Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to David Cuellar's article and his presumption that the United States has a "historic chance at forming a democratic state." Excuse me, but are we talking about the same United States here? We as, supportive, "patriotic," and often ignorant Americans, fall blind to the ugly parts of our history.
Latin America is in economic and political shambles as a result of our successful liberations of Chile, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Guatemala. By success I mean the 30,000 people killed in Chile as a direct result of Pinochet, one of the most treacherous dictators better known as Latin America's Hitler, put into to power by the United States of Arrogance.
The Somozist regime, backed militarily and economically by the United States, used its advanced weaponry to exploit and kill thousands of Sandinistas, a revolutionary group fighting for freedom against the oppressive regime. Oh yes another democratic success!
The Panama Canal, a great advancement in trade for the United States, only enslaved and killed thousands of nameless and forgotten Panamanians. But Panama, Chile, and the rest of Latin America will never forget the results our success. So as we extol America's ability to "free Iraq" protestors in Brazil, Argentina, and all over Latin America burn our flag and laugh at our naivety. So let's learn the real history before we "liberate" another part of the world.
Maureene Meinert, a proud dissenter
