Communism in the Americas

I remember Reagan being villified by the left in the 1980s for fighting communism in Nicaragua, El Salvador and elsewhere in Central America. I myself bought the line that everything Reagan was doing in Central America was wrong. I supported communist Nicaragua, for example (even though I did not support the Soviet Union).

It is true that America supported right-wing anti-communist dictators, and that war crimes and democide were committed by anti-communist forces (see estimates for democide below). But Reagan was largely proved right by history. Apart from Cuba, communism in the region was largely defeated, and Central and South America became an oasis of freedom and democracy in a world full of tyranny.

Europe's "backyard" - the Middle East and North Africa - is a mess - a dark region of tyranny and no human rights whose ideologies threaten the world. But America's "backyard" - Central and South America - became largely a region of democracy, freedom and tolerance. Precisely because of Reagan's strong stand. It worked. The left was wrong again.

The Americas in 2020.
From Freedom House 2020 map.
Still much better than Europe's "backyard" - the Middle East and North Africa.
But not as good as it was before the US abandoned global leadership under Obama and Trump.
Freedom House rankings show 3 "Not Free" countries:

Cuba has always been "Not Free".
Venezuela went "Not Free" in 2017.
Nicaragua went "Not Free" in 2019.

Reagan and Thatcher helped bring freedom and prosperity to Central and South America

The liberation of Grenada, 1983 and the liberation of the Falklands, 1982 were the two great turning points in the spectacular (and unexpected) late-20th century rise of democracy on earth. After the dark age of the 1970s, the free world (under Reagan and Thatcher) finally fought back. This was the beginning of the end for both communist tyranny and Latin American tyranny.
Once a dark region of tyranny, juntas and dictators, Central and South America is now a region of freedom and democracy, with only a sole surviving dictator - Cuba. Venezuela is the next worst (least free) country.
See Freedom House's map of world freedom to see how healthy Central and South America now is.
Thatcher helped bring down the Argentine military dictatorship, and this was a major cause of the South American democratic revolution. Oddly enough, Thatcher is one of the greatest friends Argentina ever had. She liberated Argentina.
Dinesh D'Souza in [D'Souza, 1999] sums up the 1980s revolution. In Chapter One: Why Reagan Gets No Respect he summarises how Reagan reversed the downward trend of the 1970s for human freedom:
- "During the Reagan administration, all this changed. No more nations fell into the clutches of the Soviet bear. Capitalism and democracy began to advance around the world. On Reagan's watch, dictatorships collapsed in Chile, Haiti, and Panama, and nine more countries moved toward democracy: Bolivia (1982), Honduras (1982), Argentina (1983), Grenada (1983), El Salvador (1984), Uruguay (1984), Brazil (1985), Guatemala (1985), and the Philippines (1986). Fewer than one-third of the countries in Latin America were democratic in 1981; more than 90 percent of the region was democratic by 1989. In Nicaragua, shortly after Reagan's second term ended, free elections were held, and the Sandinista government was ousted from power. Apartheid ended in South Africa, and a black-majority government was elected. All these changes occurred relatively peacefully."
South Of The Border by Mark Steyn notes that: "Central America in the first half of the Eighties had negative GDP growth: minus 1 per cent. In the second half, there was annual GDP growth of 2 per cent; in the Nineties, 5 per cent."
D. J. McGuire calls the Reagan Central American policy "the greatest and least known success in recent American geopolitical history".

How Reagan brought freedom to Central and South America after 1980.
Trends in freedom in North (includes Central) and South America, 1946-2007.
From the Polity IV Project.
Red = Autocracy.
Black = "Anocracy" (a state with weak or non-existent central authority).
Blue = Democracy.
Cuba is the only remaining autocracy, according to them.

Countries

El Salvador
- FrontPage articles
- Rudolph J. Rummel
  - Estimates for democide in El Salvador
- Rummel estimates that the authoritarian/military anti-communist government of El Salvador killed 12,000 people in democide in 1979-84. Supporting this government must count as one of the crimes of the west.
- America did somewhat make up for it by stopping the communist rebels, ending the authoritarian government, and introducing democracy to El Salvador, which is now rated as "Free" by Freedom House.
Nicaragua
- History of Nicaragua
- The Sandinistas
- FrontPage articles
- Rudolph J. Rummel
  - Estimates for democide in Nicaragua
- Rummel estimates the democide for:
  - The old dictator Somoza - killed 15,000 people in democide, probably mostly in putting down the 1978-9 rebellion.
  - The communist Sandinistas - killed 5,000 people in democide, when in power 1979-87. He does not yet have figures for 1987-90.
  - The anti-communist Contras - killed 500 people in democide.
- Remembering Sandinista Genocide by Jamie Glazov - summary of human rights under the Sandinistas. The Sandinistas persecuted Nicaragua's tiny Jewish community, and carried out what can only be described as genocide against the native Moskito Indians.
- The Fate Of A Nicaraguan by Jamie Glazov
- Heading backwards: Nicaragua elects Daniel Ortega, 2006.
- Nicaragua is now only rated as "Partly Free" by Freedom House.
Grenada
- FrontPage articles
- Paul Kengor
- Grenada years later - article by Roger Franklin. "It was a rescue mission. Mr. Reagan saved us." - says one of the grateful locals. "Somewhere on Grenada there may have been someone on Grenada who didn't like Reagan, but I couldn't find him."
Guatemala
- Guatemalan Civil war - Democide by anti-communists.
- Historical Clarification Commission
Peru
- The modern "Shining Path" Maoists in Peru.
  - The Maoist terrorist professor of philosophy Abimael Guzman.
  - Efrain Morote, the privileged university academic who inspired destructive Maoist revolution.
- Tupac Amaru (MRTA)
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Peru)
- Hernando de Soto

The Bolivarian revolution - a return to the failed past

The strongman thug Hugo Chavez and his "Bolivarian revolution" destroyed Venezuela and ruined its economy.

It is so easy to destroy a country. So hard to build it up.

Bolivarianism
- Bolivarian Revolution
- Hugo Chavez
- The Chavez regime
- Hugo Chávez and the media
- Foreign policy of Hugo Chávez
- Chávez's hatred of Israel
- Chavez was a strong ally of Iran
- Chavez on the Jews: "the descendants of those who crucified Christ ... have taken ownership of the riches of the world".
- Chavez' 2005 law against criticism of his regime: "Anyone who offends with his words or in writing or in any other way disrespects the President of the Republic or whomever is fulfilling his duties will be punished with prison of 6 to 30 months if the offense is serious and half of that if it is light."
- Chavez, Nov 2009, praises the leaders of Zimbabwe and Iran. He also praises Carlos the Jackal.
- The 17 Most Outrageous Quotes From Hugo Chavez
Dancing with the Devil by Ben Johnson
- Hugo Chavez quotes Noam Chomsky. Left-wing dictator-coddlers all over the world love him. "We're gratified to know many of the same left-wingers who denounce us as "McCarthyites" support a modern practitioner of the blacklist, that much of the "peace movement" supports a pro-terror militarist, and that the voices of "dissent" cheer heartily for an advocate of censorship and repression."
- "Chavez's Marxist economics have led Venezuela down the well-trod path to poverty. The nation is rated "repressed" and ranked 152 in this year's "Index of Economic Freedom", saddling the Venezuelan people with a miserable -9.4 percent GDP contraction."
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (2003). Pro-Chavez film by Irish lefties Kim Bartley and Donnacha Ó Briain.
- The Venezuelan regime loves this film.
- X-Ray of a Lie (2004). Venezuelan dissident response to the Irish leftie film.
Bolivia
- In political freedom, as at 2020, Bolivia is ranked "Partly Free" by Freedom House.
- Human rights in Bolivia
- Evo Morales, anti-American idiot President of Bolivia, 2006 to 2019.
- Morales described Castro and Chávez as "the commanders of the forces for the liberation of the Americas and the world".
- The Bolivia-Iran alliance

Hugo Chavez in March 2006 talks about George W. Bush like a drunk 14 year old.
Are all dictators this stupid?
Compare this ignorant thug with the soaring idealism, intelligence and eloquence of President Bush.

The Axis of Evil:
The anti-American allies Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Jan 2012.
From here.

A festival of evil: Chavez's funeral, Mar 2013.
Here, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Other attendees at Chavez's funeral included the President of Cuba, Raul Castro, and the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang.
From here.

Venezuela's nightmare continues

Chavez dies, March 2013. But the Marxist nightmare continues.

Maduro government continues Chavez's communist economics. Venezuela's economy goes into meltdown.
Crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela
Super high inflation, huge shortages of goods, long queues, strict rationing.
Venezuela should be rich, but its government has destroyed its economy, Matt O'Brien, January 21, 2015.
Comment on the previous: "If only there were some historical correlation between socialist Utopias and economic destruction."
Venezuelan protests, 2014 on. If you want freedom, you will have to fight for it. Good luck.
Human rights in Venezuela
In political freedom, as at 2020, Venezuela is ranked "Not Free" by Freedom House. The worst country in the Americas apart from Cuba.
In economic freedom, as at 2020, Venezuela is ranked Repressed by The Heritage Foundation. It is the 2nd worst country in the world.

Queues for food in Venezuela.
Like in the old Soviet Union.
If People Before Profit ran Ireland, we would be queueing for toilet paper like this.