DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, KGALEMA MOTLANTHE, TO UNDERTAKE A WORKING VISIT TO THE USA
23 March 2011 The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, is scheduled to undertake a Working Visit to the United States of America from 27 to 31 March 2011. The visit will cover three states, namely, New York, Washington and Chicago. The Deputy President's visit to the USA will be within the context of strengthening bilateral, political and economic relations with the United States in support of South Africa's domestic priorities and foreign policy objectives. Accordingly, the core objectives of the visit are as follows: * Promotion of bilateral political relations through discussions on key issues of importance and mutual interest which include regional peace, security and stability, and multilateral cooperation; * Promotion of bilateral trade and investment; and * Promotion of knowledge transfer and capacity building opportunities. The two countries enjoy close bilateral relations marked by a significant increase in regular high level interactions that have taken place between President Zuma and President Obama, Deputy President Motlanthe and Vice President Biden, as well as the two Foreign Ministers who met on 14 December 2010 for the inaugural Strategic Dialogue which took place in Washington D.C. In 2010, the United States was South Africa's second largest trade partner, with total trade amounting to R97.5 billion, an increase of 17.6 % from the previous year. Other than the high levels of trade and investment with the US, it is also one of the most significant partners with regard to Official Development Assistance (ODA), especially in the fight against HIV/Aids and other infectious diseases through the PEPFAR programme. Deputy President Motlanthe will be accompanied by Ministers Blade Nzimande of Higher Education; Tina Joemat-Pettersson of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ebrahim Patel of Economic Development; and Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim of International Relations and Cooperation. The Deputy President is expected to conclude his working visit to the United States of America on 31 March 2011. On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 2:27 PM, kholekile shasha <[email protected]>wrote: > i just want to add an angle not understood yet, the US yes is all of that > already explained but i would like to highlight that FRANCE is equally if > not the worser end, their involvement with destabalizing the Nigeria, Ivory > Coast is very obvious now kaddafi expelled them from his country as he knows > who the real enemy is, now south africa cannot do anything really except > give opinion but we all know about our relationship with france for security > reasons i wont go into it. > > thanks > fidel castro follower (Castrian) > > BUILDING SOCIALISM FOR A BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL. > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Matela Mthwalo <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected]; > [email protected] > *Sent:* Tue, March 22, 2011 1:51:07 PM > *Subject:* [YCLSA Discussion] Libya and the Hypocrisy of US Foreign Policy > > If you are feeling a sense of déjà vu watching the U.S’ (and its “allies”’) > bombing Libya, you are probably not alone. We have been here before: > watching a hypocritical U.S (possibly the most brutal and murderous regime > in history) bomb another murderous regime (that the U.S, U.K and Canada etc. > of course very recently supported and helped to keep in power) under the > false claim of helping “the people.” > > This is the new mode of Empire; humanitarian *imperialism *masquerading as > “humanitarian intervention.” One look at the facts demonstrates the brazen > hypocrisy of this latest “humanitarian mission.” So here are some points to > ponder: > > The U.S has supported Gaddafi since at least the 2003 invasion of Iraq. > Gadafi seemingly became a converted U.S stooge around the time of Saddam > Hussein’s imminent demise. > - Libya is an important supply of oil for Europe and the West, thus > oil is a primary motive; > - The U.S and its allies do not care one bit about the Libyan > people (or any people of that region) and are not there to help them; > - The U.S remains silent and indirectly supports/funds the > massacre of unarmed protestors in Bahrain by troops from Saudi > Arabia; > - Saudi Arabia is one of the U.S’ biggest allies though it > arguably operates under the most fundamentalist and oppressive > interpretation of Islam—so much for the U.S’ war against “Islamic > fundamentalism.” > > It appears you are only an Islamic fundamentalist, terrorist or brutal > dictator if you do not willingly hand over control of your oil/resources to > the U.S. and/or its allies. > > Where was the U.S condemnation of a state attack on an unarmed concentrated > civilian population, when the occupying Israeli State mercilessly attacked > and bombarded the civilian population of Gaza with everything in their > arsenal in 2008? This included internationally banned weapons such as white > phosphorous and cluster bombs, in addition to depleted uranium—i.e waste > from power plants; ironically and hypocritically, the release of which the > world is currently fretting over in Japan. And let us not forget the over > one million dead in Iraq from America’s ongoing “humanitarian intervention” > there, and the fact that more radioactive material has been dumped on the > people of Iraq from the use of D.U weapons than could ever be released from > the six crippled reactors in Fukushima. > > The hypocrisy is not the U.S’ alone. Russia recently condemned the bombing > of Libya and called for its cessation; as did China. But don’t Russia and > China have veto power in the U.N? If they are so concerned with the bombing > of Libya, why did they allow it in the fist place? > > Whether or not Gadaffi is a bad man and a despot is not the issue here, we > can all assume that he is a domestic tyrant. But do *international tyrants > *, whose hands are figuratively dripping with the blood and tears of the > human misery of millions around the globe, have any right to claim moral > superiority while creating *more human misery *in order to depose a leader > that they very recently supported (in order to gain strategic control over > the resources of his country, whatever the human cost)? > > Yes, sadly this is all too familiar, as the plans for attacking Libya and > regime change there has likely been on the Pentagon’s to do list since at > least when George W. Bush’s administration included Libya as one of the > original failed/rogue states that comprised the “axis of evil.” [1] All that > is needed is a pretext to “intervene.” > > The people’s uprisings and resultant state violence are being exploited by > the U.S imperial power. The Empire is using Arab and North African > uprisings to its advantage; it duplicitously intervenes on the “behalf” of > certain people in revolt and/or resistance while helping to oppress and > murder others (i.e in Bahrain, Yemen, Gaza). The blatant hypocrisy can only > leave one dumbfounded and indignant! > > *Ghada Chehade is an independent political analyst, PhD Candidate, poet, > and activist living in Montreal.* > > > -- > Regards, > > Matela Mthwalo > > > -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to > this message. > You can visit the group WEB SITE at > http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery > options, pages, files and membership. > To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected]. > You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to > put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to > this address (repeat): [email protected] . > > -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to > this message. > You can visit the group WEB SITE at > http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery > options, pages, files and membership. > To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected]. > You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to > put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to > this address (repeat): [email protected] . > -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
