Given the sordid history of US intervention beginning with the theft of one-half of Mexico in the 1840s, it is amazing how servicable these lies remain. "Democracy, progress" fig leaf would be blown away in short order if the US monopoly press published only selected examples of US aggression and domination.

A good starting place is always the amazing 1933 speech of retired Marine Corps Major-General Smedley Butler who described himself as a "gangster for capitalism."

Bob Schwartz
_________

We again must become a beacon for democracy, progress

BY JOHN F. KERRY


Op-Ed in the Miami Herald
Miami Herald
Wed, Jun. 30, 2004

* Even in Cuba, the angry red scar in a sea of democratic blue, we have seen a further deterioration, with widespread arrests of dissidents and human-rights activists....

* Where democracy is in peril, we support the
forces of peaceful democratic opposition. Those in Venezuela who seek to strengthen democracy through the constitutional process of a referendum deserve our full support.
In Cuba, we must support Oswaldo Payá and his brave colleagues on the Varela Project. I
have honored principled dissent, civil disobedience and peaceful challenges
to authority my entire adult life. Indeed, without dissent we could not have
made progress toward civil rights in America, ended the war in Vietnam or
defeated apartheid and communism abroad....

At the same time, it is important to develop broad and vocal international
support for dissident movements. Doing so will ensure that the international community will shine a bright light on any attempts to suppress dissident activities

* Act with others. In Venezuela, the Organization of American States, together
with the Carter Center, was able to break a political deadlock without
breaking the constitution in a manner that the United States acting alone
could not. In Cuba, we and our allies have followed sharply divergent paths.
We should be working through the OAS, with our allies and with democratic
friends worldwide to put pressure on the Castro regime to release political
prisoners, allow room for political opposition and accede to initiatives
such as the Varela Project, which will move Cuba toward democracy. And
before financial crises once again rock the region, we must reassert our
leadership at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to help guide a
responsible international reaction.

Practical goals

Let me offer two concrete proposals that I will advance as president:

* Establishment of a Council for Democracy, composed of distinguished
international leaders who can work with the OAS to resolve crises before
constitutional order is threatened and blood is shed. This proposal builds
on the success of the Carter Center and the OAS in finding a constitutional
path forward in Venezuela.

* A tripling of U.S. funds to the National Endowment for Democracy to support
its work training and organizing party leaders in Latin America. These funds
would assist both traditional and fledgling political parties overseas to
practice inclusion at the grass-roots level, enable them to forge stronger
ties to poor communities and strengthen democracies by broadening party
participation.

The great Cuban patriot Jose Martí wrote, ``It is not enough to come to the
defense of freedom with epic and intermittent efforts when it is threatened
at moments that appear critical. Every moment is critical for the defense of
freedom.''...