Thank-you for bringing that to our attention.

Wendy, we take your admonitions seriously. Would you like to join the team at COHA and contribute to the editing process for us?

Dear Mr. Solano,

Thank you very much for your continued interest. Since, as you mentioned, the situation is intensifying, we are working hard to bring our readers the most up-to-date and relevant analysis possible--we are in the final stages!

Best,
COHA Staff

Mr. Cox, I believe I have reached the end of my ability to argue with you. This is not because of the validity of your arguments, but rather the refusal to acknowledge the points which I am making. Instead, you repeatedly misconstrue my attempts to engage in civil debate.

J. Preston Whitt, Author

In my article, I point to the fact that most of the ALBA funds Ortega receives go into his personal accounts, and that in fact he is now quite far to the right. In fact, I try to imply that Ortega has betrayed his "revolution" in order to play both sides against the other for his personal gain--in short, I definitely do not come down in support of Ortega.

As for your criticism of Chávez, in my opinion, "what he has to show for it" is that he has insulated the citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador from further damage by failed neoliberal policies. Of course, that's only, according to you, "5% of Latin America's population" (it is actually closer to 15%, not counting Cuba, see http://www.latin-focus.com/latinfocus/countries/l.... I suppose that bringing social benefits to 16 million people is "hardly an impressive result."

I fully welcome a continued discussion on this topic, and will personally make sure that your comments are not censored. I would like to make clear, however, that this piece is not supposed to be propaganda; instead, it focuses on the oft-ignored social changes the 21st century socialists have brought to their countries. I allude to the "human rights violations" with which U.S. media is obsessed, but do not cover it more extensively because of that obsession.

Everyone knows the bad, I'm trying to show the good.

J. Preston Whitt, Author

Dear Mr. Cox,

Our apologies for the delayed posting. COHA does not in fact censor comments, but sometimes our automatic approval system seems to stall. We went into the system, and searched for your comment--sure enough, it was still pending for some unknown reason. We were able to override the automatic system, so here is your comment (albeit 2 days late). Again, we apologize for the delay.

Best,
COHA Staff

I of course welcome debate on the topics of my piece. I assume that you have posted this comment as a criticism of my work; if instead it is directed at Josie Michel-Brüning, please reply to her postings.

Based of your criticism of the "intellectually bankrupt Left", I feel it safe to assume that you are from the "out-of-context Right". By that, I mean that none of the 'points' you raise in your comment appear in my piece. I criticize Ortega, as well as Chávez, for their oppression and human rights violations. However, the point of this piece is to discuss the social programs bringing healthcare, education, etc, to their people for which they have been able to pay using ALBA funds. The U.S. is criticized for the damage caused by neoliberal economic policy applications and encouragement of conflicts, but it is hardly given the full blame for "all of the world's problems"--evidenced by my defense of claims I did not cite the rumors of U.S. involvement in every political upheaval Latin America has ever experienced.

J. Preston Whitt, Author

Thank you for your post! You are certainly correct about the "coup"; that part of the piece should be updated. I have changed "coup" to "so-called coup" to denote its status.

You can access the references by clicking "here", or by by going to http://cohaforum.blogspot.com/2010/09/venezuelas-...

Sincerely,

The COHA team

Yes, NAFTA (and all free-trade agreements) usually benefit the Haves much more than the Have-Nots. However, the argument of this piece is that governments need to have the ability to make sure that the benefits are shared more equally, so that FTA's don't end up as another source of economic extraction.