This is the second article I have seen posted penned by Noriega. He does paint a viable possibility of destabilization in the region.
See Noriega:
http://www.visionamericas.com/noriega.php
Noriega was appointed by the George bush administration, so his opinion may lean to the right but I agree with his conclusions.
CJR posed the other piece entitled "Sinister forces at work in Venezuela power struggle" on March 11.
My thoughts on this article March 11 were:
"I would assume that any political turmoil in Venezuela will likely cause a major disruption to the world supply of oil and assuredly some wild oil futures price trading. Given the uncertainty of the end result of all the major Governments involved battling for control in Venezuela and while any real US policy moves to stabilize the Hemisphere seems nonexistent to date, we could see another real big spike in oil even during decreasing demand. I'm not an expert on this but I'm gaining insight every time I go to the pump. China, Cuba and Russia- could get real weird around here quickly."
What are the odds that all will go smoothly in the Venezuelan Presidential election process and the opposition leader will be elected?
A Chavez demise leading up to the U S Presidential elections is looking like a possibility. In this scenario IMO, wouldn't Obama would be forced to act in the region to demonstrate his foreign policy strength to the U S public? He might want to do something about the $5 dollar per gallon gas price too.
However this plays out whether you agree with an interventionist policy or the opposite our hopes for fairer and actual reimbursement from the ISCID process IMO depends a lot on a reversal of Chavez's policy after he is gone.
I still love the ending of the Porky cartoons:
TTTTTT"hattttttts all Folks!