I am a student of history…..no I am not studying history at college or university right now, but I do read a lot about it. I enjoy reading about factual events that have played a role in where we are today as a people, a country and region. Our country, Dominica, is young in terms of Independence as compared to other countries, but with our limited natural resources we have been resilient.
I remember Grenada/Cuba and our actions and pleas to the US, we were rewarded for it in the mid 1990’s by Bill Clinton and Bob Dole…no longer are the roads around the Deep Water Harbor clogged with our beloved banana farmers trucks, the US certainly put a stop to that. The Prime Minister’s recent calls on the US to lift the Embargo on Cuba made writing this little commentary much easier as the topic is out in the news right now. Even today, bombs fall in Libya because the Colonel will not bow to these Western Powers…and plus his oil is the good stuff which the America needs.
All countries (Dominica included) do things that will benefit them first and foremost. We are all out for ourselves! What I would like to pay particular attention to is some events of the last 70 years with particular focus on America, yes America and its meddling has brought much unneeded pain on many nations. It is a land where many Dominicans have migrated to for better lives/studies/careers etc. Although I can argue that Dominicans living in Dominica have a much better life than those in America do.
Some people are critical of Dominica’s relationships with China/Cuba/Venezuela and other countries not totally aligned with the American Doctrine. These critics may have a point as there are always two sides to any disagreement and reason can be made for supporting either position. However, I am totally supportive of Dominica’s relationships and it is not a position I arrived at just last night.
I would like to go back to a few specific occasions in history that shows the United States acts only in their best interests. The British did so as well, but that is a subject for a future commentary as I would need a lot more time to write
A. The Cuban Revolution was a direct result of the US influence on Dictator, Fulgencio Batista, a corrupt and greedy man. During his reign many businesses and lands in Cuba were owned by foreigners, particularly Americans. The Revolution brought Fidel & Raul Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos among others to prominence and rule in Cuba. On March 10, 1952, General Fulgencio Batista overthrew the president of Cuba, Carlos Prìo Socarrás, and canceled all elections. Fidel Castro was angered, and for the next seven years he attempted to overthrow Batista’s government. On July 26, 1953, Castro led an attack against the military barracks in Santiago, but he was defeated and arrested. Fidel and Raul were sentenced to 15 & 13 years in prison, but were released in 1955 by Batista. Castro did not back down and gathered a new group of rebels in Mexico. On December 2, 1956, he attacked and was again defeated by Batista’s army but this time he fled into the Sierra Maestra Mountains.
He began using guerrilla tactics to fight Batista’s armed forces, and with the aid of other rebellions throughout Cuba, he forced Batista to resign and flee the country on January 1, 1959. At the beginning of his rule, the United States supported Castro. However, once he embraced communism, the U.S. attempted to overthrow him. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a victory for Castro on April 17, 1961. The invading forces were crushed by Castro after President Kennedy refused to directly involve the U.S. armed forces, and 1200 of the invaders were captured. To this day the US has an embargo on Cuba that does nothing except harm the Cuban people.
B. In 1953 the United States this time acting on the British behalf (and theirs of course), in a coup d’état, overthrew Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953. They installed in his place Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran or emperor of Iran. It can be argued that the Shah ruled from 1941 to 1979, but there is a period where he spent time in Egypt while the US fomented the coup d’état. Today we see how relations between the United States and Iran are affected by this event in 1953. The United States is advocating regime change, but their hands are very dirty from their activities in 1953.
One of the people I am keenly interested in is Ernesto “Che” Guevara. I find him to be an interesting figure- a man who believed in his cause and was willing to die for it. I am in no way advocating violence or armed struggle.. He once spoke of the US imperialist attitude by saying, “The last Latin American revolutionary democracy – that of Jacobo Arbenz– failed as a result of the cold premeditated aggression carried out by the U.S.A. Its visible head was the Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, a man who, through a rare coincidence, was also a stockholder and attorney for the United Fruit Company.” Dulles International Airport in Dulles Virginia is named after him.
C. The United States influenced, funded and carried out the coup d’état against the democratically elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán in1954. This was done at the behest of United Fruit Company, or what we know today as Chiquita. Mr. Guzmán or Árbenz as he was notably called wanted to institute land reforms in Guatemala, he himself losing approximately 1700 acres in the process. The United Fruit Company was vehemently opposed to such a process and asked the US government for assistance on this matter. The assistance they sought was not a ‘legal’ one, but they got a listening ear when Dwight D. Eisenhower became US President. The United Fruit Company was the largest land owners in Guatemala with 85% of their land uncultivated. The government of Mr. Árbenz through his Land reform program offered to compensate United Fruit Company for the full value of the land that they declared on their taxes in 1952. At tax time, United Fruit Company placed a value of $3.00 per acre. United Fruit Company knew in 1952 that to avoid paying more taxes a low value would save some money, but when the Government decided to redistribute the land and compensate them in 1953, the value miraculously skyrocketed to $75.00 per acre. What happened next is well recorded in history. The country suffers even to this day. Remember Bill Clinton and Bob Dole…they crippled our Banana exports in the 90’s with their petition to the WTO on behalf of Chiquita and Dole and our quota was eliminated….
D. Ecuador – 1981 Jaime Roldós Aguilera was President of Ecuador from August 1979 to 24 May 1981. His death in a plane crash has given rise to accusations he was surreptitiously assassinated by the United States government. I among many believe that Señor Roldós was assassinated, allegedly by a bomb located in a tape recorder. He had a plan to reorganize the hydrocarbon sector and that would have threatened U.S. interests in Ecuador. Señor Roldós had entered into a pact with neighboring Colombia and Peru, a pact which US President Ronald Reagan saw as a tilt toward the Soviet Union. We all know how crazy the US was about the U.S.S.R. Just months after Señor Roldós died, another Latin American leader who had been at odds with U.S. interests in the control of the Panama Canal, died.
E. Panama – 1981 Panama’s Omar Torrijos, died in what was allegedly just a plane crash. Although he was not the most liked person and was never elected leader of Panama we know how vital keeping the Panama Canal flowing was for the US and other manufacturing nations. Señor Torrijos’ death brought about speculation that he was assassinated. In 1992, Manuel Noriega’s attorney at his trial, Frank Rubino, was quoted saying “General Noriega has in his possession documents showing attempts to assassinate General Noriega and Mr. Torrijos by agencies of the United States.” As expected, the documents were not allowed as evidence in the trial- the judge agreed with the U.S. government’s claim that their admission as evidence would violate the Classified Information Procedures Act. John Perkins alleges in his book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, that Señor Torrijos was assassinated by American interests, who had a bomb planted aboard his aircraft (by CIA organized operatives). He claims that the motive is that American business leaders and politicians strongly opposed the negotiations between Señor Torrijos and a group of Japanese businessmen led by Mr. Shigeo Nagano, who were promoting the idea of a new, larger, sea-level canal for Panama. Señor Noriega, in claims that the negotiations had garnered a very unfavorable response from America. Señor Torrijos died shortly after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan and two months after Señor Jaime Roldós died in….a plane crash as reported above. Señor Manuel Noriega is now in France serving time in Prison after serving more than15 years in an American Prison. Señor Manuel Noriega was once a paid contractor by the CIA
F. On 11 April 2002, mass protests took place in Caracas against the Chávez government. A group of high ranking anti-Chávez military officers supported by the business community, media, CIA & opposing political parties, had been planning to launch a coup against Chávez. Their goal was to create civil unrest and use it as an opportunity to remove Chávez from power. After they gained power, Señor Chávez agreed to step down, and was transferred by army escort to La Orchila. He asked to be allowed to leave Venezuela but he refused to officially resign from the presidency at the time. Wealthy business-leader Pedro Carmona declared himself president of an interim government. Protests began in support of Señor Chávez as the Pedro Carmona regime was seen as totalitarian and gained very little support among the common Venezuelan people. Pedro Carmona resigned and Chávez was returned to power on 14 April. There is no doubt about the US role in this coup d’état. They will deny it but when the US does not get their man in the office they use any means necessary to achieve it.
G. Iraq 2003 – We all know how this one played out. Saddam Hussein was no one’s friend at the time of the war. He rose to his position as a trainee and contractor for the CIA. Oil was the draw here under the guise of WMD. Today Iraq produces 2.4 million barrels of oil each day, and exports 1.9 million Barrels. It is the 9th top producing country in the world.. The US does not only use military force or coup d’états to gain their foothold or resources in a country it needs or wants. They use other measures sometimes involving entities such as The World Bank, the IMF, OAS, USAID and a few others. The Master plan is laid out in a simple three step process below. If followed closely, the US wins every time and we in the world suffer.
H. Libya 2011 Colonel Moammar Gadhafi’s country is being hit. The outcome I am do not know specifically of, but as with all the above countries now aligned with America I can make a wild guess how this one ends.
The three (3) stages of ‘destroying’ a country are as follows:
1. Step One: The Economic Hitman – Identify A Natural Resource that the Corporation or Country Covets
2. Step Two: Send in Jackals – Overthrow Governments or Assassinate
3. Step Three: The Military – Give them an ultimatum if they refuse, Bomb them.
4. Step Four: Reconstruction – Promote and prop up allies and cronies to keep natural resource flowing
In closing, I want to extend my thanks to DNO for posting this little opinion piece. My views are not that of the Government or people of Dominica. My views are just that, my views. I like to think of things bigger than in my own little world. There are a select few who possess the power and financial means that enslave all mankind. Should the price of oil or other materials be this high today? It should not but Capitalism breeds greed and greed breeds corruption.
I am in no way better than the next person, but in my short lifetime I have seen many things that make me realize life is but a slow march to death.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the management and staff of Dominica News Online and its parent companies.
A whole lot of historical facts to say what? Everybody knows that the US has always been imperialistic in its foreign policy.
Does that take away from the fact that Gaddafi is a cruel dictator who needs to go? That the loss of life of civilians had to stop?
This anti-us pontificating is really pointless. It is what it is.
Didn’t Edison Chenfil James call America ( economic terrorist) at the U.N when he was PM? UWP supporters have you all forgotten that?
THAT IS A WHOLE HEAP OF GARBAGE THIS GUY WROTE THERE. wHY DOESN’T HE GO TO LIVE IN LIBYA UNDER THE IRON FIST OF GUADAFI.
REMEMBER SIR THAT IT WAS THE LYBIAN PEOPLE WHO STARTED ALL OF THIS, NOT THE AMERCANS.
AND IT WAS THE LYBIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS WHO WERE BEGGING FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP FROM THE UN.
IT IS GISGUSTING HOW YOU GUYS JUST SIT THE IN UR COMFORTABLE HOUSES AND AIR CON VEHICLES AND PONTIFICATE ON THE ACTIONS OF THOSE WHO HAVE A CAUSE TO ACT.
AGAIN! WHY DON’T YOU EMPATHISE WITH TEH LYBIAN PEOPLE BY TAKING UP RESIDENCE THERE FRO A YEAR OR SO.
ALL THE PEOPLE ARE ASKING FOR IS THE REEDON YOU NOW ENJOY AND WHICH SKERRIT IS TRYING TO TAKE AWAY.
Did you even read the article?
Libya was but a foot note.
Skerrit can never take my or your freedom away….never.
When you say that, you are being wicked and you know it
Very informative piece. Helps to connect the dots!
@ Mouth Of The South.
I am sorry you feel that way. I never mentioned OBAMA.
I am not bashing any one, I am simply putting on paper historical events.
Many US Presidents have acted on behalf of the corporate citizens and in their own interests.
Each country should be able to chart its own destiny. If you want freedom, then you need to do whatever you feel you can to get it.
As for Mr. Obama and Robert Gates, they speak with a forked tongue. Their move they say is to impose a no fly zone to prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians. This is hogwash. Their aim is regime change under the guise of some ‘No Fly Zone’. They are giving cover to the opposition which can now attack Gaddafi in Tripoli and try to topple him. If they want to protect civilians, then why did they not do it in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, or Jordan? In Bahrain unarmed peaceful protesters were shot DEAD by the forces….Bahrain enjoys the support of America with its ships and troops stationed there.
Obama is a black man, yes…..but does that mean he wont work in the best interest of his country?
Thanks for your comments.
Don’t know if u’re familiar with MOTS but he comments on every article. Which means that he comments on a lot of stuff he is totally clueless about, because no-one knows everything.
The only reason people like MOTS are supporting action against Ghadaffi in any case is because they see it as a blow to Skerrit. So don’t bother yourself with MOTS’ crap.
mr christopher i appreciate ur contribution but the reason why i felt mr obama was a target is simply because this article must have been inspired by recent happenings,,,, as a writer it is important to be unbiased and so u tried,,,, but there’s something called reading between the lines,,,, so if this article was inspired by the recent happenings in libya then it automatically takes aim at the presidency of mr obama,,,, do continue to write,,, i must say i learned somethings today
mr hate i can’t believe u’d say such a thing,,,, i challenge u to an open debate,,, n i promise i’ll have u googling every one of my sentences,,, it has nothing to do with skerrit,,,,, in fact was it not u who said that skerro n bama were buddies,,,, in a post sometime last year,,, u comment as much as i do so are we both clueless about the topics at hand,,,, believe me mr hate u don’t want me to be the other individual across the table in a debate session,,, u’d get verbally demolished,,, ur demeanor would never be the same,,,, in my presence onward u’d have to walk with ur head bowing to ground,,, and refer to me as ‘sir’
@MOTS – Actually I have been writing this article from January 5th. I took my time, writing and researching ensuring I gave it a best effort at presenting facts.
None of these protests had even started.
I got lucky with all the happenings right now sort of tying into this article.
This was not inspired by recent events, but I added a few in as they were happening while I was writing.
Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
1st of all it’s only in ur imagination that i comment as much as you, since i usually only comment on the political stories when i feel like i need to counter some uwp misinformation and propaganda
2nd I don’t know where u heard me say Skerrit and Obamaare buddies, and I have no idea what they being buddies has to do with Obama bombing Libya
3rd, lets here you explain why Obama said Ghadaffi must go, for attacking armed rebels, yet he is still supporting dictators in Saudi Arabia etc who are killing unarmed protestors.
Let’s get this debate going
Thank God for America u hear me, if it was not for that Great nation i would never achieve what i achieved in Dominica, impossible with the policies of the regime, giving jobs to foreigners high taxes, so if u losers want to play anti-American with poor nations that is your business, thank God i left that island, i saw no future there.
Amen brother
Long live America
it is not perfect but it sure is better than the alternative, like China , and Venezuela
America helps those that help themselve.. not those who ae beg addicts.
Not those nations who thrive on hand outs from foriegn tax payers and then squander the fund in SUVs
Yeah. America has done its share of bad things, but what nation hasn’t? And what nation, at the end of the day, isn’t ultimately self-interested? Anti-American rhetoric is cheap, overly generalizing, and–in too many cases–the result more of racism and ignorance than actual historical knowledge.
If you took this to mean America Bashing then it is not. If I presented some item in this little Opinion piece that is not factual about America, then please point it out.
I am open to correction and I do not have all the facts.
What I did try to point out was the reasons why we make choices on who to be friendly with.
We had been America’s good friend and they did not do much for us. Again what they are interested in we do not have.
They serve their own interests by supporting Governments and coup d’etat all over the world when it serves their interests.
The difference with us, is that we do not sponsor or resort to military action to get our desired results, but we choose our friends to serve our own interests.
America does good, but that was not the reason for me writing.
Sorry to disappoint.
To MOTS
Not because Obama is a black man we are supposed to support everything he does. You need to re-evaluate your need to constantly kiss a** dude, seriously.
Obama is being a total hypocrite to bomb Libya, and then turn a blind eye to what is happening in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Bahrain.
Ghadaffi is not targeting un-armed civilians. He is fighting against an armed rebellion. Obama made a mistake when he got ahead of himself and said that ‘Ghadaffi must go’ when it seemed like the rebels were going to win. Ghadaffi hadn’t even started fighting back yet and the rebels had all the momentum.
The thing is Ghadaffi is no wimp like Muhbarak who bows down to Western demands.So Ghadaffi being a colonel, went back to his roots and started kicking azz with his army, and he would have won too if the West didn’t put themselves in what is not their business.
I would like you to attempt to explain why they are bombing Libya and not Bahrain or Yemen.
u all speaking this n that but do u all know that the republicans support this effort and even says that mr obama waited too long,,,,,so peeps who say oh the tea party will put him out on this just blowing steam,,,,, believe me mr obama will deal with yemen and bahrain in a short while but i just read the news earlier n saw that the opposition in yemen are actually gaining ground so sooner or later the president of yemen will be out,,, did u all see ghadaffi laugh at the statement of mr obama when asked to resign,,,, dude laughed in front international news correspondents,,,, what u think the u.s will do,,, take that just so,,,, u can’t dare the u.s n expect them to sleep idly by,,,,, b4 u all stay in d/ca and take sides with ghadaffi,,, a plane crashed and the locals came to the pilots and hugged them and said ‘we are ur friends’,,,,, so the u.s n allied forces must be doing something right,,, i was not supporting mr obama because he is black but because i think he is the best president the u.s or the world have seen in a long while,,,, just ask ur buddy skerro lol,,,, in d/ca since the d.l.p have taken hold of power since 2000 there have been growing resentment for any thing u.s.a related in d/ca,,,, we even have hidden jealousy for our people in the u.s.a n the diaspora by extension,,,, most people who are against mr obama don’t do it on principle but simply cause he’s american,,,, what about the leaders of france,,, britain,,, denmark,,,, in fact they are the ones leading this effort and not the u.s,,,,, but for media sake mr obama gives big speeches in brazil so of course the u.s.a gets claim to be the heroes lol
Everyone knows that the Republicans are the party of war. So it’s not surprising if they wanted Obama to go to war.
And while Republican politicians might have wanted an intervention, the American Public wanted no part of this war, as the polls show. Do your research properly.
The Republican politicians are also complaining that Obama went to war without consulting them, with some people even saying it is grounds for an impeachment.
And why should Gadaffi step down because Obama said so? Is Obama a God? Libya and Gadaffi have no beef with America. Do you know that Gadaffi is Al Qaeda’s biggest enemy in the Middle East?
There is no real justification for America to get involved other than for regime change where they can help install a puppet gov’t.
And guess what, Obama personally wanted no part of this war, which is why he took so long to act. Eventually though he proved that he is weak by giving in to pressure to go in.
You said that you know your history. Well for your information, it was FRANCE, not the U.S that initiated the military move against Libya. So stop all that blah, blah. Get your facts straight.
I beleive that you to have to get your fact straight. It is NOT France that initiated the military move on Libya BUT the Arab nations and Europe. Read carefully what he person has to say and take sense out of nonsense.
isn’t france part of europe,,, together with britain and denmark,,,,, point is france has the biggest interests in libya,,,,
If you read clearly, the Christopher did not say America initiated the move.
He said Western Powers.
yes very informative but blah blah blah,,,, like i always say none of what posted have anything to do with obama,,,, if obama was behind libya’s oil then he would not leave it up to england and the arab league to control the effort,,, u all keep bashing and bringing down another black man for the sake of past presidents actions,,,, in all presidents mr obama have done more to aid the cubans on that embargo scene,,,, i mean things have steps u can’t expect mr obama to simply remove the embargo,,, again what’s in it for them,,, will the castros be diplomatic to them etc,,, not forgetting the cubans had russia set up base with missiles aimed at u.s cities including nearby miami,,, which could have sparked a world war 3,,,, none of these historical facts have anything to do with mr obama,,, so put a sock in it n appreciate another brother making long strides,,,, when bush invaded iraq u all were not out like this,,,, mr obama have said that his mission is not to remove colonel ghadaffi,,,, robert gates said this also,,, and the head of the u.s mission in libya said the same,,,,, they are there to put an even playing/fighting field between the gov’t and civilians,,,, so mr ghadaffi don’t have to fear being put out of power by the u.s.a,,,,, u all keep bashing mr obama but refuse to acknowledge that the arab league have been in agreement with all this,,, in fact if they did not give mr obama,,britain,,,france,,, germany,,,n many other european nations the blessings then nothing would be done in libya,,,,,, stop using history to say obama this n that,,, what if someone brought the history of ur great grandparents to judge u,,,, would this be fair game,,,,, only places getting bombed are places of interest which would have weapons and the libyan air defences,,,,,,
Whether or not you agree with the contents of the article is something else. But nowhere in this article do i see Obama’s name mentioned. Rather the article is very generalized- the “United States”.
hhhmmm u can’t read between the lines i see,,,, well i can,,, this article was inspired by the recent happenings in libya,,,, so it has to do with mr obama like it or not,,,,,
Grow up you imbecile. Don’t you know history is the
indicator for the future. If your mouth was north you
would be alright, but it is south on your body (north to
the top – south to the bottom).
why mention all these “gorgons”?your bible in prophecy tells you “the US is a sheep in wolves clothing….deceitful eer.
i do believe the saying is “a WOLF in sheep’s clothing”
interesting article my friend,if you can next time can you do an article on the uprising in geneva grandbay,many of our people are not aware of this period in our history.again continue the great work,i do a lot of history reading also.