Ganalane,

I don't know if 'capitalism can work for everyone', but definitely the type of free market practices forced on countries like Equador (and many many others) by the IMF and World Bank are not working for the average citizen of those nations.

Essentially what happens is that extremely unfavorable systems are put in place in these countries, so that foreign capital can come in without restrictions, exploit the natural resources of the nation, then expropriate the money made from them (with a bit trickling down to the elites of the host nation). Nothing gets to the poorest, and you see time and time again that when these structural programs are forced onto them, the gap of rich and poor widens.

Industrial nations become industrial in part by using massive trade barriers to protect their infant industries (we all still have them, by the way), but we don't like to see this kind of protectionism in others. Resource-rich countries like Canada rightly protect their wealth and keep other people's hands off it.

When countries adopt nationalist policies, like Venezuela for example, it royally pisses us off, and the rhetoric pumps up with our leaders, sometimes leading to all kinds of nasty rhetoric, or in lots of cases, much worse.

In re-reading the response I realize how simplistic it is. If you'd like to continue this discussion we can take it to the Off Topic Forum.

Camino