Thursday

Cuba and Venezuela: A Bolivarian Partnership

Like Denzel said . . .learn that shit!

Civilize the body, make savage the mind.

José Martí and Simón Bolívar, two of Latin America's most respected independence fighters, recognized nearly a century ago that their homelands would never be free of imperial domination, until Latin America came together in solidarity as a united force. Martí and Bolívar's insights remain relevant in the age of neo-liberal globalization. The colonizers of their centuries have been replaced by multinational corporations and imperial states with the ability to blow up the world many times over, terrorizing the global populace. Their collective power is augmented by seemingly untouchable supranational bodies (i.e. the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization) that allow them to come together to devise the most effective ways to control the world and amass wealth.

Martí and Bolívar would be delighted to see the unique partnership that has developed between Cuba and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela -- the relationship that defies the logic of neo-liberalism and takes an important step toward Latin American unity. Cuba and Venezuela demonstrate -- to a world where all are forced into a "race to the bottom" -- that empowering the poorest people through a needs-based partnership is not only possible but also desirable. Their mutual-aid exchanges in educational materials, medical services, and preferential prices of oil are a living counter-example to the competitive and exploitative nature of "free trade."

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