Greetings, and welcome to the World Affairs Board!
The World Affairs Board is the premier forum for the discussion of the pressing geopolitical issues of our time. Topics include military and defense developments, international terrorism, insurgency & COIN doctrine, international security and policing, weapons proliferation, and military technological development.
Our membership includes many from military, defense, academic, and government backgrounds with expert knowledge on a wide range of topics. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so why not register a World Affairs Board account and join our community today?
Cuba is a leading research centre on cheap medicines. They're doing experiments that no Western country would ever allow, ie using gene manipulation in sheep to produce cheap medicines.
Originally posted by Officer of EngineersView Post
They're doing experiments that no Western country would ever allow, ie using gene manipulation in sheep to produce cheap medicines.
You do realize pretty much everyone is doing stuff like that?
Chavez would be in Cuba because Cuba is the established leader in medical infrastructure and medical treatment in at least Latin America, effectively in the entire Second World. Has been for over 40 years. Even if the guys a bit further up north tend to deny it. Thanks Che. For both.
I've never really understood why some Americans (in particular) saw Chavez as the bogeyman or why left wing morons saw him as some sort of hero (OK, I sort of do, but it is still silly). In the revolutionary stakes he was a VERY pale facsimilie of Fidel, and in the fighting poverty stakes Lula in Brazil & the Concertacion in Chile put him to shame. It stikes me that hugo was/is a master at selling the sizzle rather than the sausage & that people all over the political spectrum bought it.
That said, he has done more harm than good & will do more harm if he survives. Can't help but think that the Chavestistas will struggle to find a replacement. No great loss.
That said, he has done more harm than good & will do more harm if he survives. Can't help but think that the Chavestistas will struggle to find a replacement. No great loss.
I don't like him because he does his country far more harm than good, pandering to his own ego and wallet rather than what his countrymen need.
In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.
Yeah, but Schröder and Blair were the left-wing-slash-third-way populists with not really any left-wing substance in their actions ;)
To be fair, Hugo has left wing substance, its just that a lot of it is crappy failed left wing stuff & none of it is anywhere near as effective/dangerous as his fans or detractors want to believe. Lula & the concertacion leaders were probably less left wing than Hugo strictly speaking (though all screaming marxists to most of our American bretheren) but they also spent their time actually running effective programs rather than posturing & making long, rambling speeches. I actually wish Hugo was as vapid as Blair or Schroder, he would have done less damage. They were less entertaining (than practically anything really) but less harmful too.
On a side note, I actually have time for third way stuff done well. The Hawke/keating government here pretty much wrote the playbook for the third way. They not only ran a pretty good government, but transformed the economy too. Basically, what Blair promised to do.
I don't like him because he does his country far more harm than good, pandering to his own ego and wallet rather than what his countrymen need.
Agreed. I don't like him either. I just don't understand the scale of the reaction by others (not you). Some Americans seem to think he is the devil incarnate, some brain dead lefties (mainly European, but not exclusively) seem to think he is the fulfillment of some left wing dream. He isn't close to being either. I honestly can't believe that so many perople seem to buy into his schtick.
Agreed. I don't like him either. I just don't understand the scale of the reaction by others (not you). Some Americans seem to think he is the devil incarnate, some brain dead lefties (mainly European, but not exclusively) seem to think he is the fulfillment of some left wing dream. He isn't close to being either. I honestly can't believe that so many perople seem to buy into his schtick.
In the Netherlands we see him mainly as a loony dictator type of person who has his eyes on snatching Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Falklands all over again.
some brain dead lefties (mainly European, but not exclusively) seem to think he is the fulfillment of some left wing dream.
Among European leftists that's mostly just an automatic anti-american reflex. The US is trying to topple him, so we've gotta be for him. In Germany only the irrelevant Stalinists glorify him; the postcommunists do the anti-american reflex thing, and the social democrats officially are okay with him as long as he's democratically legitimized, although some agree with the postcommunists on their "never again another Chile" stance.
Comment