It’s official: there is now no discernible difference between the “anti-interventionist” Institute for Peace and Prosperity founded last year by libertarian and former Republican congressman Ron Paul and the “anti-imperialist” Left as embodied by George Galloway and Socialist Unity.
The conclusive evidence is the appearance on the Institute’s website (with permission) of a piece by Chavista extraordinaire Eva Golinger, in which she accuses the US government of trying to destabilize Venezuelan regime through (among other groups) the National Endowment for Democracy.
While Venezuela is one of many countries where the NED is peacefully active, its expenditures are surely dwarfed by those of the Venezuelan government when it comes to political propaganda and organization.
Of course Golinger believes every dollar the NED spends is aimed specifically at toppling the government of Nicolas Maduro. Whether or not that’s true, she may have reason to fear. After all, here is what another repressive Latin American leader said about the NED in 1988:
There is this external aggressor who for the sake of revenge or disinformation seeks to come to the aid of those who are hawking their country away for millions of dollars. Our people, I am sure, totally reject this interference, which is unacceptable.
That was General Augosto Pinochet, the fascistic ruler of Chile, speaking shortly before his effort to stay in power was rejected by Chilean voters in a 1988 plebiscite.
Update: Birthday greetings to imprisoned Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, currently spending 22 hours a day in solitary confinement.
