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May 13, 2006
Framing the Debate
Today's Gazeta Wyborcza contains an article on Chavez and Morales which is too outrageously partisan to pass up even though I've mentioned the subject before. It's by Maciej Stasi?ski, which I suspect might be the name of a computer program which shuffles and deals out US-approved cliches about "populism," "demagoguery" or "the free market." Here are the first few sentences of what is ostensibly a news report (i.e. not an opinion piece or an editorial) about the Vienna summit:
The summit of 58 presidents and premiers was to open the road to dialogue. And maybe it would have worked, had it not been for the two greatest populists in Latin America: the Venezuelan Hugo Chavez and the Bolivian Evo Morales. The oil and gas wealth which the two control has turned their heads and prompted them to a demagogic and nationalist crusade against the free market [my italics]Any political commissar could be proud of that. It's a wonder Stasi?ski didn't brand them "lap dogs" or "fellow travellers"... The rest is too awful to read but dipping in more or less at random I came up with this pearl:
Morales did not spare Spain's socialist prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero either, even though he [Zapatero] supports him. He upbraided Zapatero for Spain's failure to meet its promise to cancel Bolivian debt and double economic aid.So you see, Morales is a miserable ingrate for daring to criticise a supporter. As for the substantive issue -- has Spain really reneged on promises made to Bolivia -- of that Stasinski has not a word to say. Nor does he explain what he means by "free trade" but we can be almost certain that "trade" would be a more accurate description of what is on offer, since inevitably any deal on the table will include patent protection laws.
On the facing page of the paper is an article and two interviews about France. You may have heard of France: its productivity is greater than that of the US and yet they have a 35 hour week. The article headline is: "Is France a 'sick man'?" Of course it is: just look at the first questions in the two interviews carried out by Konrad Niklewicz:
"Can France be reformed at all at all?" [Okay - I put in the second "at all" myself]
"France and Holland are two founder members of the EU. Holland is reforming and liberalising all the time, while France has ossified in its shell. Why?"
Clearly there in no agenda here. These questions are wide open and could invite any kind of answer -- especially when, like Niklewicz, you put them to two Christian Democrat Euro-politicians.
Posted by hgrodsk at May 13, 2006 05:18 PM
Comments
The funniest thing at Vienna was Chavez sandwiched in between self-styled 'socialist' Bertie Ahern, who looked like he'd have had his arm around ol' Hugo if it weren't for Marcinkiewicz on the other flank, doing that pathetic look of mortification he does so well. The Argentinian eco-protestor saved the day tho'.
Posted by: -jk- at May 13, 2006 09:03 PM
Here's an interesting article on Chavez from indymedia:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/76020&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment149081
Posted by: Henry Grodsk at May 14, 2006 10:28 PM