But then again, it’s also how Bush got to be president
From an article in the New York Times:
Asked whether the administration now recognizes Mr. Chávez as Venezuela’s legitimate president, one administration official replied, “He was democratically elected,” then added, “Legitimacy is something that is conferred not just by a majority of the voters, however.”
Of course, favouring dictatorships over democracies when it serves their needs is nothing new for the U.S., or even the Bushes. In the 1970s, the was the overthrow of Chile’s government by the CIA.
In the 1980s, then-Vice President George Bush the Elder toasted the opposition-jailing, martial-law declaring, IMF-fund-for-the-poor-embezzling, media-censoring, election-rigging president of my home country, Ferdinand Marcos, for his “adherence to democratic principles”. At the time, the U.S. maintained two vital bases in the Philippines (Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base) and it was also the home-away-from-home for the Navy’s 7th Fleet.
It just makes me want to say kantutin mo ang nanay mo. Beeyotch.