nterventor
As for Russia, Alexander Karenski, was the last legitimate leader of Russia, after Trotski threw him out in a coup de main. As a young man, I saw Karenski feeding the pigeons in Central Park -- poor old man. No true elections were held in Russia before it metastasized into the USSR.
While the Sandinistas did win in Nicaragua, they immediately started the same old land seizures, forced labor and closure of La Prensa -- an opposition newspaper. Their vaunted literacy campaign was exposed as a sham when it was revealed most of the literati couldn't even read their certificates. Even after losing in 1990, Ortega and his crew still live in the estates they seized -- living la vida haciendada.
Allende never received a majority, but was selected by the congress after signing the Statute of Constitutional Guarantees promising not to overthrow the constitution, which he promptly forgot. He was overthrown by a military coup, but only after general strikes and demonstrations in the streets. Originally it was reported he committed suicide. But, new confessions revealed his Cuban body guard murdered him, when he tried to negotiate with the military (take note Hugo Chavez).
Cuba is the result of a revolution, no true elections, and the fervent work of racist, gay bashing, murderous Che Guevara and his firing squads. In 1962 Cuba had eleven prisons. Now, Cuba has 300 (not counting Gitmo).
The Iran 1954 replacement of Mossedegh with the shah was more MI-6's work. Perhaps, you should blame Bond -- James Bond!
The 1963 incursion in the Congo was the work of the UN who actually took offense to human sacrifice and cannibalism under Lumumba, imagine that!
Communism delivered the two greatest human murder machines (USSR and China) in the history of Man, and spawned many smaller grotesqueries such as Pol Pot and his Killing Fields. Yeah, I know you Chomskites say it didn't happen, but I believe my bartender and his buddies. He was their God bless them!
Socialism is delivering forced euthanasia (Holland); household wealth less than Mississippi (Sweden) infantilization of the population striking and scrambling for scraps from government largess (France); chronic unemployment (France, Germany, etc.); a health care system that let 35,000 elderly die of heat prostration in government care (western Europe); and the destruction of European culture to such an extent they will not stand up to their encroaching dhimmitude by the islamists. Yeah, that's a real winner!
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I was going to mention Karenski but my post was long as it was and in reality he meant little for the real change needed in Russia. I never said Russia had elections. It was attacked by western capitalists to destroy the communist system, which is the real enemy of capitalists. A system that gives the working people and poor a share in the profits of the state. The Russian revolution disintegrated and Trotsky himself was forced to flee.
It never really delivered the promises to most of the people until after WW2 when over 20 million people died and half the country destroyed was able to industrialize itself into a somewhat modern society without any aid from the West. It literally "Lifted itself up by it's boot straps" but again corruption and patronage destroyed it from within.
When the Sandanistas ruled Nicaragua it was bankrupted by the Somoza regime. They struggled to implement land reform, health care, education and other social programs. They were preaised for their efforts by International Relief agencies. Attacks by the US sponsored proxy army, the contra's attacked health clinics, civilians, farms, power plants to also destabilize the economy. There were no forced labor camps and it was a democracy. Not only did I read about it I met people who went and liived there.
For years La Prense supported the contras and attacks on the country. The Sandinsitas threatened to close the paper after years of destabilization but I forget if they ever did. They may have closed it near the end of their term but I don't believe they did. It was exposed that it received money through the Endowment for Democracy, a US propaganda arm, and was part of the CIA destabilization campaign. It operated freely for years calling for strikes and such. One has to wonder what would happen here today if a leftist paper did such a thing.
Allende was the winner in Chile and did receive a majority of votes. That's why he won. I believe it was a 3 way race with run-offs. He never abolished the constitution and did everything according to law. He chose to remain in the Presidential Palace during the coup and refused to surrender. I have never read that he was murdered by a Cuban body guard and doubt he even had one. There was no reason to have one as a few generals did remain loyal to him and a number of officers in the military as the crises developed over months. I remember reading about one who was arrested and imprisoned and he made a statement that he remained loyal to the constitution. The new president Michele Bachelet's father was a military officer who was imprisoned, tortured and died under Pinochet for his continued support of the constitution, which Allende upheld. Bachelet herself was imprisoned.
Allende's threat was the same as the Sandinista's or Arabenz in Guatemala, Castro and Chavez, it is the threat of a good example. The end of the old corrupt oligarchy that is used by colonialist powers to rule.
Chile was destabilized by a CIA covert program.
Mossedegh was over thrown by the CIA and Kermit Roosevelt has since written a book about it and his participation in the coup.
Cuba has elections for local representatives and the assembly but Castro is President. US is at war with Cuba since Castro took power and has tried to murder him and overthrow the government to reinstate another US puppet that will allow US corporations to loot the country and exploit the people and labor.
There was no cannibalism under Lumumba it was part of a CIA disinformation campaign. It helped ferment ethnic divisions, and old technique by colonial powers. The US CIA overthrew him and supported the repressive regime of Mobutu, who was one of the leading human rights abusers in Africa and the most corrupt. Not as brutal as Idi Ammin but much more corrupt.
The Khmer Rogue were not really communist but took their beliefs from an ancient Cambodian dictatorship. They did have a communist type government but would never have come to power if the US hadn't bombed Cambodian villages, killing untold civilians and over threw Prince Shinouk and supported the corrupt and repressive General Lon Nol. The Khmer Rogue promised a peoples revolution and brought about a class upheaval but it was more along the lines of the French Revolution.
Chomsky never doubted it happened only pointed out that the US had instigated the whole situation that brought them to power, as did other progressive journalists and historians at the time, and that the numbers of deaths were inflated as a means of propaganda. He was right. Some reports claimed 6 million people killed while other said 4 million. I believe it was over one million and maybe close to 2. Still a lot of people but he never condoned it, only criticized the reporting. He also pointed out as that was occurring Indonesia invaded East Timor and slaughtered a third of the population with Ford and Kissengers approval and arms. Kissenger flew out of Jakarta the morning of the invasion.
Scandinavian countries as well as Europe have a higher quality and standard of life, including health care then America which ranks in the late teens or 20's.