<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1126" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=SergioL652@aol.com href="mailto:SergioL652@aol.com">SergioL652@aol.com</A> <FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>-US-allied elites in Venezuela should not be seeking to oust democratically<BR>-elected Presidents like Chavez, but the left should not be advocating<BR>-ousting democratically-elected union leaders either.<BR>-When did the left lose all moral credibility in favor of pure opportunism?<BR>-- Nathan Newman<BR><BR>>So supporting the coup against Chávez (then backing out when they so it would fail) is an appropriate >response?</FONT> </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Um, no, how about reading what I said above, that it is inappropriate.  The question is whether the US Left should be cheerleading authoritarianism and union busting as a response. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I was quite happy that Chavez survived the coup, despite my disagreements with some of his actions, just as honestly, I am glad that Chavez was not able to undemocratically take over the unions. I hope over time, more progressive forces within the union, independent of direct Chavez control, take over the CTV, but that would never have a chance to happen if Chavez reduced the unions to mere adjuncts of the state as has happened in too many authoritarian "left" countries.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-- Nathan Newman</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>