Socialism of the 21st century

Today, in the United States we are having an economic crisis. A crisis that isn’t only affecting the American people, but also the rest of the world. Today the presidential candidates in the U.S are accusing each other of be socialist because a socialist is someone against the capitalistic government model. What is the meaning of the phrase? Many people connect socialism to Hitler, Cuba, or Russia during the Cold War. At the moment today, we have the oldest socialism of the world in Cuba. But Cuba practices the same socialism as Russia during the Cold War, a different style from any other country today. In Latin-American we have a huge example of 21st century socialism. Since president Bush took office in the U.S., the majority of the countries and Europe are now socialist. The meaning of socialist in the 21st century is something different than it used to be. There are two types of socialism in Latin-American: one is radical (left-wing) and the other is moderate (left-center wing). In radical we have Evo Morales from Bolivia, and Hugo Chavez, the infamous socialist dictator of Venezuela. For moderate there is Lula from Brazil, and Bachelet from Chile.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0koKZ5T3I6Y

Web:http://socialistworld.net/

The new "S" boss

In Venezuela we have president Chavez, a left-wing president. I think this is a huge problem for the U.S because for years Chavez had been using his resources in oil to finance his crusade: “A war against capitalistic government”. He possesses banks, utilities, and resources such as oil. He believes capitalism never worked for Latin-American and only favors industrial countries such as the U.S. President Chavez also wants to change the constitution of Venezuela to gain control over the military, legislature, and judiciary to be able to adjust to the socialism in the country. Chavez also uses the oil money to finance projects such as building houses for the poor, but also to buy debt of Argentina. Now Argentina supports Venezuela in anything. His influences are spreading everywhere. Many people are accusing him of interfering or allegedly financing the political campaigns of other countries. I also believe Chavez is driving his own country into Communism. A couple of months ago his government shut down a TV channel because they were not in favor of the extreme socialist government. Not good sign for the people of Venezuela.

Web:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6246219.stm

The red guy

In Bolivia we have Evo Morales, the first president of Bolivia. Evo is also a radical socialist (left-wing). He has nationalized several major companies; one of them is the nature resources such as oil, gas, and mines. He has been very controversial in the way he has nationalized the companies, but he has also created closer bonds with Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela. Evo Morales’ style goes in the opposite direction of the other capitalist organizations. He doesn’t believe in capitalism, he is mainly against the American free trade. Additionally, he condemns the UN and FMI for only supporting wealth countries and not also the poor countries. His relationship with Venezuela and Cuba is affecting the relationship with other countries as well. In the past few years foreign investment in the country has been reduced because they fear the government will take over the company or raise taxes.

Web:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3203752.stm

Neutral ruler

Ones of the presidents of Latin American that I admire very much is Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is very much the contrary of Venezuela or Cuba. I believe Brazil is going to progress to the second American type in South-America, as he believes capitalism is fine. With free trade there are equal benefits for both sides. Even though he is a left-center wing, he still works with those who aren’t socialist. He works with many countries like the U.S or European countries to keep the investments and political affairs strong. Anything that Venezuela or Cuba believes is unacceptable because they believe it interferes with the progress of socialism within their countries. But as Lula said to a newspaper, “Soy de izquierda, pero el gobierno no es de izquierda y gobierna en función de la correlación de fuerzas políticas.” Meaning, “I’m left-wing, but my goverment is not a left-wing and we govern base on function correlation of strong politics”. This means he pratices a mixed form of capitalism and socialism at the same time for the good of the country.

Web:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5346744.stm

The new Queen of South-America

It is a new beginning for Chile; Michelle Bachelet has become the first woman to govern Chile . Even though she was a victim of dictatorship of general Pinochet, an extreme-right wing, Bachelet is part of the socialist left-center wing. She still applies or believes in capitalism for her country. She believes the socialist stand is focused on helping society. She uses government resources to help reduce poverty and focus on modernizing education and technology in the country. Her goal is to keep the economy growing; that is why she signs free trade agreements with several different countries. Her relationship with capitalist countries is the same way Brazil is with others countries. She keeps her relantionships with Venezuela and Cuba very separate from potilical affairs.

Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1222764.stm#leaders