away .

I look to 2010 for a shift in the government to start than on from there , hope it is not to late.

cut spending cut benfits to illeagles several billinos a year .
cut forgin aid by 2/3 let the arabs take care of there own .
cut the government perks we as there bosses dont have them ?
move out of the middle east let them kill themselves off than deal with the winner .

go back and make the government officals read the constatution , the fedrlise papers and live by them .

dont live by history learn by it it is over slavery is dead , samller government is better ,

The people in the US have gotton tired of its government spending monay it does not have , the medicial take over , banks , automobile , all bought with there money but never paied back to them just wasted on some other usless government project .

Not different from here. The cab drivers in São Paulo (you may find some unemployed engineers, economists, etc; in this segment of work force) will confirm your views. I wonder where the money is to spend on grandiose projects of PAC!

and , he said if it was in the right hands it could be managable...here is a nobel winning columnist who doesnt mince words about the economy saying the usa could over come the debt with the right people in charge.

that means if the republicans have their way, it will fail, he put it much more clearer than i could

see, you have made up your mind about it..that is your biggest falicy, you seem to think you know exactly what is going to happen...no one who is really good at economics can predict for sure what could happen.and they will tell you that. those that speak in absolutes in economics are really naive

fail? self destruct? sure it could happen . if american people dont wake up and understand that these republican deregulated hyper capatalistic policies dont work. this bail out is necasary. obama doesnt want to do it, he had to do it...

the x factor you are leaving out is that there could be some really smart people who could pull it together.

but lets see...if you are wrong , you will look very foolish again..

just as you do trying to tell me that the red flaggers arnt a factor that is plaguing south america, with the pc, mst, pt militants etc having a very strong presence in brazil...( i dont have any deep seated hate against these groups in brazil , i just see lots of hypocracy and bs)

and you look foolish telling me that when just 4 months ago or so i watched memebers of brazilian congress on tv defending the ´political asylum of that comunist italian terrorist while some inteligent representatives stated that the administration sent two cuban boxers trying to seek political exile from comunist cuba back to cuba on a venezuelan plane...and three or four of the red flaggers actualy stated afinity with the italian comunist terrorist fugative stating their own participation in ideological similar groups in the cold war....

do you get that ?you try to tell me these concepts dont exist or arnt important any more and i see it front and center in the brazilian congress....you sound so out of touch and foolish

is the farc the b team ? ive seen the biggest colombian coke guy in the world busted in sao paulo, he has a house where i live...ive seen his yaghts dogging the beaches...he admited to dealing with farc...fernando beira mar also dealt directly with farc...the pcc deals directly with farc...farc sure has its tenticles in the arms and drug deals going on in brazil ...the hypocracy is that people like you think its more important to be afraid of what the usa is doing ( talking about paranoid) than this horrible violent merry go round...hey tarso genro also said that farc isnt a problem for brazil...

and i tell paranoid people like you, the usa isnt going to invade brazil for oil , it will negociete with brazil for the oil

As for my previous comments regarding your "friends", I was just venting my anger at the politicians in general and especially the ones from your region.

They piss me off too João. And in the few occasions that I sit and talk with them personally I really don't feel as if it's my place to lambaste them. I know myself and if I continue to stay here the time will come....and it wouldn't be good, especially for me....I'm fully aware of that fact. I'm sure you get my drift and see why it's probably best for everyone involved if I take less of a personal interest on what goes on here.

They piss me off too João. And in the few occasions that I sit and talk with them personally I really don't feel as if it's my place to lambaste them.

Lots of good Brasilians feel that way too, Bo. If you scroll up and read my comments addressed to our friend Ricardo, you would appreciate my view that I would rather be in a remote place that the God blessed us with than waiting in a line to cast my vote for an idiot. I have and still been lambasting them, though I know it is a futile effort.

As for your daughter, she might appreciate you more when she grows up in spite of her mother.Try to take her to Disneyland instead of the one in Orlando.

All the best to you.

ALL
It's with great sadness that I quote distressing news I've just read in BBC BRASIL - (Article in PORTUGUESE)

De acordo com a Presidência do Equador, a ordem para o fechamento da emissora, que é conhecida por ser crítica ao governo Correa, baseia-se na Lei de Radiodifusão e Televisão do país, que proíbe a divulgação de gravações feitas sem a autorização das partes envolvidas.

Correa pede fechamento de emissora de TV privada
O presidente do Equador, Rafael Correa, afirmou, neste sábado, que tomará as medidas legais necessárias para o fechamento da rede de televisão privada Teleamazonas, por supostas irregularidades cometidas na divulgação de uma gravação que teria sido realizada clandestinamente dentro de seu gabinete.
A gravação, que, segundo o presidente, teria sido entregue à rede pelo oposicionista Fernando Balda, ex-integrante do partido de Correa, mostraria o presidente supostamente planejando alterações na Constituição, aprovada em um referendo no ano passado, junto com partidários.
De acordo com a Presidência do Equador, a ordem para o fechamento da emissora, que é conhecida por ser crítica ao governo Correa, baseia-se na Lei de Radiodifusão e Televisão do país, que proíbe a divulgação de gravações feitas sem a autorização das partes envolvidas.

As mentioned in one of my earlier entries, responding to Ricardo and talking to Joao, immediately after BRAZZIL.COM released my modest editorial, I have received an e-mail from a Valiant group of Venezuelan democrats, true patriots who oppose their oppressive dictator, and most likely function outside Venezuelan territory.
In this connection, please read below the contents of yet another commentary recently published in their official site (in their language-Spanish) and which they have kindly forwarded to me via e-mail.

[24-08-09] No es un secreto que amparado en la discrecionalidad absoluta del gobierno ‘revolucionario’, el país tiene bajo ocupación y control extranjeros a todos los sectores estratégicos de su seguridad nacional. Pero, tanto o más grave, son las agresiones continuas que éste comete contra las libertades y derechos constitucionales de los venezolanos, impune y sistemáticamente. El régimen chavista ha puesto toda la institucionalidad de la democracia al servicio de sus ambiciones y en contra sus propios ciudadanos en cuanto puedan disentir de ellas. La ley y el estado de derecho en Venezuela son hoy los terribles recursos del régimen para agredir con toda impunidad a la sociedad. El enemigo interior parece ser todo aquél ciudadano que pretenda ejercer sus derechos constitucionales.

La erosión del bienestar público es muy grave. La paz civil está amenazada. La interminable sucesión de actos de agresión perpetrada por las instituciones del estado chavista contra la ciudadanía - de las cuales las últimas expresiones fuesen las nuevas ‘Ley Orgánica de Educación’ y ‘Ley del Régimen Municipal’, así como el recurso abusivo, indiscriminado e injustificado a la represión por parte de fuerzas del orden público en contra de una ciudadanía movilizada en protesta contra las mismas - prueba una vez más, a vista de todo el que quiera ver y entender, el rumbo que en Venezuela lleva la política. La asfixia política a la que se somete al país lo sitúa desde hace tiempo en una disyuntiva sin salida pues se le han cercenado expresamente todos los medios de arbitraje de soluciones pacíficas.

Todo gobierno que para lograr sus fines ideológicos de manera expresa y sistemática se alinee en contra de la mayoría de la ciudadanía, que esté dispuesto a escudarse tras mercenarios extranjeros para su sobrevivencia, a recurrir al uso continuo de la fuerza pública contra sus propios ciudadanos, y a hacer soplar “vientos de guerra”, civil e internacional, pone de lado todo cuanto pueda sustentar una pretendida legitimidad política. Si la Venezuela democrática pretende salir de esta encrucijada con éxito no puede continuar prefiriendo no entender los alcances del dilema que confronta. El verdadero enemigo interior sería entonces ella misma

Consequently, I urge each and every one of you to provide moral support to these brave ANTI-CHAVEZ elements, with our combined HOPE that, in the end, TRUTH and LIBERTY will PREVAIL in CARACAS

ALL
Among all of the quotes from publications so for, the following is the most RELEVANT to the ISSUES DISCUSSED in my editorial.
Yet another seed of discord appears to have been planted...

BRASILIA (Dow Jones)--Seeking to defuse regional animosity over the proposed increase of U.S. military personnel in Colombia, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on fellow South American leaders Friday to look for common ground in resolving local security issues.
At a summit of the South American Security Council, Unasur, Lula criticized some of his fellow regional leaders for attempting to turn the event into a forum to advance their own domestic political interests.

For ONCE, I must applaude the current Brasilian government...
Let's remain VIGILANT however, and see what happens...

Joao da Silva: My questions: a) Are these illegals returning out of their own will? b)Why are so many Brasilian poor and unskilled wanting to get into the U.S. illegally and stay there forever, if our economy is doing so well?


*****


Ricardo: Yes, the illegal immigrants are going back, because they can’t secure jobs of any kind and these are the people who would do any type of work to make a buck. These are hardworking people who had the courage to leave their original countries to try for a better living in the United States.

But in many cases they are leaving because they think that there are better opportunities in their own countries than in the United States – and that is the case of the exodus of Brazilians, and Indians that are returning home from the United States.

Many of these Indians are 2nd and 3rd generation, but they are leaving behind their parents, and grandparents here in the United States for better opportunities in India in the coming years. And that is a fact that already has caught the attention of the US mainstream media.

You can read some information that I wrote about the Brazilian exodus from the USA at the following thread:

The economic impact of the current Exodus from the United States.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...did=123740


*****


Forest Allen Brown: And why was lula omited from the list of B players ???????


*****


Ricardo: That’s a very foolish question from you.

If you are asking that question then you have no idea about is happening in the world today.

President Lula is president of one of the best countries in the world when you consider: in term of size, in terms of location in our planet, population, in terms of natural resources Brazil is one of the few countries around the world that could be completely self-sufficient (Brazil could close all its borders, and would miss only the high luxuries that comes from the outside world other than that Brazil is one of the few countries from around the world that could be almost 100 percent self-sufficient – we have everything in Brazil that a nation needs to survive without any contact with the outside world), Brazil is in the leading edge of software technology, we also have leading edge Biotechnology, and Brazil is making advances in many other areas of high science and technology.

Today, for the first time I found out that Brazil already has nuclear weapons, and the United States is aware of it. And that give us Brazilians a little more peace of mind about our capabilities of defending our territory in Brazil.

And now I understand why Brazil is so quiet regarding the subject of nuclear weapons.

I could go on and on, on this subject, but that is enough for our discussion at hand.

How do you dare to compare Brazil with Ecuador, and Venezuela?

That’s an insult to Brazil and the Brazilian people.

If you are not aware of every time the G-20 gets together, it does not matter in which country the meeting takes place – the host of that country always place president Lula on a prominent position right next to the host – when they take pictures, or are having meetings, or are having a diner – Lula is always being showcased as a very import guest.

Lula’s prominence among these world leaders at these high level meetings of world leaders reflects the rising status of Brazil among the nations of the world.

Today the G-20 is the relevant group that meets on a regular basis, and the G-7 and G-8 are becoming more obsolete than General Motors.

Please don’t ask stupid questions like that, because it shows only your ignorance, and nothing else.

President Lula met a number of times the leaders of the various South American countries, including Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia, since these countries are also part of South America.

But he also had the opportunity of meeting Barack Obama a number of times in 2009 – I guess on your view that makes Barack Obama a member of the list of “B” players as well following your line of reasoning.

.

Asp: see, you have made up your mind about it..that is your biggest falicy, you seem to think you know exactly what is going to happen...no one who is really good at economics can predict for sure what could happen.and they will tell you that. those that speak in absolutes in economics are really naive


*****


Ricardo: How naïve?

Do you mean this naïve?

It’s 2008. The U.S. Has Dragged the World into a Depression.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...did=124509


*****


Asp: the x factor you are leaving out is that there could be some really smart people who could pull it together.


*****


Ricardo: How?

Are these people miracle makers?


*****


Asp: but lets see...if you are wrong , you will look very foolish again..


*****


Ricardo: I have been writing about the future for at least 10 years, and if you read my articles and my postings over that period of time you would be shocked about how many times I have been right about my predictions.

I write about things before they happen, and I have many published articles and information posted on the internet, and I am not a Monday morning quarterback.

I receive emails from people who have been following my articles and postings on the Elite Trader Forum and these people ask me my opinion about what I think about the future. They do that because they know that I have been getting things right.

Here is an example of a private email that I receive today, and my answer to that person investment/trader:

August 30, 2009

“I have read your predictions over time and they have been very accurate. I personally feel the market is over extended with a lot of bullish sentiment. It looks dangerous and I feel we are headed much lower. What do you think over the next 3-4 months.

Thanks.

Mr. XXX”


***


Here is my reply to that fellow that I just sent back:


August 31, 2009

Dear Mr. XXX,

I just saw your email a few minutes ago.

The market it does not make sense to me.

I can’t help you.

With so much US government intervention on everything, and today you can’t trust any of the numbers that are being published because they fudge all the information with their “Mickey Mouse” accounting and so on…

There’s not a single market that Bernanke is not affecting these days with his manipulation of the markets.

Not even Einstein could figure out what is really going on these days. Only the insiders who are helping Bernanke with his manipulation of the markets have any idea of what is happening.

But without massive US government intervention we are all in the dark and nobody really knows what the real numbers look like.

About 2 weeks ago I wrote a few of my thoughts at:

Another "Sucker's Rally"
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...genumber=6

Common sense tells me that the US stock market should go down, but who knows what Bernanke and his palls in the private sector are up to?

For many months I have the feeling that the stock market is being manipulated at the end of trading – usually in the last half hour the manipulators come in and do their magic with very thin trading.

The risks must be very high right now of anyone being caught in the trap of these guys.

But if you are a trader and your long-term perspective is buy something in the morning and sell it by the end of the day – then enjoy what is going on, and I hope you make lots of money. And just keep in mind you are just playing craps and nothing else.


***


Many of these people who ask me these questions about the markets they are investing real money, and they are not just playing in the internet.

You build your credibility over a long period of time, and my record is pretty good that is why more and more people are reading my articles and my postings.

.

Asp: and you look foolish telling me that when just 4 months ago or so i watched memebers of brazilian congress on tv defending the ´political asylum of that comunist italian terrorist while some inteligent representatives stated that the administration sent two cuban boxers trying to seek political exile from comunist cuba back to cuba on a venezuelan plane...and three or four of the red flaggers actualy stated afinity with the italian comunist terrorist fugative stating their own participation in ideological similar groups in the cold war....


*****


Ricardo: I did not follow any of that. I am not interested on that stuff as you are.


*****


Asp: is the farc the b team ? ive seen the biggest colombian coke guy in the world busted in sao paulo, he has a house where i live...ive seen his yaghts dogging the beaches...he admited to dealing with farc...fernando beira mar also dealt directly with farc...the pcc deals directly with farc...farc sure has its tenticles in the arms and drug deals going on in brazil


*****


Ricardo: All that stuff can be taken care in Brazil with the presidential election of "General Augusto Heleno" in 2010.


*****


Asp: the usa isnt going to invade brazil for oil , it will negociete with brazil for the oil


*****


Ricardo: They already are making deals with Brazil about the new oil.

.

Augustus: Consequently, I urge each and every one of you to provide moral support to these brave ANTI-CHAVEZ elements, with our combined HOPE that, in the end, TRUTH and LIBERTY will PREVAIL in CARACAS


*****


Ricardo: Why are you so worried about what is happening in Ecuador, and Venezuela?

Why are you asking Brazilians to get involved on their internal affairs?

Do you want that all these people start also calling and doing the same thing regarding the internal matters of Brazil?

It looks to me that you are trying to attract all the attention of all the Marxists and Che Guevara followers in South America against Brazil.

Would you be happy if all these Marxists start putting their noses in the internal affairs of Brazil as you are doing regarding the internal affairs of these countries?

I am not sure if you understand that this is a 2 way street.

Please stop being so paranoid about the internal affairs of these countries, unless you don’t have anything better to do with your time.

Why are you provoking all the Che Guevara revolutionaries in South America?

Do you want to see all these guys interfering in the domestic affairs of Brazil?

Your postings make you look like a paranoid person regarding these minor league players.

.

Hello Mr.Augustus,

This is one of the finest article and provides a lots of insight into the current situations in South America.

Thanks for a wonderful article.

Your's lovingly,
Bad Boy.

not that your answers are convincing me ,but,you sure try to get back to everyone...

by the way , the nytimes just said that a few banks are paying back their loans and the government is actualy getting a profit back...

they only have to firm up the dollar ....(yeah,i know, alzeimers dizease is lurking)

Thanks Bad Boy
We are honored by having so distingued a visitor from Southern India
Since your country, in my oppinion represents Brazil's most important ally in Asia, all of us - the regular participants of BRAZZIL.COM - should welcome the visit and the input from ANY India blogger, particularly those, on a personal level, from Bangalore
Cheers

Ricardo. Based on various recent debates we had regarding matters stemming from actual and/or potential issues pertaining to some of Brazil’s Latin American neighbors, it appears exceedingly unlikely that we might ever be in a position to reach a consensus, let on alone an agreement.

Indeed, because many of these issues appear on the surface to involve matters that might be considered exclusively of an domestic/internal nature, Ricardo Amaral’s naïve and/or isolationist views do not seem to grasp the possibility that any of them could in the long term have (in some indirect but tangible ways) an unavoidable impact on Brazil. In addition, Ricardo always assume that I’m fearing military invasions or direct interference from any such country and therefore concludes that my concerns are irrelevant and stem from my “obsession” with historical East/West conflicts related to the Cold War era.

Ricardo: Why are you so worried about what is happening in Ecuador, and Venezuela?
Why are you asking Brazilians to get involved on their internal affairs?
Do you want that all these people start also calling and doing the same thing regarding the internal matters of Brazil?

Unlike you, Ricardo, I adhere to the Realist school of International relations (e.g. Henry Nixon) which should be considered by politicians and scholars belonging Super Powers (USA) but also every Regional Power which, in South American case, currently include Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico. Under these circumstances many internal issues and particularly issues involving agreements, relations, and influence which any of the other powers may have with other nations in the region, should be closely monitored, and evaluated. Depending on the nature and relevance of any given issue (and the resulting data obtained from any studies conducted) counter measures should be taken not only to protect any possible FUTURE impact which any such “issue” may eventually have on Brazil, but also (if possible) to take steps in order to DETER or at least PREVENT further develops to increase in scope, thereby avoiding the exacerbation of any possible future impact in our country.
As such, I consider your “naïve isolationist” approach to ignore the spread of Bolivarian views and principles throughout South America extremely dangerous, for not only it increases the powers of a competing power, but will also (eventually) almost certainly impact Brazil in the future. As an example, assuming Brasilia adopts Ricardo’s point of view, and further assuming the worse case scenario whereby all Spanish speaking South American countries adopt the Neo-Marxist Bolivarian system and thereby become closely allied with the totalitarian (and potentially) bellicose government in Caracas, I’m certain that, under this theoretical futurist scenario there would significantly bad consequences for Brazil, including:
1.Brazil would be encircled by rivals (as opposed to partners) pledging allegiance to a Strong Man in Caracas;
2.A much more Powerful, resource rich, and military strong Venezuela (possessing direct control over a string of client states) would inevitably adopted increasingly bolder positions in the international arena;
3.The totalitarian government in Caracas would certainly PREFER an allied or sympathetic administration in Brasilia
4.As a direct result of points 1, 2 & 3 above, the following scenarios would automatically emerge as a direct potential threats to our country:
A.Venezuela (and/or some/all of its allies) would start spreading political / economical propaganda throughout Brazilian territory;
B.Venezuela most certainly start “buying” supporters within Brazil to side with their positions
C.Venezuela (and/or one of its client states) would consider establishing new or supporting existing internal dissidents
D.Venezuela would possibly foment economic sabotage and/or blackmail in connections with a variety of issues
E.Venezuela would expect (and eventually DEMAND) Brazilian support for any of its “preferred” issue(s) being debated in any international forum
F.Similar to point 3E, Venezuela would expect (and eventually DEMAND) that Brazil oppose and/or antagonize any of its enemies (e.g. the United States)
G.Presuming a combination of the above scenarios (from 3A to 3F) come to fruition, Caracas might start implying “serious consequences” for Brazilians in the event their “expectations” were not met by Brazilians
H.Finally, particularly if Case 3G occurs, Ricardo Amaral would witness his own country giving up its “sovereignty” (using his own words) by inviting Washington to establish or otherwise utilize existing military Bases in Brazil in order to deter or otherwise protect the Brazilian Territory against any possible Venezuelan interference - which incidentally appea

H.Finally, particularly if Case 3G occurs, Ricardo Amaral would witness his own country giving up its “sovereignty” (using his own words) by inviting Washington to establish or otherwise utilize existing military Bases in Brazil in order to deter or otherwise protect the Brazilian Territory against any possible Venezuelan interference - which incidentally appears to be the way Colombia currently finds itself.[

Hate to butt into a debate between a Carioca and a Paulistano Mineiro!!

Ricardo. Based on various recent debates we had regarding matters stemming from actual and/or potential issues pertaining to some of Brazil’s Latin American neighbors, it appears exceedingly unlikely that we might ever be in a position to reach a consensus, let on alone an agreement.

I think Ricardo missed interpreting correctly, the basic message contained in your article. According to what I understand your view is:

The Latin American Polarization is inevitable unless the Brasilians choose different leaders (both on Federal and State levels) in 2010 to avoid this "Polarization". But unfortunately, it appears that it is not going to be so. Between now and October 2010, there are going to be plenty of surprises and starting 2011(or 2012), the "polarization" is going to start.

I am posting a link below that may reinforce Augustus´s theory and my pessimism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08...lobal-home

Ricardo: All that stuff can be taken care in Brazil with the presidential election of "General Augusto Heleno" in 2010.

Provided a party sponsors him and I doubt if any will.

Since your country, in my oppinion represents Brazil's most important ally in Asia, all of us - the regular participants of BRAZZIL.COM - should welcome the visit and the input from ANY India blogger, particularly those, on a personal level, from Bangalore

I second your motion considering that India is not only an ally but a very important trading partner of ours. If this "Bad Boy" is from Bangalore as you state, he must be an IT professional and I certainly wouldn't like him to hack into my computer. So better keep the fella happy.

Because LULA & CHAVEZ maintain a cordial relationship and because the official political orientaion of their respective parties are not FUNDAMENTALY distinct (thereby enabling Chavez to view the Brazilian PT as a fellow Socialist), it is unlikely they either would currently take any extremely negative posture to deliberately antagonize one another, in spite of their disparate nationalist agendas.

HOWEVER, as soon as a new president is elected, in the even his/her political party adopts a CENTER/RIGHT (let alone exclusively RIGHT) posture, the speed of the discussed polarization is bound in increaSE EXPONATIALLY... (it's inevitable)

The only other possible solution would emerge IF we were "blessed" by a successful COUP D'ETAT in Venezuela which would make sure Chavez is promptly executed...

JOAO- Polirization is an ongoing process - INEVITABLE - Next elections will simply determe the future PACE for the process

De acordo. "Pace" is the keyword.

Because LULA & CHAVEZ maintain a cordial relationship and because the official political orientaion of their respective parties are not FUNDAMENTALY distinct (thereby enabling Chavez to view the Brazilian PT as a fellow Socialist),

Agreed. Their personal goals are the same too!!

HOWEVER, as soon as a new president is elected, in the even his/her political party adopts a CENTER/RIGHT (let alone exclusively RIGHT) posture

It is unlikely that CENTER/RIGHT candidate gets elected. It is going to be a "She" sponsored and supported by HIM.

Here is a link for you to read:

http://www.estadao.com.br/esta...7141,0.php

Read the comments too!!!

I must admit being completely astounded by your classification...
This "Marine" appears to be exceedingly Red along with some big GREEN DROPS, thereby rendering her political orientation (without detailed analysis) at best to be "LEFT-Trying-Hard-To-Appear-CENTER - LOL

JOAO!!! Do you actually consider that "Marina" (suddenly flooded with publicity in this blog) to be center-right????!!!!

Ok, Ok, I made a slight mistake when writing, as I don't write "Queen´s English" like you do.

It should read: "It is unlikely thatany CENTER/RIGHT candidate gets elected.

This "Marine" appears to be exceedingly Red along with some big GREEN DROPS, thereby rendering her political orientation (without detailed analysis) at best to be "LEFT-Trying-Hard-To-Appear-CENTER -

Now you got me right!!! I was an ardent student of Carl von Clausewitz who in turn learn´t his trade from Sun Tzu!!!! It is called "Diversionary Tactics".

Although Sun Tzu (circa 500 B.C.) is recognized to be one of the earliest military theorists, his views did not reach the Western World until the late Eighteenth century (when his most famous work – “The Art of War” – was translated into French). As such, it is hardly surprising that his work significantly impacted your “favorite” Military Strategist (Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz). Interestingly, when I was originally exposed to Clausewitz years ago as a student, I was also very impressed (perhaps even somewhat influenced) by what I consider the quintessential “underlying” concept within his extensive legacy in military related theories, namely: BALANCE OF POWER.

Consequently, the previous “slight mistake” committed by our esteemed Joao da Silva in connection with the actual political orientation of Marina Silva, such “faux pas” was entirely overridden by Joao’s brilliant introduction of Clausewitz to our discussions, since I consider the concept of “Balance of Power” the opposite side of the coin vis-à-vis the principals discussed in modest editorial (political polarization); for the process of Latin American polarization currently at play emerges precisely when an existing regional “balance of power” begins to disintegrate…

brasil is still a B player in the world and will be as long as you have the large uneducated population .

will be a B as long as the crouption runs the country .

is still a B even if they hace a nuke wepon they still have no way to put it any where .

as far as lula being put up close well have you ever seen one of thoes dog and pony shows , in time all are presinted to the press as they want to boost there credits at home , ( and you fell for it )

still no word from you if the are in the states leagle or did your parents come and stay and you live off the US getting all the free bies
while being taught brasil is the center of the earth .

lots of indians are leaving the US because the new government in india has started a push for tech compines in india owned by indians .

and also the US has started a push to move out the welfare living alians ,

take your brasilian horn of truth and play it some where else

Consequently, the previous “slight mistake” committed by our esteemed Joao da Silva in connection with the actual political orientation of Marina Silva, such “faux pas” was entirely overridden by Joao’s brilliant introduction of Clausewitz to our discussions, since I consider the concept of “Balance of Power” the opposite side of the coin vis-à-vis the principals discussed in modest editorial (political polarization); for the process of Latin American polarization currently at play emerges precisely when an existing regional “balance of power” begins to disintegrate…

Equally brilliant interpretation and application of the concept of "Balance of Power" to the current scenario in LatAm countries on your part. Even though Clausewitz was talking about it in his "military related theories", it can be applied to other fields also.

BTW, for those who contest your theory of "Polarization", I recommend they go to the link you have posted on Venezuela and read the news to understand the "Current Scenario" in that country!!

Part 1 of 3


Asp: by the way , the nytimes just said that a few banks are paying back their loans and the government is actualy getting a profit back...


*****


Ricardo: I also read the front-page article on the Financial Times (UK) about that.

The Fed claims that they have a $ 10 billion US dollars profit right now. But after you read how they came up with that figure then you realize that is a crock of s**t and nothing else. And they should be embarrassed of giving to the public that kind of garbage.


*****


Augustus: Ricardo. Based on various recent debates we had regarding matters stemming from actual and/or potential issues pertaining to some of Brazil’s Latin American neighbors, it appears exceedingly unlikely that we might ever be in a position to reach a consensus, let on alone an agreement.


*****


Ricardo: That is the beauty of freedom of speech – we both can discuss matters and have our different points of views.

And some of the other readers might learn something from both points of view.


*****


Augustus: Indeed, because many of these issues appear on the surface to involve matters that might be considered exclusively of an domestic/internal nature, Ricardo Amaral’s naïve and/or isolationist views do not seem to grasp the possibility that any of them could in the long term have (in some indirect but tangible ways) an unavoidable impact on Brazil.


*****


Ricardo: I am not an isolationist. On my last posting I just pointed out that Brazil is one of the few countries from around the world that has the capability of surviving by itself without any outside influence of any kind. We have everything inside Brazil that a country needs for long-term survival from plenty freshwater, and a vast amount of natural resources of every kind.

Brazil is one of the most valuable “Jewels” we have on our planet.

If I were an isolationist I would not be suggesting on my articles that Brazil borrows the amount of US$ 200 billion dollars from China.

I also would not be suggesting that Brazil adopts the “New Asian Currency.”

I am just careful about to which countries Brazil associate with, and create deep roots for the long-term.

Brazil already has a very good economic relationship with Argentina, Uruguay. These are the countries with deep European roots – they are countries of the first world.

The rest of the other countries I don’t care if they all become part of the New Simon Bolivar empire that Hugo Chavez want to unit in South America.


*****


Augustus: In addition, Ricardo always assume that I’m fearing military invasions or direct interference from any such country and therefore concludes that my concerns are irrelevant and stem from my “obsession” with historical East/West conflicts related to the Cold War era.


*****


Ricardo: I am not going to waste any time worrying about the cold war years.

If there are a bunch of people that are not aware that the Soviet Union has collapsed, and they still are playing Che Guevara around the Amazon jungle – that is their problem and not mine.

Let them play Che Guevara revolutionaries around South America as much as they want – as long as they stay away from Brazil.

.

Part 2 of 3


Augustus: As an example, assuming Brasilia adopts Ricardo’s point of view, and further assuming the worse case scenario whereby all Spanish speaking South American countries adopt the Neo-Marxist Bolivarian system and thereby become closely allied with the totalitarian (and potentially) bellicose government in Caracas, I’m certain that, under this theoretical futurist scenario there would significantly bad consequences for Brazil, including:
1.Brazil would be encircled by rivals (as opposed to partners) pledging allegiance to a Strong Man in Caracas;
2.A much more Powerful, resource rich, and military strong Venezuela (possessing direct control over a string of client states) would inevitably adopted increasingly bolder positions in the international arena;…

… Venezuela would expect (and eventually DEMAND) that Brazil oppose and/or antagonize any of its enemies (e.g. the United States)

… Presuming a combination of the above scenarios (from 3A to 3F) come to fruition, Caracas might start implying “serious consequences” for Brazilians in the event their “expectations” were not met by Brazilians.

… Finally, particularly if Case 3G occurs, Ricardo Amaral would witness his own country giving up its “sovereignty” (using his own words) by inviting Washington to establish or otherwise utilize existing military Bases in Brazil in order to deter or otherwise protect the Brazilian Territory against any possible Venezuelan interference which incidentally appears to be the way Colombia currently finds itself.


*****


Ricardo: You sound like a PR man for Hugo Chavez cause in South America.

You magnify Hugo Chavez’s influence in South America 1,000 times than the reality.

Many of the countries that you are afraid of them they are completely destitute, and they are glad of getting a few bucks from Hugo Chavez.

By the way, the Colombians must be the most stupid people in South America since for many years now they are the second country that receives the largest annual foreign aid from the United States (the number one country has been Israel since the 1970’s).

US foreign aid all kinds of military equipment, thanks, gunships, and everything else. And the United States had many soldiers in Colombia training them how to use all these weapons and also strategy to fight the drug trade and the Farc.

By comparing Brazil and its capabilities with Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador – all I can say is that you have a very low image and expectations about Brazil.

You are underestimating Brazil and Brazilians in every way.


*****


Joao da Silva: Hate to butt into a debate between a Carioca and a Paulistano Mineiro!!


*****


Ricardo: I am a Paulista / Paulistano. My immediate family is from Sao Paulo, S.P.


*****


Joao da Silva: Provided a party sponsors him and I doubt if any will.


*****


Ricardo: What was the political party that General Castelo Branco belonged?


*****


Joao da Silva: I second your motion considering that India is not only an ally but a very important trading partner of ours.


*****


Ricardo: Here is something that we all agree.


*****


Augustus: The only other possible solution would emerge IF we were "blessed" by a successful COUP D'ETAT in Venezuela which would make sure Chavez is promptly executed...


*****


Ricardo: Aren’t you being a bit drastic regarding Hugo Chavez’s future?

In my opinion, I don’t care about what he does in Venezuela, and even if he decides to unite Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador into a new union, and he can name it the “Destitute Union.” - As long he keeps his business out of Brazil.

.

Part 3 of 3


Forrest Allen Brown: brasil is still a B player in the world and will be as long as you have the large uneducated population .

will be a B as long as the crouption runs the country .


*****


Ricardo: Do you consider the United States a B player?

Most US kids today don’t even know in which century the US civil war happened. And in math and science they score in the bottom of the list of the industrial countries. The US kids today are semi-literate.

Regarding corruption there’s no country in the world that comes close to the United States in that area. Here is the tip of the iceberg regarding US corruption:

We can start with the US government $ 700 billion dollars swindle of October 2008 (also called the Wall Street bailout), then move on to the savings and loan scandal of the 1980’s that cost American taxpayers over $ 200 billion US dollars, WorldCom, Enron, Tyco, and the $ 65 billion US dollars ponzi-scheme by crook Bernie Madoff – just to mention a few cases of corruption in the United States.

But most of these can be considered amateurs compared with the following:

1) The American Mafia and its influence in the US economy
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...did=168590


2) The US dollar and the biggest default in history
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...did=121313


*****


Forrest Allen Brown: lots of indians are leaving the US because the new government in india has started a push for tech compines in india owned by indians .

and also the US has started a push to move out the welfare living alians ,


*****


Ricardo: Thanks for the information. I was not aware that the US government was replacing the highly educated Indian population that are returning to India (this is a highly educated group of people with PhD’s, and a very smart bunch of people) – with the uneducated illegal immigrants that are being pushed out of welfare.

It is a very smart move by the US government, and that strategy might help move the US even faster to the poor house.

.

Firstly it should be clarified that I do not consider all our “healthy” differences either unbridgeable or irreconcilable

Ricardo: That is the beauty of freedom of speech – we both can discuss matters and have our different points of views.

NATURALLY, it was never implied that there would ever be an issue with such differences; for this freedom is one of the best “components” of western societies which we, Brazilians currently enjoy but which unfortunately share with very few of our neighbors, most notably Uruguay, Chile and Peru. It’s an essential human right which is denied in Venezuela, Bolivia, and very soon, also in Ecuador.

In my opinion, I don’t care about what he does in Venezuela, and even if he decides to unite Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador into a new union, and he can name it the “Destitute Union.” - As long he keeps his business out of Brazil.

Here again, I repeat, that I agree with your assessment about Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador”. Yet, you seriously underestimate the potential of Venezuela IF such an union takes place under the control of Hugo Chavez and/or his dangerous “Bolivarian” political movement. Indeed, based on my hypothetical scenario above, I truly believe you are not assessing the potential danger which a Stronger, Bigger and Ideological ardent Venezuela could pose to our country, particularly in view of its proximity and IF it enters MERCOSUL.

Another point of discord:

Ricardo: I am not an isolationist. On my last posting I just pointed out that Brazil is one of the few countries from around the world that has the capability of surviving by itself without any outside influence of any kind. We have everything inside Brazil that a country needs for long-term survival from plenty freshwater, and a vast amount of natural resources of every kind

Unfortunately, nowadays I consider it extremely unlikely for ANY major nation – even the United States to “survive by itself”, for I agree with many political scientists in their conclusion that, since the dawn of World War II, we live in an INTERDEPENDENT World.

Ricardo: What was the political party that General Castelo Branco belonged?

No comments! May be Augustus has some!!

Part 1 of 2


Ricardo: Today, I friend of mine sent me the link to this article, which is relevant to our current discussion.


*****


Asia Times Online
September 3, 2009
THE ROVING EYE
US's 'arc of instability' just gets bigger
By Pepe Escobar

United States and strategic competitors Russia and China - with Pipelineistan as a defining element.

The full spectrum dominance doctrine requires the control of the Pentagon-coined "arc of instability" from the Horn of Africa to western China. The cover story is the former "global war on terror", now "overseas contingency operations" under the management of President Barack Obama's administration.

Most of all, the underlying logic remains divide and rule. As for the divide, Beijing would call it, without a trace of irony, "splittist". Split up Iraq - blocking China's access to Iraqi oil. Split up Pakistan - with an independent Balochistan preventing China from accessing the strategic port of Gwadar there. Split up Afghanistan - with an independent Pashtunistan allowing the building of the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline bypassing Russia. Split up Iran - by financing subversion in Khuzestan and Sistan-Balochistan. And why not split up Bolivia (as was attempted last year) to the benefit of US energy giants. Call it the (splitting) Kosovo model.

Kosovo, incidentally, is known as the Colombia of the Balkans. What Washington calls the "Western hemisphere" is a sub-section of the New Great Game. The linkage between the recent military coup in Honduras, the return of the living dead - that is, the resurrection of the US Navy's Fourth Fleet in July 2008 - and now the turbo-charging of seven US military bases in Colombia is not to be blamed merely on continuity from president George W Bush to Obama. Not really. This is all about the internal logic of Full Spectrum Dominance.

Touching bases

Twelve South American nations, under the Union of South American Nations umbrella, got together in Bariloche, Argentina, last week and after a heated seven-hour discussion only managed to stress, somewhat meekly, that "foreign troops cannot be a threat to the region" - in reference to the US military presence in Colombia. At least President Lula da Silva of Brazil will be asking Obama to get together with South American presidents and reveal what this new military pact with Colombia is really all about.

Spin, of course, prevailed. Influential Brazilian conservative newspaper O Globo, which for all practical purposes looks like it's been redacted in Washington, practically blamed Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez for everything.

It's instructive to examine how some of the sharpest South American minds view it. Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano (whose book, Open Veins of Latin America was offered to Obama by Chavez at the recent Organization of American States summit) in an interview to an Ecuadorian paper, stressed how the US had spent a century fabricating military dictatorships in Latin America, so when there's a military coup, such as in Honduras, Washington is at a loss for words.

As for the military bases in Colombia, Galeano said they "offend not only Latin America's collective dignity but one's intelligence".

The US has already set up three military bases in Colombia, plus a dozen radar stations. Now this will be upgraded by the Colombian government to seven bases, one of them - Palanquero - with air access to the whole hemisphere. Seven bases in Colombia is a natural Pentagon response to the US losing the Manta base in Ecuador, and losing its grip on now leftist Paraguay. Washington already trains the Colombian armed forces, special forces and the national police.

The infamous Fort Benning-based School of the Americas, the flagship US training ground for ultra-repressive military dictatorships, that is, the "School of Assassins", re-baptized in 2001 the Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation, trained not only over 10,000 Colombians, but the coup leaders in Honduras as well.

Argentine political scientist Atilio Boron goes for the jugular; for him, "To think that those troops and weapons systems are based in Latin America for some reason other than to insure the territorial and political control of a region that experts consider the richest one on the planet in terms of its natural resources - water, energy, biodiversity, minerals agriculture, etc - would be unforgivably stupid."

.

Part 2 of 2


American political activist and author, Noam Chomsky, in an interview to Venezuelan-American lawyer Eva Golinger during his recent visit to Venezuela, explained how the "rose wave" of South American leftism is scaring Washington so much that it's forcing it to collaborate with every government that would have been summarily deposed a few decades ago. Chomsky refers to the Joao Goulart government in Brazil, which was toppled in 1964, giving way, under US supervision, to "the first national security state neo-Nazi-style". Lula's policies today are not that different from Goulart's.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization all over

Colombia has received over US$5 billion from the Pentagon since Plan Colombia was launched by president Bill Clinton way back in ... the year 2000. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe rules over a captivating land infested with paramilitaries and extra-judicial killings - scores of peasants and trade unionists killed in cold blood. But he's praised in Washington as a human-rights hero.

Isn't that swell? In a 1991 unclassified Pentagon intelligence report, then-senator Alvaro Uribe Velez is described as "dedicated to collaboration with the Medellin cartel at high government levels". The report stresses Uribe "has worked for the Medellin cartel and is a close personal friend of Pablo Escobar Gaviria", the archetypal, now dead, Colombian drug lord. No wonder Uribe has always fiercely fought any possible form of extradition treaty.

Boron describes Uribe as "the empire's Trojan Horse". It's this Trojan Horse that allows what is in fact a counter-insurgency operation to be packaged as a "war on drugs". Needless to say, Colombia remains the number one supplier of cocaine to the US - Plan Colombia or not.

The counter-insurgency is also in large part directed against, who else, Venezuela's Chavez, who, in his innumerable casual moments, makes no secret that he "knows Uribe, and his psychology, very well". Golinger, author of a must-read book on Washington's overall strategy, Bush vs Chavez: Washington's war on Venezuela, told Russia Today that "Plan Colombia really does not have the objective of addressing directly the war on drugs"; it's more about the "control of natural resources and strategic resources".

Way beyond Venezuela, this is all about the militarization of the Andes and beyond. Colombia is, yes, the Trojan Horse in charge of policing virtually all of South America, not to mention Central America, now that US political, economic and military hegemony is shrinking by the hour.

The beauty of Plan Colombia is its one-size-fits-all status - from AfPak to Mexico. Few people know that in April 2007, the former US ambassador to Colombia, William Wood, was sent to Afghanistan to implement ... a Plan Colombia, that is, counter-insurgency disguised as a war on drugs. Colombia is a mirror of Afghanistan - and vice-versa. It goes without saying that counter-insurgency-heavy Afghanistan - now under the supreme boot of former death-squad operator to General Davis Petraeus in Iraq, General Stanley McChrystal - still produces over 90% of the world's opium.

And inevitably that's where NATO comes in. The only part of the world where NATO is still not active is ... South America. Few people also know that a few months ago, the head of the Pentagon's Southern Command, Admiral James Stavridis, became NATO supreme commander. Three of the past five NATO top military commanders - Stavridis, Bantz Craddock and Wesley Clark - moved to NATO glory from ... the Southern Command, certainly adding another meaning to the gloomy expression "School of the Americas".

No wonder Bolivian President Evo Morales said in Cuba, in mid-July, "I have first-hand information that the empire, through the US Southern Command, made the coup d'etat in Honduras." And all this while not only Mexico and Argentina - but also Brazil and Ecuador - are on their way to decriminalizing drugs.

War on drugs? So much for the cover story. More like the Pentagon stuck in the business, to quote Galeano, of insulting Latin America's intelligence for a long time to come.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/S...3Df01.html

.

I SUSPECT that CASTELO BRANCO was on of the founders of the old ARENA which was the party of the MILITARY GOV't - which (wisely) had guaranteed 1/2 of the seats appoited the the military junta behind the president.

AS for the allegations against the United States, while I will agree that NATIONAL INSTEREST of major powers may often sponser LESS THAN DESIRABLE policies, I do NOT belive in the LEFT WING, ANTI-WESTERN, AMERICAN HATEFUL PROPAGANDA

I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER SHALL BELIEVE IN ANYHTHING EMANATING FROM SYMPASITHERS OF LEFT WING TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS....

I SUSPECT that CASTELO BRANCO was on of the founders of the old ARENA which was the party of the MILITARY GOV't - which (wisely) had guaranteed 1/2 of the seats appoited the the military junta behind the president.

No. At that time, there were two parties (UDN & PSD) (If my memory serves me right) and Mr. Branco dissolved both. I don't think that he belonged to either UDN or PSD. I recall that Ricardo has a cousin in MG who is a historian too. She should be able to clarify this better!

AS for the allegations against the United States, while I will agree that NATIONAL INSTEREST of major powers may often sponser LESS THAN DESIRABLE policies, I do NOT belive in the LEFT WING, ANTI-WESTERN, AMERICAN HATEFUL PROPAGANDA

I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER SHALL BELIEVE IN ANYHTHING EMANATING FROM SYMPASITHERS OF LEFT WING TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS....

Nor do I. Mr.Branco was of our (including Ricardo) type !!!!


BTW, Ricardo has started an interesting discussion. His economic theories for the development of Brasil are more towards that of Late Roberto Campos!!

noam chompsky is s**t in my book...he had a 20 page report on columbia and its hook up with the usa military industrial complex and had one paragraph on farc calling them freedom fighters ....oh ho ho haha what a peice of crap...this whole thing is a one sided stupidity that will only hold south americans back...what paranoid

you dont want to remember the cold war when it has nothing to do with what lula is compared to goulart...there was real soviet union spy and militant training going on ( since the 30's) and cuba was exporting revolution imperialisticly all over the world

lulas situation is nothing like goularts....but chavez with the punk bitch freedom fighters fard takes is a neo com or neo marxist who's totalitarion policies which includes his colaborations with the punk bitch freedom fighters( what a f**king joke) affect brazil

this is crap, you have to do better than that...or better you hold on to your ideas , just go ahead, stick your head in the sand about what is really happening in south america...

you loose credibility with me by the second with this bs...i wont even lower myself to argue with you how many fairies fit on the head of the pin .

lulas situation is nothing like goulart...but chaves with his punk bitch freedom fighters from farc ( what a f**king joke)is a neo com or neo marxist , whos totalitarian policies , which includes his colaborations with punkbitch freedom fighters ( what a f**king joke) , affect brazil...

that is the biggest bulls**t fallacy coming from these south american thinkers

and your thinking...you wont let me bring up what really created this dynamic saying i am stuck in the cold war , and , then endorse these thinkers who portray the usa in a cold war ghost...not acknowledging what is happening with leaders like chavez and there marxist leanings

i mean f**k it , lets just cut to the chase, if venezuela and equador are going to support farc and pass around suitcases of money made from drugs and arms deals with the farc and pass this money to infiltrate other countries, colombia has every right to do what ever they want including solicit american military expertise to help them to be vigilant with these sobs

brazil can do what ever it wants, including very little to contribute to uribes fight...fine no problem , that is what they are doing now, no problem no argument from me

but dont pull the fuking paranoind about america and pull the ghosts of the cold war you actualy condemn and bring in noam chompski as some expert whent he has desgraced himself on the subject and expect me to give some kind of credibility to this...

get for real, im not arguing how many faries you can fit on the head of a pin

the biggest joke at agentina lately with all those leaders was, chavez is warning everyone the usa is coming to get their oil, and someone said "they already are getting yours..."

they hypocracy just boggles the mind, just absolutly boggles the mind

and you amoral, who are not a red flagger, you remind me of all the people who arnt red flaggers but have just subconciosly been brain washed to automaticly think the usa represents the empired only out to get south america and brazil by hook or by crook

they will f**king negociete for it buddy, better have a good negocietor on the receiving end....

Augustus: Brazilians currently enjoy but which unfortunately share with very few of our neighbors, most notably Uruguay, Chile and Peru. It’s an essential human right which is denied in Venezuela, Bolivia, and very soon, also in Ecuador.


*****


Ricardo: You said: “denied in Venezuela, Bolivia, and very soon, also in Ecuador.”

You forgot to list Colombia on your list.

Anyway, for all practical purposes these 4 countries are “irrelevant” regarding the future of Brazil.

The future of Brazil is connected to Asia in the coming years and “relevant” countries such as China, India, and Japan.


*****


Augustus: Here again, I repeat, that I agree with your assessment about Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador”. Yet, you seriously underestimate the potential of Venezuela IF such an union takes place under the control of Hugo Chavez and/or his dangerous “Bolivarian” political movement. Indeed, based on my hypothetical scenario above, I truly believe you are not assessing the potential danger which a Stronger, Bigger and Ideological ardent Venezuela could pose to our country, particularly in view of its proximity and IF it enters MERCOSUL.


*****


Ricardo: In my opinion, Venezuela, and Hugo Chavez is nothing more than a “one trick pony.”

Hugo Chavez needs every dime that he can get from oil revenues to develop his own country. And the Venezuelan economy is a one-product economy – oil – and nothing else.

Bolivia and Ecuador are completely destitute countries, and Colombia has some natural resources but it is engulfed in a nasty civil war.

You guys are all afraid of a “one trick pony.”


***


Note: What is a One Trick Pony?

The slang term “one trick pony” is used to refer to something that can only be used for one very specific application. The term is also used to describe people; for example, a chef who can only produce one really good dish might be known as a one trick pony. The term is generally used in a disparaging way, since it suggests a lack of flexibility and an inability to work outside very specific parameters. Most people try to avoid creating or becoming a one trick pony for this very reason.


*****


Asp: noam chompsky is s**t in my book...he had a 20 page report on columbia and its hook up with the usa military industrial complex and had one paragraph on farc calling them freedom fighters ....oh ho ho haha what a peice of crap...this whole thing is a one sided stupidity that will only hold south americans back...what paranoid


*****


Ricardo: The author of that article is Pepe Escobar and he is a regular columnist at Asia Times Online.

I am not sure about his nationality, but his main audience is the people from Asia.

The Farc used to be called freedom fighters for first 35 years of the Colombian civil war, but since they found lots of oil in Ecuador, and in Colombia and started attracting the attention of the United States then the Farc became a terrorist group from the point of view of the United States.

.

Ricardo has repeatedly reminded me that I'm exceedingly influenced by the COLD WAR era, which, to a certain extent, I have agreed repeatedly; and in fact I further argue that, although the cold war between the USSR (which no longer exists) against the USA (the main representative of the western word, the process has never fully withered away. Rather, it remained dormant for a while and since CHAVEZ (and his massive assistance to Cuba, alliance with IRAN and particularly Belarus - which is nearly as Leninist, as their former patrons in Moscow) the cold war is back in force... Just some of the players changed

At any rate, for someone who keeps on reminding me of my inability to allow the cold war dissipate from my thoughts, Ricardo and his virulent anti-USA stance, supporting CHINA, and quoting strong anti-western scholars appears to be just as influenced by Cold War mentality, if not more!

Finally, while I do respect Ricardo and consider him a true Brazilian patriot filled with good intentions, I must reluctantly confess that, as a dual citizen of Brazil and the USA, I feel saddened by Ricardo's attacks on the very country where he has resided for most of his life... It strikes me as unjust, or, quoting my dear former Grand Mother, Ricardo appears to be "CUSPINDO NO PRATO ONDE COME".

EVEN if some horrible acts are being committed by undercover agents, provided that their ultimate targets are hard-line communists and ESPECIALLY the monstrous Islamic fundamentalists, I daresay that I would NOT in any way shape or form condemn any such measures.

Indeed, despite my strong commitment, respect, and beliefs in human rights, globalist World, inter-cultural tolerance, and anti-injustice, AWARE of that these values represent the very Achilles Hill of the civilized Western world, I have always advocated that, all these superior wonderful ideals should automatically be suspended against the most animalistic, obnoxious enemies of civilized society; for those who do NOT respect the most basic principles of decent human behavior, capable of committing the most heinous crimes against their own people when opposed, DO NOT DESERVE the privilege, the benefit of the same treatment.

Under these circumstances…
…the only good Radical communists are those arrested in labor camps or solitary cells,
…the only good Islamic fundamentalist terrorists are those executed on the SPOT, without mercy!

Ricardo: Asp you are so upset that Hugo Chavez has been buying military arsenal from the Russians. And today the Russians are present in Venezuela to show to the Venezuelans how to operate all that military equipment.

And you are all claiming how dangerous Hugo Chavez is for Brazil. According to you guys he is the boogieman of South America.

Let’s clarify how worried the Brazilian government is regarding this Boogieman.

I posted the following on the Elite Trader Forum in January and in July of 2006.

You guys probably are not aware that Brazil was the country that was negotiating the military arms sells to Venezuela until the United States blocked that deal.

Only after that Hugo Chavez went shopping for his weapons in Russia.

If the United States had not blocked that nice deal with Venezuela, then today the Brazilian military would be the one training the Venezuelans instead of the Russian.

Brazil lost a nice size contract that would have generated a lot of good paying jobs in Brazil.

The Russians are laughing all the way to the bank, and Brazil lost a nice piece of change because of the United States.

And that is part of real history my friends, that you are trying very hard to ignore.

And after that original deal worth billions of US dollars went through I am sure it would have been followed by further purchases by Venezuela of military equipment made in Brazil – creating even more jobs in Brazil.

I know it is more convenient for your mindset that Hugo Chavez is buying his military equipment from the ugly, scary, and bad Russians.


*****


July 28, 2006

SouthAmerica: Quoting from a Reuters article published in January 2006: “Embraer finds itself in an unwanted spotlight over the potential sale of surveillance planes to Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has expressed interest in buying Super Tucano patrol planes from Embraer…..”

After the US government blocked the sell of over 30 airplanes from Embraer in January 2006 – a contract worth millions and millions of dollars for Embraer which would have created new jobs in Brazil and a nice profit for this Brazilian company – Instead Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is giving this nice aircraft contract to Russian companies with the compliments of the United States.

Thanks a lot.

Now the US government is not only completely powerless in trying to stop this transaction with the Russians – but on top of that Hugo Chavez is going to acquire much more advanced military aircrafts which are a lot more dangerous than the ones he was buying from Brazil.

Brazil lost a substantial aircraft contract because of US interference and Hugo Chavez ended up with a much more powerful arsenal.

What a bunch of “FOOLS” we have in Washington today.

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...ost1147909


*****


“Brazil Embraer suspends plans for Florida factory”
Reuters - Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:33 AM ET
By Todd Benson

… The cancellation of the Pentagon contract comes as Embraer finds itself in an unwanted spotlight over the potential sale of surveillance planes to Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has expressed interest in buying Super Tucano patrol planes from Embraer, the same model that the Colombian military recently agreed to purchase.

But Brazilian officials and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez have said that the United States was trying to block the sale since the planes included U.S. technology. Chavez, a former paratrooper who staged a failed coup in 1992, has tense relations with the George W. Bush administration.

The United States also tried to stop Spain from selling military planes to Venezuela on similar grounds. But on Friday the Spanish government said it intended to go ahead with the deal without Washington's support and would sell 12 transport and maritime surveillance planes to Venezuela.

Chavez said this week he would wait to see if Brazil could solve the problem over the Embraer planes. If not, he suggested Venezuela could buy similar aircraft from China.

Embraer, the world's fourth-largest producer of commercial aircraft, has declined to comment on the potential deal with Venezuela.

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...post951178

.

Noam Chomsky, is a prolific author and Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Today, he is considered to be one of the leading intellectuals in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky

I admire Noam Chomsky, and I enjoyed very much the times he was a guest on The Charlie Rose Show.

Chomsky really got my attention when he was being interviewed a few years ago at The Charlie Rose Show, and he praised Brazil and the Brazilian people in many ways. He spoke so highly of Brazil on that television show that I became an immediate fan of Noam Chomsky.

And Noam Chomsky spoke with authority about everything that he said about Brazil – he had great understanding and knew very well the subject that he was talking about. He impressed me with his knowledge of Brazil.

That old fellow besides being super smart, he also has very good taste.

In my opinion, Noam Chomsky is an outstanding human being.

.

Ricardo: The enclosed article is a reality check for the folks that their mindsets are stuck in the past.

The coming economic system changes in Cuba it has already started with baby steps.

Today when I was reading the Financial Times the enclosed article caught my attention.

The article said: “…At a recent closed door meeting of accountants in Havana, a presentation by the Ministry of Planning and Economy appeared to advocate co-operatives, if not small private businesses. The ministry has become the centre of efforts to improve the economy since earlier this year Raul Castro replaced the entire economic cabinet, inherited from his ailing brother Fidel who retired in February 2008.


*****


“Havana eyes easing of retail sector controls”
By Marc Frank in Havana
Published: September 2, 2009
Financial Times (UK)

The Cuban government is considering easing its stranglehold on the retail sector in an effort to legalise the underground economy and reduce massive theft. It is President Raul Castro's second big economic reform after last year's decentralisation of agriculture and the leasing of idle state land.

A recent communiqué from the Communist party's central committee suggested change was coming to one of the world's two remaining Soviet-style command economies, the other being North Korea.

"Raul stated the key premises for economic policy to the end of the year and next were decentralisation of the assignment of resources to services and production that generate the most earnings for the country . . . and the search for new formulas that free up productive potentials," it said.

Cuba is battling a liquidity crisis, shrinking production and increased pressure from a frustrated public and creditors. The government cut imports 30 per cent and the state budget 10 per cent this year, and reduced its growth forecast from 6 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

Policymakers believe that up to 20 per cent of supplies flowing to thousands of retail businesses and cafeterias are stolen - from bags of rice and beans, wheat and yeast to merchandise and tools, parts and cement. Much of the remainder is poorly used, Cuban economists said.

"The only way to stop theft is to give workers an incentive not to steal and to work, and that means they have to have a real interest through a co-operative form of property or small business," said one of the economists, who asked to remain anonymous.

Phil Peters, Cuba analyst at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said that Cuba "long ago acknowledged state management failures in retail and service businesses, where workers are paid little, cheat consumers and resort to black market supplies to keep cafeterias and repair shops operating. The government would be smart to abandon these businesses."

At a recent closed door meeting of accountants in Havana, a presentation by the Ministry of Planning and Economy appeared to advocate co-operatives, if not small private businesses. The ministry has become the centre of efforts to improve the economy since earlier this year Raul Castro replaced the entire economic cabinet, inherited from his ailing brother Fidel who retired in February 2008.

"State-run socialist companies must be efficient and . . . what they need for their optimal performance must be guaranteed," the report said. "The remainder of the economy must adapt to a form of property better suited to the resources available."

The PowerPoint presentation, obtained by the Financial Times, blamed the centralised economic model's "low efficiency" and "excessive state protection of the population's consumption" in part for the country's economic problems.

Some Cuban economists have long argued that the state should focus on large companies and wholesale trade and get out of the retail business, which it has monopolised since 1968.

Now the state-run media have taken up the refrain in earnest. Juventud Rebelde, the official newspaper of the Union of Young Communists, and Ariel Terrero, state-run television's popular economic commentator, are leading the charge.

"Why should there be co-operatives only in agriculture? It is an organisational principle valid for other sectors," Omar Everleny, an economist, told Juventud Rebelde.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1d34...ck_check=1

.

what good is all that intelligence if you bulls**t all the way. this most recent statement by him about lula compared to goulart is bulls**t...his statement about farc as freedom fighters is bulls**t

what the f**k does he know about fenranco beira mar and farc? and why do you dismiss it?

what the f**k does he know about the pcc and farc? and you dismiss it

what the f**k does he know about sending cuban boxers back to cuba in a venezuelan plane and many congressment supporting a comunist terrorist from italy having refuge and these congressmen stating thier afinity based on cold war fundimentals they stated they are aligned with? and you dismiss it

what does this sob have to say about correa allowing a farc summer camp in on his territory, inviting young naive revolutionaries from mexico to hang out and discuss ideology? and you dismiss it

and what does that sob have to say about hugo aiding and abetting farc and selling them arms and allowing them sanctuary in his country? and you dismiss it

and what does that mother f**ker know about crack bust after crack bust after crack bust even in a small town like florianopolis...coke is rampant in brazil and the drug and arms sales and street urban violence is absolutly destroying the fabric of the big brazilian cities? and you dismiss it

he doesnt know dick s**t about brazil and he can kiss my ass

by the way, if i mentioned the arms deals with russia to hugo i just meant in the context that it is hypacracy to rant an rail about usa military on colombian bases and not note that hugo is doing the same thing...i dont lead with that argument.my argument is i see that chavez is helping farc and fard is raping brazil , its that simple...

this is a big chess game

and your writer was mentioning south american writers and chumskies opinions on south america. all of them tainted with hypocracy

I think that we are getting out of focus! The title of this article is "Latin American Polarization" and instead we have entered into discussing as "How to Polarize Latin and Anglo Americas".

Many readers of this site are very familiar with the views of our veteran writer Ricardo as how the U.S. economy is going and what potentials Brasil holds as an alternate (or co) leader in the Americas. While Augustus, ASP, Forrest, "The Guest" and I share with Ricardo on Brasil´s potentials, we are not very sure about the demise of the U.S. so soon. Of course, everyone is entitled to hold their own views. But basically, Augustus and I have been questioning for a long time, the "Personality Cult" promoted by the leaders in Latin America whose history is full of cult figures intending to create their own dynasties.IMHO,Brasil set the example to reverse this trend 40 and odd years ago,by putting apolitical technocrats in charge of the country and economy. However, recently we have been seeing some disturbing attempts to form "ruling" dynasties again in the continent and Augustus has rightly pointed this trend and the inevitable Polarization between Brasil and the rest.

New "dynasties" are being formed in many countries in this region and the 50 year old Castro dynasty in Cuba will continue for a long time showing shining example of Democracy, Justice, Freedom and Liberty. That is the sad truth. Now the question remains: Do we want it in Brasil? The next 13 months will be crucial to find the answer.

Firstly, addressing the comments in the order I have read, the following paragraph from ASP, in my opinion says EVERYTHING as to why I support the American bases in Colombia, and why I HATE Hugo Chavez (and the likes of this hypocritical, Neo-LENINIST (as opposed to just Neo-Marxist), quote:

by the way, if i mentioned the arms deals with russia to hugo i just meant in the context that it is hypacracy to rant an rail about usa military on colombian bases and not note that hugo is doing the same thing...i don’t lead with that argument.my argument is i see that chavez is helping farc and fard is raping brazil , its that simple...

The previous brief comment has already addressed part of the underlying issue for the two entries from JOAO which I would like to endorse, namely:

But basically, Augustus and I have been questioning for a long time, the "Personality Cult" promoted by the leaders in Latin America whose history is full of cult figures intending to create their own dynasties

Mercifully, the last of the kind in Brazil, as far as I recall from history, was GETULIO VARGAS. The brave Military Junta who saved Brazil from socialism, in the WISDOM, recycled the General in charge, thereby precluding Brazil from having a PINOCHET... Joao is so right, I DETEST, and DESPISE this personality worship... Those "Rif=Raff" without education or at least the blood and noble lineage" to at least TRY to back up their SELF-PROCLAIMED special statuses...

New "dynasties" are being formed in many countries in this region and the 50 year old Castro dynasty in Cuba will continue for a long time showing shining example of Democracy, Justice, Freedom and Liberty.

Indeed, NOT ONLY we have the CASTROS, now we have the beginning of the CHAVEZ's and that obnoxious family in Argentina (whose family name I have mercifully forgotten - whenever I think of them only the word BIMBO comes to my mind).
In effect, this discussion has made me obtain a tiny little bit of respect for LULA, for at least he (personally - as opposed to some of his supporters) does not seem to have ever encouraged that... Perhaps HE JUST KNOWS that our brave men in uniform would NEVER stand for that.

Finally, JOAO, who ever mentioned that CYNICAL end of the last paragraph I quoted, namely: "Cuba will continue for a long time showing shining example of Democracy, Justice, Freedom and Liberty"
Are you trying to make me VOMIT in my computer???
I would rather say that "Cuba will continue for a long time showing shining example of WHY sometimes one might have to condone political assassination".... THAT'S FAR MORE APPEALING!

Ricardo: Hugo Chavez is doing a very good job in destroying the Venezuelan economy.

He should not be looked as an enemy of Brazil instead he should be looked at as a good customer.

The more short falls they have in Venezuela regarding all kinds of foodstuff and other products, the more opportunities to sell the Brazilian goods on their market.

We should look at Venezuela as a very good growth market for all kinds of Brazilian products as their economy continues to go to hell in a handbasket.

The way thigs are going there is the potential that some day Venezuela might be importing even oil from Brazil.

In essence Hugo Chavez: instead of being a threat to Brazil as some people on this forum believe, in reality he provides new good business opportunities for Braz