Wha?

As a start, I would recommend the following, which I found extremely eye-opening . . .

Perkins, John, 1945-
Title: Confessions of an economic hit man / John Perkins
Publisher: San Francisco : Berrett-Koehler Publishers, c2004.
Edition: 1st ed.
Item Type: Book xxi, 250 p.
ISBN: 1576753018 (alk. paper)

I'm not sure how many characters I'm allowed - here's an edited summary from the Cleveland Public Library website:

Summary
In this riveting personal story, John Perkins tells of his own inner journey from willing servant of empire to impassioned advocate for the rights of oppressed people. Covertly recruited by the United States National Security Agency and on the payroll of an international consulting firm, he traveled the world . . . to implement policies that promoted the interests of the U.S. corporatocracy . . . while professing to alleviate poverty-policies that alienated many nations and ultimately led to September 11 and growing anti-Americanism . . . He explains . . . how he helped to implement a secret scheme that funneled billions of Saudi Arabian petrodollars back into the U.S. economy, and that further cemented the intimate relationship between the Islamic fundamentalist House of Saud and a succession of American administrations. Perkins reveals the hidden mechanics of imperial control behind some of the most dramatic events in recent history, such as the fall of the Shah of Iran, the death of Panamanian president Omar Torrijos, and the U.S. invasions of Panama and Iraq. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which many people warned Perkins not to write, exposes the little known inner workings of a system that fosters globalization and leads to the impoverishment of millions of people across the planet. It is a compelling story that also offers hope and a vision for realizing the American dream of a just and compassionate world that will bring us greater security.
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But what was even *more* eye-opening to me, having come from a very conservative background, was a book footnoted several times by Perkins -

Author: Colby, Gerard, 1945-
Title: Thy will be done : the conquest of the Amazon : Nelson Rockefeller and the age of oil / Gerard Colby with Charlotte Dennett Colby.
Year Published: 1995
Edition: 1st ed.
Description: 960 p., [32] p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 0060167645 : $35.00
Includes bibliographical references and index.

Summary
Examines the legacies and motives of two powerful and ambitious men, Nelson Rockefeller of the Standard Oil family, and Cameron Townsend, founder of America's largest missionary organization, the Wycliffe Bible Translators, and their interests in the Amazon rain forests. Explores connections between Rockefeller and the CIA, Rockefeller's conflicts with President Kennedy over Latin America, and his secret alliance with President Johnson. Includes b&w maps and photos.

Basically what happened to Native Americans in the past 200 years has been ongoing in the past decades to the indigenous tribes of the Amazon - with the help - whether knowingly or not - of "Christian" organizations - sadly revealing Epicticus' epigram "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

I just read an article posted 7:23pm WE - and Dietrich Bonhoeffer would be rolling in his grave at Robertson's us of his quote - "he compared Chavez to Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Adolph Hitler and quoted German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "[That if a madman were] driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can't, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver."

Btw, the CIA has *already* tried to dispose of Chavez - there's a very interesting documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised aka Chavez: Inside the Coup. I saw this documentary more than once. I talked with some people from Venezuela afterwards, and although they said the film was slanted a little (as *all* documentary films are to some degree) that it had some very good points. As I recall there were some very heated statements in the user comments section - it comes down to oil & $$$ and who's in control - some excerpts from Roger Eberts review:

Was the United States a shadowy presence in the background of the aborted coup in Venezuela in 2002? The democratically elected government of Hugo Chavez was briefly overthrown by a cabal of rich businessmen and Army officers, shortly after their representatives had been welcomed in the White House. Oh, the United States denied any involvement . . . But earlier we heard ominous rumblings from Jesse Helms, Ari Fleischer and George Tenet, agreeing that Chavez was no friend of the United States, and after the coup, there was no expression of dismay from Washington, no announcement that we would work to restore the elected government.

Why was Chavez not our friend? It all comes down to oil, as it so often does these days. Venezuela is the fourth largest oil-producing nation in the world, and much of its oil comes to the United States. Its price has been guaranteed by the cooperation of the nation's ruling class. Chavez was elected primarily by the poor. He asked a simple question: Since the oil wells have always been nationalized and the oil belongs to the state, why do the profits flow directly to the richest, whitest 20 percent of the population, while being denied to the poorer, darker 80 percent? His plan was to distribute the profits equally among all Venezuelans.

This was, you may agree, a fair and obvious solution. But not to the 20 percent, of course. . . (or) to other interested parties, including our friends the Saudis, whose people get poorer as the sheiks get richer. Charging Chavez with being a communist who wanted to bring Castroism to Venezuela, the rich and powerful staged a coup on April 12, 2002. Chavez was put under arrest and held on an island, and the millionaire businessman Pedro Carmona was sworn in as president. This was in violation of the constitution, but he blandly assured TV audiences he was in power because "of a mandate better than any referendum." There was no disagreement from Washington.

Incredibly, the coup failed. Hundreds of thousands of Chavez supporters surrounded the presidential palace, and the loyal presidential guard put the interlopers under arrest. Although the state-run Channel 8 was taken off the air and the private channels told lies and showed falsified news footage, Venezuelans learned from CNN and other cable channels that Chavez had not resigned and a coup had taken place; they demanded his return, and a few days later he arrived by helicopter at the presidential palace and resumed office.

Thanks!

Thanks for the details. I'll be sure to check out those books as soon as we get settled.

I find it amusing how little we learn about South America in school, and how much we learn about Europe.