This Is Sure To Upset The Right-Wingers

Brazil has a new president.   The immensely popular outgoing president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has turned over the presidency of that country to a female former Marxist guerrilla, Dilma Rousseff.   That means the leftist president (who was one of the most widely respected Latin American leaders) has been succeeded by another leftist.   That in itself would be enough to upset a lot of right-wingers in America (who seem to think only right-wing dictators should rule any country in Central or South America).

But I have a feeling that the above picture will upset them even more.   It shows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shaking hands with the popularly-elected president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, at the new president's inauguration.   The right-wing in America has insulted and defamed President Chavez since his election (by large margins in two separate elections), calling him a dictator and a communist because he has put his country and people ahead of the imperialistic goals of the United States.

I'm sure they will see the gesture of shaking hands with Chavez as proof that Clinton (and therefore Obama) are socialists.   After all, the right-wingers were brutal to President Obama after he shook hands with Chavez and accepted a book from him at the Summit of the Americas.   They evidently think it would be better for America's leaders to behave in a rude and boorish manner by refusing to shake hands with another world leader.

I would remind these people on the right that the simple act of shaking hands with another person has never meant that the two people shaking hands agree with each other (or even necessarily like each other).   It is just common decency and good manners.   And it is a prime requirement of diplomacy.

Those on the right may not like President Chavez, but he is an important leader in South America and is respected throughout the region.   We must deal with him on a diplomatic level.   Shunning him and/or treating him rudely will only irritate much of Latin America and damage our reputation and influence in that region of the world.   That would be stupid.