Noriega’s buffoonish commentary in CNN would be more amusing if not for his hands-on experience in crafting devastating U.S. policies toward Latin America. Given his disturbing record, it is astonishing that CNN would produce a news piece on Venezuela through the lens of Noriega—a lobbyist with obvious conflicts of interest in Latin America.

As part of her election campaign, Jamaican prime minister Portia Simpson Miller announced her intention of breaking ties with the British monarchy and becoming an independent republic. While this is no doubt a long overdue and symbolic act, breaking ties with the real neocolonial power in Jamaica—the International Monetary Fund—should be a much higher priority.