[Marxism] [UCE] Webinar today, 7 pm EDT - SHINING THE LIGHT ON CUBA'S MEDICAL SOLIDARITY

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Earlier this week I posted an announcement of the Webinar "SHINING THE LIGHT ON 
CUBA'S MEDICAL SOLIDARITY" that will take place this Saturday evening. David 
Duport followed up with a question, "Cuba still charges host countries for 
these medical missions, right?" 

It's an important question that others have raised as well. Several list 
subscribers have weighed in on the matter, but I think that more can and should 
be said. Cuba's outstanding demonstration of medical internationalism during 
the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn world attention, provoking astonishment and 
admiration from many, and hostility and alarm from reactionaries in many 
quarters. The Trump administration is continuing to pressure countries to 
refuse Cuban offers of medical assistance. It has stepped up its campaign of 
lies and slanders about the island's international solidarity efforts. 

Turning to David's question, let's begin by noting that one core principle of 
the Cuban medical missions is that Cuban international assistance does not 
depend on the host country's ability to pay. A sliding scale is applied, and 
many countries where Cuban doctors and nurses serve, pay little or nothing. The 
case of Bolivia is instructive. Shortly after Evo Morales was elected president 
in 2006, Cuba began providing medical services to the country. The Cubans went 
to areas that had never seen a doctor or a nurse. Cuba covered the full cost of 
its medical missions. Over time, the Bolivian economy prospered while Cuba 
encountered serious economic problems. The terms of the agreement were then 
revised, and Bolivia began to pay some or all of the cost of the medical 
services from Cuba. (After the coup against Morales last October, the new 
authorities expelled the Cuban medical staff and terminated the agreement.)

Another principle that Cuba insists on is that, however the host country's 
health system may be organised, the Cuban health workers do not charge their 
clients or patients for their services. Medical care is free to those who need 
it.

Here I’d like to turn the floor over to a representative of the Cuban 
government. On Wednesday, in a live-streamed interview with CODEPINK, Cuba's 
Ambassador to Canada Josefina Vidal explained how her country finances the 
international medical missions, and what it does with the payments that it 
receives for their services. See https://tinyurl.com/ybpn8dyf . The portion 
dealing with the question of funding begins at approximately 16:00.

(In a previous assignment, Josefina Vidal led the Cuban side in the 
negotiations with the Obama administration that resulted in the breakthrough in 
US-Cuban relations that were announced on December 17, 2014.)

Another reliable source is the Canadian professor John Kirk. As Richard Fidler 
has noted, a recent interview with Kirk appears at 
https://johnriddell.com/2020/04/08/cubas-unique-model-of-medical-internationalism/
 . Kirk's explanation is the same as Vidal's. For those interested in looking 
into Cuban medical internationalism in greater depth, I recommend Kirk's 2015 
book, "Healthcare without Borders".

Fortunately, both Josefina Vidal and John Kirk will participate as panelists 
during the webinar on Saturday night. An ample period for Q is planned, so 
anyone who wishes will be able to take up this question with them. The webinar 
will begin at 7 pm Eastern Time; registration is via 
https://tinyurl.com/ycg3frnx .

Art Young

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[Marxism] Webinar this Saturday - : SHINING THE LIGHT ON CUBA'S MEDICAL SOLIDARITY

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From: Isaac Saney [mailto:isa...@hotmail.com] 
Sent: May 5, 2020 9:44 AM
To: Isaac Saney
Subject: SHINING THE LIGHT ON CUBA'S MEDICAL SOLIDARITY

 

SHINING THE LIGHT ON CUBA'S MEDICAL SOLIDARITY

ONLINE WEBINAR for the "Cuba Fights Covid-19 Around the World" - Fundraising
Campaign

Webinar featuring Speakers & Discussion
SATURDAY MAY 9, 2020
4pm Pacific Time / 6pm Central Time / 7pm Eastern Time

REGISTER ONLINE HERE: https://tinyurl.com/ycg3frnx

Featuring guest panelists:
HER EXCELLENCY JOSEFINA VIDAL - Cuban Ambassador to Canada
MP NIKI ASHTON - Member of Parliament for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski,
Manitoba
DR. JOHN KIRK - Cuba Researcher and Professor, Dalhousie University
DR. ISAAC SANEY - Co-Chair of Canadian Network on Cuba & Professor,
Dalhousie University
DR. KEITH ELLIS - Chair of Fundraising Campaign & Professor Emeritus,
University of Toronto

Webinar co-moderated by:
ELIZABETH HILL - Co-Chair of Canadian Network on Cuba & President of
Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association Toronto
TAMARA HANSEN – Executive Member of Canadian Network on Cuba & Coordinator
of Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba

Cuba is showing the world how to confront the Covid-19 pandemic with
international solidarity. As of April 30, 2020 more than 1,450 Cuban
doctors, nurses and medical professionals from the Henry Reeve International
Medical Brigade have been welcomed in 22 countries in Europe, Latin America
and the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East. Cuba's biotechnology industry
has also developed medicines and treatment regimes for Covid-19 which have
been used not only in Cuba, but also in China, Spain and other countries.

Cuba's international solidarity is leading the way in the world-wide
struggle to confront Covid-19 despite nearly 60 years of a cruel and unjust
blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States. This same blockade on Cuba,
and its extraterritorial impacts, also prevents medical cooperation between
the United States, Canada and Cuba, which would be beneficial to people
living in all three countries.

Across Canada the Canadian Network on Cuba is organizing a campaign to raise
donations for Cuba’s amazing internationalist efforts. Since launching the
campaign on March 30, 2020 we have already raised $31,000. Join in this
online Webinar to learn more the importance of the fundraising effort and
about how people in Canada can support Cuba, both in their fight against
Covid-19 and their struggle to end the cruel U.S. blockade!

To learn more about the Cuba Fights Covid-19 Around the World Fundraising
Campaign and how you can donate to support the work of Cuba's international
medical missions today visit:
http://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/index.php/our-campaigns/support-cuba-to-
fight-against-covid-19/838-cnc-fundraising-for-cuba-a-new-stage

Organized by the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC), a network of Cuba
solidarity organizations across Canada promoting friendship and solidarity
with Cuba and the Cuban people.
http://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca  

 

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[Marxism] You Can Help Cuba Aid Other Countries in Their Fight Against COVID-19

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The Canadian Network on Cuba is raising funds to support the work of Cuba’s 
emergency medical missions to other countries, where they are helping to fight 
the COVID-19 pandemia. As of this morning 17 countries have requested and 
received emergency medical aid from Cuba. A brigade of consisting of more than 
200 Cuban doctors and nurses arrived in Angola a few days ago. 

The CNC has organized a special fund to support this life-saving work.

For more information, please refer to these posts on John Riddell’s blog:

a. "You Can Help Cuba Save Lives Around the World";
Introduction by Linda Meissenheimer and Art Young

b. Canadian Network on Cuba; Special Fund Drive
to Support Cuban International Medical Brigades

Both at https://tinyurl.com/yx5a6ljw

c. "Cuba’s Unique Model of Medical Internationalism;
An Interview with John Kirk
https://tinyurl.com/r36xutv

On a related topic, the excellent documentary “Cuba’s Cancer Hope” that was 
broadcast on the PBS network on April 1 is now available on Youtube,  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb3ttuhq5xg 

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[Marxism] An appeal from the Canadian Network on Cuba.

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Please share this appeal as widely as you can. 

 

Cuba is continuing to send scarce supplies and skilled medical personnel to
a considerable number of countries, even as the island ramps up preparations
for what may well turn out to be a very difficult, long and costly struggle
against COVID-19. Unlike here and in other capitalist countries, Cuba’s
single priority is once again the preservation of human life at any cost.
This includes aiding others, by maintaining and reinforcing its policy of
medical internationalism.

 

Meanwhile, Washington is pressing other countries to turn down Cuban offers
of aid (Cuban doctors have just arrived in the tiny principality of Andorra
after it rejected US pressure). Uncle Sam has refused to suspend the
application of its economic sanctions Cuba (and Venezuela), even as a
temporary emergency measure. See, for example, “US Blockade Prevents Medical
Supplies From Reaching Cuba” https://tinyurl.com/wusjxrm

 

The US economic blockade against Cuba has been in effect for decades. It has
severely weakened the country’s economy as well as its highly regarded
health system, which now faces an unprecedented challenge with very limited
material resources at its disposal. Even so, the country is girding for
battle, counting on its scientific prowess in certain domains and its often
underestimated human resources. As an example of the latter, medical
students have been mobilized to visit every household on the island,
surveying the residents to identify those with symptoms and refer them for
treatment. They explain how all members of the family should conduct
themselves to protect both themselves and their loved ones. As of this
writing, the medical students have visited the homes of some 8.5 million of
the approximately 11.5 million Cubans who live on the island.

 

-- Art Young

 

Campaign to Support Cuba's Contribution to World Fight Against COVID-19

-Isaac Saney, CNC Spokesperson, March 30, 2020-

 

The Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) is launching the Campaign to Support
Cuba's Contribution to World Fight Against COVID-19 to assist the heroic
island's internationalist medical missions that are combatting the pandemic
across the world. At the time of writing, Cuba has more than 800 medical
personnel serving humanity in the trenches of 16 countries against the
dreaded corona virus: including Italy (currently with the greatest number of
fatalities), Spain, Andorra, in Europe; Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Grenada, Dominica,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Belize, in the Caribbean; Venezuela and
Nicaragua, in Latin America, and Angola in Africa. In the coming days more
Cuban medical missions will be dispatched to other countries. 

 

Currently, at least, 45 countries have sought to use Cuba's Interferon Alfa
2B Recombinant (IFNrec) for confronting the COVID-19 pandemic.  The
international profile and acknowledgement  of IFNrec is steadily growing.
For example, there is the March 24 Newsweek article, "Cuba Uses 'Wonder
Drug" to Fight Coronavirus Around the World Despite U.S. sanctions," and,
"The world rediscovers Cuban medical internationalism," in the March 30
issue of Le Monde Diplomatique. The Chinese National Health Commission is
using IFNrec as a crucial component of the anti-viral treatment to combat
the coronavirus.  In the recently published extensive medical handbook by
Zhejiang University School of Medicine on how to treat COVID-19 based on
China's experience with the pandemic, IFNrec is identified as a significant
part of the treatment. It has been very effective among the most vulnerable
patients in China, Cuba, and Italy. 

 

Cuba's medical missions and other generous assistance to humanity in this
time of pandemic reflects the island's history and dedication over the last
six decades of always standing with the peoples of the world in their time
of need.  During the course of the Cuban Revolution more than 400,000 Cuban
healthcare workers have served in 164 countries. For example, many of the
medical personnel now intimately involved in the fight against COVID-19 in
the 16 countries mentioned are part of the specially trained Henry Reeve
International Medical Brigade against Disasters and Serious Epidemics, which
distinguished themselves the fight against the Ebola epidemic in West
Africa.

 

Cuban internationalist medical missions have often been compared to
dreamcatchers. Just as dreamcatchers allow only good dreams to pass through,
while preventing nightmares, so too the Cuban medical internationalist
missions do their utmost to stop the nightmares of disease from reaching the

[Marxism] The Cuban Revolution at 60 -- International Conference

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The Cuban Revolution at 60

International Conference

Halifax, Canada

31 Oct - 02 Nov, 2019

 

www.cuba60.ca

 

Forty internationally renowned Cuba scholars, policy-makers and policy analysts 
will gather at Dalhousie University in Halifax this fall to take the measure of 
“The Cuban Revolution at 60.”

 

All sessions will be open to the public, and free.

 

The three-day symposium (October 31–November 2) will be highlighted by 
addresses by two of the key players in the historic 2014 re-opening of 
relations between Cuba and the United States. Josefina Vidal, now Cuba’s 
ambassador to Canada and then Cuba’s chief negotiator with the Americans, and 
Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the first US ambassador to Cuba following the renewal of 
relations, will each offer personal reflections on what happened then, and what 
isn’t happening now.

 

Attendees will also learn the results of the very latest research into a 
controversial and mysterious ailment reported by some US and Canadian diplomats 
in Cuba. Dr. Alon Friedman, a ground-breaking neuroscientist at the Dalhousie 
University Brain Repair Centre who recently led a multidisciplinary study into 
the so-called “Havana Syndrome” for Global Affairs Canada, will present his 
findings at the conference.

 

Leading Cuba specialists from Cuba, the UK, Latin America, Europe, the United 
States and Canada will also participate in a series of panels to assess the 
successes and challenges of the Cuban economy, Cuba-US relations and Cuba’s 
international relations. Other panels will focus on climate change and 
ecological challenges facing the island, as well as social change, including 
issues of race, gender (in)equity, health and sexual diversity.

 

“This year not only marks the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution,” notes 
John Kirk, an internationally renowned Cuba scholar and one of the organizers 
of the event, “but it is also a time of historic transformation on the island: 
leadership change, constitutional reform, and a complex process of economic 
developments. We believe this is a good opportunity to discuss the progress 
Cuba has made over the past 60 years and perhaps more importantly, to analyze 
current developments.”

 

Support for “The Cuban Revolution at 60” is generously provided by the Ford 
Foundation, the Christopher Reynolds Foundation, WOLA, Dalhousie University, 
CUPW, Saint Mary’s University, the Office of the Mayor (Halifax), the Canadian 
Network on Cuba and NSCuba, among others.

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Re: [Marxism] [SocialistProject] The Chávez Hypothesis: Vicissitudes of a Strategic Project (Chris Gilbert)

[Art Young via Marxism]

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Use this URL: https://tinyurl.com/kxyqzr3

 

 

From: socialistproj...@yahoogroups.ca
[mailto:socialistproj...@yahoogroups.ca] 
Sent: May 19, 2017 1:25 PM
To: socialistproj...@yahoogroups.ca; Marxmail
Subject: [SocialistProject] The Chávez Hypothesis: Vicissitudes of a
Strategic Project (Chris Gilbert)

 

  

A truly exceptional article, with a compelling argument well grounded in
recent
experience:
 
strategic-project/>

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[Marxism] Forsaking The Syrian Revolution: An Anti-Imperialist Handbook

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Forsaking The Syrian Revolution: An Anti-Imperialist Handbook

Fadi A. Bardawil

http://tinyurl.com/zx59ftr 

 

A powerful indictment of the refusal of so many U.S. "anti-imperialists" to
support the Syrian uprising against Bashar al-Assad. (Applies with equal
force to much of the left in Canada.) Particularly important, I think, is
the anticolonialist perspective that Bardawil brings to the debate.

 

"The gap between ideology (socialism) and political practice (Stalinism),
the theorization of the struggle in the colonies, as well as the fraught
politics of internationalist solidarity between Leftists in the Metropoles
and revolutionaries in the peripheries are re-emerging today in the wake of
the Arab revolutions. Nowhere are they more salient than in the case of the
political and moral failure of wide segments of the anti-imperialist Left in
the Metropoles who have either bluntly supported Assad for his
‘anti-imperialism’ and ‘secularism’ or withheld their solidarity from the
Syrian struggle for emancipation from a regime of mass murder."

 

Bardawil concludes with this 1956 appeal by the anticolonial leader Aimé
Césaire: "What I want is that Marxism and communism be placed in the service
of black peoples, and not black peoples in the service of Marxism and
communism. That the doctrine and the movement would be made to fit men, not
men to fit the doctrine or the movement.” 

 

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[Marxism] Raúl Castro re limited achievements of diplomatic talks to date

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Circulated by Linda Meissenheimer, co-coordinator of the Toronto-based group
Friends of Cuba Against the US Blockade, with this comment  -- 

 

A useful summary by Raúl of achievements, despite which he declares “...
this year we have not made any progress in the solution of those issues
which are essential for Cuba to be able to have normal relations with the
United States.”

 

http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2015-12-18/statement-by-the-president-of-the-counci
ls-of-state-and-ministers-army-general-raul-castro-ruz 

 

December 18, 2015

 

Statement by the President of the Councils of State and Ministers Army
General Raúl Castro Ruz

 

Declaration by Army General Raúl Castro on the occasion of the first
anniversary of the announcements made on December 17, 2014, regarding the
decision to reestablish diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United
States

 

One year has gone by since the simultaneous announcements made on December
17, 2014, by the presidents of Cuba and the United States to re-establish
diplomatic relations between both countries and work to improve our
relations.

 

One year ago, on a day like yesterday, as part of the agreements reached to
find a solution to issues of interest for both countries, we were able to
announce, to the great joy of all of our people, the return to our homeland
of Gerardo, Ramón and Antonio, with which we made true the promise made by
Fidel who had asserted that our Five Heroes would return.

 

On that same date, in accordance with our reiterated disposition to hold a
respectful dialogue with the Government of the United States, on the basis
of sovereign equality, to discuss a wide variety of issues in a reciprocal
way, without any detriment to our people’s national independence and
self-determination, we agreed to take mutual steps to improve the bilateral
atmosphere and move on towards the normalization of relations between the
two countries.

 

It could be said that, since then, we have achieved some results,
particularly in the political, diplomatic and cooperation spheres:

 

•   Diplomatic relations were re-established and the embassies in both
countries were re-opened. These actions were preceded by the rectification
of the unjust designation of Cuba as a State sponsor of terrorism.

 

•   High level meetings and visits have taken place.

 

•   The already existing cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as
aviation safety and security as well as the combat against drug-trafficking,
illegal migration, alien smuggling and migration fraud has been expanded.
The regular and respectful meetings between the military commands of Cuba
and the United States in the perimeter of the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo
have continued.

 

•   New possibilities for bilateral cooperation have opened up in areas of
mutual benefit, such as environmental protection, law enforcement, maritime
and port security and health.

 

•   New dialogues have been initiated on bilateral and multilateral topics
of interest, such as climate change, mutual compensations, traffic in
persons and human rights, this latter being the one on which we have
profound differences and about which we are having an exchange on the basis
of respect and reciprocity.

 

•   We have signed agreements on environmental protection and the
re-establishment of direct postal services.

 

All of this has been achieved through a professional and respectful dialogue
based on equality and reciprocity.

 

Quite on the contrary, this year we have not made any progress in the
solution of those issues which are essential for Cuba to be able to have
normal relations with the United States.

 

Although President Obama has repeatedly stated his opposition to the
economic, commercial and financial blockade and has urged Congress to lift
it, this policy remains in force. The persecution of Cuba’s legitimate
financial transactions as well as the extraterritorial impact of the
blockade, which causes damages and hardships to our people and is the main
obstacle to the development of the Cuban economy, have been tightened.

 

The steps taken so far by President Obama, although positive, have proved to
be limited in scope, which has prevented their implementation. By using his
executive prerogatives, the President could expand the scope of the steps
that have already been taken and take new steps that would substantially
modify the implementation of the blockade.

 

Despite Cuba’s repeated claim for the return of the territory illegally
occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base, the Government of the United States
has stated that is has no intention to change the status of that enclave.

 

The U.S. 

[Marxism] Memo reveals extent of control bailout monitors will have on Greece - FT.com

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FT.com: Memo reveals extent of control bailout monitors will have on Greece

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c2e06d20-40ed-11e5-9abe-5b335da3a90e.html#axzz3icD
RBSxs 

When Greece agreed in principle on a new rescue programme with its EU
creditors a month ago, it pledged to accept a level of external oversight of
its economy unprecedented for an EU member.

But just how closely the Greek government will be controlled from the
outside has only become fully clear this week with the release of the
detailed memorandum of understanding between Athens and its bailout
monitors.

As a copy of the 29-page document obtained by the Financial Times reveals,
the Greek government will have its hands bound on everything from overall
budget planning to drug pricing, tourist rentals, farmers' fuel tax breaks
and the finer points of personal bankruptcy. 

.

The bailout monitors - the European Commission, the European Central Bank
and the International Monetary Fund - are particularly keen to ensure that
Athens sticks to the straight and narrow in banking.

The MoU says: No unilateral fiscal or other policy actions will be taken by
the authorities, which would undermine the liquidity, solvency or future
viability of the banks. All measures, legislative or otherwise, taken during
the programme period, which may have an impact on banks' operations,
solvency, liquidity, asset quality etc. should be taken in close
consultation with the EC/ECB/IMF and where relevant the ESM [the EU rescue
fund that will finance most of the package].

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[Marxism] Varoufakis on negotiations, split in inner cabinet; Left Platform statement

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1. Varoufakis on the fraudulent negotiations, split in inner cabinet before
and after the referendum

 

a) article: http://tinyurl.com/p3hr7uk 

b) transcript of interview: http://tinyurl.com/opdx3wx 

 

2. Statement of the Left Platform at meeting of Syriza's parliamentary group
a few days ago.

 

There is an alternative to austerity

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/tsipras-euro-debt-default-grexit/ 

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[Marxism] Two articles of note on Greece

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1) Stratfor: The Greek Vote and the EU Miscalculation

http://tinyurl.com/nujndsp 

 

2) Europe is blowing itself apart over Greece - and nobody seems able to
stop it

 

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras never expected to win Sunday's referendum. He
is now trapped and hurtling towards Grexit

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Athens

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11724924/Europe-is-blowing-itse
lf-apart-over-Greece-and-nobody-can-stop-it.html 

 

Like a tragedy from Euripides, the long struggle between Greece and Europe's
creditor powers is reaching a cataclysmic end that nobody planned, nobody
seems able to escape, and that threatens to shatter the greater European
order in the process. 

 

Greek premier Alexis Tsipras never expected to win Sunday's referendum on
EMU bail-out terms, let alone to preside over a blazing national revolt
against foreign control. He called the snap vote with the expectation - and
intention - of losing it. The plan was to put up a good fight, accept
honourable defeat, and hand over the keys of the Maximos Mansion, leaving it
to others to implement the June 25 ultimatum and suffer the opprobrium.
... What should have been a celebration on Sunday night [after the
referendum victory] turned into a wake. Mr Tsipras was depressed, dissecting
all the errors that Syriza has made since taking power in January, talking
into the early hours. .

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[Marxism] Canadian miner and Greek minister clash over projects - FT.com

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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2ba2702-d853-11e4-ba53-00144feab7de.html#axzz3WG
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Re: [Marxism] Canadian miner and Greek minister clash over projects - FT.com

[Art Young via Marxism]

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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2ba2702-d853-11e4-ba53-00144feab7de.html#axzz3WGR2DP4n
  

 

(full text)

 

CANADIAN MINER AND GREEK MINISTER CLASH OVER PROJECTS

 

Kerin Hope in Skouries

 

Eldorado Gold was making steady progress with a €1bn project to extract copper, 
gold and other minerals in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece, known since 
ancient times for its rich ore deposits.

 

Then the Canadian mining company came up against Panayotis Lafazanis, Greece’s 
new minister for productive recovery, energy and the environment.

 

Once a favoured investor that promised to bring thousands of jobs, the company 
has found its projects stymied by Athens, showing how much harder life has 
become for many businesses under the radical left Syriza government.

 

Since his appointment in January, Mr Lafazanis has focused on reversing 
pro-market policies agreed between Greece and its international lenders, 
hampering Athens’ attempts to unlock urgently needed bailout money.

 

He has cancelled the planned privatisation of state-controlled electricity 
assets, reassuring trade unions at the power company that it will remain a 
near-monopoly and made clear to foreign investors preparing final bids for the 
national grid that the sale will not take place.

 

Mr Lafazanis has even risked the wrath of European partners by cosying up to 
Moscow and making a preliminary deal with Gazprom on a bilateral energy 
package. If formalised, the agreement would include cuts in gas prices and an 
invitation to Russian companies to bid for offshore oil and gas exploration 
rights in Greece.

 

As leader of Left Platform, Syriza’s hardline faction, Mr Lafazanis enjoys a 
special authority that Alexis Tsipras, the prime minister, is reluctant to 
challenge for fear of splitting the party.

 

True to his ideological past as a senior official in the Greek communist party, 
he maintains that private companies should be excluded from developing the 
country’s natural resources.

 

The Syriza government is facing resistance to its plans to tackle the country’s 
massive debt burden. That goes for Eldorado, which has embarked on three 
separate mining projects and a large-scale clean-up of waste from an old mine 
on a densely wooded 320 square kilometre concession in Halkidiki.

 

“We are 100 per cent against it [the Eldorado project] and we will use all 
possible legal means to stop it,” Mr Lafazanis said when he took office.

 

“We’re going to review fully the permitting process to ascertain whether 
everything was done legally, especially by the local authorities,” he added. Mr 
Lafazanis could not be contacted for comment.

 

His ministry has since revoked Eldorado’s permit to fell trees in one area of 
the concession, along with an approval for a building to house an ore-grinding 
facility at Skouries, where an open-pit mine is due to begin extracting 
gold-bearing copper ore next year. Without a building, the facility cannot 
operate, says Paul Wright, Eldorado’s chief executive.

 

Mr Wright insists the company’s Greek subsidiary, Hellas Gold, obtained all its 
permits and licences through correct procedures.

 

“We continue to fulfil our legal obligations as an investor with the contract 
with the Greek state. However, presently, unfortunately, the government is 
failing to fulfil all of its obligations, to the detriment of the investment,” 
he said.

 

Eldorado’s predicament is in sharp contrast with its previous status of 
“flagship investor”, a rare success story for the previous centre-right 
government of Antonis Samaras and its drive to attract investment to pull 
Greece out of a crippling recession.

 

The Halkidiki venture was fast-tracked through the Greek bureaucratic maze as a 
priority project that would eventually create 4,000 jobs in a depressed rural 
area with an unemployment rate close to 35 per cent.

 

Eldorado’s geological studies hold a promise of further exploitable gold 
deposits in a region that 2,300 years ago produced enough wealth to finance 
king Alexander the Great’s military expedition to conquer Persia.

 

“Halkidiki could have a thriving, large mining industry based on deposits 
already identified, and there are good opportunities to find more deposits in 
the region that could be developed,” Mr Wright said.

 

Mr Lafazanis’s opposition to the project is not shared by the majority of local 
residents, many of whom work for the company. Eldorado’s trade union bosses 
visited him in Athens to plead the company’s case. A group of woodcutters 
facing redundancy after the tree-cutting permit was withdrawn recently picketed 
his ministry.

 

“Families moved back to