How the U.S. supports democracy and the “will of the people” is playing out in Venezula as the December elections approach. Two recent articles examine the role the US has played in trying to get the result they want.

Chris Carlson reminds us of how the U.S., having failed to get rid of Milosovic through a bombing campaign, turned to influencing the ballot box.

They sent in CIA front organizations funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Instead of guns and bombs, these U.S. forces were armed with fax machines, computers, and perhaps most importantly, sophisticated surveys done by the Washington-based polling firm Penn, Schoen & Berland.(1) Their mission: to take down Milosovic by strengthening opposition groups.

So it should come as no surprise that these same actors are now operating to get rid of Hugo Chavez.

Read more at the Left Coaster