November 27, 2013
November 02, 2013
October 12, 2013
Dos criaturas del imperialismo estadounidense
Capriles y Yoani Sánchez: criaturas de la CIA
En mi entrega anterior
argumenté el acierto del presidente Maduro al expulsar de Venezuela a
Kelly Keiderling Franz, encargada de la embajada yanqui en Caracas.
Keiderling, oficial de caso (case officer) de la CIA a cargo del agente Henrique Capriles Radonsky había hecho la misma función en La Habana respecto al escritor Raúl Capote, el oficial Daniel de la seguridad cubana –y no David como erróneamente escribí debido a la premura periodística– quien, revelada su identidad, hizo públicas las verdaderas actividades de la
diplomática.
El caso de Capriles Radonsky muestra cómo la CIA, en la guerra contra nuestros pueblos, engendra criaturas cuya verdadera personalidad nada tiene que ver con la imagen estereotipada por la abrumadora red de medios de difusión dominantes.
Millonario por ambas ramas familiares, propietarias de cadenas de medios de difusión y de cine así como de negocios inmobiliarios, y por ello muy influyentes políticamente, aunque no sabe lo que es trabajar para ganarse la vida, fue electo diputado y presidente de la Cámara de Diputados de la IV Republica a los 25 años sin tener antecedentes políticos, salvo pertenecer a la organización de ultraderecha Tradición, familia y propiedad. Debido a eso también llegó a gobernador del estado de Miranda, donde reside una gran concentración de clase media enajenada que lo religió.
Sin embargo, la CIA ha creado el espejismo de un Capriles líder popular de apariencia modesta, austera y hablar campechano. Le ha puesto especialistas en mercadotecnia electoral, que le han indicado calarse la gorra de pelotero y vestirse con ropa deportiva todo el tiempo, imitando precisamente el estilo de Hugo Chávez. La central de inteligencia ha entregado generosos fondos a su partido Primero Justicia a través del National Endowmente for Democracy, su brazo financiero. El trato cómplice a Capriles de CNN en español –empresa del pulpo Time-Warner– hasta el punto que el día de su derrota electoral por Maduro uno de sus conductores le dictaba descaradamente las respuestas que debía dar, muestra cómo se sostiene su falsa imagen.
No son casuales su proclamada identificación con Lula, aunque este afirmara que Chávez era su candidato, ni sus promesas de mantener las misiones chavistas, pese a que su verdadero programa de gobierno consiste en privatizar las empresas estatales, entregar el petróleo a Estados Unidos y aplicar un despiadado programa neoliberal. Nada nuevo, Hitler también usó el rojo de socialistas y comunistas, llamó socialista al partido nazi y reivindicó el 1º de mayo.
Algo semejante ocurre con la bloguera Yoani Sánchez, presentada como
activista socialpero en realidad golden girl de la contrarrevolución de Miami, homenajeada en esa ciudad por los más feroces enemigos de la revolución cubana como los veteranos de la invasión a Cuba por Bahía de Cochinos, el Consejo por la Libertad de Cuba (varios de cuyos miembros son terroristas) y legisladores cubanoestadunidenses como la cavernícola y sionista Ileana Ross-Lehtinen. Corresponsal de El País en Cuba con un salario de 2000 euros mensuales y vicepresidenta de la patronal Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa, brazo mediático del Pentágono y la CIA, donde recibe otro salariazo, su trayectoria no registra actividad a favor de causa social alguna. Convidada a México por la Coparmex, ¿puede alguien medianamente enterado creer que los impulsores de las privatizaciones, los impuestos para los pobres, la represión de la protesta social y el crecimiento cero, van a traer de conferencista de lujo a su foro de Acapulco a una verdadera luchadora social?
Otro tanto puede decirse respecto a la invitación de Sánchez a la reunión de
las mentes más brillantes del planetapatrocinada, por cierto, por empresas tan
socialmente responsablescomo Monsanto, Coca-Cola, Samsung y medios tan creíbles como Televisa, Forbes y Newsweek.
El blog y la cuenta en Twitter de la señora crecieron como la espuma. En cuestión de un año su cuenta tenía 214 mil seguidores y el blog, alojado en un sitio misterioso fuera de Cuba, aparecía en 18 idiomas. Esto en un país cuyo acceso a Internet está sujeto a enormes limitaciones tecnológicas debido al bloqueo yanqui. Recibió además el premio Ortega y Gasset y muchos otros con los que ha acumulado más de 250 mil euros. Viaja por el mundo a toda leche y gasta 300 mil euros anuales en tuitear. ¿Quién paga la factura?
Angel Guerra Cabrera
October 04, 2013
Haircut
Μετά το γενναίο haircut στον ελληνικό χιτλεροφασισμό που παρακολουθήσαμε σε ζωντανή ραδιοτηλεοπτική μετάδοση (η μονίμως παραλειπόμενη σύνδεση με τα προηγούμενα εδώ), θα επακολουθήσει ως είθισται επανακεφαλαιοποίησις των μετόχων οργάνων ταξικής καταστολής/εξουσίας (πολιτικό σύστημα, ΜΜΕ, εν γένει συμφυόμενη με την άρχουσα τάξη κρατική εξουσία). Ενδέχεται οι αντίστοιχες ανάγκες να μην είναι τόσο μεγάλες. Μείνετε συντονισμένοι.
October 01, 2013
September 15, 2013
Chile, once de Septiembre: imperialism teaches II
Indeed the nationalization process went on – within the existing bourgeois legal framework; more precisely, it had been based on a law passed since 1932, which typically had not been abolished, though it remained inactive and unknown even to most of lawyers.
Many more successes could be reported from the very first period of UP’s administration, such as
Other worth-to-mention successes of UP’s government action, include
Such changes could be read as a vast capitalist modernization program; however, from the ruling class point of view, they were a clear sign of threat to its class interests. For the domestic bourgeoisie it was too risky to bet on some internal dynamics of fading UP’s action out. For imperialists, the issue was explosive, as Chile could show that peoples’ social liberation can happen without being drowned in blood. So they needed to counterattack – as they had done, following an elaborate, multilevel action plan.
The first objective was to overthrow UP from government.
Some major points of this plan become known as it started to get implemented:
During the same period, Chile, despite renegotiations with foreign creditors, was forced to pay every year 200 million U.S. dollars for external debt payments.
Thus, in the last months of 1971, approximately one year after the election of Allende, the results of this pressure had become visible in Chile’s economy and finances: rise in the cost of living, problems in the supply of products and recession. But the forces of UP, or at least the majority of them, were still having illusions about the possibilities for the government to tackle the economic crisis and the attack of big capital and imperialism, while the country was being kept inside the capitalist framework; they were not politically conscient that there was just one problem behind anything else, and that this problem was getting always more urgent and crucial to solve. "Which class has the power" is a condensed statement for this problem.
UP’s government had tried to cope with the difficult situation by increasing taxation of the wealthy classes in order to increase state revenue. At the same time, they also appealed on workers for increasing production and productivity of labor.
Many more successes could be reported from the very first period of UP’s administration, such as
- the significant rise of the real income of workers,
- the fall of unemployment from 8.8 % to 3 % and of infant mortality by 20,1 %. For the first time in the history of the country a universal health care system had been created.
Other worth-to-mention successes of UP’s government action, include
- spectacular progress in the field of literacy and public education;
- expropriation of important latifundia, giving land to thousands of farmers;
- reforestation of 600.000 acres;
- foundation of farm cooperatives that began to change life in the village;
- significant improvement of the situation of natives (“indios”).
Such changes could be read as a vast capitalist modernization program; however, from the ruling class point of view, they were a clear sign of threat to its class interests. For the domestic bourgeoisie it was too risky to bet on some internal dynamics of fading UP’s action out. For imperialists, the issue was explosive, as Chile could show that peoples’ social liberation can happen without being drowned in blood. So they needed to counterattack – as they had done, following an elaborate, multilevel action plan.
The first objective was to overthrow UP from government.
Some major points of this plan become known as it started to get implemented:
- creating a chaotic situation: this meant systematic paralysis of state institutions, economic sabotage, boycotts, support and reinforcement of fascist gags, for organizing assassinations and spreading terrorism.
- economy war at the international level: credit restrictions from international and above all the American banks, embargo in copper trading and petrol supply, measures to cause insolvency by currency restrictions, withdrawal of commercial agreements for U.S. exports, especially on copper mining technology and other means of production.
During the same period, Chile, despite renegotiations with foreign creditors, was forced to pay every year 200 million U.S. dollars for external debt payments.
Thus, in the last months of 1971, approximately one year after the election of Allende, the results of this pressure had become visible in Chile’s economy and finances: rise in the cost of living, problems in the supply of products and recession. But the forces of UP, or at least the majority of them, were still having illusions about the possibilities for the government to tackle the economic crisis and the attack of big capital and imperialism, while the country was being kept inside the capitalist framework; they were not politically conscient that there was just one problem behind anything else, and that this problem was getting always more urgent and crucial to solve. "Which class has the power" is a condensed statement for this problem.
UP’s government had tried to cope with the difficult situation by increasing taxation of the wealthy classes in order to increase state revenue. At the same time, they also appealed on workers for increasing production and productivity of labor.
TO BE CONTINUED
September 11, 2013
Chile, once de Septiembre: imperialism teaches I
The mighty tentative of social liberation using – if not religiously respecting – the control mechanisms enforcing the bourgeois State power, which took place in Chile, yields today in the light of the accumulated historic experience of the four decades passed since Pinochet’s Coup, some bitter yet precious truths.
Let us recall some basics of what is often called the “Chile’s experiment”.
The UNIDAD POPULAR had been created on the initiative of the Communist Party of Chile in 1969. It also comprised the Socialist Party, the Radical Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU) – since 1972 the MAPU Obrero Campesino (fields laborers) splinter group too – and the Independent Popular Action . Also, since 1971 the Christian Left Party. It initially included the moderate Party of the Radical Left, that later joined opposition. Here you can find what the UP’s founding Pact was like. UP has been also supported by the Central Única de Trabajadores, a National Workers’ Syndicate.
The leader of the UP was Salvador Allende, a social democrat politician, founding member of the Socialist Party of Chile. Allende had declared that UP struggles for an anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchic government that would replace the House and Senate with a Democratic National Congress. He had been committed to undertaking a large-scale land reform against big landlords and to nationalizing all foreign firms and banks, including the huge U.S. investments in the extremely important for the Chilean economy sector of copper mining.
This program wasn’t meant to challenge capitalist ownership in general; it was meant to be applied by a bourgeois government, under capitalist rule. Nowadays the point mark of this last sentence is only holding the place where ellipsis should be standing…
The stake was a social-democratic one, in the old sense of the term: take the elections, apply radical reforms, get support at international level by the socialist movement, and gradually manage to put the foundations for a sustainable, truly democratic and socialist society.
The Communist Party of Chile abandonned its political autonomy, by passing its action exclusively through the thousands of base committees of the UP, where members of all parties of the Front were participating along with masses of people outside parties and decisions had to be unanimous. The converse is also true: the CPC had insisted on subordinating any social struggle and movement to the formal political agreement in the framework of UP’s organizations.
On September 4 1970, in the first round of the Presidential Elections, the UP got 36,3 % of the vote versus 34,9 % of its adversary. According to the Chilean Constitution, the Congress had to elect the President between the two candidates that led the vote. Yankees were already worried and thinking about alternatives. On October 5 1970, Allende, with the Christian Democrats having voted for him, got 271 votes out of 462, not enough to be elected.
At the same time, a multi-facet operation for terrorizing the people was being settled:
on 22 October the Chief of Staff, Rene Schneider had been assassinated by fascist gags. He had been an obstacle to conspiracies that were fomenting within the army.
Finally, on October 24, in the second vote, Allende won 135 to 35 votes and was triumphantly elected. Immediately after his election he declared that any attempt to overthrow him by force of arms would be "crushed by the revolutionary violence of the masses."
On October 30 Allende announced the composition of a fifteen-member UP government, including three communists and three workers Ministers.
On November 3, 1970 Salvador Allende took office as President of Chile. In his speech after the swearing-in ceremony he said: "We strive to create a different world, we intend to prove that profound, revolutionary changes can be made.
After the glorious ceremony, Allende had ridden an open car, leading a motorcade proceeding in the streets of the center of Santiago, waving under the cheers of thick croud.
Shortly after his installation, Allende announced in a massively crowded meeting the nationalization of copper mines and foreign banks.
It is in this context that the Chilean experiment of “peaceful transition to socialism” started.
The UNIDAD POPULAR had been created on the initiative of the Communist Party of Chile in 1969. It also comprised the Socialist Party, the Radical Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU) – since 1972 the MAPU Obrero Campesino (fields laborers) splinter group too – and the Independent Popular Action . Also, since 1971 the Christian Left Party. It initially included the moderate Party of the Radical Left, that later joined opposition. Here you can find what the UP’s founding Pact was like. UP has been also supported by the Central Única de Trabajadores, a National Workers’ Syndicate.
The leader of the UP was Salvador Allende, a social democrat politician, founding member of the Socialist Party of Chile. Allende had declared that UP struggles for an anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchic government that would replace the House and Senate with a Democratic National Congress. He had been committed to undertaking a large-scale land reform against big landlords and to nationalizing all foreign firms and banks, including the huge U.S. investments in the extremely important for the Chilean economy sector of copper mining.
This program wasn’t meant to challenge capitalist ownership in general; it was meant to be applied by a bourgeois government, under capitalist rule. Nowadays the point mark of this last sentence is only holding the place where ellipsis should be standing…
The stake was a social-democratic one, in the old sense of the term: take the elections, apply radical reforms, get support at international level by the socialist movement, and gradually manage to put the foundations for a sustainable, truly democratic and socialist society.
The Communist Party of Chile abandonned its political autonomy, by passing its action exclusively through the thousands of base committees of the UP, where members of all parties of the Front were participating along with masses of people outside parties and decisions had to be unanimous. The converse is also true: the CPC had insisted on subordinating any social struggle and movement to the formal political agreement in the framework of UP’s organizations.
On September 4 1970, in the first round of the Presidential Elections, the UP got 36,3 % of the vote versus 34,9 % of its adversary. According to the Chilean Constitution, the Congress had to elect the President between the two candidates that led the vote. Yankees were already worried and thinking about alternatives. On October 5 1970, Allende, with the Christian Democrats having voted for him, got 271 votes out of 462, not enough to be elected.
At the same time, a multi-facet operation for terrorizing the people was being settled:
on 22 October the Chief of Staff, Rene Schneider had been assassinated by fascist gags. He had been an obstacle to conspiracies that were fomenting within the army.
Finally, on October 24, in the second vote, Allende won 135 to 35 votes and was triumphantly elected. Immediately after his election he declared that any attempt to overthrow him by force of arms would be "crushed by the revolutionary violence of the masses."
On October 30 Allende announced the composition of a fifteen-member UP government, including three communists and three workers Ministers.
On November 3, 1970 Salvador Allende took office as President of Chile. In his speech after the swearing-in ceremony he said: "We strive to create a different world, we intend to prove that profound, revolutionary changes can be made.
After the glorious ceremony, Allende had ridden an open car, leading a motorcade proceeding in the streets of the center of Santiago, waving under the cheers of thick croud.
Shortly after his installation, Allende announced in a massively crowded meeting the nationalization of copper mines and foreign banks.
It is in this context that the Chilean experiment of “peaceful transition to socialism” started.
TO BE CONTINUED
September 10, 2013
Le ridicule ne tue pas l'impérialisme
August 02, 2013
If you're down an' out...
let the King take care of you!
BONNES VACANCES!!
...jobseekers' bonus track (sound only)
July 09, 2013
Imperialism can be wistful sometimes
The latest military coup in Egypt stops a slide into one abyss but is hardly a guarantee that it will avoid a future one. A better future will depend on the wisdom of the kind of generals who have not proven to be very wise in the past.
The generals led by chief of the armed forces Abdul Fatah al-Sisi deposed President Mohammed Morsi, the man from the Muslim Brotherhood who was elected only a year ago. His election was the best feature of his rule, which had descended into incompetence and creeping authoritarianism.
Mr. Morsi won the election narrowly over a Mubarak-era political leftover, but he soon reinforced fears that the Brotherhood would use its new power to build an Islamist dictatorship. He tried to claim near-absolute powers by decree to force through a draft constitution written by Islamists and boycotted by everyone else.
The result was political polarization, with the opposition and military uniting against the Brotherhood supporters who were Mr. Morsi's last defenders. The millions of Egyptians who took to the streets were also protesting chronic gas and food shortages and a sinking economy. The uprising shows that the worst fate for Islamists can be to take power and thus be accountable for results. Unlike Iran in 1979, Egypt retains enough competing power centers such as a secular business class and judiciary to prevent an Islamist revolution.
Yet a military coup riding mass protests carries its own risks to future stability. One danger is the reaction of the Brotherhood, which is still the strongest single political party. The secretive group renounced armed struggle in the 1970s. But that could change if its leaders conclude that democracy works for everyone except for them.
Adly Mansour, a judge and interim president sworn in Thursday, called the Brotherhood "part of the nation." But at the same time the military closed down pro-Brotherhood TV stations and put out warrants for the arrest of the party's senior leaders. The Brotherhood is unpopular now, but as memories fade it could return to power with a vengeance if Egypt's next rulers are also unable to fix the country's many problems.
A more hopeful sign is that General Sisi gathered prominent opposition and Coptic Christian and Muslim leaders to announce a new "roadmap" for Egypt's future. The roadmap proposes, among other steps, a broadly representative committee to rewrite the constitution and to form a technocratic government.
General Sisi is also promising new elections, albeit without a timetable. Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent (and anti-American) secular leader, and the hardline Islamic Salafist Nour Party, a rival to the Brotherhood, have publicly backed the military plan.
The generals don't seem eager to govern directly, especially after they mismanaged the transition after Hosni Mubarak's 2011 ouster until Mr. Morsi's election. Civilians were tried in military courts and abused in custody. As crime worsened and the economy stalled, public ire turned against the generals.
It will do so again without more enlightened leadership that focuses on economic revival and a political transition to a system of checks and balances. Any transition government will no doubt seek money and oil from the Gulf states as well as an early deal with the International Monetary Fund to make up for Egypt's rapidly declining currency reserves.
America can also do more than it has. The Obama Administration has been caught trailing events at every turn, supporting Mr. Mubarak before abruptly throwing him over, and then embracing Mr. Morsi despite his authoritarian turn.
President Obama stayed quiet throughout the latest crisis, finally issuing an anodyne call Wednesday night for "a democratic political order with participation from all sides and all political parties—secular and religious, civilian and military."
Mr. Obama also requested a review of U.S. aid to Egypt, but cutting that off now would be a mistake. Unpopular as America is in Egypt, $1.3 billion in annual military aid buys access with the generals. U.S. support for Cairo is written into the Camp David peace accords with Israel. Washington can also do more to help Egypt gain access to markets, international loans and investment capital. The U.S. now has a second chance to use its leverage to shape a better outcome.
Egyptians would be lucky if their new ruling generals turn out to be in the mold of Chile's Augusto Pinochet, who took power amid chaos but hired free-market reformers and midwifed a transition to democracy. If General Sisi merely tries to restore the old Mubarak order, he will eventually suffer Mr. Morsi's fate.
June 21, 2013
Καμμία πρωτοτυπία
...αντιγράφουμε σήμερα το Ν. Μπογιόπουλο (Ριζοσπάστης 21/6/2013):
Αύριο συμπληρώνεται ένας χρόνος από την ορκωμοσία της κυβέρνησης των κ.κ. Σαμαρά, Βενιζέλου, Κουβέλη.Και από εδώ:
Πριν από τη συγκρότηση της τρικομματικής τους κυβέρνησης, κατά τη διάρκεια της προεκλογικής περιόδου, οι τρεις συνιστώσες αυτής της «συνισταμένης εθνικής σωτηρίας» - όπως αποκαλεί ο Βενιζέλος τη συγκυβέρνηση - στο ενδεχόμενο να συμπράξουν μεταξύ τους και στις ερωτήσεις αν θα συγκυβερνήσουν, απαντούσαν ως εξής:
*1) «Τη συγκυβέρνηση (σ.σ.: της ΝΔ με το ΠΑΣΟΚ) τη θέλουν τριών ειδών συμφέροντα: Πρώτον, το ίδιο το ΠΑΣΟΚ. Δεύτερον, τη στηρίζουν όλα εκείνα τα συμφέροντα και οι συντεχνίες που δεν θέλουν να αλλάξει τίποτε στην Ελλάδα και, τρίτον, την προτιμούν όσοι εντός και εκτός χώρας θέλουν την αυριανή κυβέρνηση αδύναμη και ελεγχόμενη».(Αντώνης Σαμαράς, 7/4/2012)
«Δεν θέλω να συγκυβερνήσω με το ΠΑΣΟΚ και δεν συμφέρει τον ελληνικό λαό να γίνει τέτοια συγκυβέρνηση, συμφέρει μόνο το ΠΑΣΟΚ για να πέσει στα μαλακά, συμφέρει τη διαπλοκή και τα εξωθεσμικά κέντρα».
(Αντώνης Σαμαράς, 3/5/2012)
Αυτά τα έλεγε ο πρωθυπουργός. Δηλαδή, ο επικεφαλής μιας κυβέρνησης που - αν πιστέψουμε τα (προεκλογικά) λεγόμενά του - τι συγκρότησε και σε τι προΐσταται; Σε τίποτα λιγότερο από μια συγκυβέρνηση που «συμφέρει τη διαπλοκή», τα «εξωθεσμικά» και τα «εκτός χώρας κέντρα»...
*2) «Απέναντί μας λοιπόν έχουμε όχι ένα κεντροδεξιό μέτωπο, αλλά το μέτωπο της καθαρής και σκληρής δεξιάς, της "καραδεξιάς" (...) Μια συσπείρωση ακραίων στην πλειοψηφία τους στοιχείων, που επανέρχονται στην κοίτη τους στο όνομα μιας μικροπαραταξιακής επιδίωξης. Εχουμε απέναντί μας τον κ. Σαμαρά και το κόμμα του (...)».(Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος, 25/5/2012)
Αυτά τα έλεγε ο ένας εκ των δύο στενότερων συνεργατών του κ. Σαμαρά. Ο συγκυβερνήτης του κ. Σαμαρά, ο κ. Βενιζέλος. Αυτός είναι που σήμερα αποκαλεί τη συγκυβέρνηση «συνισταμένη εθνικής σωτηρίας». Αλλά αν πιστέψουμε τα (προεκλογικά) λεγόμενά του, δεν πρόκειται για «κυβέρνηση σωτηρίας». Πρόκειται για μια σύμπραξη με την «καθαρή», τη «σκληρή δεξιά», την «καραδεξιά», των «ακραίων στην πλειοψηφία τους στοιχείων»...
*3) «Δεν θα γίνουμε το αριστερό άλλοθι της προωθούμενης συγκυβέρνησης ΠΑΣΟΚ και ΝΔ».(Φώτης Κουβέλης, 3/5/2012)
Εδώ τα σχόλια, μάλλον, είναι περιττά...
***Κατόπιν αυτών, άμα τη συμπληρώσει του ενός έτους διακυβέρνησης του τόπου από τους παραπάνω, από τους φορείς, δηλαδή,
των Πράξεων Νομοθετικού Περιεχομένου, των Προεδρικών Διαταγμάτων, των επιστρατεύσεων, του «μαύρου» στην ΕΡΤ και σε όλες τις κρατικές επιχειρήσεις που ακολουθούν, των «λουκέτων» σε σχολεία και νοσοκομεία, του καταλόγου του ξεπουλήματος που έφτασαν να περιλαμβάνει ακόμα και τον τοίχο της Καισαριανής,
δεν έχουμε παρά να αναφωνήσουμε, τρεις φορές
(μία για τον καθέναν από τους τρεις συνεπείς, αξιόπιστους, σταράτους «σωτήρες» μας):
«Ζήτω»! «Ζήτω»! «Ζήτω»!
June 13, 2013
Imperialism gettin' wacko (hi mom!)
Published in the Southern China Morning Post/Hong Kong, 13/6/2013, 3:50am local time. Story by Lana Lam.
US whistle-blower Edward Snowden yesterday emerged from hiding in Hong Kong and revealed to the South China Morning Post that he will stay in the city to fight likely attempts by his government to have him extradited for leaking state secrets.
In an exclusive interview carried out from a secret location in the city, the former Central Intelligence Agency analyst also made explosive claims that the US government had been hacking into computers in Hong Kong and on the mainland for years.
At Snowden’s request we cannot divulge details about how the interview was conducted.
A week since revelations that the US has been secretly collecting phone and online data of its citizens, he said he will stay in the city “until I am asked to leave”, adding: “I have had many opportunities to flee HK, but I would rather stay and fight the US government in the courts, because I have faith in HK’s rule of law.”
In a frank hour-long interview, the 29-year-old, who US authorities have confirmed is now the subject of a criminal case, said he was neither a hero nor a traitor and that:
Snowden has been in Hong Kong since May 20 when he fled his home in Hawaii to take refuge here, a move which has been questioned by many who believe the city cannot protect him.
“People who think I made a mistake in picking HK as a location misunderstand my intentions. I am not here to hide from justice, I am here to reveal criminality,” he said. Snowden said that according to unverified documents seen by the Post, the NSA had been hacking computers in Hong Kong and on the mainland since 2009. None of the documents revealed any information about Chinese military systems, he said.
One of the targets in the SAR, according to Snowden, was Chinese University and public officials, businesses and students in the city. The documents also point to hacking activity by the NSA against mainland targets. Snowden believed there had been more than 61,000 NSA hacking operations globally, with hundreds of targets in Hong Kong and on the mainland. “We hack network backbones – like huge internet routers, basically – that give us access to the communications of hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack every single one,” he said.
“Last week the American government happily operated in the shadows with no respect for the consent of the governed, but no longer. Every level of society is demanding accountability and oversight.” Snowden said he was releasing the information to demonstrate “the hypocrisy of the US government when it claims that it does not target civilian infrastructure, unlike its adversaries”.
“Not only does it do so, but it is so afraid of this being known that it is willing to use any means, such as diplomatic intimidation, to prevent this information from becoming public.” Since the shocking revelations a week ago, Snowden has been vilified as a defector but also hailed by supporters such as WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange. “I’m neither traitor nor hero. I’m an American,” he said, adding that he was proud to be an American. “I believe in freedom of expression. I acted in good faith but it is only right that the public form its own opinion.”
Snowden said he had not contacted his family and feared for their safety as well as his own. “I will never feel safe. “Things are very difficult for me in all terms, but speaking truth to power is never without risk,” he said. “It has been difficult, but I have been glad to see the global public speak out against these sorts of systemic violations of privacy. “All I can do is rely on my training and hope that world governments will refuse to be bullied by the United States into persecuting people seeking political refuge.”
Asked if he had been offered asylum by the Russian government, he said: “My only comment is that I am glad there are governments that refuse to be intimidated by great power”. The interview comes on the same day NSA chief General Keith Alexander appeared before Congress to defend his agency over the leaks. It was his first appearance since the explosive revelations were made last week. Alexander’s prepared remarks did not specifically address revelations about the Prism program.
Snowden's revelations threaten to test new attempts to build US-Sino bridges after a weekend summit in California between the nations' presidents, Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. If true, Snowden's allegations lend credence to China's longstanding position that it is as much a victim of hacking as a perpetrator, after Obama pressed Xi to rein in cyber-espionage by the Chinese military.
Tens of thousands of Snowden’s supporters have signed a petition calling for his pardon in the United States while many have donated money to a fund to help him. “I’m very grateful for the support of the public,” he said. “But I ask that they act in their interest – save their money for letters to the government that breaks the law and claims it noble.
“The reality is that I have acted at great personal risk to help the public of the world, regardless of whether that public is American, European, or Asian.”
The US consulate in Hong Kong could not be contacted yesterday on a public holiday.
29-year-old American Edward Snowden, a contract employee at the National Security Agency, is the whistleblower behind significant revelations that surfaced in June 2013 about the US government's top secret, extensive domestic surveillance programmes. Snowden flew to Hong Kong from Hawaii in May 2013, and supplied confidential US government documents to media outlets including the Guardian.
Edward Snowden: US government has been hacking Hong Kong and China for years
Former CIA operative makes more explosive claims and says Washington is ‘bullying’ Hong Kong to extradite himUS whistle-blower Edward Snowden yesterday emerged from hiding in Hong Kong and revealed to the South China Morning Post that he will stay in the city to fight likely attempts by his government to have him extradited for leaking state secrets.
In an exclusive interview carried out from a secret location in the city, the former Central Intelligence Agency analyst also made explosive claims that the US government had been hacking into computers in Hong Kong and on the mainland for years.
At Snowden’s request we cannot divulge details about how the interview was conducted.
A week since revelations that the US has been secretly collecting phone and online data of its citizens, he said he will stay in the city “until I am asked to leave”, adding: “I have had many opportunities to flee HK, but I would rather stay and fight the US government in the courts, because I have faith in HK’s rule of law.”In a frank hour-long interview, the 29-year-old, who US authorities have confirmed is now the subject of a criminal case, said he was neither a hero nor a traitor and that:
- US National Security Agency’s controversial Prism programme extends to people and institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China;
- The US is exerting “bullying’’ diplomatic pressure on Hong Kong to extradite him;
- Hong Kong’s rule of law will protect him from the US;
- He is in constant fear for his own safety and that of his family.
Snowden has been in Hong Kong since May 20 when he fled his home in Hawaii to take refuge here, a move which has been questioned by many who believe the city cannot protect him.
“People who think I made a mistake in picking HK as a location misunderstand my intentions. I am not here to hide from justice, I am here to reveal criminality,” he said. Snowden said that according to unverified documents seen by the Post, the NSA had been hacking computers in Hong Kong and on the mainland since 2009. None of the documents revealed any information about Chinese military systems, he said.
One of the targets in the SAR, according to Snowden, was Chinese University and public officials, businesses and students in the city. The documents also point to hacking activity by the NSA against mainland targets. Snowden believed there had been more than 61,000 NSA hacking operations globally, with hundreds of targets in Hong Kong and on the mainland. “We hack network backbones – like huge internet routers, basically – that give us access to the communications of hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack every single one,” he said.
“Last week the American government happily operated in the shadows with no respect for the consent of the governed, but no longer. Every level of society is demanding accountability and oversight.” Snowden said he was releasing the information to demonstrate “the hypocrisy of the US government when it claims that it does not target civilian infrastructure, unlike its adversaries”.
“Not only does it do so, but it is so afraid of this being known that it is willing to use any means, such as diplomatic intimidation, to prevent this information from becoming public.” Since the shocking revelations a week ago, Snowden has been vilified as a defector but also hailed by supporters such as WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange. “I’m neither traitor nor hero. I’m an American,” he said, adding that he was proud to be an American. “I believe in freedom of expression. I acted in good faith but it is only right that the public form its own opinion.”
Snowden said he had not contacted his family and feared for their safety as well as his own. “I will never feel safe. “Things are very difficult for me in all terms, but speaking truth to power is never without risk,” he said. “It has been difficult, but I have been glad to see the global public speak out against these sorts of systemic violations of privacy. “All I can do is rely on my training and hope that world governments will refuse to be bullied by the United States into persecuting people seeking political refuge.”
Asked if he had been offered asylum by the Russian government, he said: “My only comment is that I am glad there are governments that refuse to be intimidated by great power”. The interview comes on the same day NSA chief General Keith Alexander appeared before Congress to defend his agency over the leaks. It was his first appearance since the explosive revelations were made last week. Alexander’s prepared remarks did not specifically address revelations about the Prism program.
Snowden's revelations threaten to test new attempts to build US-Sino bridges after a weekend summit in California between the nations' presidents, Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. If true, Snowden's allegations lend credence to China's longstanding position that it is as much a victim of hacking as a perpetrator, after Obama pressed Xi to rein in cyber-espionage by the Chinese military.
Tens of thousands of Snowden’s supporters have signed a petition calling for his pardon in the United States while many have donated money to a fund to help him. “I’m very grateful for the support of the public,” he said. “But I ask that they act in their interest – save their money for letters to the government that breaks the law and claims it noble.
“The reality is that I have acted at great personal risk to help the public of the world, regardless of whether that public is American, European, or Asian.”
The US consulate in Hong Kong could not be contacted yesterday on a public holiday.
April 05, 2013
Imperialism has always been dangerous to mankind
Reflections of Fidel
The duty to avoid a war in Korea
(Taken from CubaDebate)
The duty to avoid a war in Korea
(Taken from CubaDebate)
This is not to confuse intelligent
life with the existence of life which, from its
elemental forms in our solar system, emerged
millions of years ago.
A virtually infinite number of life
forms exist. In the sophisticated work of the world’s
most eminent scientists the idea has already been
conceived of reproducing the sounds which followed
the Big Bang, the great explosion which took place
more than 13.7 billion years ago.
This introduction would be too
extensive if it was not to explain the gravity of an
event as unbelievable and absurd as the situation
created in the Korean Peninsula, within a geographic
area containing close to five billion of the seven
billion persons currently inhabiting the planet.
This is about one of the most
serious dangers of nuclear war since the October
Crisis around Cuba in 1962, 50 years ago.
In 1950, a war was unleashed there [the
Korean Peninsula] which cost millions of lives. It
came barely five years after two atomic bombs were
exploded over the defenseless cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki which, in a matter of seconds, killed
and irradiated hundreds of thousands of people.
General Douglas MacArthur wanted to
utilize atomic weapons against the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea. Not even Harry Truman allowed
that.
It has been affirmed that the People’s
Republic of China lost one million valiant soldiers
in order to prevent the installation of an enemy
army on that country’s border with its homeland. For
its part, the Soviet army provided weapons, air
support, technological and economic aid.
I had the honor of meeting Kim Il
Sung, a historic figure, notably courageous and
revolutionary.
If war breaks out there, the peoples
of both parts of the Peninsula will be terribly
sacrificed, without benefit to all or either of them.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was always
friendly with Cuba, as Cuba has always been and will
continue to be with her.
Now that the country has
demonstrated its technical and scientific
achievements, we remind her of her duties to the
countries which have been her great friends, and it
would be unjust to forget that such a war would
particularly affect more than 70% of the population
of the planet.
If a conflict of that nature should
break out there, the government of Barack Obama in
his second mandate would be buried in a deluge of
images which would present him as the most sinister
character in the history of the United States. The
duty of avoiding war is also his and that of the
people of the United States.
April 02, 2013
Imperialism has always been ruthless
...a letter for remembering
From David Lea
Published here
From David Lea
Referring to the controversy surrounding the death of Patrice Lumumba in1960, Bernard Porter quotes Calder Walton’s conclusion: ‘The question remains whether British plots to assassinate Lumumba … ever amounted to anything. At present, we do not know’ (LRB, 21 March). Actually, in this particular case, I can report that we do.
It so happens that I was having a cup of tea with Daphne Park – we were colleagues from opposite sides of the Lords – a few months before she died in March 2010. She had been consul and first secretary in Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, from 1959 to 1961, which in practice (this was subsequently acknowledged) meant head of MI6 there. I mentioned the uproar surrounding Lumumba’s abduction and murder, and recalled the theory that MI6 might have had something to do with it. ‘We did,’ she replied, ‘I organised it.’
It so happens that I was having a cup of tea with Daphne Park – we were colleagues from opposite sides of the Lords – a few months before she died in March 2010. She had been consul and first secretary in Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, from 1959 to 1961, which in practice (this was subsequently acknowledged) meant head of MI6 there. I mentioned the uproar surrounding Lumumba’s abduction and murder, and recalled the theory that MI6 might have had something to do with it. ‘We did,’ she replied, ‘I organised it.’
We went on to discuss her contention that Lumumba would have handed over the whole lot to the Russians: the high-value Katangese uranium deposits as well as the diamonds and other important minerals largely located in the secessionist eastern state of Katanga. Against that, I put the point that I didn’t see how suspicion of Western involvement and of our motivation for Balkanising their country would be a happy augury for the new republic’s peaceful development.
David Lea
London SW1
London SW1
March 23, 2013
Episcopus, non papa
L’irruenza del novo papa è tale che basta un giorno lontano dal Vaticano
per esser travolti da una serie di avvenimenti davvero di grande portata.
Mi sveglio alle 6.00 e dopo un lungo viaggio per una città bloccata,
mentre sfilano le auto blu e quelle diplomatiche dei capi di stato, riconosco
le bandierine sul cofano di Bosnia e di Australia, arrivo alle 8.00 in sala
stampa.
In realtà i fedeli accorsi non sono moltissimi, la piazza ha spazi vuoti
e in via della Conciliazione stazionano pochi fedeli.
Ieri Francesco ha intanto sancito che non è e mai sarà papa o pontefice
massimo. È un fatto meravigliosamente incredibile, il papato è finito, morto e
sepolto. Anche io d’ora in poi lo chiamerò vescovo. Infatti, facendo schiumare
rabbia ai conservatori, agli integralisti, di cui il solito gruppetto di
giornalisti che qui mi guarda in cagnesco sono un buon termometro, ha deciso di
non farsi “intronizzare”, né di celebrare l’inizio del regno. Sul regno ha
tagliato corto, l’unico re è Gesù cristo. La cerimonia di oggi si chiama allora
“Inizio del ministero petrino del vescovo di Roma”, è passata una settimana e
mai Francesco ha detto, sono il papa, sono il pontefice. È il colpo d’accetta
all’idea del potere temporale meglio assestato da sempre.
Incurante delle critiche, ha poi confermato il suo stemma di vescovo,
che richiama il simbolo dei gesuiti, come stemma da vescovo di Roma e
proseguito nel solco di Ratzinger rifiutando di mettere la tiara al di sopra
dello stemma, ma lasciando la mitria vescovile. Padre Lombardi nella conferenza
stampa di ieri ha cercato di far passare in secondo piano questi aspetti
esaltando gli altri simboli che compongano nell’insieme la sacra famiglia, rappresentando
san Giuseppe e Maria, ma le novità importanti sono quelle che ho segnalato.
Ieri il vescovo Francesco ha incontrato la presidentessa argentina
Cristina Fernanda Khirchner, che ha portato a Francesco tutto il necessario per
farsi il mate, il vescovo contento l’ha baciata. I due sembrano rappacificati,
in ragione del nuovo ruolo istituzionale di Bergoglio. La presidentessa,
cavalcando i sentimenti che già avevano fatto esprimere l’arcivescovo di Beunos
Aires a favore dell’argentinità delle Malvinas/Falkland, ha ribadito il suo
desiderio che il vescovo di Roma possa intercedere con gli inglesi in merito.
Che il papato non esista più e non sia un’idea solo mia, mi è confermata
dal vaticanista della stampa Michele Brambilla, che sottolinea come una
settimana fa si sia tenuta una messa per l’elezione del sommo pontefice e oggi
ci si ritrovi a festeggiare l’inizio del ministero petrino di un vescovo,
quello di Roma. Brambilla aggiunge, a ragione, che tutto scaturisce dall’idea
ratzingeriana di un papato come mandato a tempo nella collegialità dei vescovi,
idea che il pastore tedesco aveva formulato nel Concilio Vaticano II, bocciata
allora da Paolo VI. Per altro oggi il vescovo Francesco concelebra insieme a
tutti i patriarchi cattolici di rito orientale, patriarchi che reputa suoi pari,
per rendere l’idea vale la pena elencare le loro titolarità: Alessandria dei
Copti, Antiochia dei Greco-melkiti, Antiochia dei Siri, Cilicia degli Armeni,
Babilonia dei Caldei, oltreché il patriarca greco – cattolico d’Ucraina e il patriarca
latino di Gerusalemme Fuad Twal con il quale mi sono intrattenuto nel dicembre
2009 presso la sacrestia del patriarcato mentre una suora bergamasca da tempo
in Terra Santa ripiegava i paramenti sacri indossati dal patriarca per la
novena natalizia. Twal mi ha raccontato della sua visita pastorale a Gaza di quella
giornata, dei problemi del muro edificato dagli israeliani, dell’enorme
sofferenza del popolo palestinese, della buona salute del patriarca Michael
Sabbah, che anni prima mi aveva insegnato:”se sei in difficoltà, cerca qualcuno
più in difficoltà di te e aiutalo”.
Le madri e le nonne della plaza de Mayo non sono state invitate dal
vescovo Francesco e questo mi dispiace. Quelle donne eccezionali hanno chiarito
in ogni caso che il ruolo di Bergoglio nei tempi sanguinari della dittatura
militare e fascista è stato quello, grave, di tacere, non una compromissione diretta
come per sacerdoti come Grasselli o vescovi come Pio Laghi. Pare tuttavia che
il primo beato proclamato da Francesco sarà Carlos Murias, frate francescano
ucciso da Videla e dai suoi scherani all’inizio dei suoi anni di terrore nel
1976.
Nell’omelia Francesco insiste sull’impegno a custodire il mondo, il
creato, a promuovere bontà e tenerezza contro odio, invidia e superbia, per fan
vincere l’amore.
Dopo una sfogliatella con la marmellata salgo sul braccio di Carlo Magno,
con me sul sempre precario ascensore, che poi è un montacarichi, tre sacerdoti
che portano la comunione ai giornalisti cattolici. Il sole finalmente è caldo,
sebbene nuvole svolazzino qua e là, la ressa è enorme perché ci sono anche i
giornalisti e i video-operatori al seguito dei 132 capi di stato o dei loro
rappresentanti, a cui si aggiungono quelli delle comunità religiose ortodosse,
luterane e musulmane. Incontro i giornalisti dello Zimbabwe e sono reciproci e calorosi
abbracci. Dichiaro loro la mia piena solidarietà alla loro nazione, al loro
popolo e al presidente Robert Mugabe, che ha combattuto contro il colonialismo
e l’imperialismo e ancora oggi difende un’idea di mondo non unipolare, contrastando in patria i latifondisti bianchi
che vorrebbero riprendere il sopravvento.
Termina la messa e, poco dopo la benedizione del vescovo Francesco, le
colossali campane della basilica prendono a suonare con la robusta musicalità che
oramai mi è divenuta familiare, trovandomi sempre a pochi metri dalle stesse in
questi giorni di intensi scampanii.
Scendendo dal braccio di Carlo Magno, mi ritrovo proprio davanti al
neosenatore Pierferdinando Casini che parla fitto col presidente dell’INPS
Mastropasqua, che tiene stretto a sé sotto braccio, più dietro l’incerto
filosofo ed ex parlamentare Buttiglione confabula con alcuni prelati. Arriva il
cardinale di Napoli Crescenzio Sepe, lo saluto dicendogli che settimana
prossima sarò dalle sue parti, a Castellammare di Stabia, sorride e mi rivolge
parole gentili.
Passano molte automobili diplomatiche con tanto di bandierine, saluto un
prelato camerunense, poi mi dirigo in sala stampa dove le immagini degli
schermi rimandano i saluti del papa ai capi di stato. Entro proprio quando il
grande bolivarista ecuadoregno Rafael Correa si intrattiene col vescovo, tra
loro molte parole e larghi sorrisi, Francesco poi si inchina di fronte a uno
sceicco sunnita e si intrattiene con il presidente socialdemocratico del
parlamento europeo, il tedesco Martin Schulz, persona di squisita gentilezza,
come ho potuto constate di persona incontrandolo a Bruxelles qualche anno fa.
Alcuni, come Felipe di Spagna e consorte, si gettano a terra in vistose
genuflessioni, ma non si rendono conto che il papa re non esiste più, è rimasto
solo un vescovo.
Francesco ha espressioni di fraternità manifesta anche per altri
esponenti della mondo islamico, un magrebino e un esponente mediorientale.
Calorosissimo lo scambio di saluti e la conversazione con il ministro degli esteri
della Repubblica Islamica d’Iran Alì Akbar Salehi e con l’ayatollah Naseri, già
ambasciatore presso la Santa Sede e oggi deputato al parlamento iraniano, il
Majlis di Teheran.
Nel rigido protocollo che prevede un ordine preciso per il saluto al
nuovo vescovo i due vicepresidenti cubano e statunitense sono inseriti tra i
capi di governo, con un gesto di evidente simpatia per entrambe le nazioni da
parte della segreteria di stato vaticana. Succede così che il cattolico John
Biden e l’altrettanto cattolica Nancy Pelosi si trovino vicini a Miguel Mario
Diaz Canel Bermudez, indicato recentemente da Raul Castro come futura guida
dell’isola
caraibica e socialista.
In piazza tante bandiere di tutto il mondo per festeggiare il vescovo di
Roma, pastore universale, certamente, ma con oggi definitivamente dimissionario
dal ruolo di papa supremo e infallibile. Il papato è finito, arriverà la
collegialità. Francesco ha chiuso una storia che, almeno negli ultimi secoli,
ha avuto una traiettoria molto chiara, nutritasi di potere spirituale e
temporale congiuntosi dentro una presunta indiscutibilità delle prese di
posizione del vescovo di Roma, trasformato in sommo pontefice. Finalmente il sommo
pontefice non c’è più. Qualcuno potrà ancora gridare “viva il papa!”, ma sarà
sempre più difficile utilizzare la parola “papa”, soprattutto se chi dovrebbe
impersonarla la rifiuta. Forse non tutti hanno colto la portata storica di
quanto è accaduto in queste ore, io ed altri lo avevamo intuito, ma la messa
mattutina ne ha sancito un irrevocabile dismissione senza possibilità di
ritorno.
Qui, in questa strana e piccola nazione, oggi più chiaro che mai, esiste
solo il vescovo Francesco, singolare capo di stato che si è buttato
definitivamente alle spalle una storia per dar vita a un nuovo inizio.
Davide Rossi
19 marzo ’13, ore 14.00
Giorno della fine del papato nella festività vaticana di san Giuseppe
Sala stampa Santa Sede – Aula Paolo VI
19 marzo ’13, ore 14.00
Giorno della fine del papato nella festività vaticana di san Giuseppe
Sala stampa Santa Sede – Aula Paolo VI
Pre-pubblicazione, Mimesis Edizioni (Aprile 2013)
March 19, 2013
Τα σημαντικά
Το σημαντικότερο γεγονός των ημερών είναι αναμφισβήτητα η νίκη των «παλιών ταγμάτων» στον μέχρι θανάτου αγώνα τους κατά των «νέων», στο εσωτερικό της καθολικής εκκλησίας.
Ο ανταγωνισμός βέβαια θα συνεχιστεί, αλλά φαίνεται οτι η εκκλησία αυτή οδηγείται σε μια δραματική αναθεώρηση των συμμαχιών και των προτεραιοτήτων στους κόλπους της.
Προς το παρόν λοιπόν, Όπους Ντέι - Ιησουΐτες, σημειώστε 2.
Τα υπόλοιπα, όπως η επιτελούμενη αλλαγή αρχιτεκτονικής της διιμπεριαλιστικής ΕΕ, η συντριβή της Κύπρου στις μυλόπετρες των αφεντάδων και η μυρωδιά πολεμικής ανάφλεξης που φτάνει από την ευρύτερη περιοχή και όχι μόνο, είναι σαφώς λιγότερο σημαντικά - ιδιαίτερα στο φόντο της απελπιστικής ετοιμασίας και θέσης των πολιτικών δυνάμεων των εργαζομένων. Αλλά θα επανέλθουμε.
Ο ανταγωνισμός βέβαια θα συνεχιστεί, αλλά φαίνεται οτι η εκκλησία αυτή οδηγείται σε μια δραματική αναθεώρηση των συμμαχιών και των προτεραιοτήτων στους κόλπους της.
Προς το παρόν λοιπόν, Όπους Ντέι - Ιησουΐτες, σημειώστε 2.
Τα υπόλοιπα, όπως η επιτελούμενη αλλαγή αρχιτεκτονικής της διιμπεριαλιστικής ΕΕ, η συντριβή της Κύπρου στις μυλόπετρες των αφεντάδων και η μυρωδιά πολεμικής ανάφλεξης που φτάνει από την ευρύτερη περιοχή και όχι μόνο, είναι σαφώς λιγότερο σημαντικά - ιδιαίτερα στο φόντο της απελπιστικής ετοιμασίας και θέσης των πολιτικών δυνάμεων των εργαζομένων. Αλλά θα επανέλθουμε.
January 09, 2013
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