Chavez Opponent to Receive Milton Friedman Award for Liberty

Cave hic Leviathan!: Danger, there is a Leviathan! There is a rightist thinking which prefers a military dictatorship over democratic socialism. I am afraid Milton Friedman falls at that particular lot that only cares about liberal market and the economic men. It was sad to see such "liberal thinking" applied in Chile when the democratically elected government of Socialist Salvador Allende was overthrown. At that time, many people were killed, disappeared, became refugees or are just still missing. Pinochet is gone now and Chile has a solid liberal economy but its society is certainly divided. Such bad case for economic betterment without social improvements make us wonder on the actual political changes taking place in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Perhaps they would end up allowing changes without killing political foes or disappearing the opposition

 To amend the extreme right overthrowing tendencies, Samuel Huntington wrote a book on democratization called "The Third Wave". It describes such political thinking in marvellous details. Jeane Kirkpatrick might also ring bells when recalling reagonomics.  Democracy is constantly jeopardized by both extreme right and left.   

Venezuela had a bout of such extreme right overthrowing thinking in 2002. The Opus Dei orchestrated - with local media and US assistance- a coup against President Chavez. In just three days, we witnessed how members of the cabinet were persecuted by the self appointed government. To make things clearer, s self appointed President, Mr. Estanga, was also leader of Fedecamaras, that is, the local Business Chamber. 

Sadly, Jon Goicochea is very much in tone and friendship with such rightists. Furthermore, Goicochea was seen in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, during the recent private consultation wrongly called "referendum".  He is close to Bolivian students known for their racist rejection of indigenous peoples.