UK UK Newswire Archive
The Stick and the carrot!
25-06-2012 08:10
Up for grabs,getting serious about ending cosmectic vivisection.Smash EDO: Summer of Resistance Action Callout
24-06-2012 20:39
Smash EDO are half way through a Summer of Resistance against EDO/ITTExelis. The aim of the summer is to intensify the pressure on the weapons
factory, with as many actions as possible taking place between the 1st of
May and the 1st of August. The more groups that take part the more effective it will be, so we need your help!
CIA Arming Syrian Insurgents
24-06-2012 13:58
On June 21, The New York Times headlined "CIA Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," saying: Operating covertly from southern Turkey, CIA operatives are "decid(ing) which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers." Weapons supplied include "automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition, (and) antitank weapons...." They're smuggled across Turkey's border through "a shadowy network of intermediaries...." They're also entering through Lebanon.Remembering Simon Levin
24-06-2012 12:43
Paraguay: Obama's Second Latin American Coup
24-06-2012 10:55
The recent coup against Paraguay's democratically elected president is not only a blow to democracy, but an attack against the working and poor population that supported and elected President Fernando Lugo, whom they see as a bulwark against the wealthy elite who've dominated the country for decades.
The U.S. mainstream media and politicians are not calling the events in Paraguay a coup, since the president is being "legally impeached" by the elite-dominated Paraguayan Congress. But as economist Mark Weisbrot explains in the Guardian:
"The Congress of Paraguay is trying to oust the president, Fernando Lugo, by means of an impeachment proceeding for which he was given less than 24 hours to prepare and only two hours to present a defense. It appears that a decision to convict him has already been written...The main trigger for the impeachment is an armed clash between peasants fighting for land rights with police...But this violent confrontation is merely a pretext, as it is clear that the president had no responsibility for what happened. Nor have Lugo's opponents presented any evidence for their charges in today's ‘trial.’ President Lugo proposed an investigation into the incident; the opposition was not interested, preferring their rigged judicial proceedings."
What was the real reason the right-wing Paraguay Senate wanted to expel their democratically elected president? Another article by the Guardian makes this clear:
"The president was also tried on four other charges: that he improperly allowed leftist parties to hold a political meeting in an army base in 2009; that he allowed about 3,000 squatters [landless peasants] to illegally invade a large Brazilian-owned soybean farm; that his government failed to capture members of a [leftist] guerrilla group, the Paraguayan People's Army... and that he signed an international [leftist] protocol without properly submitting it to congress for approval."
The article adds that the president's former political allies were "...upset after he gave a majority of cabinet ministry posts to leftist allies, and handed a minority to the moderates...The political split had become sharply clear as Lugo publicly acknowledged recently that he would support leftist candidates in future elections."
It's obvious that the President's real crimes are that he chose to ally himself more closely with Paraguay's left, which in reality means the working and poor masses of the country, who, like other Latin American countries, choose socialism as their form of political expression.
Although Paraguay's elite lost control of the presidency when Lugo was elected, they used their stranglehold over the Senate to reverse the gains made by Paraguay's poor. This is similar to the situation in Egypt: when the old regime of the wealthy elite lost their president/dictator, they used their control of the judiciary in an attempt to reverse the gains of the revolution.
Is it fair to blame the Obama administration for the recent coup in Paraguay? Yes, but it takes an introductory lesson on U.S. - Latin American relations to understand why. Paraguay's right wing - a tiny wealthy elite - has a long-standing relationship with the United States, which has backed dictatorships for decades in the country - a common pattern in most Latin American countries.
The United States promotes the interests of the wealthy of these mostly-poor countries, and in turn, these elite-run countries are obedient to the pro-corporate foreign policy of the United States (The Open Veins of Latin America is an excellent book that outlines the history).
Paraguay's elite is incapable of acting so boldly without first consulting the United States, since neighboring countries are overwhelmingly hostile to such an act because they fear a U.S.-backed coup in their own countries.
Paraguay's elite has only the military for internal support, which for decades has been funded and trained by the United States. President Lugo did not fully sever the U.S. military's links to his country. According to Wikipedia, "The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) provides technical assistance and training to help modernize and professionalize the [Paraguay]military..."
In short, it is not remotely possible for Paraguay's elite to act without assurance from the United States that it would continue to receive U.S. political and financial support; the elite now needs a steady flow of guns and tanks to defend itself from the poor of Paraguay.
The Latin American countries surrounding Paraguay denounced the events as they unfolded and made an emergency trip to the country in an attempt to stop them. What was the Obama administration's response? Business Week explains:
"As Paraguay’s Senate conducted the impeachment trial, the U.S. State Department had said that it was watching the situation closely."
“We understand that Paraguay’s Senate has voted to impeach President Lugo,” said Darla Jordan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs...“We urge all Paraguayans to act peacefully, with calm and responsibility, in the spirit of Paraguay’s democratic principles.”
Obama might as well have said: "We support the right-wing coup against the elected president of Paraguay.” Watching a crime against democracy happen - even if it is "watched closely" - and failing to denounce it makes one complicit in the act. The State Department's carefully crafted words are meant to give implicit support to the new illegal regime in Paraguay.
Obama acted as he did because Lugo turned left, away from corporate interests, towards Paraguay's poor. Lugo had also more closely aligned himself with regional governments which had worked towards economic independence from the United States. Most importantly perhaps is that, in 2009, President Lugo forbid the building of a planned U.S. military base in Paraguay.
What was the response of Paraguay's working and poor people to their new dictatorship? They amassed outside of the Congress and were attacked by riot police and water cannons. It is unlikely that they will sit on their hands during this episode, since President Lugo had raised their hopes of having a more humane existence.
President Lugo has unfortunately given his opponents an advantage by accepting the rulings that he himself called a coup, allowing himself to be replaced by a Senate-appointed president. But Paraguay's working and poor people will act with more boldness, in line with the social movements across Latin America that have struck heavy blows against the power of their wealthy elite.
President Obama's devious actions towards Paraguay reaffirm which side of the wealth divide he stands on. His first coup in Honduras sparked the outrage of the entire hemisphere; this one will confirm to Latin Americans that neither Republicans nor Democrats care anything about democracy.Directors bankrupt company - again - and exploit staff for the second time
24-06-2012 03:00
Company Directors took advantage of their workers by withholding their wages and exploiting legal loopholes to avoid paying what was owed. The Government and the local MP refused to help. Now the same Directors have used the same scam to exploit yet more workers. When will the Government do something?"Solidarity with Julian Assange" Vigils Briz DFA & Ecuadoran Embassy London
24-06-2012 02:43
PHOTOS from ongoing "Solidarity with Julian Assange" vigil outside of Ecuadoran Embassy in London
http://tinyurl.com/7dhltpe REPORT from ongoing "Solidarity with Julian Assange" vigil outside of Ecuadoran Embassy in London
http://wp.me/p1rtyw-Fq Outside the immigration centre of Melilla
23-06-2012 23:37
Just a few days ago the government demolished the shanty dwellings near the Detention Center for immigrants in Melilla (CETI), Spain. Just a few hours, the government has publicly declared that the same center, was attending the whole of the immigrant population of the city.Well, today it is over a week, that two immigrants from Algeria live, day and night outside the doors of the CETI
Bristol Indymedia Down?
23-06-2012 18:31
Haven't been able to access Bristol Indymedia for the past couple days (on multiple computers in different locations). Anyone know what the score is?Those who build awareness and autonomy are enemies of the state.
23-06-2012 16:45
This article has been written as part of the worldwide campaign to free 2 political prisoners in Chiapas. Alberto Patishtan is a member of the Other Campaign. Francisco Santiz Lopez is a Zapatista support base.Union attacks Progress
23-06-2012 15:56
Why the Unions should oppose both Progress and Hope Not Hate.End sponsorship of animal cruelty posing as "sport"
23-06-2012 11:50
One of them is County Louth-based betting company, Boylesports, which also has an office in the Isle Of Man.
Please sign the letter demanding the release of Chiapas political prisoners
23-06-2012 06:47
COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES:“PUBLIC LETTER DEMANDING THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF FRANCISCO SÁNTIZ LÓPEZ AND ALBERTO PATISHTÁN GÓMEZ"
These 2 men are innocent, imprisoned for their political beliefs, please sign the letter at
laotranuevayork@yahoo.com
FCUKBA: a month of immigration repression and resistance
23-06-2012 00:41
The Fascist hub of Northern Europe, version I.
22-06-2012 22:57
And especially: the intimate cooperation between the Danish intelligence services, and the US espionage organisation, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Denmark is because of its “anti-terrorist” legislation and the politically almost uncontrolled intelligence services no less than a fascist state, put together with the police that can arrest citizens at there random discretion.
G4S security undercover: London Olympics is wide open to terror or false flag
22-06-2012 20:50
Mini report from my last vist to Calais
22-06-2012 19:33
Repression is worst than I have ever seen, I reckon they are really trying to clear Calais of its migrants before the Olympics.Cardiff: Extradition - Film Screening
22-06-2012 19:04
Wales premiere of "Extradition", a powerful new documentary film. The event will include a Q & A with Hamja Ahsan (Talhas Brother) reading Talha's new collection of prison poetry.Decision (not now) expected any time on Assange asylum application
22-06-2012 16:55
Update 6.30pm: no decision now expected today.
Supporters welcome at ongoing vigil outside the embassy.
http://wp.me/p1rtyw-Fq
Reflections on the Tory smear campaign against Smash EDO
22-06-2012 14:06
Smash EDO is a grassroots response to the EDO MBM factory in Mouslecoomb's complicity in war crimes - a banner under which people opposed to those crimes can rally. Towards that end Smash EDO is currently organising a Summer of Resistance against EDO MBM.
Over the past few months Brighton and Hove Conservative Party (B&HCP) and, in particular, Robert Nemeth, Deputy Chairman (political) of B&HCP and manager of the office of Mike Weatherley, Tory MP for Hove, have engaged in a smear campaign which has attempted to label our campaign as anti-Semitic.
