The Land of Allende

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

The Land of Allende

 

In the land of Pinochet and Allende

Where Latin American democracy

Rose up against the authoritarian tide

And fell against the same

Where the champions of the North

Changed sides by backing a military coup

 

We’re not about to let the will of the people

Stand in the way of American interests *

 

Chileans are facing a critical choice

A communist who is not a communist

Against a republican who is not a republican

The way of the ballot box

Or the way of the bullet

The gentle hand or the iron fist

Reason against rationalization

Persuasion against force

The path of social justice

Or the path of grim austerity

Jeannette Jara or Jose Antonio Kast

The people must choose

 

Choose wisely

For to make the wrong choice

May outlast a generation

 

* Henry Kissinger

 

Wag the Dog (Venezuela)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Wag the Dog (Venezuela)

 

What do presidents do

When the bottom drops out?

When they’ve already lost one shoe

And there’s little left but doubt?

 

They start a war with paper tiger

Someone that doesn’t have a chance

Someone who will not push it higher

But will show up for the dance

 

It seems Maduro fits the bill

He’s well known as a bad guy

If we don’t get him someone will

We’ll frame him with a lie

 

Just like we did in Vietnam

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

We don’t really give a damn

But we’ll make it a solution

 

The problem is it never works

The people will strike back

The invaders are always seen as jerks

When a foreign force attacks

 

It didn’t work in Vietnam

In Afghanistan or Iraq

The people sense a phony scam

Like a rabbit smells a hawk

 

The Fall of Bolivar

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

The Fall of Bolivar

 

The last stand of Simon Bolivar

The father of Latin American democracy

The nation named in his honor

Home to the first indigenous president

Defender of democratic socialism

Fallen to the forces of capitalism

 

One wonders if democracy can survive

For capitalism so often prefers strongmen

 

That it has survived in the northern hemisphere

In western Europe and America

Gives proof that elements of socialism and

Capitalism can coexist with democracy

 

That democracy is so often threatened

In capitalist dominated countries

(a list that now include the United States)

Gives proof that the forces opposed to socialism

Are the forces opposed to democracy

 

The autocrats are lining up against us

Social democracy is at risk

Democracy itself is threatened

Bolivar has fallen but the fight goes on

The people must rise to find a way

 

(Rodrigo Paz elected president of Bolivia) 

War with Venezuela

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

War with Venezuela

 

We’re preparing for war with Venezuela

On the pretense of Narco Terror

Like the Russians invading Australia

The debt belongs to the bearer

 

What fool dreamed up this adventure?

Bush’s folly was not enough

Is this how the man derives pleasure?

By proving he’s bold and tough

 

Just as Putin did in Ukraine

The US will go it alone

An invasion that drags on in vain

An occupation in the American zone

 

Turn back before it’s too late

Like Bush you will stumble and lose

You wanted to show yourself great

Instead you will pay your dues

 

Like Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan

You’ll go down in a flurry of flames

Just another imperialist plan

That forever degrades our name

 

Let’s pretend you’re still a peacemaker

Let’s pretend you don’t want war

You’re a giver not a taker

You can find the other shore

 

Rio in Red

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: BRAZIL

 

Rio in Red

 

A Brazilian flag is stained in red

After Rio’s deadly raid

Hundreds of bodies lying dead

All hope begins to fade

 

The favelas are in mourning

So many people dead

It came without a warning

Leaving only fear and dread

 

Who ordered this abomination?

This massacre of men

Was it meant to cause sensation?

Are they prepared to do it again?

 

Castro ordered the slaughter

The governor of the state

The people were cannon fodder

They met a gruesome fate

 

He accused them of narco terror

An accusation that covers all

No trials. What could be fairer?

Line em up against the wall

 

Is this the way of the world now?

Justice belongs to the strong

We do not ask why or how

We know in our hearts it’s wrong

 

 

The Venezuelan Tragedy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

The Venezuelan Tragedy

 

It is a sad and dreary history

The CIA backed operations

The torture and the travesties

The Bolivarian Revolution

Alleviation of mass poverty

The backlash of institutions

A betrayal of democracy

A reversal of solutions

Corruption and collusion

 

Hugo Chavez had it right

When he embraced social democracy

He kept the workers in his sight

Til he was tempted by autocracy

When Maduro took the reigns

He enacted one-man rule

It became an old refrain

Oppression cold and cruel

 

Had Chavez lived who knows?

His cause might have remained true

But now the discontent grows

When they win the people lose

The democratic movement slows

Their elections are a ruse

The Americans are landing blows

The Venezuelans are abused

 

Democracy in Peru

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Peruvian Democracy

 

Crime is the enemy of a civil society

When crime rises, trust declines

Bringing discontent and social anxiety

Democratic values fall behind

 

In Peru they send their leaders to jail

For failure to stop the criminal waves

That’s what happens when society fails

Corruption pulls them to an early grave

 

Now that Boluarte is out and Jeri is in

The demand for change will be growing

The countdown to elections will begin

They hope the crime rate will be slowing

 

Democracy can’t be a revolving wheel

That does not address the people’s needs

When government abuses power to steal

It is replaced with lightning speed

 

The enduring lesson of Peru’s democracy

Is that stability must take hold

To prevent the danger of autocracy

The people must be strong and bold

 

 

The Argentinian Compromise

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Argentinian Compromise

 

Between a steamroller and a boulder

The Argentinians are in crisis

The prospects are growing colder

With their inflationary prices

 

On one side looms the dragon

The full forces of oppression

Put your pesos in their wagon

You will be headed for depression

 

On the other is the autocrat

The unvarnished force of greed

If this is where your country’s at

Argentina is bound to bleed

 

The land with a tortured history

Is a land in desperate need

With a leader who is lost

And who will pay most any cost

 

To maintain his hold on power

Despite the welfare of the nation

As we approach the final hour

That will define their destination

 

 

Strongmen of Nicaragua

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Strongmen of Nicaragua

 

Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo

Rule the nation with an iron fist

A growing number of desaparecido

Their names were on a list

 

They disappear their adversaries

Like their predecessors did before

No telling where the bodies are buried

It’s a part of the nation’s lore

 

It’s an endless fight for liberty

In the nations below the border

They pray the soldiers let them be

They plead for law and order

 

But the government is the problem

They have guns and they have power

The courts cannot absolve them

When it comes to the reckoning hour

 

They are cursed to live in darkness

Until the light comes shining through

Like a hawk trapped in its nest

Until the day it finally flew

 

Gringo Go Home!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

 

Gringo Go Home

 

Up north they want the border closed

Down south they’re beginning to see

Both sides want the change to slow

They’re not sure what to plead

 

The northerners are moving in

The cost of housing on the rise

The locals lose, the landlords win

When they cater to the gentrified

 

The workers cannot pay the rent

They being pushed aside

Their patience is being spent

Not much longer will they ride

 

It’s happening across the board

On both sides of the border

It strikes on a rebellious chord

And triggers law and order

 

The people rise up everywhere

Their anger springs from fear

You don’t want our workers there?

We don’t want your money here!

 

(Massive protests in Mexico City)

 

Russian Spies in Argentina

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Russian Spies in Argentina

 

The Russians are in Buenos Aires

Recruiting agents of disinformation

Paid for loyalty with the latest spyware

Through political media organizations

 

Don’t think it’s just a one and done

We have the same here in the states

Tulsi Gabbard and Tucker Carlson

Mother Russia holds their fates

 

Their tentacles reach everywhere

From the local news to the internet

Disinformation “free and fair”

Bought and paid for without regret

 

Ever wonder why they love Iran?

Vladimir Putin is their ally

When Putin drums they sing his song

If you’ve got morals don’t apply

 

But Argentina is fighting back

They won’t be played by Kremlin spies

All republics are under attack

From Russia’s hacks and spies

 

(Argentina uncovers spy network)

 

 

 

Dear Mexico (The Master to His Hound)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Dear Mexico

 

Dear citizens of Mexico

We owe you an apology

Please take it in and let it go

A cold and cruel psychology

 

He doesn’t want your land

He only wants your oil

There’s too much rock and sand

To take a profit from you soil

 

He wants you to bow down

To his majesty supreme

All promises unwound

He saw it in a dream

 

If you want to win his favor

Just play a little ball

He’ll be the great enslaver

You’ll help him build his wall

 

When Mexico is good again

He’ll tear the great wall down

Then we will be the best of friends

The master to his hound

 

Venezuelan Refugees

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MASS DEPORTATION

 

Venezuelan Refugees

 

Sending refugees to prison in El Salvador

A level of depravity rarely seen

Even in the lowest dream

Like jailing people for being poor

What else would we do?

Are there any limitations?

Have we become a heartless nation?

 

We have lost our moral grounding

It is pitiful and yet it’s true

Our cruelty is astounding

Some would say it’s nothing new

 

They are fleeing from oppression

As we encouraged them to do

We would teach them all a lesson

But we failed to see it through

Now we tell them you’re not welcome here

You’re not welcome anywhere

We condemn you to a life of fear

Though we know it is not fair

 

This is not the old America

The one you knew and loved

This is the hateful nation

The hawk without the dove

 

(Trump administration ships Venezuelan

refugees to prison in El Salvador.)

 

Appeasement

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Appeasement

 

Neville Chamberlain appeased the Reich

Before the Reich invaded Poland

Our leader knows it is not right

But he’ll give Zelensky no land

 

Mexico appeased our president

Before he launched his trade war

A tariff where all the money went

Slamming shut an open door

 

I understand the need to please

The big bully on the border

But that’s no reason to appease

It just fuels his cruel disorder

 

Our good neighbors understand

He is not a man of common sense

He only cares about his brand

His sense of fairness bent

 

Appeasing him will do no good

It will only make his fire burn

All who’ve known him understood

This man will never learn

 

Santiago Blackout

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Santiago Blackout

 

Where were you when the lights went out?

When the city lost all power

When the purest mind began to doubt

And the spirits ruled the hour

 

Men and women ran for cover

Children hid and cowered

Sweet Isabella lost her lover

When the spirits claimed the hour

 

And I was but a passing ship

Tossed out to the seven seas

I felt the earth beneath me slip

And I thought this cannot be

 

We were cast into the deepest dark

We were captured by a spell

This failing leaves a lasting mark

A moment spent in hell

 

We will never find our way back home

To the place we left behind

The truth is that we’re all alone

With the ghosts that haunt our minds