What they mean by 'the people'

George Monbiot sees more than a little hypocrisy in the West's reactions to two recent nationalizations of oil fields—one by Evo Morales ("petulant," "xenophobic," and "capricious," according to the Times) and another by Idriss Deby, "our" friend in Chad (where life expectancy is 43.6 years), in partnership with Exxon and the World Bank.

Morales says he will use the revenues from Bolivia's own natural resources to help the poor of his nation. If, Monbiot writes, Morales "uses the extra revenues from Bolivia's gas fields in the same way as Hugo Chávez has used the money from Venezuela's oil, the result is likely to be a major improvement in his people's welfare." Chad's government, in contrast (which incidentally has an abysmal human rights record) will use its revenues to buy ... weapons!

So, on the one hand, you have a man who has kept his promises by regaining control over the money from the hydrocarbon industry, in order to use it to help the poor. On the other, you have a man who has broken his promises by regaining control over the money from the hydrocarbon industry, in order to buy guns. The first man is vilified as irresponsible, childish and capricious. The second man is left to get on with it. Why? Well, Deby's actions don't hurt the oil companies. Morales's do. When Blair and Rice and the Times and all the other apologists for undemocratic power say "the people," they mean the corporations. The reason they hate Morales is that when he says "the people," he means the people.

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