[LAAMN] The Last Words of Adolf Joffe
http://www.marxist.com/last-words-of-adolf-joffe.htm The Last Words of Adolf Joffehttp://www.marxist.com/last-words-of-adolf-joffe.htm Written by In Defence of Marxism Monday, 03 September 2012 [image: Print] http://www.marxist.com/last-words-of-adolf-joffe/print.htm# On the 16th November 1927, scarcely ten days after the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, Adolf Joffe shot himself. At his bedside he left a letter to Leon Trotsky, a translation of which we are publishing today for our readers (1) together with a brief explanatory introduction. These are the words of a genuine Bolshevik and victim of the Stalinist terror. [image: Leon Trotsky and Adolf Joffe]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/trotsky-joffe.jpgLeon Trotsky and Adolf JoffeAdolf Abramovich Joffe, though trained to be a physician, had joined the revolutionary ranks quite early in life. He was active in the 1905 revolution, and had his share of the prisons and exiles of the tsar. Some time before the First World War he returned to Russia from Austria to organise the underground distribution of Trotskys Vienna Pravda, was arrested and exiled to Siberia. He was liberated only in 1917. In 1917 he was a member of the two organisations that were directly responsible for the October insurrection the October Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, and the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. After the revolution he was selected by Lenin for the most important diplomatic posts he led the first delegation to the peace negotiations with the Germans at Brest Litovsk in December 1917, was ambassador to Germany in the stormy days of 1919, signed the peace with the Poles after the 1920 war, was delegated to the Genoa Conference in 1923, was sent to China to win over Sun Yat Sen, the Chinese nationalist leader, and later served as Soviet ambassador to Japan. Joffe had been in failing health for a long time long before the revolution his health was slowly undermined by a hereditary nervous disease. But that did not prevent him from active participation in the revolution, often appearing at the front lines when necessary. He was among the first to join the Left Opposition led by Trotsky and had soon to pay the price for revolutionary intransigence. For reasons explained in his letter, he chose the only way out, and as readers may agree, he died fighting. The letter itself has a little history of its own. When Trotsky was informed of Joffes death by phone he was also told that there was a letter for him at Joffes bedside. But when Trotsky rushed there, the letter was missing. On his insistence, however, a photostat copy was handed over to Christian Rakovsky. Even in those days Stalins GPU functioned quite efficiently. Joffes funeral was set for a working day. Yet 10,000 Moscow workers joined the procession led by Trotsky, showing Stalin that the Opposition was still not beaten. His life, not his suicide, should serve as a model to those who are left behind. The struggle goes on, said Trotsky. Joffes widow, Marie Mikhailovana, was then removed from her position as editor to the State Publishing House in March 1929 after she protested against Trotskys expulsion from the USSR. She had not hesitated to join the Opposition along with her husband. As a result, she was arrested and exiled. She was subject to prison and then a series of labour camps from 1929 until 1957, when there was a partial rehabilitation. It was only then that she learnt of the liquidation of her only son in 1937 at the age of seventeen. Her book, One Long Night, based upon her experiences, was published in 1978 and is available from Wellred. The price of Stalins rise to power, expressed in human lives is indeed monstrous. He did away with the entire glorious generation of revolutionaries that made October. Adolf Joffe was among the first victims. We publish here the last word of that great revolutionary, whose moving personal story reflected the tragic betrayal of the October Revolution. --- *To Leon Trotsky,* Dear Leon Davidovich: All my life I have thought that the man of politics ought to know how to go away at the right time, as an actor quits the stage, and that it is better to go too soon than too late. More than thirty years ago I embraced the philosophy that human life has meaning only to the degree that, and so long as, it is lived in the service of something infinite. For us, humanity is infinite. The rest is finite, and to work for the rest is therefore meaningless. Even if humanity too must have a purpose beyond itself, that purpose will appear in so remote a future that for us humanity may be considered as an absolute infinite. It is in this and this only that I have always seen the meaning of life. And now, taking a glance backwards over my past, of which twenty-seven years were spent in the ranks of our party, it seems to me that I have the right to say that during all my conscious life I have been faithful to
[LAAMN] Support the Syrian People in their Courageous and Popular Struggle Against the Dictatorship of the Assad Regime!
http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/an-unambiguous-position-support-the-syrian-people-in-their-courageous-and-popular-struggle-against-the-dictatorship-of-the-assad-regime/ *An Unambiguous Position: Support the Syrian People in their Courageous and Popular Struggle Against the Dictatorship of the Assad Regime!* Posted on August 31, 2012 The resistance of the Syrian people has not ceased to grow since the revolutionary process began in March 2011. The struggle of the Syrian people is part of the popular struggles in Tunisia and Egypt, which has spread to other countries in the region. The new massacre at Daraya, over 300 people were killed, including dozens of women and children, (a clear response has been made by the LCC against the famous journalist Robert Fisks report on the massacre http://www.facebook.com/notes/%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7/the-local-coordination-committees-in-daraya-respond-to-mr-robert-fisk/517985734895234) in recent days is added to the long list of crimes of the regime. The terrible repression against the Syrian people continues. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH), announced on August 23 that at least 24,495 people have died in violence since the beginning of the revolution, including a total of 17,281 civilians, while 6,163 soldiers have been killed and 1,051 deserters who joined the insurgency. We must add to this sad news some 1.5 million people displaced inside the country and some 250,000 refugees in neighboring countries. Despite this terrible repression by the regime, some sections of the left, increasingly a minority, refrain from fully and unambiguously supporting the Syrian revolution, despite the popular struggle of the Syrian people to topple the regime and build a new Syria that is democratic, social and in solidarity with other peoples struggles, especially the Palestinian people. Some of these sections hide behind a biased interpretation of anti-imperialism, very primitive and false in many ways, which in the past has defended authoritarian regimes like Gaddafis Libya or Saddam Husseins Iraq, while others simply repeat the propaganda of the Syrian regime, that is to say: the uprising is a conspiracy of the imperialist West allied with regional countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, against a Syria that would be anti-imperialist and pro-resistance. Another section of the left, with a more nuanced discourse, refuses to support the Syrian revolution, but without publicly siding with the regime. They argue that the Syrian revolution has now become purely a military conflict between the opposition supported by the imperialist Western and regional powers, against a regime that is not anti-imperialist, but opposes imperialist interests and objectives in the region. This section of the left only focuses on the dangers of Western imperialist and regional interventions and, without a word about the much more real and important support by the states of Russia and Iran in particular. They also discuss the dangers of threats of a sectarian religious war, without a thorough analysis of this element while ignoring its dynamics. They also have no way to overcome the dangers of sectarianism. Finally, under the argument the main enemy is at home, they claim that their duty is solely to oppose their own imperialist government, while no solidarity and support are shown and manifested for the struggle of the Syrian people. They refuse to brandish the slogan of victory to the Syrian revolution. We condemn these positions for several reasons, including the anti-imperialism of the Syrian regime, which is a lie. Does amnesia strike these sections of the left? Do they not remember that Bashar Al Assad was presented as a reformist by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the beginning of the revolution in 2011, or when Nicolas Sarkozy received with great pomp the Syrian dictator in the Elysee Palace in December 2010, or his invitation to watch the parade of 14 July 2007 on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées? Also, how can they speak about supporting resistance when the regime crushed the Palestinian and the progressive movement in Lebanon in 1976, ending their revolution, all under the watchful eye of the Western imperialist powers and Israel? This same regime participated in the imperialist war against Iraq in 1991 with the coalition led by the United States and worked with it again in the campaign of the war against terrorism launched by U.S. President George Bush. During the past thirty years, the Syrian regime has arrested all those trying to develop a resistance in the country for the liberation of the Golan and Palestine, while no bullet has been fired to free the occupied Golan. Some nevertheless still speak of re-colonization of Syria such as Tareq Ali, who we answered in this response:
[LAAMN] South Africa: The aftermath of the Marikana massacre and the struggle within the ANC
http://www.marxist.com/south-africa-aftermath-of-marikana-and-anc.htm South Africa: The aftermath of the Marikana massacre and the struggle within the ANChttp://www.marxist.com/south-africa-aftermath-of-marikana-and-anc.htm Written by Jorge Martín Tuesday, 04 September 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/south-africa-aftermath-of-marikana-and-anc/print.htm# *On Monday, September 3, most of the miners arrested during the Marikana massacre were released after an outcry of protest forced the state prosecutor to withdraw charges of murder against them. The strike at Lonmin continues as well as strikes and protests at other mines. The incident has clearly revealed the real content of the struggle between left and right in the run up to the ANC Manguang Conference.* [image: Police officers after the massacre]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/south_africa/2012-08-17-Marikana_massacre.jpgPolice officers after the massacreIt is revealing that the 270 miners and others arrested during the Marikana massacre were charged with murder of their 34 comrades who had been killed by the police. It says a lot about how little has really changed despite the 1994 transition from apartheid to formal capitalist democracy. The common purpose doctrine which was used to charge them was widely used by the apartheid regime to send MK and ANC fighters to the gaols, without having to go into the trouble to actually find any proof of their guilt. The doctrine states that people involved in a common activity are equally responsible for any damage that results from it, even if they have not physically committed it. Even if one accepts the legality of the doctrine, how can it be argued that those 270 arrested had a common purpose with the perpetrators of the murder of their comrades! And if they indeed were acting in common purpose with the police who opened fire and killed 34 miners on August 16 at Marikana, then, shouldnt the police officers and those who gave them orders be also put on trial for murder? So far, none of the police officers have even been suspended nor are any under investigation. These charges, bizarre as they are, have a logic behind them. The miners who went on an unprotected (unlawful) strike and defied the orders of the police and the mine owners must be collectively punished for their actions. They must serve as an example to others and prevent further wild cat strikes. Not only the charges but also the treatment of the arrested miners was to set an example. Instead of being charged and given bail within 48 hours, as the law provides for, they were in custody for over two weeks and for a large part of this period they had not even been charged with a crime. Their lawyers attempted to get a bail hearing with no results. The released miners have also complained about being tortured while in custodyhttp://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-09-04-marikana-freed-miners-speak-of-torture-in-police-cells . Finally the outcry was such and the embarrassment for the ANC ruling party was so damaging that even Justice Minister Jeff Radebe was forced to ask for a formal explanation from the Prosecutors Authority. Finally the charges were dropped. Even as the announcement was being made to the press, the provincial prosecutor who had brought murder charges against the workers, Johan Smit SC, reaffirmed that he had not been wrong and that the charges were sound to the astonishment of the national director of prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba who was by his side. It was clear that the decision to charge them was political, as was the decision to release them. In fact, only the provisional murder charge was withdrawn, the others remain, but most of the miners have been released. In the meantime, more details have emerged about the massacre itself which contradict the official police version that they had acted in self-defence. A detailed reporthttp://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-08-30-the-murder-fields-of-marikana-the-cold-murder-fields-of-marikanaby investigative journalist Greg Marinovich concluded that in fact, at least 14 of the 34 miners killed by the police were shot minutes after the main stampede and shootings, 300 metres away, when they were cornered and defenceless. Some were run over by police armoured cars (Nyalas) when they were already on the floor. The report confirms the initial findings of professor Peter Alexander of the University of Johannesburg who concluded that it was the police firing on the workers that provocked them to stampede in the direction of the police through a narrow gap in the barbed wire fence that the police had laid surrounding them. The idea that the background to this massacre was the conflict between rival unions, COSATU-affiliated NUM and ACMU, is also wrong. As a matter of fact many of those killed were NUM members, some of them even elected shophttp://www.marxist.com/south-africa-aftermath-of-marikana-and-anc/print.htm#415128stewards. An example of this is the case
[LAAMN] Venezuelan Opposition Prepares for Non-Recognition of Chavez Victory
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] Venezuelan Opposition Prepares for Non-Recognition of Chavez Victory Sep 4th 2012, by Francisco Dominguez - Huffington Post [image: Primera Justicia (Justice First) party is opposition candidate Henrique Capriles#039; party and has been his main supporter dur] Primera Justicia (Justice First) party is opposition candidate Henrique Capriles' party and has been his main supporter during his electoral campaign. Venezuelans go to the polls on 7 October to elect their president. The main choice is between the incumbent Hugo Chavez and Henrique Capriles Radonski, a right-wing state governor with strong ties to the country's elite. Yet with more than a month to go, sections of Venezuela's right wing opposition coalition seem to have made up their mind about the outcome. With substantial poll leads for Hugo Chávez they appear to be preparing to decry the official results as a fraud. Ricardo Hausmann, a key Capriles economic adviser, recently said his campaign will announce their own results to the world before the official announcement is made by Venezuela's independent National Electoral Council (CNE), the equivalent of Britain's Electoral Commission. Their approach seems to be that unless the results go their way, the CNE's official results will be rejected by the opposition. As Eleazar Diza Rangel, editor of Venezuela's main national newspaper *Ultimas Noticias* - broadly sympathetic to the anti-Chávez opposition - recently explained the purpose of attempts to claim fraud at the coming presidential elections of 7 October [would be] in order not to recognise the people's will. Whatever views are held of the Chávez government, its democratic mandate is without doubt. There is certainly no evidence from previous elections of fraud. This will be Venezuela's 15th election since Chavez became President in 1999. All have been declared free and fair including by international bodies such as the EU and Organisation of American State. Just last month, Jennifer McCoy, director at the Carter Center, described Venezuela's electronic voting system as one of the most reliable in the world. At the coming elections, the Union of South American Nations will amongst the 200 international observers. Any doubt about the impartiality of the CNE in organising free elections is surely swept aside by the fact that earlier this year Venezuela's main right-wing opposition coalition, the MUD, organised for it to conduct the right's Presidential primaries. The MUD Executive Secretary described the CNE's role in this selection as an excellent indication of the democratic institutions in the countryhttp://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/111205/cne-presta-asistencia-tecnica-a-la-mud-para-proceso-comicial. It is not serious for the right-wing coalition to endorse the CNE as a legitimate electoral authority in February and denounce it in October. The truth is that any opposition attempt to cry fraud is really about covering up its own political failings. Polls carried out by the major companies indicate a clear win for Hugo Chávez, with leads of between 15-27% in each of the 8 major polls carried out in Julyhttp://www.vicuk.org/index.php?option=com_contenttask=blogcategoryid=24Itemid=58. August's polls give similar results. Rejecting the results in the face of a Hugo Chavez victory would be totally consistent with the Venezuelan right-wing's record of resorting to undemocratic means. Most well known is the short-lived coup against the democratically-elected Chavez government in 2002 which abolished democracy altogether until it was overturned by popular demonstrations. Soon after in 2003, they unleashed a 64-day oil industry lock-out that saw GDP collapse by a third with the declared aim of ousting President Chavez. They then claimed fraud at the 2004 recall referendum to decide if Hugo Chávez would continue as President, which he won 58% to 42%. The opposition promised to provide the evidence but eight years on they have yet to produce it. And faced with certain defeat, they decided to boycott the 2005 parliamentary elections to distract from their unpopularity, a move opposed by the Organisation of American States. Since then opposition has sought to use the democratic process to remove Hugo Chavez. It has not rejected the CNE results that saw its presidential candidate Henry Caprioles Radonski elected as a state governor, Chávez's constitutional changes defeated in a referendum or the right-wing win dozens of governors, mayors and MPs. But faced with Hugo Chávez being elected for another six years, they now seem set to be resorting to old habits. Any such manoeuvres to undermine the real outcome need to be widely condemned. It is the right of the Venezuelan people to freely determine who their next president is. Their will must be upheld and respected. -- *Source URL (retrieved on 05/09/2012 - 7:59am):* http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/7234 [Non-text
[LAAMN] Lessons from Marikana: Class Collaboration with Capital, or Class struggle against Capital?
http://www.marxist.com/lessons-of-marikana-class-collaboration-against.htm Lessons from Marikana: Class Collaboration with Capital, or Class struggle against Capital?http://www.marxist.com/lessons-of-marikana-class-collaboration-against.htm Written by Vusumuzi Martin Bhengu in South Africa Wednesday, 05 September 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/lessons-of-marikana-class-collaboration-against/print.htm# *For the sake of the company, its many thousands of *employeeshttp://www.marxist.com/lessons-of-marikana-class-collaboration-against/print.htm#693044 * and the industry which supports them, we need to find a sustainable peace accord which allows people to return to a working business.* Just under two weeks after 34 miners were brutally killed by police after embarking on a wildcat strike, these were the words of the acting-CEO of Lonmin, Simon Scott, calling for a peace accord between workers and management. Ironically, there was no indication of any concessions on the company's part to workers reasonable demands of a mere R12 500. These words were echoed just beneath the mountains of where our national assembly seats. Cabinet ministers, members of parliament and the media alike, all called for an urgent peace accord to remedy the situation at Lonmin mine. The inter-ministerial committee became chief advocates of this peace accord. Like street performers, they went around the country, the world, pleading with everyone that they met, assuring them that a peace accord is the only solution to this 'tragedy' as they call it. The NUM leaders joined the performance and held a press conference on Tuesday (04/09/2012). The NUM is committed to finding a peaceful solution, NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni told reporters in Johannesburg. What do they mean by 'peace accord'? Under capitalism, society is into classes based on their role in production, and these classes are central to capitalist economies. Often these classes come into conflict as it has happened at Lonmin mine. The ruling class in an attempt to reconcile these antagonisms, revokes feelings of quasi-nationalism as means to put a stop to the revolt by workers. They do so not as an attempt to abolishing inequality, but to maintain social hierarchy which they see as a necessary element of the capitalist system. What is class collaboration? Class collaboration is a principle of social organization based upon the belief that the division of society into a hierarchy of social classes is a positive and essential aspect of civilization. Whereas the doctrine of class struggle urges the working classes to overthrow the ruling class and the existing social order for the purpose of establishing equality, the doctrine of class collaboration urges them to accept inequality as part of the natural state of things and preserve the social order. Furthermore it holds that the State 'reconciles' class antagonisms in society, and that the strife which gives rise to Communism can be harmonized. This is exactly what the State is advocating for, the collaboration of the working class and capital for the prosperity of the nation. Such has been resonated by the right-wing in the alliance, at the expense of workers demands. Already class collaboration has been rejected by some affiliates of COSATU, chief amongst them, the National Union of MetalWokers of South Africa which has recently because one of the few voices of the left within the alliance. In a statement released by its Central Committe, it unequivocally calls for class struggle as the only solution. We see no solution to the violence against workers on the mines apart from nationalisation in defence of the lives of all South Africans. It further calls for the nationalization of mines as means to address the ongoing impasse as we have reported yesterday, not a peace accord like some believe. As events unfold, we are more than convinced that South African workers are moving on the right direction. In the direction towards self-realisation as a class that is capable of overthrowing the domination of the capitalist class. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com
[LAAMN] Sudan joins Arab spring - ‘Elbow Lick Friday’s’ rock the regime
http://www.marxist.com/sudan-joins-arab-spring.htm Sudan joins Arab spring - Elbow Lick Fridays rock the regimehttp://www.marxist.com/sudan-joins-arab-spring.htm Written by Jean Duval Thursday, 06 September 2012 [image: Print] http://www.marxist.com/sudan-joins-arab-spring/print.htm# *Sudan until the recent secession of its southern part was Africas biggest country. It is mostly known and in particular portrayed as such in the world media, for its wars, genocides, organised famine, and ethnic, religious and tribal strife. But revolutions tend to cut through the old divisions fostered by the sitting dictators, old colonialist powers and new imperialist forces. This is exactly what is happening today in Sudan since the beginning of the Sudanese spring.* [image: karthoumprotestburningtires]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/sudan/karthoumprotestburningtires.jpgOn the 18th of June, youth, workers and the lower middle classes from many regions, villages, and different ethnic and religious background rose up en masse. The revolt is directed against the heinous Islamist dictatorship of Omar al Bashir and the ruling National Congress Party that has held power since the coup in 1989. This is the first revolt of this magnitude against an Arab Islamist regime. As is often the case, it is the students that take the lead, breaking the barrier of fear. They are clearly inspired by the other revolutions in the Middle East, from which they borrow the tactics, the organisational methods and slogans. The youth revolts This is what Jadaliyya reported at the end of the month of June: street protests of a scale not witnessed for two decades continued into their second week in Khartoum and other major Sudanese cities. Anti-government protests, initially led by students from the University of Khartoum, have inspired similar nation-wide demonstrations in al-Obeid, Kosti, al-Gadaref, Port Sudan, Wad Medani, and Atbara. They began on June 16th with courageous female students at the University of Khartoums downtown campus taking to the streets chanting no, no to higher prices and freedom, freedom. The students initially protested the announcement of a thirty-five percent hike in public transportation fees and called for the liberation of the campus from the presence of the ubiquitous National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). Since then, Khartoum and other cities have been sites of daily protests driven by a widening political agenda. Echoing calls heard in the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria, protesters chanted the people want the fall of the regime, we will not be ruled by a dictator, and revolution, revolution until victory. Clearly mindful (and no doubt apprehensive) of the protesters slogans referencing the Arab uprisings as well as two previous popular intifadas that have removed military regimes, President Omar al-Bashir quickly insisted that this is no Arab Spring. Since then many, especially in academic and media circles, have insisted on Sudans exceptionalism and how it will not be affected by a revolutionary upsurge of the people. This is an echo of the claims of the robustness of Arab authoritarianism, a theme that is recurrent in academic studies on the Middle East. Something similar was said about Tunisia and later about the Egyptian people. All those peoples were not supposed to revolt and overthrow the existing regimes. The influential International Crisis Group (ICG) similarly argued recently about Sudan that years of subjugation at the hands of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have yielded both political apathy and a weak opposition. Jadaliyya continues: However, since they began, the protests have expanded in both their geographic reach and their social profile. Moving beyond the middle class campus of the University of Khartoum, protests now include more lower class students from other universities, supporters and activists belonging to the major opposition parties, civil servants, the unemployed, and workers in the informal sector. Moreover, despite the use of teargas, batons and sweeping arrests on the part of the State Security and Intelligence Services, the protests have expanded to include residents in the populous informal settlements and working class neighbourhoods of Buri, al-Ilafoon, al-Gereif, al-Sahafa, al-Abbassiya and Mayo south of the capital. As the protests continued with greater force into their tenth day security forces, frustrated at not being able to stem the tide of the protests, entered the dormitories of the University of Khartoums Faculty of Education and set them ablaze. The students, responding to Bashir's public statement on June 24th describing the demonstrators as saboteurs, foreign aliens and 'rogues' chanted, we are not rogues, you will end up dead in a sewage system, referring to how former Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi was caught before he was killed. Widespread repression After dismissing the
[LAAMN] Cuba:A Subtle Form of Corruption by Esteban Morales*
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78030 A Subtle Form of Corruption September 6, 2012 | [image: Email]http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78030emailpopup=1 Email http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78030emailpopup=1 | [image: Print]http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78030print=1 Print http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78030print=1 | 0 13 *To my constant friends* *By Esteban Morales* **(Published by Progreso Weeklyhttp://progreso-weekly.com/ )** * HAVANA TIMES When in 2010 I wrote about corruption and what happened to me became general knowledge, it was inevitable that many people worried. Nobody ever understood how it was possible to take a political step of the nature that was taken against the denunciation that was made. Those writings went through the hurricane of incomprehension, so to speak, and today we have moved ahead in terms of that type of criticism. Our highest Political Directorate, being consistent with what it had said ever since it assumed command, condensed its pronouncements: Corruption is the equivalent of counterrevolution. All of us revolutionaries breathed a sigh of relief. Taking up criticism was a reality and nobody had to right to silence it. But we must continue to advance. An important body of our revolutionary intellectuals valiantly assume the criticism of our realities, as Raúl has suggested, but we cannot yet feel deeply and confidently that they are doing what they should do, even though theyre convinced of it. Some bureaucrats lie in wait, taking advantage of the opportunity to tell us intellectuals that we are wrong, that apparently things cannot be exactly as Raúl has told us. Meanwhile, all of us who have assumed the criticism of our society are, along with Raúl, convinced that its the only way to save the process. What did Raúl Castro mean by corruption is the equivalent of counterrevolution? No doubt, that assertion is painfully all-encompassing, because it includes the following dangers, among others: In the first place, it means that whoever becomes corrupt has already crossed into the enemys ranks. That he tries to discredit the political discourse of the Revolution at its most critical moment. That he leads people to say that things are not always what they seem, which like a direct attack on the nations leadership is counter to any process that tries to propel the economic renovation, to accomplish the necessary social adjustments, and to achieve a change in mindset. That, amid the difficult material situation the nation is going through, he gives a baleful example of how to solve my individual problem. That whoever becomes corrupt is practically incapable of upholding other values, so his next step is to collaborate with those who can facilitate his work, corrupting others and placing all of them in the service of subversion. But there is a more subtle, concealed form of corruption among us, which many people minimize because they practice it systematically or because they dont consider it as dangerous as the highest functionaries do. In material terms, it is a piddling corruption, practiced gradually and directly among low-level functionaries who, able to move certain resources, exchange them as if they were swapping merchandise. Im talking about a functionary who manages a coffee shop and procures the sweets and the beer for a friend whos going to celebrate his daughters 15th birthday. In turn, his friend, who manages a factory, delivers to him the flagstones and the cement he needs to build another room in his house. A simple exchange between the two, where no money is exchanged, only goods, and where many look the other way, waiting for their turn to engage in the same deals. This way, in an illegal fashion, an incredible amount of resources disappear, resources that should have been sold to the population. This type of corruption is no less harmful than the former one, for the following reasons: Its low monetary value makes it appear as simple favors from a friend. This has become popular under the description of resolving. In general, in the workplace, it is something that almost everyone knows about but ignores, because they dont care, they fear reprisals, or they think that their day might come. It tends to create a level of compromise between the administrators and the rest of the workers, who may consider they have the right to enjoy those illegal advantages at some future time. It is very easy to conceal by means of accounting and economic control. Because no money is involved, the peril of its practice is quite limited. Nevertheless, the degree of corruption of this practice corrodes the authority of even the political organizations in the workplace. Looking at corruption in all its characteristics and levels of practice, we see a phenomenon that can be defeated only if all the social sectors participate, declaring a generalized war that makes us more aware of what that corruption means and gives us the
[LAAMN] Colombia’s Peace Negotiations- 4 articles
http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/colombias-peace-negotiators-the-view-from-the-united-states/ Colombias Peace Negotiators: The View from the United States September 6, 2012 tags: Álvaro Uribe http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/alvaro-uribe/, bernardo moreno http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/bernardo-moreno/, Carlos Castañohttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/carlos-castano/, colombian national policehttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/colombian-national-police/, farc http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/farc/, jorge morahttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/jorge-mora/, jose obdulio gaviriahttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/jose-obdulio-gaviria/, Oscar Naranjo http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/oscar-naranjo/, panamahttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/panama/, paramilitaries http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/paramilitaries/, vicente castano http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/vicente-castano/, wikileakshttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/wikileaks/ by Michael Evans http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/author/mxvans/ http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/jorge-mora.jpg Former Colombian Armed Forces commander Jorge Enrique Mora was accused of looking the other way with respect to collaboration with illegal paramilitary forces. With great fanfare and even greater expectations, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos this week identified the people hes chosen to represent the government in peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the leftist guerrilla group that has been at war with the Colombian government for nearly 50 years. Where the talks will lead is anybodys guess, but as the negotiations take shape, its worthwhile to review what declassified (and leaked) documents from formerly secret U.S. files reveal about two of the individuals selected to lead the process. As director of the Colombian National Police (CNP), *Óscar Naranjo Trujillo *was one of the most trusted members of former President Álvaro Uribes security team and gained the respect and admiration of U.S. officials through routine and frank engagements with them on a host of sensitive matters. Naranjo had a pretty good track record for success, according to U.S. Ambassador William Brownfields *account of an October 2009 meeting*http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/09bogota3271.pdf, and was perhaps the smartest, best informed member of the [Government of Colombia], and someone whose views and observations are usually worth serious consideration. The National Security Archives declassified files include one especially interesting example of how Naranjo earned his reputation for blunt disclosures, although it does not reflect particularly well on the CNP as an institution. The *1996 cable*http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/1996bogota11841.pdfreports that Naranjo, then director of police intelligence, admitted to U.S. diplomats that CNP forces do not act in the parts of Colombia under control of the countrys illegal militia forces, led by indicted paramilitary warlord Carlos Castaño. Thanks to Wikileaks, we now know that Naranjo continued to be an important source of information for the U.S. on political, criminal and security-related developments during the new century. Naranjos name appears in 76 of the leaked cables, many of which pertain to the most sensitive scandals of the Uribe presidency. In a *March 2007 cable*http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/2007bogota1925.pdfpublished by Wikileaks, Naranjo is reported as saying that fugitive paramilitary chief Vicente Castañoolder brother of Carlos Castaño enjoys significant collaboration from elements of the police and military, despite the governments supposed efforts to dismantle the illegal groups. http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/oscar-naranjo.jpg Former Colombian National Police director Oscar Naranjo told the U.S. that police forces do not act in areas controlled by illegal paramilitary forces. Wikileaks has also shown that Naranjo accused top Uribe advisers Bernardo Moreno and José Obdulio Gaviria of orchestrating a massive illegal wiretapping operation that targeted judges, journalists, human rights defenders and other presumed political opponentseven, in some cases, U.S. citizens. - In an *August 2008 cable*http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/08bogota3007.pdfthe U.S. Embassy reports that Naranjo said presidential advisor Jose Obdulio Gavaria was behind a recent attempt to discredit [Supreme Court magistrate Iván] Velasquez using former paramilitaries in Medellin. Naranjo said that former Senator Mario Uribe [cousin of President Álvaro Uribe] had orchestrated a similar effort involving a former paramilitary (Tasmania) who claimed Velasquez had offered him legal benefits to implicate Uribe in a murder, according to the cable. - In an *October 2008 cable*http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/08bogota3888.pdf, Naranjo reportedly
[LAAMN] Palestinians on the Road to Damascus
http://pulsemedia.org/2012/09/07/palestinians-on-the-road-to-damascus/ Palestinians on the Road to Damascus September 7, 2012 § Leave a Commenthttp://pulsemedia.org/2012/09/07/palestinians-on-the-road-to-damascus/#respond by Ahmad Diab *A Temporary People* One hot summer day in 2011, the residents of the beleaguered Homs neighborhood of Al-Khaldyeh were struggling to identify the bodies of two men. There was something unusual about the bodies even by the now morbidly gory Syrian standards. They were merely skeletons with worn-out fatigues, and a few personal belongings. The unearthing of their bodies was collateral damage to a stray bomb. They had been blown out of their unmarked shallow makeshift grave by the shells of the Syrian army against the rebellious neighborhood. The residents decided the belongings were clearly from the 1980s, the military fatigues were Palestinian. The story of Syrian Palestinians like that of most Syrians is one of many tucked-away skeletons that are thrown into the open, unannounced yet badly needing to be addressed. Syria is home to some half a million Palestinian refugees, the great majority of whom were born into a dictatorship that oppresses them and its own people in the name of Arab unity and steadfastness in the face of Zionism and imperialism. Their imagined and lived geographies could not be farther apart. They know the streets of Homs, Aleppo, Deraa, and Damascus like the palms of their hands. Their schools, named after their villages and towns in Palestine, hoist the flag of the United Nations. Like their Syrian brethren, once in tenth grade, they could be automatically enrolled in the Baath party. Their ID cards are identical to those of Syrians, with the only difference being the red words temporary residence on top. Their travel documents could be taken for a Syrian passport, were they not one shade of blue lighter and the misspelled Travel Document for Palestinian Refugies on the cover. Many Syrian Palestinians live their temporary lives in shantytowns that are still called camps. They follow the news of Jenin and Gaza as if it were their own. They have never been allowed to set foot in either. They religiously commemorate the dates of Palestinian massacres, victories and defeats. They are also obligated to hold rallies saluting the Syrian regime and its victories. Most camps have their own resident Palestinian Uncle Tom. They hate that they need his permits to wed, work or travel, but they learnt the Syrian proverb all too quickly, kiss the hand that slaps you, and pray [secretly] that it get cut. De jure, Palestinians are well integrated into the legal system and are treated equally to Syrians. Most of these rights are legacy amendments that predate the Baath regime.1http://www.al-shabaka.org/palestinians-road-damascus?page=show#footnote1 Some date back to 1956 parliamentary amendments; others such as issuing travel documents to Syrian Palestinians are a Nasserite legacy when Syria was in the United Arab Republic with Egypt. To its credit, once in power, the Baath did not reverse them. However, the logic behind the legal status of Palestinians is a paternalistic relic of a time when Arab countries were self-appointed custodians over the fate of the Palestinians. It went thus: unless constantly reminded, Palestinians would forget their land and cause. Therefore, while they have most of the civil rights of fellow Syrians, they cannot vote or hold Syrian passports. Furthermore, they are required to fulfill the military service requirement their fellow Syrians do. They are usually drafted into either the Syria-aligned Palestine Liberation Army or the Syrian Army. De facto, the Baath discriminates equally against anyone who does not abide by the official narrative. De facto no one has any meaningful rights under an authoritarian regime. One could say that the revolution started because the majority of Syrians felt they were not integrated into the Syrian state. *Dictatorship from the Standpoint of a Palestinian Refugee* ** Equality in political suffering does not confer social equality amongst the collectivity of sufferers. Syrians discriminate against Palestinians in ways that are not dissimilar to those in which they discriminate against fellow Syrians. Like the rest of eastern Mediterranean, Syria is a country where almost everyone fancies himself or herself a Professor Higgins. In Shaws Pygmalion, the professor of phonetics can place any man within six miles. Syrians can detect the subtlest dialectic nuances; one vowel shorter or longer and you are automatically cast as other. To other Palestinians, Syrian Palestinians sound a little Syrian; to Syrians their accents give them away as not quite from here (perhaps with the exception of Deraa province). Not being from here can make a world of difference in a place where having the right connections is a must to navigate the ubiquitous state security apparatus. Not being from here
[LAAMN] Effective Evil or Progressives’ Best Hope? Glen Ford vs. Michael Eric Dyson on Obama Presidency
* Effective Evil or Progressives Best Hope? Glen Ford vs. Michael Eric Dyson on Obama Presidency* ** ** *Video:* * http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/7/effective_evil_or_progressives_best_hope *http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/7/effective_evil_or_progressives_best_hope As President Obama accepts the Democratic nomination to seek four more years in the White House, we host a debate on his presidency with Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report and Michael Eric Dyson, professor at Georgetown University and author of numerous books. Ford calls Obama the more effective evil for embracing right-wing policies and neutralizing effective opposition, while Dyson argues Obama provides the best and obvious choice for progressive change within the confines of the U.S. political system. [includes rush transcript] Filed under Election 2012http://www.democracynow.org/topics/election_2012, DNC 2012 http://www.democracynow.org/topics/dnc_2012, Obamahttp://www.democracynow.org/topics/obama, Michael Eric Dysonhttp://www.democracynow.org/appearances/michael_eric_dyson, Glen Ford http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/glen_ford Guests: *Michael Eric Dysonhttp://www.democracynow.org/appearances/michael_eric_dyson *, professor of sociology at Georgetown University. He is a political analyst on MSNBC and is author of numerous books, including *Can You Hear Me Now?: The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson*, *Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X*, and most recently, *Born to Use Mics: Reading Nass Illmatic*. *Glen Ford http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/glen_ford*, a longtime journalist and executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com, a weekly journal of African-American political thought and action. His latest article is called What Obama Has Wrought. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] From exports to investment: contradictions in the Chinese economy intensify
http://www.marxist.com/imf-report-contradictions-in-chinese-economy.htm From exports to investment: contradictions in the Chinese economy intensifyhttp://www.marxist.com/imf-report-contradictions-in-chinese-economy.htm Written by Adam Booth Wednesday, 12 September 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/imf-report-contradictions-in-chinese-economy/print.htm# *The picture of the Chinese economy painted by commentators in the West is often one of strength; an economy dominated by exports, with unstoppable growth and development; in short, a model to emulate. Recent figures released by the International Monetary Fund, however, describe a very different situation; a situation where contradictions are intensifying below the surface; a situation that is pregnant with crisis and revolutionary consequences.* [image: Chinese Economy]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/china/NIKE_Alex_Mahan.jpgIn previous articleshttp://www.marxist.com/the-limitations-and-contradictions-of-the-chinese-model.htm, we described and analysed some of the contradictions and limitations facing the Chinese Model, such as the accumulation of local government debt and the looming crisis of overproduction facing the economy. In their recent report http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2012/cr12195.pdf on the Chinese economy (which was written in association with the Chinese authorities), the IMF provide facts, figures, and statistics that emphasise the points that we previously highlighted. However, in addition, the IMF report demonstrates that the Chinese economy has reorientated away from the export-led growth that it has been famous for, and is now heavily based on internal investment. Such investment paves the way for a new, greater crisis in the economy, as the IMF themselves recognise. Background As we have explained previouslyhttp://www.marxist.com/china-long-march-capitalism021006.htm, in the thirty year period following the market reforms, which were first introduced by Deng in 1978, capitalist relations in China became increasingly strengthened. A pivotal point in this capitalist restoration was in 2001 when China joined the World Trade Organisation. Joining the WTO meant giving up state control of foreign trade, opening China up to the world market. This breaking down of the Chinese walls resulted in a large investment boom as foreign capital flooded into China. In addition, the admission of China into the WTO gave businesses in China increased access to the world market for their exports. The use of joint ventures, in which multinational firms were allowed access into China on the condition that they do so in partnership with Chinese state companies, was used to strengthen these Chinese companies to the point whereby they could compete on the world market. In doing so, Chinese companies were also able to acquire foreign technology on the cheap, thus paving the way for a massive expansion of Chinas productive apparatus. Between 2001 and 2008, the Chinese economy grew at a tremendous pace, largely thanks to exports. Growth of over 8% of GDP per year was seen throughout this period, and by 2007 growth had reached 14.2%, with net exports accounting for almost one fifth of this growth. Over the same period, huge numbers of people flocked from the countryside to the cities and the productivity of labour exponentially increased as a greater quantity (and better quality) of machinery was put at the elbow of each worker. According to a recent special report on the Chinese economy in *The Economist *(May 26th 2012): From 1990 to 2008 China's workforce swelled by about 145m people, many of them making the long journey from its rural backwaters to its coastal workshops. Over the same period the productivity of the workforce increased by over 9% a year, according to the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO). Output that used to take 100 people in 1990 required fewer than 20 in 2008. All this meant that growth of 8-10% a year was not a luxury but a necessity. This vast expansion of industry in China created an equally vast mass of commodities that had to find a market. Excess capacity (i.e. overproduction) was seen across the economy, but especially in industries such as cars, construction materials, and steel. With the Chinese currency (the yuan, or renminbi) and labour costs held low, these commodities were exported abroad to markets in the USA and Europe, and profits flowed both to the multinational firms that had set up shop in China and also to the newly strengthened Chinese companies (both state-owned and private). By 2007, China registered a huge trade surplus with the rest of the world, at 9% of Chinese GDP (equal to approximately US315bn), which contributed towards a current account surplus of 10.1% of GDP (the current account of a country is a measure of the flow of goods and services i.e. the value of commodities that crosses the borders of a country). But such export-led growth was extremely
[LAAMN] Women's Rights Groups Present Proposals to Chavez for Government Plan
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] Women's Rights Groups Present Proposals to Chavez for Government Plan Sep 14th 2012, by Rachael Boothroyd [image: Women#039;s groups presented proposals to Chavez on Wednesday (Chavez.org)] Women's groups presented proposals to Chavez on Wednesday (Chavez.org) Caracas, September 14th 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) Women's rights groups presented a series of proposals to Venezuelas President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday evening in a televised event at the Teresa Carreño theatre in Caracas. The groups are hoping that the proposals, which are related to specific issues affecting Venezuela's female population, will be incorporated into the Chavez administration's governmental plan for 2013-2019. Speaking to the women at the packed out theatre, Chavez highlighted that the revolution had implemented numerous policies aimed at improving the material conditions of the country's women and increasing their political participation, especially those from poor backgrounds. All Venezuelan women have my deepest respect... never before has any government treated Venezuelan women with such dignity and respect, said the head of state. The president was also extremely critical of an opposition led political rally last week, dubbed the panty-a-thon by the opposition's election campaign organisers. The event was held between opposition presidential candidate, Capriles Radonski and female supporters, and was a chance for the presidential hopeful to outline his views on women's issues and respond to their concerns. Capitalism has tried to reduce women to a fetish, a sexual symbol. Just a little while ago, I believe that the Venezuelan bourgeoisie offended women with an event that they called the panty-a-thon. How crude! That reflects their chauvinist and exclusive nature, said Chavez. Women's groups such as the Runaway Collective and Skirts in Revolution, as well as female representatives from political groups such as the Ezequiel Zamora Peasant Front all attended the event and addressed Chavez directly. The majority of the groups belong to the umbrella collective, the Feminist Spider, and have been working on the proposals for over a year. We have been carrying out debates throughout the national territory, and we consider this program and its strategic framework to be vital for the deepening and continuity of this emancipatory project, which is essentially the construction of Bolivarian socialism, said Melissa Orellana, representative and spokesperson for the country's rural and peasant women's groups. The list of proposals handed over to the president include; the free distribution of contraceptives for men and women, education in state schools to increase awareness surrounding gender equality, the creation of communal council based refuges for women who are victims of domestic violence, an increase in communal projects to care for children and the socialization of domestic labour to allow women to participate fully in political activities. The women also demanded more state regulation over the usage of women's bodies as merchandise in the media. Chavez will now review the proposals with a view to including them in the government strategy for the socialist transformation of the country during the next 6 years. He also stated that his government would be committed to deepening gender equality throughout his next term if he is re-elected in the October presidential elections later this year. I, as a soldier, will be at your disposal to keep advancing this process for the liberation of women... We must initiate new projects which come out of organized women's groups, said the president. Many of the women's groups, who consider themselves to be socialist-feminist, have said that true social change and progress in the arena of gender equality will only be possible with the re-election of Hugo Chavez in October. -- *Source URL (retrieved on 14/09/2012 - 1:02pm):* http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7255 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn
[LAAMN] Bolivia: Miners' Dispute Holds La Paz Under Siege/COB General Strike
MAS Party re-selects fmr Miss Bolivia Jessica Jordan as candidate for governor of Beni in 2013 bit.ly/Q5clvZ 1 day agohttp://twitter.com/CarwilJ/statuses/246233531011964929 43% of Bolivian Glaciers Gonehttp://www.boliviaweekly.com/43-of-bolivian-glaciers-gone/3017/ 5 September 2012 The Hydrological and Hydrology University in Bolivia has completed a study of 400 glaciers in the country and determined that they have retreated by 43% because of climate change since 1980. The study was based on satellite images in collaboration with the National Climate Change Program. Principle investigator Edson Ramírez studied glaciers of less that [...] *COB announces general strike for Friday 14th* SUPPORT this measure was taken over in support to miners who receive their salaries from state-owned mines, who are competing with miners under cooperatives for the Rosario site in Colquiri mine, La Paz. http://bolivianthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/2012-09-13-07-53-18-am.jpgThe expanded national meeting carried out today [Sep 11] by the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) announced that it convenes to a 24-hour strike for Friday September 14 in support to miners who work for the State, of the Colquiri mine, in La Paz, according to Freddy Sanchez, Secretary of the Trade Union Federation of miners Bolivia workers (FSTMB), as informed to Paginasiete.bo. By consensus, was decided to make an strike with demonstrations for Friday in all Bolivia, calling for the reversal of all the Colquiri mine to the State. If the Government does not meet this request, the following week, [we will] take other measures according to what it may be, said Sanchez. Strike is general and not only the mining sector but all sectors affiliated to the COB, he stressed. At the same meeting, the COB was determined to ask the Government to approve a short law to prevent mine take overs. Currently, the control of the mine is in charge of the Trade Union of workers and the State-owned company. All entry levels to the mine are mined [with dynamite] and if the cooperative miners want to enter. We are firm in our position of reverting [the control of the] mine. Invite cooperative miners to pass to the wage sector, so that they have health insurance of old age and compensation, said Sanchez. http://www.paginasiete.bo/2012-09-12/Nacional/Destacados/COB-anuncia-paro-general-para-el.aspx http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/14/bolivia-miners-dispute-holds-la-paz-under-siege/ Bolivia: Miners' Dispute Holds La Paz Under Siege http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/14/bolivia-miners-dispute-holds-la-paz-under-siege/ Posted 14 September 2012 http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/14/ 6:00 GMT http://globalvoicesonline.org/author/pablo-andres-rivero/Written byPablo Andres Rivero http://globalvoicesonline.org/author/pablo-andres-rivero/ Countries Boliviahttp://globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/latin-america/bolivia/ Topics Labor http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/topics/labor/, Protesthttp://globalvoicesonline.org/-/topics/protest/, Politics http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/topics/politics/, Economics Business http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/topics/economics-business/, Citizen Media http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/topics/citizen-media/ Languages Spanish http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/languages/spanish/, Englishhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/-/languages/english/ Hundreds of miners from private cooperatives are continuing to block the main access roads to La Paz, Bolivia's seat of Government. The siege was sparked by a dispute between private cooperative miners from the La Paz Departmental Federation of Mining Cooperatives (Fedecomin in Spanish) and employed miners from the state-run Bolivian Mining Corporation (Comibol in Spanish). Both rival groups are seeking to take control of the zinc and tin Colquiri mine, nationalised from Glencore Internationalhttp://www.mining-journal.com/production-and-markets/bolivia-nationalises-glencores-colquiri by Bolivias government in June 2012. The issue arises from Supreme Decree 1337, signed by President Evo Morales, which guarantees the control of operating activities in the northern part of the mine Colquiri, more precisely the Rosario vein. The conflict began on the ground after the delimitation of operation areas: Colquiri unionised miners, who are meant to operate in the south, refuse to give the cooperative miners participation. Moreover, unionised miners are blocking the access to the Colquiri mine, 92 miles (149 kilometers) from La Paz. The government had set up negotiation talks between the rival factions, and it was agreed that the siege would be lifted during the evening of Wednesday, September 12; however, the blockades remain and the miners have issued further threatshttp://www.erbol.com.bo/noticia.php?identificador=2147483963873[es]. Private cooperative miners have been close allies of the government led by left-wing President Evo Morales. This group has declared that the unionised miners, who are
[LAAMN] Clashes after raids-SAfrican police fire gas, force people into shacks
Police arrested five people in the raids on the hostels, home to about 6,000 miners, but for drugs offences not weapons, Ngubane said. The aim of the raid was to disarm the mine workers to make sure that we do away with the elements of threats that are taking their toll in the area of Marikana, Ngubane said. Miners later gathered at a field in Marikana, about 60 miles northwest of Johannesburg, and police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them, a Reuters journalist at the scene said. *SAfrican police fire gas, force people into shacks* By THEMBA HADEBE, Associated Press 11 hours ago MARIKANA, South Africa (AP) Police firing rubber bullets and tear gas sent men, women and children scattering as they herded them into their shacks in a crackdown on striking miners at a platinum mine. Saturday's show of force follows a South African government vow to halt illegal protests and disarm strikers who have stopped work at one gold and six platinum mines northwest of Johannesburg. The strikes have destabilized South Africa's critical mining sector. It was the first police action since officers killed 34 miners Aug. 16 in state violence that shocked the nation. About 500 officers raided hostels at Lonmin PLC platinum mine before dawn and confiscated homemade machetes, spears, knives and clubs, said police spokesman Brig. Thulani Ngubane. A half dozen men were arrested for illegal possession of arms and drugs in those raids, he said. Another six were arrested Saturday morning. Officers first fired tear gas at hundreds of miners who refused to disarm at the hill of granite boulders that has become the strikers' headquarters. Police then moved into the Wonderkop shantytown where residents set up barricades of burning tires to try to block the officers from their neighborhood. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at people who disobeyed orders baying over a bull horn for them to stay in their homes, tin shacks without electricity or running water divided by dirt tracks. An army helicopter flew in to help herd people indoors. Justice Minister Jeff Radebe called a news conference Friday to say the government was intervening because the mining industry is central to the economy of Africa's richest nation. The South African government has noted and is deeply concerned by the amount of violence, threats and intimidation that is currently taking place in our country, he said. Lonmin said it believed that just 3,000 of its 28,000 employees and 10,000 contract miners were involved in the strike. It said the rest of the workforce was staying away because of threats from strikers who have said they will kill anyone who works. Ten people were killed in the run-up to the police killings, including two police officers hacked to death by strikers, two mine security guards burned alive in their vehicles and six shop stewards of the dominant National Union of Mineworkers. Strikers accuse the NUM of being coopted by mine management and being too involved in business and politics to pay attention to basic shop-floor needs of its members. The trouble that began Aug. 10 at Lonmin PLC, the world's third largest platinum mine, is rooted in rivalry between the NUM and a breakaway union. Strikers have rejected a Lonmin offer to boost the entry-level monthly salary by 900 rand $112.50) to about R5,500 ($688) with commensurate increases for higher paid workers. At government-brokered talks Friday the company increased the offer to an additional R1,800 ($225) for the rock drill operators who began the strike. But that still falls far short of the strikers' demands for a minimum monthly wage of R12,500 ($1,560). The strikers have said they would rather see Lonmin shut down the mine than accept a lower offer. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said Friday the strikes are extremely damaging to the economy. It undermines confidence in the South African economy and, if we undermine confidence, we undermine investment, he said. Strikes are illegal in South Africa unless approved by the government labor conciliation board, which only allows stoppages once workers prove they have tried and failed to negotiate with an employer and after the conciliation board itself also tries to resolve the issue. --- Michelle Faul contributed to this report from Johannesburg. --- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com
[LAAMN] Video: The Sorrows of Syria
*http://pulsemedia.org/2012/09/16/the-sorrows-of-syria/*http://pulsemedia.org/2012/09/16/the-sorrows-of-syria/ * The Sorrows of Syria by **pulsemedia.org* http://pulsemedia.org/* * *Michael Provence, director of the Middle East Studies Programs at the University of California, San Diego, explains the origins and evolution of the Syrian conflict in an excellent new production by Alternate Focus. * * * *Video:* * * *http://blip.tv/alternate-focus/the-sorrows-of-syria-6349973*http://blip.tv/alternate-focus/the-sorrows-of-syria-6349973 * * *The Syrian government has has tried with great determination and dexterity to fragment the society and to exploit sectarian differences and class differences to prevent the emergence of a secular nonsectarian nationalist opposition. Michael Provence is the director of the Middle East Studies Programs at the University of California, San Diego. His research focuses on the colonial and post-colonial Arab world, particularly popular insurgency and nationalism, and he has travelled and lived in many countries in the region including Lebanon and Syria.* *---* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Her views on the Latin American Left today-Marta Harnecker
Other than saying she is somewhat too kind in some instances and dodges the bullet in others but she does give you a sense of what is and what is not going on, in a way! I'm still against the road going through the park and indigenous land in Bolivia and the MAS and Evo are not socialists or even democrats. Cort http://lo-de-alla.org/2012/09/marta-harnecker-activist-writer-teacher/ Marta Harnecker: activist, writer, teacherhttp://lo-de-alla.org/2012/09/marta-harnecker-activist-writer-teacher/ * http://lo-de-alla.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/harnecker-1a.jpgHer views on the Latin American Left today* [Translation of an interview from *Folha de São Paulo* for August 28. See original herehttp://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mundo/1143896-chavez-e-contraditorio-mas-fundamental-para-a-al-diz-educadora-chilena.shtml .] by Eleonora de Lucena She defines herself as a Marxist-Leninist popular educator. A Chilean, she was a student of philosopher Louis Althusser, a Catholic student leader and a member of the socialist government of Salvador Allende. She married one of the commanders of the Cuban revolution, Manuel Piñeiro or Barba Roja, and in the 2000s she became an adviser to Hugo Chávez. Marta Harnecker says she had written more than 80 books. The best known, *Conceptos Elementales del Materialismo Histórico* (*The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism),* from the 1960s, has sold more than a million copies and is in its 67th edition. At 75, she travels throughout Latin America and says she is optimistic; the United States no longer does what it wants in the region and the concept of sovereignty has grown. Living now in Vancouver, Canada, she considers Chávez *an essential revolutionary leader but a contradictory person.* He is a soldier who believes in popular participation. The important thing is to see the fruits of this thing. Venezuela is the least unequal country on the continent. *Folha How do you evaluate the political situation in Latin America?* *Marta Harnecker* I am very optimistic. When Chávez won he was alone and now the scenario has changed a lot. I consider the most advanced situations to be in Venezuela, Bolivian and Ecuador. My last book was on Ecuador and is called *Ecuador: Una Nueva Izquierda en Busca de la Vida en Plenitud.* The concept of these governments is a that of an alternative to capitalism, in which the human person has full development. We didnt consider this important in the past and these days it is fundamental: a society constructed by people, from the bottom up. It is not a matter of the people being beggars who receive gifts from the state. That is not what we want and that is not what is being done. The midwife of this process was neoliberalism, which brought about contradictions, and the people began to resist and began to understand that they have to participate in politics and to create political instruments. That was the case in Ecuador, in Bolivia and in Venezuela. There was popular pressure there in the 1980s which is part of the origins of Chávezs triumph. There is a structural crisis of the state. People no longer trust politics or politicians and they want something new. They are tired of unfulfilled promises. These governments came about and, contrary to the predictions of some, including Brazilian intellectuals, the process has continued. There are those who thought an obstacle had been met and it was going to slow down. But thats not the way it was. But the empire is there. There are the cases of Manuel Zelaya and Fernando Lugo. They had processes that were weaker internally, with more fragile popular organizations, without parties. Both came from bourgeois parties. There is nothing to copy in Latin America. Some become enthusiastic about the Venezuelan process and think the same thing can be carried out in all the countries. The process on the continent is completely differentiated. What unites them is the social process. In Bolivia and in Ecuador, for example, the indigenous are important groups but not in Venezuela. *Isnt Chávezs performance closely linked to petroleum?* Petroleum was already nationalized when Chávez came to power but it was not in the hands of the government. It was being managed by groups allied with the opposition. As a consequence of the 2002 coup, management by the government has been reestablished. The profits from petroleum are used for domestic social missions and to support other processes in Latin America. There is a dependency, but they are clear that it needs to be overcome. The government is investing in industrialization projects, since neoliberalism de-industrialized our countries. The strategy is to be less and less dependent on petroleum. *The Morales government is faced with the opposition of popular movements in Bolivia. How do you explain that?* These are contradictions that the processes pass through. These are very different from
[LAAMN] *Esteban Morales*- Some Challenges Facing Cuba’s Press
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* *Some Challenges Facing Cubas Press* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On September 17, 2012 @ 9:17 am In * leftcol3,Opinion* | *Esteban Morales** http://estebanmoralesdominguez.blogspot.com/ [1] Entrance to Havana Bay. photo:Caridad HAVANA TIMES Everything seems to indicate that there are now two presses in Cuba. Theres one that some want all of us to read, and another one that reaches only 10 percent of the population (though summaries of it are broadcast over Radio Bemba [Radio Lips, or the grapevine], which Raul Castro himself once said transmits better than the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television). Since the time that President Raul Castro made that statement, however, there have now come into existence email and internet, which are highly efficient means for circulating information that our press still doesnt dare to even think about printing.1 The written press, which has two main national newspapers, often duplicates the news, making it possible to find the same things in both papers.2 These are newspapers that people purchase every day with the hope of seeing major events and especially their concerns reflected in an open, fresh and frank way which is to say, what everyone is talking about and asking on the street. People ask: Whats happening with all this corruption? Whatever became of the underwater cable that was assured would connect us to Venezuela and the world? When will the output of the Cuban agriculture system start reflecting more produce at lower prices? When will we see the changes in immigration regulations, something that was energetically promised? When will we actually be able to read the text of the new tax law? What will happen with the accumulation of negative opinions concerning the latest customs regulations? And so on This written press seems like something thats not really Cuban. Its too over-simplified, too secretive, too bland. It has almost nothing to do with the unique character and nature of Cubans, who laugh even their own misfortunes. Its a press thats able to ferret out all the negatives concerning the United States, sometimes putting news about that country on the front page when that same information doesnt even take up a tenth of a page in *USA Today*, the most popular newspaper in the United States. Theres no doubt that lately weve begun to note that our press is making an effort, but its still far from meeting the expectations of the average citizen. To some extent, this can be seen in the Friday section of the official *Granma* newspaper and in a few sporadically published articles. The Havana Bay tunnel. photo: Caridad Next years announced congress of the Cuban Journalists Association (UPEC) will inevitably have to grab the bull by the horns if we really want to have a press in line with our times. This would be a press that serves as an effective instrument for criticism, for improving the economic model and changing peoples collective mentality, which has been requested by the top leadership of the country. Nonetheless, despite these modest gains, its sad to see that our national newspapers are losing readers. Those who buy them do so almost by inertia (or because there arent any alternatives) hoping to someday find in these dailies what concerns them or what they want to know about and learn. Unquestionably, with a press like this, the battles to be waged have been lost in advance. The reasons for this include the following: The public has gotten tired of reading newspapers that dont reflect our real life situation or whats happening overall. The gap between what the media reflects and reality has introduced skepticism and suspicion. People have begun looking around for better alternatives which is very dangerous. Average citizens are turning to the national radio, which is always spontaneous, and from there they are accessing foreign broadcasts, some of which even broadcast in Spanish, with many directed specifically at Cuba (the worst of which is so-called Radio Marti).3 A mindset is being created whereby people seek information on events in Cuba from sources abroad news that should be available here handing the breaking news and information from the island on a silver platter to the foreign media.4 Citizens have become more perceptive of trumped-up stories and the distortion of information. There is a lack of more realistic, democratic, open news coverage that permanently eliminates secrecy, censorship and old, dogmatic and apologetic approaches. We are missing out on the inclusion of revolutionary Cuban intellectuals who can reflect more realistic ideas, in addition to open and intelligent criticism. People are distanced from those who can confront counterrevolutionary criticism from positions that recognize our shortcomings, before the enemy throws them in our face and turns those arguments into arms for conducting
[LAAMN] South Africa: Interview with Floyd Shivambu, suspended ANC YL spokesperson: “This is an anti-capitalist struggle for economic freedom”
http://www.marxist.com/south-africa-interview-with-floyd-shivambu.htm South Africa: Interview with Floyd Shivambu, suspended ANC YL spokesperson: This is an anti-capitalist struggle for economic freedomhttp://www.marxist.com/south-africa-interview-with-floyd-shivambu.htm Written by In Defence of Marxism Thursday, 20 September 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/south-africa-interview-with-floyd-shivambu/print.htm# *Floyd Shivambu was a leading member of the South African Students Congress (SASCO) as well as a leading member of the Young Communist League (from which he was suspended in 2010). As a leading member of the ANC YL he played a key part in developing this organisations stance on the **need to nationalise the mines*http://www.marxist.com/anc-yl-nationalisation-mines.htm * which has now become a central issue of the political debate in the revolutionary movement in South Africa.* [image: Floyd Shivambu. Photo: Gary van der Merwe]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/south_africa/Floyd_Shivambu-Gary_van_der_Merwe.jpgFloyd Shivambu. Photo: Gary van der Merwehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Floyd_Shivambu.jpgTogether with expelled ANC YL president Malema, he has intervened actively in the strike by Lonmim platinum miners at Marikana. Their support for the miners at Lonmin, and in other companies who have walked out in the last weeks, has earned them the hatred of the capitalist media and of the state. According to union representatives at the South African Broadcasting Corporation there is a veto on any mention of Julius Malema in the companys outlets. There have also been threats on their lives. On Saturday, Julius Malema was prevented by the police from speaking at a rally of striking mineworkers who had invited him. Armed with automatic rifles, they threatened to arrest him, bundled him and his supporters (amongst them Shivambu) into a car and then followed them with police cars and a helicopter to make sure they were on the highway on their way out of Rustenburg. These are all violations of basic rights which any consistent democrat should oppose. Whatever the views Malema and Shivambu might have about the miners strike, nationalisation, the leadership of ANC and the National Union of Mineworkers, the workers and public opinion in general should be free to listen to them if they so wish and make up their own minds about their ideas. If other leading figures of the ANC, the unions and the SACP have different views on these questions, they should also address the workers and the communities and engage in a serious debate. Instead, what we are witnessing is a heavy handed orchestrated attempt to suppress their views using the full force of the state apparatus. If this is done with the expelled and suspended leaders of the ANC YL, who are known public figures, we can only imagine the extent to which the state and the mine owners are going in order to suppress the views of the strike leaders themselves. For all of these reasons we thought it would be of interest to our readers to know Floyd Shivambus views directly. We asked him a number of questions and we are grateful that he was willing to answer them. This does not mean that we agree with or endorse all of his opinions, but we think that they are a legitimate part of the debate. Our own views have been made clear in other articles. There is one particular point we would like to clarify. We think that both the NUM and the SACP are working class organisations, made up of hundreds of thousands of workers who joined them in order to struggle for better conditions and for fundamental transformation of society. Certainly, we think that their current leadership is not representing the interests of their members and does not stand for socialism. This can be seen clearly in the position they have taken *against *the nationalisation of the mines, and the way in which their leaders have been co-opted into the very capitalist state they are supposed to be fighting against. However, we think it would be wrong not to distinguish between the organisation as a whole, with its mass membership, and its leadership. Our position is to appeal to the working class to reclaim these organisations, taking them back to their best traditions so they can become tools of revolutionary struggle. We fully agree with the central idea expressed in the interview: The attainment of political freedom in South Africa was never accompanied by economic liberation and transformation. The racist apartheid capitalist Masters are still in control of the economy and have only co-opted a few previously oppressed individuals into the higher echelons of capitalist domination. This is something we have repeatedly explained in our articles about South Africa for the last 18 years. The Freedom Charter states as one of its aims that the mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole.
[LAAMN] Nicaragua formalizes pullout of SOA but...
The but is that Nicaragua still receives lots of aid, military training like fro US IMET, arms and other policy programs such from SOUTHCOM and aid for the so called drug war which is a cover for the US imperialism and interference and intel and through other agencies and groupings not listed below article( all numbers from below are not complete and may not have been reported as of yet). President Ortega was again elected in 2006 and recently re-elected. Cort http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/news/2012/09/nicaragua-formalizes-pullout-of-soa/5318 Nicaragua formalizes pullout of SOA [image: Nicaragua formalizes pullout of SOA] Flying Solo: Nicaraguan military officers will no longer participate in the U.S. School of the Americas (photo/ Tim Rogers) By David Hutt / special to The Nicaragua Dispatch September 18, 2012 http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/news/2012/09/nicaragua-formalizes-pullout-of-soa/5318#http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/news/2012/09/nicaragua-formalizes-pullout-of-soa/5318# 6http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/news/2012/09/nicaragua-formalizes-pullout-of-soa/5318#http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/news/2012/09/nicaragua-formalizes-pullout-of-soa/5318# The School of the Americas (SOA) occupies a very dark place in Latin American history. The U.S. military academy, based in Fort Benning, Georgia, has been training Latin American soldiers for well over half a century. More than 64,000 have passed through its doors, a significant number of which have been accused and convicted of human rights abuses. It has educated 11 dictators, including Panamas former drug-dealing strongman, Manuel Noriega, and El Salvadors Roberto DAubuisson, who controlled that countrys infamous death squads. In March of this year, SOA graduate Pedro Pimentel Ríos of Guatemala was sentenced to 6,060 years in prison for his actions during the 1982 Dos Erres Massacre that left more than 200 dead. Three years earlier, in 2009, two-time graduate Gen. Romeo Orlando Vásquez led the military putsch against Hondurass democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Camila-Ortega-Padre-Roy-Bourgeois-Presidente-Daniel-Ortega-Lisa-Sullivan-Mary-Anne-Perrone-y-el-padre-Miguel-DEscoto.jpg Dropping out of School: President Daniel Ortega and Father Roy Bourgeois are joined by the presidents daughter, Camila (left), Sandinista foreign policy advisor Miguel DEscoto (right) and the SOA Watchs Lisa Sullivan and Mary Anne Perrone (photo courtesy of SOAWlatina.org) This month, Nicaragua became the sixth Latin American countryand the first in Central Americato announce the end of its participation in the schools officers training program. In practice, Nicaragua has been slowly reducing its participation in the program over the past few years; it sent no new officers to the school this year. In 2004, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez rather unsurprisingly severed his countrys links to the school, which he considers an imperialist training camp. Two years later Argentina made a similar decision. Neighboring Uruguay saw its neighbors pullout as an opportunity to affirm its long-standing dismissal of the school. Then came Bolivia in 2008, and Ecuador in 2012. In 2007 Costa Rica, which has no standing army but sends police officers to the SOA for training, also toyed with the idea of discontinuing its participation. But the country decided to keep sending officers for anti-narcotics training. In announcing his decision several weeks ago, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said, The SOA is an ethical and moral anathema. All of the countries of Latin America have been victims of its graduates. The SOA is a symbol of death, a symbol of terror. Ortega went on to empathize that We have been gradually reducing our numbers of troops at the SOA, sending only five last year and none this year. We have now entered a new phase and we will not continue to send troops to the SOA. This is the least that we can do. The decision came after Ortega met with a delegation from the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW), a campaign group that has been bringing awareness to the human rights abuses committed by SOA graduates since 1990. The groups founder, Maryknoll priest Father Roy Bourgeois, was motivated to act after witnessing the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero in El Salvador in 1980. He describes the SOA as a symbol of United States foreign policy whose role is always the same: to protect U.S. economic interests and control the natural resources of Latin American countries. In 2001, the school attempted to distance itself from the past by renaming itself the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. It also justified its existence by commenting that no school should be held accountable for the actions of its graduates. However, there have been questions about how much has changed. Maj. Joseph Blair, a former director at the school, said, There are
[LAAMN] Terrorist Accomplice Supports Venezuelan Opposition Candidate
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] Terrorist Accomplice Supports Venezuelan Opposition Candidate Sep 21st 2012, by Jean-Guy Allard Correo del Orinoco International [image: Ricardo Koesling (Aporrea.org)] Ricardo Koesling (Aporrea.org) Ricardo Koesling, the leader of opposition political party Piedra (Rock in English) who declared well use bullets, fists, kicks, everything weve got, to force the Chavistas out and publicly reiterated his ongoing support for right-wing candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, just happens to be the top Caraca sbased boss of Miamis Cuban- American Mafia and the Venezuelan link in Luis Posada Carriles international terrorist network. *The Rock Star* Koesling was absolutely hysterical last week after his party announced its break with Capriles Radonski, a decision made public by Piedra Secretary General Leonardo Chirinos. Insisting that he continues to serve as the groups lawyer and finance secretary, Koesling issued a rage-filled tirade during an interview on Radio Caracas, promising to force out Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez no matter what the results of this years presidential election. Close to high-level officials in the government of President Jaime Lusinchi (1984- 89), Koesling helped Miami based terrorist Luis Posada Carriles escape from Venezuelas San Juan de los Morros Prison in 1985. His links to Cuban-American terrorism, however, date back to the 1970s. On April 12, 2002, as part of the right-wing coup detat against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Koesling led an assault on the Cuban Embassy in Caracas. Koeslings attack on the embassy was supported, on the ground, by Salvador Romani, now exiled in Miami with the complacency of the US State Department. Another active participant in this act of terrorism against a countrys sovereign diplomatic mission (in this case Cubas) was none other than right-wing candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski then mayor of the Caracas municipality of Baruta. The international, Cuban- American terrorist network coordinated by Luis Posada Carriles includes Francisco Pimentel, an accomplice in the terrorist attacks across Havana in 1997, and Hermes Rojas, known to have tortured innocents alongside Posada while in El Salvador. Among others visited by Koesling in Caracas is Henry Lopez Sisco, the most notorious torturer and assassin for Venezuelas secret police (Disip) under former President Carlos Andres Perez (1974-79, 1989-93). Exiled in Costa Rica, the now elderly Sisco facilitated private meetings, in August 1975, between state agents of the Perez government and Manuel Contreras, then Chief of Pinochets secret police (DINA). Another member of Koeslings inner circle worth mentioning is coup-monger Alejandro Peña Exclusa, now head of the Latin American fascist organization UnoAmerica, a group backed by ex military officials tied to Operation Condor and other accomplices of terrorist attacks. Two years ago, Peña Exclusa was found in possession of illegal explosives after admitted Salvadorian terrorist Francisco El Panzon Chavez Abarca confessed to Venezuelan authorities of plans to violently disrupt the 2010 parliamentary elections. No one should forget that Chavez Abarcas confessions, after his arrest in Caracas, linked him directly to international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. In 1997, Francisco Chavez Abarca was contracted by Posada, entered Cuba, and committed three bomb attacks aimed at putting a violent end to tourism on the island. While in Havana, he also organized a series of parallel bombings carried out by fellow Salvadorian Ernesto Cruz Leon, one of which, on September 14th, resulted in the death of Fabio di Celma, a young Italian tourist. Chavez Abarca, extradited to Cuba by Venezuelan authorities, later described how he recruited, trained, and sent a number of other mercenaries into Havana. *Koesling: You Will All Burn Alive* Speaking to Radio Caracas last week, Koesling declared, Capriles is going to be President, and well use bullets, fists, kicks, everything weve got, to force the Chavistas out. He also called the decision by Piedra Secretary General Leonardo Chirinos illegal and accused Chirinos of receiving $200,000 dollars to pull support from the opposition candidate. In an interview with Caracas daily CiudadCCS, Chirinos quickly denied Koeslings claims, confirmed Piedras decision to withdraw its support for Capriles, and reminded readers that Koesling left the party on September 11, 2012, a decision made public in right-wing daily El Nacional that same day. According to Chirinos, Koesling ordered his name be removed from the Piedra website and threatened to burn all of us alive if we did not do what he asked, words that are reflective of the violent nature of a veteran of imperial terror. *Mobster Troops of Capriles* Ever since the initial triumph of Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution (1998- present), the Miami-based mafia which for decades
[LAAMN] Alan Woods-Venezuelan elections: Why the IMT supports Chávez
http://www.marxist.com/venezuelan-elections-why-imt-supports-chavez.htm Venezuelan elections: Why the IMT supports Chávezhttp://www.marxist.com/venezuelan-elections-why-imt-supports-chavez.htm Written by Alan Woods Monday, 24 September 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/venezuelan-elections-why-imt-supports-chavez/print.htm# *The presidential election due on October 7 represents a decisive moment in the history of Venezuela. The outcome of this election will have a major impact throughout the continent and internationally. It goes without saying that the Hands Off Venezuela campaign is actively supporting the Bolivarian candidate Hugo Chavez and fighting against any attempt of the oligarchy and imperialism to sabotage the elections. The IMT stands firmly for the re-election of Hugo Chávez. Why have we taken this position?* [image: Chavez at rally, September 2012. Photo: chavezcandanga]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/venezuela/2012-09-16-Chavez_at_rally-chavezcandanga.jpgChavez at rally, September 2012. Photo: chavezcandangahttp://www.flickr.com/photos/chavezcandangaThe victory of Hugo Chávez in 1998 represented a historic advance of the workers and peasants of Venezuela. According to the UN Economic Commission on Latin America there was a 21 per cent reduction of poverty rates between 1999 and 2010. Illiteracy has been abolished. For the first time free healthcare has been provided for the poor. All these gains would be threatened by a victory of the opposition. It is the elementary duty of every genuine revolutionary to defend these gains. Whoever is not able to defend the gains of the past will never be able to advance to the final victory. The oppositions claim that it will not reverse Chávezs reforms is not to be trusted. Let us take just one example: housing. The Housing Mission has built thousands of homes for the poor. In May, information minister Andrés Izarra announced that the programme was on target with 200,000 units built since it began in 2011. The polling firm Hinterlaces indicates that, with a 76 per cent approval rating, the Housing Mission is the most popular government social programme. Yet the opposition coalition MUD calls the Housing Mission a fraud and a failure and criticizes the government for expropriating land to build housing. When Capriles won the governorship of Miranda State in 2008, he unleashed his supporters against the Cuban doctors participating in the healthcare programs of the revolution, and generally attempted to close down the different social programs by expelling them from premises belonging to the governorship, etc. It was only the active mobilisation of the people in the streets that managed to defend the gains of the revolution. The new Labour law recently reduced the working week from 44 to 40 hours, and pre- and post-natal paid time off has been increased from 18 to 26 weeks. On leaving a company, for whatever reason, workers will receive a payment based on their last monthly salary multiplied by the number of years of employment a major trade union demand. This is at a time when in Europe, all governments are worsening workers conditions of employment. Capriles has attacked the law on the grounds that it does nothing to deal with unemployment or to benefit those with unprotected casual jobs. That means that these reforms would be abolished by the opposition. But it is not just a question of defending the conquests of the last 13 years, of preserving the reforms, the gains in healthcare and education, the Missions and other programmes in the interest of the workers and the poor. It is above all, the need to defeat the bourgeois counterrevolution and thus prepare the way for a decisive advance for the Revolution, which has not yet accomplished its fundamental goals. The opposition says it is defending democracy against dictatorship. But the same opposition was behind the failed coup in 2002. If they had succeeded then, it would have been the end of democracy in Venezuela. The example of Chile shows the fate that would have been in store. Capriles himself, as the Mayor of the Caracas district of Baruta, participated in the attempt to storm the Cuban embassy during the April 2002 coup, in flagrant violation of its diplomatic status. The bourgeois opposition showed its contempt for democracy and elections by its decision to boycott national elections in 2005. Now, however, opposition leaders are falling over themselves to defend the 1999 constitution which they have always opposed tooth and nail, although it was approved by an overwhelming majority in a popular referendum. Nobody can place the slightest trust in the democratic credentials of the opposition. What the opposition stands for The opposition claims to represent the middle classes. But that is a lie. The opposition represents the interests of the oligarchy the big landowners, bankers and capitalists. They are completely subservient to the imperialists and
[LAAMN] Venezuela:Interview: “Capitalism Is No Longer an Option”
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] Interview: Capitalism Is No Longer an Option Sep 25th 2012, by Alba TV, Amilcar Figueroa [image: Amilcar Figueroa (Telesur)] Amilcar Figueroa (Telesur) Amilcar Figueroa is Venezuelan, a historian, a political scientist and member of the Continental Bolivarian Movement. Until 2011 he was president of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino). He has a long political background linked to the revolutionary struggles of Our America and he participated in the compilation of the texts Reform or Revolution in Latin America? (2009) and El Salvador: Its History and Its Struggles, among others. In a conversation with Alba TV, he shared his impressions in the context of the 7 October [presidential] election, [when socialist president Hugo Chavez will stand against right-wing candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski], and the possible scenarios and opposition strategies against the triumph of Hugo Chavez. Furthermore, he spoke of the challenges for the Bolivarian revolution in the 2013 2019 stage and its impact on the Latin American context. *Alba TV: What scenario do you envisage for 7 October and the first days after the election? What will the right-wing strategy be in this period?* Figueroa: What we know is that they [the right wing] have been thinking about and have been working on a strategy which involves [claiming] electoral fraud [in the event of a Chavez victory].Of course this strategy, launched from Europe and the United States with the media power that imperialism and the right wing have, could have some impact. It would depend on the margin of the [Chavez] victory. If its overwhelming, its going to be a bit more difficult for them to implement this strategy. Whats certain is that after [Chavezs] victory, radical sectors [of the right] will try to deepen destabilisation in various ways, I couldnt say which. In countries where imperialism has operated recently, the common point is the existence of a small internal group deeply rooted in the international alliance of the forces of capital. On the other hand, theres a part of the opposition that isnt thinking about destabilisation, but rather in trying to gain ground in the regional mayoral and state governor elections in December. These possibilities are there and we shouldnt disregard either of the two. Everything largely depends on the result on 7 October, and the margin by which we win. *Alba TV: Lets look at the medium term. With Chavez elected and the Program of the Nation being pushed forward, what will be the challenges for the Bolivarian revolution?* Figueroa: I think that we need to start by demanding something that president Chavez himself proposed: rectification. Its necessary to deepen [the revolution], supported by the forces that historically are most interested in the development of a socialist Venezuela. This happens by understanding with enough clarity the current class structure in Venezuela, what the structural composition of classes in the country is today and which of those classes are most interested in the deepening of historic change. With this input, [we should] develop all of our most important political activity there, centre it there. [We should] weave the social framework of the revolution from below, and strengthen [grassroots] organisations and what has been called popular power. I believe thats the strategy. Its not possible to advance if we dont take a leap forward in the conquest of social hegemony, and at the same time, battle to revert current cultural domination. We still havent freed ourselves from the cultural hegemony of the bourgeoisie. The values of bourgeoisie society are still alive and kicking in all areas of Venezuelan society. Therefore this is the strategic battle in front of which the revolutionary movement has to focus its energy. Without a strategic vision, understanding many other problems, there arent advances. *Alba TV: In the words of Chavez, one of the main objectives of the [2013 - 2019] stage [of the revolution] consists of crossing the threshold, securing the path to socialism in a way that the changes [so far] become irreversible transformations. What analysis do you make of this objective? * Advancing supposes having a very strong debate about how to understand the transition, how to understand socialism, and what socialism is. All socialist theory needs to be brought down to a concrete level and be seen in the conditions of Latin America; in the conditions of the 21st century. Its a great challenge for the revolutionaries of Venezuela, where there has been an extraordinary advance, which rose up in a moment of global revolutionary retreat. Of course this has permitted the creative search to adapt socialist theory to the conditions of the 21st century. However, obviously we have to fight a tremendous battle in theoretical construction. We wont successfully advance if the construction of theory around the revolution in Venezuela and
[LAAMN] *Esteban Morales*- Once Again on So-Called Call ‘Petty’ Corruption
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* *Once Again on So-Called Call Petty Corruption* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On September 25, 2012 @ 1:20 pm In *Lead Articles,Opinion* | *Esteban Morales* http://estebanmoralesdominguez.blogspot.com/ [1] ** (photos:Caridad)* HAVANA TIMES A few days ago I wrote an article titled A Subtle Form of Corruption http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=78030 [2], which has thus far been reproduced in *Cubarte* and *Havana Times*. It deals with petty corruption, which has little to do with penny-ante wrongdoing. Rather, millions and millions of pesos are being lost to the countrys economy through these devices instead of circulating within normal trade, where all of us would have the opportunity to purchase those goods with our money. This isnt about a simple incidence of robbery in which one person happens to appropriate something that doesnt belong to them. This is a widespread practice in which individuals and officials, taking advantage of their positions in which they are supposed to protect social (public) goods, instead divert those resources for their own advantage. This is why corruption isnt a simple act of theft or appropriation, but the systematic deviation of material assets from the normal operation of a society that creates, distributes and consumes, according to the rules governing the economic system in question. If you look more closely at the article I wrote, one will note what I described the characteristics of these occurrences and their multiple consequences, even political and ideological ones. However I didnt identify its root causes. I dont want to get in over my head, as they say, because these causes are quite complex and touch on aspects that go far beyond corruption as such, as these problems touch at the core of the deficiencies and inadequacies of an economic model that we want to change. Besides, this is a phenomenon that is not unique to our country, though in our case it has particular causes that respond to the particular situation being experienced by the Cuban economy. Our economy has already undergone three strategic restructurings, each occurring when it broke its economic dependence from a major power: Spain, the United States and the USSR. Fast Food. We now find the Cuban economy in a historical moment in which it wants to definitively break this cycle of dependency and build its own economically efficient and sustainable model. Therefore the phenomenon of corruption in Cuba cannot be separated from that context in which we live today. The root causes of this corruption, which existed previously, have to do now with several very important issues that touch squarely on the capacity of many of our people (too many up until now) to meet their needs. Among others these are: - The so-called inverted pyramid within the economically active population, which allows people without any training be employed in the dollar economy and tourism, where they receive wages, special pay and tips. These increase their opportunities for obtaining incomes in ways that arent feasible for any employee in the state economy, regardless of the skill level a government worker might possess. Trunk drivers, taxi drivers and service workers receive their incomes in hard currency, which is several times more than the salary of an employee in the state economy even when we compare these to highly qualified professions, such as doctors, university professors, specialists, researchers etc. - The confusion over the years (which isnt only theoretical) between social property and state-owned property, which has meant that workers dont relate to the means of production as their own property, while the state cadres manage the means of production as if it were leased to them for their own benefit. This has come to be reflected by the popular expression Everything belongs to everyone and nothing belongs to anyone. - Many people holding positions, even within the state economy, of low rank and low pay but who have access to the distribution of certain material goods, use their official positions to make ends meet through the diversion of resources. Neptuno St. in Havana. They create networks within which the managers of different operations exchange favors and privileges for the access to material goods, whose cost [to the state-owned business or institution] has no effect on their personal incomes. This activity becomes a kind of corruption that permeates even our political and mass organizations in workplaces. Low-wage workers in whatever government, private or semi-privately environment and in whatever industry continuously engage in theft, quite often with implicit acceptance of this by their own higher-ups, who also benefit from it. In this way they create mechanisms of permanent misconduct in the management of assets belonging to society. - In our case there is a gap between wage levels and prices, whereby the
[LAAMN] September 25 - thousands encircle Spanish Congress
if videos, tweets and photos do not appear, click on the url: http://www.marxist.com/25s-thousands-encircle-spanish-congress.htm September 25 - thousands encircle Spanish Congresshttp://www.marxist.com/25s-thousands-encircle-spanish-congress.htm Written by Jorge Martín Wednesday, 26 September 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/25s-thousands-encircle-spanish-congress/print.htm[image: E-mail]http://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,9e3db3dccaed9cb5c7045fad36383a53ac8cb290/tmpl,component/ Jorge Martín reporting from protests outside the Spanish parliament yesterday. Comments Opinion http://www.marxist.com/comments-and-opinion/ » Bloghttp://www.marxist.com/blog/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Ahmadinejad, Netanyahu, and Obama protested by Havaar in NYC
http://havaar.org/2012/09/ahmadinejad-netanyahu-and-obama-protested-by-havaar-in-nyc/ Ahmadinejad, Netanyahu, and Obama protested by Havaar in NYChttp://havaar.org/2012/09/ahmadinejad-netanyahu-and-obama-protested-by-havaar-in-nyc/ Posted on September 26, 2012http://havaar.org/2012/09/ahmadinejad-netanyahu-and-obama-protested-by-havaar-in-nyc/ by udi http://havaar.org/author/udi/ http://havaar.org/# http://havaar.org/# http://havaar.org/#1 http://havaar.org/# http://havaar.org/# On September 25, 2012, *Havaar *was joined by *The Illuminator crew* and their cargo van to take their message against war, sanctions, and state repression onto the streets and public facades of New York. Projections happened at Union Square, around Washington Square Park, and on the facade of the historic Flatiron Building. Earlier in the day *Havaar *was joined by friends and allies for a demonstration in midtown New York against Ahmadinejad, Obama, and Netanyahu’s aggression towards the Iranian people. See photos from that demonstrationhttps://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.370134966396276.85493.297165033693270type=1 . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGa7DBSEokM Posted in Events http://havaar.org/category/events/, Videohttp://havaar.org/category/video/ | Tagged Ahmadinejad http://havaar.org/tag/ahmadinejad/, anti-imperialismhttp://havaar.org/tag/anti-imperialism/, Anti-war http://havaar.org/tag/anti-war/, demonstrationhttp://havaar.org/tag/demonstration/, Netanyahu http://havaar.org/tag/netanyahu/, Obamahttp://havaar.org/tag/obama/, Protest http://havaar.org/tag/protest/, Solidarityhttp://havaar.org/tag/solidarity/ UPDATE: Iranian Activists Release Photos and Video of Demonstration and Unannounced Actionhttp://havaar.org/2012/09/update-iranian-activists-release-photos-and-video-of-demonstration-and-unannounced-action/ Posted on September 26, 2012http://havaar.org/2012/09/update-iranian-activists-release-photos-and-video-of-demonstration-and-unannounced-action/ by Havaar http://havaar.org/author/havaar/ http://havaar.org/# http://havaar.org/# http://havaar.org/# http://havaar.org/# http://havaar.org/# *Havaar The Illuminator Join Forces to Protest Ahmadinejad, **Netanyahu and Obama* Contact: pr...@havaar.org Photos of the protests can now be found on Havaar’s facebook pagehttp://on.fb.me/Uuiljh . Video of the Illuminator projections has just now been released herehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGa7DBSEokMfeature=plcp . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGa7DBSEokM *September 26, 2012,* *New York *—Today, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the United Nations General Assembly, *Havaar: Iranian Initiative Against War, Sanctions and State Repression* released photographs and a video from a demonstration it held yesterday to protest Ahmadinejad’s crimes against the Iranian people, as well as President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support for severe economic sanctions and escalating threats of attacking Iran militarily. *Havaar said, “What Ahmadinejad, Netanyahu and Obama have in common is a complete disregard for the lives and dignity of the Iranian people. Their callousness in pursuit of their own political interests threatens the well being of approximately 75 million Iranians, and moreover creates a bleaker future for us all.”* The demonstration occurred near the Warwick Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Ahmadinejad and his coterie are staying. *Ali Abdi*, a *student activist who until recently was involved in both the student and women’s movement in Iran said*, “It’s impossible to describe the feeling of holding larger than life photographs of Iranian political prisoners in the streets of New York, close to where Iranian officials responsible for their ongoing suffering are staying. I know this will give some heart to their loved ones, and to many other Iranians who want to see the release of all political prisoners.” After the demonstration, Havaar was joined by *The Illuminator crew* and their cargo van to take their message against war, sanctions, and state repression onto the streets and public facades of New York. Projections happened at Union Square, around Washington Square Park, and on the facade of the Flatiron Building. “*Havaar: Iranian Initiative Against War, Sanctions and State Repression” is a grassroots group of Iranians, Iranian-Americans and allies who have joined together to categorically oppose any military action and sanctions against Iran. Havaar stands in solidarity with the Iranian people’s struggle against war and sanctions and* *against state repression, asserting that all of these forms of violence hurt the lives and aspirations of ordinary Iranians. Visit **havaar.org* *and * http://www.facebook.com/HavaarForJustice*.* 10,000 More Workers’ Signatures Delivered on the Living Conditionshttp://iranlaborreport.com/?p=2014 September 25, 20120 http://iranlaborreport.com/?p=2014#respond On September 22, 10,000 additional workers’ signatures were
[LAAMN] It’s Psychological Warfare, Stupid: Why Netanyahu Really wants to Destroy Iran
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/its-psychological-warfare-stupid-why-netanyahu-really-wants-to-destroy-iran.html?utm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=feedutm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29 Its Psychological Warfare, Stupid: Why Netanyahu Really wants to Destroy Iranhttp://www.juancole.com/2012/09/its-psychological-warfare-stupid-why-netanyahu-really-wants-to-destroy-iran.html Posted on 09/28/2012 by Juan The Israeli Likud Partys cover story for why it wants to draw the United States into a war with Iran makes no real sense. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been predicting an Iranian nuclear bomb since 1992 (a time when Iran had no nuclear program at all), and he has been wrong for 15 years in a row. Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and other Israeli officials have said publicly that Iran has not decided to go for a nuclear weapon. Ayatollah Ali Khomeini has given more than one fatwa or formal religious ruling that making and stockpiling nuclear weapons are forbiddenhttp://www.juancole.com/2012/03/khamenei-takes-control-forbids-nuclear-bomb.htmlin Islamic law. Netanyahu is in a position similar to that of someone who wants to argue that Pope Benedict XVI secretly has a condom factory operating in the Vatican. *Iran isnt, contrary to what Netanyahu alleged, a year away from having a nuclear weapon. Iran cant construct a nuclear weapon at all as long as it is being actively inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which it is (and yes, including the Fordo facility). There is no facility with uranium or enrichment facilities that is off limits to the IAEA inspectors. No country under active inspection by the UN has ever developed a nuclear weapon. Israel, which always refused such inspections, has some 400 nuclear warheads.* The dark green below is the Occupied Palestinian Territories that Israel controls: So what is really driving all this noise about Iran? It is the Israeli right wings competition with the Palestinians. In the past few years, Israel has vastly expanded the number of Israeli squatters on Palestinian land in the West Bank: http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/its-psychological-warfare-stupid-why-netanyahu-really-wants-to-destroy-iran.html/westbank_settlements Israeli squatters, backed by Netanyahu, are attempting to make a Palestinian state impossible. Netanyahus plan is to keep the Palestinians (some 12 million strong, 4 million of them in the Occupied Territories) stateless and without citizenship rights forever. People without a state have no institutions that would enforce their claims on property or on basic human rights, and so they are open to being treated, in a way, like slaves and constantly stolen from, as the Palestinians are. Israels policy has long been to use its close relationship with the United States to domesticate or destroy any country in the region that gives hope to the Palestinians that they might one day get their own state. (Earlier in the conflict, maximalist claims against Israel were common, but for all practical purposes Palestinian statehood is what is at issue since the early 1990s). The Israeli military, backed and resupplied by the US, beat Egypt and Jordan into accepting a separate peace. Lebanons economy was destroyed more than once. Netanyahu argued hard for a US war on Iraq, and the American Neocons who fomented that war began by writing a position paper for Netanyahu himself arguing for an invasion of Iraq. Iraq was no match for nuclear-armed Israel, but it was perceived as giving moral support to and raising the morale of Palestinians resisting Israels vast theft of their lands. Iraq had to be broken. *Now, Iran is more or less the last man standing. Iran, and its unstable ally, Baathist Syria, are the only major Middle Eastern countries that strongly support the Palestinians, though admittedly more in speeches than practically. The rest have either given in (Egypt, Jordan) or de facto acquiesced in Israel expansionism into the West Bank. Irans defiance gives the Palestinians, especially those with a fundamentalist religious cast of mind, hope. (The extremeness of Irans position on Israel is unhelpful in fact to Palestinian aspirations, but it is a psychological plus for a beaten-down people).* Netanyahu wants to remove all hope from the Palestinians, so as to keep them permanently stateless and to ensure that their land is available for Israeli encroachment. The Iran bogeyman is Netanyahus way of changing the conversation, of making sure that his Occupation of the Palestinian territories is never brought up. The US and Europe, who pay lip service to a peace process in actual fact go along with the continued Occupation and ongoing expropriation of the Palestinians, and seem to fall for the Iran misdirection. Likewise, an opinion poll some years ago found that a third of Israelis said they would emigrate and leave their country if Iran achieved a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu is in a demographic race
[LAAMN] U.S. advisors embedded within Honduran police and judiciary since 2010/11
http://quotha.net/node/2387 U.S. advisors embedded within Honduran police and judiciary since 2010/11 Sat, 09/29/2012 - 09:02 AP Click image for larger version of FOIA-released document. Text (with key passages bolded) below image. http://quotha.net/docs/honduras/3.22.11.FOIA_Mosquitia.jpg UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2011-04671 Doc No. C17685398 Date: 09/19/2012 [released; issued 03/22/11] CLASSIFICATION: CONFIDENTIAL Page 3 of 5 [ ]majority of crimes are not solved, leading to a sense of impunity and lawlessness, which undermines the population's faith in the democratic system. Drug traffickers and other criminals are able to operate unhindered in many parts of the country, especially in the remote La Mosquitia region in the east of the country bordering Nicaragua and the western region of Hondurans, bordering Guatemala. 6. (U) The Embassy is helping Honduras address this scourge. The Embassy and the Government of Honduras have established a bilateral task force to implement programs under the Merida/Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI). *The Task Force pursues a bilateral multi-agency approach to combat the shared threats to security and stability in both Honduras and the United States* as well as the Americas region from transnational illicit trafficking and criminal organizations. The Task Force is co-chaired by President Lobo and the Ambassador. *The Task Force has formed eight inter-agency working groups to focus in-depth on the issues of counternarcotics operation, anti-gang programs, social development and crime prevention, border security, seized criminal assets and financial crimes, investigation and prosecution capacity-building, La Mosquitia (the remote, undeveloped region most vulnerable to narcotics trafficking), and human rights.* In late January, the GOH created a Task Force to fight impunity and to address violent crimes of particular concern. This Task Force, which was the result of discussions that the executive branch conducted with the Attorney General and the judicial branch, serves as a coordination mechanism to bring together all relevant law enforcement agencies. A Financial Crimes Task Force has also been created to prosecute cases under the 2010 Seized Asset Forfeiture law. *Each task force has two embedded U.S. advisors: a police advisor to facilitate the Investigative process with the National Police and a prosecutorial advisor to assist the Public Ministry in case preparation.* Honduras needs to be able to work effectively with not just the United States, but other nations in the region as well to combat this serious threat to its stability. --- http://hondurasculturepolitics.blogspot.com/2012/09/behind-model-cities-memorandum-of.html Saturday, September 29, 2012 Behind the Model Cities Memorandum of Understanding There's a lot of misinformation floating around about who is behind the Honduras Model Cities memorandum of opportunity (MOU). This is the agreement, announced by Juan Orlando Hernandez of the Honduran Congress, that would authorize a specific group of investors to build the first such enclave in Honduras. So here's what we can find out: Grupo MGK (note, not NKG, NGK, or MKG as the careless or perhaps terminally dyslexic Honduran papers keep reporting) is the consortium behind the memorandum of understanding signed last week with Honduras to develop a model city. The group, whose bare bones generic website grupomgk.com (in English and Spanish) was hastily erected in the last week, claims to have developed plans for a model city-like project in Estonia, but shelved it upon hearing of the Honduran opportunity. Their new http://www.statscrop.com/www/grupomgk.com website has already been updated since it was first made public. Michael Strong registered the domain name with GoDaddy on September 8. The website was last updated on September 21. There are currently four public faces for Grupo MGK: Michael Strong, Gabriel Delgado, Robert Haywood, and Nadine Spencer. Michael Strong reportedly studiedhttp://www.amazon.com/Michael-Strong/e/B001OQeconomics at the University of Chicago, but dropped out of the graduate program when he was offered a job teaching his socratic training seminar to teachers in Homer, Alaska. This in turn, led to a 15 year career in education consulting. Strong met John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods, during this period, and together they founded Freedom Lights Our World (FLOW), dedicated to the proposition that entrepeneurs and markets were the most effective way of creating a better world. They have since moved on to more targeted projects: Conscious Capitalism http://www.consciouscapitalism.org/, Radical Social Entrepeneurs http://www.radicalsocialentreps.org/, and Peace Through Commerce http://www.peacethroughcommerce.org/. Strong is also a founder of the Free Cities Institutehttp://www.freecities.org/, whose website, described as gorgeous in this
[LAAMN] Venezuela:(Guarimba)Violent Destabilisation Strategy as a Possible Scenario on 7 October
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] Violent Destabilisation Strategy as a Possible Scenario on 7 October Sep 30th 2012, by Prensa REMI [image: Opposition guarimba (archive)] Opposition guarimba (archive) *Threats of violent destabilisation in this juncture* Based on various declarations made by spokespeople of [opposition parties] Popular Will, Sumate, and other opposition organisations in the support material that was used in their election booth witness training workshops, a Plan B, or a destabilising plan linked to the election process has become apparent, where some under cover counter revolutionary forces have been preparing a confrontation action with the following courses of action: 1. Not recognise the election results if they arent favourable 2. Scream electoral fraud (they have been preparing the land these last few months through their spokespeople, media, and social networkers) 3. Organise subversive acts that contravene public order and use a critical mass (professionals of diverse areas: journalists, graphic reporters, lawyers, artists, engineers, economists etc) as cannon fodder. 4. Through agitational focus points and guarimbas (violent destabilisation), create a picture of ungovernability. 5. Use these actions as a trigger of generalised violent conflict to provide the framework for special undercover operations, presenting a picture of civil war. 6. In this political- military conflict, the conditions for foreign intervention would be generated. *Execution of the Guarimba Plan and the key voting booths* The progress of the above scenario is intimately associated with the deployment of committed groups in areas near the voting centres, to promote violent situations there. Under the alibi of defending the vote of the Venezuelan Command [the oppositions electoral campaign] has organised units of the following forces: - 133,893 witnesses to safeguard the votes - 82,530 progressives (in charge of mobilising voters who have difficulties arriving at their voting booths) -40,000 logistical volunteers (authorised to support anything that is necessary within and outside the voting booths) The actions of the referred to groups is focused on what they have called key electoral centres. According to the internal documents of Capriles campaign, the key electoral centres are those that fulfil one or various of the following indicators: 1. Electoral centres where they detected irregular voting compared to nearby centres. This means that where, for example, nearby the opposition loses 60 to 40, in the key ones we lose 90 to 10 or worse [we refers to the opposition] 2. Electoral centres where there have been violent incidents against opposition witnesses 3. Electoral centres in far away rural zones, or in populated high risk areas, where the opposition doesnt have any witness presence. 4. New electoral centres, because they dont have historical references. In other words, they have located their actions in those electoral centres with the following characteristics: 1. Where the Chavistas have a majority. 2. Where the MUD [opposition coalition] doesnt have enough witnesses or machinery 3. Where there have been irregularities or conflicts in the past. 4. Where, according to the opposition, there is a possibility of vote usurpation. 5. In the new centres created by the CNE. 6. In those places where the electoral result, abstention, and blank votes have a anomalous historical behaviour. The Venezuelan command has established a Special Unit of Attention to Electoral Centres, based on the following indicators: -Of the total electoral register of 18,802,648 (not including the votes outside of Venezuela), 3,290,692 people will vote in the key centres, which represents 17.5%. -Of the 13,683 electoral centres, 5,328 are key centres, or 38.9%. -Of the total voting booths established by the CNE of 39,018, the key centres will have 8,437 booths, which represents 21.6%. The objective of the Special Units of Key Centres is to guarantee that in each of them, they have one centre coordinator and that each booth has at least two opposition witnesses. Also in the guarimba document parcelisation and mapping the municipalities and establishing points of operative support are talked about where the units will be operating. *Organisation and function of the Special Unit of Attention to the Key Centres* In the following graphics, which were support material for the training of members of the special unites organised by the Venezuelan command for the guarimbas, we find the main operative faces of this strategy, under the disguise of defending the vote: [Note, due to their Spanish content, Venezuenalysis.com has only included a few of the graphics, to give the reader proof that this article is based on real opposition documents] *Key voting centres* ** *Defense of the vote and functional organisation* *Intelligence networks for an early alert* At the moment,
[LAAMN] Haiti - More Mobilizations Against Martelly Government
Several thousand people take to streets of Haiti capital in anti-government protest By Associated Press, Published: September 30 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Several thousand people poured into the streets of Haitis capital on Sunday to protest the government of President Michel Martelly. It was among the biggest demonstrations this year in Port-au-Prince against the first-time leader as he tries to rebuild the impoverished nation following a powerful 2010 earthquake that displaced more than a million people and destroyed thousands of homes. Demonstrators complaints included the high cost of living, rising food prices and allegations of corruption as they snaked through the poorer neighborhoods Port-au-Prince. Some protesters carried small red cards to suggest that Martelly has committed too many fouls since he was sworn in as president in May 2011. The Martelly government had no immediate public reaction to the protest. Martelly, a pop music star before he turned to politics, presented himself as an outsider when he ran for the presidency. He promised free schooling and houses for people displaced by the earthquake. But some Haitians complain that Martelly has fallen short of improving their lives in one of the poorest countries in the world. The president has made so many promises but nothing has become a reality, protester Max Dorlien said. Its only a clique of his friends who are making money. The Sunday protest followed several weeks of mostly peaceful demonstrations in the countryside, and more are planned for October. It also marked the 21st anniversary of the first ouster of two-time President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest who returned to Haiti last year after seven years in exile. Since his return, Aristide has remained in his compound in the capital and out of the public spotlight, fueling widespread speculation on his political relevance. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. http://haiti-liberte.com/archives/volume6-11/The%20Mobilization.asp *The Mobilization Against Martelly Grows* *by Isabelle Papillon *[image: ...]For the second consecutive week, thousands of people of all ages and walks of life took to the streets of Cap Haïtien, Haitis second largest city, on Sep. 21 to protest against President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. They denounced high-level corruption, the high cost of living, Martellys hijacking of the electoral council, and government attempts to evict peasants from plots of land on which they have lived and farmed for almost two centuries. After rallying at the Samarie roundabout in the morning, thousands of people from Cité Lescot, La Fossette and other Cap-Haïtien neighborhoods marched through the city, rallying in front of the central governments offices, known as the Delegation of the North, and at the Courthouse. In front of the Delegations offices, pro-Martelly partisans hiding inside the government building threw rocks at the protesters. The demonstrators threw rocks back at them. The Haitian National Police (PNH) and UN occupying troops (MINUSTAH) fired tear-gas canisters to disperse the protesters, with only partial success. When they met the marchers, some people were seen to theatrically take off their pink bracelets, meant to signify allegiance with the government, and throw them on the ground. *Martelly, Martelly, pèp Nò a pap jwe,* the demonstrators shouted. (The people of the North do not play around.) We do not want imported rice, we want to work, they chanted. We want to live in peace in our country. To ease spiking food prices, last week Lamothe announced that the government would import 300,000 bags of rice. Despite some brutality from the PNH and MINUSTAH, the demonstration ended without major incident. However, during the afternoon after the march had ended, helmeted-policemen of the Security Unit to Guard the National Palace (USGPN) arrived in Cap Haïtien from Port-au-Prince and began shooting with leveled weapons in different parts of the city. In retaliation, the people threw stones and bottles. The evening before the march, the city was also tense. Burning-tire barricades, a traditional form of protest, went up in several roads, especially near the neighborhoods of La Fossette, Cité Lescot, and Samarie. Police gunfire wounded at least three people. Thrown rocks and bottles injured one policeman. On Sep. 17, four days before the demonstration, the government sent a delegation headed by Interior Minister Ronsard Saint-Cyr and the State Secretary for Communication, Guyler C. Delva to try to buy off those responsible for the mobilization in the North. The mission was a failure, like a similar on to the southern city of Les Cayes the week before as confirmed by the former Southern delegate Pierre Etienne France on a radio in the capital this week (see *Haïti Liberté*, Sep. 19, 2012).
[LAAMN] Venezuela destabilization - Opposition Discusses “Plans” With Foreign Diplomats
*I have monitoring the chatter boxes of the extreme right in Venezuela for weeks now and how they have been building for this and other destabilization plans by propagating with their unrealistic outcomes...they are itching for a civil war, what they fail to realize is this will only bring a quicker end to them!* ** *Cort* ** ** Opposition Discusses Plans With Foreign Diplomats Oct 1st 2012, by Correo del Orinoco International [image: Opposition politician Richard Mardo hosted the meeting between foreign diplomats and opposition figures (informecifras.com)] Opposition politician Richard Mardo hosted the meeting between foreign diplomats and opposition figures (informecifras.com) Over the weekend, investigative journalist Jose Vicente Rangel warned of backroom opposition attempts to prevent another election win for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Citing a private meeting between members of opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) and Caracas based diplomats from the United States and Spain, among others, Rangel warned of ongoing efforts to convince the international community that anti-Chavez candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski is set to win the October 7th election. Inflating expectations in the press, Rangel explained, MUD strategists intend to carry out the recently-uncovered Rapid Reaction Plan, a violent post-election strategy made public late last week by Chavez Campaign Coordinator Jorge Rodriguez. Speaking to viewers on Sunday 23 September during his weekly television program Jose Vicente Hoy, former Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel warned of suspicious opposition positioning in the final weeks of the 2012 presidential campaign. Referring specifically to a September 12 meeting held at the private residence of opposition gubernatorial candidate Richard Mardo, Rangel explained how representatives of the Venezuelan opposition tried convincing foreign diplomats that Capriles is set to win the October 7 election, even if only by a small margin. According to the investigate journalist, special guests at the private meeting included Paolo Serpi, Antonio Perez-Hernandez, and Luis Raygada Souza-Ferreira, the Caracas-based Ambassadors of Italy, Spain, and Peru, respectively. James Derham, the top US diplomat in Venezuela, as well as Pietro Parolin, the Vaticans highest authority in country, also attended the luncheon. Brazils Ambassador in Caracas, Jose Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho, turned down the invitation. In addition to Richard Mardo, the MUDs candidate for Governor of Aragua State, those representing the Venezuelan opposition at the meeting were Luis Miquilena, an open supporter of the 2002 coup d etat against President Chavez, Marcel Granier, Managing Director of radical opposition media network Radio Caracas de Televisión (RCTV), and Carlos Bardasano, member of private media giant Venevisións Board of Directors. According to Rangel, Mardo used the backroom meeting to express his total lack of confidence in the National Elections Council (CNE) and promise those present that he and his people are prepared to take to the streets, using both motorcyclists and civilian groups to combat the Chavistas. What was most surprising about the meeting, Rangel said, was how some of those in attendance cautiously requested further information while others made worrying affirmations and expressed their firm, radical positions. Private news media including opposition dailies El Universal and Noticias 24 also reported on the meeting, stating that Mardo and the others simply had gathered to analyze Venezuelas electoral situation. *Rapid Reaction Plan* In addition to the troubling talks between foreign diplomats and the MUD, National Coordinator for the Chavez Campaign Jorge Rodriguez recently denounced what he called irresponsible right-wing extremists within the (oppositions) campaign who have developed and circulated a document that details plans to cause political unrest in the aftermath of next months presidential election. Titled the Rapid Reaction Plan, the document is said to have been prepared by Alejandro Plaz, former Director of Sumate, the US-financed NGO tasked with fomenting a greater opposition presence in Venezuelan politics. In the context of next months vote, the authors of the Rapid Reaction Plan discuss criteria for selecting key sites to be taken over, Rodriguez explained. These sites include national and regional freeways, major avenues, emblematic plazas, Governors and Mayors offices, strategic non-civilian points meaning military installations news media offices, ports, and airports. What do ports and airports have to do with voting centers? he asked. What do military installations have to do with an election booth, with an electoral contest? Warning the Venezuelan people to watch out for possible opposition violence, Rodriguez added, this plan describes nothing more than a desperate minority
[LAAMN] Letter from the US: Green Party challenges two-party fraud
Against those with a lesser evil argument who attack the Greens as *spoilers taking votes from the Democrats, Stein replied: You cant spoil something that is already rotten. * *Speaking on Democracy Now!, Stein said that keeping silent and voting for the lesser evil has brought us to the present stage of economic depression, to perpetual wars, to high unemployment and loss of civil liberties.* Letter from the US: Green Party challenges two-party fraud Tuesday, October 2, 2012 By Barry Sheppard http://www.greenleft.org.au/taxonomy/term/471, San Francisco http://www.greenleft.org.au/taxonomy/term/2493 The recent strike and mass mobilisations of teachers and their supporters in Chicago were significant for those who opposed them. The Democrat Barack Obama and the Republican Mitt Romney aligned themselves against this fight to defend public schools. In contrast, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein expressed solidarity with the movement and was invited to speak at a rally. Officially, Obama stayed silent on the strike, but he did not need to speak to show where he stood. His former chief of staff in the White House and now Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, led the charge against the teachers. Obamas education secretary, Arne Duncan, is in charge of Obamas program to weaken the teachers unions and promote the privatisation of public schools under the banner: Race to the Top. Duncan was the Chicago schools CEO from 2002 through 2008, before he was elevated by Obama. In a show of bipartisan support, Romney and his even more reactionary running mate, Paul Ryan, came out in solidarity with Emanuel and denounced the teachers. The Green Party convention in July nominated Stein as its candidate. A physician, she is well-known as an advocate for a national health insurance program for all, and fighter on environmental issues. She successfully opposed building trash incinerators and campaigned to clean up the Filthy Five coal plants in Massachusetts, her home state. Stein previously ran against Romney for Massachusetts governor in 2002, and for secretary of state in 2006, winning 350,000 votes as a Green-Rainbow candidate against the Democrats and Republicans. Steins running mate, Cheri Honkala, was born into extreme poverty. A single mother in her teens, she became a leading advocate for the poor and homeless, co-founding the Kensington Welfare Rights Union in Philadelphia. Honkala became a socialist, and for a time was a member of a Maoist group. Honkala was named *Philadelphia Weekly* Woman of the Year in 1997, and the same title by *Ms. Magazine* in 2001. Last year, she ran as the Green candidate for Philadelphia sherrif, pledging to stop home foreclosures in the wake of the ongoing depression. The Green Party convention was a movement event. Many references to the Occupy movement were met by cheers. With the slogan of Occupy the Elections, the party declared its solidarity with the goals of Occupy in opposing the 1%. In her acceptance speech, Stein said she joined the Green Party because its the only national party that is not bought and paid for by corporate money. The corporate-sponsored political parties the establishment isnt going to change the status quo for us. Weve got to do it. Chants of Bring the Troops Home Now! erupted when Stein denounced the illegal wars being waged by Washington and called for closing the nearly 1000 US military bases around the world. She condemned the National Defense Authorization Act backing the US wars, the use of drones, the Patriot Act, the racist Arizona anti-immigrant laws, and called for the repeal of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which impoverishes Mexican peasants and workers. Gar Alperovitz, historian and writer, author of *America Beyond Capitalism*, gave the keynote speech at the convention. A reformist socialist, his references to socialism were met with cheers from the delegates. He told the convention that their challenge was the transformation of the most powerful corporate capitalistic system in the history of the world thats what it is about not simply a gesture, not simply a new party, not simply a green movement. He concluded by referring to two recent polls that 49% of youth had a favorable opinion of socialism, and concluded that there were opportunities to change the system. The Green parties in much of the world have become part of the capitalist system, even joining capitalist and imperialist governments. The Green Party in the US has not gone down that path. From its original formation around ecological issues, the Green Party has broadened into a social justice party. Within the party, there is a wide political variation from left-liberal to socialist. But the partys direction under the impact of the depression is to become more radical. The party is largely white. Women, African Americans and Latinos within the party have organised themselves into caucuses, and
[LAAMN] Green Party USA prepares for Oct. 3 protests over Jill Stein's exclusion from pres. debates
*GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES* *http://www.gp.org* http://www.gp.org/* * *For Immediate Release:* *Tuesday, October 2, 2012* *Contacts:* *Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, **202-904-7614* 202-904-7614*, ** mcla...@greens.org* mcla...@greens.org *Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, **916-995-3805* 916-995-3805*, ** starl...@gp.org* starl...@gp.org *Ben Manski, Jill Stein Campaign Manager, **608-239-6915* 608-239-6915*, b...@manski.org* *Green Party prepares for Oct. 3 protests over Green nominee Jill* *Stein's exclusion from the presidential debates* * Dr. Stein on Democracy Now! broadcast live from Denver during the* *first Obama-Romney debate* * Rigged Debates = Rigged Elections, say Greens* *WASHINGTON, DC -- Greens across the US are demanding an invitation for* *Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein (** http://www.jillstein.org*http://www.jillstein.org/ *)* *to the presidential debates, in advance of the first debate on* *Wednesday, October 3, in Denver.* *Dr. Stein's plans for October 3 include an appearance on Democracy* *Now!'s Live Debate Talkback, hosted by Amy Goodman, live from Denver* *during the Obama-Romney debate* *(**http://www.jillstein.org/democracy_now_s_live_debate_talkback_with_jill_stein *http://www.jillstein.org/democracy_now_s_live_debate_talkback_with_jill_stein * ).* *Below is a list of events in Denver and links related to the first* *debate and Dr. Stein's exclusion, including a march on the Commission* *on Presidential Debates (CPD).* *Green Party leaders and activists have insisted that the debates must* *include every candidate who is on enough ballots to win the White* *House and who has demonstrated a minimal level of support -- either 1%* *of the vote in a credible national poll or qualification for federal* *matching funds or both. Jill Stein and Libertarian nominee Gary* *Johnson meet all of these criteria. (See 'Occupy the CPD!',* *http://occupythecpd.org)* http://occupythecpd.org)/ *Greens have called the CPD, which controls the debates, an attempt to* *rig elections. The CPD, owned and run by the Democratic and Republican* *parties and the two parties' corporate funders, determines criteria* *for participation and has decided that only Barack Obama and Mitt* *Romney will be allowed in front of the microphones.* *The CPD took over the debates in the early 1990s to limit the stage to* *their own candidates and to make sure that no challenging questions* *get asked. The League of Women Voters, which sponsored the debates* *before the CPD took over, has called this situation a fraud on the* *American voter.* *Events* * Wednesday, Oct. 3, 5:30 pm MST: Occupy the Debates! Occupy Denver,* *Green presidential candidate Jill Stein, Green vice-presidential* *candidate Cheri Honkala, and supporters will join an Occupy Denver* *march on the Commission on Presidential Debates. McWilliams Park at E.* *Yale Avenue and S. Steele Street in Denver. More information:* *http://www.jillstein.org/occupy_the_debates_denver*http://www.jillstein.org/occupy_the_debates_denver * Wednesday, Oct. 3, 7 pm MST (9 pm EST, 6 pm PST): Democracy Now!'s* *Live Debate Talkback with Jill Stein, former Salt Lake City Mayor and* *2012 presidential candidate Rocky Anderson, and host Amy Goodman. The* *live program will begin at 6:30 pm, and Jill Stein will join the show* *at 7 pm. Central Presbyterian Church, 1660 Sherman Street in Denver.* *More information:* * http://www.jillstein.org/democracy_now_s_live_debate_talkback_with_jill_stein *http://www.jillstein.org/democracy_now_s_live_debate_talkback_with_jill_stein * * * http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2012/9/28/third_party_candidates_to_join_in_real_time_on_democracy_now_s_live_coverage_of_first_pres_debate *http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2012/9/28/third_party_candidates_to_join_in_real_time_on_democracy_now_s_live_coverage_of_first_pres_debate * * * Wednesday, Oct. 3, 9:30 pm MST: Occupy the Debates! AFTERRALLY with* *Jill Stein, Cheri Honkala and musical entertainment. Stein-Honkala* *campaign manager Ben Manski will host a post-debate rally with live* *music and rousing speeches from the candidates. Mercury Cafe, 2199* *California Street in Denver. More information:* * http://www.jillstein.org/occupy_the_debates_after_rally_with_jill_stein_and_cheri_honkala *http://www.jillstein.org/occupy_the_debates_after_rally_with_jill_stein_and_cheri_honkala * * *Links* * Chickens picket Romney HQ in leadup to Denver debates protests* *(OccupytheCPD.org organizer and U.S. Uncut founder Carl Gibson* *presented a Romney staffer with 'The World's Biggest Chicken Award'.* *Romney last faced Jill Stein in a 2002 gubernatorial debate which* *Massachusetts media later declared Dr. Stein the winner.)* *http://www.jillstein.org/chickens_picket_romney_hq*http://www.jillstein.org/chickens_picket_romney_hq *Video: **http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=903406680251*http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=903406680251 * Occupy the CPD!*
[LAAMN] Oct.3rd-Indonesia: First general strike in 50 years
http://www.marxist.com/indonesia-first-general-strike-in-50-years.htm Indonesia: First general strike in 50 yearshttp://www.marxist.com/indonesia-first-general-strike-in-50-years.htm Written by Ted Sprague Tuesday, 02 October 2012 | Print |http://www.marxist.com/indonesia-first-general-strike-in-50-years/print.htm# *Tomorrow, October 3, will witness an important event in the history of the labour movement in Indonesia. For the first time in 50 years, Indonesian workers will carry out a national general strike which will involve an estimated 2 million workers in 21 different cities. Three demands serve as the basis of this general strike: increases in the official minimum wage, an end to all outsourcing arrangements, and universal national health care for all.* This general strike is not something that falls from the sky. It is the culmination of the radicalization process in the workers movement for the past one year. Radical actions of hundreds of thousands of workers who have gone on strike and blockaded industrial areas and major highways; the leadership of the workers in the movement against the fuel price increase this March that forced the government to back down; the largest May Day rally with 160,000 workers on the streets, followed by the formation of the MPBI (Council of Indonesians Workers and Labourers) that united 5 million workers; all these form a continuing process that leads to this general strike. Workers have also started to fight for demands that go beyond the confines of their factories, from workers in Gresik, an industrial area in East Java, who fought for free education for the people to all-Indonesia workers actions against a fuel price increase this year. Workers struggles have gone beyond day-to-day demands in the factory to day-to-day demands of the wider masses. This in turn will touch on the questions of politics and power. To win day-to-day demands in the factory, it is normally enough for workers to strike in the said factory to press the boss. However, to win day-to-day demands of the wider masses (free healthcare, free education, etc.), the struggle has to be brought to a wider political stage. It is here that the question of state power is posed, where economic struggle is linked to political struggle. It is also here that workers find their leadership role in the struggle for the general well-being of the masses. The Indonesian working class has gone through a number of important phases in the past 50 years, ones which are filled with ebbs and flows, advances and retreats: 1. Period of Glory (late 50s to early 60s) The labour movement is at its peak in the late 50s and early 60s, with SOBSI as the largest workers federation at that moment, claiming a membership of 3 million workers, even more than any federation or confederation today. 2. Defeat (1965) In 1965 the labour movement suffered its biggest defeat, destroyed physically and ideologically in the hands of the New Order regime. 3. Rebirth (mid 1980s) The shift in the Indonesian economy from oil-gas exports to manufacturing in the mid-1980s created a new layer of proletariat. This new proletariat, thrown into the factories in their thousands, was one of the forces that shook the Soeharto regime. The number of recorded strikes in the 1990s increased significantly, from 61 in 1990 to 300 in 1994. 4. Reformasi (1998) The 1998 Reformasi Movement, even if it didnt bring about a fundamental change, opened the democratic gateway for the workers. Independent trade unions mushroomed in the aftermath of 1998. Meanwhile, SPSI workers, awakened by the Reformasi, also started to shake this New Order trade union. (The SPSI, the state sponsored union and the arm of the regime in the workplaces, was until 1998 the only recognised workers organisation.) The stranglehold of the SPSI was weakened and splits took place. In this period, workers were re-learning their long-lost fighting traditions. This general strike will be the next phase in the history of the Indonesian labour movement, a turning point whereby the working class becomes a real political force that is not only recognized and respected by the wider masses but also feared by the ruling class. Workers with their national strike, for the first time will enter the national political arena. In the eyes of the toiling masses, they will no longer just be tens or hundreds of workers in factories demanding wage increases, but they will be seen as the *Indonesian working class who fought for the welfare of the whole people of Indonesia*. In the period of Reformasi, this position was held by the students who became an extension of the voice of the people. Today workers will start claiming their historical role as the class that leads the struggle of the whole of the oppressed masses. The complete victory of capital over labour during the Soeharto dictatorial regime made the Indonesian capitalist class somewhat arrogant. For the past 50 years since
[LAAMN] Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria-Syria calls Hamas traitorous
*Someone should tell the Iranian Foreign minister that the Quds Force, Hezbollah , Russia and China along with some supporting different segments of the opposition are also outside interference...* *Cort* Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Tuesday described Tehran as a strong ally of the people of Syria and warned outside powers not to interfere in the conflict. But in an interview with Australia's SBS television, Salehi also said the Syrian government needed to recognize the opposition that has been waging an 18-month-old rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. When it comes to outside interference, and to the internal affairs of Syria, and when outside powers dictate upon the Syrian people that 'Look, your president should step down, and this should happen,' this is not the right way to do things, he told the broadcaster's Dateline program. What we are saying is that both sides have to recognize the other side. In other words, the government has to recognize the opposition, and the opposition has to recognize the government. Official: Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria October 02, 2012 09:09 PM By Elizabeth A Kennedy http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Elizabeth-A-Kennedy.ashx [image: Associated Press] [image: A+] [image: A-] BEIRUT: A Hezbollah commander and several fighters have been killed inside Syria, a Lebanese security official said Tuesday, a development that could stoke already soaring tensions over the Lebanese militant group's role in the civil war next door. Hezbollah's reputation has taken a beating over its support for the Syrian regime, but any sign that the group's fighters are taking part in the battle raises fears that the conflict could expand into a wider fight engulfing the region. Hezbollah has stood by Syrian President Bashar Assad since the uprising began 18 months ago, even after the group supported revolts in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Bahrain. Assad's fall would be a dire scenario for Hezbollah. Any new regime led by Syria's majority Sunni Muslims would likely be far less friendly - or even outright hostile - to Shiite Muslim Hezbollah. Iran remains the group's most important patron, but Syria is a crucial supply route. Without it, Hezbollah will struggle to get money and weapons as easily. The Syrian uprising has left Assad deeply isolated - making his remaining allies such as Iran and Russia all the more important. At last week's gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, dozens of nations excoriated the Assad regime for its role in a conflict that activists estimate has killed at least 30,000 Syrians. It was not immediately clear how the Hezbollah militants were killed or whether they had been fighting alongside the Syrian army. But Hezbollah's newspaper al-Intiqad said Hezbollah commander Ali Hussein Nassif, who is also known as Abu Abbas, was killed while performing his jihadi duties. It did not say when or where he was killed. A Lebanese security official said Nassif was killed in Syria and his body was returned to Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing on Sunday. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, the official said the bodies of several other Hezbollah fighters have been brought back to Lebanon in recent days. Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi on Tuesday confirmed the deaths of the Hezbollah members but said he had no further information on where or how Nassif was killed. He declined further comment. The Syrian opposition has long accused the group of helping the Syrian leadership crack down on the uprising - a claim the group has repeatedly denied. Hezbollah has to tread a careful path with its support for the regime, mindful that many of its supporters in Lebanon dread getting sucked into the conflict. Nassif's funeral, which was held in the eastern town of Budai, near Baalbek, was attended by top Hezbollah officials including the head of the judicial council and the political bureau, an indication of Nassif's high prestige. On Tuesday, Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV showed the funerals of at least two other Hezbollah members it said were killed while performing their jihadi duty. Both funerals were attended by Hezbollah officials and commanders. The coffins of the dead were draped with Hezbollah's yellow flags and carried by militants in black uniforms and red berets. Hundreds of people marched in the funeral. Samer al-Homsi, an activist in Syria's central Homs province, which borders Lebanon, said Nassif was killed Saturday when a roadside bomb went off as the car he was in passed just outside the town of Qusair. He said Nassif and several other people were killed in the blast. His job was to coordinate with Syrian security agencies, al-Homsi said via Skype. He added that the rebels detonated the bomb without knowing that the target was a Hezbollah official. We knew he was a Hezbollah official after it was announced by the group in Lebanon, he said.
[LAAMN] Iran says Julian Assange Mossad Agent! idiots!
here is the article from Iran Press tv, what a bunch idiots! Cort State funded Press TV broadcasts news reports and analyses which are close to the official position of the Iranian government, and its programmes are monitored and regulated by the Islamic Republic http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/28/263893/exclusive-assangemossad-ties-unveiled/ http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/02/breaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent/ October 02, 2012 http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/02/breaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent/print Share on facebookhttp://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/02/breaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent/#Share on twitterhttp://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/02/breaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent/#Share on googlehttp://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250winname=addthispub=ra-4f60e2397d05b897source=tbx-250lng=en-uss=googleurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterpunch.org%2F2012%2F10%2F02%2Fbreaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent%2Ftitle=Breaking%20News%3A%20Julian%20Assange%20Mossad%20Agent!%20%C2%BB%20Counterpunch%3A%20Tells%20the%20Facts%2C%20Names%20the%20Namesate=AT-ra-4f60e2397d05b897/-/-/506b89aee87b8269/2frommenu=1uid=506b89ae1cd25500ct=1pre=http%3A%2F%2Fgreenhouse.economics.utah.edu%2Fpipermail%2Fmarxism%2F2012-October%2F144163.htmltt=0captcha_provider=recaptchaMore Sharing Serviceshttp://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/02/breaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent/# 14http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/02/breaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent/#http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/02/breaking-news-julian-assange-mossad-agent/# Off His Onion Breaking News: Julian Assange Mossad Agent! by ISRAEL SHAMIR Iran is a great country for kebab; their pretty if well-covered girls are fine; but sense of humour is just not their forte. Their state media repeatedly broadcasted items lifted from the *Onion*, a satirical magazine taking them for literal truth. The *Onion* ran a storyhttp://www.theonion.com/articles/gallup-poll-rural-whites-prefer-ahmadinejad-to-oba,29677/?ref=autoabout American farmers who would rather have a drink with Ahmadinejad than with Obama, and their Fars news agency duly reprintedhttp://o.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/29/29677/FARS.pngit. The Onion faked an interview with Mark Zuckerberg, and Iranian state-owned Press TV took ithttp://republicaninthearts.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/irans-presstv-buys-into-onions-facebook.htmlfor a real thing. http://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/dropzone/2012/10/FARs.jpg And now, a new faux-pas. The same Iranian state-owned Press TV published an attackhttp://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/28/263893/exclusive-assangemossad-ties-unveiled/on Julian Assange with a bombastic claim: Exclusive: Assange-Mossad ties unveiled. A brief check shows an identical piece appeared on The Veterans Todayhttp://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/09/30/press-tv-exclusive-assange-mossad-ties-unveiled/site. Both pieces are identical, both exclusive and both written by the same person, a Gordon Duff, wearing two hats, that of the chief editor of VT and that of a columnist of Press TV. Oy, it would be better to stick to the *Onion*. Not only it is not exclusive, there is no revelation either. In his column, Duff claims that Assange, an intelligence asset of Israel, as Zbigniew Brzezinski pointed out on December 2, 2010 on National Public Radio in an interview with Judy Woodruff, one tasked with supplying a platform for Israeli intelligence to insert carefully crafted pointed intelligence wrapped in Wikileaks. A very strong claim! Who would know better than Zbigniew Brzezinski, whether Assange is an intelligence asset or not? If he says so, it is certainly true. But alas, it is not so. In the interview, or anywhere else, or on any other occasion Zbigniew Brzezinski did not say anything similar about Julian Assange. So, does Duff brazenly lie? No, he cheats the reader. Brzezinski explained what intelligence asset is, and Duff built the sentence so a careless reader would think Brzezinski related it to Assange. Crafty trick! He could say: Assange, a vile paedophile, as the head of London police said, one who lusts after small children, and we would think that the Head of Scotland Yard confirmed criminality of Assange. He should be a lawyer, this Duff, and make good money. The centrepiece is the absurd claim that by accusing President Obama of seeking to exploit the Arab spring revolutions for political gain, Assange supported Romney, just like Netanyahu. This is too silly even for the Onion! Julian Assange calledhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/27/julian-assange-obama-arab-springupon Obama to cease persecution of Wikileaks and of Sergeant Manning, and he said that Obamas vocal support for freedom of expression had not been translated into action. All that is true: Obama was and is a big disappointment for his voters. He uses drones to kill people more often than any US president. He used and derailed the Arab Spring
[LAAMN] Caracas notebook: Not seeing the Capriles excitement
http://settysoutham.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/caracas-notebook-not-seeing-the-capriles-excitement/#comment-5320 Caracas notebook: Not seeing the Capriles excitement http://settysoutham.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/img_5408.jpgFive days from now, the votes should be counted in Venezuelas first presidential election in six years and people can stop speculating about how the race will turn out. Unlike the vast majority of elections around the world, this one could change the politics, policy, and even demographics of a significant-sized and reasonably important chunk of the world and the place that may have more accessible oil than anywhere else. For now, were in the campaign, and from what little I have seen in two days in Venezuela, the excitement is greater on the side supporting incumbent President Hugo Chávez, rather than challenger Governor Henrique Capriles. That is exactly the opposite of what Ive read on most of my favourite English language websites about the country, but its the truth. To put it very simply, Capriles campaign looks like a very well run, professional campaign, and not a grassroots movement. Chávezs campaign has elements of both. For example, as I have wandered through Caracas richer east end and poorer center for the last two days, I have seen more cars and buses decorated with Chávez slogans than with Capriles slogans. I see very little graffiti, stickers or lapel pins in favour of either side. I see a lot of people wearing pro-Chávez T-shirts that read Misión 7 Octubre, a reference to election day. I see far more street stencils for Chávez. I see people driving around supporting Chávez in vehicle and motorcycle caravans. At a kiosk in the center of Caracas today, a worker offered me a silkscreen print of CHAVEZ if I came back with a T-shirt. Tonight in Altamira Plaza, the spiritual heart of the upscale east end, there was a very good punk and ska show in favour of Chávez. Obviously the government can pay for all the logistics of this the sound systems, posters, and so forth if Chávezs PSUV party happens to fall short of funds. And it can oblige workers to go to big marches. And some of the lack of Capriles marketing may be that people are scared to show support for him, after seeing the fate of those who opposed the government in past elections. But its hard to get people to go out and blow horns in favour of someone if they really dont support him. The musicians sound system may have been paid for by the state, but they werent paid to say Viva Chávez carajo. Several times, I have been around grassroots movements to force out an unpopular machine candidate. I recall the mayoral insurgencies in San Francisco that almost got Tom Ammiano and Matt Gonzalez into the mayors office. Both failed, sure but they were real movements, with a vast pack of people working day and night to bring about change. With Capriles, I see some volunteers in the street, but they are giving out party-produced flyers, not hand-written screeds or home-made stickers. These seem to be people who are glad to have found a possible saviour from Chavismo, rather than people who are excited to support their candidate. I am working with very few hours of data observation, but up to now, I dont see the Capriles excitement everyone is talking about. And with voter turnout as a major variable in the outcome of the racehttp://devilsexcrement.com/2012/10/02/an-update-on-what-i-think-will-happen-in-venezuelas-presidential-election/, that lack of excitement could matter on Sunday. http://settysoutham.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/img_5392.jpg Come back at 3 pm with a shirt and well silkscreen it. http://settysoutham.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/img_5395.jpg Capriles gets a sign, Chávez gets people waving his T-shirts from the balcony at a newly built (still under construction, actually) public housing project on Av. Libertador, Caracas. http://settysoutham.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/img_5363.jpg Pissed at the government for failing to provide housing for 13 years following disastrous floods in Vargas state? Yes, they are. Showing support for Capriles? Sorry, nope. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com
[LAAMN] Chavez Supporters and Government Prepare to Defend Venezuelan Elections
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] Chavez Supporters and Government Prepare to Defend Venezuelan Elections Oct 3rd 2012, by Tamara Pearson [image: Vice-president Elias Jaua (archive)] Vice-president Elias Jaua (archive) Caracas, October 3rd 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) In the light of documents and statements revealing opposition plans to cause destabilisation on election day and possibly not recognise the results, Chavez supporters are organising in order to defend the voting process and the results. There are concerns, due to statements made by the opposition over the last few months, that they will contest Sundays results and cry electoral fraud. The opposition coalition, the MUD, have also circulated leaflets telling supporters to stay out in the streets after voting in order to minimise fraud by a deceitful and criminal government. Other documents also show the opposition is organising its voting booth witnesses to create tension and disturbances, and an environment of ungovernability. Further, yesterday the head of the pro-Chavez campaign, called Campaign Carabobo Command (CCC), Jorge Rodriguez, warned that the opposition will conduct exit polls, announcing the results at 3pm, before the booths close, in order to create further confusion. Members of the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and the youth of the PSUV have already organised themselves into teams to mobilise and protect the voting centres, working with the CCC to avoid conflict at the centres and to pass on any necessary information. In Sucre state, for example, 250 PSUV youth have also been trained and accredited as election booth witnesses, which includes understanding the electoral power law and the electoral processes law. More youth are also organised at each booth, with one person responsible for logistics, another for mobilisation, and another to encourage voting. Vice-president Elias Jaua said on Monday that the Venezuelan people will also go out onto the streets to defend the electoral results should the opposition refuse to recognise them. He added that if that happens, the opposition will even be condemned by its own support base. In Venezuela there is a democracy that is more complete, deeper, and authentic every day and where there are sectors who have the right to be against this project, Jaua added. The defence minister, Henry Rangel, said he had met with the National Electoral COuncil (CNE) in order to guarantee safety for voters on Sunday. The deployment of our troops to carry out the Republic Plan is guaranteed, and owing to the maturity that we have as the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, [with years of experience] participating in electoral processes, we are even more prepared and better deployed [for Sundays election], Rangel said. The Republic Plan is the plan the army implements for every election, in order to ensure that it is a peaceful and legitimate process. We have all the contingency plans in place, so that we can preserve the peace, tranquillity, and public order, Rangel concluded. *Further, from Friday until the Monday after voting, as is the custom for Venezuelan elections, the sale of alcohol and the carrying of arms will be prohibited, there will be uninterrupted police service, and heavy transport, such as double-decker buses and large trucks will also be prohibited.* -- *Source URL (retrieved on 03/10/2012 - 8:03pm):* http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7312 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email:
[LAAMN] Democracy Now video:Expanding the Debate Exclusive: Third Party Candidates Break the Sound Barrier As Obama-Romney Spar
Expanding the Debate Exclusive: Third Party Candidates Break the Sound Barrier As Obama-Romney Spar *As President Obama and Mitt Romney squared off for the first time on Wednesday night, Democracy Now! broke the sound barrier by pausing Obama and Romneys answers to get real-time responses from candidates Jill Stein of the Green Party and Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party. Stein and Anderson joined Democracy Now! for a live special just miles away from the Obama-Romney contest at the University of Denver. Many Obama supporters have expressed surprise that Romney was able to put the president on the defensive, while Obama failed to mention several of Romneys potential weak spots, including including his record at the private equity firm Bain Capital, his vast personal wealth and offshore investments, and his recent remark that 47 percent of Americans are government dependents. Today, highlights from our Expanding the Debate special with the voices of all four candidates, showcasing the broadened perspectives on the critical issues beyond the Democratic-Republican political spectrum. [Includes rush transcript]* *Video, click on the url:* * http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/4/expanding_the_debate_exclusive_third_party *http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/4/expanding_the_debate_exclusive_third_party [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Venezuela (LIVE + VIDEOS) campaign rally finale: A masive flood in Caracas for Chavez!
for orginal Spanish and to watch live streamng if it does appear:go to te url http://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/n215489.html (LIVE + VIDEOS) finale: A flood Caracas with Chavez! By: Aporrea.org-City CCS / VTV / TeleSUR / Aporrea.org |Thursday, 4/10/2012 5:35 a.m.| [image: Caracas is prepared to give a strong support to Hugo Chavez] Caracas is prepared to give a strong support to Hugo Chavez [image: To fill all the spaces!] To fill all the spaces! Caracas, October 4 - After a march called by Chavez admirable De Sabaneta to Miraflores Caracas will now close the election campaign of the candidate of the Fatherland. Seven of the major roads Caracas plans Plenar revolutionary militancy today in support of their candidate, Hugo Chavez, as part of his election campaign closing. It is expected that a sea of people fill to capacity Bolivar avenues, Urdaneta, Baralt, Armed Forces, Mexico, and Lecuna University. Several members of Carabobo Campaign Command and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) invited Chavez supporters to participate in what they hope will be a massive concentration. *Chavez on various platforms* **The PSUV leader, Ana Elisa Osorio, said Chavez likely candidate visit various platforms that will be located at key points of the seven avenues, said while participating in the program which transmits Front D'VTV and reviewing the web site red awning. The integral of that political organization said the activity will be an unprecedented event. He said it is extremely important because if we do in Caracas proportionally what has been done inside the country, we are confident that this will cause the avalanche of votes on 7 October. With this high concentration the flagship socialist ends the last stage of his campaign that was called from Sabaneta to Miraflores. The concentration of people in support of Chavez is scheduled to begin at 10 am. From this time he feels the movement of hundreds of people in the city center and militancy movement of vehicles coming to support its candidate from various parts of the country. Come with Chavez! Streaming live video by Ustream http://www.ustream.tv/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuJ88VU_HcQfeature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5P0giFPw4Yfeature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmcxjBDbPLwfeature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfCk8bfXBQsfeature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eluz7xrn1Bkfeature=player_embedded -- This note has been viewed about 5457 times. The original source of this document is: Venezolana de Television ( http://www.vtv.gov.ve ) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Photos/Video-Venezuela:Over1 Million in the rain-Closing Campaign Rally in Caracas for Chavez
Great March in Caracas Oct 4th 2012, by Ryan Mallett-outtrim Some shortvideos of a very small part of the giagantic march in support of Chavez today as election campaigning ends. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR1hnYnInkYfeature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embeddedv=K9T2UMB6T2M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAegFq7JSwwfeature=player_embedded -- *Source URL (retrieved on 05/10/2012 - 6:08am):* http://venezuelanalysis.com/video/7317 - http://venezuelanalysis.com/images/7318 Closing Campaign Rally in Caracas By Various A selection of photos from Chavez's closing campaign rally in Caracas! See as: smaller image(s) http://venezuelanalysis.com/images/7318?b=1 | galleryhttp://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/003_ao_3652_p.jpg [image: Chavez speaks to the crowd (Laiguana)] Chavez speaks to the crowd (Laiguana) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/003_ao_3652_p.jpg [image: (VTV)] (VTV) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/229580_443374445712971_1520074686_n.jpg [image: The rally was probably the biggest in Venezuela#039;s history (laiguana)] The rally was probably the biggest in Venezuela's history (laiguana) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/001_ar_1766_p.jpg [image: Estimates place the march#039;s numbers at over a million people (laiguana)] Estimates place the march's numbers at over a million people (laiguana) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/laiguana.jpg [image: (VTV)] (VTV) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/60187_443371919046557_672687937_n.jpg [image: (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/605.jpg [image: (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/618.jpg [image: (Tamara Pearson/Venezuelanalysis.com)] (Tamara Pearson/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/tam.jpg [image: Despite the rain, people were still in high spirits... (Ryan Mallett-Outtrim)] Despite the rain, people were still in high spirits... (Ryan Mallett-Outtrim) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/ryan.jpg [image: Chavistas react to a woman holding a Capriles poster in front of her window (whilst covering her face!) (Rachael Boothroyd/Venez] Chavistas react to a woman holding a Capriles poster in front of her window (whilst covering her face!) (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/675.jpg [image: (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/703.jpg [image: Dancing! (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] Dancing! (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/707.jpg [image: (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/746.jpg [image: In case you hadn#039;t gathered, Chavistas really like dancing... (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] In case you hadn't gathered, Chavistas really like dancing... (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/749.jpg [image: and Tambor! Preferably together... (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] and Tambor! Preferably together... (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/753.jpg [image: The celebrations outside Miraflores Palace went on into the night (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] The celebrations outside Miraflores Palace went on into the night (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/777.jpg [image: (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/787.jpg [image: (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com)] (Rachael Boothroyd/Venezuelanalysis.com) .http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2012/10/793.jpg Published on Oct 5th 2012 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe:
[LAAMN] Lies, half truths and bias - the world’s media and the Venezuelan election
http://www.marxist.com/lies-half-truths-and-bias-the-worlds-media-and-venezuelan-elections.htm Lies, half truths and bias - the worlds media and the Venezuelan election http://www.marxist.com/lies-half-truths-and-bias-the-worlds-media-and-venezuelan-elections.htm Written by Jorge Martin - Hands off Venezuela Friday, 05 October 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/lies-half-truths-and-bias-the-worlds-media-and-venezuelan-elections/print.htm[image: E-mail]http://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,4b4fab6908eae636d3f7512118e212f559584213/tmpl,component/ *Once again there has been a remarkably well coordinated campaign of disinformation regarding the Venezuelan presidential elections on Sunday October 7.* [image: Chavez rally]The whole of the worlds media has more or less followed the same script: A tired, sick autocratic caudillo (military dictator), Chavez, is facing the young, dynamic, democratic, centre-left candidate of the united opposition. While Chavez is squandering the countrys oil money, Capriles would maintain the social programs but bring efficiency to them. While there is no scope for fraud, the campaign has not been free and fair. Chavez commands hysterical support from the mobs in few big rallies, while Capriles has criss-crossed the country getting his message across to a population thirsty for change. The opinion polls are allegedly showing a technical draw, while some in the last week have shown Capriles to be ahead. Capriles supporters have faced violence from the chavista mob, but the opposition candidate has kept his cool. Chavez has threatened civil war if he loses, while Capriles is the candidate of peace. Every single one of these sentences, which are taken literally from the appalling media coverage of the Venezuelan elections, is either completely false (a straight lie), extremely one-sided, or a biased comment passing as information. [image: chavezdemooct2012]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/venezuela/chavezdemooct2012.jpgThe autocratic caudillo (The Economist headline was The Autocrat and the Ballot Box) has been elected and ratified in over a dozen electoral contests in the last 14 years. The young centre-left democratic and dynamic candidate of the opposition participated in the April 2002 coup against democracy (as did all of the parties in his MUD coalition), fainted twice at the beginning of the campaign, and when elected governor of Miranda launched an assault on the very social programs he know claims to support. He is not even really that young, at 40 years of age. Several journalists from state-owned and community media have been assaulted at meetings of the democratic and peaceful opposition, though you will not hear about that in the worlds leading newspapers. Of the 18 opinion polls carried out in September, 14 give Chavez as a victor and his average lead is 12 percentage points over Capriles (UK Academics Call for End to Media Misrepresentation about Polls in Venezuelas Electionfile:///C:%255CUsers%255CNiklas%255CDownloads%255CUK%2520Academics%2520Call%2520for%2520End%2520to%2520Media%2520Misrepresentation%2520about%2520Polls%2520in%2520Venezuela%25E2%2580%2599s%2520Election). How this can be presented as a technical draw is anybodys guess. When Chavez said that the real plan of the opposition (as revealed by a number of high profile opposition figures) was a neoliberal austerity package and that its implementation would lead to a civil war he was just basing himself on the historical precedent of the Caracazo uprising in 1989. The media decided to present the comment as Chavez threatens civil war if he loses election. El Pais in Spain has been particularly vicious in its attacks on Chavez whom they describe as a Mesiah, a TV preacher and a rock star. It even offered an open editorial space to Capriles to explain his program (Quiero hablares del futurohttp://elpais.com/elpais/2012/09/26/opinion/1348661136_431785.html). We wonder whether the same space was offered to the other candidate, in the interest of fairness and balance. Somehow I fear that was not the case. We should not be surprised though, as this is the paper which on April 13, 2002 showed its true colours with an editorial comment in favour of the oligarchic coup which briefly removed president Chavez (Golpe a un caudillohttp://elpais.com/diario/2002/04/13/opinion/1018648802_850215.html ). A special prize must go to The Independent in Britain who, on the day after the huge final election rally of Chavez (which filled 7 enormous avenues in Caracas), had the headline Chavez finally meets his matchhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hugo-chavez-finally-meets-his-match-8198404.html, illustrated with pictures of Henrique Capriles and not a single reference to Chavezs rally. This is the same paper that on August 16 2004 announced Chavez was losing his grip on power as mid-morning polls showed him losing the recall referendum
[LAAMN] Lal Khan-Venezuelan Revolution at Cross roads
*Just to remind people, the Venezuela Consejo Nacional Electoral/CNE( ** http://www.cne.gov.ve/web/index.php* http://www.cne.gov.ve/web/index.php* ) is official numbers people should pay attention to today( we should hear officially by late tonight), there will be lots of rumors, both sides are tense and many rumors of a Plan B from both and rain is in forecast most of the day all over the country...* ** *Cort * *Venezuelan Revolution at Cross roads*http://www.marxist.com/venezuelan-revolution-at-cross-roads-oct-2012.htm * * Written by Lal Khan Saturday, 06 October 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/venezuelan-revolution-at-cross-roads-oct-2012/print.htm# *The elections being held today, October 7, 2012, in Venezuela are of immense historical significance. The results of this election will have a crucial impact not just in Venezuela and Latin America but far beyond its frontiers, on the consciousness of the masses and the dynamics of the class struggle. It is neither an accident nor a coincidence that there has been an enormous interest and attention in the outcome of these polls by the experts and strategists of the western imperialist world ruling elites and its media.* [image: elecciones2012]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/venezuela/elecciones2012.jpgChavez has been called a dictator, tyrant, authoritarian, narco, anti-American terrorist. They have portrayed the image of Venezuela as one of violence, insecurity, crime, corruption and chaos, failing to mention the incredible achievements and social advances during the last decade, or the causes of the social inequalities left behind from previous governments. These scathing attacks on Hugo Chavez are not without a reason. They are terrified of a Bolivarian victory. The rhetorical attacks on Iran, North Korea, Islamic fundamentalism and so on are a different ball game. In fact the imperialist and the Venezuelan oligarchies are fervently campaigning for the joint opposition (forged by the imperialists and their agents) candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski to win this presidential election. The imperialist support for this right wing candidate is for the very clear interests of the resumption of unhindered imperialist plunder and the intensification of capitalist exploitation. The imperialist support was plainly spelt out by Robert Zoellick, the outgoing President of the World Bank, when he said in June this year, Chavezs days are numbered. A Capriles victory was an opportunity to make the Western Hemisphere the first democratic hemisphere. This is in spite of the fact that Chavez has won eight elections and referendums during his almost fourteen year term which were endorsed even by so called neutral American observers including the Jimmy Carter foundation. But imperialism and their strategists have a simple definition of democracy: does a government do what they want it to do?- in other words the freedom of free market enterprises and unfettered access for corporate capital to unrestricted exploitation in order to amass colossal rates of profit. Capriles stands exactly for these policies. He describes himself as a political centrist who looks to the left, but this is mere rhetoric coming from a man who belongs to one of the wealthiest families in Venezuela and whose programme of privatisation, austerity and neoliberalism will return the country to the poverty and stagnation of the lost decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Capriles and the right wing oppositions subservience to big oil companies and imperialism will mean a return to the plunder of Venezuelas huge oil reserves as in the past. This is evident from the massive financing of Capriles campaign by these vested interests as well as plans to sabotage the elections. His political record includes support for the 2002 anti-Chávez coup and an attack on the Cuban Embassy during the 2002 coup that toppled Chavez for a few days. This military coup was covertly supported by US imperialism and the present opposition which is now masquerading as democrats. Capriles has announced a foreign policy of appeasement to imperialism and to cold shoulder the relations with the left governments in Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and other governments elected in the wake of a rising tide of class struggle in Latin America. But the masses are not so naive. They can see the ugly physiognomy of the oligarchy that lies concealed behind the smiling mask. Chavez was a colonel in the military commandos in the 1980s. In fact he took part in a military operation against a guerrilla campaign in the mountains launched by the communist party at the time. One of leaders of the communist fighters was comrade Maria Leon who later became a senior minister in the Chavez government after the 2002 coup. That was a unique rendezvous. When Chavez was elected in 1998, he was not a socialist. But when he tried to carry out the capitalist revolution, he was astonished to find that the biggest hostility to the
[LAAMN] 90% percent vote in Chavez wins 54%
90% percent vote in Chavez wins 54% Capriles 44% [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Venezuela: the masses defend revolutionary gains – time to move to socialism
http://www.marxist.com/venezuela-chaves-victory-oct-2012.htm Venezuela: the masses defend revolutionary gains time to move to socialism http://www.marxist.com/venezuela-chaves-victory-oct-2012.htm Written by Jorge Martin Monday, 08 October 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/venezuela-chaves-victory-oct-2012/print.htm# *Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has won, yet again, the presidential elections on Sunday October 7, with a comfortable margin of 54.84% against the 44.55% of his opponent Henrique Capriles. This is another victory for the Bolivarian revolution which should be used in order to carry out the revolution to the end.* *[image: chavez-masses]*http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/venezuela/chavez-masses.jpg *With over 95% of all votes counted, Chavez received 7,860,982 votes, and the candidate of the oligarchy and imperialism 6,386,155 votes. The turnout was an amazing 81%, beating even the previous record of the 2006 presidential elections which saw a 74% turn out*. This showed the extremely polarised nature of this campaign, in which both camps mobilised all of their supporters. One of the main features of the election day was precisely the massive level of participation. The Bolivarian campaign had made an appeal for people to wake up early in order to vote, so as to achieve such a clear result which would pre-empt any attempts of the reactionary opposition to cry fraud. A comrade from Venezuela reported how some started to queue outside polling stations even the night before. At 3 am the *chavista *wake up call could be heard in working class and poor neighbourhoods in Caracas and throughout the country. By the time polling stations opened at 6 am, there were already long queues of people waiting to cast their vote, and the situation continued during the day. At 6 pm, polling stations were supposed to close, but Venezuelan election rules say that as long as there are people waiting to exercise their democratic right to vote, polling stations should remain open. This was the case yesterday, with some polling stations remaining open until 8.30, two and half hours after the established time. By then it was already clear that the counterrevolutionary opposition was becoming nervous. Capriles asked for all polling stations to be shut by 6.01 pm. The reason was clear: in the upper class areas of Caracas the polling stations were deserted, while in the working class and poor areas hundreds were still queuing up to vote. There was a report, for instance, of a polling station in Antímano, Caracas (which voted 75% for Chavez), where 75% had already voted, but there were still 800 people waiting in the queue. In general the turn out in the more working class areas where Chavez got his biggest vote, was between 3 and 5% higher than in the upper middle class and upper class areas where Capriles won. Even before the official closing time of the election, the opposition was already preparing a campaign of dirty tricks. Rumours were deliberately spread about so-called exit polls which gave Capriles an advantage over Chavez's, in some cases of even 10 percentage points. These were aimed at creating the impression that Capriles was winning and thus make any official results showing a Chavez victory doubtful. Scandalously the Spanish right wing newspaper ABC published a huge headline on their website announcing: First exit poll shows Capriles victory. This was the continuation of a continued barrage of propaganda in the last few months which we have analysed elsewhere. On election day itself, the liberal El País in Spain, one of the most vociferous in its support for Capriles, published an editorial under the title of More than a vote Venezuelans are choosing between two antagonistic social models. It then described the election as a plebiscite over the continuation of the president's autocratic regime a model of government based on personal charisma and the perversion of democracy. In its Monday edition (printed before the results were announced), it continued in the same vein: two opposite political projects are confronted: the hegemony of populist *caudillismo *or the recovery of liberal democracy. The most trustworthy opinion polls show a technical draw. The Venezuelan presidential election was indeed the choice between two models. Although the campaign of Chavez started on a very soft line Chavez is the heart of Venezuela, it then became more radical and was filled with a clear class content. In the last few weeks Chavez concentrated in denouncing a document written by a number of economic advisors to the Capriles campaign revealing their real plan. The document was basically a massive austerity package, including cuts in social spending, attacks on pensions and labour rights, etc. Chavez correctly warned that the implementation of such a plan would lead to civil war (as happened in 1989 when Carlos Andres Perez implemented an IMF package of cuts). In his huge
[LAAMN] Election Diary, Venezuela-The Ballot and the Bullet
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/08/the-ballot-and-the-bullet/ October 08, 2012 http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/08/the-ballot-and-the-bullet/print Share on facebookhttp://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/08/the-ballot-and-the-bullet/#Share on twitterhttp://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/08/the-ballot-and-the-bullet/#Share on googlehttp://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250winname=addthispub=ra-4f60e2397d05b897source=tbx-250lng=en-uss=googleurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterpunch.org%2F2012%2F10%2F08%2Fthe-ballot-and-the-bullet%2Ftitle=The%20Ballot%20and%20the%20Bullet%20%C2%BB%20Counterpunch%3A%20Tells%20the%20Facts%2C%20Names%20the%20Namesate=AT-ra-4f60e2397d05b897/-/-/5073370bd52dec51/2frommenu=1uid=5073370b23531c3cct=1pre=http%3A%2F%2Fgreenhouse.economics.utah.edu%2Fpipermail%2Fmarxism%2F2012-October%2F144291.htmltt=0captcha_provider=recaptchaMore Sharing Serviceshttp://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/08/the-ballot-and-the-bullet/# 14 http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/08/the-ballot-and-the-bullet/#http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/08/the-ballot-and-the-bullet/# *Election Diary, Venezuela* The Ballot and the Bullet by GEORGE CICCARIELLO-MAHER *Caracas.* *The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie* We made the mistake of flying into Caracas as Chávez was closing his campaign in the capital, up to 3 million of his red-shirted supporters clogging seven large city streets (the opposition had crowed proudly about having merely filled the Avenida Bolivar the previous week). As we sat in traffic, the minutes stretching into hours, our *taxista *comrades triumphalism took the form of sarcasm: You see all this traffic, she insisted, pointing at the hundreds of buses and cars full of Chávez supporters hanging out windows, honking horns, and waving flags, this is the proof that the *Presidente *will be defeated. On the other side of this powerfully segregated metropolis, the tension was palpable but its source unclear. Upscale supermarkets were as clogged as the streets of the city center, but instead of the poor headed home after a triumphant march that for many sealed victory, now it was the well-heeled middle and upper classes stockpiling margarine, *harina *Pan for making * arepas*, and kilos of sugar. Many, their shopping complete, threw a few extra *bolos *at a worker to push their shopping carts up the uneven sidewalks: such is their undeniable charm. This hysteria echoes and is stoked by the opposition press domestically and internationally, and some of the fears are comical at best, as with the self-styled exile who had a hard timehttp://caracaschronicles.com/2012/10/06/what-the-set-up-pieces-cant-convey/finding a phone card in Caracas wealthiest neighborhood: *surely *the world must be rapidly approaching its end. While we expect such things from what is often dismissed as remnants of the rancid oligarchy, arguably more surprising was the coverage in the run-up to the election provided by *The Guardian*s Rory Carrollhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/02/hugo-chavez-strongmans-last-stand, who piled unsubstantiated claims upon nonsense to create a sense that the Chávez campaign was stumbling amid its patent inability to govern the country. What are they afraid of, these domestic and foreign sowers of worry and discord? A combination of an irrational, racist, and classist fear of the Chavista other, and a deeper fear of themselves: the knowledge that if anything happens after the election, it will almost certainly be their doing. For Chavistas, awareness of the possibility of an opposition Plan B is the only damper on their expectations of victory. *Preparing for a Plan B* The night before the elections, I attend a clandestine security meeting in a *barrio *of southwestern Caracas, no doubt one of many such spontaneous gatherings of revolutionaries to discuss the possible security scenarios the election might bring. The participants discuss a plan for anonymously escaping from the neighborhood in the event of a coup or local clashes, but simmering under the surface is the question of what to do if Chávez loses, knowing full well that many of the most militant collectives which dot the Venezuelan political landscape have no intention of accepting defeat. The Tupamaros arent going to sit around with their arms crossed, one suggests. This question of whether or not to recognize an opposition victory at the polls is hopelessly entangled with the certainty that no such victory is possible: as former vice president and current mayor of western Caracas put it at a press conference, Chávez will lose *cuando las ranas echan pelos*,* *when frogs grow hair. But there is also the very real and open question of whether such a massive step backward could be justified to conform to the formalities of a representative democracy that has always been viewed with suspicion by grassroots revolutionaries seeking to build a more participatory and direct form of democracy. Another rejects the mere
[LAAMN] Cuba Exhales after Venezuelan Vote
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* *Cuba Exhales after Venezuelan Vote* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On October 9, 2012 @ 11:03 am In *Features,Fernando Ravsberg,Lead Articles,Uncategorized* | *Fernando Ravsberg* http://cartasdesdecuba.com/ [1] Billboards in Cuba with photos of Chavez, whose popularity stands in third place behind Fidel and Raul Castro. Photo: Raquel Perez HAVANA TIMES Most Cubans are breathing easier this week. The victory of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela will ensure them a stable supply of oil in exchange for the work of tens of thousands of aid workers from the island who are employed in his health and education programs. The Cuban greeting to Chavez was written personally by President Raul Castro, noting that: Your decisive victory ensures the continuity of the struggle for the genuine integration of Our America. We reiterate our unwavering solidarity and support. But not everyone is happy. Dissidents and exiles see it as a curse that allows the perpetuation of socialism in Cuba. They know that the US economic embargo will never have the impact they seek as long as Havana receives that support. For the average Cuban, the equation is much simpler. The reelection of Chavez as president of Venezuela means six more years without blackouts, an adversity that everyone remembers from the 1990s, when energy shortages lasted up to eight hours a day. * The 100,000 barrels* When they began announcing the results of the Venezuelan elections, one young Cuban said: A friend from California called to congratulate me. Laughing, she said she was glad because I could keep sleeping with air conditioning. During the days before the election, many of my acquaintances distrustful of the typical triumphalism of the national media asked me what I thought would be the Venezuelan election results and the real capacity of Cuba to face a Chavez defeat. Its no secret that the country has no capacity for self-sufficiency in oil. It needs the 100,000 barrels a day that come from Venezuela, which is equivalent to the amount of foreign exchange that Cuba couldnt pay without the work of its aid workers. It also means a sigh of relief for those same Cuban professionals who go back and forth working in Venezuela earning a share of their salary in foreign currency. This allows them to bring back to the island appliances that they could never have purchased on their normal wages. *A bad memory* Chavezs victory again dispels the bad memories of the 1990s, when the blackouts were so long that people jokingly refer to *alumbrones* (brief periods when the lights were actually *on*). Those were exceedingly difficult years for most Cubans given everything they entailed. Masses were even held in the Havana Cathedral for the health of Hugo Chavez, who was afflicted with cancer and treated by Cuban doctors. The lack of electricity meant no air conditioning or even a fan to cool the hot tropical nights. People camped out on rooftops and sleepless mothers spent their evenings fanning their children to cool them down and to keep the mosquitoes away. Nor was it possible to enjoy a shower, because in most homes and buildings water was pumped using electric motors. What people had for drinking was served at room temperature, and food rotted in refrigerators that couldnt keep things cold. Currently the situation would be even worse, because back in those days, cooking was done using natural gas, kerosene and firewood; but since the Energy Revolution, a lot of the appliances that used those old energy sources were changed for ones that use electricity. *A common strategy* Cuba is trying to diversify its international relations, but still no country or group of countries can replace Caracas. In selling its services abroad, Venezuela absorbs 40,000 Cuban aid workers, while all of Africa contracts only 5,000. But the Venezuela of Chavez is not solely interested in Cuba in the economic field. The Venezuelan government also has a political commitment to regional integration projects in Latin America, which includes Havana and excludes its main enemy: the United States. Petroleum policies of Caracas that are supportive of the continent have allowed it to create a community of leftist ALBA states among which Cuba moves like a fish in water and to also push for broader and more diverse formations such as UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations) and CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States). In fact, relations with Venezuela give Havana a greater presence on the continent thanks to programs such as the Operacion Milagro eye surgery program and the Yo si puedo literacy method, funded by Venezuela while implemented by Cuban aid workers. -- Article printed from Havana Times.org: *http://www.havanatimes.org* URL to article: *http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=79973* URLs in this post: [1] *Fernando Ravsberg*:
[LAAMN] South Africa Strikes continue about to go Nationwide
*3,600 sacked as S. Africa labour unrest deepens* By by Andrew Beatty (AFP) 7 hours ago JOHANNESBURG Close to 3,600 strikers were sacked at South African mines on Tuesday in the latest wave of mass lay-offs to rock Africa's largest economy. Two mining firms said they had fired the workers for taking part in illegal work stoppages. Platinum miner Atlatsa said 2,161 miners had been given until the end of business on Wednesday to appeal their dismissal. Meanwhile Gold One sacked 1,435 people -- more than 75 percent of its workforce -- at a gold and uranium mine near Johannesburg Both wildcat strikes have run since October 1. Amid rising anger at South Africa's failure to tackle vast income gaps that plague the country 18 years after the end of Apartheid, scores of miners, truckers and other workers have downed tools unilaterally, demanding higher pay. While a handful of mine owners have acquiesced to demands for higher pay and better working and living conditions, others have taken a tougher line. Last week mining powerhouse Anglo American announced it had sacked 12,000 workers at its platinum mine in Rustenburg in the north of the country. On Tuesday Gold One -- a mid-sized mining group partially owned by the China-Africa Development Fund -- said the workers had until Thursday to appeal their dismissal. Dismissed employees have been informed of their right to appeal their dismissal, it said. The South African Police Service is maintaining a strong presence at the operation to ensure that there are no acts of intimidation or violence. Currently only essential services are continuing. While mass sackings have been used in the past in South Africa as a means of gaining negotiating leverage, after months of sometimes deadly labour unrest that could prove a risky gambit today. Over 50 people are thought to have died since the start of August in strike-related violence, which threatens to derail South Africa's already weak economic growth. South African bosses suspend 15,000 gold miners over wildcat strike [image: South African bosses suspend 15,000 gold miners over wildcat strike] http://libcom.org/files/images/blog/photo_1347269945007-1-0.jpg In the South African region of West Rand, Gold Fields, one of the worlds largest producers of gold have suspended 15,000 miners who yesterday took unofficial strike action, and are currently seeking a court injunction to bring the strike to an end. Reasons for the strike are not 100% clear; however, it is believed that dissatisfaction with local NUM branch leadership, and demands for improved pay are the main causes of the dispute. Throughout the mining disputes across South Africa, workers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the approach of the NUM to negotiating with the bosses. Workers rejection of the NUM is likely to escalate, as it has emerged that senior NUM leaders are earning salaries equivalent to those of union barons in the UK, despite the wages of the rank and file being significantly lower. There are also several former NUM leaders who sit on the board of directors at Lonmin. The NUM invest significant amounts of union subs into a variety of companies. There has been an allegation by the new mineworkers union (AMCU) that the NUM have been investing monies into the mine companies themselves, hence their refusal to fight for miners interests. This allegation is unproven at the moment. Elsewhere, workers at Lonmin platinum mine have failed to show up for yet another week. Business consultants that Lonmin brought in following the crash of their share prices has gone on record saying that Lonmin need to start closing mines. The dispute across South Africas gold and platinum mines has no end in sight. The more that the corrupt NUM leadership cosy up to the bosses and the gangsters who run the ANC, the more the workers are going to take matters into their own hands. Solidarity comrades! South Africa Shows Europe How Anti-Austerity Protests Are Done [image: Tyler Durden's picture]http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden Submitted by Tyler Durden http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden on 10/08/2012 21:33 -0400 While we have grown 'used' to hearing of protests in several European peripheral nations, South Africa has turned the anti-austerity protest amplifier to 11 in recent days. From the Lonmin massacrehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/workers-shot-another-south-african-gold-mine-miner-strike-spreadsand subsequent wage increasehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/lonmins-south-african-miners-get-22-wage-increase-end-striketo the truck-drivers' strike and Amplats firing of 12,000 workershttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-05/amplats-refuses-follow-lonmins-footsteps-fires-12000-striking-south-african-workers, Reuters is reportinghttp://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE89702820121008?sp=truethat South Africa's local government worker's union has now said it will join a nationwide strike amid the labor unrest in
[LAAMN] Pakistan:IMT sympathiser shot in Swat Red Flags in Taliban Territory
Pakistan: National Marxist Youth School Summer 2012 - Red Flags in Taliban Territoryhttp://www.marxist.com/pakistan-national-marxist-youth-school-in-swat.htm Written by Imran Kamyana Wednesday, 10 October 2012 [image: Pakistan: National Marxist Youth School Summer 2012 - Red Flags in Taliban Territory]Swat is a place known for religious extremism and the Taliban. A war has been going on between the Pakistan Army and the draconian religious fanatics it itself created and nourished just two years ago. During all those months of warthe Marxists not only exposed the reality of the Islamic fundamentalists and their connections with the Pakistani state but also organized the local masses against this evil nexus. Many comrades themselves became victims of this religious terrorism including one comrade who was shot and had eight bullets in himfrom a G-3 rifle. Only his will power and hatred against the cruelty of the state and the Taliban kept him alive. To read more go to the url: http://www.marxist.com/pakistan-national-marxist-youth-school-in-swat.htm http://www.marxist.com/imt-sympathiser-shot-in-swat.htm IMT sympathiser shot in Swat - Barbarism must not prevail!http://www.marxist.com/imt-sympathiser-shot-in-swat.htm Written by Alan Woods Wednesday, 10 October 2012 | Print | http://www.marxist.com/imt-sympathiser-shot-in-swat/print.htm# The suffering of the people of Pakistan is largely unknown in the West. A veil of silence has been carefully drawn over the number of people killed every day by American drones and Taliban murders. But recently a small corner of the curtain was raised as the result of a particularly appalling event. [image: Malala Yousafzai shot]Malala YousafzaiYesterday Malala Yousafzai was brutally shot by gunmen as she was returning home from school. Masked assassins stepped onto a bus filled with terrified children, identified her, and shot her at point blank range in the head and neck. Who are these men who wage war on defenceless schoolgirls? We know who they are because they have already admitted their guilt. The cowardly murderers who perpetrated this vile deed feel no need to hide away from public opinion. They feel no shame, for they are utterly shameless. The Pakistan Taliban has claimed responsibility for this act of bloodthirsty savagery. What crime did this fourteen year-old girl commit that could justify the taking of her life? Was she a friend of American imperialism? Did she support the occupation of Afghanistan? Was she on the side of the Pakistan government and its army? No, she was none of those things. On the contrary, Malala was on the side of the oppressed people of Pakistan and Afghanistan and every other country. She was an enemy of imperialism, landlordism and capitalism. She stood for the cause of freedom, progress and socialism. And for that they have tried to take her young and innocent life. Swat laid waste Perhaps nowhere has the sufferings of the people of Pakistan been greater than in the mountainous area known as Swat. The Swat valley is a picturesque place that was famed for its music and tolerance. It used to be a favourite holiday and honeymoon destination. Now it has been laid waste by a war characterised by the utmost savagery on all sides. Because of its proximity with Afghanistan, this beautiful region has been plunged into a bloody war, in which the Pakistan army, the Taliban and US imperialism have vied with each other to win domination. First the Taliban seized control. They made life a hell for the people of Swat, forcing men to grow beards, beheading their opponents, imposing sharia law and other reactionary measures to keep the masses in a state of ignorance and illiteracy in which they would be more easily dominated by the mullahs and religious fanatics. In one incident the Taliban killed 14 people in one village and hanged their bodies from the trees as a warning. Only two people dared to bury the bodies. Later they began to organize resistance to the terrorists and they are now members of the IMT. Despite all the difficulties and dangers, the comrades of the International Marxist Tendency in Swat organized a very successful Marxist School this summerhttp://www.marxist.com/pakistan-national-marxist-youth-school-in-swat.htm, from July 13th to July 15th. The school was attended by more than 225 comrades from all over the country. Even some soldiers were present. Also present was comrade Malala Yousafzai, who spoke in the debates. She was full of confidence and enthusiasm in the just cause for which she was fighting. Now, not three months later, she is fighting for her life in an intensive care ward in a Peshawar hospital, with a bullet lodged close to her brain. Reactionary nature of the Taliban There are those in the West who consider themselves lefts who think it is right to support the Taliban, allegedly because they are fighting imperialism. Here we have ignorance and cynicism combined in equal proportions. The
[LAAMN] PSUV Announces Candidates for Venezuelan Regional Elections, Some Criticism
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] PSUV Announces Candidates for Venezuelan Regional Elections, Some Criticism Oct 12th 2012, by Rachael Boothroyd [image: PSUV Vice-President, Diosdado Cabello, announced the nominations on Wednesday (YVKE)] PSUV Vice-President, Diosdado Cabello, announced the nominations on Wednesday (YVKE) Caracas, October 11th 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's political party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), has announced its 23 candidates for the up and coming state governor elections, due to be held on 16 December. The nominations were officially announced in a live press-conference by PSUV Vice-president Diosdado Cabello and include 9 current PSUV governors and 3 government ministers, including Minister of Justice and Domestic Affairs, Tareck El-Aissami, who will stand in Aragua and Indigenous Affairs Minister, Nicia Maldonado, who will stand in Amazonas. Current Minister of Communes and Popular Power, Isis Ochoa, will stand in Lara. Before making the announcements Cabello stated that this might not satisfy some sectors, but there it is. Here are the names that we are putting forward for this struggle. Whilst the PSUV incumbents in some states such as Falcon's Stella Lugo and Bolivar state's Rangel Gomez will be candidates again this time round, other states will witness new contenders. One of the main reshuffles of the Chavez government was the replacement of current Vice-President of Venezuela, Elias Jaua, by Foreign Affairs Minister, Nicolas Maduro, who will take up the vice-presidency as of next week. Jaua will now stand for governor of Miranda state, currently held by former opposition contender for the presidency, Capriles Radonski. Capriles lost to Chavez in last Sunday's presidential elections by 11.11% and will stand again for the state governor position. Registering his candidacy for the state earlier today, Capriles stated that the opposition had lost one match, but for the next match, everyone can be clear that the deceitful and cunning (government) will not be returning to Miranda. Although Chavez won a majority in 22 out of Venezuela's 24 regional states in the presidential elections, including Miranda, the contest for some state governor positions is expected to be tightly fought, with various states only secured by a small margin. In the 2008 regional state elections the PSUV won 17 of the 22 governorships up for election that year. Both the government and the opposition have received some criticism for their nominations, with Venezuelan news site YVKE reporting that Capriles has registered as the candidate for Miranda in spite of the fact that the MUD's official primary elections in February saw Carlos Oscariz nominated for the post. *Some Chavez supporters have also reacted negatively to the PSUVs selections.* *The big question is what the hell do we do with these candidates for provincial government, said Caracas-based community activist, Gustavo Borges, on a social networking site.* *Do we block them, do we vote for them, do we get mad, do we keep the (electoral) map red, very red, do we fold our arms, or keep fighting? he continued.* *Similar reactions were also posted on the revolutionary women with Chavez facebook page. In Bolivar they have to review Henry Rangel Gomez, the Chavista working class are not happy with him at all, said one man on the page.* *Rangel Gomez has been subject to criticism from many workers' collectives in the industrial Guayana region, who accuse him of trying to sabotage projects aimed at implementing workers control. Andres Velasquez of the Radical Cause Party, (LCR) which enjoyed substantial working class support in the Guayana region in the 1980s will also stand in Bolivar, where he previously served as governor in 1989. The LCR is currently allied with the Venezuelan opposition.* *Many people on the Facebook forum also exhorted other members to vote for the peoples candidates on the day and not for personal tastes, but other remain unconvinced. Several said that they trusted Chavez's judgement. * If the commander decided to put them there then he will evaluate our political strategy, but as we should be self-critical I think that the revolutionary people should throw themselves into voting for these candidates in the same way as they did for the presidential elections. The problem will be the mayoralties, there isn't good local management. We have to give more power to the people and not sabotage ourselves, said another woman. *The pro-government coalition of political parties and social movements, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), has taken a mixed reaction to the PSUVs nominations, supporting some, and having reservations about others. According to a representative of the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV), Yul Jabour, the PSUV took into account a list of GPP suggestions of possible state governor candidates for some, but not all, of its
[LAAMN] audio-The Harvey Goldberg Lectures- History of Social Movements
I was lucky enough to have studied, sat-in on his classes on the History of Social Movements in the Humanities bulding rm.3650 for many years (standing room only most times 500 people +) , worked on some of the same projects he did and on a few occasions late at night while I was cook at Dolly's in Madison and other venues to converse with him on about Lenin, Trotsky, the October revolution and Rosa Luxemburg, which were his most famous lectures in my view... Cort http://brechtforum.org/harvey-goldberg-lectures Harvey Goldberg Lectures Between 1975 1983 These recordings were made by students in various classes taught by Harvey Goldberg at the University of Wisconsin. So extraordinary was Harvey as a teacher that, after word got around, his lectures were attended by standing-room-only throngs of hundreds of students. Agriculture Hall, which sat some 600, became his venues from the 60s until 1987 when he died of cancer. He taught history so that students could use it to change the world, which is what a lot of them went on to do. Goldberg taught an estimated 25,000 students in his career and supervised 99 Ph.D. dissertations. He was likely the most influential teacher of his generation, so beloved that his students and friends organized a foundation at UW to continue his work and then took the step to raise funds to dedicate a classroom at the Brecht Forum in Harvey Goldberg's memory. [image: audio/mpeg icon]1. Rosa Luxemburg 12/1/1975http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/1.%20Rosa%20Luxemburg%2012-1-75.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]2. German Working Class Movement 12/3/1975http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/2.%20German%20Working%20Class%20Movement%2012-3-75.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]3. French Social Democrats 12/8/1975http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/3.%20French%20Social%20Democrats%2012-8-75_0.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]4. Revolutionary Syndicalism 2/2/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/4.%20Revolutionary%20Syndicalism%202-2-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]5. German Revoution - Betrayal by SPD SGT 2/4/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/5.%20German%20Revolution_%20Betrayal%20by%20SPD%20and%20SGT%202-4-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]6. Rosa Luxemburg 2/9/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/6.%20Rosa%20Luxemburg%202-9-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]7. Russian Revolution - Lenin 2/11/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/7.%20Russian%20Revolution%20-%20Lenin%202-11-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]8. Lenin Leninism 2/13/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/8.%20Lenin%20%2526%20Leninism%202-13-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]9. Russian Revolution - Socialism in One Country 2/16/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/9.%20Russian%20Revolution%20-%20Socialism%20in%20One%20Country%202-16-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]10. Collaboration of Social Democrats During WW1 2/18/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/10.%20Collaboration%20of%20Social%20Democrats%20During%20WWI%202-18-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]11. Anti-war Underground - Liebknecht 2/23/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/11.%20Anti-war%20Underground%20-%20Liebknecht%202-23-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]12. German Revolution - Rosa Luxemburg 3/3/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/12.%20German%20Revolution%20-%20Rosa%20Luxemburg%20-%203-3-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]13. German Revolution = Hindenburg 2/7/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/13.%20German%20Revolution%20-%20Hindenburg%20-%203-7-76_0.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]14. Lenin Leninism - History Project 3/10/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/14.%20Lenin%20and%20Leninism%20-%20History%20Project%203-10-76.mp3 *[image: audio/mpeg icon]**15. October Revolution 3/12/1976*http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/15.%20October%20Revolution%203-12-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]16. German Revolution 4/5/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/16.%20German%20Revolution%204-5-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]17. German revoution - Sacred Union-Corporatism 4/9/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/17.%20German%20Revolution%20-%20Sacred%20Union%20-%20Corporatism%204-9-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]18. American Imperialism - The Windfall of WWII 9/10/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/18%2C%20American%20Imperialism-%20The%20Windfall%20of%20WWII%209-10-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]19. Lend Lease - Iran-Juwait 9/13/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/19.%20Lend%20Lease-%20Iran-Kuwait-Iran%209-13-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]20. Resistance Movement of WWII 9/15/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/20.%20Resistance%20Movement%20of%20WWII%209-15-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg icon]21. American Soviet Sellout of Italian Resistance 9/17/1976http://brechtforum.org/system/files/audio/21.%20American%20and%20Soviet%20Sellout%20of%20Italian%20Resistance%209-17-76.mp3 [image: audio/mpeg
[LAAMN] New Documents Show US Military Estimated Invasion of Cuba Would Cost 18,500 US Casualties
Please click on url to view other documents mention article if they show up: http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/new-documents-show-us-military-estimated-invasion-of-cuba-would-cost-18500-us-casualties-assuming-the-cubans-wouldnt-take-the-foolhardy-stem-of-using-nukes/ New Documents Show US Military Estimated Invasion of Cuba Would Cost 18,500 US Casualties . Assuming the Cubans Wouldnt Take the Foolhardy Step of Using Nukes. October 16, 2012 tags: Castro http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/castro/, chairman of the joint chiefshttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs/, Cuban Missile Crisishttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/cuban-missile-crisis/, fidel castro http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/fidel-castro/, JFKhttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/jfk/, kennedy presidential libraryhttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/kennedy-presidential-library/, National Security Archivehttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/national-security-archive/, RFK http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/rfk/, tactical nuclear weaponshttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/tactical-nuclear-weapons/ by Nate Jones http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/author/natebjones/ To commemorate the Fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, The National Security Archive has posted a slew of newly declassified documents. Perhaps the most jarring of these here is the NY Timess summaryhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/americas/generals-1962-memo-addresses-nuclear-combat-on-cuba.html?ref=opinion is a formerly Top Secret memohttp://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB397/written on 2 October 1962 by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell Taylor, assessing that the US could likely invade Cuba at a cost of an estimated 18,500 casualties assuming the Cubans did not take the foolhardy step of launching nuclear weapons. http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/cmc1.jpg A Foolhardy step indeed. Earlier this week, the Archives Peter Kornbluh also posted newly declassified documents http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB395/from Robert F. Kennedys Cuban Missile Crisis files held by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. These include a draft letter to Fidel Castro, RFKs sketch of the seating arrangements during the first ExComm meeting, as well as his list of hawks (who favored force) and doves (who favored diplomacy). http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB395/ http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/cmc2.jpg Wonder if one of these exists for the Geronimo watch party? http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/cmc3.jpg Finally, the Archives Svetlana Savranskaya has posted documentshttp://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB395/(and published a bookhttp://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Cuban-Missile-Crisis-International/dp/0804762015/ref=sr_1_2?s=booksie=UTF8qid=1349903479sr=1-2) examining the Cuban Missile Crisis from the Soviet side. The Soviet documents from the Anastas Mikoyan Archive, include the minutes to the four-hour November 1962 conversationhttp://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB393/docs/Mikoyan%20Castro%20memcon%2011%2022%2062.pdfin which the Old Bolshevik Mikoyan told Fidel Castro that the Soviets would also be removing their tactical nuclear weapons from Cuban territory. Fidel responded by pleading to keep the offensive weapons (Maybe we could use them to defend our commercial fishing ships?), and blaming the entire Missile Crisis on the Soviets (Obviously, the Soviet military specialists did not undertake all necessary measures to camouflage the missiles). How do these revelations make you feel about the 4,000-plus operational nuclear weaponshttp://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/nuclearweapons/nukestatus.htmlstill stationed around the globe? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to:
[LAAMN] Cuba Allows Citizens to Travel Abroad
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* *Cuba Allows Citizens to Travel Abroad* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On October 16, 2012 @ 7:25 am In *Features,Lead Articles,Updates* | Cubans have complained for decades of their inability to travel abroad without a costly and often difficult to obtain exit permit. Photo: Caridad HAVANA TIMES Cuba will allow citizens to travel abroad without first obtaining exit permits, a key and long awaited reform of President Raul Castro reported DPA news. Beginning January 14, 2013, Cubans will be able to leave the island with only a valid passport and visa from the country of destination, the Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday. The long-awaited immigration reform eliminates the presentation of a letter of invitation and the processing of the carte blanche (exist permit) needed by Cubans for decades to leave the country. At the same time, the Cuban government announced it would take unspecified steps to preserve the human capital created by the revolution. The reform also extends permission to stay abroad from 11 to 24 months. Cubans who already have exit visas in their passports may leave the country without a new process, the statement said. Current immigration laws also prohibit Cubans uninterrupted stay abroad under penalty of losing their property on the island and the possibility of return. In mid-2011, Raul Castros government announced immigration reform as part of a series of profound economic adjustments to update the Cuban model with market elements. The new immigration measures are inscribed in the irreversible process of the normalization of relations of emigrants with their country, said an editorial in the official *Granma* newspaper, published in its online version. The travel ban has caused serious crisis with US immigration over the last half century, such as the wave of *balseros* (rafters) in 1994, and the Mariel exodus in 1980 (when the Cuban government allowed exiles to temporarily boat-lift their relatives from that port). While distributed in many countries, the vast majority of Cuban emigrants live in the United States. Havana accuses Washington of encouraging illegal immigration with its admission policy for Cuban refugees (the Cuban Adjustment Act and its so-called dry foot, wet foot policy), which automatically give Cubans who reach US territory a fast-track to permanent residency. The updated immigration policy takes into account the states right to defend itself against the interventionist and subversive plans of the US government and its allies, the Cuban government said in its statement today. For this reason, measures shall be maintained to preserve the human capital created by the revolution, in the face from talent theft by the powerful nations, it added. Its estimated that Havana will continue to impose restrictions on the outflow of professionals such as doctors to prevent a mass exodus. It also remains unclear whether the measure will allow temporary travel abroad for political dissidents like blogger Yoani Sanchez, who has been denied exit visas on 20 occasions *See the immigration reform texthttp://www.cubadebate.cu/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ley-migratoria_cuba_2012.pdf [1] in the Gaceta Oficial (in Spanish).* -- Article printed from Havana Times.org: *http://www.havanatimes.org* URL to article: *http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=80347* URLs in this post: [1] immigration reform text: * http://www.cubadebate.cu/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ley-migratoria_cuba_2012.pdf * [2] Image: *http://www.linkwithin.com/* - *Havana One-Ups Washington on Travel* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On October 16, 2012 @ 1:04 pm In *Opinion,Recent Posts* | *Can Obama and Romney Avoid the Issue?* http://www.havanatimes.org/?attachment_id=80367 [1] Photo:Caridad *B**y** John McAuliff * * HAVANA TIMES Cubas welcome announcement of the end of the exit visa travel restriction poses two challenges to the Obama Administration: 1) Political: Cuba is giving its citizens more freedom to travel to the US than the US gives its citizens to travel to Cuba. The White House should respond by using its power to allow all non tourist travel to Cuba without applying for a license, our equivalent of the White Card. It must also press Congress to abolish all travel restrictions. 2) Legal: The Cuban Adjustment Act and wet foot dry foot policy must be suspended and repealed. With Cubans free to travel to Mexico and Canada, step across the border economic migration will become a bigger problem. I wonder whether this increases the likelihood of Cuba coming up during next Mondays Presidential debate in Florida on foreign policy . A general question will produce similar anti-regime boilerplate from both candidates. The glaring contrast is on travel . *President Obama* authorized unrestricted travel and remittances for Cuban Americans and opened
[LAAMN] Venezuela:Calling for Democratisation in the PSUV
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] Calling for Democratisation in the PSUV Oct 17th 2012, by Lucha de Clases ( http://www.luchadeclases.org.ve/ ) [image: Diosdado Cabello announcing the PSUV#039;s candidates for the regional elections (YVKE Mundial).] Diosdado Cabello announcing the PSUV's candidates for the regional elections (YVKE Mundial). On 10 October, a little after 8:30pm, the vice-president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, appeared in the media announcing his partys candidates for governor in the upcoming elections. The response from the grassoots of the party was fast in coming. In all the social networks, the text messages, and in conversations with different comrades, there is a discontent with the way these candidates were chosen. What was the criteria that was taken into account in order to choose them? Has their previous management [as governors or in other positions] been evaluated correctly, and above all, do they enjoy popular support? Comrade president Hugo Chavez, when he founded the PSUV, he said that this party should be the political organisation that drives the revolution, it should bring together all revolutionary militants, in every community, factory, barrio, town, and city. Chavez talked of being shoulder to shoulder with the workers, rural workers, students, housewives, and small producers. However, unfortunately the reality in the PSUV at this time is different. Without any doubt its the PSUV that is most accepted party in Venezuelan society, all the opinion polls confirm it, and its the party with the highest amount of votes in all the elections. But, we still have to ask ourselves, is the party going in the right direction and if the choosing of candidates by the party leadership is the right policy to ensure that the party and the revolution strengthen eachother? Many comrades are really bothered by this choice, they comment that this candidate isnt admired by anyone and this candidate has never been to my community. In our opinion this form of choosing candidates doesnt strengthen the party nor the revolution, but on the contrary, it weakens it. We think that the grassroots of the party should carry out the revolution. Were militants on foot, those of us who come into contact every day with the feelings of our worker and rural comrades. They tell us what they think of all of their leaders. Who better than the rank and file militants to know how a governor or mayor has failed, who better than us to know the needs of each city, barrio, or street? *United Socialist Party of Venezuela* Despite comrade Hugo Chavezs huge efforts to create a mass party that unites the best and most advanced people and to leave behind those parties that are just used as electoral machinery; we have to say that these objectives have not been met. At the moment the party is being used as an electoral machine and not as an organisation that constantly debates the policies that the revolution should implement at each moment in time from the grassroots. It doesnt focus on the revolutionary ideas that we defend, nor discuss the programs that each state organism should follow, nor believe in our militancy and our tradition of struggle, commitment, and effort, nor discuss the methods and tactics to follow in each battle that we are faced with. Our socialist party is only active in electoral campaigns, and in a very limited way. Unfortunately its becoming a machine to make propaganda for one candidate or another, and leaving behind the objectives in which it was founded by comrade Chavez. The party should be present in every union, student, or rural worker struggle, in the communities, and also supporting and doing everything possible to help workers in other countries of the world in their battles; it should always be on the side of the poor people and the workers, always on the side of the class that is the motor of socialism. It should not just accompany the exploited classes, but rather it should be the tool used by them to wage their struggle. At the moment the leadership of the PSUV is using the method of *cooptacion*[ *Translator: roughly translatable to cooption but not the same, its when an organisation internally names its own members or leaders, without depending on external criteria- eg when Roman emperors chose their successors, or the Catholic Church chooses its popes*] to elect its candidates, but why are they using this undemocratic method for these candidates who will play such an important role in the immediate future of the revolution? Its true that the method of *cooptacion* can be a preferred one under certain conditions, such as when a party is cornered and has to work clandestinely, but this method should be understood as an exception not as a general rule. As we understand the current conditions in Venezuela, they are just right for each candidate and member of the partys leadership to be elected democratically by the
[LAAMN] Lal Khan:Waziristan’s long march to modernity
http://www.marxist.com/waziristans-long-march-to-modernity.htm Waziristans long march to modernityhttp://www.marxist.com/waziristans-long-march-to-modernity.htm Written by Lal Khan Friday, 19 October 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/waziristans-long-march-to-modernity/print.htm# *The reactions of the political elite during the recent caricature of a long march launched and abruptly ended half way by Imran Khan [a right wing populist politician and former Pakistan cricket team captain] were either hysterical or comical. The Jamaat a Islami and other religious outfits that supported it are trying to create an extreme right wing political force at the behest of the sections of the state.* The commercial mullahs and the liberal bourgeois politicians had their own axe to grind. Playing their game of exchanging insults and accusations, undermining the real issues of the oppressed masses it was business as usual for the politics of ideological and intellectual decay immersed in the froth of corruption. Their diatribes and crude allegations against Khans march were more out of jealousy and their fear of losing political ground to him. Imran proclaims it as a stupendous success with the main pretext that more than a hundred channels highlighted the plight of the people of tribal areas in the international media. Were the international community, the UN or the perpetrator of these drone attacks, US imperialism in any needof being addressed? Dont they know about the devastation and bloodshed caused by the Hellfire missiles fired by these predator reapers? US imperialism now operates more than 10,000 drones with an annual budget of $5bn making it the preferred instruments of destruction from a remote and at a safe distance in Nevada. Truth is there's profit to be made, the market for drones is already valued at $5.9bn and is expected to double in 10 years. As Chris Hedges reveals in his book *War is a force that gives us meaning*, an estimated 62 million civilians perished in the 20th century's wars. The biggest beneficiaries of the 4.4 trillion dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the military industrial complex and the media empires. The imperialist war industry needs these conflicts and bloodshed for its gargantuan rates of profits. Imran Khan said that the long march was called off, not that the military stopped them but it had made them aware of the dangers of entering Waziristan. Is he that naive that he didnt anticipate the dangers in the region before announcing and embarking upon the long march to Waziristan? Or was the army orchestrating this whole episode in their own clash of interests and bargaining with their imperialist bosses? The barbarity of the terrorist attacks killing and maiming thousands of innocent people by the Taliban with the latest brutal assassination attempt on the 14 year old girl Malala Yousafzai blatantly lays bare the bestial nature of these Islamic bigots. A cursory analysis of the last few years amply demonstrates how Pakistans security apparatus orchestrated national chauvinism and religious bias. But every time they abandoned their cherished and sacred nationalism for a fistful of dollars. The oppressed people of Waziristan are suffering from perhaps the worse form of combined and uneven development. Satellite phone arrived here without waiting for the land lines to be introduced. Planes arrived without the people ever experiencing the train or decent road transport. The most advanced weapons such as drones were used in this one of the most primitive hinterlands. Cable television came before any tapped running water reached these pre-tribal societies. Drug trade created a mafia economy before the advent of the relatively less profitable industrial enterprise. These most advanced gadgets in this wasteland have ruptured the medieval culture and traditions of the region. The obsolete social fabric on which tribal relations and structures were based upon has been ripped apart by this uneven pattern of technological and economic incursion. The black money has intruded deep down the socio economic relations of the past. Tribal loyalties, honour, etc. have become saleable commodities. But the imperialist and capitalist modernisation has failed to lift the region from its medieval backwardness. Rather it has further convoluted and perverted this medieval social and economic setup. This primitiveness has now violently struck back against this debilitated, leeching and benighted modernity with a vengeance. Capitalism is too frail and impotent to develop this region. It cannot provide a modern infrastructure, healthcare education and modernisation. The warlords, mainly mullahs exhibiting piety but indulged in heinous crimes, are obscenely rich and their wealth flourishes in the far pavilions. In a callous manner they exploit the deprived youth as raw fodder for their mercenary wars. Their ever changing allegiances are rented rather than
[LAAMN] Malala’s Lessons
Malala able to stand, write, thanks supporters: Doctors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_QQRIgUq9Ifeature=player_embedded Malalas Lessonshttp://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnamazie/2012/10/20/malalas-lesson/ October 20, 2012 at 10:30 am Maryam Namazie The shooting of the wonderfully brave Malala Yousefzai by the Pakistani Taliban has brought to the fore many of the issues that I have been banging on about for a long time. *Not all Muslims (or those labelled as Muslims) support Islamism and the likes of the Taliban.* Many of them are its first victims and at the frontlines of resistance. And because of who Malala is and what she represents, this ever-present resistance and dissent is pushing its way into mainstream consciousness and demanding to be seen and heard. The far-Right keeps asking where the Muslim voices of dissent are (and this question has become the question of the day within many circles). Of course, they ask this not because they care but because it implies that Muslims are one and the same with the vile Islamists so that the far-Right can justify its racist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim agenda. Well assholes, here they are On another related matter, what I find most ironic in all this is how the Talibans propaganda is so close to the nice, lovely, liberals and post-modernist and relativist Left who keep calling for tolerance and respect of the intolerable (as if the Islamist perspective is that of all Muslims). I personally have lost count of the amount of times I have heard these lovely people tell me that the demand for universal rights is a demand for shall we just put it in the Talibans words as they are one and the same western culture Like the far-Right, this lot sees Islamists and Muslims as one and the same but from another progressive angle. Defending Sharia law, the Islamic regime of Irans right to nuclear technology, the veil, and every other bit of misogyny and barbarity is to them an act of anti-imperialism because they see Islamism as a force of resistance against US-led militarism (when it is in fact the other side of the same coin) and a defence of Muslims from bigotry. I suppose, to justify their inhuman position, they have no choice but to see Islamism as the representative of every single Muslim no matter how many bodies pile up in prisons, in city centres, and alleyways across the Middle East, North Africa and right here in Europe. How shameful. How very sorry I feel for this lot and how angry. Because in this colossal fight against the beast of Islamism, they knowingly or inadvertently have decided to side with the beast and not the likes of Malala. Hopefully, this can be a turning point for them, though I wont be holding my breath. With or without them, the likes of Malala will bring is bringing Islamism to its knees. The fact that the Taliban has to shoot a 14 year old girl who merely wants the right for girls to go to school shows how afraid they are of her and the dissent she represents and how very potent and effective this resistance is. Not bombs, not regime change from above, not economic sanctions but people power and sheer human will and defiance. In the meanwhile, our young hero, Malala, has been able to walk with help, and has managed to converse in writing, even asking for her supporters to be thanked. Islamists and your cowardly apologists be afraid, be very afraid About the Author This is my personal blog. Any comments made by me here are my own and don't reflect the various campaigns I work on (unless of course they are attributed to those campaigns). Some of my activities include being Spokesperson of the One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Equal Rights Now - Organisation against Women's Discrimination in Iran. I work closely with Iran Solidarity, which I founded, and the International Committee against Stoning on the Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani stoning case amongst others. I am very much on the Left and am Central Committee member of the Worker-communist Party of Iran [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com
[LAAMN] Longtime Indigenous American activist Russell Means dies at 72
[image: Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee]http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/ Incident At Oglala – The Leonard Peltier Story http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/incident-at-oglala/ Leonard, Peltier, rally, Russell, Means, Fargo - YouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUl5fifMUf8 https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/http://www.youtube.com/watch%3fv%3dzul5fifmuf8?pip=falsepremium=trueclient_uid=3207531162client_ver=3.5.0.229client_type=IEPluginsuite=trueaff_id=0locale=en_usui=1os_ver=6.1.1.0 ► 10:08► 10:08https://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DzUl5fifMUf8rct=jsa=Xei=Br2FUKG7J6SCyAH5-4HwBwved=0CE4QuAIwBgq=Lenoard+peltier+on+Russell+Meansusg=AFQjCNEw5xucxpht2JPEjMxRNMkFT9JRGw https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/http://www.youtube.com/watch%253fv%253dzul5fifmuf8%26rct%3dj%26sa%3dx%26ei%3dbr2fukg7j6scyah5-4hwbw%26ved%3d0ce4quaiwbg%26q%3dlenoard%2bpeltier%2bon%2brussell%2bmeans%26usg%3dafqjcnew5xucxpht2jpejmxrnmkft9jrgw?pip=falsepremium=trueclient_uid=3207531162client_ver=3.5.0.229client_type=IEPluginsuite=trueaff_id=0locale=en_usui=1os_ver=6.1.1.0 www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUl5fifMUf8Nov 28, 2008 - 10 min - Uploaded by lpdoc08 *Russell Means* speaking at Nov. 28, 2008 rally for *Leonard Peltier* at federal courthouse in Fargo, ND where *...* Longtime Indian activist Russell Means dies at 72 - Article by: DIRK LAMMERS and KRISTI EATON - Associated Press - October 22, 2012 - 3:42 PM SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Russell Means spent a lifetime as a modern American Indian warrior. He railed against broken treaties, fought for the return of stolen land and even took up arms against the federal government. A onetime leader of the American Indian Movement, he called national attention to the plight of impoverished tribes and often lamented the waning of Indian culture. After leaving the movement in the 1980s, the handsome, braided activist was still a cultural presence, appearing in several movies. Means, who died Monday from throat cancer at age 72, helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee — a bloody confrontation that raised America's awareness about the struggles of Indians and gave rise to a wider protest movement that lasted for the rest of the decade. Before AIM, there were few national advocates for American Indians. Means was one of the first to emerge. He sought to restore Indians' pride in their culture and to challenge a government that had paid little attention to tribes in generations. He was also one of the first to urge sports teams to do away with Indian names and mascots. No one except Hollywood stars and very rich Texans wore Indian jewelry, Means said, recalling the early days of the movement. And there were dozens, if not hundreds, of athletic teams that in essence were insulting us, from grade schools to college. That's all changed. AIM was founded in the late 1960s to demand that the government honor its treaties with American Indian tribes. The movement eventually faded away, Means said, as Native Americans became more self-aware and self-determined. There were plenty of American Indian activists before AIM, but it became the radical media gorilla, said Paul DeMain, editor of News from Indian Country, a national newspaper focused on tribal affairs. If someone needed help, you called on the American Indian Movement, and they showed up and caused all kind of ruckus and looked beautiful on a 20-second clip on TV that night, DeMain said. Means and AIM co-founder Dennis Banks were charged in 1974 for their role in the Wounded Knee uprising in which hundreds of protesters occupied the town on the site of the 1890 Indian massacre. Protesters and federal authorities were locked in a standoff for 71 days and frequently exchanged gunfire. Before it was over, two tribal members were killed and a federal agent seriously wounded. After a trial that lasted several months, a judge threw out the charges on grounds of government misconduct. Other protests led by Means included an American Indian prayer vigil on top of Mount Rushmore and the seizure of a replica of the Mayflower on Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth, Mass. But Means' constant quest for the spotlight raised doubts about his motives. Critics who included many fellow tribe members said his main interest was building his own notoriety. Means said his most important accomplishment was the proposal for the Republic of Lakotah, a plan to carve out a sovereign Indian nation inside the United States. He took the idea all the way to the United Nations, even though it was ignored by tribal governments closer to home, including his own Oglala Sioux leaders, with whom he often clashed. For decades, Means was dogged by questions about whether the group promoted violence, especially the 1975 slaying of a woman in the tribe and the gun battles with federal agents at Wounded Knee. Authorities believe three AIM members shot and killed Annie Mae Aquash on the Pine Ridge reservation on the orders of someone
[LAAMN] Palestine:UN cuts Fatah calls for boycott of Qatari emir's visit,PFLP critical, PSF declines invitation
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) When the ruler of Qatar arrives in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, he will hand the Palestinian territory's Hamashttp://www.chron.com/?controllerName=searchaction=searchchannel=news%2Fworldsearch=1inlineLink=1query=%22Hamas%22rulers their biggest diplomatic victory since taking power five years ago. The first head of state to visit Hamas-controlled Gaza, the emir will deliver more than $250 million in aid, a move that will deepen the Islamic militant group's control of Gaza and which reflects the rising influence of the Muslim Brotherhoodhttp://www.chron.com/?controllerName=searchaction=searchchannel=news%2Fworldsearch=1inlineLink=1query=%22Muslim+Brotherhood%22across the region. The Brotherhood now governs Egypt, and Islamic parties have made gains elsewhere in the region since last year's popular revolts that became known as the Arab Spring. Qatar has been a key ally of the movement, which includes the Palestinian offshoot Hamas.. *Fatah calls for boycott of Qatari emir's visit* Published yesterday 22:04 [image: Font-] [image: Font+] GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Fatah on Monday called on Palestinians to boycott a visit of the Qatari emir to the Gaza Strip. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani is expected to visit Gaza on Tuesday to inaugurate reconstruction projects worth $254 million. He will be the first head of state to visit the Hamas-run enclave since Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in 2006. Fatah's office in Gaza said the visit would entrench the division between the West Bank, governed by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Looking for a political power in the region at the expense of the Palestinian people and their rights and unity is unacceptable, Fatah said in a statement, adding that aid to the Palestinian people was not a gift but a national and holy duty. Fatah said all aid to Palestinians should be channeled through the Palestine Liberation Organization and its leader President Mahmoud Abbas. It said those using Palestinian suffering for their own narrow goals should look for ways to support Palestinians to achieve their rights internationally. Earlier Monday, Fatah leader Yahya Rabah told Ma'an that Fatah had not been invited to meet Sheikh al-Thani by Qatar or Hamas. Spokesman of the Hamas-led government Taher al-Nunu insisted that Fatah had declined an invitation to attend the welcoming celebration for the emir. *Popular Struggle Front leader Mohammad al-Ziq said his party had declined an invitation from Hamas to join the welcoming ceremony. Al-Ziq said the emir's visit would further the division and legitimize the national split while the PLO was trying to win state membership of the UN. The Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine also criticized the visit. We are surprised that emir of Qatar will visit Qaza at this time, PFLP's general leadership said in a statement. This visit is serving the Israeli occupation and will enhance the geographic division between Gaza and the West Bank. PFLP said the millions of dollars donated to Gaza by Qatar would not mask the real political reasons behind his visit. * *---* * UNRWA staff to strike over cuts Published yesterday 20:17 [image: Font-] [image: Font+] BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- UNRWA staff employed in schools, clinics and offices in refugee camps across the West Bank will strike on Tuesday in protest over cutbacks in services. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is cutting health services and other emergency programs, and firing 130 employees, a spokesman for refugee camps in the West Bank said Monday. Imad Abu Ismail said in a statement that medical operations had been canceled due to a financial crisis in the UN agency. He said a general strike will be held on Tuesday and protests will continue until the austerity measures are reversed. * [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com
[LAAMN] Tribunal to investigate 1980s massacre of political prisoners in Iran
In February 1980, the Ministry of Interior issued an order banning activities of all political groups in universities and demanding that cultural activities by students must conform to the government and university regulations. Ayatollah Khomeini criticized universities for giving refuge to professors and students who were dependent on the East and West, and opposed the Islamization of universities. Clashes began by Hezbollah thugs, bookstores were closed, left wing groups terrorized and banned and the universities were closed for two years. Many communists, socialists and secularists of many tendencies were arrested and the repression began just as in the days of the Shah. *Tribunal to investigate 1980s massacre of political prisoners in Iran* *Hearings in The Hague from 25th to 27th October at the Peace Palace, home to the UN's international court of justice, aim to uncover the truth about the death of approximately 15 000 political prisoners - including many teenagers - executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran between 1981 and 1984. Founded in 2007, the Iran Tribunal is a cross between a people's truth commission and a formal legal indictment. * ** *http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/EnHome.html*http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/EnHome.html Additional links regarding the Iran Tribunal Hearings Guardian article http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl...http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/18/iran-tribunal-investigates-massacre Live stream video of the hearings can be watched on: http://www.irantribunal.com/En... Background of the Iran Tribunal Campaign in interview with Ahmad Muosavi, Leila Ghalebani and Behrouz Partow The Iran Tribunal holds Truth Commission in London Testimonies of witnesses during the Truth Commission hearings, London 18-22 June 2012 http://vimeo.com/48217722 http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/Commissioners/Report.html http://vimeo.com/album/2006255/page:1/sort:preset/format:thumbnail Press Accreditation The Hague, 25-27 October 2012 http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/Documents/Press%20Release-The%20Hague.html Hearings in London(45 Minutes)http://vimeo.com/album/2006255/video/48505289 Findings of the Truth Commissionhttp://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/PDF/Commission%20Report-p.pdfhttp://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/PDF/Commission%20Report-p.pdfhttp://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/PDF/Commission%20Report-p.pdf The outline *Latest New* The Steering Committee http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/Outline.html http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/News.html http://www.irantribunal.com/Eng/Committee.html May this Tribunal prevent *the crime of silence* ? Reflecting upon a human tragedy which took place during the 1980s in Irans prisons, when over 2 political prisoners, men and women, and numerous under aged detainees were sentenced to death by execution. The mass executions of political prisoners were carried out during this decade. The pinnacle of these crimes took place during the summer of 1988 when over 5000 political prisoners were executed in a short space of time throughout Irans prisons. For the first time in the contemporary history of Iran, the families of the victims, along with the survivors of the mass executions have initiated an international Commission/ Tribunal in order to investigate the mass genocide of Irans political prisoners. Iran Tribunal is aiming to hold the Iranian Islamic Regime accountable for its crimes against humanity. Iran Tribunal does not hold a Legal statute, but acts as a court of the people, a Tribunal of conscience, faced with injustices and violations of international law. Regrettably, such abuse and breach of international laws are ignored by the existing international jurisdictions, or that is recognized, and due to the lack of political will of the international community, perpetrators are allowed to continue with complete impunity. Iran Tribunal also aims to raise the awareness of the international community and the civil societies by exposing the horrific magnitude of this human tragedy. Iran Tribunal does not gain its legitimacy from a government or any political party. The driving force behind Iran Tribunal is the will of ordinary people complemented and supported by the clear conscience of eminent people and various professionals who are committed to the fundamental rights of those who initiated this Tribunal. Its achievements does not Give legitimacy to any government or political party for their own causes. This Tribunal should bring this human tragedy, which has been concealed and undisclosed for so long, onto the world stage. With your solidarity and through unity, we would be able to succeed in mobilising the world opinion and support behind our humanitarian cause. The Iranian regime must be held accountable for its crimes against humanity. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los
[LAAMN] Operation Urgent Fury - A Bitter Anniversary: Remembering the Invasion of Grenada
Grenada 1979-1984 KHhttp://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Grenada_KH.html As to the invasion itself ... code-named *Urgent Fury* . *...* Before long the Psychological *Operations* Battalion of the US Army was cruising over the island in a *...* www.thirdworldtraveler.com www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Grenada_KH.html Maurice Bishop and The New Jewel Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jPioYZEIcsfeature=related Maurice Bishop's Daughter Speaks - Renaming of Airport - MBIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOcWhOHOWC0feature=related A Bitter Anniversary: Remembering the Invasion of Grenada October 22, 2012 Tweet http://twitter.com/share [1] The Other Side of Paradise https://nacla.org/blog/other-side-paradise [2] The second half of October is always a time of reflection amongst progressive forces in Caribbean, but especially so in Grenada. This is because October 19 marked the 29th anniversary of the death of Maurice Bishop, the Prime Minister of the Peoples Revolutionary Government of Grenada. In addition, October 25 will mark the 29th anniversary of the invasion of Grenadawhere the United States attacked the islands population of 110,000 with 7,000 troops via land, sea, and air. [image: 1339] Photo Credit: hot97svg.com The right wing Heritage Foundation described the 1983 invasion ashttp://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1984/09/the-grenada-rescue-mission-is-not-over [3] The Reagan Administration's bold action to restore democracy and a free market economy to Grenada. Ronald Reagan himself stated thathttp://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/grenada-rescue-mission [4] no invasion; it was a rescue mission. Guyanas *Stabroek News* was more precise, calling ithttp://www.stabroeknews.com/2008/opinion/editorial/10/07/the-conquest-of-grenada-in-1983/ [5] one of the most egregious examples of asymmetrical warfare in modern times, the United States of America, the worlds most powerful state, invaded Grenada, one of the worlds weakest mini-states. Given the context of the Cold War, the United States under Reagan had been busy undermining http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/nsaebb2.htm [6] the revolutionary government in Nicaragua, aiding the right wing paramilitaries http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1891145.stm [7] in El Salvador, and destabilizinghttp://books.google.ca/books?id=-IbQvd13uToCpg=PA263lpg=PA263dq=killing+hope+jamaicasource=blots=cHv3NaDngCsig=EaJoWOvNgcr7mt2U2cUpNqqCnyQhl=ensa=Xei=EluFUK-AC6StygHYl4CwDwved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepageq=killing%20hope%20jamaicaf=false [8] the progressive government of Michael Manley in Jamaica. Reagan was also eager to score a military victory and restore the confidence that had been lost after the Vietnam War and the overthrowing of the Shah in Iran. This victory was to come at the expense of the Grenadian people, and the wider hopes of the Caribbean, in constructing a model of society based on social justice. The Grenadian Revolution began on March 13, 1979, when the New Joint Endeavor for Welfare Education and Liberation, or the New Jewel Movement, overthrew the corrupt and increasingly oppressive government of Eric Gairy. Bishop described lifehttp://books.google.ca/books?id=wmEYYAAJq=a+total+dependence+on+imperialism,+a+reality+that+meant+extreme+poverty,+characterized+by+massive+unemployment,+with+more+than+half+of+the+work+force+out+of+work,+high+malnutrition,+illiteracy,+backwardness,+s [9] under Gairy as one of a total dependence on imperialism, a reality that meant extreme poverty, characterized by massive unemployment, with more than half of the work force out of work, high malnutrition, illiteracy, backwardness, superstition, poor housing and health conditions combined with overall economic stagnation and massive migration. The role of the Grenadian Revolution, its importance to the wider Caribbean, and the threat it posed for the United States was best summed up by Bishop who remarkedhttp://www.newint.org/features/1980/12/01/maurice-bishop/ [10] in 1980 that We are obviously no threat to America, nor is Cuba for that matter. I think Washington fears that we could set an example for the rest of the region if our Revolution succeeds. In the Caribbean region youre talking about small countries with small populations and limited resources, countries that over the years have been classic examples of neo-capitalist dependencies. Now you have these new governments like Nicaragua and Grenada that are attempting a different experiment. They are no longer looking at development as how many hotels you have on the beach but in terms of what benefits people get. How many have jobs? How many are being fed, housed, and clothed? How many of the children receive education? We certainly believe in Grenada that the people of the English-speaking Caribbean *want *to see an experiment like that succeed. They *want *to see what we are trying to build come about. America understands that and obviously if *we *are able to succeed where previous
[LAAMN] Santa Monica, Ca.- 10/27*Films4Cuban5*MAESTRA
* Apologies for duplicate emails. ** ** RSVP A MUST** No need to rsvp more than once. Thank you.** * * Films4Cuban5 presents* * * * MAESTRA* * (Teacher)* * ** Saturday, October 27, 7 pm* ** * At the Home of Rachel and Jay* * 601- 9th Street, Santa Monica, California* * one block E of Lincoln, one block N of Montana* * Southeast Corner, Easy Parking * ** * * * Before Film:** Meet at Izzy's Deli, 15th and Wilshire 5:00 PM * * Free street parking @ Izzy's Deli , rear lot, computer store lot on 15th. * * After Film:** Discussion, end the embargo on CUBA COFFEE , gourmet cookies.* ** * * * * * RSVP: rachel...@earthlink.net310-780-7363 (first 20)* * * Maestra * (Teacher)* ** * Cuba, 1961: 250,000 volunteers taught 700,000 people to read and write in one year. 100,000 of the teachers were under 18 years old. Over half were women.* * MAESTRA explores this story through the personal testimonies of the young women who went out to ** teach literacy in rural communities across the island - and found themselves deeply transformed in the process.* ** * Documentary 2011 Spanish w/ English subtitles 33 minutes * * Film preceded by 18 minute Cuban 5 Documentary * * $10 donation * * ** Includes $5 reduction on End the Embargo on Cuba coffee* * and/or Cuban 5 all cotton T shirts and DVDs.* ** * For the Cuban 5 defense* * www.thecuban5.org/* ** * In September 1998, five Cuban men were arrested in Miami by FBI agents. Gerardo Hernandez, Ramón ** Labañino, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and René Gonzalez were accused of the crime of ** conspiracy to commit espionage. * * RENÉ González Sehwerert, one of Cuba's five anti-terrorist heroes, released from prison * * October 7, 2011 having served in full the brutal and unjust sentence he was given.* * Leonard Weinglass presente!* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -- *A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified. (Also quoted as The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.) Leon Trotsky Their Morals and Ours (1938)* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Corriente Revolucionaria Bolívar Y Zamora -CORRECTION WITH CHAVEZ, widening and deepening of popular power
From the articleCON CHAVEZ RECTIFICACIÓN, AMPLIACIÓN Y PROFUNDIZACIÓN DEL PODER POPULAR http://www.crbz.org/vernoticia.php?codnot=329 CORRECTION WITH CHAVEZ, widening and deepening of popular power (Caracas, October 23, 2012). At the headquarters of the National Coordination CRBZ in Caracas was held a press conference in order to establish a position before the new historical cycle of the Bolivarian Revolution. Breaking down the post analysis - Oct. 7 election since CRBZ which is valued popular victory obtained by Comandante Chavez as a strategic victory given that the Bolivarian Revolution was able to overcome a threat orchestrated by a complex transnational powers led by Imperialism U.S. and the rancid oligarchy. *Companion Melitza Orellana, National CRBZ spokeswoman said at this stage, ... the new historical cycle must be properly interpreted to define a policy that tends to the revolutionary correction, expansion and deepening of the Socialist People's Power, the frontal attack to corruption, inefficiency, bureaucracy and reformism but especially strategic debate and definitions as the transition to socialism, the construction of the New State Community and within this popular power relations - constituted power ... * Within this framework are invited all the popular field, the PCV, PPT, to revolutionary groups, intellectuals, youth, students and workers to start a process of discussion and articulation without sectarianism, without meanness of any kind, without arrogance or pride . Only the strategic thinking that is the people and the revolution. For the new historical cycle Crbz claim unit Venezuelan revolutionaries and patriots to implement the revolutionary program of government proposed by Commander Hugo Chavez. Himself was reported to work resolutely CRBZ the formation of a broad front of social forces, revolutionary, patriotic and democratic, plural and diverse character, a political force necessary for the construction of Bolivarian Socialism, assuming mandatory and urgent tasks of the Revolution. This line invited all colleagues Revolutionary field to participate in the Extraordinary Assembly CRBZ to be held on 27 and 28 October in San Antonio de los Altos, Miranda state. Press CRBZ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Third Party Presidential debate, on Foreign policy: Green Party-Jill Stein on Drones,Vote on next one
*From last nights third party debate, on foreign policy .There may be another third party debate next week (see below)* ** *Here's Jill Stein on drones: * * A foreign policy based on militarism and brute military force and wars for oil is making us less secure, not more secure. We need to cut the budget and bring the troops home, and we need to end the drone wars, not bring the drones home, because they're already coming home. We need to end the use of drones and not lead the development of a new arms race, but lead the development of a new treaty -- a convention to permanently ban the use of drones as a weapon of war and as a means of spying on the American public.* Here's Rocky Anderson: During the Bush and the Obama years, our Constitution has been shredded while the imperial presidency has expanded, with presidents who think they can unilaterally take us to war, often on a pack of lies, with presidents who think the federal government should have the authority to round anyone up, including U.S. citizens, and imprison them up to the rest of their lives without charges, without trial, without legal representation, and without the right of habeas corpus. And our elected officials are sound asleep while the Pentagon is warning the climate change is a greater long-term security risk to the United States than terrorism. Second 2012 Presidential Debate October 30 in Washington, DC http://freeandequal.org/updates/second-2012-presidential-debate-october-30-in-washington-dc/ Vote now to influence which two candidates advance to the October 30 debate! http://freeandequal.org/vote/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] You can't stand the Truce!- Allawite Woman General Syrian popular movement and revolutionaries have say
*BREAKING in #Syria: Explosion rocks #Damascus as people use Truce Day to protest regime* http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/26/1150601/-BREAKING-in-Syria-Explosion-rocks-Damascus-as-people-use-Truce-Day-to-protest-regime *See also EAWorldView* http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/10/26/syria-and-beyond-live-coverage-insurgent-advance-in-aleppo-o.html#1240 Listen to what the Syrian popular movement and revolutionaries have to say! Posted on October 21, 2012http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/listen-to-what-the-syrian-popular-movement-and-revolutionaries-have-to-say/ by syriafreedomforeverhttp://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/author/syriafreedomforever/ *Being a revolutionary or supportive of revolts means you dont read old fashioned Marxists (Asad Abu Khalil), you dont read politicized historians (Robert Fisk), you dont read blanket thinkers leftists (Joseph Massad), it means that you dont read statuses on Facebook by privileged people like myself. It only means that you read common peoples banners and slogans in demos. Only then, youll know what this revolution is made of*. Razzan Ghazzawi, Syrian activist This text above was written a couple of months ago by Syrian activist Razzan Ghazzawi, and translated very well my feeling regarding a (much longer) list of so called leftist personalities and groups that have failed to support the Syrian revolution for numerous reasons. These groups and persons, that I will not cite to not give them any importance, actually spread false analysis and lies, going as far as to deny the popular characteristic of this revolution, and justifying their refusal to support this revolution, because the Syrian popular revolution would have been hijacked by the Western and pro Western regional forces such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. This article is not to give a long analysis on the way this interpretation of the Syrian population revolution is completely wrong, as it was done in the past several times (see previous articles on the blog), but to show what the Syrian people have to say in contrast to these kind of discourses. *Foreign conspiracy using foreign and armed Islamists/ and terrorists? No Popular movement?* This is a claim coming back quite often by numerous groups. My answer to this affirmation is another question: Do you often see Islamists dancing, singing, and demonstrating side by side with women? Or do you see many foreign/ islamists/ extremists saying Christian and Muslims are one hand, and/or the the Syrian people are one?? Or demonstrating for a Democratic Civil State?? Check the nonexistent popular movement in Syria: Demonstration in Jobar (village close to Damascus), 19.10.2012 Aleppo, Al-Ashrafiya Neighborhood, university students demonstrating,17.10.2012 Aberateka, 17.10.2012 Bab srejeh, Ezeh square, Damascus, 14.10.2012 Daraya, 14.10.2012 Musical instrument (the 3oud) in the demonstration No to sectarianism, our dream is a civil state Deir Zor, 13.4.2012, for all that are scared, we are not calling for a war, we are calling to build a democratic and civil state for all Syrians In Syria there are two sects: the sect of freedom and the sect of of the regime, our demand is a civil and democratic state *For more photo's and rest of the article, click on url:* * http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/listen-to-what-the-syrian-popular-movement-and-revolutionaries-have-to-say/ *http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/listen-to-what-the-syrian-popular-movement-and-revolutionaries-have-to-say/ *Also article from Oct.11th, BREAKING NEWS: First Female Allawite Officer Defects* * * *http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=2813*http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=2813 * * * * * * * ** * ** *Features* * Defected woman general trains Syria's rebels ** *** *Zubaida al-Meeki was the first woman officer to quit President Bashar al-Assad's forces to join the Free Syrian Army.* Basma Atassi http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/basma-atassi.html Last Modified: 23 Oct 2012 13:24 inShare0 [image: Email Article] Emailhttp://www.aljazeera.com/Services/ArticleTools/Send2Friend.aspx?GUID=20121022105057794364 [image: Print Article] Print [image: Share article] Share http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php [image: Send Feedback] Feedbackhttp://www.aljazeera.com/Services/ArticleTools/SendFeedback.aspx?GUID=20121022105057794364 Al-Meeki says she joined the rebels to train new recruits due to 'the crimes committed by the regime' [Al Jazeera] In a revolution that has become associated with masculine bravado and gunfights in the streets, Zubaida al-Meeki stands out. A former Syrian army general, she became the first woman officer to publicly announce her defection from President Bashar al-Assad's army after seeing what she describes as crimes and atrocities committed by the regime. An Alawite originally from the Occupied Golan Heights, bordering Israel, al-Meeki used to work
[LAAMN] Comrade Chavez, If You Want to Know What Happened to the Communes, Ask the People
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis]Comrade Chavez, If You Want to Know What Happened to the Communes, Ask the People Oct 26th 2012, by Atenea Jiménez Lemon The National Network of Communards [image: A mural for the Ataroa Commune in Lara state, which reads: communities in charge (Ola Bolivariana)] A mural for the Ataroa Commune in Lara state, which reads: communities in charge (Ola Bolivariana) Where are the communes? It worried us to hear the president asking where are the communes. Humbly, and with revolutionary determination we say to Comrade Chavez, if you want to know where the communes are, then you should ask the people directly! If you were to do this, then you would immediately find more that 80 commune experiences which are in the process of construction, which have made both good decisions and mistakes, which have different levels of integration, cooperation and harmonization, and you would find that that we are building them with all of our might and dedication. To borrow from one of our comrades in the guerrilla struggle in the mountains of Falcon, Edgar Olivet, The only thing which is real and lasting is that which is built by the people through their effort and determination, anything else is simply a mirror image of colonialism. If you ask the Minister of Communes where the communes are, then she will of course tell you that the communes haven't registered, that they didn't meet a certain requirement for FUNDACOMUNAL, that they need more time to become proper communes, [i.e.] those that have community battle rooms, communal brick-making or carpentry cooperatives, [and] maybe she would even tell you that the Venezuelan people are extremely irreverent and that they just dont want to construct the communes. If you ask the governors and mayors, theyll tell you (with very few exceptions) that they dont have the resources to put into practice those government policies, that they need more funds, and they will also leave that unspoken question hanging in the air Are you going to eliminate local government and mayoralties?. Or they will tell you that the people who are currently building the communes are anarchists, the ultra left, or finally the most infallible argument of all, that there are a bunch of counter-revolutionaries who have infiltrated the communes. If you ask the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, the national leadership will hesitate before answering, because they have neglected that fundamental principle which should be revered by any revolutionary party; every socialist militant should be organically involved in the popular movement, as understood in its diverse spheres and territorial expressions. Others will answer that there are many collectives which are promoting the communes and that they are autonomous. The majority will argue that we are a vanguard, but that the masses arent ready for the communes yet. However, if you ask the people, Comrade Chavez, we will tell you that: 1. Since 2009 a revolutionary movement called the National Network of Communards has existed, and that we are constructing the communes through our own knowledge and actions, because we aspire towards a communal way of life, as a community, in socialism or communism. 2. We started by coordinating 16 communal processes in construction and today we have more than 80 experiences, amongst which we have communes, communal cities, communal territories, direct social property enterprises, direct exchange markets, political training schools, community media and revolutionary collectives and individuals. 3. We believe that the construction of the communes and their different levels of organisation and integration should come from the efforts of the people, and that the role of the revolutionary government should be to facilitate that process, to accompany us in the long struggle which emerges from changing from one form of government to another, to construct participatory democracy, build a communal economy which goes beyond businesses, and above all, construct what (Venezuelan educator, Simon Rodriguez) Robinson was referring to: that the people learn to govern themselves. We learn to govern ourselves by doing it! 4. We have developed this training process working with our own facilitators and methodological tools, supported by some comrades who have managed to infiltrate public institutions of the State, with the central idea of critically analysing our local, regional, national and international reality in order to be able to transform it. 5. Thanks to fraternal debate we have made a series of contributions towards the construction of the communes. Within that context, we have held 4 national forums with the participation of 400 spokespeople at each one, as well as with the presence of international guests. 6. Since the national forum held in Carora in 2011, we agreed to hold forums according to different topics or areas. We began with the communal economic system, then communal
[LAAMN] Venezuela:Bolívar and Zamora Revolutionary Current (CRBZ) proposes a Frente Amplio or Revolutionary Left Bloc
Excuse this poor translation... CRBZ proposes a Frente Amplio or Revolutionary Left Bloc, as collective leadership by the Leader of the Revolution *Aporrea.org - www.aporrea.org* ** Orginal in Spanish below: 29/10/12- www.aporrea.org/ideologia/n217181.html Extraordinary National Assembly Bolívar and Zamora Revolutionary Current Credit: Aporrea.org Caracas, October 29, 2012. - The Bolívar and Zamora Revolutionary Current (CRBZ), held on 27 and 28 October Extraordinary National Assembly, to discuss the results and post-election situation after the presidential elections Apr. 7. The CRBZ consists of the National Peasant Front Ezequiel (FNCEZ) Zamora, Simon Bolivar Communal Front (FNCS), the People's Front of Workers (FPPO) and Training Centre (CEFES), along with Communes and Communal Cities, unions the construction sector and the oil sector and other organized expressions. Extraordinary National Assembly concluded on Sunday October 28 in San Antonio de Los Altos (State of Miranda), active discussion after about 500 participants in the plenary sessions and panel discussions. Were invited spokespersons of movements, groups and allied streams that are part of the Popular Revolutionary Alliance (ANMCLA, SURCO, Movimiento de Pobladores, Alianza Sexo Genero Diversa Revolucionaria, Marea Socialista). Colleagues were also internationalists the MST in Brazil and Argentina's Dario Santillan Front. From there emanated a Declaration CRBZ that raises the obligation to overcome dormancy and chavismo autism institutional sectors, looking to expand the spaces democratization and incidence in power , push with all sectors of the popular revolutionary platform that allows us to fight democratic radicalization of the revolution . In his vision, understand that this broad front of the unit, must comply as a revolutionary bloc that has the strength to drive by the Leader of the Revolution Commander and act as a collective leadership. In the event, hundreds of fighters and wrestlers social, the peasantry, the working class and grassroots activists, discussed what they call the new cycle of the revolutionary period and on what to do to respond to the deepening of the revolutionary process led by President Hugo Chavez commander, all in the prospect of achieving socialist people's power. stressed the need to be critical and self-critical and modify, extend and evaluate the role of the people as a historical subject of transformation, generate a cumulative process of social and political force from the grassroots of the revolution, to open channel for the poor people of the country and the city assume its leading role. *These would be some of the keys to counter the threat and move to counter the bureaucratic caste, reforming the State and the Government, now prevents the assumption of popular power and socialism. In this sense, the reviews were very strong anti-bureaucratic, against the obstacles of officials to socialist transformation, against corruption and intrigues to benefit individuals and business asectores.* But this estimate that is required based on unit recognition of the other / a, in the defense of the revolution, in the construction of what will be this space with the organizations, parties and movements ... They talk about building a revolutionary bloc working on the realization of the tasks of the revolution ... from diversity in their struggles. Therefore, the proposed CRBZ advance a broad drive space, movements and parties: democratic, patriotic and revolutionary, able to be a social and political force, with autonomy, critical dangers to the revolution, capable accompany and support our president in this new stage of the revolution that begins ... Having the strength to drive along the top commander of the revolution and act as a collective leadership, to develop a proposed program and plan of struggle, which are contained the aspirations and demands of the people, in the framework of that for CRBZ should be the democratic radicalization of the revolution. This proposal is in addition to the commitment assumed in the construction are of the People, through the formation and strengthening of village communes and cities, to reach the goal of the State Community and socialist. The assembly was reported about 150 jobs community organization being driven CRBZ, 44 counties and five cities formed Communal, with production projects based on social ownership and the exercise of self-government in the territories in which are located. Strategically conceive the importance of developing the peasant movement along the unit with the workers' organizations. It was also very evident in gender, the presence and active participation of women and slogans referring to the combination of women and men struggling in equity. Their main slogans in the event were By popular unity, toward rectifying and democratic radicalization of the revolution! and With Chavez, modification, expansion and deepening of the
[LAAMN] Jill Stein vsGaryJohnson-3rd Party Debate Changed to Nov.5th Due to Hurricane
http://freeandequal.org/updates/free-and-equal-elections-foundation-changes-presidential-debate-to-november-5-due-to-hurricane/ Free and Equal Elections Foundation Changes Presidential Debate to November 5 Due to Hurricane *By aaron http://freeandequal.org/updates/author/aaron/ On October 28, 2012 · 20 Commentshttp://freeandequal.org/updates/free-and-equal-elections-foundation-changes-presidential-debate-to-november-5-due-to-hurricane/#comments * Free and Equal Elections Foundation today announced the date of the second open-party Presidential debate has changed to November 5. *The debate will feature Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnsonhttp://www.garyjohnson2012.com/and Green Party candidate Jill Stein http://www.jillstein.org/, a line-up decided by voters last week after the first debate between Johnson, Stein, Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode http://www.goodeforpresident2012.com/, and Justice Party candidate Rocky Anderson http://www.voterocky.org/.* The November 5 debate will be held from 9:00pm to 10:30pm Eastern Time at RT Americas state of the art studio and facility. RT America will open its studio and offer a live, neutral feed via satellite to interested media. The moderator will be announced next week. *Free Equal has assembled a diverse group of ballot-qualified candidates, political parties, media, businesses, musicians, radio personalities, organizations, and individuals across the political spectrum to support an open, honest, unscripted, multi-partisan debate for American voters and the international community.* * Current sponsors include: The Nation http://www.thenation.com/,The American Conservative http://www.theamericanconservative.com/,Fair Tax Nation http://www.fairtaxnation.com/,Humboldt Sentinelhttp://humboldtsentinel.com/ ,Before Its News http://beforeitsnews.com/,The Josh Tolley Showhttp://www.joshtolley.com/ ,Ballot Access News http://www.ballot-access.org/,Come Home Americahttp://comehomeamerica.us/ ,Owl Creek Gazette http://owlcreekgazette.com/,Free Talk Livehttp://www.freetalklive.com/, Securing Liberty Radio http://www.securingliberty.com/, 1787 Networkhttp://1787network.com/, Voice of Russia http://english.ruvr.ru/, Freedoms Phoenixhttp://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Front-Page.htm, Muslims for Liberty http://www.muslims4liberty.org/,National Constitution Party http://www.constitutionparty.com/,The Justice Partyhttp://www.justicepartyusa.org/ ,Blue Republicans http://www.bluerepublican.org/,Restore the Republichttp://www.restoretherepublic.org/ ,Re-Tea Party http://www.reteaparty.com/,Free the Vote NChttp://www.freethevotenc.com/ ,We the People http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/,Grassroots for Liberty http://www.rp2012.org/,New Progressive Alliancehttp://newprogs.org/ ,Libertarian Party of Illinois http://www.il.lp.org/, Liberty Candidateshttp://libertycandidates.com/, Liberty Avengers http://www.libertyavengers.com/, Liberty Chathttp://libertychat.com/, Cook County Green Partyhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Cook-County-Green-Party/371852316899, Marin Libertarian Party http://marinlp.com/, Rockford Tea Partyhttps://www.facebook.com/rockfordteaparty, Dangerous Conversationhttp://www.radioio.com/btls/2011/06/13/dangerous-conversation/, End the Lie http://endthelie.com/,Wide Awake Newshttp://www.wideawakenews.com/, Freedom Files http://www.freedomfiles.us/,Kelly Truth Squadhttp://www.kellytruthsquad.com/ ,1787 Flags http://1787flags.com/,The Liberty ViewsLetterhttp://libertyviews.blogspot.com/ ,Liberty Hourhttp://www.wtpnetwork.com/index.php?do=/the-liberty-hour-8482/, Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolutionhttp://www.libertytreefdr.org/, Through the Mirror with Larry Sinclairhttp://www.lsnewsgroup.com/through-the-mirror-wlarry-sinclair/, ROJS Radio Live http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rojsradio,Drudge Retorthttp://www.drudge.com/ ,Freedom Informant Network http://www.freedominfonetwork.org/,Gadsden Rising on Freedomize http://gadsdenrising.blogspot.com/,Irregular Timeshttp://irregulartimes.com/ ,J.D. Nero https://www.facebook.com/JDNeroFanPage,The Industryhttps://www.facebook.com/theindustry ,StopTheLie.com http://www.stopthelie.com/home.html, Aleph Objects, Inc.http://www.lulzbot.com/en/ ,Ron Paul Flix http://ronpaulflix.com/,Cindy Sheehans Soapboxhttp://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/ ,Elect1.org http://elect1.org/,Rense Radio Networkhttp://www.renseradio.com/ ,Milwaukee Business Promotionshttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Milwaukee-Milwaukee-Business-Promotions/390322334366581?sk=info ,Libertarian Party of Tennessee http://www.lptn.net/, Devvy Kiddhttp://www.devvy.com/ ,KCSB http://www.kcsb.org/, No Agenda http://www.noagendashow.com/, Liberty Australia http://www.la.org.au/, Barstool Sportshttp://www.barstoolsports.com/, Deadline Live http://deadlinelive.info/, Saint Joseph Telegraphhttp://stjtelegraph.org/, Terry Michael http://www.terrymichael.net/, Daily Paulhttp://www.dailypaul.com/, Freedom Force International
[LAAMN] What’s stronger than Hurricane Sandy?
130,000 other housing units in Santiago Province in Cuba were damaged or destroyed, if you want to help out see below article. And close to 200,000 people were displaced again in Haiti but you hear very little about the effects of storm from media in the US about Cuba and Haiti. http://www.sabinabecker.com/2012/10/whats-stronger-than-hurricane-sandy.html Whats stronger than Hurricane Sandy?http://www.sabinabecker.com/2012/10/whats-stronger-than-hurricane-sandy.html October 30, 2012 Sabina Becker These are: These modest homes are all plastic, made in Venezuela. And they are strong enough to withstand even the force of a Caribbean hurricane:http://www.aporrea.org/venezuelaexterior/n217225.html *Much destruction, countless uprooted trees and downed power lines. This remains the predominant scene in every corner of Santiago de Cuba on Monday. But it is accompanied by swarms of men and women who, using modern means or simple machetes and brooms, are transforming the images of Hurricane Sandys devastation from four days ago before our very eyes.* * The president of Cuba, Raúl Castro, toured the streets of Cubas second-largest city, and nearby zones of renown such as Siboney and El Caney. The spirit of Santiagos citizens was as great as the devastation. Raúl began his tour with an homage to José Martí at his mausoleum in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery, which also houses monuments to the fallen of the July 26 uprising, and the internationalist martyrs. There was no major damage at the site, nor was the Martí mausoleum affected. During a brief stop at a site along the Central Highway, near the exit from Santiago, where a hundred Venezuelan-made petrocasas had been erected five years ago, it became evident how little damage these buildings had sustained compared to the devastation wrought by the hurricane on the other homes nearby. It is a sign that the petrocasas are a good option, especially in rural zones. The Santiago residents of the petrocasas could personally confirm the buildings resistance to strong winds. Listen, I thought they wouldnt hold out, but there they are theyre super-strong! said Olvedis Ramos, who was surprised by the cyclone while he was visiting local relatives. I thought Sandy would be stronger than the petrocasas, but she was no match for them. In a characteristic gesture of solidarity, the inhabitants of the petrocasas took in many neighbors who were at risk. None of the Venezuelan-built homes suffered any damage. Said Raúl Castro about the passing of Sandy over the province, Its been hard, but Santiago is Santiago. It has resisted gales and wars of every kind, and it will overcome this one too. We must resist! A smattering of applause was the response. * Translation mine. The idea of the petrocasas was conceived a few years ago in Venezuela, as a solution to the housing problems there.http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/3326Many Venezuelans, especially in urban areas, live in precarious shantytowns on flood-prone hillsides. They need inexpensive but durable materials to build their houses so the latter dont rot away in the heat and rain of that tropical land, as so many of the rickety improvised hillside *ranchos*do. And since petroleum is abundant and cheap, hard plastic became an obvious choice. Many former slum dwellers now live in safe, dignified petrocasas, which are made from PVC walls filled with cement. Now Venezuela is helping out Cuba (which supplied doctors and literacy teachers to those same slums) by replacing poor families *bohíos* (shacks) with petrocasas, among other things. And since Cuba was recently found to possess some vast offshore oil deposits, which the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA (builder of the petrocasa!), will soon help develop, its just a matter of time before petrocasas become a regular feature of the Cuban landscape. They will play a considerable part, too, in Cubas industrial revamp and modernization, and will provide plenty of good jobs. Just more proof that when Cuba comes in from the cold, it wont be because the US lifted that odious blockade with which they attempted to starve the island into submission, nor will capitalists play the role of the heroic liberator; it will be with the help of fellow Latin Americans, most prominently the oil-rich (and oil-wise) Bolivarian people of Venezuela. And just more proof that human solidarity is stronger than any hurricane. --- This was sent out by Walter Lippmann: Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC) Phone: 805-233-7574 jbarbieri...@mediccglobal.org | www.medicc.org MEDICAL EDUCATION COOPERATION WITH CUBA October 30, 2012 Hurricane Relief for Santiago, Cuba: Help Now! As the US eastern seaboard counts severe losses and begins recovery from Hurricane Sandy, Cubans are digging out from the same storm with far fewer resources at their disposal. To restore power, 72 crews of linesmen work day and night. In the
[LAAMN] South Africa:War is Upon Us
*Marikana Commission: Dali Mpofu drops new torture bombshell* - Sipho Hlongwane 31 October 2012 13:22 (South Africa) http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-10-31-marikana-commission-dali-mpofu-drops-new-torture-bombshell On Wednesday, Dali Mpofu told the Marikana Commission of Inquiry that six men arrested by the police in the last weeks were brutally tortured while in custody. We also got an update on why Legal Aid is refusing to fund the legal fees for the wounded miners. By SIPHO HLONGWANE. The Marikana Commission of Inquiry has heard that six men arrested in the past weeks have been savagely tortured by the police. Dali Mpofu, the advocate for the 78 miners wounded by the police on 16 August, said that the men were released last night and told him of their ordeal. To rea article: http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-10-31-marikana-commission-dali-mpofu-drops-new-torture-bombshell Workers Gathering After Amplats Protestshttp://allafrica.com/stories/201210311197.html https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/http://allafrica.com/stories/201210311197.html?pip=falsepremium=trueclient_uid=3207531162client_ver=3.5.0.229client_type=IEPluginsuite=trueaff_id=0locale=en_usui=1os_ver=6.1.1.0 You +1'd this publicly. Undohttps://www.google.com/search?hl=engl=ustbm=nwsq=South+Africa# AllAfrica.com-22 minutes ago *South Africa*: Workers Gathering After Amplats Protests. By Jenni Evans, 31 October 2012. Johannesburg Almost 2000 fired mineworkers were gathering *...* + Show moreShow less http://sacsis.org.za/s/ The South African Civil Society Information Service A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question: How do we make democracy work for the poor? Our Newsletters - Related Articles - Who Murdered NUM Branch Secretary Daluvuyo Bongo?http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1471 - The Road to Marikana: Abuses of Force During Public Order Policing Operations http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1455 Wise Words Democracy is the road to socialism Karl Marx War is Upon Us By Richard Pithouse http://sacsis.org.za/s/stories.php?iUser=20 · 30 Oct 2012 http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1474/print#http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1474/print# http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1474/print#9http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1474/print# [image: Picture credit: Adapted by SACSIS from various sources.]http://sacsis.org.za/s/story.php?s=1474 Picture credit: Adapted by SACSIS from various sources. *to the fragrance of lemon blossoms and then to the ultimatums of war* *- Pablo Neruda, Right Comrade, Its the Hour of the Garden, Isla Negra, Chile, September 1973* When COSATU and the Communist Party have to rely on the police and their stun grenades, rubber bullets and, by some accounts, live ammunition to force their way into a stadium against the opposition of striking workers it is clear that their assumption of a permanent right to leadership is facing a serious challenge from below. It's equally clear that the ruling party and its allies intend to force obedience rather than to seek to renegotiate support or enable democratic engagement, that the police aren't even making a pretence of being loyal to the law rather than the ruling party and that this is the way that Blade Nzimande likes it. The misuse of the police to defend the authority of the ruling party in Rustenburg is no exception to a broadly democratic consensus. In fact it has become a routine feature of political life. At the same time as the drama was unfolding in Rustenburg on Saturday a meeting with technical experts to discuss a plan to upgrade the Harry Gwala shack settlement on the East Rand was summarily banned by the police on the grounds that it was a 'security threat'. The settlement is in urgent need of services as basic as water and refuse removal but millions have been spent on a pavilion in memory of Oliver Tambo adjacent to the settlement. As the ANC's role in the struggles against apartheid is memorialised that memory is simultaneously desecrated as it is mobilised to legitimate the increasingly violent containment of popular dissent. The collapse of the ruling party's hegemony on the mines in Rustenburg is not the first time that the ANC has lost control of a territory where it once took its right to rule for granted. In early 2006 the ANC was, despite a large police presence and a large contingent of supporters bussed in from elsewhere, unable to go ahead with a rally to be addressed by S'bu Ndebele, the then Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, in the Kennedy Road shack settlement in Durban. Some years later the ANC eventually took that space back with the open use of violence organised through party structures with the support of the police. But despite the announcement, made by a senior SACP member, that the state had decided to 'disband' the movement that had won popular support in Kennedy Road, and despite tremendous intimidation and the gross misuse of the police and the criminal justice
[LAAMN] Venezuela Sending More Aid to Cuba/Haiti
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* *Venezuela Sending More Aid to Cuba/Haiti* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On November 1, 2012 @ 1:13 pm In *Business Economy,Recent Posts,Updates* | *Following Hurricane Sandy * HAVANA TIMES (dpa) The Venezuelan government today sent 93 tons of foods to Cuba on an air bridge that will continue transporting humanitarian assistance in the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, reported Venezuelas minister of the Interior, Nestor Reverol. The official added that another airplane will take foods to Haiti and that the air bridge will become operational over the next seven days. Venezuela had already sent 553 tons of foods, water, medicine and teams to support recovery efforts following the landfall of the hurricane. President Hugo Chavez has also formed a governmental commission to evaluate the damage and to support the reconstruction of the affected areas. Over these next seven days we will be sending all of what is required by both countries. This is a vast expression of support for our sister peoples of Haiti and Cuba, said Reverol, who pointed out that some 646 tons of additional material assistance will be sent next week to help the two nations. Were ratifying our commitment of solidarity and our affection for these peoples who have been hit so hardly. We are sure that the people of Haiti and Cuba will come out of this crisis, he asserted. The ambassador of Cuba in Venezuela, Rogelio Polanco, expressed his thanks for the humanitarian assistance, which he said demonstrates the sensitivity of President Hugo Chavez and the vocation of solidary of the Bolivarian Revolution. Polanco reported that the pounding by Hurricane Sandy left 11 dead and seriously damaged or destroyed at least 130,000 houses in Cuba. This shipment has great spiritual value for our people, in addition to the physical value that it already entails, he indicated. *Share this post:* -- Article printed from Havana Times.org: *http://www.havanatimes.org* URL to article: *http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81340* URLs in this post: [1] Image: *http://www.linkwithin.com/* ** ** ** *Bolivia to Send Water and Food to Cuba November 1, 2012 | [image: Email]http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81328emailpopup=1 Email http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81328emailpopup=1 | [image: Print]http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81328print=1 Print http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81328print=1 | 0 3 HAVANA TIMES The government of Evo Morales approved on Wednesday the sending of 120 tons of humanitarian assistance to Cuba to help address the destruction caused by the Hurricane Sandy, reported Bolivian Minister of Defense Ruben Saavedra. The official specified that the first 60 tons will be sent on Saturday and a second shipment of a similar quantity will go out three or four days later in fulfillment with the Supreme Ordinance approved by the national government. The Bolivian state expressed its solidarity with those countries hit by the hurricane and caused enormous losses, particularly in Cuba, where it was reported that 11 people died and over 150,000 homes were damaged or destroyed Share this post: Post-Sandy: Castro Realistic Optimistic November 1, 2012 | [image: Email]http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81345emailpopup=1 Email http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81345emailpopup=1 | [image: Print]http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81345print=1 Print http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=81345print=1 | 4 146 http://www.havanatimes.org/?attachment_id=81346 Raul Castro has been touring the hurricane damage and bringing a message of hope in Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo. Photo: Estudios Revolución. HAVANA TIMES After touring Santiago de Cuba earlier in the week Cuban President Raul Castro is in Guantanamo today one of the three provinces hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy a week ago. Castros main message is asking people not to lose hope and assuring they will not be abandoned. The latest destruction reports show over 180,000 damaged or destroyed homes along with over 100,000 hectares (245,000 acres) of crops destroyed, the hardest hit being the sugar crop, along with plantains and other bananas, vegetables and other basic crops. It was a truly hard blow; it was a powerful hurricane that developed very quickly. The reality [of the damage] exceeds the photos and images in the press and television: Santiago has been shaken; it looks like a bombed city. But we will recover. You are a tough people. Weve known that for over a half century, said Castro. First vice-president Jose Ramon Machado, who is accompanying Castro in the tour of the affected regions, said one of the greatest problems in the coming months is going to be providing food for the people. Cuba imports over half its basic foods. Cuba already had a shortage of building materials and skilled construction workers before hurricane damage, tensing the situation in the coming period. In fact, reconstruction
[LAAMN] Cuba Acuses the USA of Subversion
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* ** *Cuba Acuses the USA of Subversion* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On November 2, 2012 @ 9:04 am *By Circles Robinson* The US Interests Section occupies a five-story building along the Havana Malecon seawall. Photo: Caridad HAVANA TIMES Cuba accused the United States and its US Interests Section in Havana on Thursday of actively working to promote a regime change in Cuba. While the charges are not new, they come less than a week before the US presidential elections and on the heels of Hurricane Sandy which caused major damage in both countries. The Foreign Ministry statement indicates that Cuba will use all legal means available to defend the nations sovereignty and make the Cuban people and their laws be respected, but it did not go so far as to suggest any plans to close the diplomatic mission. Cuba accuses the Obama administration as it had the Bush government of numerous illegal activities to promote, advise, instruct, train, finance and supply with diverse equipment and technologies its mercenaries in Cuba. *Note: The following is the Cuban Foreign Ministry statement in Spanish. When an official version is published in English we will make the substitution.* *Declaración del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores* La Sección de Intereses de los Estados Unidos (SINA) en La Habana sigue fungiendo como cuartel general de la política de subversión del gobierno norteamericano contra Cuba, que tiene entre sus propósitos fundamentales fabricar un movimiento de oposición al gobierno legítimo de Cuba y fomentar la desestabilización interna para provocar un cambio de régimen en nuestro país. Como ha sido denunciado con anterioridad, durante los últimos años, la SINA ha continuado realizando actividades ilegales, que nada tienen que ver con las funciones de una misión diplomática y que consisten en promover, asesorar, instruir, entrenar, financiar y abastecer con medios y tecnologías diversas a sus mercenarios en Cuba. Diplomáticos de esa oficina incitan permanentemente a estas personas, que responden a los intereses del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos contra Cuba a cambio de una buena retribución monetaria, a protagonizar acciones provocadoras, desplegar campañas de manipulación sobre la realidad del país y actuar contra el orden constitucional cubano. En su empeño por ejercer un papel rector en la tarea imposible de convertir a sus mercenarios en un movimiento creíble de oposición interna, la SINA canaliza fondos del presupuesto del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos y medios financiados por este para alimentar el negocio de la subversión interna. En su labor de injerencia en los asuntos internos de Cuba, la SINA ha llegado al extremo de asumir tareas de capacitación, estableciendo dentro de su sede locales y centros ilegales de Internet para proveer entrenamiento e impartir cursos a personas, con el objetivo de que actúen contra los intereses del Estado cubano, en violación flagrante de la Convención de Viena sobre Relaciones Diplomáticas, de las leyes cubanas y del propio acuerdo que dio origen al establecimiento de la Sección de Intereses. En Cuba, como en muchos países, se requiere del consentimiento del Estado cubano y de la aprobación del Ministerio de Educación Superior para poder impartir programas docentes o cursos. También se necesita la autorización y una licencia de operación del Ministerio de Informática y Comunicaciones para ofrecer servicios de Internet. La SINA no cuenta con ningún permiso para dar estas prestaciones, que realiza sin la anuencia de las autoridades cubanas, por lo que son ilegales. Resulta inaceptable y cínico que este tipo de programas que promueve la SINA, incompatibles por demás con las funciones de una misión diplomática, sean desarrollados por el país que sostiene, por ley y por decisión de su gobierno, una política de abierta hostilidad y bloqueo dirigida a doblegar y destruir a la Revolución, que, entre otros aspectos, restringe el libre intercambio educacional, cultural, académico, científico y deportivo entre los dos países e impide a Cuba conectarse a las decenas de cables submarinos que rodean la isla para poder acceder a Internet. Existen pruebas irrebatibles de que las actividades ilegales que realiza la SINA son financiadas con fondos oficiales del gobierno norteamericano, que en sumas millonarias son adjudicados anualmente al Departamento de Estado y a la Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID), en virtud de la sección 109 de la Ley Helms-Burton, que tiene como objetivo explícito promover un cambio en el sistema político, económico y social de Cuba. Estas acciones subversivas, unidas al recrudecimiento del bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero, la persecución cada vez más feroz de las transacciones financieras cubanas y la utilización de nuevos pretextos para evadir la propuesta de sostener un diálogo serio, respetuoso y en condiciones de igualdad
[LAAMN] California Agency Releases Evidence of Money Laundering in Right-Wing Campaign Spending on Ballot Measures
California Agency Releases Evidence of Money Laundering in Right-Wing Campaign Spending on Ballot Measureshttp://news.firedoglake.com/2012/11/05/california-agency-releases-evidence-of-money-laundering-in-right-wing-campaign-spending-on-ballot-measures/By: David Dayen http://news.firedoglake.com/author/dday/ Monday November 5, 2012 11:09 am [image: Tweet]Tweethttp://news.firedoglake.com/2012/11/05/california-agency-releases-evidence-of-money-laundering-in-right-wing-campaign-spending-on-ballot-measures/# [image: digg]http://digg.com/submit?phase=2url=http://fdl.me/PywtdJtitle=California+Agency+Releases+Evidence+of+Money+Laundering+in+Right-Wing+Campaign+Spending+on+Ballot+Measures[image: stumbleupon]http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://fdl.me/PywtdJtitle=California+Agency+Releases+Evidence+of+Money+Laundering+in+Right-Wing+Campaign+Spending+on+Ballot+Measures http://news.firedoglake.com/?p=38690akst_action=share-this Californias Fair Political Practices Commission forced a mysterious $11 million donor to two ballot measures to reveal its secret funding sources today, and the result showed how most of these independent expenditure groups work, mostly through money launderinghttp://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_21932215/fppc-releases-names-donors-who-made-secret-11?source=jBar : Ending a mystery that captivated the run-up to Election Day, the Arizona group behind an anonymous $11 million donation revealed under court order today that the shadowy donation was laundered through two groups, including one tied to David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who have played a huge role in spreading anonymous political cash around the country. The donation, the largest anonymous contribution to a ballot measure campaign in California history, was made to the Small Business Action Committee, a conservative group running a campaign for Proposition 32, the measure that would curb labors ability to collect political cash, and against Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Browns tax-hike initiative. This isnt going to stop here, said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, the states political watchdog. They admitted to money laundering. We agreed to do this without an audit because we wanted to get information to the public before the election. But we in no way agreed this would preclude further action. Ravel said Phoenix-based Americans for Responsible Leadership conceded it was the intermediary and not the true source of the contribution. The true source was Americans for Job Security and was made through a second intermediary, the Center to Protect Patient Rights, she said. Americans for Job Security was both active in the 2010 election cycle. They are a corporate front grouphttp://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Job_Securitywhich received initial funding from the insurance industry. And the Center to Protect Patient Rights is run by a Koch Brothers operative, Sean Noble, who admitted the money laundering to the FPPC. This is a misdemeanor under California law, but conspiracy to commit money laundering is a felony. What we really see in these revelations is the complex web of front groups that mask corporate spending almost entirely. Hearing that Americans for Responsible Leadership donated a large sum of money that was seeded by Americans for Job Security just replaces one brick wall with another, as far as transparency is concerned. And this is par for the course in campaign finance layers of spending and intermediaries and front groups to make it as difficult as possible to divine the true source of the donations. The spending in California went toward two ballot measures. Prop 32 would essentially eliminate union participation in politics in the state, while Prop 30 would increase taxes to fill a budget gap on education spending. The funding went toward Yes on the former and No on the latter. Prop 32, opposed by a strong union-based campaign, will lose tomorrow. But even with that loss, you may be able to describe it as a victory, because it pulled focus from the most effective groups from the left in state politics, leaving the critical Prop 30 generally on its own to fend off right-wing attacks. Polls show Prop 30 too close to call, after being solidly ahead earlier in the cycle. So all this spending did its job, by spreading thin the spending on the left and possibly defeating a tax measure that, if it fails, will lead to more stinging cutbacks in public services and a further drowning of government in the bathtub. This is the textbook for how these funding networks work: spend huge, everywhere, secretly if at all possible, and keep chipping away at the state until you can notch a victory. The FPPC struck a small blow for transparency here, but the system remains unbowed. [image: comment on this]No
[LAAMN] Lal Khan-Bolshevik Revolution: 95 years on Ted Grant articles
http://www.marxist.com/bolshevik-revolution-95-years-on.htm *95th anniversary of the Russian Revolution: Russia 1917, Europe 1970s* Written by Ted Grant Wednesday, 07 November 2012 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/95th-anniversary-russian-revolution/print.htm[image: E-mail]http://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,11fd064320ad15e7b2c8e1e3b6f3965753d14d86/tmpl,component/ On the 58th anniversary of the Russian Revolution Ted Grant wrote this article in which he compared the revolutionary ideas and tactics of the Bolsheviks in 1917 to the class collaborationist and reformist policies of the leaders of the Socialist and Communist parties in the 1970s. He explains how the Bolsheviks were able to lead the workers to successfully take power in 1917. He stressed the historical significance of the Russian revolution. Unfortunately the isolation of the revolution to one country prepared the ground for its degeneration and the coming to power of a bureaucratic elite. Read article in the Ted Grant Archive http://marxists.org/archive/grant/: http://marxists.org/archive/grant/1975/11/58years.htm also another article from 1974: http://www.marxist.com/russia-1917-europe-1970s.htm - http://www.marxist.com/bolshevik-revolution-95-years-on.htm *Bolshevik Revolution: 95 years on* Written by Lal Khan Wednesday, 07 November 2012 Sometimes decades pass and not much happens. At other times more events take place in days than those that occurred in decades. After the collapse of the Soviet Union twenty years ago we were relentlessly told the great political and economic questions had all been settled and that liberal democracy and free-market capitalism had triumphed. Socialism had been consigned to the dustbin of history. The strategists of capital were exultant. The end of history was proclaimed by Francis Fukuyama. [image: alan-woods-on-the-russian-revolution-2]The events on a single day on 15th September 2008 were a watershed. The collapse of Lehman Brothers glaringly exposed a voracious model of capitalism forced down the throats of the world as the only way to run a modern economy, at the cost of grotesque inequality, exploitation, wars and colonial occupations; it has now come down crashing. The baleful twins of neo-conservatism and neoliberalism had been tried and tested to destruction. The Arab revolutions in 2011 not only engrossed one country after another in the Middle East but gave rise to more convulsive events around the globe than in the preceding two decades. The intensity and ferocity of these events was such that it sent shivers down the spines of the ruling elites across the world. Innumerable comparisons were drawn of these revolutions with the revolutions of the 19th and 20th century yet the single greatest event of the 20th century, the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 was conspicuously missing from the analysis and reports of the media. And this is neither an accident nor a coincidence. It was by design which reflects the fears that even the name of this revolution instil in the hearts of the ruling classes the world over. And this is in spite of the relentless din of the voracious chorus that socialism, Marxism, communism are dead. Of all the parodies of popular representation in which history is so rich, Pakistans political elite is perhaps the most absurd. On the one hand they reverberate the cliché that socialism is dead, while at the same time mostly the right wing politicians are frighteningly warning about a bloody revolution. Awkwardly some present the French revolution as a solution to the crisis without even knowing which one. From 1789 till 1968 there were five bourgeois revolutions and two proletarian revolutions in France. The victorious Paris Commune of 1871 was the first revolution in history in which the working classes took power and held it for more than seventy days while the May 1968 upheaval in France was even larger in comparison to the Russian revolution of 1917 but was defeated by the betrayals of the leaders of the traditional workers parties in France. But such is the deafening silence on the Bolshevik Revolution as if it never even happened. If one dares to mention it the abrupt reply of the political overlords and their intellectual geniuses of today is Oh! That failed in Russia. The relative weight of slander in a political struggle in society still awaits its sociologist. The Russian revolution of October 1917 changed the course of history. The American journalist and socialist who witnessed the events of the revolution at first hand wrote in his epic book, Ten days that shook the world, No matter what one thinks of Bolshevism, it is an undeniable fact that the Russian revolution is one of the greatest events in human history, and the rule of the Bolsheviki is a phenomenon of worldwide importance. According to the Russian orthodox calendar, the revolutionary insurrection and the
[LAAMN] Some election results: for president,Peace and Freedom Party Green Party
Socialist wins historic 27% against WA House Speaker *Kshama Sawant, the Occupy-inspired Socialist Alternative candidate for Washington State House, scored 27% against Democratic incumbent Speaker Frank Chopp. * *full vote not counted as of yet.* *Kshama Sawant* *Votes 11,906 * *Percent 27.34 * *--* * Peace and Freedom Party, here are some of their results in California:* * * *Rosanne Barr/Cindy Sheehan got 36,975 votes - 0.4 % also on the ballot in Florida, total combined=49,000 votes* * * * * *State Senate seat 9, Mary Mcllrory got 33,801 votes - 14.2 %* *State Senate seat 33, Lee H.Chauser got 28.031 votes - 19.5 %* * State Assembly district 15, Eugene Ruyle got 17,437 votes - 13.1 %* * * *PF did endorse other individuals and slates and those results I can not find at this time. Could be further updates also.* ** * Cort* ** * * * * *As of this time, could change:* *http://www.google.com/elections/ed/us/results *Right now, Obama has 50.3 percent - over 60 million votes Romney has 48.1 percent - over 57 million votes Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), 1 percent, 1.139 million votes *Jill Stein (Green Party), .3 percent, 396,562* *Rosanne Barr, Peace and Freedom Party - 49,000* Rocky Anderson, 34,521 Thomas Hoefling, 28,099 Jerry Litzel, 12,895 Jeff Boss, 12,895 Randall Terry, 12,895 [Those 3 having the same figure is weird] Merlin Miller, 12,895 [another one!] Jill Reed, 12,032 Richard Duncan, 12,032 None of the Above, 5,753 Andrew Barnett, 4,704 Chuck Baldwin, 4,704 Barbara Washer, 4,704 Tom Stevens, 4,001 *Stewart Alexander (Socialist Party), 3,897* Virgil Goode (Constitution Party), 3,553 Will Christensen, 3,553 *James Harris (Socialist Workers Party), 3,427* Jim Carlson, 3,169 Sheila Tittle, 2,470 *Peta Lindsay (Party for Socialism Liberation), 1,518* *Gloria LaRiva ( Note: Gloria La Riva and Filberto Ramirez are the Party for Socialism and Liberation's candidates on Wisconsin's ballot), 533 part of above total for PSL* ** *Jerry White, Socialist Equality Party- wsws -1,126* Dean Morstad, 1,107 Jack Fellure, 503 Now I know there are many different shades of Green and some are to the Left. *Some more Green Party results; Florida* * * *Green Party candidate for Republican dominated Monroe County ( Keys) running for Mosquito Control Board, Oliver Kofoid for the District 1 seat got 10,299 votes 30.52 percent.* ** *Green Party candidate Florida House of Representatives District 12, Karen Morian* won the endorsement of several labor organizations as well as the local Democratic Party,* got 20,087 votes, 31.75 percent* ** *In Bay County in the Panhandle, a write in campaign for County Supervisor seat 3, Henry Lawrence Green Party got 309 votes.* - Wisconsin the Green Party merged with the Labor and Farm Party in the late 80's: In Wisconsin State Assembly race 78th District, Jonathan Dedering got 7,303 votes, 24.3 % against the Democratic incumbent. *there are 11 Green office holders in Wisconsin statewide most at the county level, I do know one who was/is a socialist-feminist. http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2012/11/ *Local Elections: California Greens win eight races on November 6* Twenty-two California Greens ran in November 6th elections. Eight were elected, including all five incumbents seeking re-election and three first-time candidates. Among those elected were a Green Mayor, four School Board members, two Water District members and a Fire Protection District board member (in a non-incorporated area where the Fire District serves as a de facto City Council regarding approving development). The eight California Greens elected on November 6th follow seven others who were elected in municipal elections in August, September and October, for a total of 15 California Greens elected in 2012. http://www.cagreens.org/elections/2012-november *California Greens Elected on November 6th:* Bruce Delgado Mayor (1) Bruce Delgado, Mayor, Marina (Monterey County) (incumbent) 1st of 2 candidates for one seat, 2,604 votes 62.58% ELECTED School District (4) Phyllis T. Greenleaf, Trustee, Board of Education, Live Oak Elementary School District (Santa Cruz County) 2nd of 3 candidates for two seats, 2,540 votes 33.5% ELECTED Mike A. Perez, Trustee, Board of Education, Aromas-San Juan Unified School District (Monterey County) (incumbent) 3rd of 4 candidates for three seats 360 votes 22.7% ELECTED Kimberly Ann Petersen, Trustee, Board of Education, Geyserville Unified School District (Sonoma County) 2 candidates for three seats (not on ballot, declared elected because race not contested) ELECTED Karen L. Pickett, Board Member; Canyon Elementary School District, Canyon (Contra Costa County) (incumbent) 1 candidate for two seats (not on ballot, declared elected because race not contested) ELECTED
[LAAMN] Elections 2012: The More Things Stay the Same, the More They Change
11.14.2012 01:00PM - 03:00PM Minneapolis - Alan Woods Tour - Venezuela, Cuba, and the Future of the Latin American Revolutionhttp://www.socialistappeal.org/component/gcalendar/event/OTlzdnI2NnJkNWpvMHFqbGZucW5lazRhcjAgYmo0bTh2NDdxNzlrMjltcWg2cGk1ZmJidW9AZw/1?start=1352919600end=1352926800 NOV 11.14.2012 07:00PM - 09:00PM Minneapolis - Alan Woods Tour - In Defense of Marxist Philosophy: An Introduction to Dialectical Materialismhttp://www.socialistappeal.org/component/gcalendar/event/ZjRtbDBiM2E5OGsyYm1sNWQxZGpxb2NwMjggYmo0bTh2NDdxNzlrMjltcWg2cGk1ZmJidW9AZw/1?start=1352941200end=1352948400 NOV 11.15.2012 07:00PM - 09:00PM Minneapolis - Alan Woods Tour - Art and the Class Strugglehttp://www.socialistappeal.org/component/gcalendar/event/NHB0MzVpZzkwdGM1M2Nra3AxMzN0MDI2czQgYmo0bTh2NDdxNzlrMjltcWg2cGk1ZmJidW9AZw/1?start=1353027600end=1353034800 - http://www.socialistappeal.org/analysis/us-politics/1093-elections-2012-more-things-stay-same-more-they-change Elections 2012: The More Things Stay the Same, the More They Changehttp://www.socialistappeal.org/analysis/us-politics/1093-elections-2012-more-things-stay-same-more-they-change [image: Print]http://www.socialistappeal.org/analysis/us-politics/1093-elections-2012-more-things-stay-same-more-they-change?tmpl=componentprint=1layout=defaultpage=[image: E-mail]http://www.socialistappeal.org/component/mailto/?tmpl=componentlink=663f15722094942fd16105affe485486cd7ff69e Written by John Peterson Thursday, 08 November 2012 11:55 $6 billion and over a year of campaigning later, and it would appear that the status quo remains. Obama is still the president; the Democrats control the Senate; and the Republicans control the House of Representatives. On the surface, nothing has changed. Taken at face value, this is correct. As we have explained many times beforehttp://socialistappeal.org/component/content/article/96-featured/1080-election-2012-choice-what-choice, both Obama and Romney are defenders and advocates of the capitalist system. Nothing fundamental was going to change no matter who won. However, looks can be deceiving. As Marxists we must look beneath the surface at the underlying and contradictory processes taking place in the depths of society. In reality, these elections represent a significant shift to the left, albeit within the limited constraints of the current U.S. political panorama. *There's more than meets the eye* [image: Obama after his victory. Photo: WHCI News/ Kevin Gebhardt]*Obama after his victory. Photo: WHCI News http://www.flickr.com/photos/wchinews// Kevin Gebhardt*Compared to the genuine enthusiasm of 4 years ago, there is a notable lack of generalized optimism and enthusiasm on the day after the election. Despite the media's efforts to instill a sense of enthusiasm, national pride, and exhortations that we should all take a moment to stand in awe of democracy, the mood has been muted and indifferent, to say the least. The sense that something real is going to change is long gone. In 2008, millions saw a vote for Obama as an expression of their burning hope that life could be different. It was a vote for equality, opportunity, dignity, and above all: jobs. Fast-forward 4 years and the crisis has taken its toll on people's lives and enthusiasm. Its been called a tale of two recoveries, or a growth recession growth for the rich and recession for the rest of us. For many, this time around, a vote for Obama was a vote just to try and stay afloat, an attempt to hold on to the little hope that remains as the crisis grinds on and on. For millions of Americans, a vote for Obama was a vote against cuts and austerity. Unfortunately, that is precisely what they will get in his second term. That Romney and Obama were running neck and neck in the run up to Election Day was due to a variety of reasons. The media needs to sell advertising, so building the election up as a nail-biter was in their interest. It is also a reflection of the total impasse of the two main capitalist parties, neither of which can offer a real and convincing solution. Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that most people saw no real difference between the two, or at least, no difference that would compel them to make an extra effort to get out and vote. The minor surge in votes for Obama in a few key states had more to do with voting defensively than any real enthusiasm for his presidency. I t was a classic case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Neither candidate offered a way out of the crisis, and millions instinctively understood that. 2008 saw the highest presidential election turnout since 1960. Curtis Gans, director of American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate estimates that turnout in every state but Iowa will be below that of 2008. In most states, turnout was even below 2004. He estimated that only 126 million, or 57.5% of Americans voted for at least one office
[LAAMN] Venezuela’s Chavez: Obama Should Govern His Own Country and not “Invade” Others
[image: Logo Venezuela Analysis]Venezuelas Chavez: Obama Should Govern His Own Country and not Invade Others Nov 9th 2012, by Ewan Robertson [image: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a meeting with government ministers yesterday (agencies)] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a meeting with government ministers yesterday (agencies) Mérida, 9th November 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has commented on the re-election of US president Barack Obama, *while urging his own state governor candidates to maintain their commitment with the people and not the local bourgeoisie.* In a meeting with ministers yesterday, Chavez offered his thoughts on the current US presidents re-election, saying, Hopefully President Obama reflects and dedicates himself to governing his country, and forgets about invading other peoples, destabilising other countries, etc. The Venezuela president further stated his opinion that Obama should reflect, first, for his country, which lamentably has many social and economic problems. It's a divided country, a country with a social and economic fracture where poverty and misery are growing every day. With Chavezs own re-election on 7 October, both presidents have been through long electoral campaigns this year. The latest figures on the US election put turnout lower than in 2008, possibly at around 50%. In Venezuelas presidential election turnout was 81%, a historic high. Speaking to ministers, Chavez also described the US as being dominated by a super elite, [who] are exploiting the country and society: poisoning it, cheating it, manipulating it through a media war. Venezuelan US relations have been frozen at the chargé dAffaires level since 2010, when the former US ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, ended his term of service, and the Chavez government refused at accept Obamas replacement, Larry Palmer. *Message to Candidates* *In the same meeting, Chavez also sent a message to the candidates for his party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), in the upcoming regional and local elections.* *The Venezuelan head of state warned candidates against a lack of commitment with the Bolivarian movement, saying that some of his partys elected representatives end up trapped by the regional bourgeoisie and each of those cases has pained me greatly.* *He accused some of his movements representatives as being afraid of local power elites, and argued they freeze up .you see them making great speeches, and suddenly they win the mayoralty, the governorship, and they stop themselves!* *Chavez also criticised his governors for not doing more to tackle the system of large-scale land ownership in Venezuela, known as latifundios. He stated that I havent received, in all these years, even one recommendation from a governor to confront the latifundios, to fulfil the constitution: it seems youve forgotten, then?* The PSUV is currently waging a campaign against the opposition MUD coalition, and other groups, for state governor elections slated for 16 December. In many states the election is likely to be tight-fought. In this context, Chavez declared to the PSUVs candidates, What Im doing is a reflection and a call, hand on heart from now on I commit my candidates for governor to assume their responsibility with the revolution, not with local groups, or political groups inside the (PSUV) party. Chavez also clarified that he was not referring to all PSUV representatives, and argued that the movement had many good teams. He concluded his commentary by again urging all his candidates to maintain loyalty [with] the people and the revolution, whatever the cost. -- *Source URL (retrieved on 09/11/2012 - 3:38pm):* http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7447 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links
[LAAMN] Pakistan: Imperialism and the All-Party Circus
http://www.marxist.com/pakistan-imperialism-and-all-party-circus.htm Pakistan: Imperialism and the All-Party Circushttp://www.marxist.com/pakistan-imperialism-and-all-party-circus.htm Written by Lal Khan Wednesday, 05 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/pakistan-imperialism-and-all-party-circus/print.htm# *As if the catastrophic effects of terrorism, flooding, violence, the dengue plague and other innumerable disasters were not enough, the ruling elite and its brash media has hyped up the empty imperialist provocations and vague threats, adding to the mental trauma the masses were already suffering in Pakistan.* Hysteria has been built up to whip up chauvinism and create a nationalistic fervour with overtones of religious bigotry. If the Pakistani ruling classes create even greater distractions to divert the attention of the masses away from the intense socio-economic disaster they have to endure, the US elite has no less dread of the consequences of the economic mess they have made in America. The workers and youth of America are going through the worst crisis and tribulations for generations. US imperialism is losing the war in Afghanistan. But the irony is that the defeat is not a short lived event that could end this bloodshed and devastation. It is a protracted war of attrition to which there seems to be no end in sight. In the process it is draining the blood and finances of American working class youth, the soldiers on the ground who are dying on the altar of the profits of corporate America and the imperialist insatiable lust for hegemony and domination of the planet. In this madness the devastation and bloodshed of the suffering people of Afghanistan and the adjoining areas of Pakistan is gargantuan. Innumerable innocent men, women, children are being slaughtered, which is deemed so-called collateral damage which nobody really bothers to estimate. The American writer and politician Gore Vidal once commented that the US is a republic with one bourgeois party with two right wings. The political elite are attempting to laugh away the economic crisis they cannot avoid or overcome and also the lingering defeat that is staring them in the face. A hue and cry about the involvement of Pakistan in the Taliban insurgency is being raised by the US generals in frustration at the consistent military failures they are suffering at the hands of a ragtag of fanatics who are propped up not only by drug money and sections of the ISI but also by some of the reactionary Arab despots, who ironically happen to be long standing allies of US imperialism. Threats by US generals and the vague denials by the State Department and the White House expose the bitter conflicts between the different institutions of the US state. The threat of a full scale attack or invasion of Pakistan starting with North Waziristan would be extremely arduous if not catastrophic to execute for an already debilitated and demoralised US military. Firstly, when did the US strategists not know about the connections and links of the ISI with these obscurantist terrorist groups? It was in fact the CIA and the Saudi intelligence agency that designated and funded the ISI for the job three decades ago. They also helped to construct the networks of drug cartels and criminal mafias to finance the jihad. Since the US invasion in 2001 this has been more or less an open secret. The hysterical agitation of the right-wing US politicians calling for an end to aid to Pakistan to force it to cease its support for the Taliban, along with the fear-mongering on the part of Pakistans liberal elite about the calamity such a blockade of aid would produce, is a deception and facade. US aid is always exclusively handed out for imperialist interests. In 1957 the US Secretary of State acclaimed Pakistan as a bulwark of freedom in Asia, but the Committee of Foreign Relations had no qualms about the purposes of the aid. Its report of 12 March 1957 said, Technical Assistance is not something to be done, as a Government enterprise, for its own sake and not for the sake of others. The US Government is not a charitable institution... Technical Assistance is only one of the number of instruments available to the US to carry out its foreign policy and promote its national interests abroad... these tools of foreign policy include economic aid, military assistance, security treaties, overseas information programmes, participation in the UN and other international organisations, the exchange of persons programmes, tariff and trade policies, surplus agricultural commodities disposal policies and the traditional processes of diplomatic representation. This has always been and always will be the real character of American aid, till and until the capitalist system and the imperialist foundations of the USA remain and are not overthrown by the American proletariat and youth. The reaction of the Pakistans ruling elite and its state apparatus if farcical
[LAAMN] Syria: The Assad's killing machine continues
Assad is growing weaker
Hussain
Abdul-Hussainhttp://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsAuthorArticles.aspx?Author=Hussain
Abdul-Hussain,
t http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=317759#
javascript:checkSize('size'); javascript:checkSize2('size')
An image grab from a YouTube video shows defected Syrian soldiers standing
on tanks amid demonstrators in Hama. Defecting soldiers are a major threat
to the Assad regime. (AFP photo/YouTube)
A ferocious battle was taking place in Rastan between army defectors and
loyalists to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Witnesses said the ranks of
the rebels swelled when more soldiers defected from the attacking pro-Assad
forces. Benefitting from the support of the local population, the defectors
unexpectedly held their ground and inflicted heavy casualties on the
attackers, forcing the army to use air power to bombard the town randomly
and teach both defectors and civilians a lesson.
But six months after the outbreak of the uprising, it seems that Assad is
the one who needs to learn some lessons. Brutality has succeeded in subduing
dozens of the flashpoint Syrian cities and towns only as long as Assad keeps
his tanks in the squares and his snipers on rooftops. When these are
redeployed to quell the uprising elsewhere, protesters take to the streets
again to demand Assad step down.
Syria has seemingly reached a stalemate between Assad's loyalists and those
calling for his ouster. But the rebels have time on their side, especially
given their tested determination and resilience.
Assad, for his part, has employed a two-pronged strategy: the unlimited use
of violence coupled with a propaganda campaign aimed at scaring Syria's
minorities and foreign powers of the consequences of his possible downfall.
With the decline of America's power in the region and with the potential for
a power vacuum to prevail, many fear the future if Assad were to fall. The
scenarios have varied between a civil war that might spill into Iraq and
Lebanon, and a radical Islamist takeover. News reports are also buzzing with
unverifiable stories that army defectors and civilian activists have been
arming.
Syrian rebels fall into four general categories. One is composed of
dissidents in exile who have no influence over the course of events but can
help lobby world powers in favor of the uprising. The other three types of
activist are inside Syria, and two of them have been instrumental in
stirring the uprising.
*Peaceful activists, organized into loosely connected Coordination
Committees, have been the main engine of the uprising.
They organize protests and tape them, and run a sophisticated social media
campaign. The probability of these people turning violent is slim.*
*Another group influencing events inside Syria is the army defectors, who
have so far organized themselves into the Free Officers, the Free Syrian
Army, and the Khaled Bin al-Walid Battalion in Homs and the Omar Ibn
al-Khattab Battalion in Deir al-Zour. Estimated at more than 10,000, these
soldiers have ambushed Assad's loyalists and engaged them in battles, though
they often run out of ammunition and get decimated.*
The last group is formed of intellectuals and opposition figures living in
Syria who were active before the uprising began.
They have no influence with either the peaceful activists or the army
defectors. A few of them have been co-opted by Assad and have been arguing
that a civil war is inevitable, thus aggravating the fear of a post-Assad
Syria. Many of them call for dialogue with Assad as the only way to end the
strife.
More soldiers will probably defect, and some may join forces with tribal
fighters and procure arms off the black market, but they will by no means be
able to get their hands on enough firepower to make a dent in the official
armed forces. If the Libya war tells us anything, it is that ragtag militias
without foreign intervention cannot stop, let alone defeat, an organized
army like the units still loyal to Assad.
Still, despite Assad's brutal upper hand, time is on the rebels side.
Last week, the government banned the import of any commodity with a tax that
is higher than five percent to prevent the flow of hard currency out of
Syria, leading experts to conclude that the volume of Syria's reserves is
much smaller than the $18 billion Syria's Central Bank governor, Adib
Mayyaleh, previously announced.
The minute Assad runs out of foreign currency, the Syrian pound will stop
being worth the paper it is printed on. Hyperinflation will hit, and Assad
will not be able to pay his fighters.
Unlike Libya's Moammar Qaddafi, who had an estimated $15 billion in cash in
the vaults of his Central Bank during the fight for Tripoli, Assad's
resources are meager, especially after Europe slapped sanctions on the
countrys oil sector last week.
Assad is growing weaker by the hour. If Syrians continue protesting, there
is no way he can keep his terror campaign going. There is no worldwide
[LAAMN] Venezuela:The Bureaucratic Distortion of the Strategic Lines of the PSUV
Trouble is these are most of the same people blocking and sabotaging the advance of socialism and the Bolivarian revolution Cort Cilia Flores (first Vice-president of the PSUV), Elias Jaua Milano (Vice-president of the Los Llanos region), *Nicolas Maduro (Vice-president of the Southern region),* Francisco Ameliach (Vice-president of the Central-Western region), Aristobulo Isturiz (Vice-president of the Eastern region), Diosado Cabello (Vice-president of the Central region), Héctor Rodríguez, Carlos Escarrá, Jorge Rodríguez, Darío Vivas, Érika Farías, Freddy Bernal, Héctor Navarro, Jacqueline Faria, Luis Reyes, María Cristina Iglesías, Alí Rodríguez Araque, Ana Elisa Osorio, Antonia Muñoz, Noelí Pocaterra, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, Tarek El Aissami, Yelitze Santaella and Rodrigo Cabezas, amongst other members [image: Logo Venezuela Analysis] The Bureaucratic Distortion of the Strategic Lines of the PSUV Oct 5th 2011, by Javier Biardeau - Rebelion Given that prospects still exist for analysing the results of the discussion assemblies on the so-called five Strategic Lines of PSUV Political Action (which will now be 6), its necessary to demonstrate the most evident symptoms of bureaucratic assimilation and neutralization of radical criticism to the party-machine logic, which began to be voiced following the problematic results of September 2010. On the 20th of December 2010 in a meeting with the national leadership of the PSUV, our very own Chávez began the first debate regarding the Strategic Lines of Political Action of 2011-2012. There, in the presence of Cilia Flores (first Vice-president of the PSUV), Elias Jaua Milano (Vice-president of the Los Llanos region), Nicolas Maduro (Vice-president of the Southern region), Francisco Ameliach (Vice-president of the Central-Western region), Aristobulo Isturiz (Vice-president of the Eastern region), Diosado Cabello (Vice-president of the Central region), Héctor Rodríguez, Carlos Escarrá, Jorge Rodríguez, Darío Vivas, Érika Farías, Freddy Bernal, Héctor Navarro, Jacqueline Faria, Luis Reyes, María Cristina Iglesías, Alí Rodríguez Araque, Ana Elisa Osorio, Antonia Muñoz, Noelí Pocaterra, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, Tarek El Aissami, Yelitze Santaella and Rodrigo Cabezas, amongst other members, Chávez outlined the reasons why 2011 and 2012 would be crucial years for the Bolivarian Revolution. *The main reason for this meeting is to begin a discussion on the content of the Strategic Lines of Political Action, a document which is a draft. We have paid attention and interest to a series of constructive ideas. It is us, the national leadership, alongside the bases of the party, who will construct a new reality.* Chavez indicated that the document contained *fundamental ideas *for tackling the tasks of 2011-2012 which relate to the political continuity of the Bolivarian Revolution. *The next two years will be crucial for the Bolivarian Revolution. Thats how the militancy and leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela should see it.* Chávez set out clearly at the time that beyond the PSUV, we have to increase our forces, a *reunification of patriotic and nationalist forces, on course for the creation of the Patriotic Pole*. The interpretation of beyond the PSUV implied a counterweight to the logic of the party-machine, to overcome any overbearing intentions on the part of the PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela), or of any of the political organisations that support the Bolivarian Revolution, leaving behind sectarianism, dogmatism, and bureaucracy, that historically have done so much damage to the construction of unified forces; preventing the formation of a great platform of revolutionary parties, social movements, collective fronts now called the great patriotic pole, but also similar to other experiences on the continent called the revolutionary broad front. In a war, the formation of the great patriotic pole is a *superior and principal objective* for tackling the strategic political tasks of 2012, which in itself, allows for a democratic deepening of Venezuelan society, in order to guarantee the socialist horizon; given that to not do this would be to go backwards, not only to the neanderthal obscurantism of the Fourth Republic, but also to a low intensity democracy, a neo-colonial protectorate controlled by Washington. That is how Chávez, in those days of 2010, reiterated the fundamental importance of carrying out critical and self critical efforts to debate, without losing our main and superior objective. In conclusion, he called for a constructive debate which produces proposals that add to and multiply within the process of accumulating revolutionary forces, not proposals which subtract from and divide those forces in a suicidal process which weakens the revolution. If there is a political-ethical element which defines socialist militancy, it is precisely the need for honest debate of ideas (not
[LAAMN] Alan Woods-USA: Wall Street rocked by anti-capitalist protests – time to build a labor party!
http://www.marxist.com/usa-wall-street-anti-capitalist-protests-build-labor-party.htm USA: Wall Street rocked by anti-capitalist protests time to build a labor party!http://www.marxist.com/usa-wall-street-anti-capitalist-protests-build-labor-party.htm Written by Alan Woods Thursday, 06 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/usa-wall-street-anti-capitalist-protests-build-labor-party/print.htm# *Yesterday Wall Street was rocked by a mass demonstration of over 15,000 people protesting against corporate greed. The crowd jammed the square and stretched for blocks along Broadway. This unprecedented protest was a manifestation of the mood of anger, bitterness and frustration that has been accumulating for years in American society, which had already previously erupted in the big demonstrations and walkouts in Madison, Wisconsin, culminating in the occupation of the Capitol.* [image: Yesterday outside City Hall, New York. Photo: bogieharmond] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/usa/Oct_5_City_Hall_NY-bogieharmond.jpgThis is part of a general worldwide ferment, the clearest expression of which was the Arab Revolution. These explosive events have had a profound effect on the consciousness of the workers and youth everywhere. This was shown by the statement made by Bob Masters of the Communications Workers of America. He said the spontaneous uprising was in keeping with popular revolts breaking out all over the world this year: Occupy Wall Street captured the spirit of our time, he said. This is Madison. This is Cairo. This is Tunisia. Role of the students The demonstrations began in lower Manhattan twenty days ago. The majority of the protesters were students. This is a natural development. Although the students cannot play an independent role in the class struggle, they are always a sensitive barometer that reflects the tensions and contradictions that are silently accumulating in the depths of society. Historically, the students always tend to move first. They can anticipate a movement of the masses. What is significant is the class content of the slogans shouted by the protesters. This is a movement of the poor against the rich, of the exploited against the exploiters. Ordinary Americans who have had to bear the brunt of the crisis have seen their living standards decimated while the bankers who have helped themselves to billions of dollars of public money award themselves lavish bonuses. Filmmaker Michael Moore attacked the fat cat bankers in plush offices far above the street. They are responsible for ruining the lives of millions of people, he said. They weren't just satisfied with being filthy rich. All layers of the working class have seen their living standards eroded, including those who long considered themselves middle class. I feel the middle class has been under attack for some time now. I always wondered when this was going to happen, said Jimmy Shea, 45, a union carpenter at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. The students set it off with Occupy Wall Street and the unions came around because the unions are finding the same problems as the kids, he added. The mood of many was summed up by Alex Ponton, a 67-year-old retired salesman who had never been to a protest before: I want the wealthy to pay their fair share. If, in some small way, I can show up and yell and support and march, I'll do whatever I can do to help Main Street. Role of the unions The media at first attempted to portray the demonstrators as a bunch of hippies and eccentrics, highlighting the presence of people dressed as clowns and zombies. But this cynical propaganda was immediately cut across when thousands of workers and union members joined protesters marching through the financial district of New York. At first the unions mostly watched from the sidelines as the Occupy Wall Street protests grew from a motley band of activists camping in a park into a movement that was growing in strength and spreading across the country. Members of the city's biggest unions marched in solidarity with the students who began camping out three weeks ago to protest the excesses of the richest 1%. We are the 99%. So are you! protesters chanted as they marched to Foley Square, just north of City Hall. It's an epic march, said John Samuelson, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, who urged his 35,000 bus and subway workers to march. Among these is the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the Empire State's largest union, representing 600,000 teachers. In an interview on Tuesday, spokesman Carl Korn publicly offered NYSUT's support for Occupy Wall Street and its message about shrinking income inequality, investing in public education, and making the rich pay. Teachers and public employees represent the other 99 percent; they are not in the 1 percent, Korn said, echoing the theme of the occupation. The participation of organized labor in this protest represents a most important
[LAAMN] Oct.14th-Films4Cuban5 in Santa Monica THE DAY DIPLOMACY DIED
* Films4Cuban5 presents* *THE DAY DIPLOMACY DIED* * * *Friday, Oct 14, 7:00 pm* *Before Film: Meet at Izzy's Deli, 15th and Wilshire 5:00 PM * *Free street parking @ Izzy's Deli , rear lot, computer store lot on 15th.* *After Film: End the Embargo to CUBA COFFEE w/ Izzy cookies.* * At the Home of Rachel and Jay* *601- 9th Street, Santa Monica, California* *one block E of Lincoln, one block N of Montana* *Southeast Corner, Easy Parking * * * *RSVP: rachel...@earthlink.net - 310-780-7363 (first 20)* *The Day Diplomacy Died (2010) 33 minutes* *The Day Diplomacy Died (2010) , exposes the story behind the lock up of 75 independent journalists, trade unionists, and librarians in Cuba in 2003 through the eyes of four ex-Cuban state agents working undercover. The former agents speak out for the first time on film about the inner workings of the dissident groups they infiltrated and the various plans, supported by the U.S. government, that were being developed to destabilize Cuba. Must see film.* ** *$5 donation * ** *For the Cuban 5 defense* *www.thecuban5.org/* ** *In September 1998, five Cuban men were arrested in Miami by FBI agents. Gerardo Hernandez, Ramón **Labañino, F ernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and René Gonzalez were accused of the crime of **conspiracy to commit espionage. * * RENÉ González Sehwerert, one of Cuba's five anti-terrorist heroes, released from prison October 7 **having served in full the brutal and unjust sentence he was given.* ** *We sent $100 to Antonio for his birthday. October 16 ¡Feliz cumpleaños!* * * * * * * [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Seven months into the Syrian Revolution masses still striving for a breakthrough
http://www.marxist.com/seven-months-into-syrian-revolution.htm Seven months into the Syrian Revolution masses still striving for a breakthroughhttp://www.marxist.com/seven-months-into-syrian-revolution.htm Written by Mousa Ladqani Wednesday, 12 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/seven-months-into-syrian-revolution/print.htm# *In the seventh month of its life, the Syrian revolution has passed through many stages, experienced ebbs and flows, and reached new layers of the masses while others have passed into inactivity or suffered brutal oppression. However, the youth and the oppressed are determined to carry the torch of the revolution to the end, to victory or martyrdom. The revolt has spread like wildfire, and all the efforts of a decaying regime to extinguish the fire have resulted in no more than a temporary relief. The masses have awakened from their slumber to come onto the stage of history, and a nation is being reborn baptised in blood and fire.* [image: July 22. Photo: syriana2011] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/syria/jul_22-syriana2011.jpgRevolution reaches deep into the masses What started as a movement of angry, frustrated and oppressed youth has spread to capture the imagination of millions striving for freedom and justice. From Dar'aa in the South, passing through Damascus, Homs and Hama in the centre and reaching Idleb in the North, and from Latakia in the west to Der Al-Zour and Qamishli in the East, the revolution has spread to engulf the whole country. Just as the revolution has spread horizontally it has equally spread vertically with the revolutionary fever reaching deep into all classes of society: farmers, workers, small shop owners, professionals, intellectuals, and even artists and celebrities. Even those sections of society supportive of the regime have been pushed onto the stage of politics by the movement. Everyone is talking about politics and many are involved in political activity, and that can only be a sign of a society in revolutionary ferment. Mass demonstrations reach their peak To the politically fresh, untutored masses, lessons are learnt the hard way, often at a very costly price. Initially the Syrian masses may have had the illusion that mass demonstrations and square occupations were all that was required to overthrow their oppressor. However, they are coming to realize that a slogan alone cannot stand in the face of a machine gun. The mass demonstrations reached their peak in the period prior to and during the month of Ramadan with around half a million demonstrators in each of Hama and Der Al-Zor and many tens of thousands in Damascus, Homs, Latakia, Idleb and their surrounding towns and villages. Demonstrators were not limited to unemployed youth or farmers and small shop keepers, but they included elements from all layers of society. This was evident from the various demonstrations of engineers and doctors in Der Al-Zor, Da'raa and other cities, the demonstration of artists and celebrities in the heart of Damascus, and the many arrests among university professors and intellectuals. Workers and public sector employees also participated which was confirmed by the harassment or firing of suspected employees from their workplaces. The regime took a decision to use the utmost force to stop the mass movement from growing further. Cities were invaded with tanks and neighbourhoods were bombed. Mass arrests, brutal torture, executions, rape, siege and deprivation of food, water and medicine, plunder and destruction of property and sources of income, burning of crops and killing of livestock, are all methods that the regimes has resorted to. This overwhelming oppression succeeded in preventing mass demonstrations after extensive deployment of the armed forces all over the country. The movement has ebbed since, and demonstrations have continued but with lesser intensity. The masses are thinking and reflecting; they have come to realize that the revolution cannot be won this way alone. The regime has taken this opportunity to step up repression, and conducting more mass arrests among the youth activists. The revolutionary committees and the free Syrian army The extreme brutality of the regime has brought with it a price. Many previous supporters or confused elements have passed to the camp of the revolution after seeing the blatant oppression and brutalities of the regime. A regime that has to employ this much oppression to stay in power is obviously one that has lost its legitimacy among wide sections of the population, and with it its stabilizing base and support among the masses. The regime has paid dearly when it comes to its armed forces. The Syrian army, and even the security forces, have been falling apart; many soldiers and officers have defected, slowly, but constantly. Now this chaotic and scattered process of defection has accumulated slowly and reached a point where it has acquired a quality. The defecting soldiers have
[LAAMN] Is an Iranian Drug Cartel Behind the Assassination Plot against the Saudi Ambassador?
Where it is not beyond the Quds Brigade to commit assassinations inside and outside of Iran, the story put out by the US sounds more like the theater of the absurdmeets Iran Contra-Gate which had drug dealers, gun runners and intelligence services working with one another too...but whose this time? Cort http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/is-an-iranian-drug-cartel-behind-the-assassination-plot-against-the-saudi-ambassador.html Is an Iranian Drug Cartel Behind the Assassination Plot against the Saudi Ambassador?http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/is-an-iranian-drug-cartel-behind-the-assassination-plot-against-the-saudi-ambassador.html Posted on 10/12/2011 by Juan As many observers have pointed out, the story given us by Attorney General Eric Holder about the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C., makes no sense. *Veteran CIA operative Bob Baer, now retired, notes that Iranian intelligence*http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-12/ex-cia-warns-us-dangerously-wrong-on-iran/3553704?section=worldis highly professional and works through proxies, and this sloppy operation simply is not their modus operandi. The US is alleging that Gholam Shakuri, a known member of the Quds Brigade, the special operations force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, was involved and that he was running an Iranian-American agent, Manssor Arbabsiar, a *used car dealer with a conviction on check fraud*http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/suspect-saudi-ambassador-plot-texas-ties-14717301. Arbabsiar wired $100,000 to a bank account he thought belonged to a member of the Zeta Mexican drug cartel, as a down payment on the $1.5 million demanded by the cartel member for carrying out the assassination. If Arbabsiar really had been an Iranian intelligence asset, he would have been informed if theres one thing the US typically monitors, it is money transfers of more than $10,000 (as a measure against drug money laundering). The only safe way to undertake this transaction would have been cash, and no one in the Quds Brigade is so stupid as not to know this simple reality. Moreover, would the Quds Brigade really depend so heavily on someone with a fraud conviction, who was therefore known to US authorities? Expert terrorism deploys newskins people who can fly under the radar of police and security forces. One possibility as to what is really going on here is *signaled by the Bloomberg*http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/10/11/bloomberg_articlesLSXPP00D9L38.DTLreport in the *San Francisco Chronicle*: Arbabsiar also told the informant that the same Iranian sponsors behind the assassination plot also controlled drug smuggling and could provide tons of opium, the federal law enforcement official said. In other words, Arbabsiars patron, Shakuri, may have had a side business, besides the Revolutionary Guards day job, as an element in *an opium- and heroin-running gang bringing the stuff from Afghanistan*http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2007/February/Opium110/index.htmlthrough Iran and to points west. About half of Afghanistans opium and heroin is exported via Iran. If a rogue Iranian drug cartel with an IRGC cover wanted to hit the Saudi ambassador, then it would be natural for them to reach out to their counterparts, the Zetas in Mexico. Whereas if the Iranian state wanted to assassinate someone, it would be crazy for them to reveal themselves to a Mexican gangster. So why hit the Saudis? If it was an Iranian cartel, they might be annoyed with the Saudi version of the *war on drugs*http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article363828.ece. After all, some of their colleagues may have gotten caught in the dragnet. Or they might be angered that Saudi-backed Sunni militant gangs in Iraq and Syria have grabbed smuggling routes, cutting out the Iranians. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibilityhttp://www.tni.org/archives/pin-docs_220976-1of a direct Iranian government plot. After all, Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet assassinated dissident (and former ambassador) Orlando Letelier in Washington, DC in 1976. Iranian and Saudi relations have been roiled by the turmoil in Syria, with with the Saudis supporting the opposition. In Bahrain the Saudis helped crush the movement toward greater openness, angering Iranians. And, the wikileaks cables demonstrate that the Saudis behind the scenes repeatedly urged the US to hit Iran. There is something like a cold war between the two regional powers, and this plot could be part of it. But I agree with Baer that it looks too much like amateur hour to likely be the doings of the Iranian government per se. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com
[LAAMN] Egypt: Christian and Mulsim workers and youth united despite manoeuvres of the military
http://www.marxist.com/egypt-christian-and-muslim-workers-united.htm Egypt: Christian and Mulsim workers and youth united despite manoeuvres of the militaryhttp://www.marxist.com/egypt-christian-and-muslim-workers-united.htm Written by Brian Adams Friday, 14 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/egypt-christian-and-muslim-workers-united/print.htm# *Faced with ever increasing contradictions, the military rulers in Egypt have looked to cut across the recent wave of class struggle by attempting to divide the workers and youth along religious lines. This is the context in which the recent deaths of 24 Coptic Christian Egyptian protestors must be seen.* [image: October 13 vigil for Maspero dead. Photo: Omar Robert Hamilton] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/egypt/Oct_13_vigil_woman-Omar_Robert_Hamilton.jpgThe latest events began after a brutal clampdown by the army of a Coptic protest in the Aswan province against the burning of a church. The protestors in Aswan were calling for the dismissal of the Governor of Aswan, who they claimed had done nothing to prevent the burning of Coptic churches, and who had in fact tried to blame the Copts themselves for building churches in the first place. On Sunday 9th October, Coptic Christians in Cairo, who make up approximately 10% of Egypts 85 million population, marched from Shoubra, a predominantly Coptic suburb of Cairo, to Maspero, the location of the Egyptian state television, to protest against the state violence against the Copts in Aswan, and once again demanding the removal of the Aswan Governor. The demonstration began with around 200 Copts, but grew in size as it headed towards Maspero, with reports of over 1000 by the time it had reached the state television building. *Importantly, numerous reports indicate that the protest was composed of both Copts and a large number of Muslims by the end of the march.* What ensued was the worst state brutality seen in Egypt since Mubarak let his marauding band of thugs and policemen loose upon the revolutionaries in Tahrir Square earlier this year. The army attacked the peaceful protest of Copts and Muslims with unbelievable ferocity. An eyewitness report on Al Masry Al Youm http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/503496 describes the army attacks: [The protest at Maspero] was immediately met with gunfire in the air. As protesters continued moving forwards, the gunfire continued. Suddenly, there was a great surge of people moving back, and something strange happened. Two armored personnel carriers (APCs) began driving at frightening speed through protesters, who threw themselves out of its path. A soldier on top of each vehicle manned a gun, and spun it wildly, apparently shooting at random although the screams made it difficult to discern exactly where the sound of gunfire was coming from. It was like some brutal perversion of the military show the armed forces put on for the 6th of October celebration three days before. The two vehicles zigzagged down the road outside Maspero underneath the 6th of October Bridge and then back in synchronicity, the rhythm for this particular parade provided by the tac tac tac of never-ending gunfire, the music the screams of the protesters they drove directly at. And then it happened: an APC mounted the island in the middle of the road, like a maddened animal on a rampage. I saw a group of people disappear, sucked underneath it. It drove over them. I wasnt able to see what happened to them because it then started coming in my direction. [image: Osama Heikal, minister of information. Illustration: Latuff] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/egypt/Osama_Heikal_spreading_poison-Latuff.gifVideos also show the massacre of the protestors by the army in great detailhttp://www.arabawy.org/2011/10/09/army-and-police-massacre-protesters-at-maspero/, with army vehicles driving manically into the peaceful crowds and tear gas being fired from all sides. The latest figures indicate that at least 24 were killed and 329 injured the most severe death toll since the January and February days of the revolution. The Egyptian state media have attempted to excuse this brutality as a defensive act against the violent Coptic protestors. As an article on Ahram Onlinehttp://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/23813/Egypt/Politics-/Outrage-over-State-TVs-misinformation-and-antiCopt.aspxreports: Egyptian state television not only failed to calm matters, but actually played a role in aggravating an already tense situation. In an unprecedented move, broadcasters on state television at one point called on the Egyptian public to head to Maspero en masse to defend Egyptian soldiers from what they described as angry Christian protesters. Indeed as the night unravelled, vigilante mobs attacked demonstrators fleeing police bullets and tear gas, using machettes, swords and cudgels. However, countless sources indicate that: a) the march was entirely peaceful before being
[LAAMN] Cuba Develops New Socialist Golf Courses
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* *Cuba Develops New Socialist Golf Courses* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On October 14, 2011 @ 5:17 am In *Features,Lead Articles,Sports* | *No Commentshttp://www.havanatimes.org/?p=53036print=1#comments_controls * - - Tweet http://twitter.com/share [1] - - - Tweet http://twitter.com/share [1] - *Isbel Diaz Torres* http://www.havanatimes.org/?attachment_id=53037 [2] Photo: www.cubaselecttravel.com HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 14 Its already public that the Cuba government plans to allow foreigners to acquire properties in perpetuity in ultra-modern golf course communities. The ultimate goal seems to be the development of enormous residential-hotel-golf course enclaves for tourists and the future Cuban bourgeoisie. *ON YOUR MARK GET SET GO! ** * They told us that this incursion has the highest priority for investment, said Graham Cooke, a Canadian golf course architect and the designer of a project for the Guardalavaca Beach area, along the islands north-eastern coast. The project, with an estimated value of more than $455 million, is being promoted by a consortium of Canadian Indian tribes whose officers supposedly entered into contract with the Cuban government this past August. According to Cubas tourism minister, Manuel Marrero, the government negotiated with several foreign companies to set up the first joint-ventures that will construct these golf courses on the island, in addition to other real estate developments related to tourism. The company *Standing Feather International*http://standing-feather.ca/place.html [3] (SFI) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cuban government in late April, and on this past July 6 agreed to create together with the Cuban state-owned company Palmares Grupo the Cuba-Kanata Golf Ltd company. This joint-venture will be the first to begin construction activity, with work set to begin in September of next year. Despite the magnitude of this project, no information concerning it has appeared in the islands broadcast media or written press. Its also known that the executive director of Londons Essence Group, who has helped sponsor international golf tournaments in Varadero, plans to develop a $300 million country club on the most famous beach in Cuba. In late July, the British ambassador on the island, Dianna Melrose, announced at the Cuban Foreign Ministry that her countrys business community wants to invest in Cubas tourism sector, particularly in new hotel and golf course projects being started. Mexico is another one of the countries that wants to share experiences with Cuba in the development of golf tourism, said Gloria Guevara Manzo, the head of the that countrys Federal Tourism Secretariat during the FITCUBA 2011 tourism fair this past May. Consultants with the Mexican firm Piza: arquitectura de golf are serving as advisors on the design and construction of the tourist complexes for Palmares, the company responsible for the development of golf facilities in terms of tourism. According to statements by Mexican officials, their country is among the top ten trading partners with Cuba, citing commercial exchange for $325 million in 2010. They went on to state that Mexican investment in the island is approximately $730 million, adding that, This positions us as one of the ranking Latin American investors on the island. In total, the four largest development projects total over $1.5 billion, while the *New York Times* says that the amount of profits coming into the Cuban government coffers will be about half. Cuba now has three 18-hole golf courses: the Campo de Golf Capdevila and the Havana Golf Club (both in Havana), and the Varadero Golf Club, located at the popular tourist resort in Matanzas Province. This latter curse was built before 1959 by the Dupont family. The current perspective is to develop sixteen short and medium-term real estate projects that will include courses for this sport. During the first parliamentary session of 2011, Cubas tourism minister claimed that the agreement had the approval of the Council of Ministers. The official noted that the four initial projects will be developed in the provinces of Holguin, Pinar del Rio, Havana and Matanzas. *PROPERTY ISSUES * In its eagerness for Cuba to become an exemplary and upscale destination in the Caribbean, the islands government has decided to promote an elite sport like golf, apparently seeing it as a means of revitalizing the economy. To this end, the government has shown no reservations about offering life leases on structures and land usufruct for 99 years. As the Canadian consortium disclosed to the *El Universal *newspaper, Were proud to announce that the titles on the luxury properties that buyers purchase arent the standard 99-year leases. Instead, residential properties are being sold with the owners having the right to own them in perpetuity.
[LAAMN] The Colombia Connection
http://quotha.net/node/2004 The Colombia Connection Fri, 10/14/2011 - 11:28 AP In a simple cable search http://cablesearch.org/ for Giuliani, I found 10BOGOTA276: EX-IM BANK CHAIRMAN HIGHLIGHTS TRADE AND EXPORT OPPORTUNTIEShttp://www.wikileaks.nl/cable/2010/01/10BOGOTA276.html[sic], where the broken window tycoon responsible in large part for the Honduran invisible genocide of the naughts received the following praise: 5. (SBU) Chairman Hochberg praised President Uribe and Colombia for its sound economic and investment strategies and attention to social policies, which helped reduce poverty. The Chairman shared that prior to his first trip to Colombia he consulted two important friends of the country -- Congressmen Eliot Engel and Gregory Meeks, both of whom briefed him on Colombia's achievements. As a New Yorker, the Chairman noted how investment and prosperity returned to New York City after Mayor Giuliani reduced crime. Hochberg highlighted parallels between New York City and Colombia and praised President Uribe for enhancing security, which has led to the positive investment climate and economic development that Colombia enjoys today. In the cable, Uribe is also quoted as bragging about all the security forces Colombians are training (spreading that false positive expertise to the rest of the hemisphere), like 11,000 Mexican police. Great job, Alvie. Colombian agents are crawling all over the Bajo Aguán region, according to countless reports from people there, and have participated in the death squad activities. This recent article in The Monoclehttp://www.monocle.com/goes into frightening detail about Colombia's continued training activities under Lobo's BFF Santos: Police Academy--Colombia Decades of warfare against drug cartels and armed guerillas have provided Colombia with a valuable asset. Countries across Latin America are sending their troops and police to learn the techniques of its elite Jungla unit. issue 47 . volume 05 . October 2011 Writer: Anastasia Moloney Photographer: Luca Zanetti Fight club Along with Jungla training, the Colombian police also offers in-country tailor-made specialist courses for regional police forces. Since 2009, it has trained around 8,000 police and soldiers, mostly from Latin America. Some of the most popular courses are: Bolivia: With more cocaine laboratories sprouting up across the Andean country, Colombia's Junglas provide training on finding and destroying clandestine cocaine laboratories. Mexico: The rise of Mexican drug cartels has increased demand for Colombian expertise on how to gather intelligence and build a criminal case against drug traffickers. Police from Colombia's anti-kidnapping unit, Gaula, have also trained the Mexicans in techniques against kidnapping and extortion. Honduras: With one of the world's highest murder rates and rising numbers of kidnappings, Colombian police provide training on rescuing hostages and preventing abductions. El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica: As Mexican drug gangs use these countries as money laundering spots, the Colombian police have provided training to tackle this growing problem. Brazilian policeman Noberto Aviles regrets not getting fitter before coming to Colombia. I didn't prepare myself physically enough, Aviles pants, as he grabs a breather in the canteen at Colombia's main police training centre, a three-hour drive south of Bogotá. So far this morning Aviles has gone on a brisk 5km run, been put through several fitness drills and has been forced to do countless push-ups all before breakfast. It's more difficult than I'd imagined, he says. Aviles is one of 107 young police officers and soldiers from 12 Latin American countries taking part in a commando course run by the Colombian anti-narcotics police's elite Jungla, or Jungle, squad. Set up by Britain's SAS in 1989 to create a special force to combat drug trafficking in Colombia, the 526-strong Jungla commandos are now passing on their battle-hardened experience of fighting leftist guerrilla armies and drug cartels to police from across Latin America. In a lush valley, the 4,700 hectare training site complete with two lakes, a tower from where recruits learn how to descend by rope from helicopters and experimental fields planted with 14 different varieties of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine will be home to the recruits over the next few weeks. For those looking to learn how to carry out top secret operations, raid rebel camps, patrol rivers, destroy cocaine laboratories deep in the jungle, hunt down drug kingpins, rescue hostages and become sharpshooters, Colombia's Jungla course is the one to be on. Four weeks in and already 11 recruits have dropped out. By the end of the four-month course that will test endurance and navigation skills to breaking point in the desert, rivers, cold mountains and humid rainforests of Colombia, around a quarter of recruits will have left or failed the test. Jerónimo Animaz, a
[LAAMN] This is the Way the Iraq War Ends, with Bangs and Whimpers
http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/this-is-the-way-the-iraq-war-ends-with-bangs-and-wimpers.html?utm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=feedutm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29 This is the Way the Iraq War Ends, with Bangs and Whimpershttp://www.juancole.com/2011/10/this-is-the-way-the-iraq-war-ends-with-bangs-and-wimpers.html Posted on 10/16/2011 by Juan The Associated Press is reporting that http://www.freep.com/article/20111016/NEWS07/110160466/U-S-will-stick-Dec-31-deadline-troop-withdrawal-from-Iraqits sources in the Obama administration are admitting that all US troops will have to leave Iraq by 31 December, in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) negotiated between George W. Bush and the Iraqi parliament. The US embassy in Baghdad announced the US Air Force has now handed responsibility for Iraqs air space over to the Iraqishttp://www.azzaman.com/index.asp?fname=2011\10\10-12\96.htmstorytitle=. Bush was forced into that SOFA because US troops could not fight in Iraq without a legal cover if they were to avoid possible war crimes prosecutions and lawsuits. From June 2003 until fall of 2008, the United Nations Security Council resolutions recognized the US as the occupying power with the responsibility to provide security to the population (a duty that might necessitate the deployment of military force). But the Iraqi government did not want, by 2008, to go to the UNSC for yet another such resolution, because it was eager to begin escaping its subordination to the UN. In the absence of a UNSC resolution, US troops needed a bilateral treaty to legalize their activities in Iraq. Thus, Bush had to sign what the parliament gave him or face the prospect that US troops would have to leave by 31 December, 2008, something that would have been interpreted as a defeat. The price the Iraqi parliament extracted for allowing the US troops to remain was an iron-clad guarantee that they would all be out by the end of 2011. Bush and his generals clearly expected, however, that over time Washington would be able to wriggle out of the treaty and would find a way to keep a division or so in Iraq past that deadline. Last spring Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki began insisting that the SOFA was unalterable. He admitted that a new SOFA could be negotiated that would allow US troops to be brought back in 2012, but they would have to leave by the end of 2011 as the treaty specified. Moreover, he insisted that any new SOFA would have to be approved by parliament. I thought to myself at that time that the whole game was over with, since the Iraqi parliament was never going to vote publicly to bring thousands of US troops back into the country. It would be seen as a surrender to neo-imperialism. Moreover, it might well be that a majority of the parliamentarians even privately wanted the foreign soldiers out of their country. The Sadr Bloc of Muqtada al-Sadr, with 40 seats, certainly wanted the US gone, and they threatened to revive their paramilitary and attack any US troops who tried to stay. Al-Maliki does not have a majority in parliament without the Sadrists, so they were always likely to get their way. The AP reports that the sticking point for the Iraqi cabinet was that the US side wanted any US troop contingent in Iraq to have immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts. This provision is called extraterritoriality, and it had been granted by the Shah in Iran to US troops in bases in that country. Extraterritoriality was an issue on which Ayatollah Khomeini campaigned against the Shahs government in the demonstrations of 1963, which caused the ayatollah to be exiled from the country. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the Sadr Movement are enough in the Khomeinist tradition that they would object to this provision. Even the more lay Shiite fundamentalist Dawa Party, which al-Maliki heads, would find that a hard pill to swallow, given that they are Iraqi nationalists as well as Shiite fundamentalists. Washington hawks had wanted to keep 25,000 US troops in Iraq indefinitely. The Obama administration had decided by this September that that goal was unrealistic, and decided to seek a small contingent of 3,000 or so. But there would be no point in having them in Iraq if they could not fight when necessary, and for that activity they would have needed a new SOFA or a legislated extraterritoriality. They got neither, and so the US has to go. It turns out that the day on which the US military lost Iraq once and for all was September 16, 2007http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/08/blackwater-guards-indicte_n_149227.html, when Blackwater private security guards, all decorated ex-military, opened fire in Nisoor Square under the mistaken impression that they were under attack by the ordinary civilian motorists there. 17 were killed, dozens wounded, and the incident became a cause celebre for Iraqis eager to see an end to a foreign military presence in their country. That the US
[LAAMN] Pres.Chavez in Cuba for Medical Exams
*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -* *Chavez in Cuba for Medical Exams* Posted By *Circles Robinson* On October 17, 2011 @ 7:53 am In *Recent Posts,Updates,World* | *No Commentshttp://www.havanatimes.org/?p=53351print=1#comments_controls * - - Tweet http://twitter.com/share [1] - - - Tweet http://twitter.com/share [1] - http://www.havanatimes.org/?attachment_id=53352 [2] Raul Castro welcomes Hugo Chavez to Cuba for medical exams. Photo: granma.cu *HAVANA TIMES*, Oct. 17 Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez arrived in Havana on Sunday night for medical exams that are far from routine. Cubas chief political and economic ally wants to know whether four sessions of chemotherapy eradicated any trace of the cancer which led to his June operation to extract a tumor in his pelvic area. The chemo was appled three times in Cuba and once in Venezuela. Chavez was met at the Jose Marti International Airport by Cuban President Raul Castro. Chavez was accompanied by his countrys Minister of Health, Eugenia Sadar, Minister of Agriculture, Juan Carlos Loyo and Ricardo Menéndez, a vice president and Minister of Science and Technology. The Venezuelan leader is hoping for a green light from doctors on his recuperation. He plans to run for reelection in Oct. 2012. You might also like: A Visit to the Zoo http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=29300 The Gateway to Eastern Cuba http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=32489 Entertainment vs. Salaries http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=36803 Cubas Constitution, Law and Rights http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=52375 Self-Employed Worker in Cuba (Part III) http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=46385 *LinkWithin* http://www.linkwithin.com/learn?ref=widget [image: Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...]http://www.linkwithin.com/ [3] -- Article printed from Havana Times.org: *http://www.havanatimes.org* URL to article: *http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=53351* ** [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Children of Syria to the Assads-F--K Off
*The children in Maarrat Hourmah in the Idlib Province out their demands very succinctly and in English so everyone can understand. They want Bashar Al-Assad to simply Fuck Off **http://youtu.be/Dd3fv-Yg8cQ*http://youtu.be/Dd3fv-Yg8cQ * * In *Qamishly*, more than 20,000 Kurds took part in todays demonstration http://youtu.be/8fktAlyszLY and carrying banners saying we wont serve in an army that kills us. Many wore T-shirts commemorating the assassinated Kurdish rights activist Mishaal Tammo http://youtu.be/6WpmtaqUGXc In As the militarization of the revolution continues, couple of with rising despair and anger on part of the protesters, be it with world leaders, or opposition groups. As this banner from the town of Kafar nabbel in the Idlib Province, clearly shows: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_HDrR171Bo/TplG3NyjTCI/AAABWHE/eJs36uI0bgc/s1600/307552_273945075971732_144242575608650_877911_1882673786_n.jpg *Down with the Regime and the Opposition, Down the Arab and Islamic Nation, Down with the Security Council, Down with the World, Down with Everything Occupied Kafar Nabbel, October 14, 2011* http://syrianrevolutiondigest.blogspot.com/ Sunday, October 16, 2011 Fuck Off!http://syrianrevolutiondigest.blogspot.com/2011/10/fuck-off.html *While Arab politicians struggle to formulate a response or a proposal and the Syrian opposition to proffer a vision or a plan, the children of Syria have no such trouble. They know exactly what the crisis is all about. The Assads, in their words, need to Fuck Off.* *Sunday October 16, 2011 * 9 people were killed by pro-Assad militias in protests that took place throughout Syria. The dead include 6 in *Homs City* (where 40 were also reported wounded), 2 in *Khan Shaikhoon* in Idlib Province and 1 in the town of *Zabadani* in Damascus Province. The death toll is expected to mount as pro-Assad militias continue their attack on neighborhoods in Homs City, towns in Homs Province (Teer Mallah and Ghanto), in Idlib Province (Khan Shaikhoon), Deraa/Hauran Province (Harrah, Ankhel and Mseifrah) and Damascus Province (Zabadani and Madaya). Meanwhile, the *Arab League* to reach consensus on freezing Syrias membership, and ended its extraordinary meeting by calling for dialog between the Assad regime and all opposition groups. The League also announced the formation of a special ministerial delegation to pay a visit to Damascus and carry message in person to the *Assad regime*. The move is based on the *Arab League Plan* calling for holding free presidential elections in 2014, a plan that was rejected by the regime and most opposition groups. The position of the *Syrian National Council* on this issue remains unclear as its spokesmen continue to issue contradictory statements to the media. *Links* *Syria escapes suspension from Arab Leaguehttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ed17cef4-f834-11e0-a419-00144feab49a.html * *Assad, his raids on Lebanon, and Syria's slow slip into civil warhttp://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/assad-his-raids-on-lebanon-and-syrias-slow-slip-into-civil-war-2371624.html * *Syrias Alawites go on arms shopping spreehttp://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=241940 * *The children in Maarrat Hourmah in the Idlib Province out their demands very succinctly and in English so everyone can understand. They want Bashar Al-Assad to simply Fuck Off **http://youtu.be/Dd3fv-Yg8cQ*http://youtu.be/Dd3fv-Yg8cQ * * In the town of *Ankhel* in the Deraa/Hauran Province, protesters come under fire even as they stand defiant http://youtu.be/GNw8yuRncxk In a different part of town, the same scenario unfolds http://youtu.be/YF82VwLepHo , http://youtu.be/ZjIlvhzR2t4 The people target are students, not college students, but students in High School, Junior High School, and even primary schools http://youtu.be/arfsxzVuyiw Afterwards, the town observes a general strike http://youtu.be/HJlEvTbJ6n8 And at night, people took back to the streets http://youtu.be/DCZ3KDWQv6I A martyr from the nearby *Harrah* http://youtu.be/wzKi1WVfw84 Gunfire in *Khirbet Ghazaleh* http://youtu.be/I3oQlD2-WHg Security troops then move in http://youtu.be/4RdAWIkb4E8 In *Dael* protesters came under fire http://youtu.be/uIjDB8EP0Fk *Homs City*: praying for Nesrine Daas and her daughter http://youtu.be/xUH2xsSSWsw Nesrine was pregnant when she was shot by a sniper on Saturday, doctors managed to pull out the fetus, but she died hours later http://youtu.be/HaTybJllpVc In the evening, protesters in *Baba Amr* came out denouncing the stand of the Arab League http://youtu.be/kDDEZaCUXzQ Meanwhile, the crackdown in *Inshaaat* * Neighborhood* leaves new martyrs http://youtu.be/7cjzu6EDOLo , http://youtu.be/UlacZ3-dTMI In *Khaldiyeh*, protesters offered new martyrs http://youtu.be/GAJLIqrIONM then came out again to call for protection chanting the people want a no-fly zone http://youtu.be/Nv2Pu8QXISs Then came udner fire again http://youtu.be/fI0Q_xtcw0g In
[LAAMN] Greece: Situation becoming revolutionary-General Strike starts on Thursday
http://www.marxist.com/greece-situation-becoming-revolutionary.htm Greece: Situation becoming revolutionaryhttp://www.marxist.com/greece-situation-becoming-revolutionary.htm Written by Stamatis Karagiannopoulos in Athens Monday, 17 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/greece-situation-becoming-revolutionary/print.htm# *The situation in Greece is becoming more and more revolutionary as each day passes. The country has been paralysed by a wave of strikes centred on the public sector and state owned enterprises, which is the workers response as they attempt to ward off the terrible attack of the government. This wave of strikes was anticipated by the mass occupation movement in the universities and schools in September, which proved once again that the youth is a sensitive barometer of the class struggle.* [image: March 13 general strike]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/left-lens_-_march_13_general_strike.jpgWe are seeing mobilisations in those workplaces where we have the most powerful Trade Unions of the Greek working class. Workers in transport, the ports, electricity generation, local government, ministries, hospitals, education, tax offices, and the archaeological sites have decided to take all-out strike action and are also occupying one government buildings after another. For the first time the workers in these sectors have the overwhelming support of the unemployed workers and of the workers in the private sector. The perception of the past that the workers in these sectors, i.e. state employed workers, were privileged no longer exists within the ranks of the workers in the private sector because it is precisely this sector that is on the receiving end of the harshest attack, with mass redundancies and big cuts of up to 50% in their salaries. The line separating the workers of public and private sector has ceased to exist as a result of the brutal attack of the government. Also in the private sector now we have a huge government attack, with a the same new law demanded by the troika of the ECB, EU and IMF, being put to Parliament this coming Thursday, which is aimed at reducing the minimum wage from 750 euros to 550 euros by removing the National General Collective Agreement and all sectoral collective agreements. In fact, the law de facto removes the official role of the unions until the crisis ends. The result of all this is that the atmosphere among the workers has become more militant than ever. This time what stands out clearly is the determination to fight until the end. Trade union activists and trade union leaders are saying openly to the media that the strikes are political. A leading trade unionist from the bus workers said last Friday in a famous TV programme that we will continue the strikes until the overthrow of the government. We want to wipe out that gang! The most militant are the refuse collectors who have been on strike for the past ten days and have staged an occupation in the rubbish dumps. The government sent in the Special Police Forces yesterday to terrorize the strikers but they refused to end their occupation. They stated that if the government did not back this would lead to the spilling of blood.'' The government then proceeded to award the collection of refuse to private companies who, however, are incapable of collecting any rubbish from the streets because they receive constant attacks and insults from ordinary people who shout ''scabs'' at them. This one incident expresses very clearly the rock solid support for the strikes on the part of the majority of the Greek people. As a result of the huge pressure from the rank and file, the 24-hour general strike of the GSEE and ADEDY is looking more and more like it could be a 48-hour general strike on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. But the mood that is maturing among the working class is going even beyond that, and the idea that what is needed is an all-out political general strike is gripping the minds of many workers. This situation is putting enormous pressure on the PASOK government, which is now a lot weaker than it was in the summer. The parliamentary group of the PASOK many of whom can see that if they continue to openly support austerity their seats in parliament will be at risk is coming under immense pressure from the trade unions and the workers in general. Already one PASOK MP has said that he intends to vote against the new law and another has threatened that he would resign. This risks reducing Papandreous majority in parliament to unworkable levels. The PASOK has 154 MPs in a parliament of 300 members. The PASOKs loss of popular support is also being reflected inside the unions. The PASOK has its own factions known as PASKE within the trade unions. Already, PASKE in the municipal workers union and the teachers union had split from the PASOK earlier this year. Last Wednesday PASKE in the railway workers union announced it was breaking with the PASOK. We
[LAAMN] October 15 international day of action in the United States and the intervention of the WIL comrades
http://www.marxist.com/15o-usa-reports.htm October 15 international day of action in the United States and the intervention of the WIL comradeshttp://www.marxist.com/15o-usa-reports.htm Written by Socialist Appeal USA Tuesday, 18 October 2011 [image: Print] http://www.marxist.com/15o-usa-reports/print.htm# *The comrades of the Workers International League in the United States have been intervening in the #Occupy Wall Street movement since the very beginning. Here we publish several reports from comrades around the United States on the movement and their intervention within it.* O [image: Times Square] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/usa/15o_indignados-times-square-a.jpgne year ago, the world's attention was focused on Europe, as mass mobilizations against cuts and austerity shook the world. This was soon surpassed by the heroic and inspiring movement of the Arab masses, with the drama of Hosni Mubarak's fall galvanizing the planet. The occupation of Tahrir Square in Cairo then inspired the mass movement and occupation of the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin after Governor Scott Walker's attack on public sector workers. Now Greece and the whole of Europe are again at center stage. But alongside the European crisis and protests is the #OccupyWallStreet movement in New York City, which has spread across the U.S. and back to Europe, Japan, Korea, and beyond. The Marxists have long explained that with a globalized economy comes globalized economic and social crisis. This in turn leads inevitably to global class struggle, protest, and ultimately, revolution. What we are seeing around the world today is just a taste of what is to come as the world class struggle enters a new and ever-more convulsive stage. Here in the U.S., sit-ins, protests, tent cities, marches and rallies marked the October 15 international day of action. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of protesters poured onto the streets to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, and in solidarity with the #occupy movement. From Boston to Baton Rouge, Los Angeles to Seattle, and a dozen cities in between, the Workers International Leaguehttp://www.socialistappeal.org/has been participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement since day one. We have been able to discuss with literally hundreds of people, handed out thousands of leaflets, sold hundreds of copies of *Socialist Appeal*, and have had a tremendous opportunity to raise the ideas of revolutionary Marxism and the need for a labor party in the U.S. with thousands of young people and workers from around the country. Below are just a few highlights from our October 15 interventions: New York, NY As comrades know, the occupation in lower Manhattan is the flagship of this new #occupy movement. Comrades from the NYC Metro area have been intervening in the movement since day one, and we have carefully watched every ebb and flow in numbers and every oscillation in its political orientation. On Saturday four comrades sold id=mce_marker24 in literature, including more than 40 papers met several people interested in the ideas of Marxism, from around the U.S. and around the world. Occupiers decided to keep the events of the 15th rather busy. There was a march to Washington Sq. Park at 11am and one on Times Square at 5pm. Bourgeois media estimates the crowd at the latter to have crossed the 12K mark, bringing it close to the numbers seen at Foley Square earlier when unions showed up in support. The movement began as an amorphous grouping of various political trends on September 17th and has engaged itself in a long dialogue. The purported leaderless character of this movement has privileged internal dialogue almost over all else. Politics continue to take second place over building the movement. This has been both a weakness and strength of the movement, allowing it to grow and attract a large layer of sympathizers. However, as this movement grows, there will be an increased opportunity and need for Marxists to offer a critique of its limits. In New York we have noticed that the so-called leaderless nature of the movement does not stand to an honest examination. There is an unaccountable leadership that has emerged, usually those with charisma and almost always those in a position to not have to worry about rent or work. Those that cannot dedicate the time to the movement are heard less by this direct democracy. Some in the movement see the limitations of this structure, but as yet there is no viable alternative. The core of the actual occupiers is anarchist youth. The class basis of anarchism lends itself well to the occupation tactic. But even some of these self described anarchists are looking for more sophisticated ideas. And, for example, a member of the IWW has shown interest in our ideas and material. Others are more hardened in their views. In either case, their methodology dominates not only the general assembly but some of the ultra-left
[LAAMN] Occupy Canada: Expropriate the 1%!
http://www.marxist.com/occupy-canada-15o.htm Occupy Canada: Expropriate the 1%!http://www.marxist.com/occupy-canada-15o.htm Written by Alex Grant Monday, 17 October 2011 [image: Print] http://www.marxist.com/occupy-canada-15o/print.htm# *The Canadian corporate media commentators were all united with a single opinion the #Occupy movement would have no traction north of the border due to Canadas stable banks that never needed a bailout. Despite the fact that this is a lie, (the federal government gifted $25-billion to the Canadian banks via the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), on Saturday 15th October the people showed the press just how out of touch they are. Over 1,000 in Montreal, over 2,000 in Vancouver, over 5,000 in Toronto, and hundreds more in a dozen other cities, marched to join the international occupy movement.* http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/Occupy_Toronto_Canada3.jpg [image: #OccupyToronto] After being ignored and belittled, the movement that began in New York has taken firm root in Canada. The very notion of criticizing corporate rule and capitalism has been ridiculed in the mainstream media, so much so that large numbers were silenced. Now these people have said they will not be shut up and have burst onto the political scene. In response to those like Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who say that Canada does not have the same inequality as the United States, we answer that Canadas inequality is increasing at a far higher rate than in the US. Over the last 30 years, the income share of the richest 1% of Canadians has doubled. There exists an oligarchy of approximately 500,000 that owns 67% of all Canadian wealth. On the other side, almost a million are forced to use food banks, a third of whom are children. There is much for workers and youth to get angry about. [image: Occupy_Toronto_Canada4]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/Occupy_Toronto_Canada4.jpgIt is not accidental that the largest occupy demonstration started on Torontos Bay Street the home of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Big 5 banks (the scene of the crime). Over 5,000 blocked the intersection of Bay and King on a wet and windy day and then marched to St James Park a few blocks away. *The Marxists organized in Fightback were there in force and received an amazingly favourable reception. Our main slogan, NATIONALIZE THE BANKS NATIONALIZE THE TOP 150 CORPORATIONS got an enthusiastic echo with many saying that is what we need.* [image: Fightback tent attracked wide layers all day]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/Occupy_Toronto_Fightback_Stall_3.jpgAt the park, many groups set up and the Fightback Marxist tent was a hive of activity. There was a constant stream of four or five people at any one time coming up and asking for our perspective on events. Half way through the day, we ran out of the latest issue of Fightback and by the end of the day, we had sold all our material! Over 100 people signed up to learn more about Marxism. The movement is very diverse and people have many, many, questions; the clear ideas of Marxism showed their power in this situation. The interest was so great that several of our organizers literally lost their voices after a full day of discussing with new people. At this stage of the movement there are a thousand questions but very few answers. One of our key messages was, The capitalist system is not broken it is meant to work this way. Therefore, if we are to end the crisis and end inequality in society, we need to do away with capitalist production for profit and replace it with a socialist society that produces for need. This message gained serious traction and Fightback supporters managed to present their views to the mass media on a number of occasions. You can see a selection of our interviews below: http://www.marxist.ca/about-us/campaigns/702-fightback-talks-about-occupytoronto.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXGx3aj1Wao http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/1221258968/ID=2153802492 http://www.newstalk1010.com/video.aspx?bclid=941536857001bctid=1218911525001 [image: #OccupyToronto]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/canada/Occupy_Toronto_Canada.jpgThe question arises, where next for the occupy movement? Approximately 200 are camping out at St James Park on a regular basis with thousands others coming in-and-out. If this movement is to gain traction, it much reach outside a single park and engage with the wider working class. Encouragingly, the movement was supported by many unions; the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union gave formal endorsements, while Sid Ryan of the Ontario Federal of Labour was present and supportive. Postal workers and CUPE flight attendants, who have just had their right to strike removed by the Harper Conservatives, were also there and received warm support. The unions did not mobilize their members in a major way on the 15th but instead gave significant
[LAAMN] [Audio] Hamid Alizadeh on the Iranian Revolution
http://www.marxist.com/audio-hamid-alizadeh-on-iranian-revolution.htm [Audio] Hamid Alizadeh on the Iranian Revolutionhttp://www.marxist.com/audio-hamid-alizadeh-on-iranian-revolution.htm Written by Hamid Alizadeh Wednesday, 19 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/audio-hamid-alizadeh-on-iranian-revolution/print.htm[image: E-mail]http://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,48ebeda30340f3c64f5ea8c34e15486b540c689f/tmpl,component/ Share http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marxist.com%2Faudio-hamid-alizadeh-on-iranian-revolution.htmt=%5BAudio%5D%20Hamid%20Alizadeh%20on%20the%20Iranian%20Revolution%20%7C%20In%20Defence%20of%20Marxismsrc=sp Hamid Alizadeh of *Mobarezeye Tabagathi*http://www.marxist.com/weblinks/middle-east/mobarezeye-tabaghati-iran.htm(Iran) speaking on the Iranian Revolution 1979 at the recent World School of the IMT http://www.marxist.com/2011-world-school.htm. *Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!* [image: Get Adobe Flash Player here]http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer [download]http://www.archive.org/download/WorldSchoolOfTheImt2011/15.HamidAlizadehIranianRevolution.mp3 Audio Video http://www.marxist.com/audio-and-video/ » History Theoryhttp://www.marxist.com/audio-video-history-and-theory/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Rome: October 15 – half a million people protest against the ECB and austerity measures
http://www.marxist.com/rome-october-15-against-ecb-and-austerity.htm Rome: October 15 half a million people protest against the ECB and austerity measureshttp://www.marxist.com/rome-october-15-against-ecb-and-austerity.htm Written by Roberto Sarti, Editorial Board of FalceMartello Wednesday, 19 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/rome-october-15-against-ecb-and-austerity/print.htm# *On October 15 Rome saw one of the biggest demonstrations of the last few years in Italy. Up to half a million people flooded the streets of the capital. Not only was this a huge demonstration in terms of the numbers taking part, but even more significantly you could hear the most radical slogans of the last decade. The masses, inspired by Athens, Madrid and New York, chanted we dont want to pay the debt, No to austerity, No to the dictatorship of the ECB and the banks, etc.* [image: October 15, Rome. Photo: Enrico] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/italy/Oct_15_Rome_crowd-Enrico.jpg**There was a widespread feeling that the Letter to the Italian government from Trichet and Draghi (the outgoing and the incoming ECB governors respectively) should be returned to sender. That letter, sent at the beginning of August and made public only at the end of September, is an open declaration of war against the Italian working class. In very clear terms it basically *ordered* the Italian government to implement the same policy as Papandreus in Greece. The aim said the letter should be to achieve a balanced budget in 2013, mainly via expenditure cuts. They see a need for the full liberalisation of local public services through large scale privatization. There is also a need to tailor wages and working conditions to firms' specific needs and increasing their relevance with respect to other layers of negotiations. The June 28 agreement between the main trade unions and the industrial businesses associations moves in this direction. In other terms, Draghi and Trichet pushed for the abolition of the national collective bargaining agreement, something that was not fully implemented in the June 28 agreement between the bosses confederation and the unions (the CGIL included, the biggest and traditionally left trade union confederation). The ECB insisted that Italy should adopt A thorough review of the rules regulating the hiring and dismissal of employees Sacconi, the minister of labour, included this point in the new budget voted by the parliament some weeks ago. The letter ended with pressure for an attack on the public sector workers: the government should consider significantly reducing the cost of public employees, by strengthening turnover rules and, if necessary, by reducing wages. The letter also added an attack on womens pensions (rapidly aligning the retirement age of women in the private sector to that established for public employees). We have quoted at length from this letter because it shows the cynicism and the brutality of the capitalists in this epoch of crisis. This brutality, however, was rejected completely by the demonstrators in Rome on Saturday. What you could feel on October 15 was a generalized questioning of the capitalist system and its institutions. Living conditions in Italy are worsening in a dramatic manner. The rottenness of the system is widely recognized and is illustrated by the Berlusconi government, whose strategy is reduced simply to surviving each parliamentary vote. [image: October 15, Rome. Photo: Cau Napoli] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/italy/Oct_15_Rome_banner-Cau_Napoli.jpgThe letter of the ECB, on the other hand, was well received by all the political forces in parliament. The reaction of Bersani, the general secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), was to declare that if Italy had a different government [implying one which included the PD], there would have been no need for the ECB to make so many qualifications. In any case, we will guarantee a balanced budget. It is no wonder therefore that the Democratic Party was not present on Saturdays demonstration. The CGIL also did not officially participate. The leaders of the CGIL, many of whom are members or are very close to the PD, are keen to support any new government that will be formed after a crisis of the present Berlusconi government. However, how any new government would be able to put forward a different policy from the one dictated by the ECB without breaking with the capitalist system is a mystery. All the most advanced sectors of the working class and of the youth were present on October 15. The metal workers union of the CGIL, the FIOM, organized a sizeable sector. The Committees in Defence of the Public Education also organized a sector, where Falcemartello supporters were present with the banner We want everything back! (Rivogliamo tutto) produced last year for the October 16 demonstration called by the FIOM. It was a lively sector, with revolutionary and
[LAAMN] Greece October 19-20: After earth-shattering general strike –what next?
*The Relevance of Marxism Today * *Written by Alan Woods and Ted Grant in 1994 Thursday, 20 October 2011 * *[image: Print]*http://www.marxist.com/relevance-of-marxism-today-republished/print.htm# * * *As the crisis of world capitalism becomes ever more severe we would suggest reading** this article written in 1994*http://www.marxist.com/relevance-of-marxism-today.htm *. It explains all the factors that have led to the present crisis, and although the temporary and unprecedented credit bubble allowed the system to avoid a serious recession for an extended period of time, eventually all the factors explained in this article have come to the surface.* ** http://www.marxist.com/relevance-of-marxism-today.htm - http://www.marxist.com/greece-after-earth-shattering-general-strike-what-next.htm Greece October 19-20: After earth-shattering general strike what next?http://www.marxist.com/greece-after-earth-shattering-general-strike-what-next.htm Written by Marxistiki Foni Thursday, 20 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/greece-after-earth-shattering-general-strike-what-next/print.htm# *Today (October 19), the first day of the 48-hour general strike in Greece was sensational. Apart from the government and public utilities workers that participated in the strike massively, hundreds of thousands of workers from the private sector came out on strike for the first time, and also joining the millions of striking workers were tens of thousands of small businesspeople and shopkeepers who closed the shutters to their shops in solidarity.* http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/2011-10-19_Syntagma_square.jpg [image: Syntagma square] About half a million protesters flooded the streets of Athens in one of the biggest strike movements in modern Greek history. Tens of thousands also participated in demonstrations in an unprecedented wave of protests and strike action in the provinces, with 50,000 in Thessaloniki, over 20,000 in Patras and Heraklion in Crete and several other cities that had never seen such huge numbers on the streets. [image: 2011-10-19 Athens general strike 3]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/2011-10-19_Athens_general_strike_3.jpgThis magnificent general strike marks an acceleration of the movement of Greek society towards a revolutionary situation. The working class, having paralysed the state and the economy, have become conscious of the immense power they have and seem determined to make any sacrifice necessary and fight to the end. Of extreme significance is also the fact that the working class is now openly backed by the middle classes, who have come to realise that only the workers can provide the necessary power and leadership in this key battle. [image: Photo: odysseasgr]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/2011-10-19_general_strike_2.jpgOn the other hand, we see the ruling class in a state of political deadlock and confusion, regardless of the outcome of the vote in parliament on the new austerity measures. This situation has become abundantly clear after the failure of the recent talks between Papandreou, leader of PASOK, and Samaras, leader of the conservative New Democracy. What is visible is the stress and panic that the stormy mass movement of the workers has provoked among these political leaders. Instead of presenting an image of cooperation in the face of the crisis, what seemed to dominate the meeting of these leaders was a state of embarrassment and the desire to blame each other for the mess. [image: 2011-10-19 general strike]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/2011-10-19_general_strike.jpgThe one thing that is missing to transform this massive wave of protest into a victorious revolutionary movement is a decisive revolutionary leadership. Unfortunately, the leaders of the trade unions and the parties of the Left are lagging behind the movement, confused and well below the needs of the moment. They refuse to support and organise an escalation of the struggle with a general all-out, long lasting, political strike, even now after this earth-shattering general strike which has radically changed the situation and which has brought to the surface a mass mood of determination to struggle, and while workers in one sector after another have already organised political strikes. [image: 2011-10-19 Athens general strike 5]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/2011-10-19_Athens_general_strike_5.jpgWe, the comrades in Synaspismos and the Synaspismos Youth gathered around the journals Marxistiki Foni and Revolution, believe that the natural and necessary next step after this powerful 48-hour general strike is to move on to an all-out general political strike, organised by the trade unions, together with the election of strike committees in every workplace and the setting up of picket, defence squads, strike funds, soup kitchens and also the election of a
[LAAMN] Portugal: right wing government’s austerity cuts prepare social explosion
http://www.marxist.com/portugal-right-wing-governments-austerity-cuts.htm Portugal: right wing governments austerity cuts prepare social explosionhttp://www.marxist.com/portugal-right-wing-governments-austerity-cuts.htm Written by Jorge Martín Wednesday, 19 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/portugal-right-wing-governments-austerity-cuts/print.htm# *As Portugals right-wing government announced the harshest austerity cuts in the countrys history, economic forecasts were revised down and the main trade union confederations CGTP and UGT announced the calling of a general strike.* [image: October 15. Photo: Bloco] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/portugal/Oct_15_crowd-Bloco.jpgAmong the measures proposed in the 2012 budget which was presented to Parliament on Monday, October 17, is the cutting of Summer and Christmas bonuses worth a months wages each for civil servants earning over 650 euro a month (which will mean a 20% cut in income), increases in VAT for certain goods (in some cases from 6% to 23%), an extension of the 5% salary cut for civil servants into 2012, cuts in pensions, a 50% cut in pay for overtime and a proposal to allow businesses to lengthen the working day by 30 minutes without any additional pay. The government expects to achieve spending cuts to the tune of 4.4% of GDP and revenue increases equal to 1.7% of GDP. The budget also includes a massive privatisation plan for 2012 to raise 4 billion euros. This includes the sale of the national airline TAP, airport managing company ANA, the freight transport branch of the railways CP, and the postal service CTT, next year, as well as selling off stakes in the power and electricity companies EDP and REN, this year. Even if all these measures are passed and implemented, Portugals debt will still reach 100.8% of GDP this year (up from 93.3% in 2010) and increase to 106.8% in 2013, before it starts to be reduced. The government intends to cut the budget deficit from 9.8% of GDP in 2010, to 5.9% in 2011 and 4.5% in 2012, before reaching the EU limit of 3% in 2013. However, as the first news of these massive austerity cuts were being announced, the economic forecasts were already revised down, both for 2011 and for 2012. Portugals GDP is now expected to contract by 1.9% in 2011 and a by 2.8% in 2012 (up from an earlier estimate of 2% in May at the time when Portugal agreed a bailout plan with the European Union). This would be Portugals worst recession since 1975. These measures come on top of already savage austerity cuts implemented in the 2011 budget by the former Social-democratic government and which were agreed as part of the 78 billion euro EU bailout plan. Even as the government presented its budget proposals, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn warned that these cuts might not be enough, pointing out how Portugal was on course to a 2011 budget deficit equal to 8.3% of GDP, instead of the 5.9% which had been agreed as part of the bailout. This means a further 3.4 billion euros worth of cuts or additional revenue were needed. The government is heavily relying on increasing the countrys exports in order to meet its targets, forecasting a 4.8% increase in exports for 2012. However, the bleaker economic prospects for the rest of Europe and the world economy as a whole make this a very optimistic target. Unemployment, which was 8.3% in 2006, is expected to reach 13.4% next year. Furthermore, families are being asked to pay the bulk of this savage adjustment plan (6.2 billion euro or a 5% across the board cut in living standards), followed by the state (3.2 billion euro worth of cuts) and with the capitalists only contributing 650 million euros in increased taxes and cuts in subsidies. Overall, state expenditure in social subsidies will be cut by 4.3% and the state wage bill will be reduced by nearly 15% through wage reductions, redundancies and cuts in bonuses. Most of the increased revenue from taxation will also come from increases in VAT which hit working people hardest. The problem is that, like in Greece, these massive cuts will have the effect of contracting internal demand and therefore further aggravating the recession. The Finance Ministry itself foresees a steep contraction of private consumption of 3.5% this year and 4.8% next year. Rui Barbara, an economist at Banco Carregosa was quoted by Reuters warning that these measures can have the effect of making the recession worse: On the one hand one can understand the government's plan to try to highlight that we are different to Greece but on the other hand there is the risk of a snowball effect with more recession, lower revenues and a tougher downturn. The markets share this pessimistic view and already in July Moodys downgraded the rating of the Portuguese debt to the level of junk bonds. [image: Pedro Passos Coelho. Photo: PDS/ Luis Saraiva]
[LAAMN] Alan Woods-After the death of Gaddafi: Revolution and counterrevolution in Libya
http://www.marxist.com/gaddafi-dead-revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-libya.htm After the death of Gaddafi: Revolution and counterrevolution in Libyahttp://www.marxist.com/gaddafi-dead-revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-libya.htm Written by Alan Woods Friday, 21 October 2011 14:54 http://www.marxist.com/gaddafi-dead-revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-libya/print.htmhttp://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tYXJ4aXN0LmNvbS9nYWRkYWZpLWRlYWQtcmV2b2x1dGlvbi1hbmQtY291bnRlci1yZXZvbHV0aW9uLWluLWxpYnlhLmh0bQ%3D%3D/tmpl,component/ [image: After the death of Gaddafi: Revolution and counterrevolution in Libya]*The capture and killing of Colonel Gaddafi has been described in detail by the mass media in all its gory details. With the death of Gaddafi and the taking of Sirte the National Transitional Council is talking about forming a transitional government. The NTC is recognized by the imperialist powers whose interests it represents. However, many ordinary Libyans look with justified mistrust at the NTC and their imperialist backers.* *Although Gaddafi was captured alive he was summarily shot. But it is not difficult to see why he was not arrested and put on trial. Had he faced a trial he would have exposed all his past dealings with the likes of Blair, Sarkozy and Berlusconi. That explains why they have revelled so much in his death. Their hypocrisy stinks to high heaven, as they had made many lucrative deals with Gaddafi in the past, even handing over people to his regime who were subsequently tortured.* *The death of Gaddafi and the final collapse of his regime closes one chapter. However, this merely marks one turning point in the situation. Now that the old regime is finally gone, a struggle will open up over the future of Libya. In this struggle we will see the forces of both revolution and counter-revolution trying to get the upper hand. Here we publish an analysis of the situation by Alan Woods.* --- Confusion of the Left [image: Libyan rebels celebrating]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/libya/Celebrating_the_rebels_Al_Bayda_Libia_2011-02-25.jpgLibyan rebels celebrating*The Left has displayed enormous confusion over the events in Libya. On the one hand, some people have capitulated to imperialism to the extent of supporting the military intervention of NATO. This was both naive and reactionary. To allow ones judgement to be clouded by the hypocritical chorus of the hired media and to swallow the lies about a so-called humanitarian intervention to protect civilians was stupid in the extreme.* The intervention of NATO was not at all intended for humanitarian purposes or to protect civilians. It was dictated by cold and cynical calculations. The same people who had established a cosy relationship with Gaddafi, who supplied him with arms and sent political prisoners to Libya to be tortured by his secret police can hardly lay claim to humanitarian principles. They have not shown the same tender concern for the suffering people of Bahrain. The emancipation of the Libyan people is the concern of the Libyan people alone. It cannot be entrusted to the imperialists, who have supported every blood soaked dictatorial regime in North Africa and the Middle East for decades. Our first demand is for an end to all foreign interference in Libya. Let the Libyan people settle their own problems in their own way! *However, the other tendency on the Left was no better. They went to the other extreme and backed Gaddafi, who they painted in rosy colours as a progressive, anti-imperialist and even a socialist. None of this was true. It is true that the Libyan regime (and also the Syrian regime) had a different character to the regimes of Tunisia and Egypt. But that did not fundamentally change its oppressive nature, or qualify it as genuinely anti-imperialist.* In order to shed light on the real processes at work it is not sufficient to place a plus or minus sign against these two equally incorrect positions. We must see the whole picture and not just present a one-sided view. We must not paint the situation in rose-tinted colours. But by far the most serious mistake from a Marxist point of view is to deny or minimise the revolutionary or potentially revolutionary elements in the equation. What is necessary is an all-sided and balanced approach that takes all the elements into consideration and shows how the contradictions may be resolved. The main problem as in Egypt is the lack of revolutionary leadership. History is full of examples of revolutions which were defeated, aborted or hijacked by alien class forces. Libya is no exception to this rule. The fact that a popular revolution has taken place by no means signifies that its ultimate success is guaranteed. But this general observation is just as true for Tunisia and Egypt as it is for Libya. For example, although the conditions are very different, in the sense that in Spain in the 1930s there were
[LAAMN] Libyan oil workers strike for the removal of managers linked to Gaddafi
http://www.marxist.com/libyan-oil-workers-strike-to-remove-pro-gaddafi-managers.htm Libyan oil workers strike for the removal of managers linked to Gaddafihttp://www.marxist.com/libyan-oil-workers-strike-to-remove-pro-gaddafi-managers.htm Written by Jorge Martin Friday, 21 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/libyan-oil-workers-strike-to-remove-pro-gaddafi-managers/print.htm# *Workers at Waha Oil company have been on strike and holding protests for 7 weeks now. Their main demand is the purge of the top management of the company from directors whom they accuse of being stooges of the old regime. It is an example of class issues coming to the fore once the old regime has been put to one side*. [image: Waha Oil workers demonstrate demanding management to resign] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/libya/201110-Libyan-Waha-oil-workers-demo-02.jpgField workers say they have documental evidence that Waha Oil directors collaborated with Gaddafis troops by giving them food, shelter and equipment worth millions. Workers have vowed never to work for them again. This management committee gave 60 four-wheel drive land cruisers to [ousted leader Moammar] Qaddafi's forces in March. These cars helped the Qaddafi forces kill some Libyan people and commit other crimes, said Riad, an organization supervisor and he added: We are demanding that the management committee of Waha quit... After the February 17 revolution, we want to get rid of these figures of corruption. Waha Oil is a joint venture with American firms ConocoPhillips, Marathon and Amerada Hess, and before the civil war produced around a quarter of Libyas oil, equivalent to around 400,000 barrels per day. The Waha Oil workers have demonstrated noisily for weeks outside the office of the new head of the National Oil Corporation, Berouin. They also took direct action and forcibly ejected their managers from the company headquarters. (see VIDEOhttp://uk.reuters.com/video/2011/10/02/tripoli-protest-targets-oil-corruption?videoId=222152231 ) Finally, late last week workers and sources at the state National Oil Corporation (NOC) said the company's chairman Bashir Alashhab and his deputy would be replaced. But it seems that the NTC prime minister blocked the agreement: The Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril stopped the agreement because he said it was not the time for change, said Haithem Etarhouni, a representative of the striking workers. [image: Waha Oil Company plant] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/libya/Waha-Oil-Company-plant-Libya.jpgWhen the workers were informed on Tuesday, October 18, they decided to resume their strike action. The chairman and members must go immediately, and not wait another minute, said Widad El Said, a secretary at the company who took part in one of the protests. Workers feared a deal was being made behind their backs. They said they believed Alashab was inside the ministry in a closed meeting with the head of the NOC and the oil and finance minister, the liberal exiled professor of economics Tarhouni. The strike and demonstrations have not been limited to Waha Oil workers but have also involved other oil companies. Workers at the Libyan Petroleum Institute, who also said their managers had actively supported Gaddafis army, joined them outside the NOC head office. Workers from NOC itself and from other subsidiaries have also become involved in the protest movement. Maged El-Arbed, a protester who works for Libya's state National Oil Co., said the demonstrators are seeking the dismissal of NOC and other oil industry managers accused of corruption and supporting Gaddafi's regime. Pressure from the workers has already led to the dismissal of the chairman of the Sirte Oil Company. It is clear that the Libyan revolution has emboldened the workers, giving them a new feeling of confidence. This is a new era, a new revolution. We paid a lot of blood. We are looking for a huge change, said Haifa Mohammed, a female worker from NOCs sustainable development department. Their expectations are already starting to clash with the leadership of the National Transitional Council. We expected this change to happen. But what we are seeing is the old people are still there, the bad people, the managers. The new people they brought are not good enough, said one of the protestors. [image: Waha Oil workers demonstration] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/libya/201110-Libyan-Waha-oil-workers-demo.jpgInterestingly, some of the workers have drawn the conclusion that they do not need managers to restart operations in the oil fields. Most of the people that produce the oil are here. We can do without them, the managers. We can start from tomorrow if we can have enough transport, equipment, tools and materials, said Abdullatif Hetwash, an engineer who has worked for Waha Oil for 36 years. The authorities of the NTC do not seem very keen on workers protests. At an earlier demonstration on September 26, Adel Tahar
[LAAMN] Greece: The first death, but millions are in an all-out struggle
http://www.marxist.com/greece-fist-death-millions-in-struggle.htm Greece: The first death, but millions are in an all-out strugglehttp://www.marxist.com/greece-fist-death-millions-in-struggle.htm Written by Editorial Board of Marxistiki Foni Saturday, 22 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/greece-fist-death-millions-in-struggle/print.htm# *On Thursday in Athens during the mass workers' protests we saw the state collaborating with hooligans and provocateurs against the labour movement. What is now required is a political general strike! Here we publish a statement by the Greek Marxists of Marxistiki Foni.* [image: 2011-10-20 protersters-odysseasgr]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/2011-10-20_protersters-odysseasgr.jpgProtesters confronting police. Photo: odysseasgrToday's [Thursday, October 20] second day of the great 48-hour general strike, was marked by the first death, a 53-year old militant building worker, Dimitris Kotsaridis. He died as a result of a police operation, during which tear gas was used against the demonstrators, which is common practice for Greek police. All this happened in the background of the implementation of an insidious plan of repression of the strike rally, which the police cooperated with hooligans and provocateurs. The plan was implemented in order to overshadow the fact that today in the general strike the turn-out was even bigger than yesterday and in order to break up the demo in Syntagma square, in which for the second consecutive day, hundreds of thousands of militant strikers rallied and for the first time after a long period there was united action of the entire labour movement. The main target of this plan of repression was no accident. It was PAME [the Communist Party's faction inside the trade unions]. To anyone who participated in today's demo, it was clear that the organized and strong presence of PAME around the Parliament of course in conjunction with the massive, organized presence of dozens of unions was a key factor in delaying the use of stone throwing provocateurs with the tacit collaboration of the riot police, which is then usually used as an excuse by the police to disperse demonstrations in clouds of chemical gas. The brains behind the forces of state repression understood that the PAME stewards had to be removed if Syntagma Square was going to be cleared of the angry protesters. Therefore, the police put in place their tried and tested method of using hooligans and provocateurs against the forces of PAME. The organized forces of PAME, based themselves on the best traditions of the labour movement, and courageously faced the provocateurs and the hooligans. They showed how the labour movement should respond in an organized manner to the vile and reactionary actions of agents provocateurs and to the violence of the forces of state repression. They demonstrated in their action the burning need, but also the concrete possibility for the establishment of an organized workers' militia, based on the solidarity and participation of all the forces of the labour movement. [image: 2011-10-20 tear gas-odysseasgr]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/greece/2011-10-20_tear_gas-odysseasgr.jpgTear gas against protesters. Photo: odysseasgrUnfortunately, the passive response of the leadership of the labour movement and the Left, and particularly the leadership of the Communist Party, to the tragic events has to be criticized. Its reaction so far to the murder of a PAME militant fighter, has been lukewarm, to say the least. The moderate stance of these leaders has been praised for its sense of political responsibility both by the government and other representatives of the ruling class, such as A. Georgiadis (a right-wing LAOS MP). In contrast to this passive attitude of the Left and labour leaders, the objective situation has become very critical. The labour movement today mourns the first death in the battle against the government and the Troika. The only way to honour the memory of this militant is through the continuation and escalation of the strike movement, for the sake of which he was sacrificed. The bloody methods of suppression that lead to the death of a militant, but also to dozens of other wounded protesters, is another symptom of the political impasse and panic on the part of the government and the ruling class, in the face of such a mighty strike movement. We have to understand that although the new bill is expected to go through parliament, we have cornered them, and now is the time to escalate the struggle decisively in order to finish with them! The attempt to make the working class pay for the crisis and the condemning of a large number of workers to a permanent state of misery and mass unemployment, in order to protect the superprofits of the international usurers the creditors of the state and to save big business from the deep capitalist crisis, will continue inexorably as is eloquently demonstrated by
[LAAMN] 18,000 deported from U.S. to El Salvador
** New post on *Voices from El Salvador* http://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/author/voicesfromelsalvador/ 18,000 deported from U.S. to El Salvadorhttp://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/18000-deported-from-u-s-to-el-salvador/by voicesfromelsalvadorhttp://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/author/voicesfromelsalvador/ In the past twelve months, the United States government has deported over 400,000 immigrants back to their countries of origin, and according to a report by El Faro, 95% http://www.elfaro.net/es/201110/noticias/6350/ of the deportees were Latin American. The number of deportees has risen by 40,000 since 2008 when almost 350,000 people were deported from the U.S. *The vast majority (286,893) of the deportees were Mexican. The country with the second most deportees is Guatemala (33,324). Honduras is third (23,822) and El Salvador is fourth (18,870). Of those deported, 55% had been charged with some crime in the U.S.* President Obama ran on a platform that included immigration reform as one of his top priorities, but we have still seen no action other than a failed attempt at passing the Dream Act. Certainly much of the inaction on reform is attributable to the Tea Party Movement and the extreme positions taken by the Republican presidential candidates, who seem to stumble over each other to take the most extreme position possible on immigration enforcement. According to the online journal Infowarshttp://www.infowars.com/illegal-immigrants-cash-cow-for-private-prison-corporations/, immigration enforcement has been a cash cow for private prisons. There are 2 million immigrants in private prisons in the United States. The government pays these prisons $45-130 per day for their detention. Though the political climate is not favorable to immigration reform, our politicians need to at least keep trying and we have to keep this issue on the front on the front page of the papers. *voicesfromelsalvadorhttp://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/author/voicesfromelsalvador/ * | October 23, 2011 at 3:10 pm | Tags: Deportationhttp://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/?tag=deportation, El Salvador http://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/?tag=el-salvador, immigration http://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/?tag=immigration | Categories: Advocacy http://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/?cat=5967, U.S. Relations http://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/?cat=22582917 | URL: http://wp.me/phjgo-Fg Commenthttp://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/18000-deported-from-u-s-to-el-salvador/#respond See all commentshttp://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/18000-deported-from-u-s-to-el-salvador/#comments *Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/18000-deported-from-u-s-to-el-salvador/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com http://wordpress.com/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] NPR finds new discrepancies in Marco Rubio’s family history
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/npr-finds-more-discrepancies-in-rubios-personal-history/2011/10/24/gIQApA2nDM_blog.html NPR finds new discrepancies in Rubios family history Posted by *Rachel Weinerhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/rachel-weiner/2011/03/08/ABDMyKP_page.html * at 07:58 PM ET, 10/24/2011 National Public Radio has raised more questions about the biography of Sen. *Marco Rubio* (R-Fla.), who told a reporter two years ago a story of his familys departure from Cuba that does not mesh with his current accounts. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks at the Washington Ideas forum at The Newseum in Washington October 5, 2011. (YURI GRIPAS - REUTERS) The Posts Manuel Roig-Franzia pointed outhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/marco-rubios-compelling-family-story-embellishes-facts-documents-show/2011/10/20/gIQAaVHD1L_print.htmlsome discrepancies in Rubios version of his family history in a story last week. The senator has frequently stated that his parents came from Cuba in 1959 or after Fidel Castro took power. Castro took control of the island in January1959. Records show that his parents left in May 1956 long before Castro took power and six months before Castro even invaded the island. In a 2009 interview with NPR reporter Robert Siegel, Rubio said that his mother went to visit her father in Cuba in 1960, because he had gotten in an accident and was stuck in the hospital. My grandfather, who had already been stricken with polio as a young man, had an accident he was hit by a bus, Rubio told Siegel, in audio airedhttp://www.npr.org/2011/10/24/141663197/rubio-tries-to-clarify-how-his-family-left-cubaon All Things Considered Monday. So my mom went back with her sister to take care of her father in 1960, and my dad stayed behind [in Miami] working. Rubios grandfather had also emigrated to the United States at that point; Rubios office told NPR for Mondays story that he had returned for a visit and gotten in an accident. He went on: When the time came to come home, the Cuban government wouldnt let her. So my dad was here in Miami, working, and desperate. ... And they would go to the airport every day for nine months waiting to be let go, and finally they were able to come and it was very frightening. And I think thats when they knew for sure that thats not the place they wanted to be. Rubio wrote in Politico last weekhttp://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66567.htmlthat the senators mother returned to Cuba in 1961, with the intention of moving back, and stayed for about a month before realizing that the change happening in Cuba was not for the better. He did not mention the grandfather or any inability to leave the country.. A spokesman for the senator told NPR that Rubios mother was temporarily barred from leaving Cuba on a trip back. But rather than the nine-month forced wait that Rubio described two years ago to NPR, Rubio in the latest version of his family story says they arrived in Cuba in 1961 and left the following month, NPRs David Welna reported today. *Records show that Rubios mother entered Cuba on Feb. 27, 1961, and she left on March 29, 1961.* In various statements, Rubio has maintained that he is the son of exiles, and that the specific dates and timelines are not relevant to the overall point of his familys story. It is important to remember that these events occurred over a decade before he was born, and the dates and time frames are based on how these events were described to him almost two decades after they happened, Rubio spokesman Alex Conant told The Fix. As it turns out, some of the dates and time frames were wrong. But his family story is essentially the same. Roig-Franzia answered reader questionshttp://live.washingtonpost.com/post-reporter-discusses-marco-rubio-story.html?hpid=z8about the story today. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com
