Action platform of the Dominican Republic Branch of the Free People's Movement

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LUMUMBA

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Nov 14, 2005
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This is a translation.. I can post the original in Espa?ol if anyone wants..

http://freepeoplesmovement.org/fpm/page.php?138

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The following is a list of immediate demands which must be met in order for the most basic problems of the Dominican Republic to be solved. We strongly encourage all Dominican people to unite with us in the fight for the fulfillment of these demands.

1. Unite all who can be united ? under the leadership of the poor and oppressed ? to throw off the political and economic stranglehold of the US imperialists.
The main task facing the Dominican Republic today is the need for National Liberation. Our country is completely dominated ? both economically and politically ? by the North American imperialists through neo-colonialism. None of the needs of our people can be met as long as our entire country is run in the interests of US business owners.

All patriotic Dominicans of all sectors must unite under the democratic leadership of the poor and oppressed masses ? the only group capable of successfully leading such a struggle ? to free our country from Yankee domination by any means necessary.

2. Immediately withdraw from CAFTA and end all other unequal relations with foreign countries and companies.
As a part of establishing our national independence, we must break free of CAFTA and all other agreements with foreign countries and companies that benefit those countries and companies more than they benefit the Dominican people.

3. Forge a truly democratic government by placing control of communities in the hands of those who live in them, workplaces in the hands of those who work in them and farms, ranches and plantations in the hands of farmers and farm workers who work them. Replace the Congreso Nacional with a federation of councils whose members are elected at the community and workplace levels.
Once we liberate ourselves from Yankee domination, we can began to solve our problems. But in order to do so, we must create a truly democratic society in which the people make the decisions and can act in their own interests.

For this to occur, the people must take control of their communities, the workers must take control of their workplaces, and the farmers and farm workers must take control of the farms, ranches and plantation they work.

As well, the Congreso Nacional must be replaced with a federation of councils whose members are elected at the community and workplace levels.

4. Guarantee full political and economic equality in law for all, regardless of nationality, gender, age or skin color.
To establish a truly democratic society, we must guarantee full political and economic equality for all, regardless of nationality, gender, age or skin color. Only after this guarantee has been made can we solve the problems of the Dominican people.

5. Raise the monthly minimum wage to 6400 pesos for all workers. Eliminate child labor by sending all child workers back to school with a living wage. Work to eliminate prostitution by closing all known houses of prostitution and offering free education and a living wage to all known prostitutes. Make full employment available to all who want it.
In order to establish a truly democratic society, the people must be able to fully participate in all aspects of decision making. In order for the people to be able to do so, their basic needs must first be met. It is for this reason that the monthly minimum wage for all workers must be raised to 6400 pesos.

For a truly democratic society to operate, the people must also have access to a political and academic education. As a part of guaranteeing that access, all child workers must be sent back to school with a monthly allowance of 3200 pesos.

To ensure the full economic and political equality of our people, all known houses of prostitution must be immediately closed and all known prostitutes must be offered free education and granted a monthly allowance of 3200 pesos.

When the Dominican people take control of society into their own hands and make decisions their selves, they can implement a policy of guaranteed employment to all who want it.

6. Advance the liberation of women. Abolish all laws that discriminate against women and replace them with laws that guarantee the full equality of women in all aspects of life. Create childcare, meal preparation and delivery, and cleaning and maintenance services to free women from household slavery. Provide a living wage to all stay at home mothers.
No society can call itself democratic while women hold a lesser position in society than men. As a part of establishing full economic and political equality for all, all laws that discriminate against women must be immediately abolished and replaced with laws that guarantee the full equality of women in all aspects of society, and all stay at home mothers must provided an allowance of 6400 pesos a month.

As long as women are forced into household slavery, our society cannot be called a democratic society. Therefore, community based childcare, meal preparation and delivery, and cleaning and maintenance services must be created.

7. Abolish all taxes on the incomes of workers and farmers. Establish a sliding tax scale to insure a heavy taxation of the rich and zero taxation of the poor.
To insure full economic and political equality for all of our people we must establish a sliding tax scale under which the rich are taxed heavily while the poor aren?t taxed at all. For the same reason, all taxes on the incomes of workers and farmers must be abolished.

8. Place control of the electricity, water and communication systems into the hands of the Dominican people.
The only way to insure that the electricity, water and communication systems of our countries are being run in the interests of the Dominican people is for the Dominican people to take control of them.

Once the Dominican people take control of these systems 24 hour electricity service can finally be restored, and clean water and phone services can be extended to all parts of the country.

9. Freeze the prices of food and all other necessities, and abolish all taxes on necessities.
Because of the disastrous neo-colonial policies of our government, the prices of food and other basic goods and services have continued to raise drastically over the last few decades. To ensure the health and lively hood of the Dominican people. The prices of food and all other necessities must be frozen immediately, and all taxes on goods and services the people need should be abolished.

10. Lower all household rent to no more than 10% of the monthly wage of the occupants. Cancel all renters debt under 1,600,000 pesos.
To bring an immediate end to the housing crisis in our country, all household rent must be lowered to no more than 10% of the monthly wage of the occupants. To assure full economic and political equality among our people, all debt owed by renters under 1,600,000 pesos must be immediately canceled.

11. Place control of the hospitals and clinics into the hands of the Dominican people and make all healthcare absolutely free and available to all. Cancel all medical debt.
We must take control of the hospitals and clinics in order to use them in our own interests by extending free quality healthcare to the entire population. As a part of the new, democratic and just system of free, guaranteed healthcare for all, all medical debt must be cancelled.

12. Place control of all schools and universities into the hands of the Dominican people and provide completely free education ? from primary school to the university ? for all. Cancel all student debt and give all university students a living wage.
To establish the basis for a free and democratic society, all Dominicans must have access to academic and political education. To make this possible we must take control of all schools and universities and operate them in our own interests. We must make education ? from primary school to the university ? available to all completely free of charge. To ensure the political and economic equality of our people, all student debt must be canceled, and university students must be granted an allowance of 3,200 pesos a month.

13. Extend the right to vote to all Dominicans beginning at the age of 16.
To ensure the democratic character of our country, we must extend the right of participation in decision making to as much of the Dominican population as possible. This includes allowing members of our country?s armed forces to vote.

14. Launch extensive social projects to eradicate curable disease, eliminate illiteracy and otherwise benefit the Dominican people.
To solve the problems of the Dominican people extensive social projects need to launched immediately, including the establishment of mass literacy and medical programs, the expansion and improvement of our roads, electricity, communication and water and sewage systems, and the construction of thousands of housing units.

15. Place control of the Central Bank into the hands of the Dominican people. Cancel all private debt below 1,600,000 pesos.
To ensure that our country is ran in the interests of the Dominican masses, we must take control of the Central Bank and use it to our benefit. As a part of finally establishing full political and economic equality for all, all debt owed by individuals under the amount of 1,600,000 pesos must be immediately canceled.

16. Terminate all special privileges and protection from the law for elected officials. Lower the wages paid to all elected officials to levels no higher than the wages of skilled workers. Establish the right to recall any elected official in law. Abolish the party-appointed Supreme Court of Justice and replace it with a court elected directly by the Dominican people.
To insure the democratic nature of our country, all special privileges and protections for elected officials must be immediately terminated.

To insure political and economic equality among the people of our country and to end corruption, elected officials must not receive a higher wage than the average skilled worker receives, and must be recallable at any time by the voters.

A necessary part of establishing a truly democratic system is the abolition of the Supreme Court of Justice appointed by the main political parties, and its replacement with a court elected directly by the Dominican people themselves.

17. Abolish all pro-business and anti-worker laws. Abolish all laws that give businesses the same rights as citizens. Abolish all anti-union laws and replace them with laws guaranteeing the right to form unions.
Our country can never be run in a democratic fashion while it is operated in the interests of businesses rather than the interests of the Dominican people. As a part of creating a truly democratic society in which the people rule, all laws that put the interests of businesses above the rights of the Dominican people must be immediately abolished.

In any truly democratic society, the workers, farmers, students and other oppressed people must have the legal right to form unions and federations without interference from the government, business owners, armed forces or police; and that right must be fully upheld and protected.

18. Democratize the armed forces. Kick all US troops, advisors and agents out of our country for good. Combine the Army and National Police into one body of national defense under the control of the Dominican people, and restrict the use of this body in our country to disaster relief, public works and defense from outside aggressors. Immediately demobilize and recall all Dominican soldiers on foreign soil. Arm the Dominican people and train them in national self-defense.
As a part of finally establishing our national independence once and for all, we must kick all US troops, advisors and agents out of our country for good. We must also demobilize and recall all Dominican soldiers serving on foreign soil in the interest of foreign countries and businesses.

As a part of the democratization of our society, we must also democratize our armed forces. This means transforming the army and police from instruments of oppression of the people into instruments of national defense. To do this, the Army and National Police must be combined into one National Defense Force which is put under the command of the body of national councils. The use of this National Defense Force on Dominican soil must be limited to disaster relief, public works projects and defense from outside aggressors.

Finally, once a truly democratic society under the control of the masses is formed, it must be vigorously defended. Therefore, the Dominican people must be armed and trained to defend our country and our hard won gains at any cost.
 

rendul

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Feb 24, 2002
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I honestly don't think the country could function realistically based on these rules. You would eventually not have any investment at all if there is no potential for recouping of initial investment. Until education standards improve, the general public may not understand their role in managing all the programs you have indicated.
 

Rick Snyder

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Nov 19, 2003
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I meant to post this to this thread instead of the other thread;

Lumumba,

Your subversiveness here in the “Government” forum really suprises me. The thought that quickly comes to mind is that you are related to a board member whose name starts with “M” or, due to your almost newbie status, you are a sock of same member. Of course there is always the possibility that you are in cahoots with a certain South American government but hey what do I know.

Your post does in fact bring up some very important questions which I feel must be addressed. The first question is are you Dominican? From your post here I would have thought so but your post here indicates otherwise. Your nationality, I think, stop, stop, stop, stop!!!!!!

I just did a search of your 11 posts and come up with some interesting facts. You are not Dominican! You have been planning this idea of subversion on the DR since at least Dec of 2005 and your obsession with firearms is apparent, (Read this thread completely)!

After that burst of energy in Jan of 06 you laid dormant till March when you inquired about an English school, which I assume is for your cousin here, and never responded to the help that the board members offered you.

Then today you make 4 posts of which 3 are to start new threads preaching your desire for an international group to overthrow the DR government. 1, 2, 3, and this thread here.

It is my honest desire that the powers to be on this board ban you from this board. As I live here and do in fact like the country and its people and believe that democracy is the best form of government for this country then people such as yourself that advertise a desire to overthrow that government should be banned. My opinion.

Rick
 
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Rick, you are to kind to have taken the time to read the OP's other posts. Reading all the garbage contained in this one single post was enough for me.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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I couldn't post through the vomit i spat up at reading the first post. :(:(

I live through a lot of this schitt back in the 60s. There are truly cogent agruments against each and every position expounded, but it is a waste of breath and bandwidth....it just doesn't sink in.....

As a wonderful poetess in the 20s once said: An axxhole by any other name is still an asshole!" Well......sort of:p:p:p


HB
 
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Mirador

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Apr 15, 2004
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Rick Snyder said:
.... The thought that quickly comes to mind is that you are related to a board member whose name starts with ?M? or, due to your almost newbie status, you are a sock of same member. ...Rick

Rick, actually LUMUMBA makes me sound like a Bushist neoconservative preemptionist ("let's kill the Lebanese children before the grow up and threaten Israel"). I'm with Hillbilly on this one. Ban LUMUMBA, ban the bomb, ban Bush...
 

LUMUMBA

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Nov 14, 2005
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Ask the people of Cuba how ideas like this have worked out for them...........

Ok, let's compare..

Life expectancy before the revolution in Cuba: 59.4 years
Life expectancy after: 77 years

Literacy before the revolution in Cuba: 59%
Literacy after: 97% (the only folks who can't read are those with disabilities or learning disorders)

Infant mortality rate before the revolution in Cuba: 60
Infant mortality rate after: 5.8

Literacy in socialist Cuba: 97%
Literacy in capitalist DR: 82%

Infant mortality in socialist Cuba: 5.80
Infant mortality in capitalist DR: 33.41
Infant mortality in imperialist US: 7.00

Persons per doctor in socialist Cuba: 290
Persons per doctor in capitalist DR: 795
Persons per doctor in imperialist US: 470

Unemployment in socialist Cuba: 1.9%
Unemployment in capitalist DR: 15%
Unemployment in imperialist US: 5.8%

Human Poverty Index in socialist Cuba: 4.1%
Human Poverty Index in capitalist DR: 11.8%

SOURCES: UNESCO, UNDP, UNSD, EPICA, CIA World Fact Book, UNICEF.

Your post does in fact bring up some very important questions which I feel must be addressed. The first question is are you Dominican? From your post here I would have thought so but your post here indicates otherwise. Your nationality, I think, stop, stop, stop, stop!!!!!!

My father is Dominican and my mother is Colombian. I was born in Colombia, lived a while in the U.S..

Are you Dominican? Most of the people that post here aren't, but yet they have an awful lot to say about how the country should be run (usually in the interest of foreign business owners)..

I just did a search of your 11 posts and come up with some interesting facts. You are not Dominican! You have been planning this idea of subversion on the DR since at least Dec of 2005 and your obsession with firearms is apparent, (Read this thread completely)!

I haven't been planning with any ideas... nice try though.

After that burst of energy in Jan of 06 you laid dormant till March when you inquired about an English school, which I assume is for your cousin here, and never responded to the help that the board members offered you.

I don't have regular access to the internet. Sorry. I'm thankful for the help though.

Then today you make 4 posts of which 3 are to start new threads preaching your desire for an international group to overthrow the DR government. 1, 2, 3, and this thread here.

I didn't "preach" anything. I posted the program of a political organization I support. Why is it okay to promote the corrupt puppets in the PLD & PRD but not groups like the MGL or FR?

It is my honest desire that the powers to be on this board ban you from this board. As I live here and do in fact like the country and its people and believe that democracy is the best form of government for this country then people such as yourself that advertise a desire to overthrow that government should be banned. My opinion.

Rick

That makes alot of sense.. wouldn't want a thing like free speech or advocacy of a real, grass roots democracy to get in the way of the beloved Dominican democracy that exists now..
 

Rick Snyder

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Nov 19, 2003
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Mirador I owe you an apology. At the beginning I was under the impression that the lean was a little comical in nature till I read the other posts by this idiot. Looking in retrospect I should have deleted any implied reference to you as to an association to this flamer and if you wish I will go back and delete said reference. Just give the word and it's done.

Rick
 

qgrande

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Jul 27, 2005
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Oh please, I can't believe how you guys take this stuff so seriously. Who is going to buy this radical crap? This guy is just some student copy-pasting stuff from the 60s, that in five years will be a happy family man, working at a nice job in suit and tie, and laughing at the communist follies of his youth.
I'd say, chill out, peace and free love :)
 

LUMUMBA

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Nov 14, 2005
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Oh please, I can't believe how you guys take this stuff so seriously. Who is going to buy this radical crap?

Seeing as the group has members in 9 countries, on 4 continents.. it seems alot of people are "going to buy this radical crap".

This guy is just some student copy-pasting stuff from the 60s,

I'm 34, I've been working my whole life, and this platform was written in 2006. Latinoamericanos are finally fighting for our liberation again.. maybe you haven't heard? See: Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico & Peru.

that in five years will be a happy family man, working at a nice job in suit and tie, and laughing at the communist follies of his youth.
I'd say, chill out, peace and free love

Spoken like a true sell-out. I have a family now. I'm a class-concious proletarian, I'll never adopt your petit-bourgeois outlook.

Once again, I'm glad to see that since you can't respond to the actual content of any of my posts, you just respond with ad hom personal attacks (that aren't even true!) in some sort of attempt to discredit me. I guess if you're a student, you can't have any legitimate say???

2.JPG
 

Celt202

Gold
May 22, 2004
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LUMUMBA said:
The following is a list of immediate demands which must be met in order for the most basic problems of the Dominican Republic to be solved. We strongly encourage all Dominican people to unite with us in the fight for the fulfillment of these demands.

................................................................
yada yada
................................................................

Finally, once a truly democratic society under the control of the masses is formed, it must be vigorously defended. Therefore, the Dominican people must be armed and trained to defend our country and our hard won gains at any cost.

Why not personally present these demands at the Presidential Palace?

I'm sure you could have a lovely chat there with people who count.
 

bilijou

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Jun 13, 2006
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LUMUMBA,

Can you honestly say that Cuba is in an envious position?
Why are Cubans dying along with Dominicans trying to pass el canal de la mona en yola?

Latinoamericanos are finally fighting for our liberation again.. maybe you haven't heard? See: Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico & Peru.
I am FULLY Dominican. While the US foreign policy in the past century has done much damage in DR, I’ll be damned if Dominicans join this “revolutionary” trend. What your ignorance impedes you from realizing is that Chavez and Morales are destroying their countries. People like you make me think that Democracy isn’t always good for a country.

Oh, and dont use Caama~o's name. He didnt stand for what you do.
 
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You forgot to include certain things in all the statistics that you quoted from the alphabet soup organizations. Sure all those nice numbers make Cuba look like a great society, but you left out the part about not being able to critizice the government, not being able to read any book you want, not being able to listen to any radio station or watch any tv program that is not government run, not being able to freely pratice religion or even assemble with large group of friends, and having to get in line to get some toilet paper.

Why don't you go ask the average person living in Cuba when was the last time that they ate a steak or any other meat for that matter? Go ask one of the Cubans who risked his/her life to venture into the open ocean on some rickety raft how great life in Cuba is?

Oh, and the ultimate proof of how great Cuba is would be for you to get on the next flight into the island. I'm sure that Castro can spare the extra few pounds of rice and rolls of toilet paper that you would be allotted each month. After all, you're a true believer in "La Revolucion"!
 

Guatiao

El Leon de los Cacicazgos
Mar 27, 2004
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After reading the OPs drivel, I have come to a conclusion, the OP hates DR. If his plan would to ever be implemented, it would bankrupt the country and send it back 100 years.

Don't you just hate it when somebody tries to force their opinion down your throat? The OP does not seem to understand the basic principles of economics, DR culture, or freedom.
 

Tuan

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Aug 28, 2004
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Vote at 16? Have equal trade relations with countries 30 times your size???
"Who's gonna buy this drivel?"
Don't worry, from Bolsheviks to Hizballah to Chavistas, there are MILLIONS who buy this stuff with many more millions who then die as history gets set back a century or more again.
NOT taking this creep seriously is a bigger problem than he is!
 

LUMUMBA

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Nov 14, 2005
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Why not personally present these demands at the Presidential Palace?

I'm sure you could have a lovely chat there with people who count.

Maybe I'll just call instead, that is, if Verizon hasn't shut off their phone again!

Or maybe you should have read the whole thing, instead of just the first and last paragraphs. The current government acts in the interests of foreign capitalists and local compradors, and so wouldn't impliment any such changes if they could.

Why are Cubans dying along with Dominicans trying to pass el canal de la mona en yola?

Make no mistake about it. Cuba is a poor country, it has a history of being a colony and the U.S. has held a vicious blockade over it for 5 decades. This blockade means Cuba has limited markets to sell her goods (if a plane or boat goes to Cuba, it can't go the U.S. for months; If something, like a car, contains even one bolt made in Cuba, it can't be sold in the U.S.; etc.); but even with all that, Cuba's social measures are the best in all of Latin America, and most of the third world. It surpasses even the U.S. goliath in many categories. Even without embargos, no countries that come from a similar background come even close to the social acheivements of Cuba..

And contrary to the image perpetuated by the right wing media, by percentage, few Cubans actually leave Cuba. There are many reasons that those who do, do. Firstly, before the Cuban Revolution the United States gave very few Cubans visas to come to the United States, but after the revolution the doors were opened wide. Secondly, there's the embargo (which has been condemed several times in the United Nations by almost every country in the world) which has caused the people of Cuba to suffer. Finally, the United States enacted the 'Cuban Adjustment Act', the only act of its kind anywhere in the world, which grants residency to anyone, no matter if they are a criminal or not, who leaves Cuba and reaches the United States in any fashion. Imagine if the same act applied to all of Latin America! How many people from other countries would leave for the United States? How many people leave places like capitalist Mexico and the capitalist Dominican Republic now? Then you've got the constant pro-U.S. propaganda being beaming into Cuba from the U.S. that makes the U.S. seem like the greatest country in the world. Of course, the reality is something different, as more than a few Cubans have noted:

"A young Cuban explains, “I think some people come to Cuba to find our unhappiness. They can only see what we don’t have. The things that make life in Cuba different from the States, as if there’s only one way to make happiness.”

"He continues, “I have one friend who went to Miami. He came back for a visit, and once he got to Havana, he refused to leave. He told me that in America he knew no one. No one spoke to him. No one looked him in the eyes when he walked on the sidewalk. He was really unhappy. Told me that drugs and violence and racism scared him, a lot.”

&

As Eric, a Black Cuban, explained to author C. Peter Ripley, “Our life here before the revolution was a lot like in the United States I think. Maybe worse, I don’t know. But I know what the revolution has meant for people like me. There was prejudice. It was very bad, to be Black. To be Black and poor. It was very bad. We could do nothing. I wish my English was better so I could explain better.
“Now we can do whatever everyone else can. Be here or there. Hold important jobs. When people in the United States talk about Cuba, there never ask people like me what I think, what we think.
“We will never go back to the way things were. We can’t. Won’t.” - Source

I am FULLY Dominican. While the US foreign policy in the past century has done much damage in DR, I’ll be damned if Dominicans join this “revolutionary” trend.

You'll be damned then. The PTD(ML), FR & MGL are all growing at a fast rate in RD.

What your ignorance impedes you from realizing is that Chavez and Morales are destroying their countries.

I don't support Morales, he hijacked a popular uprising by workers and farmers in Bolivia in the 2nd Gas War to put his own pro-capitalist party (the so-called "Movement Towards Socialism") in power. Here's an analysis of that: Bolivia: Why Evo Morales is no answer

And Chavez is, so far, a reformist. I support concrete gains made under him in Venezuela (and there are alot, like the complete illimination of illiteracy with the help of Cuban doctors), and defend him and Venezuela against imperialist attacks, but harbor no illusions that socialism has yet been established in Venezuela. Of course, the Movement for the Fifth Republic was put, and kept in power by workers and farmers in Venezuela. There are new openings being made, and with the Bolivarian Circles (which I'm active in) as a basis, and now with the arming of the Venezuelan workers and farmers, there's a good chance socialism can be established there.

With all that being said, all social measures have improved in both Bolivia and Venezuela since the elections of Morales and Chavez, respectively.

People like you make me think that Democracy isn’t always good for a country.

Maybe we need a new Trujillo, huh? That will show those silly workers and farmers that they have no right "meddling" in politics!

You remind of the U.S. government.. promote "democracy," except when the people elect someone you don't like, then oppose it (see: Nicragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, Viet Nam, Palestine, Belarus, etc. etc. etc.).

Oh, and dont use Caama~o's name. He didnt stand for what you do.

Crack a history book, it won't hurt..

Caamaño trained his guerrilla army in socialist Cuba, and left from there (in a Cuban boat, with Cuban guns) to land in the DR, in an attempt to spur a similar socialist revolution there.
 
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