>What,
>by contrast, do you call a union that takes money from the US
>government and seconds its foreign policy goals? Rightwing may also
>be a reductive slur, but there's some truth to that class analysis
>too, no?
First, it was the Solidarity Center giving the money to the unions, not the government. Let's be clear about the NED, which is an odd beast at this point. It is a legislative allocation of money divided between four groups (essentially the AFL-CIO, the Chamber of Commerce, the Dems, and the GOP) for use generally as they see fit on foreign policy work. There are actually complaints that the NED does not control how the money is spent, but given that lack of control, it's hard to just flatly equate Solidarity Center spending with "the US government." The AFL-CIO is hardly the only liberal or even left group getting federal funds for various purposes, much to the anguish of many conservatives who would like to cut off such funding.
Now, did the CTV second the US government's foreign policy goals? Or did they just happen to align against Chavez? And was it the foreign policy of the US to yank support for the coup when the business types grabbed control in the chaos?
The Palestinian Authority has received money from the US government. Yes, it was the policy of the US to support the peace process, but that is more complicated a statement that saying that the US "supported" the Palestinian Authority or Arafat.
What gets funded by the US-- from the peace corps to AID projects to the Solidarity Center -- comes out of a weird mix of ideological and political bargaining, much of which is often separate an even at odds with specific policy of the state department itself. The Solidarity Center is doing a lot of work supporting progressive trade unionists in Colombia who are denouncing rightwing paramilitary forces and the collaborators in the government who are allowing the mass murder of union leaders. Does that mean it is the foreign policy of the US to defend Colombian trade unionists and denounce the Colombian government?
-- Nathan Newman