Reunidos en La Paz, altos jefes militares de la dictadura de Barrientos, en complicidad con la CIA, tomaron fríamente la decisión de asesinarlo. Se habían necesitado 3 702 soldados: 1 904 de la Cuarta División, 1 798 de la Octava, y varias horas de combate para neutralizar la pequeña guerrilla en la confluencia de la Quebrada del Yuro con la de San Antonio. Muy pronto la noticia recorrería el mundo.
Se ha podido precisar que el Che estuvo combatiendo herido hasta que el cañón de su fusil M-2 fue destruido por un disparo, inutilizándolo totalmente. La pistola que portaba estaba sin magazine. Esas increíbles circunstancias explican que lo hubiesen podido capturar vivo, relataría luego Fidel.
Al mediodía del 10 de octubre, en un lugar cercano a La Higuera, seis guerrilleros que consiguieron romper el cerco escucharon por radio la noticia de la muerte del Che.
El dolor los enmudeció. No había posibilidades de que fuera un error. Al sobreponerse, coincidieron en continuar su obra. Inti pronunció el juramento: "Che: tus ideas no han muerto (...). Tus banderas, que son las nuestras, no serán arriadas jamás". En efecto, la eliminación física del hombre, la desaparición de sus restos, no consiguieron aplacar la fuerza del símbolo.
Pocos meses después, en el convulso año 1968, la figura del Guerrillero Heroico inspiraba a la juventud de todo el mundo en su lucha contra el capitalismo. En México, Francia y otras partes de Europa, los estudiantes construyeron barricadas, bloquearon las vías y se lanzaron a la calle sin temor a la policía. Hubo huelgas, manifestaciones, represión.
En todas partes la imagen del Che acompañaba a una generación en pugna contra el sistema. Carteles y graffitis reiteraban su invitación a "ser realistas y soñar lo imposible".
Desde entonces, su figura ha identificado a los revolucionarios. Ni la propaganda imperialista, ni falsos intelectuales a sueldo, ni desertores han conseguido desvirtuar su ejemplo.
Con una realidad distinta al resto del continente, para la juventud cubana el ejemplo del Che es la invitación constante a "mantener un espíritu creador", a "abandonar las iniciativas pequeñas".
"Si no existe la organización —advirtió una vez—, las ideas, después del primer momento de impulso, van perdiendo eficacia, van cayendo en la rutina (...), en el conformismo, y acaban por ser simplemente un recuerdo."
"Una juventud que no crea es una anomalía", dijo, y enfatizó en que la juventud no debe ser nunca demasiado dócil ni aparentar una alegría cosmética.
Consciente de que el ejercicio de las armas solamente no basta para preservar el país, insistía en que "debemos defenderlo construyéndolo con nuestro trabajo".
Jean Paul Sartre dijo una vez que en su despacho no parecía transcurrir el tiempo. Allí lo encontró una madrugada, después de una agotadora jornada, para discutir de filosofía. Cuentan que solía recibir a sus visitantes después de las 12 de la noche, concluido el trabajo, y conversar varias horas sobre política, economía o simplemente compartir una partida de ajedrez.
El Che fue siempre inmenso, desde que puso sus conocimientos de Medicina al servicio de los leprosos de la Amazonia y se estremeció ante la explotación de los mineros y la miseria centenaria al pie de las montañas donde reinaron los incas.
"Muchos me dirán aventurero —escribió en la carta de despedida a sus padres— y lo soy, solo que de un tipo diferente, de los que ponen el pellejo para demostrar sus verdades."
Esa afirmación suya se confirma aún ahora. El Che sigue poniendo en juego su piel, su vida, todos los días en la piel y en las vidas de todos los que luchan en cualquier lugar por ese mundo mejor que urge.
¿Acaso no está presente su modo distinto de ser aventurero en jóvenes como los Cinco cubanos secuestrados hace siete años en cárceles de Estados Unidos? Esos hombres lo arriesgaron todo por sus verdades, que son las mismas del pueblo al que calladamente defendieron del terrorismo de sus enemigos.
¿No es el Che uno de esos médicos de Barrio Adentro, o alguno de aquellos otros todavía en espera de una respuesta que parece ya nunca llegará, dispuesto a partir hacia las calles inundadas de Nueva Orleáns?
Saturday, October 08, 2005
The Police State Is Closer Than You Think
Police states are easier to acquire than Americans appreciate.
The hysterical aftermath of September 11 has put into place the main components of a police state.
Habeas corpus is the greatest protection Americans have against a police state. Habeas corpus ensures that Americans can only be detained by law. They must be charged with offenses, given access to attorneys, and brought to trial. Habeas corpus prevents the despotic practice of picking up a person and holding him indefinitely.
President Bush claims the power to set aside habeas corpus and to dispense with warrants for arrest and with procedures that guarantee court appearance and trial without undue delay. Today in the US, the executive branch claims the power to arrest a citizen on its own initiative and hold the citizen indefinitely. Thus, Americans are no longer protected from arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention.
The hysterical aftermath of September 11 has put into place the main components of a police state.
Habeas corpus is the greatest protection Americans have against a police state. Habeas corpus ensures that Americans can only be detained by law. They must be charged with offenses, given access to attorneys, and brought to trial. Habeas corpus prevents the despotic practice of picking up a person and holding him indefinitely.
President Bush claims the power to set aside habeas corpus and to dispense with warrants for arrest and with procedures that guarantee court appearance and trial without undue delay. Today in the US, the executive branch claims the power to arrest a citizen on its own initiative and hold the citizen indefinitely. Thus, Americans are no longer protected from arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention.
Cubans Pay Homage to Ernesto Guevara
Havana, Oct 7 (Prensa Latina) Activities to commemorate the 38th anniversary of Argentinian-Cuban guerrilla fighter Ernesto Guevara's fall in combat are taking place throughout Cuba on Friday, where more than 135,000 children will become pioneers in the country's schools.
The main ceremony, a rally combining political and cultural activities, will be held on October 8 in the Ernesto Che Guevara Revolution Plaza in Santa Clara, in the central province of Villa Clara.
Cuban Revolution Combatant Association members will lay a wreath at the Memorial where the guerrilla chief's remains, and those of his comrades-in-arms who fell in Bolivia, are kept.
Cuban poet Francis Sanchez' poem entitled "Rezo de Coral a Ernesto" (Coral Prayer to Ernesto) will Saturday be awarded with the Ciudad del Che (Che's city) contest prize.
Commemorative activities have been planned in the factories Commander Guevera opened in Santa Clara, and other national centers and institutions.
The guerrilla fighter was assassinated on October 8, 1967 in the Bolivian town of Higuera, victim of a shooting in which the US intelligence services participated, as well as military units from the Andean country.
Serious turn to Guantanamo protest
A hunger strike by prisoners at the US Guantanamo Bay prison camp has entered a serious stage, the International Committee of the Red Cross says.
But ICRC chief spokeswoman Antonella Notari declined to comment on Thursday's statement by a defence lawyer that the hunger strike involved 200 of 500 prisoners and that 21 were being force-fed.
The humanitarian agency, which last visited the US naval base in Cuba in late September, was in contact with the US authorities about the situation, Notari said on Friday.
"There is a hunger strike, the situation is serious, and we are following it with concern," Notari said.
"During our recent 10-day visit we were able to visit the infirmary, see the detainees and speak with them as well as the American authorities," she added.
Tokyo declaration
The ICRC backs a 1975 Tokyo declaration by the World Medical Association stating that doctors should not participate in force-feeding, but keep prisoners informed of the sometimes irreversible consequences of their hunger strike, she added.
Amnesty International and human-rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, representing 40 detainees, said on Thursday that US authorities were keeping 21 alive by forcing food into their stomachs through tubes pushed up their noses.
The prisoners are shackled to their beds 24-hours a day to stop them removing the tubes, he said.
Force-feeding banned
"This is the 56th day of the hunger strike," said Stafford Smith before making a comparison with the Irish republican campaign of 1981, when 10 prisoners starved themselves to death in protest at British policy in Northern Ireland.
The US opened the prison camp in January 2002. Many detainees were seized in Afghanistan. Only four have been charged and many have been held for more than three years. Some former prisoners says they were tortured while in Guantanamo.
Force-feeding is not banned under international law, but the World Medical Association declaration, endorsed by the American Medical Association, sets guidelines for doctors involved in hunger strikes and says they should not participate in force-feeding.
But ICRC chief spokeswoman Antonella Notari declined to comment on Thursday's statement by a defence lawyer that the hunger strike involved 200 of 500 prisoners and that 21 were being force-fed.
The humanitarian agency, which last visited the US naval base in Cuba in late September, was in contact with the US authorities about the situation, Notari said on Friday.
"There is a hunger strike, the situation is serious, and we are following it with concern," Notari said.
"During our recent 10-day visit we were able to visit the infirmary, see the detainees and speak with them as well as the American authorities," she added.
Tokyo declaration
The ICRC backs a 1975 Tokyo declaration by the World Medical Association stating that doctors should not participate in force-feeding, but keep prisoners informed of the sometimes irreversible consequences of their hunger strike, she added.
Amnesty International and human-rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, representing 40 detainees, said on Thursday that US authorities were keeping 21 alive by forcing food into their stomachs through tubes pushed up their noses.
The prisoners are shackled to their beds 24-hours a day to stop them removing the tubes, he said.
Force-feeding banned
"This is the 56th day of the hunger strike," said Stafford Smith before making a comparison with the Irish republican campaign of 1981, when 10 prisoners starved themselves to death in protest at British policy in Northern Ireland.
The US opened the prison camp in January 2002. Many detainees were seized in Afghanistan. Only four have been charged and many have been held for more than three years. Some former prisoners says they were tortured while in Guantanamo.
Force-feeding is not banned under international law, but the World Medical Association declaration, endorsed by the American Medical Association, sets guidelines for doctors involved in hunger strikes and says they should not participate in force-feeding.
“Violence leads only to more violence.”
Ongoing military operations continue unabated in Al-Anbar province. With names like ‘Operation Iron Fist’ and ‘Operation Iron Gate’ which was launched just days after ‘Iron Fist,’ thousands of US troops, backed by warplanes, tanks and helicopters, began attacking small cities and villages primarily in the northwestern area of Al-Anbar.
According to the US military and corporate media, the purpose of these operations is to “root out” fighters from al-Qaida in Iraq, along with so-called insurgents.
An Iraqi journalist writing under the name Sabah Ali (due to concerns of retribution from US/Iraqi governmental authorities) recently returned from the Al-Qa’im area of Iraq. Her report tells quite a different story.
Continue reading "“Violence leads only to more violence.”"
According to the US military and corporate media, the purpose of these operations is to “root out” fighters from al-Qaida in Iraq, along with so-called insurgents.
An Iraqi journalist writing under the name Sabah Ali (due to concerns of retribution from US/Iraqi governmental authorities) recently returned from the Al-Qa’im area of Iraq. Her report tells quite a different story.
Continue reading "“Violence leads only to more violence.”"
Open Letter to Amnesty International on the Iraqi Constitution
The following letter was composed by members of the Brussels Tribunal, one of the groups from the World Tribunal on Iraq. For those interested in international law and the upcoming referendum vote on the Iraqi constitution, this is a must read:
We would like to congratulate Amnesty International on its courageous stand against the massive human rights violations inflicted upon the people of Iraq by the US-led occupation forces, as stated in the Amnesty International annual report of 2005.
"Armed groups committed gross human rights abuses, including targeting civilians, hostage-taking and killing hostages. Women continued to be harassed and threatened amid the mounting daily violence. The death penalty was reinstated in August by the new interim government."
The recommendations made by Amnesty International's chief Mr. Schulz in the aftermath of this report were very clear:
"If the US government continues to shirk its responsibility, Amnesty International calls on foreign governments to uphold their obligations under international law by investigating all senior US officials involved in the torture scandal," said Schulz, who added that violations of the torture convention, which has been ratified by the United States and some 138 other countries, can be prosecuted in any jurisdiction."
We would like to congratulate Amnesty International on its courageous stand against the massive human rights violations inflicted upon the people of Iraq by the US-led occupation forces, as stated in the Amnesty International annual report of 2005.
"Armed groups committed gross human rights abuses, including targeting civilians, hostage-taking and killing hostages. Women continued to be harassed and threatened amid the mounting daily violence. The death penalty was reinstated in August by the new interim government."
The recommendations made by Amnesty International's chief Mr. Schulz in the aftermath of this report were very clear:
"If the US government continues to shirk its responsibility, Amnesty International calls on foreign governments to uphold their obligations under international law by investigating all senior US officials involved in the torture scandal," said Schulz, who added that violations of the torture convention, which has been ratified by the United States and some 138 other countries, can be prosecuted in any jurisdiction."
More Whispering about Bush & Cocaine
Chalked up: Late last month, we published rumors here about the President’s alleged possible return to his old cocaine habits. Yesterday, we spotted this:
A source in the media, who has the opportunity to see the president in person regularly, has pointed out to me that Bush appears to be uncontrollably grinding his teeth, or having a jaw spasm, when he speaks.
Reader Eric sent me a link to a video on the Huffington Post (the video is here, their post on an unrelated topic is here) that clearly shows this problem at the end of Bush’s sentences, his lower jaw twitches or grinds. Eric and his friends noticed it too.
I’m told by folks who know that this is something that happens when people do too much cocaine. I’ve also heard that alcohol abuse can do the same.
Any experts out there want to weigh in? The man is our commander in chief during war time, we have the right to know that he’s well.
Olbermann: Bush’s 13 Terror Alert Coincidences
What are the odds? On Thursday, we reported on the amazing coincidence that the terror alert covering the New York subway system had grabbed headlines away from bad news about President Bush’s abysmal poll numbers (and the breaking news that Karl Rove had been called to testify, for the fourth time, before the Treasongate grand jury).
Amazingly, the subway bomb threat was no less than the 13th time a terror alert has trumped breaking bad news about the Bush Administration since 2001, according to Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s "Countdown" Thursday night:
OLBERMANN: Remarkably enough, Karl Rove's possible legal problems were bookended by two pieces of terror news. Before, came a presidential speech on the war on terror. After, came a supposed terrorist threat to New York's subway system.
Stop what you're thinking. It is just an amazing coincidence. The terrorists just happened to wait to make these threats until there’s bad news about the administration that it needs to preempt. Just a coincidence.
After running the packages on the terror, Olbermann brings on Craig Crawford for the political take:
OLBERMANN: First, back to the big picture, the president's speech included. Let's call in Craig Crawford, MSNBC analyst and author of "Attack the Messenger."
CRAIG CRAWFORD: You're sounding a bit skeptical tonight.
OLBERMANN: Well, I’m ... yes, and I'm going to raise this question as skeptically and bluntly as I can. It's not a question that doubts the existence of terror, nor the threat of terrorism. But we've cobbled together in the last couple of hours a list of at least 13 occasions that ... on which ... whenever there has been news that significantly impacted the White House negatively, there has been some sudden credible terror threat somewhere in this country. How could the coincidence be so consistent?
CRAWFORD: It's ... it is a pattern.
For years, Team Bush has used its "fear-o-meter" - like the color-coded terror alert system - to manipulate and disinform the public. Finally, the left-most edge of the MSM feels free to say so on the air.
Amazingly, the subway bomb threat was no less than the 13th time a terror alert has trumped breaking bad news about the Bush Administration since 2001, according to Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s "Countdown" Thursday night:
OLBERMANN: Remarkably enough, Karl Rove's possible legal problems were bookended by two pieces of terror news. Before, came a presidential speech on the war on terror. After, came a supposed terrorist threat to New York's subway system.
Stop what you're thinking. It is just an amazing coincidence. The terrorists just happened to wait to make these threats until there’s bad news about the administration that it needs to preempt. Just a coincidence.
After running the packages on the terror, Olbermann brings on Craig Crawford for the political take:
OLBERMANN: First, back to the big picture, the president's speech included. Let's call in Craig Crawford, MSNBC analyst and author of "Attack the Messenger."
CRAIG CRAWFORD: You're sounding a bit skeptical tonight.
OLBERMANN: Well, I’m ... yes, and I'm going to raise this question as skeptically and bluntly as I can. It's not a question that doubts the existence of terror, nor the threat of terrorism. But we've cobbled together in the last couple of hours a list of at least 13 occasions that ... on which ... whenever there has been news that significantly impacted the White House negatively, there has been some sudden credible terror threat somewhere in this country. How could the coincidence be so consistent?
CRAWFORD: It's ... it is a pattern.
For years, Team Bush has used its "fear-o-meter" - like the color-coded terror alert system - to manipulate and disinform the public. Finally, the left-most edge of the MSM feels free to say so on the air.
"Verifying" the news
Consider this story from the Los Angeles Times on the fighting in Western Iraq. The headline, and the lead, are that "Six U.S. Marines were killed by roadside bombs." As we read further, we are told that "The U.S. military said Friday that at least 50 suspected insurgents were killed." No mention of Iraqi civilians, until we get to this: "Sheik Usama Jadaan, a tribal leader in the city of Karabilah...said the fighting in the west was so brutal that residents 'are now seeing members of their families being killed in front of their own eyes by the American bombardment.'" And in response? "The allegations of civilian deaths could not be verified. Lt. Col. Steve Boylan (any relation to the "my god is bigger than your god -Gen. Boylan???), a U.S. military spokesman, said he had no reports of civilian casualties in the offensives." Of course, they could have been verified (or refuted) by a reporter actually going on site, or even calling the local hospitals, what the reporter means is that they weren't verified, and that their definition (as with all the corporate media) of "verification" is "acknowledged by the U.S. military." And the U.S. military didn't even deny it, they just claim (which is probably true) that they "had no reports" of civilian casualties.
And there the matter will rest, never to be mentioned again in the U.S. media, except indirectly, when the relatives of the dead and wounded civilians set the next round of IEDs, killing more U.S. soldiers, who deaths will once again make the headlines and be "verified."
Note also that there is no question that the deaths of "50 suspected insurgents" (nor any evidence that they were insurgents) could be verified; once again, the word of the U.S. military seems to be both the source of the news and the "verification" of the news.
And there the matter will rest, never to be mentioned again in the U.S. media, except indirectly, when the relatives of the dead and wounded civilians set the next round of IEDs, killing more U.S. soldiers, who deaths will once again make the headlines and be "verified."
Note also that there is no question that the deaths of "50 suspected insurgents" (nor any evidence that they were insurgents) could be verified; once again, the word of the U.S. military seems to be both the source of the news and the "verification" of the news.
British and American leaders likened to Nazi war criminals
Tony Blair and George Bush were compared to Nazi war criminals yesterday by Scott Ritter, the former UN chief weapons inspector.
"Both these men could be pulled up as war criminals for engaging in actions that we condemned Germany in 1946 for doing," he said.
He said the Prime Minister and the US President were "guilty of the crime of planning and committing aggressive warfare". Speaking in London at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Mr Ritter said the two leaders would have been in a much stronger position if they had got a UN resolution explicitly authorising the invasion.
He also said Britain gained very little from the "special relationship". "Britain gets nothing, other than to say they are America's closest ally in Europe," he said.
Mr Ritter, who was a UN weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998, said intelligence services had been correct to say that Iraq's missile programme had been destroyed soon after the first Gulf conflict of 1991.
He recalled how he delivered a report in 1992 stating that the programme had been eliminated. It was met with "stony silence" and he was told that Iraq still possessed 200 missiles.
The inspectors returned to track down the weapons, which never materialised.
"Both these men could be pulled up as war criminals for engaging in actions that we condemned Germany in 1946 for doing," he said.
He said the Prime Minister and the US President were "guilty of the crime of planning and committing aggressive warfare". Speaking in London at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Mr Ritter said the two leaders would have been in a much stronger position if they had got a UN resolution explicitly authorising the invasion.
He also said Britain gained very little from the "special relationship". "Britain gets nothing, other than to say they are America's closest ally in Europe," he said.
Mr Ritter, who was a UN weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998, said intelligence services had been correct to say that Iraq's missile programme had been destroyed soon after the first Gulf conflict of 1991.
He recalled how he delivered a report in 1992 stating that the programme had been eliminated. It was met with "stony silence" and he was told that Iraq still possessed 200 missiles.
The inspectors returned to track down the weapons, which never materialised.
Hugo Chavez - Showing the US Who's Master
'Oh," said an acquaintance in a rather surprised voice, "so you take a reasonably favourable view of Hugo Chavez." "Well, yes," I stammered, "he was elected to office fairly, he's popular and he's trying to reform a once-moribund society."
A few days earlier, I had been in an ante-room at the square, white Miraflores Palace in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. I was chatting with one of President Chavez's secretaries, who was abruptly called away. "Back soon," he said. I knew what that meant and, after an hour or two chatting to the staff, I left. Would I never see the man of mixed race who was so despised by the whites and near-whites of Venezuela, but who was making so many tongues wag all over the western hemisphere?
I needn't have worried: the full Chavez experience was around the corner. He had summoned a meeting of the Organisation of American States (OAS), a generator of hot air based in Washington, DC. He wanted this glove puppet of the United States to create a social charter for the hemisphere and start doing something about its startling inequalities. So, the following day we trooped over to the tropical splendour of the Hilton hotel to watch and hear a powerful personality in full flow. The ideas and plans tumbled out like sparks off a grinding wheel - the people of Latin America given the right to eat as well as vote; cheap oil for the poor of the US; free literacy classes and free eyecare for everyone in the western hemisphere; an international referendum on US sanctions against Cuba; the replacement of the OAS by something that would reflect Latin rather than US interests . . .
A few days earlier, I had been in an ante-room at the square, white Miraflores Palace in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. I was chatting with one of President Chavez's secretaries, who was abruptly called away. "Back soon," he said. I knew what that meant and, after an hour or two chatting to the staff, I left. Would I never see the man of mixed race who was so despised by the whites and near-whites of Venezuela, but who was making so many tongues wag all over the western hemisphere?
I needn't have worried: the full Chavez experience was around the corner. He had summoned a meeting of the Organisation of American States (OAS), a generator of hot air based in Washington, DC. He wanted this glove puppet of the United States to create a social charter for the hemisphere and start doing something about its startling inequalities. So, the following day we trooped over to the tropical splendour of the Hilton hotel to watch and hear a powerful personality in full flow. The ideas and plans tumbled out like sparks off a grinding wheel - the people of Latin America given the right to eat as well as vote; cheap oil for the poor of the US; free literacy classes and free eyecare for everyone in the western hemisphere; an international referendum on US sanctions against Cuba; the replacement of the OAS by something that would reflect Latin rather than US interests . . .
URGENT NEWS: War Porn webmaster arrested
URGENT NEWS: War Porn webmaster arrested
I couldn't believe this.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the web administrator of nowthatsfuckedup.com has been arrested by Polk County police on obscenity charges.
From an earlier posting:
I first read the War Porn story concerning Chris Wilson's nowthatsfuckedup website on Whatreallyhappened.com. They linked to a story on the East Bay Express.
This then led me to Just World News, a blog run by a war journalist and analyst, which had extensive material on the pornographic website.
Eventually CNN did a piece.
The BBC did a piece, which was short on content.
The Guardian ran an op/ed
Aljazeera's English website did a piece.
The New York Times played along. The NYT says they were not able to reach the website administrator. It may be he has gone underground for a while.
But there are fears that this may get swept under the rug. Some Iraqis I have spoken to no longer have faith in the US justice system as applied to Iraq.
Let's see how this plays out. So far, I applaud the Polk County officials. I hope no one comes around and calls it a violation of his first amendment rights.
I couldn't believe this.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the web administrator of nowthatsfuckedup.com has been arrested by Polk County police on obscenity charges.
From an earlier posting:
I first read the War Porn story concerning Chris Wilson's nowthatsfuckedup website on Whatreallyhappened.com. They linked to a story on the East Bay Express.
This then led me to Just World News, a blog run by a war journalist and analyst, which had extensive material on the pornographic website.
Eventually CNN did a piece.
The BBC did a piece, which was short on content.
The Guardian ran an op/ed
Aljazeera's English website did a piece.
The New York Times played along. The NYT says they were not able to reach the website administrator. It may be he has gone underground for a while.
But there are fears that this may get swept under the rug. Some Iraqis I have spoken to no longer have faith in the US justice system as applied to Iraq.
Let's see how this plays out. So far, I applaud the Polk County officials. I hope no one comes around and calls it a violation of his first amendment rights.
Hugo Chávez: "Tenemos una fuerte carta petrolera para jugar en la integración regional"
El presidente Hugo Chávez Frías suele dejar por donde pasa un resabio polémico. Y esta vez en Brasilia, donde asistió a la cumbre de la Comunidad Sudamericana, no fue la excepción. A sus colegas presidentes les dijo que no quería firmar acuerdos sin un debate político sobre la integración regional, y sobre cómo conducirla. "Se corre el riesgo de matar al niño antes de que nazca", alertó.
La mediación de Lula da Silva y de su ministro Celso Amorim convencieron al venezolano de firmar las declaraciones de la reunión. En una entrevista exclusiva con Clarín, en un hotel de Brasilia, Chávez insistió con esa imagen de una unión sudamericana todavía en pañales. Dijo que quiere jugar la "carta petrolera" como factor de unidad. Para él, los acuerdos energéticos son tan fuertes que pueden resistir huracanes. Ese tipo de pacto es el que firmó el jueves pasado con presidente Néstor Kirchner. Horas antes lo había hecho con Lula.
- Usted suele repetir que los presidentes van de cumbre en cumbre y los pueblos de abismo en abismo. ¿Se aplica a esta reunión?
- No se puede sacar la frase de contexto. Esta cumbre sudamericana registra avances, a pesar de que fue fundada hace 11 meses en Cuzco. Yo le diría que la Comunidad Sudamericana está preñada de la idea de integración, pero la criatura todavía no nació. Igual se aprovechó el tiempo al máximo: firmamos acuerdos interesantísimos con Brasil, entre Petrobrás y PDVSA, y también con el presidente Kirchner y sectores privados de su país.
La mediación de Lula da Silva y de su ministro Celso Amorim convencieron al venezolano de firmar las declaraciones de la reunión. En una entrevista exclusiva con Clarín, en un hotel de Brasilia, Chávez insistió con esa imagen de una unión sudamericana todavía en pañales. Dijo que quiere jugar la "carta petrolera" como factor de unidad. Para él, los acuerdos energéticos son tan fuertes que pueden resistir huracanes. Ese tipo de pacto es el que firmó el jueves pasado con presidente Néstor Kirchner. Horas antes lo había hecho con Lula.
- Usted suele repetir que los presidentes van de cumbre en cumbre y los pueblos de abismo en abismo. ¿Se aplica a esta reunión?
- No se puede sacar la frase de contexto. Esta cumbre sudamericana registra avances, a pesar de que fue fundada hace 11 meses en Cuzco. Yo le diría que la Comunidad Sudamericana está preñada de la idea de integración, pero la criatura todavía no nació. Igual se aprovechó el tiempo al máximo: firmamos acuerdos interesantísimos con Brasil, entre Petrobrás y PDVSA, y también con el presidente Kirchner y sectores privados de su país.
Bush's Tranformation from Obnoxious Drunk to Obnoxious Teetotaler
Bushie's renunciation of booze has gained such mythic status that many people (Republican true believers) conveniently overlook the fact that his renunciation of adult beverages was hardly a redemptive turn of fortune. All that happened was that Bush the obnoxious drunk became Bush the obnoxious teetotaler, proclaiming that his life was now in the hands of Jesus Christ, not Jim Beam...
Bush's prolonged sousitude also explains his verbal miscues, his syntactical insurgencies, his grammatical catastrophes. It's as if the bourbon marinade left deadly lacunae in his already diminutive brain, making it impossible for the most elementary thought to navigate its way through the decimated labyrinth of his frontal lobes.
Then there are the quirky smirks, the bug-eyed glares and goofy grimaces, his words and facial expressions so out of sync that you are reminded of a badly dubbed Japanese monster movie. Finally, what about all those lip gyrations when Bushie is under stress, the tiny mouth working this way and that as if it were engaged in attempting to remove the cap from a bottle? It must be the sauce.
Miers A Plant?
Seems like a no-brainer to us, though the same can't be said for many "liberal" voices: Miers, if she's the Presidential choice, cannot be good for the rest of us. And if it's true that KKKKKKarl Rove has been active in Harriet's ascension, we can be positive that there's a political angle at work here. There is nothing too cynical when it comes to these gangsters.
Of course, there could be a much more sinister reason for sending a true-blue Bush-woman to the court. Cheney, Karl Rove et al could be placing her there because they know that investigations into the CIA Leak and lobbyist Jack Abramoff will soon bring the world crashing down on their heads - and they are going to need a dependable swing vote - or, assuming she recuses herself on Bush matters, a spy - inside the Supreme Court.
[...]
At this moment, only two groups of people truly know the outcome of investigations into the current White House scandals: the investigators - and the guilty parties in the West Wing. While we are all speculating about what special prosecutors may or may not do, Team Bush has a precise forecast of the firestorm that awaits them, and they have been planning for this disaster for months.
The Bushistas dragged this country into a war for no other reason than noblesse oblige. Can there be any doubt that the sort of Banana Republicans who would take a country to war on an aristocratic whim would attempt to plant a crony on the Supreme Court?
So Bush gets a spy on the court. For her part, Miers gets a place in history beyond her wildest dreams. And Senate Democrats get a one-to-one replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
The losers in this are the GOP’s wingnut base who elected Bush and, last but not least, the country.
Rule of thumb: if BushCo wants it, it's not good.
Of course, there could be a much more sinister reason for sending a true-blue Bush-woman to the court. Cheney, Karl Rove et al could be placing her there because they know that investigations into the CIA Leak and lobbyist Jack Abramoff will soon bring the world crashing down on their heads - and they are going to need a dependable swing vote - or, assuming she recuses herself on Bush matters, a spy - inside the Supreme Court.
[...]
At this moment, only two groups of people truly know the outcome of investigations into the current White House scandals: the investigators - and the guilty parties in the West Wing. While we are all speculating about what special prosecutors may or may not do, Team Bush has a precise forecast of the firestorm that awaits them, and they have been planning for this disaster for months.
The Bushistas dragged this country into a war for no other reason than noblesse oblige. Can there be any doubt that the sort of Banana Republicans who would take a country to war on an aristocratic whim would attempt to plant a crony on the Supreme Court?
So Bush gets a spy on the court. For her part, Miers gets a place in history beyond her wildest dreams. And Senate Democrats get a one-to-one replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
The losers in this are the GOP’s wingnut base who elected Bush and, last but not least, the country.
Rule of thumb: if BushCo wants it, it's not good.
Kurt Nimmo
Avian Flu: Bush Cronyism and Crimes as Usual
“White House officials will meet with representatives from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry Friday to encourage them to get involved in making flu vaccine amid fears of an avian flu pandemic,” CNN reported yesterday. “Most U.S. drugmakers have stopped making flu vaccines for a variety of reasons, but many public health advocates believe having a reliable supply of the vaccine may be the best way to contain a ‘bird flu’ pandemic in humans,” a speculative pandemic that figured prominently in Bush’s press conference the other day.
Read the full post
October 7th, 2005
Osama: Back from the Dead
Like Lazarus in the New Testament, Osama bin Laden, dead and buried these last few years, will soon rise from the dead to wreak havoc on the Great Satan, the United States of America. “Osama bin laden is expected to remain in hiding until he stages another attack on the United States, an ex-CIA expert who had tracked the terror mastermind for two decades warned in an interview,” reports AFP. “Bin Laden last surfaced in a video footage aired on the eve of the US presidential elections in November last year. In the tape, declared authentic by the authorities, the Saudi-born radical directly admitted he ordered the September 11 attacks.” But it would appear these nameless “authorities” left their reading glasses at home because the man in the October 29, 2004, tape does not resemble Osama (see this animation).
Read the full post
“White House officials will meet with representatives from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry Friday to encourage them to get involved in making flu vaccine amid fears of an avian flu pandemic,” CNN reported yesterday. “Most U.S. drugmakers have stopped making flu vaccines for a variety of reasons, but many public health advocates believe having a reliable supply of the vaccine may be the best way to contain a ‘bird flu’ pandemic in humans,” a speculative pandemic that figured prominently in Bush’s press conference the other day.
Read the full post
October 7th, 2005
Osama: Back from the Dead
Like Lazarus in the New Testament, Osama bin Laden, dead and buried these last few years, will soon rise from the dead to wreak havoc on the Great Satan, the United States of America. “Osama bin laden is expected to remain in hiding until he stages another attack on the United States, an ex-CIA expert who had tracked the terror mastermind for two decades warned in an interview,” reports AFP. “Bin Laden last surfaced in a video footage aired on the eve of the US presidential elections in November last year. In the tape, declared authentic by the authorities, the Saudi-born radical directly admitted he ordered the September 11 attacks.” But it would appear these nameless “authorities” left their reading glasses at home because the man in the October 29, 2004, tape does not resemble Osama (see this animation).
Read the full post
Diga Não às armas e Sim à vida
Há organismos multilaterais que, de fato, funcionam como unilaterais. Aparentam muitos lados e possuem uma só face. É o caso do FMI. Nunca fez o gesto generoso de sugerir a um país devedor reduzir o seu superávit primário. Para quem não domina o economês, superávit primário é a porcentagem do PIB que o governo economiza para destinar aos credores. Dinheiro que deixa de ser aplicado no combate à fome, na saúde e na educação, e é canalizado para pagar a dívida e(x)terna.
Dom João VI, ao retornar a Portugal, limpou os cofres. O governo negociou com a Inglaterra empréstimo de 3 milhões de libras. Foi o primeiro mau passo, pois o dinheiro era para pagar dívidas e compensar desequilíbrios do orçamento, e não para incrementar a produção e gerar riquezas. Entre 1824-25, o Brasil tomou lá fora o equivalente a 12 mil contos de réis. Levou quarenta anos para resgatar 5 mil contos, e gastou com juros 60 mil contos, cinco vezes o que recebera. Martim Francisco, primeiro ministro da Fazenda, considerava perniciosos os empréstimos externos.
Quando FHC terminou seu segundo mandato no governo, o superávit era de 3,75%. Entrou Lula e subiu para 4,25%. Queria acalmar o mercado, que o fitava com olhos apreensivos. Os 4,25% constam no papel. Na prática, o governo enxuga mais dinheiro do mercado do que supõe a nossa vã impressão. Em 2003, o governo teve em mãos, para novos investimentos, apenas R$ 8 bilhões. E via superávit canalizou R$ 65 bilhões para amortizar os juros da dívida. A previsão para 2006 é o governo dispor de apenas R$ 12 bilhões, e entregar aos credores R$ 179 bilhões. Por muito menos Tiradentes reagiu.
Dom João VI, ao retornar a Portugal, limpou os cofres. O governo negociou com a Inglaterra empréstimo de 3 milhões de libras. Foi o primeiro mau passo, pois o dinheiro era para pagar dívidas e compensar desequilíbrios do orçamento, e não para incrementar a produção e gerar riquezas. Entre 1824-25, o Brasil tomou lá fora o equivalente a 12 mil contos de réis. Levou quarenta anos para resgatar 5 mil contos, e gastou com juros 60 mil contos, cinco vezes o que recebera. Martim Francisco, primeiro ministro da Fazenda, considerava perniciosos os empréstimos externos.
Quando FHC terminou seu segundo mandato no governo, o superávit era de 3,75%. Entrou Lula e subiu para 4,25%. Queria acalmar o mercado, que o fitava com olhos apreensivos. Os 4,25% constam no papel. Na prática, o governo enxuga mais dinheiro do mercado do que supõe a nossa vã impressão. Em 2003, o governo teve em mãos, para novos investimentos, apenas R$ 8 bilhões. E via superávit canalizou R$ 65 bilhões para amortizar os juros da dívida. A previsão para 2006 é o governo dispor de apenas R$ 12 bilhões, e entregar aos credores R$ 179 bilhões. Por muito menos Tiradentes reagiu.
Para viver os valores petistas é preciso sair do PT
O deputado Chico Alencar, recém-filiado ao Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (Psol), afirma em entrevista exclusiva ao Correio da Cidadania que a decisão de deixar o Partido dos Trabalhadores não foi nada fácil. Ele ressalta o longo e doloroso processo de amadurecimento com os militantes da sua base política e reconhece que a escolha pode implicar em perdas e não ser compreendida por parte da militância petista. Alencar afirma que o Psol é formado em sua maioria por ex-petistas descontentes com o rumo do Partido dos Trabalhadores e que seu estatuto tem uma grande virtude: somente se fecha uma questão com 75% de aprovação da instância
Correio da Cidadania: O que os motivou, diante da crise política, com evidente desmoralização do governo e do PT, a disputar o Processo de Eleição Direta (PED)?
Chico Alencar: Nós entendemos que deveríamos ter um diálogo com os milhares de militantes e filiados do PT e apresentamos uma candidatura à presidência e uma chapa que diziam: ou os militantes restauram radicalmente o partido, para que o PT reencontre sua própria história, ou nós estaríamos perdendo de maneira definitiva um importante instrumento político que pertence à classe trabalhadora brasileira.
Mas os resultados confirmaram aquela velha maioria do Campo Majoritário (CM), que levou o partido para este encalacrado em que ele se enfiou: tornando-se um partido cada vez mais vinculado aos aparatos do Estado, cada vez mais distante da sua própria base, cada vez mais separado do movimento vivo da sociedade, cada vez mais pensando em reproduzir somente os espaços de poderes. Infelizmente, o CM e seus aliados continuarão mandando no PT.
Correio da Cidadania: O que os motivou, diante da crise política, com evidente desmoralização do governo e do PT, a disputar o Processo de Eleição Direta (PED)?
Chico Alencar: Nós entendemos que deveríamos ter um diálogo com os milhares de militantes e filiados do PT e apresentamos uma candidatura à presidência e uma chapa que diziam: ou os militantes restauram radicalmente o partido, para que o PT reencontre sua própria história, ou nós estaríamos perdendo de maneira definitiva um importante instrumento político que pertence à classe trabalhadora brasileira.
Mas os resultados confirmaram aquela velha maioria do Campo Majoritário (CM), que levou o partido para este encalacrado em que ele se enfiou: tornando-se um partido cada vez mais vinculado aos aparatos do Estado, cada vez mais distante da sua própria base, cada vez mais separado do movimento vivo da sociedade, cada vez mais pensando em reproduzir somente os espaços de poderes. Infelizmente, o CM e seus aliados continuarão mandando no PT.
Friday, October 07, 2005
How the US Erase Women's Rights in Iraq
Prior to the arrival of U.S. forces, Iraqi women were free to go wherever they wish and wear whatever they like. The 1970 Iraqi constitution, gave Iraqi women equity and liberty unmatched in the Muslim World. Since the U.S. invasion, Iraqi women's rights have fallen to the lowest level in Iraq's history. Under the new U.S.-crafted constitution, which will be put to referendum on the 15 October while the bloodbath mounts each day, women's rights will be oppressed and the role of women in Iraqi society will be curtailed and relegated to the caring for "children and the elderly".
Immediately after the invasion, the U.S. embarked on cultivating friendships with religious groups and clerics. The aim was the complete destruction of nationalist movements, including women's rights movements, and replacing them with expatriate religious fanatics and criminals piggybacked from Iran, the U.S. and Britain. In the mean time the U.S. moved to liquidate any Iraqi opposition or dissent to the Occupation.
Immediately after the invasion, the U.S. embarked on cultivating friendships with religious groups and clerics. The aim was the complete destruction of nationalist movements, including women's rights movements, and replacing them with expatriate religious fanatics and criminals piggybacked from Iran, the U.S. and Britain. In the mean time the U.S. moved to liquidate any Iraqi opposition or dissent to the Occupation.
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