12:00 From Fidel to Chavez: How Do We Stop the Resurgence of Socialism in Latin America
– Marshall Ballroom*
The Honorable Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), United States Representative
The Honorable Otto Reich, President, Otto Reich Associates, LLC, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Former United States Ambassador to Venezuela
The Honorable David Rivera (R-FL), United States RepresentativeModerator: Mauricio Claver-Carone, Executive Director, Cuba Democracy Public Advocacy
Otto Reich is of course well known for his work in plotting coups against democratically elected governments, supporting terrorism and covering up torture. Diaz-Balart, Rivera & Claver-Carone are your standard Cuba embargo supporting hard liners, perhaps Claver-Carone the more irritating as he claims to be independent, non partisan, blah-blah and all the usual boilerplate beloved of Thinkwonks but is also director of US-Cuba Democracy Pac (Rivera is just a Family guy, where does all that money come from? Dogracing, really?). Anyways not surprising for CPAC but still we can be sure the honest answer (and what Reich earns his fortune from)- keep staging coups and torturing people- will be left unsaid in favour of ‘it is our manifest destiny to control other nation’s governance’ entitlement spiced up with the odd ‘Reds under the bed!!!’ revival. Meanwhile in the Land of the Free(tm) there have been at least 6,505 documented arrests in 110 U.S. cities of Occupy protesters & whistlebowers of war crimes languish in detention while perpetrators walk free.
