chuma.org

In this news story about some diplomatic retribution between the US and Venezuela, Donald Rumsfeld says some things that make my jaw drop.

Asked during a National Press Club appearance about indications of a generally deteriorating relationship between Washington and parts of Latin America, Rumsfeld said he believes such a characterization “misses the mark.”

“We saw dictatorships there. And then we saw most of those countries, with the exception of Cuba, for the most part move towards democracies,” he said. “We also saw corruption in that part of the world. And corruption is something that is corrosive of democracy.”

Umm… yeah, you might say they moved towards democracy because of the public actions (invasion of Grenada) and not-so-public actions (funding Central American rebel groups) of the US during the 1980s? Is Rumsfeld getting Alzheimers, or just more Republican selective memory?

The secretary acknowledged that “we’ve seen some populist leadership appealing to masses of people in those countries. And elections like Evo Morales in Bolivia take place that clearly are worrisome.”

“I mean, we’ve got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money,” Rumsfeld added. “He’s a person who was elected legally — just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally — and then consolidated power and now is, of course, working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others.”

NATIONS, TAKE NOTE: The US does not like it when you elect people who are popular. I mean, look at their president.