Judi Lynn
Judi Lynn's JournalUS and Almagro Defeated in the OAS After the Approval of a Caricom Resolution on Bolivia
December 19, 2019
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, and the diplomatic representation of the United States (US) before the multilateral body suffered a resounding defeat in the Permanent Council when the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) achieved the approval of a resolution that condemns the violence of the de facto government in Bolivia.
The Bolivian representation had proposed amendments to the Caricom project. However, the representation from Granada indicated that the accusations did not constitute amendments but a new draft Resolution, Cubadebate says.
Given the disagreement, it was proposed to put a vote to the plenary, so the changes proposed by Bolivia were rejected with eight votes in favor, 17 against, 8 abstentions and one absence.
The resolution originally presented by Caricom, entitled “Rejection of violence and call for full respect for the rights of indigenous peoples in the Plurinational State of Bolivia”, was finally passed with 18 votes in favor, four against, including the “de facto” Bolivian government , United States and Colombia, 11 abstentions and one absent.
More:
https://orinocotribune.com/us-and-almagro-defeated-in-the-oas-after-the-approval-of-a-caricom-resolution-on-bolivia/?fbclid=IwAR283_3Weu1A_hzrfqkVucqbq37qdY2vDLH92ezo4Qsm6zQO7K8HoRiaJiI
Colombia Faces the Exhumation of 200k Unidentified Bodies
December 20, 2019
The Institute of Legal Medicine ensures that criminal justice investigations will determine cases of extrajudicial executions.
The daily life of Colombia walks on the edge of the confrontation with its recent past. Those years, the wounds of more than half a century of armed conflict, are periodically revived as happened on Saturday when the discovery of a mass grave in the municipality of Dabeiba, between Medellín and the Caribbean coast. There the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the court born of the agreements between the State and the FARC to investigate the most serious crimes of the war, seeks the bodies of at least 50 people victims of extrajudicial executions perpetrated by the military between 2005 and 2007. The Institute of Legal Medicine received information on 17 cases. But the dimension of the drama of disappearances goes further. The country faces, according to calculations of this public body, the exhumation of around 200.
These are the vertigenous figures highlighted Tuesday by Claudia García, director of the forensic institute. “In recent years we have made a survey in all legal cemeteries, let’s say it somehow, and in the burials that are not legal in these clandestine graves, and we believe that the challenge we are facing is more or less of 200,000 bodies, where we have to look for the disappeared from the country,” she said on Caracol Radio. “The challenge is very great and we will have work for many years from the scientific point of view,” continued Garcia, who stressed the importance of the government’s involvement in carrying out that task.
Systematic disappearances still embody the most vivid memory of the conflict and affect thousands of families. That is why the work of institutions such as the peace jurisdiction or the Search Unit is key to trying to close the wound. Extrajudicial executions, wrongly called false positives, only represent a percentage of those cases. As highlighted by the head of Legal Medicine, it will be the investigations of the justice system that establish whether civilians were killed by soldiers and then presented as guerrillas killed in combat in exchange for awards and compensation. In the midst of an amalgamation of estimates on the thousands of victims of this procedure, official data offered by the Prosecutor’s Office indicate that between 1998 and 2014 there were more than 2,200 executions of this type. The vast majority.
More:
https://orinocotribune.com/colombia-faces-the-exhumation-of-200k-unidentified-bodies/?fbclid=IwAR3LgW3rl4GvqLnx0QhKw0MeJfqvzq8aVjEMOQJ4ApzbCmkChhsEtifsmeA
Exclusive: Canada police prepared to shoot Indigenous activists, documents show
Exclusive: Canada police prepared to shoot Indigenous activists, documents show
Jaskiran Dhillon in Wet’suwet’en territory and Will Parrish
Fri 20 Dec 2019 05.30 EST
Canadian police were prepared to shoot Indigenous land defenders blockading construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
Notes from a strategy session for a militarized raid on ancestral lands of the Wet’suwet’en nation show that commanders of Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), argued that “lethal overwatch is req’d” – a term for deploying snipers.
The RCMP commanders also instructed officers to “use as much violence toward the gate as you want” ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock which had been erected by Wet’suwet’en people to control access to their territories and stop construction of the proposed 670km (416-mile) Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL).
In a separate document, an RCMP officer states that arrests would be necessary for “sterilizing the site”.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/canada-indigenous-land-defenders-police-documents
Colombia's labor unions receive death threats as government considering negotiations to end protests
by Adriaan Alsema December 19, 2019
Colombia’s government is inching towards negotiations to end weekly-long anti-government protests as strike leaders on Thursday denounced new death threats.
The government agreed to study 104 specifications of the 13 demands after a meeting on Tuesday, government representative Diego Molano told conservative radio station RCN.
The National Strike Committee, whose strikes sparked the anti-government protests, said that the government was holding off negotiations on the demands that seek far-reaching economic and peace policy changes.
Union leaders who take part in the committee said Wednesday they received new death threats from the “Aguilas Negras,” a far-right group believed to have ties to the security forces.
More:
https://colombiareports.com/colombias-labor-unions-receive-death-threats-as-government-considering-negotiations-to-end-protests/
Is Colombia's 'propaganda model' failing?
by Adriaan Alsema December 19, 2019
The plummeting approval rating of Colombia’s president Ivan Duque follows crises in the country’s mass media that have traditionally upheld the so-called “propaganda model.”
The ongoing anti-government protests coincide with record disapproval of the country’s mass media and business elites that have long controlled what news Colombians consume and in which context news is placed.
Their influence over public opinion, however, has been waning for years, according to Gallup, possibly as a consequence of the rise of independent and social media, and the country’s peace process.
The explicit opposition to the protests and the peace process by pundits and media bosses appears to have triggered the failing of what renowned linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky calls “the propaganda model.”
More:
https://colombiareports.com/is-colombias-propaganda-model-failing/
Rafael Correa receives two honorary doctorates in Argentina
Buenos Aires, Dec 13 (Prensa Latina) Former president of Ecuador Rafael Correa was invested this Friday with the Doctorate Honoris Causa of the National University Arturo Jauretche (UNAJ), on the same day as he received the same distinction from another institution.
With more than 20 doctorates to his credit, the former president, who always remembers in his speeches his passion for teaching, pointed out before a packed awards ceremony that 'education if it is not of quality, is not education. Only with better teachers will we change education. It is not enough, but necessary,' he said.
As part of the activities, Correa offered a conference on Latin American current affairs, in which he pointed out how during his administration it was possible to reduce extreme poverty, inequality and unemployment in his country.
The former president of Ecuador also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lanus, in the province of Buenos Aires.
The outstanding Latin American leader was distinguished with that honor for 'his contribution to reaffirming Ecuadorian popular sovereignty by making visible, vindicating and dignifying the excluded social classes of that country,' and for his 'unwavering democratic spirit.'
More:
https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=49926&SEO=rafael-correa-receives-two-honorary-doctorates-in-argentina
Canadian skater rescues family of deer from frozen lake
Mother and two fawns were found splayed on ice
Video shows deer being towed to safety at Ontario lake
Leyland Cecco in Toronto
Mon 16 Dec 2019 12.55 EST
here are days in a Canadian winter – when the temperature drops well below freezing and the snow hasn’t yet fallen – that transform any body of freshwater into a glass-like sheet of ice.
But what can bring joy to an adventurous human can prove a nightmare for some wild animals.
Footage of an Ontario man rescuing a family of deer stranded on the ice has been shared thousands of times after the video was posted online.
Eager to take advantage of a cold snap, Ryan Peterson laced up his skates on a recent lunch break. Gliding across Lake of the Woods in northern Ontario, Peterson spotted a trio of white tail deer, hopelessly splayed on the ice.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/16/canada-skater-rescues-family-of-deer-frozen-lake-ice
Bolivia's New US-Backed Interim Gov't Wastes No Time Privatizing Economy
DECEMBER 17 ,2019
BY ALAN MACLEOD
From privatizing natural resources to partnering with other right-wing regimes, Bolivia’s new interim government has wasted no time in reversing years of hard-fought gains.
It has been barely one month since the administration of Jeanine Añez seized power in a military coup in Bolivia, but it has wasted no time in attempting to transform the economy and society. Its latest move is aimed at privatizing the country’s economy. A government spokesperson confirmed the fears of many, claiming that “I believe the government should reduce its own size” and a protagonistic role should be given to private enterprises. In case that was not clear enough, he emphasized, “Yes, I’m talking about privatization.” Bolivia’s economy is dependent on its nationalized oil and gas industries.
After military generals appeared on television demanding his resignation, longtime president Evo Morales stepped down, citing the growing, targeted paramilitary violence against his MAS (Movement towards Socialism Party) colleagues. Morales, and his Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera, fled to Mexico for safety. The military chose Senator Jeanine Añez as his successor.
Añez is a strongly conservative Christian who has described Bolivia’s indigenous majority as “satanic” and vowed to bring the Bible back into politics. She has also provided the military carte blanche to use unlimited force in suppressing all resistance to her rule, even creating a squad of masked, heavily armed death squads aimed at uprooting leftist and foreign “terrorists.” Despite this, large areas of the country are in open rebellion and completely uncontrolled by the new government.
More:
https://ahtribune.com/world/americas/bolivia/3742-jeanine-anez-privatizing-economy.html
Un momento for a little history of evil in Bolivia:
In pursuit of Bolivia's secret Nazi
After the second world war many high-ranking Nazis fled to South America. Among them was the head of the Gestapo in the French city of Lyon, a man responsible for the deportation of Jews to the death camp at Auschwitz and the torture of members of the French Resistance. Hiding in Bolivia, Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyon, changed his name to Klaus Altmann and made himself helpful to drug lords and dictators alike. Bolivian journalist Gustavo Sanchez explains what happened when he tracked Barbie down in 1983
Wed 10 Sep 2008 04.00 EDTFirst published on Wed 10 Sep 2008 04.00 EDT
German SS officer and Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie. Photograph: Gabriel Hackett/Getty
For decades here in Bolivia we had an infamous tradition of ruthless dictators. In the early 70s General Hugo Banzer siezed power. He turned to the ex-Nazi Klaus Barbie to help him with the repression. It was not the first time that Barbie, a war criminal wanted by the French and German authorities, had mingled with hardliners. Here in Bolivia he used to do big business with the drug lords. He had his own team of assassins, some from Italy and others from Argentina, called the Grooms of Death. He also sold them weapons.
American intelligence officials helped Barbie to become established in Bolivia as part of their crusade against communism. He acted as a sort of counter-intelligence official. Under the alias of Klaus Altmann he worked primarily as an interrogator and torturer. He also helped in the same way in Peru. He did the same things here as in Germany and France. For him the word communist meant "dead". Many Bolivians died during that dictatorship; one that was prolonged for more than 10 years. Barbie was in charge of the murders of many Bolivian citizens, including priests and members of the opposition.
So some of us felt that we had to do something about it. But in 1980, after General Banzer, an even bloodier dictator, Luis García Meza, rose to power in what was called the narco, or cocaine, coup. Barbie was a key aide then. He was the main ideologue of that coup; he organised absolutely everything. He was even given the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Bolivian armed forces, and was then able to move around with total impunity. Today Bolivians know all about Barbie, but for a long time many even doubted that such a criminal could be here.
I was kind of obsessed with Barbie since the beginning. In the 70s, when I was in Chile with the Marxist Régis Debray and the Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, we masterminded a plan to kidnap Barbie. But we failed. Back then I was a simple leftist journalist, who was on very bad terms with the dictators' regimes – I knew that if I stayed I would be killed. I was in Chile until General Pinochet took over, then in Argentina until the junta took over, and finally in Cuba, until Bolivia's return to democracy in 1982 under Hernán Siles Suazo.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/10/bolivia-germany
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This Nazi Butcher Became a CIA Operative and South American Drug Kingpin
By Patrick Lynch
Even by the low standards of Nazi officers, Klaus Barbie was a monster. He earned the sobriquet the ‘Butcher of Lyon’ for torturing French prisoners when he was stationed in the city. After World War II, instead of being executed as a war criminal, Barbie was used as a CIA ‘asset,’ and the American intelligence agency helped him escape to South America.
. . .
The Drug Connection
Barbie attained Bolivian citizenship under his assumed name in 1957 and once again benefitted from America’s rabid anti-communist stance. The United States was worried about the rise of communism in South America, so its government was happy to finance secret deals and covert operations to support right-leaning governments in the region. The growing cocaine industry played a pivotal role, and once again, Barbie assisted the Americans in their operations.
Barbie quickly made friends with high ranking members of the Bolivian army. In 1964, General Barrientos swept to power in the country following a coup and Barbie happily assisted him. The former Nazi also tried to claim credit for the capture and execution of Che Guevara in 1967. Bolivian troops ambushed the rebel and killed him. Barbie claimed that he shared his knowledge of guerrilla warfare with the Bolivians and this helped them find their foe. He also had little respect for the fallen revolutionary. According to Barbie, Guevara was a ‘myth’ who ‘achieved absolutely nothing’ and ‘the poor man wouldn’t have survived at all if he fought in the Second World War.’
During his time in South America, Barbie was involved with the formation of a drug shipping company that generated millions of dollars. After yet another coup in Bolivia in 1970, Barbie remained in the country to assist the new regime. He was apparently paid $2,000 a month for ‘consulting services.’ In 1971, the French Government identified him as the ‘Butcher of Lyon’ and they demanded extradition. However, the Bolivians refused to comply because Barbie was a citizen of their country.
With his freedom once again guaranteed, Barbie continued to assist the CIA in its activities; he played a role in Operation Condor, which was part of the war on communism. He was also a member of the Bolivian Cocaine Coup in 1980, and he led a neofascist group called the Fiancés of Death in the same year. This group of thugs was mainly comprised of Europeans who wore uniforms with no identifying markings, although some of them wore swastika armbands.
More:
https://historycollection.co/klaus-barbie-nazi-butcher-lyon-became-cia-operative-drug-kingpin/2/
Five Years After Obama's Cuba Opening, Cubans Are Reeling From the "Trump Effect"
by Medea Benjamin / December 16th, 2019
December 17, 2019, Havana, Cuba: Gloria Minor had been preparing her AirBnB in Havana for years, investing every penny her sister sent her from Miami in repairing and refurbishing her apartment. With President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro re-establishing relations five years ago, Minor was sure the expected flood of U.S. visitors would make her business flourish. It did—until Donald Trump came along. Now her business is down 50 percent. “I feel like the bride who prepared everything for the wedding, but the groom ran away and stiffed me,” she said. Our CODEPINK 50-person delegation to Cuba, staying in private homes, is hearing similar stories over and over again.
While the U.S. sanctions imposed on Cuba following the 1959 revolution can only be lifted by Congress, Obama had used his executive power to renew diplomatic relations and relax restrictions on travel and trade. The Obamas visited the island to great fanfare, and Cubans were jubilant with the anticipated economic boon. The government opened new hotels and upgraded airports and sea ports, gearing up for a “tsunami” of American visitors coming on newly authorized commercial flights and cruise ships.
The Obama opening coincided with a new Cuban policy of allowing Cubans to leave their low-paid state jobs and obtain licenses to start their own small businesses. Hundreds of thousands became entrepreneurs, many catering to tourists so that they could earn hard currency. Cuba became the fastest growing site for AirBnB. Others invested their life savings, or borrowed money from relatives abroad, to open small restaurants in their homes called paladares.
Donald Trump came in like a bull in a china shop, rolling back Obama’s openings and imposing new punitive measures. While his administration justifies the rollback by citing Cuban human rights violations and Cuba’s support for the Venezuela government, a more likely explanation is that Trump is catering to the conservative Cuban-Americans in Florida, a state that could be decisive in the 2020 election.
More:
https://dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/five-years-after-obamas-cuba-opening-cubans-are-reeling-from-the-trump-effect/
Also posted in Editorials and other articles:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016244090
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