as originally posted by Centurion
If you want my personal take, here's a formula that would make such an eventuality more "palatable":
Follow the "Guatemalan Model" of 1944, where a cross-section of society took to the streets with sticks and stones after the dictatorship of Gen. Ubico launched a crackdown. At that point, the more moderate elements within the Guatemalan military led by Col. Arbenz-Guzman and his good friend, Gen. Juan Jose Arevalo were able to regroup and turn the tables on the dictatorship, by forging an alliance with the people in the streets.
It was more or less a "people power" type of action, except that the civilian crowds were armed with machetes, sticks, stones (and some had low-caliber firearms). The dictator fell, in the same year, Arevalo was elected president. Four years later, he gave way to his friend, Jacobo Arbenz. The years 1944-1954 was Guatemala's "springtime of democracy"....until Arbenz was toppled by a CIA-backed coup in 1954.
I can't tire of reading about Arbenz, because during the 10 years of "springtime", a comprehensive land reform program was put into place, and huge tracts of United Fruit property were confiscated. Other radical reforms were introduced, including basic services for the poor and Indian population.
It was in Guatemala where Che Guevara, fresh out of medical school, found refuge after escaping Juan Peron's secret police in 1953. Che opened a clinic under government sponsorship and many Indians benefited from the services of the highly idealistic Argentine doctor. Of course, during the CIA backed coup of 1954, Arbenz had to flee to neighboring Mexico, and so did Che (where he would eventually meet a young lawyer by the name of Fidel Castro).
Castro, then a rising corporate lawyer in Havana, had very shallow ideological grounding, in fact, his political "awakenment" took place in 1948 in Bogota, Colombia where he attended a youth conference (he was sponsored by Perón's government) and later on took part in the infamous "bogotazo" - Colombia's major bloodletting where more than 500,000 citizens perished (it was a "battle royale" between conservatives and liberals, which ignited after the assassination of Julio Eliecer Gaitan, a stalwart of the Liberal Party).
Like I said, Latin America is quite different. But who knows if we have an Arbenz or an Arevalo within the Philippine military. And who knows if, by some miracle - some elements within the military establishment might find common cause with those who are simply sick and tired of the way things are. My fear, though, is that ours will just be a "blood-blood" kind of affair, dinuguan a la carte. There's a lot of built-up anger behind that Filipino smile and though I hate to admit it, violence is as Filipino as dinuguan. Our history is written in blood, but the sad part about it is - in spite of the amount of blood shed so far, we have yet to see the shadow of redemption lurking in some corner.
I'm sorry for boring the forum with stories of Latin America, a place under the sun that has always fascinated me. But why shouldn't I look somewhere for parallels or similarities? We are still a former Spanish colony with more things in common with Latin American countries than with our own Asian neighbors. A tough spot to be in, but that's where we are. Sometimes I'm tempted to think that the conquistador blood in our veins is somehow responsible for this propensity for violence.
We are a people brought up with the cross and the sword, by friar and conquistador - a rosary in one hand, a .45 in the other. As a Venezuelan friend of mine would put it, "We're very much alike". How true.
We keep hoping for some "bold" and "enlightened" moves taking place somehow, but all we have is hope. In hindsight, Sanlakas' call during EDSA 2 could have made a difference. Back in 2001, their call was "Resign Estrada, Resign All". And really, given that EDSA 2 was a power grab anyway that was constitutionally nebulous at best, an interim government or a civilian-military junta could have been set up - without the "queen-in-waiting" and without the same old faces of the status quo. But of course, it was a revolution with the slogan but without the meat. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
And so here we are, still caught in the crossfire between Right and Left. What to do? Honestly, the only thing I'm praying for is a miracle.
Junta
Originally Posted by WAYOK@@
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