Please Defend the Latin American Left on Nov. 4

Are there leftists who defend the Latin American left anymore?  If so, I only need one of you — to be a debater against a libertarian at Lolita Bar (266 Broome St. at Allen St.) on Wed., Nov. 4 (8pm), but you (or the colleagues you nudge to volunteer) need to TELL ME TODAY (I’ll post another blog entry tomorrow saying who has volunteered).  We do these sorts of debates, in a friendly and fairly informal fashion, once a month there, with the audience voting at the end on the question at hand (this one can be worded around, say, Chavez or Che or Castro or some such combo, or the leftward Latin American trend in general).

Oliver Stone thinks Hugo Chavez is swell and even shows himself throwing around a football with a playful Chavez in his new documentary, South of the Border (which will probably make slightly less money than his sequel to Wall Street next year, in which Gordon Gekko gets out of prison after two decades in 2007 and tries to warn people of an impending financial crisis).

Perhaps you agree with Stone — perhaps you even agree with Chavez.  Or simply with Che or Castro, or maybe Zelaya (whose attempt to defy term limits in Honduras is arguably little worse than Mayor Bloomberg’s, after all — and who may have had nothing to do with his replacement’s nephew being murdered).  Maybe you’re just relieved that Daniel Ortega is currently the duly-elected president of Nicaragua, after all that fighting back in the 80s.  Whatever the case, WE NEED YOU to oppose someone who dislikes all these people — and our audiences have always been politically-mixed and civil, so a good time will be had by all, no matter how much we may differ, and we will drink.

Let me know if you can make it: ToddSeavey[at]earthlink.net.