Who are Akbayan's bedfellows?
Walden Bello and his Akbayan would pounce on every opportunity just to acquire some prestige and credibility�two things sorely lacking in their crusade to malign the revolutionary movement in the Philippines.
This time, they resort to dropping the name of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of the foremost opponents of US imperialist policies. Bello portrays Chavez as an ally in his campaign of slander, even bragging that the Venezuelan president had offered him safe haven in the Latin American country.
Bello has the gall to ride on the coattails of Chavez's prestige. Nonetheless, Bello cannot hide the fact that one of Akbayan's fraternal parties is also one of the most corrupt and reactionary political parties in Venezuela that has done nothing since 1998 but plot to overthrow Chavez's popular government.
Accion Democratica (AD) is, like Akbayan, a member of the social-democratic Socialist International (SI). It is one of the forces behind the US-sponsored coup against Chavez in 2002.
AD has reason to loathe Chavez. For three decades since 1958, AD took turns with the equally corrupt and reactionary COPEI party in controlling Venezuela's government. Chavez's election as president in 1998 put an end to AD's blissful days.
If Bello is seriously looking for sanctuary, he will not find it in Venezuela. How could he ever sleep soundly in Venezuela knowing its people despise anyone associated with the old parties that indulged themselves in power for so long and caused their country so much suffering?
What Bello, Etta Rosales and all their partymates need to do is to be true to themselves. Akbayan is a party that rides on the coattails of the reactionary system. If Akbayan's members now believe their own lies about being progressive, they need only look at their fellow members in the SI to see their own hideous likeness.
Akbayan's fraternal partners in the Socialist International
Many of SI's member parties now rule their respective reactionary governments. Others, like AD, serve as leading reactionary opposition parties. The SI also has in its fold many reformist parties that serve as adornments of the reactionary ruling system in various parts of the world.
Fraternal parties the Akbayan prides itself with: - The Labour Party. Now in power in the imperialist United Kingdom. Headed by Prime Minister Tony Blair. It is the US' main partner in its aggression on Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Israel Labor Party. Takes turns with the Likud party in controlling the government of Israel, the US' principal partner in the imperialist domination of the Middle East.
- German Social Democratic Party. Now in power in imperialist Germany. Headed by Chancellor Gerhard Schr�der. An ally of the US in invading Afghanistan in 2001.
- Socialist Party. One of the dominant parties in imperialist France.
- Nepali Congress Party. Dominant party in the reactionary Nepali parliament. It is the main proponent of the country's feudal constitutional monarchy.
- Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Dominant party in the Mexican government since 1929. It is notorious for its corruption and suppression of the people.
- Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP). Opportunist party of Norberto Gonzales, CIA agent and fascist security adviser of the US-Arroyo regime.
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