Simon Bolivar, the great liberator of South America, prophetically said, "In the name of freedom, the United States of North America seem to have been destined by providence to plague America with miseries." And so it has been. From the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 to the present the U.S. has routinely intervened in the internal affairs of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.Invasions, occupations, coups, economic warfare, gunboat diplomacy were and remain part of Washington's arsenal. The major threat to U.S. hegemony is independent nationalism. It is seen as a "virus" which might spread. Hence the hostility to Fidel Castro's overthrow of the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship in Cuba in 1959 and today to Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.

Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali, an internationally renowned writer and activist, was born in Lahore, then a part of British-ruled India, now in Pakistan. For many years he has been based in London where he is an editor of "New Left Review." A charismatic speaker, he is in great demand all over the world. In his spare time he is a filmmaker, playwright and novelist. He is the author of "The Clash of Fundamentalisms," "Bush in Babylon," and "Pirates of the Caribbean. " He and AR's David Barsamian have collaborated on a book entitled "Speaking of Empire & Resistance."