Catherina
Catherina's JournalMujica Praises Unasur Quick Response on Venezuela
Mujica Praises Unasur Quick Response on Venezuela
21 April 2013
Montevideo, Apr 21 (Prensa Latina) Uruguayan President Jose Mujica described as quick and intelligent the supportive response of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to the Venezuelan electoral process and to President Nicolas Maduro.
The pro tempore president of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) also noted that statements of such characteristics are unprecedented in Latin America, the La República newspaper published today.
Previously, in the best case scenario, the nations resorted to the Organization of American States where global agreements were barely managed, he said.
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http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1334191&Itemid=11
Paraguay votes to elect successor to Lugo
VOTING has started in Paraguay in an election which is considered crucial to restoring the country's international relations after the speedy impeachment of president Fernando Lugo 10 months ago.
Voting started in Paraguay in an election that's considered crucial to it's international relations. Source: AAP
Polling stations opened at 1100 GMT (2100 AEST) on Sunday and were set to close nine hours later. The first preliminary official results were expected to be known about two hours after voting ends.
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After Lugo's exit in June 2012, Paraguay was suspended from membership of both the South American trade bloc Mercosur and the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) because the country's neighbours thought the impeachment was in fact an "institutional coup."
Paraguay is expected to be re-admitted to both groups at the latest after the new president is inaugurated on August 15.
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More than 300 international observers deployed by the Organisation of American States (OAS), Unasur, the European Union and other institutions are to keep watch over the election.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/paraguay-votes-to-elect-successor-to-lugo/story-fn3dxix6-1226625470819
Note: UNASUR, and also Mercosur I believe, announced that Paraguay should not count on automatic re-entry. The reinstatement is dependent on "the existence of a new government resulting from free and transparent elections" in Paraguay.
Asuncion, Apr 19 (Prensa Latina) The possible return of Paraguay to the Union of Southern Nations (Unasur) will still remain conditional even after the presidential elections on Sunday.
This position was reflected in statements made today by Salomon Lerner, Head of the Unasur High Level Group for Paraguay.
Lerner is here at the head of a group of 44 Unasur observers to analyze the course of the presidential elections in Paraguay, a country suspended from Unasur and Mercosur because of its parliamentary coup in June 2011, by means of which constitutional president Fernando Lugo was removed and replaced by the government of Federico Franco.
Lerner told the TeleSur television network that the lifting of the sanctions against Paraguay will be determined by what happens before, during and after the vote and referred to the start of work by the new Paraguayan Parliament on July 15.
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http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1329471&Itemid=1
Also see: Vote-buying video causes stir ahead of Paraguay poll
US ends logistical support for Bolivia drug fight
06 April 2013 - 03H31
US ends logistical support for Bolivia drug fight
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"This is the end of an era," Larry Memmott, the US embassy's charge d'affaires and highest-ranking official in Bolivia, told private radio Erbol.
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With the arrival to power of Morales in January 2006, US assistance gradually decreased to $11 million in 2013, while in years past it had exceeded $60 million annually.
Morales expelled the US Drug Enforcement Administration in late 2008 along with the US ambassador, accusing them of supporting an alleged plot to overthrow him. Washington denied the existence of such a plot and reciprocated by expelling the Bolivian ambassador.
Morales has on several occasions said that his country was better off without the United States in fighting drug trafficking.
http://www.france24.com/en/20130406-us-ends-logistical-support-bolivia-drug-fight
Brazilian government warns against foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela
Antonio Patriota: "The important thing is that Venezuelan society seek reconciliation"
Posted on April 20, 2013 7:40 pm
This Saturday, the Brazilian government warned against foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela after the US said it was not ready to recognize the results of the presidential elections.
“We have confidence in Venezuelan institutions… The important thing is for Venezuela society to seek reconciliation because there are many challenges despite the progress made in the past few years,” Patriota said in an interview with the official news agency of Brazil.
Patriota, referring to both the U.S. and the international agencies that have not recognized the victory of Nicolas Maduro, said that "The era of interference by powers from the hemisphere or other regions is outdated and I hope it will not come back".
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The U.S. secretary of State, John Kerry, and the European Union joined the opposition's call for an audit of the elections, to which the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela agreed on Friday. The CNE warned however that this will "in no way reverse the results that gave victory to Nicolas Maduro".
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(Sao Paulo, 20 de abril – AFP).- El gobierno de Brasil advirtió este sábado sobre la “injerencia extranjera” en los asuntos políticos de Venezuela, después que Estados Unidos dijera que no estaba listo para reconocer los resultados de las elecciones presidenciales en ese país.
“Tenemos confianza en las instituciones venezolanas (…) Lo importante es que la sociedad venezolana busque la reconciliación porque hay muchos desafíos a pesar del progreso logrado en años pasados”, dijo el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Antonio Patriota en entrevista con la Agencia oficial de noticias de Brasil.
Patriota puso en la mira tanto a Estados Unidos como a los organismos internacionales que no han reconocido la victoria de Nicolás Maduro al decir que “la era de interferencia de las potencias del Hemisferio o de otras regiones es anticuada y espero que no regrese”.
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El secretario de Estado norteamericano, John Kerry, y la Unión Europea se unieron al llamado para la auditoría de las elecciones, a las que accedió el viernes el Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) de Venezuela, que advirtió sin embargo que “de ninguna manera revertirá los resultados que dieron la victoria a Nicolás Maduro”.
http://www.noticias24.com/internacionales/noticia/58414/brasil-advierte-sobre-injerencia-extranjera-en-venezuela/
"Our Brand Is Crisis" - Greenberg Carville Shrum in Bolivia, America's Backyard.
Another prime example of why the long-documented US position that "Latin America is our backyard" is so offensive and being rejected.
Cascadiance posted about a documentary that just knocked my socks off. We read about these things, we document them, we know it happens, but this documentary provides an inside look of the process.
In 2002, among the many creepy roles of James Carville was his work as strategist at Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS), when the political consultancy firm he had helped to found went to work to help Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (nicknamed “Goni”) win the hotly contested presidency of Bolivia. Although they thought the man to beat was Manfred Reyes Villa, the mayor of Cochabamba, certainly the one who most worried Washington was the indigenous leader, Evo Morales. But, what kind of choice was Sanchez de Lozada? According to BBC News, (Oct. 18, 2003), “The US-educated millionaire mining magnate, who speaks Spanish with an American accent, is nicknamed ‘gringo.’” He was hardly the most enlightened choice to make president of a country whose population consists largely of Quechua- and Aymara-speaking Indians (of whom Morales is one), who have been deeply impoverished by centuries of autocratic rulers allied to U.S. policy-makers and to foreign capitalists who have profited handsomely from Bolivia’s rich mineral resources (silver, tin, oil, gas). But, Sanchez de Lozada had previously been Finance Minister and, then, president from 1993 to 1997. He had worked closely with the World Bank and IMF and had miles to go on behalf of international capitalism. He had aggressive neo-liberal plans. None of this would have been news to the boys from GCS. They made their choice knowingly. Never mind matters of conscience or principle.
And, of course, as a bonus, securing a victory for Sanchez de Lozada would prevent Morales (not initially a leading contender) from becoming a president who intended to reverse the perverse legacy of 500 years that had made Bolivians among the poorest people in the world. That wouldn’t be James Carville’s idea of progress. So, Greenberg Carville Shrum put their money on –well, got paid to support—Sanchez de Lozada. It’s all captured in Rachel Boynton’s 2006 film, Our Brand is Crisis. Reviewing it in New York Magazine, David Edelstein put his finger on a key issue: “The problem,” he wrote, “is that the blinkered patrician Goni doesn’t have the know-how to fix a stopped toilet, much less a country on the verge of economic collapse, with a disenfranchised indigenous majority howling to be recognized.” This was the man whose candidacy Carville and his associates championed, rather than Evo Morales, whose election the Bush administration was passionately opposed to. (Four days before the election, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, urged Bolivians not to vote for Morales –because he was associated with “drug dealers and terrorists”– or the U.S. might cut off aid.)
Despite the work of Carville and his colleagues, the election results were very close. Sánchez de Lozada got just over 22 percent of the vote, while Morales came in second with 20.9 percent, 721 ahead of Reyes Villa. This required the Congress to appoint the winner and, given its composition and with the Bush administration threatening to isolate Bolivia if it allowed Morales to win, Sanchez de Lozada took office in August 2002. He, then, predictably, embarked on a broad policy of free-market development that included plans to export natural gas to the United States through a deal with powerful multi-national corporations.
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But, that’s not surprising. Democracy Corps is a really nice name, but it is actually indistinguishable from another Carville effort, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a polling and consulting firm of which Stan Greenberg is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and which Carville also co-founded. The headquarters of Democracy Corps and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner are the same: 10 G Street, NE Suite 500, Washington, DC 20002. GQR describes itself, on its website, as “the world’s premium research and strategic consulting firm,” and, as such, has a predictably eclectic bag of clients. These include a few nice guys like Comedy Central. But, among its powerful corporate clients are: BP, Boeing, Allegheny Power and Monsanto. Nothing non-profit about this side of the Suite 500. They also, according to their web-site, “served as Sanchez de Lozada’s consultant on polling and strategy, and helped develop Sanchez de Lozada’s winning campaign message.” In their own words, they were “part of the GCS consortium of campaign consultants.” The 2002 Bolivian election was one of those “which side are you on” moments. Carville and his cronies chose to side with Lozada and the proverbial dust-bin of history.
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http://open.salon.com/blog/eric_ross/2009/05/23/telling_bolivia_who_to_vote_for_james_carville_associates
Excellent article below. The snips don't do it justice.
Obama justice officials have all but granted asylum to Sánchez de Lozada – a puppet who payrolled key Democratic advisers
By Glenn Greenwald
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 9 September 2012
In October 2003, the intensely pro-US president of Bolivia, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, sent his security forces to suppress growing popular protests against the government's energy and globalization policies. Using high-powered rifles and machine guns, his military forces killed 67 men, women and children, and injured 400 more, almost all of whom were poor and from the nation's indigenous Aymara communities. Dozens of protesters had been killed by government forces in the prior months when troops were sent to suppress them.
The resulting outrage over what became known as "the Gas Wars" drove Sanchez de Lozada from office and then into exile in the United States, where he was welcomed by his close allies in the Bush administration. He has lived under a shield of asylum in the US ever since.
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The view that Sánchez de Lozada must be extradited from the US to stand trial is a political consensus in Bolivia, shared by the government and the main opposition party alike. But on Friday night, the Bolivian government revealed that it had just been notified by the Obama administration that the US government has refused Bolivia's extradition request:
"'Yesterday (Thursday), a document arrived from the United States, rejecting the extradition of people who have done a lot of damage to Bolivia,' leftist [President Evo] Morales, an outspoken critic of US foreign policy in Latin America, said in a speech.
"Calling the United States a 'paradise of impunity' and a 'refuge for criminals,' Morales said Washington turned down the extradition request on the grounds that a civilian leader cannot be tried for crimes committed by the military …
"Sanchez de Lozada's extradition was also demanded by opposition leaders in Bolivia and they criticized the US decision.
"Rogelio Mayta, a lawyer representing victims of the 2003 violence, said 'the US protection' of Sanchez de Lozada was not surprising.
"'It's yet another display of the US government's double moral standard,' he said."
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The former leader – a multimillionaire mining executive who, having been educated in the US, spoke Spanish with a heavy American accent – was a loyal partner in America's drug war in the region. More importantly, the former leader himself was a vehement proponent and relentless crusader for free trade and free market policies favored by the US: policies that the nation's indigenous poor long believed (with substantial basis) resulted in their impoverishment while enriching Bolivia's small Europeanized elite.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/09/america-refusal-extradite-bolivia
More arrests in this week's murders of young Venezuelan Socialists
20/04/13.- The Minister of Interior and Justice, Nestor Reverol, reported that the CICPC has arrested those responsible for the deaths of two socialist killed on April 15 in Sucre and Tachira states during the violence perpetrated by groups identified with former right-wing presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.
(a total of 7 people, ranging in age from 25 - 17, were arrested, I'm snipping their names)
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Henry Rangel La Rosa, 32 was in his home celebrating the election of President Nicolas Maduro, in Tachira state, when a group of people with green bandanas murdered him.
The murder weapon and motorcycle used to commit the homicide have also been seized. "Investigations are continuing," he added.
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Johny Pacheco, another socialist advocate from the Integral Diagnostic Center (IDC) located in Stone Blue Baruta, Miranda state, was also killed on Friday said Ernesto Villegas, the Minister for Communication and Information.
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http://www.ciudadccs.info/?p=413178
http://www.facebook.com/hands.off.venezuela/posts/10151656020878203
Rafael Correa, defends the concept of Good Living as alternative to the capitalist consumer model
If interested, please read the whole article because my snips don't represent it well
By Harald Neuber
Berlín, Apr 20 (Prensa Latina) ...
"It is not a concept of my government, it comes from our original peoples. The concept of the Sumak Kawsay says we need to live with dignity, not pursue to have more each day, but to live in harmony with nature and with the rest of the human beings", Correa said in an exclusive interview with Prensa Latina.
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"Because the measures taken in Latin America prolonged and deepened the crisis and unfortunately, that is what is being done in Europe", he added.
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"But of course, when the crisis arrived, the region was faced with the problem of over-borrowing as we lent too much, too many credits to military dictatorships without any social control, without any democratic legitimacy", recalled the President.
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At the same time, Correa stressed the importance of the new regional institutions in Latin America. What Unasur has achieved in these years of creation since 2008, much more than what the European Union advanced in the same period of time. We are going faster, but we have to go faster yet, he said.
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He described as absurd to use a foreign currency for trade exchange between Latin American countries. Because with that operation, wealth is transferred to the currency emitter, say the U.S. dollar or the euro.
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http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1332441&Itemid=1
In the article, he also mentions that they're working on the "Bank of the South" to lend money under adequate conditions for projects, mainly of infrastructure for the development of South America" and says that things are finally changing but that's creating big enemies.
Statement of the Council of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations
The Council of Heads of State and Government of UNASUR, meeting in extraordinary session in Lima, issued a statement in defense of democracy and against any coup. Reproduced and unofficially translated (by me) below.
Item #6 is interesting.
Date Posted: 19/04/13
* 1. * Expresses its congratulations to the Venezuelan people for their massive participation in the presidential election on this past April 14, which reaffirms its commitment to democracy and congratulates President Nicolas Maduro for the results of the election and his election as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
* 2. * Urges all sectors involved in the electoral process to respect the official results of the presidential election coming from the National Electoral Council (CNE), the Venezuelan authority competent in the matter.
* 3. * Ratifies the April 15 Declaration of the UNASUR Electoral Mission to Venezuela, that all claims, questions or requests for extraordinary procedure from any of the participants of the electoral process should be referred and resolved within the existing law and the democratic will of the parties. As such, takes positive note of the National Electoral Council's decision to implement a methodology for the audit of all polling stations.
* 4. * Calls to stop attitude or acts of violence threatening social peace and expresses its solidarity with the injured and the families of those killed on April 15, 2013. It also invokes dialogue to help preserve a climate of tolerance for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.
* 5. * Agrees with the appointment of a Commission of UNASUR to accompany the investigation of the violent events of April 15, 2013.
Lima, April 19, 2013.
http://www.unasursg.org/inicio/centro-de-noticias/archivo-de-noticias/declaraci%C3%B3n-de-los-jefes-de-estado
Creative responses to fascism
Creative responses to fascism
So I guess you heard the news…that fascists in Venezuela are trying to pot-bang yet another legitimately elected Bolivarian president out of office. Yeah, that’ll work:
“Pots for sale. Guaranteed until the year 2019 (when Nicolás Maduro's term ends and new elections are called). Fascists, take advantage!”
And that’s not the only hilarious Bolivarian response to the pot-banging:
Here we have an automatic pot-banger. Perfect for fascists who are too fucking lazy to get out there and make fools of themselves on the street.
(snip)
http://www.sabinabecker.com/2013/04/festive-left-friday-blogging-creative-responses-to-fascism.html
It’s official now…
It’s official now…
Ladies and gentlemen…the president of Venezuela, NICOLAS MADURO:
That’s Chavecito’s daughter, María Gabriela, helping National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello put the sash on her dad’s successor. It’s now official, legal, signed, sealed and delivered. And frankly, nobody cares what those xx's at the State Dept. think.
Meanwhile, here’s the most touching photo of the event:
The president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández, gives María Gabriela a hug. Cristina’s had some grief of her own to deal with, what with the sudden death of her husband, former president Néstor Kirchner, last year. So she knows exactly what Chavecito’s family are going through. And it’s a way for her to pay back the comfort and affection Chavecito gave her in her hour of need, too.
This is what love and solidarity look like.
http://www.sabinabecker.com/2013/04/festive-left-friday-blogging-too-its-official-now.html
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Name: CatherinaGender: Female
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