Cynic is right. Folks of the ilk like Chavez, Arafat, the Hamas leadership and the Taliban can never solve the plights of their people. They act to create dependencies to keep themselves in power. To solve real problems and advance their societies would be to make themselves expendable and irrelavant. The ideas that such people have are so shallow and flawed, they would become extinct upon any relization of their cause. Consequently, they rule by fear, intimidation, murder and by keeping the majority of the population living at subsistence levels where they are less threatening.

That way he keeps them dependent!

If many had paid attention to the Israeli/Palestinian situation they would have noticed that Hamas and Islamic Jihad did their damndest to prevent Palestinians from working.

They bombed the industrial centres Israel had set up on the border and through terrorist actions forced the reduction of workers permitted into Israel proper.

The ordinary guy on the street becomes totally dependent on extremist largesse.

“The free trade of goods promotes the free trade of ideas. They don’t want their citizens further infected with our ideas.”

The last thing they want is the American liberty to choose and do without political interference.

They would lose power.

One is not dealing with humanitarians here but thugs, mafia style.

Just look at what is being exposed in Brazil right now; how the present “worker’s party” government took money (monies budgeted for the Bank of Brazil’s publicity) to pay for votes in Congress.

Oh, and mrp: I thought Castro used to be a baseball player?

The Bearded One wishes!

Castro is to baseball what Maradona is to economics

I wonder why it is that the anti-globalisation soapdodgers never take their arguments to their logical conclusion: if the USA needs to “protect” itself from China (or Argentina from the USA, or whatever they’re on about this time), then why doesn’t California need to “protect” its economy from the impoverished drudges of North Dakota? Maybe Orange County should enact tarriffs against Fresno to “protect” its peoples’ lifestyles from “dumping” of cheap goods?

Oh, and mrp: I thought Castro used to be a baseball player?

Vicente Fox was saying that a trade accord in the Americas will boost growth and should go ahead even if some countries refuse to join, but he doesn’t get as much publicity as Hugo’s stunts.

As for the people in the streets of Mar del Plata, I’m willing to bet that many of them come from afar, like Cindy Sheehan. And the TV cameras were poised ahead of time at the riot locale. What a coincidence.

Vicente Fox was saying that a trade accord in the Americas will boost growth and should go ahead even if some countries refuse to join, but he doesn’t get as much publicity as Hugo’s stunts.

As for the people in the streets of Mar del Plata, I’m willing to bet that many of them come from afar, like Cindy Sheehan. And the TV cameras were poised ahead of time at the riot locale. What a coincidence.