<HTML><HTML>In a message dated 11/2/04 3:04:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, lbo-talk-request@lbo-talk.org writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">So it was a matter of intention and will for you. Do you have any idea what it would mean for a country with large foreign financing requirements and deeply involved in foreign trade to displease the lending agencies or shock the financial markets? Do you have any idea what it means to challenge the electoral/parliamentary framework when you don't have the overwhelming support of the population? To cite a former official of Manley's treasury in Jamaica, reacting to a typical left meeting full of talk about the necessity of challenging the powers that be: "You have no idea what it's like to have to come up with $100 million in hard currency next week." Do you? Doug </BLOCKQUOTE> I appreciate how hard it is. But why attempt to gain an electoral majority and form a government if you intend to do nothing very different from ruling-class politicians? Resistance to financial markets and lending agencies would inevitably entail big nationalizations, which could lead to civil war or foreign intervention. It takes a lot to prepare for these things, and concentrating all one's energies building an electoral machine may not be the most "realistic" way of going about it. Latin Americans are not as committed electroralism and moderation as Americans or Canadians. It seems that more would be possible there in the way of social struggle and building organizations on that basis.  </HTML>