Judi Lynn
Judi Lynn's JournalWhy US fracking companies are licking their lips over Ukraine
Why US fracking companies are licking their lips over Ukraine
From climate change to Crimea, the natural gas industry is supreme at exploiting crisis for private gain – what I call the shock doctrine
Naomi Klein
The Guardian, Thursday 10 April 2014 14.12 EDT
The way to beat Vladimir Putin is to flood the European market with fracked-in-the-USA natural gas, or so the industry would have us believe. As part of escalating anti-Russian hysteria, two bills have been introduced into the US Congress – one in the House of Representatives (H.R. 6), one in the Senate (S. 2083) – that attempt to fast-track liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, all in the name of helping Europe to wean itself from Putin's fossil fuels, and enhancing US national security.
According to Cory Gardner, the Republican congressman who introduced the House bill, "opposing this legislation is like hanging up on a 911 call from our friends and allies". And that might be true – as long as your friends and allies work at Chevron and Shell, and the emergency is the need to keep profits up amid dwindling supplies of conventional oil and gas.
For this ploy to work, it's important not to look too closely at details. Like the fact that much of the gas probably won't make it to Europe – because what the bills allow is for gas to be sold on the world market to any country belonging to the World Trade Organisation.
Or the fact that for years the industry has been selling the message that Americans must accept the risks to their land, water and air that come with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in order to help their country achieve "energy independence". And now, suddenly and slyly, the goal has been switched to "energy security", which apparently means selling a temporary glut of fracked gas on the world market, thereby creating energy dependencies abroad.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/10/us-fracking-companies-climate-change-crisis-shock-doctrine
Paraguay: indigenous Aché people charge genocide
Paraguay: indigenous Aché people charge genocide
Submitted by WW4 Report on Wed, 04/09/2014 - 20:41 Southern Cone
The Aché indigenous people of Paraguay on April 8 brought suit in a court in Argentina demanding reparations for "genocide" carried out under the late Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner. The Aché are being represented by Spanish jurist Baltasar Garzón, and chose to bring the case in Argentina under the doctrine of "universal jurisdiction" for crimes against humanity, asserting that justice is not possible in Paraguay's own courts. "We still feel enormous pain in our hearts and minds," said Aché leader Ceferino Kreigi Duarte in a press conference announcing the suit. "For this reason we today demand the Paraguayan state must answer for all this damage, not only to our community but to all the peoples of Paraguay who were victims of the dictatorship." Under Stroessner's 1954-1989 rule, the Aché people, who live in the riverine forests of Paraguay's east, saw their population diminish by 60% due to forced relocations, seizures of their traditional lands, and abduction of the young to serve as virtual slaves in domestic labor. Most of the population plunge took place during five years in the early 1970s. (AP via Excélsior, Mexico; EFE via Radio Caracol, Colombia, April 8)
http://ww4report.com/node/13135
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Thumbnail history:
ALFREDO STROESSNER
President-for-Life of Paraguay
Alfredo Stroessner came to power in 1954, but European correspondents who visited Paraguay during his rule used the term the "poor man's Nazi regime" to describe the Paraguayan government. The parallels may have been more than a coincidence, for many Nazi war criminals, such as Joseph Mengele, had settled there with Stroessner's blessing.
From the Nazis the Paraguayan military leamed the art of genocide. The native Ache Indians were in the way of progress, progress represented by American and European corporations who planned to exploit the nation's forests, mines, and grazing lands. The Indians were hunted down, parents killed, and children sold into slavery. Survivors were herded into reservations headed by American fundamentalist missionaries , some of whom had participated in the hunts.
Between 1962 and 1975, Paraguay received $146 million in U.S. aid. Paraguayan officials seemingly wanted more, however, for in 1971, high ranking members of the regime were implicated in the Marseilles drug ring, with Paraguay their transfer point for shipments from France to the U.S. In the 1980s America finally condemned Paraguayan civil rights abuses and drug trafficking. Stroessner still looked as if he'd be dictator for life but in 1988 one of his closest generals, Andres Rodriguez, a known drug dealer, took over after a coup. Rodriguez promised to restore democracy, and President Bush called the 1989 elections "a democratic opening," but opponents declared them "a massive fraud." Rodriguez's Colorado party won 74% of the vote.
http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/SouthAmerica.html
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Wikipedia:
Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (also Strössner or Strößner; November 3, 1912 – August 16, 2006) was a Paraguayan military officer who served as President of Paraguay from 1954 to 1989. He ascended to the position after leading an army coup in 1954. His 35-year long rule, marked by an uninterrupted period of repression in his country, was the longest unbroken rule by one individual in the history of South America. His rule is ranked 14th-longest among other non-royal national leaders since 1870, and made him one of the world's longest-serving non-Communist heads of state.
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During Stroessner's rule, Paraguay became a sanctuary for smugglers in arms, drugs and everyday goods such as whisky and car parts. Stroessner provided refuge for French-born international heroin dealer Auguste Ricord; strongmen such as Argentina's Juan Perón and Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza Debayle (later assassinated in Paraguay); and war criminals, including Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor known as the "Angel of Death" who performed genetic experiments on children. Stroessner was forced from power in 1989 in a military coup led by strongman General Andrés Rodríguez. Stroessner was forced into exile in Brazil, where he spent the last 17 years of his life. Following a bout of pneumonia, he tried to return to his homeland to die, but was rejected by the government. He died in Brasília on 16 August 2006 of complications from a hernia operation.
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Paraguay enjoyed close military and economic ties with the United States and supported the US invasion of Dominican Republic.[2] The Stroessner regime even offered to send troops to Vietnam alongside the Americans.[3] Between 1962 and 1975 the United States provided $146 million to Paraguay's military government and Paraguayan officers were trained at the US Army School of the Americas.[4] Although the military and security forces under Stroessner received less material support from the United States than other South American countries, strong inter-military connections existed through military advisors and military training. Between 1962 and 1966, nearly 400 Paraguayan military personnel were trained by the United States in the Panama Canal Zone and on US soil.[5] Strong Paraguayan-U.S. relations continued until the Carter Administration emphasized a foreign policy that recognized human rights abuses. The Reagan Administration boycotted the country as well.[6]
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Operation Condor[edit]
Paraguay was a leading participant in Operation Condor, a campaign of state-terror and security operations officially implemented in 1975 which were jointly conducted by the right-wing military governments of six Latin American countries (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil). Human rights violations characteristic of those in other Latin American countries such as kidnapping, torture, forced disappearance and extrajudicial killing, were routine and systematic during the Stroessner regime. Following executions, many of the bodies of those killed by the regime were dumped in the Chaco or the Rio Paraguay. The discovery of the "Archives of Terror" in 1992 in the Lambaré suburb of Asunción, confirmed allegations of widespread human rights violations.
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Stroessner
Brazil remembers its struggle for democracy
Brazil remembers its struggle for democracy
Date 10.04.2014
Author Astrid Prange /sst
Editor Sean Sinico
Millions of Brazilians took to the streets some 30 years ago to push for free elections. These mass protests eventually led to an end of the country's military dictatorship.
Popular Brazilian song lyrics "My soul sings when I see Rio de Janeiro" left Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff teary-eyed as she remembered the country's struggle for democracy 30 years ago. In 1984, millions of Brazilians took to the streets to push for free elections. One of the country's biggest demonstrations was held on April 10 where more than a million citizens gathered in front of the Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro's city center to help support the national civil rights movement known as "Diretas Ja" - Direct Elections Now.
The bossa nova classic by composer Antonio Carlos Jobim has been regarded as the resistance's anthem, remembering all the exiled Brazilians who returned after a 1979 amnesty. Musicians Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso who helped support the democratic movement with their songs were among the returnees as well.
Exiled Brazilians played their part
"I am sure that their souls sang when they landed in Rio," Rousseff said in reference to the anthem during an official ceremony at Rio de Janeiro's airport. Rousseff, who was also part of the resistance movement, said Brazilians returning from exile gave momentum to the push for democracy.
More:
http://www.dw.de/brazil-remembers-its-struggle-for-democracy/a-17554707?maca=en-rss-en-world-4025-rdf
Outrage Over Killer Cops: The New Rebellion of Albuquerque
April 09, 2014
Outrage Over Killer Cops
The New Rebellion of Albuquerque
by KENT PATERSON
It’s unlikely there has ever been an Albuquerque City Council meeting like the one of Monday, April 7, 2014. With the council chambers jammed to the brim, strictly-by-the-book fire marshals forced people into an “overflow room” on the 9th floor of City Hall, where live video of the action below was transmitted. Outside, meanwhile, dozens of other citizens sat on the edge of Civic Plaza watching the gripping events on large screens.
The big draw? Public anger with not only the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), but local and state elected officials accused of covering up police violence and misdeeds as well.
In what could go down as a seminal moment in New Mexico political history, hundreds of people listened for hours as speaker after speaker told emotionally-charged stories of loved ones shot to death by APD officers, alleged beatings and taserings by the police, exiles from Duke City to escape the boys and girls in blue, unresponsive public officials, and millions in taxpayer monies expended on excessive force and wrongful death lawsuits.
Social and economic troubles, red-baiting, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the specter of Egypt, and a militarized police force were interspersed into the mix. A circled image of Mayor Richard Berry, who was noticeably absent from the event, was displayed on video screens with a big “no” slash across his face. Calls for the sacking of Berry and new Police Chief Gorden Eden resonated with much of the audience.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/09/the-new-rebellion-of-albuquerque/
The little engine that could: Constitutional Court speaks out in favor of Petro and IACHR
The little engine that could: Constitutional Court speaks out in favor of Petro and IACHR
Apr 9, 2014 posted by Daniel E Freeman
The president of Colombia’s Constitutional Court announced that the national government should not have disobeyed the precautionary mandate from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, which stated that Bogota’s ousted mayor should have stayed in office.
Gustavo Petro might just be Colombia’s little engine that could.
On the three week anniversary of President Juan Manuel Santos closing the door (as most thought) forever on hopes of former Bogota Mayor Petro shaking the label of “former,” there appears to be a light at the end of the long dark tunnel for the former guerrilla-turned politician.
Luis Vargas, president of Colombia’s Constitutional Court said Wednesday evening that he believes that the government led by President Santos was wrong in disobeying a precautionary mandate from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR) to stop Petro’s dismissal from office.
Vargas spoke out saying that the measures issued by the IACHR are linked to the Colombian judicial system, and that ignoring the organization now could lead to serious problems in the future, according to El Espectador newspaper.
Broken down, the judicial president said that parties were confusing the “precautionary measure” or “precautionary mandate” of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights — the mandate that demanded the suspension of the dismissal of Petro — which was issued just under three weeks ago, with rulings of the related Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is located in Costa Rica rather than Washington, DC. He asserted that many were disregarding the precautionary measure as not obligatory and just a suggestion.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/little-engine-constitutional-court-speaks-favor-petro-iachr/
Bolivia Accessing Satellite Maps To Control Coca Crops
Bolivia Accessing Satellite Maps To Control Coca Crops
LA PAZ, April 8 (BERNAMA-NNN-Prensa Latina) -- Bolivia now has satellite maps to locate excess coca crops in the country, says Deputy Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances Felipe Caceres.
"We have acquired the satellite maps that will enable us to eradicate excess coca, especially in areas where no roads are known and in the Isiboro-Secure and Carrasco national parks," he said.
Caceres added that along with the maps, Super Puma helicopters, which can transport up to 24 troops to inaccessible locations, will contribute to eradication efforts.
The former mayor of Chapare, one of the two largest coca-producing areas in the country, stressed that thanks to Brazilian cooperation, technology is now available to immediately measure hectares eradicated, work that was previously done manually.
More:
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=1028887
Canada should press Honduras on free speech
Canada should press Honduras on free speech
By John Ralston Saul, Ottawa Citizen April 9, 2014 3:02 PM
Imagine yourself in Washington, D.C., charged with the task of honouring 32 murdered journalists at a session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. You have been allotted five minutes. What would you do?
Two weeks ago, speaking for a joint delegation from PEN International, PEN Canada and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law’s International Human Rights Program (IHRP), the Mexican writer Álvaro Enrigue read the names of Honduras’ fallen journalists — and spoke of the ordinary lives behind their extraordinary courage. “Celín Orlando Acosta Zelaya held his five-year old daughter’s hand as they walked, just as I do when I take my children to school each day. But he was a journalist and lived in Honduras. He was murdered in front of her.”
One journalist was killed in an Internet café, checking email; another was gunned down while driving his car. And so it went, with tragic, unbearable monotony, until 32 names had been read aloud, with the word asesinado (“murdered”) slicing the air like a guillotine, hinting at the awful price Honduran journalists have paid these past five years for their stubborn insistence on freedom of expression. The discomfort of the Honduran government representatives can be clearly seen on the OAS website video
Enrigue ended with a line that could have been written about any of the hundreds of threatened writers that PEN International defends each year: “When you save the life of someone who writes in freedom, you save the world for a lot of people.”
Details of violence, intimidation and targeted killings which have overwhelmed Honduras since the ouster of President José Manuel Zelaya appear in Honduras: Journalism in the Shadow of Impunity, a joint PEN-IHRP report released in mid-January. The report highlights how the 2009 coup that resulted in Zelaya’s removal allowed a culture of impunity to flourish even though “the roots of the crisis lie further back in Honduras’ history, notably in (the state’s) failure during the demilitarization process that began in the 1980s to hold those who had committed serious human rights violations accountable for their actions.” For at least a generation, there has been little public confidence in the country’s security forces, and chronic corruption within the police force persists, despite decades of “purification.” Transnational drug cartels have used the recent power vacuum, to establish new territory and terrorize journalists with a familiar combination of threats and murderous violence.
More:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/op-ed/Canada+should+press+Honduras+free+speech/9719393/story.html
William Blum: Cuba … Again … Still … Forever
Cuba … Again … Still … Forever
by William Blum | April 8, 2014
Is there actually a limit? Will the United States ever stop trying to overthrow the Cuban government? Entire books have been written documenting the unrelenting ways Washington has tried to get rid of tiny Cuba’s horrid socialism – from military invasion to repeated assassination attempts to an embargo that President Clinton’s National Security Advisor called “the most pervasive sanctions ever imposed on a nation in the history of mankind”. But nothing has ever come even close to succeeding. The horrid socialism keeps on inspiring people all over the world. It’s the darnedest thing. Can providing people free or remarkably affordable health care, education, housing, food and culture be all that important?
And now it’s “Cuban Twitter” – an elaborately complex system set up by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to disguise its American origins and financing, aiming to bring about a “Cuban Spring” uprising. USAID sought to first “build a Cuban audience, mostly young people; then the plan was to push them toward dissent”, hoping the messaging network “would reach critical mass so that dissidents could organize ‘smart mobs’ – mass gatherings called at a moment’s notice – that might trigger political demonstrations or ‘renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society’.” It’s too bad it’s now been exposed, because we all know how wonderful the Egyptian, Syrian, Libyan, and other “Arab Springs” have turned out.
Here’s USAID speaking after their scheme was revealed on April 3: “Cubans were able to talk among themselves, and we are proud of that.” We are thus asked to believe that normally the poor downtrodden Cubans have no good or safe way to communicate with each other. Is the US National Security Agency working for the Cuban government now?
The Associated Press, which broke the story, asks us further to believe that the “truth” about most things important in the world is being kept from the Cuban people by the Castro regime, and that the “Cuban Twitter” would have opened people’s eyes. But what information might a Cuban citizen discover online that the government would not want him to know about? I can’t imagine. Cubans are in constant touch with relatives in the US, by mail and in person. They get US television programs from Miami and other southern cities; both CNN and Telesur (Venezuela, covering Latin America) are seen regularly on Cuban television”; international conferences on all manner of political, economic and social issues are held regularly in Cuba. I’ve spoken at more than one myself. What – it must be asked – does USAID, as well as the American media, think are the great dark secrets being kept from the Cuban people by the nasty commie government?
More:
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/04/08/cuba-again-still-forever-2/#.U0T90WePLmQ
Venezuela protests are sign that US wants our oil, says Nicolás Maduro
Venezuela protests are sign that US wants our oil, says Nicolás Maduro
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Venezuela's president claims the Obama administration is fomenting unrest with the aim of provoking a Ukraine-style 'slow-motion' coup
Seumas Milne and Jonathan Watts in Caracas
The Guardian, Tuesday 8 April 2014 09.07 EDT
Venezuela's president has accused the US of using continuing street protests to attempt a "slow-motion" Ukraine-style coup against his government and "get their hands on Venezuelan oil".
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Nicolás Maduro, elected last year after the death of Hugo Chávez, said what he described as a "revolt of the rich" would fail because the country's "Bolivarian revolution" was more deeply rooted than when it had seen off an abortive US-backed coup against Chávez in 2002.
Venezuela, estimated to have the world's largest oil reserves, has faced continuous violent street protests – focused on inflation, shortages and crime – since the beginning of February, after opposition leaders launched a campaign to oust Maduro and his socialist government under the slogan of "the exit".
"They are trying to sell to the world the idea that the protests are some of sort of Arab spring," he said. "But in Venezuela, we have already had our spring: our revolution that opened the door to the 21st century".
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/08/venezuela-protests-sign-us-wants-oil-says-nicolas-maduro
13 of 32 states have no representation in Colombia’s 2014-2018 Senate
13 of 32 states have no representation in Colombia’s 2014-2018 Senate
Apr 8, 2014 posted by Victoria McKenzie
Colombia’s 2014 elections have left 13 of 32 states without a voice in the Senate, bolstering an argument for national electoral reform. Among the 104 senate seats, there are no representatives from the already neglected states of San Andres, Arauca, Amazonas, Caqueta, Choco, Guainia, Guaviare, Putumayo, Quindio, Vaupes, Vichada, Magdalena and La Guajira.
Situations like this have led President Juan Manuel Santos, his running mate Vargas Lleras, and the liberal party to propose changing the current system, which doesn’t guarantee a senator for each state, reported El Tiempo on Tuesday morning.
El Tiempo columnist and economist Guillermo Perry said the current system allows wealthy candidates to represent regions who can’t “buy their own local political leaders.”
The 2014 results leave all of central Colombia, including Orinoco and Amazonia, with only two representatives in the Senate– one from Meta, and the other from Casanare.
Magdalena, in Colombia’s north, is now in its fourth term without a senate representative.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/thirteen-colombian-states-will-seat-2014-congress/
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