Remember how I said the newly elected leftist president of Paraguay was by no stretch of the imagination a moderate, and even posted proof?
Well, guess what the Dissociated Press’s own hilariously named Christopher Toothaker wrote. And if you guessed “complete bullshit”, pat yourself on the back–you are absolutely correct!
Paraguayan President-elect Fernando Lugo was all smiles as he and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez embraced, talked of a revolution for the poor and pledged to build a united Latin America.
But as the former Roman Catholic priest ended a three-nation tour Thursday that also included visits to Venezuela’s leftist allies in Bolivia and Ecuador, political analysts predicted he will take a less radical approach to governing.
“He sees himself on the side of the progressive forces that want to change the relationship between Latin American countries and the United States,” said Fred Rossen, an analyst at the New York-based North American Congress on Latin America.
But he still faces a formidable conservative opposition at home and is considered much more moderate in his approach to the United States.
Lugo’s election in April pushed Paraguay toward the left and ended the 61-year reign of the conservative Colorado Party. But the party still holds a congressional majority and control of the judiciary.
“Even if he wanted to, he’s not in a position to make very radical changes,” said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. “He must contend with a very entrenched Colorado Party, so I think his room for maneuvering is extremely limited.”
Ah, there’s another hilariously-named bullshitter who keeps cropping up in this sort of “analysis”–Michael Shifter. Remind Mr. BoRev to tell you about him sometime. Or the guy at Oil Wars, who has also been watching this clown. He seems to be a smelly source of choice with the AP. Which comes as no surprise when you consider that Bart Jones, who used to write for them (but has since moved on to better things, including a cracking good bio of Chavecito) has revealed that the AP is so anti-Chavez that one of its bureau buffoons down there actually wore a button with a “let’s kick out the loony” message referring to Big Red You Know Who.
And in the meantime, bear in mind what Auntie ‘Bina says about the AP, and how Justin Delacour recently, rightly, excoriated them for their inaccuracies, prompting a rare correction. Not only are they a money-grubbing bunch of blogger-bullies, they’re also frequently, hysterically, hilariously wrong. So much so that you might as well consult your Magic 8 Ball as them if you really wanna know what’s going on. The odds of you getting a correct answer, frankly, favor the Magic 8 Ball.
(And if you think I’m gonna pay them for the privilege of slicing and dicing their writings while quoting from them as liberally as I please, you can stuff that thought right back up the orifice you pulled it out of. Auntie ‘Bina is a firm believer in a FREE press, not an extortionate one. Even if it IS a co-op, as the NYT says the AP is.)
