South America

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Tue Jul 19, 2022 4:07 pm

PANAMA, ON THE VERGE OF A SOCIAL EXPLOSION?
Jul 16, 2022 , 11:46 am .

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Weariness over rising fuel prices and cases of institutional corruption threaten to destroy Panama's stability (Photo: Rogelio Figueroa / AFP)

The protests in Panama have reached levels never before seen in recent decades, which could be close to a social explosion. Thousands of Panamanians have been protesting in the streets for two weeks against rising prices for food, medicine and fuel. What began as a protest by the educational union has been spreading to other sectors, giving rise to practically unprecedented demonstrations in recent Panamanian history.

The demands of the protesters are broad, in fact, they exceed thirty, but they mainly focus on the high cost of living. In the streets, a brake on the rise in fuel is demanded , putting a cap on it so that it does not exceed 3 dollars per gallon. Likewise, they demand a similar measure for several medicines and more than 50 foods of the basic basket, within the framework of a continued increase in the cost of several goods of common use.

There are also sectors that ask for a wage increase, the creation of unemployment insurance and even a tax reform. The list of demands is long.

Health workers, indigenous people, transporters, agricultural producers, fishermen and construction workers have been joining the teachers who started the marches claiming for salary debts from the State.

Although the government of President Laurentino Cortizo has taken measures , at the time it saw the protests grow and threaten to overflow, they do not seem to satisfy the demands of the protesters at the moment. For example, Cortizo announced the freezing of gasoline at 3.95 dollars per gallon, almost a dollar more than what was demanded by the protesting population. He also said that 10 products of the basic basket would not exceed a price cap, far from the number of items that they ask for in the streets.

On the other hand, there have been contradictions between the measures taken by the government and the legislature, increasing general discontent. While the National Assembly of Panama announced a cut in expenses and a cessation of wage increases for deputies and their advisers, Cortizo ordered the cut of 10% of public administration jobs to reduce state spending.

The Panamanian president tries to promote a great national dialogue with the mediation of the church, however, he blames the situation for the effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Although these two factors have wreaked havoc on the economies both nationally in different latitudes and worldwide, what happened in Panama seems to be more structural than anything else, due to the dollarized economy of that country.

In Panama, during the pandemic there was an economic contraction of practically 18%, according to Cosefin data ;

*An increase of almost three points in poverty;
*The public debt increased around 45% of GDP, almost 65% in two years;
*Panama is the country with the greatest inequality in Central America, with a worse Gini index (49.8) than Honduras and Guatemala and the second in all of Latin America, only behind Colombia;
*6 out of 10 Panamanians affirm that their income is not enough to make ends meet;
*Inflation is at 4% measured in May this year.

Discontent with the political class in general, the product of rampant corruption, is an extra incentive for thousands of Panamanians to join the social protests that are not only concentrated in the capital.

All these edges show that the situation in Panama is complex and therefore will not have a simple solution. It would take much more than a few measures to satisfy the demands of the population and, likewise, a turn of the screw not only politically but also economically, since the dollarization of the Central American country is an important factor when reading the scenarios of way out of the crisis, taking into account that the US currency has been losing strength in recent years, with an economic, financial and commercial crisis on a global scale that lays bare the daily reality of Panamanians.

In Latin America and the Caribbean there have been several examples of a social explosion in the last decade as a result of accumulated discontent due to neoliberal causes and political weariness of the situation. The cases of Chile and Colombia are the most paradigmatic and therefore it would not be strange if something different from those scenarios occurred in Panama. Although it seems that, in the case of this country, the game is blocked by the economic and financial structure adjusted to US interests.

As we well know, the United States finances its own dollar-centric hegemony by indebting third countries and transferring the wealth to its center. In this case, Panama counts as a major geopolitical and commercial asset for Washington and New York. The edge of the sword of Damocles feels ever closer to the neck of the Panamanian population, exhausted by the social situation resulting from the economic debacle and, therefore, is on the verge of an explosion with unprecedented consequences for that country.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/pa ... ido-social

Google Translator

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Panamanian government and union agree to lower fuel prices

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This Sunday the mobilizations continued, which will last until Monday in demand of response to the demands of the people. | Photo: The Press
Published 18 July 2022

The agreements on fuel prices in some Panamanian provinces do not satisfy the real demands of the people, nor do they clarify the issue of managing the state budget.

The National Alliance for the Rights of the Peoples (Anadepo) and the Government of Panama signed an agreement in Santiago de Veraguas this Sunday in which they set the price of fuel at $3.25 per gallon, as well as lifting all closures on highways. country communication.

The price will apply to both gasoline and diesel and will be subject to the variation in the price of the international oil market or international cost situations, the document states; while from Anadepo they avoided that only they are committed to lifting the closures of communication routes.

To which they added the establishment of a High Cost of Medications technical table, to review the list of critical shortage medications, ensure the quality of the medicines that are purchased through this process, establish a new mechanism for the purchase and distribution of drugs, and eliminate oligopolies.


Regarding this, the Executive will instruct the Ministries of Education, Health and Government to undertake actions and reach agreements with the aim that these lead to the end of the strike.

The agreement was signed by Luis Sánchez and Alexis Cazorla, representatives of Anadepo; the Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, José Gabriel Carrizo; Manuel Castillo Melamed, Governor of Veraguas, and the Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc, who acted as mediator in the negotiations.

Meanwhile, in the village of San Felix, province of Chiriquí, government representatives and social leaders of the province set a freeze on fuel costs at 3.30 dollars per gallon, which will lift the closures that were maintained in San Juan, San Félix, Remedios, El Salado and Horconcitos.

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Alliance people united for life continues to fight

For its part, the Alianza Pueblo Unidos por la Vida, which brings together several unions and unions of workers in the Central American country, stressed that there should be a single dialogue table, and urged to intensify the protest actions in the streets for this Monday.

The general secretary of the Single Union of Construction and Similar Workers (Suntracs), Saúl Méndez, stated that "in the face of the irresponsibility of the Government in trying to maneuver, to sit down and not sit down in front of all the actors that are in struggle, it is necessary to intensify the actions"; while he requested a single table with the presence of all the social actors of the country.


This Sunday the mobilizations continued in Panamanian territory, as the demonstration developed in the coastal strip against the high cost of the basic basket of food, fuel and medicine attests; as well as in opposition to the management given to State resources.

"I love my country, but the government makes me ashamed"; “if they stop stealing, the money is enough for everyone”; "With corruption there is no social peace." "Neither roses nor bamboo, we want health, medicine, education, transparency, security and justice," said some of the banners raised during the demonstration, which has now lasted more than two weeks.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/gobierno ... -0001.html

Confrontation in Ecuadorian prison leaves at least 13 dead

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The confrontation in the Santo Domingo prison is the second recorded in that center since last May, when 44 deaths were reported. | Photo: @Cromaclitv1
Published July 19, 2022 (6 hours 23 minutes ago)

The Ecuadorian authorities described the new confrontation in the Santo Domingo prison as a massacre.

A new confrontation recorded this Monday in the prison of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, province of Sierra de Ecuador, left at least 13 inmates dead and two injured.

The death toll was confirmed by the National Comprehensive Care Service (SNAI) for Persons Deprived of Liberty, the country's prison unit.

The SNAI also reported that with the help of personnel from the Police and the Armed Forces it managed to retake control of the prison, while the Prosecutor's Office has initiated investigations into the fatalities.

#ATTENTION | The #SNAI reports: In the #CPLSantoDomingo No. 1 a fight is recorded inside the center.
Upon learning of this fact, the support of the National Police, Armed Forces, Ministry of Public Health has been immediately requested.
News in development… pic.twitter.com/GYsJwVbaHq

— SNAI Ecuador (@SNAI_Ec) July 18, 2022


The Ecuadorian authorities described the unfortunate act of massacre and barbarism.

The institutions in charge of internal and external security continue to guard the Center. Meanwhile, the verification of the deceased will be carried out by the @FiscaliaEcuador , as the competent body for the verification of victims.

— SNAI Ecuador (@SNAI_Ec) July 18, 2022


From the Human Rights Secretariat they reported that they activated a care protocol for the relatives of the inmates and that they have coordinated other actions with the SNAI and other entities of the Technical Organization of the National Social Rehabilitation System.

OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION | Given the events that occurred today, July 18, 2022 at the CPL of #SantoDomingo , the Ecuadorian Human Rights Secretariat reports that it has activated its care protocol �� https://t.co/8wMSOPFXSm pic.twitter.com/MkW1HhyYdK

– Secretariat of Human Rights of Ecuador (@DDHH_Ec) July 18, 2022

The confrontation in the Santo Domingo prison is the second recorded in that center since last May, when 44 deaths and 10 injuries were reported.

Ecuador has registered since February 2021 at least seven prison massacres with some 400 dead inmates.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/ecuador- ... -0002.html

Heavy transport sector in Peru announces national strike

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In Lambayeque, taxi drivers, buses and vans announced that they will join the protest, as a result of the rise in fuel prices, the restructuring of the Superintendence of Land Transportation of People, Cargo and Goods (Sutran), among others. | Photo: PL
Published 17 July 2022

During the week, the regions of Arequipa, Cusco and Lambayeque confirmed their presence for the national strike.

The Association of Transporters of Peru (Asotrape) announced this Sunday the realization of an indefinite strike from next July 18 in protest at the crisis that the heavy load guild is going through in different regions of the country.

In this sense, the union representative, Javier Corrales, said that the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) modified the supreme decree that exempted fuel from the Selective Consumption Tax (ISC) until June, with an extension until December.

Corrales added that compliance with the strike is guaranteed by 80 percent of carriers in 24 of the 25 regions of the Andean nation, noting that truckers will block the highways with their vehicles.


According to the union leader, it is recommended that the population provide itself with food in the event of a possible shortage of agricultural products in the cities.

“We will be located on the side of the tracks. What will probably happen is food shortages because we will stop transporting the products to the markets,” said the leader of the National Guild of Carriers and Drivers (GNTC), Hugo Meléndez.

It is worth specifying that some transport unions indicated that they will only stop their work, but will not move to the tracks.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-sec ... -0018.html

Google Translator
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Jul 22, 2022 3:22 pm

Peruvian Prosecutor's Office Opens Investigation Against President Castillo

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The investigation will last 60 days in which the Public Ministry may summon Castillo and the head of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres. | Photo: The Republic
Published July 22, 2022 (7 hours 21 minutes ago)

The origin of the investigation occurs after the statements of the dismissed Minister of the Interior Mariano González, regarding an alleged personal cover-up by Castillo.

The prosecutor of the Nation of Peru, Patricia Benavides, began this Thursday a new investigation against President Pedro Castillo for the alleged crime against the Administration of Justice - Personal Concealment.

Local media indicate that it originates after the dismissal by Castillo of the Minister of the Interior, Mariano González; It will last 60 days, and as part of it, the president and the head of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres, will be summoned.

After which González accused the president of "interfering and obstructing justice", fundamentally after the formation of a special police team led by Harvey Colchado to find the fugitives from Castillo's close circle, whom he allegedly covered up.



Regarding these accusations, Torres avoided before the Oversight Commission, that the former Minister of the Interior did not comply with the emergency declaration in Lima, Callao and Trujillo, which was entrusted to him.

To which he added the lack of actions during his administration, and the fact that he manifested the non-existence of citizen insecurity, alluding that it was only a perception.

These accusations by González were taken advantage of by opposition congressmen who once again insisted on the need to promote the vacancy of the Peruvian head of state.


The legislator for Popular Renewal, Jorge Montoya, once again attacked the Executive and announced the presentation of a third presidential vacancy motion before the new Board of Directors of Congress; while he expressed that "the congressmen who vote against (the vacancy) will mean that they are in collusion with this corrupt government."

To approve this initiative, 87 votes from Congress are required, of which, according to estimates, they would not exceed 78. The vacancy motion against Pedro Castillo developed on March 28 ended with 55 votes in favor, 54 against and 19 abstentions.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/fiscalia ... -0001.html

Google Translator

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Negotiations underway in Panama as national mobilizations continue

The protest actions against the increase in cost of living have continued for three weeks as the government has failed to give any concrete solutions

July 19, 2022 by Peoples Dispatch

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Since July 1, tens of thousands of Panamanians have been mobilizing across the country protesting the high cost of living and demanding support from the national government to face the growing economic and social crisis. Photo: SUNTRACS/Twitter

After more than two weeks of mobilizations and strikes and several attempts by the national government to fragment the movement, the people of Panama continue their struggle to demand immediate solutions to the cost of living crisis. On July 19, the People United for Life Alliance announced that it would partake in dialogues mediated by the Catholic Church.

The organizations part of the Alliance which drafted the list of 32 demands for the national government and organized the series of national mobilizations that began on July 1, have in the meanwhile continued their nationwide protests. On July 18 and 19, thousands mobilized in cities and towns across Panama, maintaining road blockades and organizing pickets outside public institutions.

The announcement of a unitary dialogue mediated by the Catholic Church comes after a series of attempts by the government of President Laurentino Cortizo to create dialogue processes with select groups, which movements read as attempts to fragment the Alliance and people’s unity. It also comes after several incidents of police repression against protesters. The repression was vehemently condemned by the Alliance which affirmed that negotiations cannot take place amid repression of the people. The groups have vowed to remain in the streets until a satisfactory response to their demands is received.

Government drives division

On Sunday afternoon, government representatives including Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, José Gabriel Carrizo and the Governor of Veraguas Manuel Castillo Melamed had met with representatives of the National Alliance for the Rights of the Organized People (ANADEPO), one of the groupings that has participated in mobilizations over the past several weeks. In this meeting, an agreement was reached that the government would reduce the price of diesel and petrol from USD 3.95 to USD 3.25 per gallon, and ANADEPO would lift the blockades of main highways and roads. The document, however, also stated the price of fuel would be subject to variation in accordance with the change in the price in the international oil market.

The agreement received widespread condemnation. Saúl Méndez, general secretary of the Single Union of Construction Workers (SUNTRACS), Eduardo Gil, general secretary of the Trade Union Convergence Confederation (CS), Fernando Abrego, general secretary of the Association of Teachers of Panama (ASOPROF), among various other leaders, condemned the exclusion of representatives of the People United for Life Alliance from the dialogue process and deemed the agreement “unacceptable.”

Méndez fiercely criticized the government’s maneuver and the ANADEPO’s irresponsibility. “The government’s irresponsibility in the maneuver to choose those who signed the agreement and not all of those who have been fighting at the negotiation table is simply unacceptable,” said Méndez.

He said that those associated with the People United for Life Alliance would continue the protests, stressing that “the government must initiate a serious dialogue with the representatives of all the organizations that are carrying out the struggle and are still in the streets.” He added that “the people must radicalize their actions and stop this farce once and for all, pointing out that “the people are not in the streets only because of the price of fuel, but also because of (the price of) medicines, electricity, food, and to change this model of oppression that exploits the Panamanian people, this neoliberal economic model.”

Meanwhile, Abrego stated that ASOPROF also doesn’t recognize the agreement because “they were not discussed with the grassroots movements, with all the organizations that have fought hard throughout the national geography, nor with the people much less with the communities,” and also because they “did not contemplate the demand to allocate 6% of the GDP for education, nor stated how the general state budget for 2023 would look like.” He emphasized that “it is important to take part in all the actions of struggle planned for July 18,” adding that “without struggles, there are no victories.”

On the evening of July 17, thousands of citizens participated in cacerolazos called by the People United for Life Alliance, banging pots and pans, and blowing car horns across the country. In Santiago de Veraguas, under the banner of “people do not eat, nor heal their illnesses with fuel,” hundreds of people gathered on the Inter-American highway, intensifying its blockade, and danced in defense of their demands and right to a dignified life.


On July 18, the representatives of ANADEPO were supposed to meet with the representatives of the government and health ministries to discuss various measures to address the medicine shortage. However, the government representatives did not show up. ANADEPO representative Luis Sánchez described the absence of government officials from their dialogue table and their holding of other negotiation tables in various parts of the country as a “mockery.” He declared that “we are withdrawing from the process,” breaking the signed agreement and joined the call for a unitary negotiation process.

Justice for the poor

Since July 1, tens of thousands of workers, teachers, students, doctors, and members of social movements and Indigenous organizations have been mobilizing across Panama protesting the high cost of living and lack of support from the conservative government. The People United for Life Alliance has presented before the government a list of 32 demands that address the growing economic and social crisis in the country.

The demands include freezing the price of fuel and basic commodities, a general increase in salaries and pensions, freezing the price of medicine and resolving the lack of supply, greater budget for public education and healthcare sectors, better working conditions in the education and health sectors, repairing of schools, hospitals, roads, and other public infrastructure, measures to combat corruption, rejecting the four bilateral US-Panama military bases, policies to support the Indigenous communities and ensure the respect of their autonomy, withdrawal of the austerity measures such as 10% reduction of the state workforce and a voluntary retirement program for public sector employees, among others.

The Alliance hopes these demands will be taken seriously in the negotiations with the government representatives.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/19/ ... -continue/

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US Southern Command Worried About China, Russia, and RT in Latin America
JULY 19, 2022

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Commander of the US Southern Command, General Laura Richardson. Photo: RT

General Laura Richardson accused Moscow and Beijing of trying to “undermine democracies” in the region, and described the work of Russia Today (RT) in Spanish and Sputnik Mundo as “very concerning.”

The commander of the US Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, expressed her concern on Wednesday about the activities of China and Russia in Latin America, while emphasizing that it is a region “very rich in mineral resources,” such as rare earths and lithium. Her comments were made during an interview with the Spanish edition of Voice of America, the US state-owned international propaganda outlet.

“The lithium triangle is in this region,” said Richardson. “There are many things that this region has to offer.”

In this context, Richardson mentioned the Belt and Road Initiative promoted by Beijing, adding that “21 of the 31 countries” covered by the US Southern Command are registered in it.

She also highlighted that China invested more than $50 billion in the region during the last years, and expressed her concern that it “could even be close to $100 billion.”

Richardson expressed her opinion that China “is playing chess,” while Russia, which is also prevalent in the region, “is playing checkers.”

“I think they’re there to undermine the United States, they’re there to undermine democracies, and they all mean business,” said Richardson. “Whether they are playing chess or checkers, they are there to undermine democracy. And quite honestly, with all the disinformation and Russia Today Español, Sputnik Mundo, being there with over 30 million followers of Russia on social media—I mean this is very concerning.”

During her speech, Richardson also emphasized that “we have a lot of important elections coming up or just happened (sic), and we have to continue to stay engaged and concerned with this region.”

https://orinocotribune.com/us-southern- ... n-america/

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President Castillo presents the new Minister of the Interior in Peru

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Willy Huertas is a graduate of the Peruvian National Police and served as director of Catholic Church Affairs. | Photo: Andean
Published 20 July 2022

Huertas is the seventh Minister of the Interior within the mandate of Pedro Castillo.

The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, appointed Willy Arturo Huerta Olivas as the new Minister of the Interior on Tuesday, after accepting the resignation of Mariano Gonzáles, who only spent two weeks in the office.

"On behalf of the Government of the people, I appreciate the services provided to the Nation by Mr. Mariano González Fernández as Minister of the Interior," said the president.

Willy Huerta is the seventh official to take office since the inauguration of Pedro Castillo, who is about to complete a year in office.


The ministerial renewal ceremony took place at night in the Cáceres Hall of the Government Palace.

The current minister has a degree in Administration and Police Sciences, graduated from the Peruvian National Police (PNP) and since 2020 he has served as director of the Directorate of Catholic Church Affairs of the General Directorate of Justice and Religious Freedom of the Ministry of Justice and Rights. Humans.


The former minister was sworn in on July 4, but unexpectedly submitted his resignation to President Castillo on Tuesday.

Among his last functions was the arrest of collaborator Zamir Villverde, an operation for which he had to answer before Congress on July 14.

The main mission, not yet accomplished, of the ministers who have risen to the Peruvian cabinet is the capture of the former Minister of Transport and Communications Juan Silva, the former presidential secretary Bruno Pacheco and one of Castillo's nephews, Fry Vásquez, fugitives from justice .

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/presiden ... -0001.html

Panamanian indigenous people go on strike for the titling of their lands

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The indigenous community of Panama demands the prohibition of evictions to their lands and the power over them to cultivate on them and develop their economy. | Photo: The Star of Panama
Published July 20, 2022 (4 hours 15 minutes ago)

The protest has the support of 12 congresses and councils, as well as authorities from seven native peoples.

The National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (Coonapip) will begin a national strike this Wednesday to demand that the Government title their lands.

In order to isolate the territory, the roads of Alto Bayano, Ipetí Emberá, Pueblo Nuevo, Puerto Lara, Chepo, Puente Bayano, the Ngäbe Buglé Comarca will be obstructed. Madungandí, Wargandí and collective lands, as explained by the chief general of the Guna Yala people, Reginfo Navas.

"The strike and national closure will continue until the government, in a responsible manner, heeds the call of all the authorities who until now feel mocked and discriminated against by the lack of attention and response from the government," Coonapip warned.


The protest has the support of 12 congresses and councils, as well as authorities from seven native peoples.

The demonstration also demands an end to evictions by settlers and recognition of the development of the Madungandì and Emberá territories of Alto Bayano, already recognized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The Coonapip also confirmed the establishment of a dialogue table with the Executive power that will have the Catholic Church as a mediator, in order to find concrete solutions to the situation of the original peoples and the power over their lands.


Last week, this organization asked the Panamanian president, Laurentino Cortizo, to sit down for a dialogue on July 20 about the situation of the native peoples.

This country is in the midst of street protests that demand that the Government lower the cost of living, fuel, basic necessities and medicines.

This social impulse is summoning groups from all over the country, such as Coonapip, to demand new measures that allow local and economic development without obsolete restrictions or threats of violence.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/panameno ... -0010.html

Google Translator
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:15 pm

Mercosur Summit Takes Place in an Ambience of Conflict
JULY 24, 2022

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Uruguayan Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Bustillo (left) at the foreign ministers' meeting of Mercosur, in Asunción, Paraguay, on July 20, 2022. Photo: AFP.

Tensions within Mercosur continue ahead of the summit of the heads of state of the block in Asunción, capital of Paraguay. Members of the bloc have not yet been able to reach a consensus on several conflicting issues.

Tensions began after Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou’s announcement to start negotiations with China. Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez called the decision a blow to the organization, as the other member countries were not consulted. Paraguay currently holds the pro tempore presidency of the bloc.

Paraguayan sources confirmed that Mario Abdo Benítez’s speech would be tough. “What is happening is very clear,” they said. “Uruguay is violating the Treaty of Asunción and wanting to negotiate outside without the consensus of the bloc, and this is breaking the rules of Mercosur and bringing about a rupture.”

The problem for Paraguay is that it does not recognise China and has diplomatic relations with Taiwan. However, Paraguayan authorities make it clear that they are not against an agreement between Mercosur and China, but rather that China could pose a condition that they break off relations with Taiwan.

Argentina stresses that Uruguay’s decision to begin talks with China to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) without the participation of Mercosur is worrying because it breaks the few predictable conditions that the bloc offers.

While Brazilian President Bolsonaro is also making charges against Uruguay, Lacalle Pou is continuing with his agenda. “We have to think about the prosperity of our people. It will be with China and then it will be with other countries,” he stated.

It was in this conflictive context that the meeting of the heads of state of Mercosur took place. This gets added to the frictions surrounding the announcement of a treaty with Singapore and the lack of consensus on Volodymyr Zelensky’s virtual address that ended up being canceled due to lack of consensus. .

https://orinocotribune.com/mercosur-sum ... -conflict/

Brazil and Argentina: Why So Much Hatred for Lula and Cristina?
JULY 24, 2022

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Poster of a new Argentine TV mini-series on Evita Perón, which shows her cntinued popularity in Argentina. Photo: Bill Hackwell.

By Emir Sader – Jul 16, 2022

The bourgeoisie has no heroes, according to Brecht. They have no intention of creating heroes. They create the official history with their leaders, who reach governments without becoming heroes of the country.

Even worse, the bourgeoisie has to oppose heroes who confront them. For these they only have hatred, without having either their own heroes or projects and values that can win broad popular support.

In Latin America the bourgeoisie has the difficult task of confronting popular leadership that comes from broad roots. Perón and Getulio Vargas were a couple of them, whose ghosts continue to keep the Latin American bourgeoisie awake at night.

In common, they have not only the love of the people, but also the long list of defeats they have imposed on the bourgeoisie over time. And that by itself incurs upon them the hatred of the bourgeoisie.

Cristina Kirchner and Lula da Silva are the objects—at the same time—of the love of their peoples and the hatred of the bourgeoisies of their countries.

Cristina directly assumes the continuity of Perón. Being a woman makes her, at the same time, the continuity of the image of Evita, which multiplies the hatred of the bourgeoisie.

It is a hatred directed at the Argentine people, their rights, their ways of existence, their organizations, their values, their culture, their very existence. As the bourgeois elites considered themselves owners of the country before the people emerged on the political scene, they feel that their world is being invaded by foreign, non-white people, who were previously content to be subordinates, without rights, while the country revolved around them.

They feel that the country, of which they have always considered themselves owners, is being taken away from them.

The hatred for Lula, in turn, is hatred for the Brazilian people, for the Northeasterners, who have suddenly emerged in the political sphere, claim to be the majority, elect their leaders, and win their rights. People who are no longer resigned to simply working for the white elite, providing services to them, without claiming anything. People who, all of a sudden, elected a Northeasterner, an immigrant, who even lost a finger working in a factory, as president of Brazil. And as the best president Brazil has ever had.

The bourgeoisie then, through the right wing that represents it politically, tries to spread hatred as the central form of relationship with the dominated, the workers. While the relationship that the people have with Lula and Cristina is a relationship of love and respect.

One way of trying to disqualify the popular governments is to label them as “populist,” without defining precisely what that means. In economic terms, they would be governments that try to have wealth distribution policies, instead of prioritizing the balance of public accounts.

Yet, those who have unleashed uncontrolled inflation have been right-wing governments—Mauricio Macri, Bolsonaro, while the governments that have recovered the economies of those countries have been branded as populist: Néstor, Cristina Kirchner, Lula.

In political terms, populism would mean breaking with the policies of subordination to the interests of the United States, and prioritizing exchanges with Latin American countries and the global South in general.

Populist would be Lula’s international leadership, regional integration policies, exchanges with Chile, the BRICS.

In short, the hatred for popular leaders like Lula and Cristina, who represent popular interests, national interests, is a class hatred.

https://orinocotribune.com/brazil-and-a ... -cristina/

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Peruvian President calls for an end to confrontations in the country

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The Prosecutor's Office announced the beginning of the fourth preliminary investigation for alleged crimes by President Castillo. | Photo: Peru21
Published 23 July 2022

The Peruvian president affirmed that he will not interfere in the election of the new board of directors of Congress.

The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, called on Congress to stop, once and for all, the confrontation that is not good for the country, referring to the constant accusations against him by the opposition majority.

During a ceremony held in the northern city of Trujillo, the president emphasized that his detractors have not been able to find a single piece of evidence that incriminates him during the year he has been in office.

Likewise, he assured that he will respect the autonomy of the powers of the State and will not intervene in the election of the new board of directors of the Parliament that will take place on July 26 and already invited the next plan to "walk with us and see the needs the people, to get out of the screens and walk”.


The president also assured the democratic nature of his government, elected by popular will and respectful of the constitutional rights of all Peruvians.

However, this Friday the National Prosecutor's Office began the fourth preliminary investigation against the acting president, having repealed the suspension of such processes established by the former head of that portfolio, Zoraida Ávalos.


According to a report from the Congressional News Center, during the next Oversight and Comptroller Commission, an alleged family criminal organization of the Peruvian president should be investigated.

"We have the President of the Republic, the President's wife, the First Lady's sister, the President's father-in-law, the President's nephews and other people linked to his environment," denounced Congressman Héctor Ventura Ángel during the most recent session.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/presiden ... -0003.html

Google Translator

I'm thinkin' that Pres Castillo is in over his head, mebbe too far too fast for his experience. Regardless, Peru will regress if he is overthrown and short of completely selling out his only chance of survival, both political and personal, is to mobilize the masses, which would meet reaction. Are the people that much behind him, does he have the 'steel'?

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Dialogue in Panama Resumes Negotiations With Little Progress

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The parties agreed on eight priority issues for these discussions, among them the high prices of the basic family food basket, fuels, medicines and electric energy. Jul. 23, 2022. | Photo: Confidential Digital

Published 23 July 2022

The parties began the discussion on the cost of the basic food basket, one of the most critical points of the protests.

On its second day, the dialogue table between the Executive and the sectors leading the protests in Panama continued on Friday, July 22, discussing the cost of the basic food basket.

b]The groups propose a 30% reduction, while the Executive proposes 15%, as well as the inclusion of 17 more products in the price freeze scheme. This would increase the total list to 35 products.

There was also talk of the creation of a price freeze office to follow up on the issue.

Government representatives assured that, in any case, the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (Acodeco) would be responsible for monitoring these issues.


The Government's new proposal to include 17 regulated products to the basic family basket did not meet the expectations of some groups participating in the single dialogue table being held in Penonomé, province of Coclé.

Among the products that would be regulated are soybean oil, vegetable oil, canned fish preparations, wheat flour, bread and bakery products, creams, corn flakes, coffee and IMA brand sugar.

In addition, the following imported products would be included: toothpaste, toilet paper, bath soap, sanitary napkins, personal deodorant and bleach.

For the economist, Maribel Gordón, who participates in the dialogue, the proposal presented by the Government is far from the needs and vicissitudes of the Panamanian people.

Gordón explained that one million Panamanians go to bed without eating daily and added that presenting a basic food basket, which is not healthy, implies a projection of a sick people.

In the central province of Coclé, with the Catholic Church as facilitator, high authorities of the Executive, whose liaison with the Head of State is the Vice President of the country, José Gabriel Carrizo, are participating in the talks.

The parties agreed on eight priority issues for these discussions, among them the high prices of the basic family food basket, fuels, medicines and electric energy.

The talks took place in the midst of road closures and repressive actions by the National Police against demonstrators in the provinces of Veraguas and East Panama, which jeopardized the continuity of the negotiations.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Dia ... -0006.html

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THE "CONCERNS" OF THE SOUTHERN COMMAND ENTER THE ORBIT OF LITHIUM
Jul 23, 2022 , 12:10 p.m.

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The transition to "green energy" requires the extraction of so-called "white gold" so that the world order will be influenced by whoever controls the metal (Photo: Gaston Brito / Getty Images)

Army Southern Command Commander Gen. Laura Richardson told the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado that Americans often engage in East-West concerns, but that the South, meaning Latin America, "is our neighborhood." ".

He also said at the Sixth Concordia Summit of the Americas 2022, held in Miami a few days ago, that the region "is very rich in resources, rare minerals, lithium; the lithium triangle is in this region and there are many things that it has to offer." offer, we have to... be alert...".


His statements correspond to those issued before the Committee on Armed Services of the United States Senate last March ( PDF ), as well as the "concern" about the strategic and comprehensive alliances that exist between many of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and the China-Russia axis. The reiteration about the existing resources in some of the countries of the region that "contains 60% of the world's lithium and 31% of the world's fresh water" is not minor.

The document then makes a broad statement:

" The PRC's ambition to fundamentally overhaul the world order to serve its authoritarian goals and expand its global influence has unleashed a new era of strategic competition with the United States."

He then relates the presence of Chinese investments and companies to "military capabilities."


DISPUTE OVER "WHITE GOLD"

Also known as "the new oil" or "white gold", lithium is used to make ion batteries that power electric vehicles, smartphones and wearable devices, for which reason its demand has increased significantly in recent months.

Spot prices for lithium for batteries in China, where three-quarters of all battery manufacturing capacity is located, have risen more than 600% so far this year, from around $10,000 per metric ton. in January to 62 thousand in June, according to Benchmark Market Intelligence. Meanwhile, Citi Group has forecast that prices will continue to rise as a "structural shortage" of the metal persists, meaning there is not enough capacity in the industry to meet demand.

The International Energy Agency projects that the value of global lithium sales could increase 20-fold between 2020 and 2030, and that is putting huge pressure on the price of many electronics, including electric vehicles. Lithium is a critical component of the "green energy" transition plans of countries such as China, the European Union (EU), and the United States. Last year the sale of electric vehicles doubled, reaching 6.3 million units; by 2030 it is expected that 26.7 million will be sold.

The decline of the United States in the region is clear, even when it managed to reverse the so-called "progressive cycle" with aligned governments that sought to surround Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba for not being Washington's puppets. The US hegemony loses spaces in the economic, financial and commercial aspect, but also politically, in addition, the political decisions of the Biden administration to try to undermine Russia and China have sought to touch Latin America and the Caribbean, not without reason.

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Forecasts of committed mining production and primary demand for lithium in a "sustainable" scenario and one of "declared policies" (conventional) (Photo: File)

The global dispute is also about securing lithium supplies and, at the moment, China is winning it by a wide margin because:

*It is already the number one refiner of the processed white metal and the number one maker of batteries, according to energy consultancy BloombergNEF.
*It refines 60% of the world's lithium, controls 77% of global battery cell capacity and 60% of the world's battery component manufacturing, notes a recent report from Gavekal Research.
*Of the 200 battery megafactories projected until 2030, 148 are in China.
*Despite holding only 5.1 tonnes, or 7% of the world's proven lithium reserves, China is now the fourth largest producer. It also has the world's largest lithium mining company, Ganfeng Lithium Co, which owns the rights to the world's largest metal deposit in Sonora, Mexico.

TENSIONS AND FUTURE IN THE "LITHIUM TRIANGLE"

The border region of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, called the "lithium triangle", concentrates 68% of the world's reserves of the metal. According to studies , Bolivia has 30% of the world's lithium reserves, followed by Chile, with 21%, and Argentina, with 17% of the total, and its market shows how power relations have changed at the geopolitical level. in the last two decades, since the central economic powers of the 20th century (the United States, Germany, Japan, France) "are increasingly left behind and eclipsed in the face of the strong South Asian dynamism, especially that generated by China".

Chile has been the main exporter of lithium: in 2017 and 2018 it exported almost 10 times more than any other country in the world (1 thousand 642 million dollars), and between 2001 and 2017 50% and 65% of all lithium at the level global from Antofagasta, near the Atacama desert.

Argentina went from having a global market share of 1.18% of the market in 2002 to 19.54% in 2016, which has caused changes in its lithium geopolitics by positioning itself as the second largest exporter of the mineral.

For their part, the main industrial powers of Asia are the countries that registered the largest imports of lithium between 2017 and 2018, before the global pandemic:

*China: 723 million dollars.
*South Korea: 705 million dollars.
*Japan: 511 million dollars.
*Belgium: 240 million dollars.
*United States: 209 million dollars.

Three days before the coup against Evo Morales in 2019, Diálogo magazine , edited by the United States Southern Command , published an article entitled "Chinese companies will exploit Bolivian lithium" in the "Transnational Threats" section and, although the title suggests that the agreement had been signed recently, actually earlier that year.

The agreements with Bolivia strengthened the position of Beijing as the main controller of the world lithium market, and of Germany in its search for energy autonomy outside the influence of the United States.

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State lithium extraction complex in the Uyuni salt flat, Bolivia, in 2019. An enclave destined to produce the key mineral for China's electromotive industry (Photo: AFP)

Chinese companies such as TBEA Group and China Machinery Engineering reached an agreement with Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) while China's Tianqui Lithium Group, which operates in Argentina, was on track to also reach an agreement with YLB. Both Chinese investors and the Bolivian Lithium Company were experimenting with new ways to extract and share lithium profits. The current government of Luis Arce will open the first lithium plant next year on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world.

CHINA OR SOVEREIGNTIES? WHAT IS AMERICA'S "COMPETITOR"?

The nationalization policy of the Morales government in 2008, and the geographical complexity of the Salar de Uyuni, meant that transnational mining companies such as Eramet (France), FMC (United States) and Posco (South Korea) did not make alliances with Bolivia and chose for operating in Macri's Argentina.

Tesla and Pure Energy Minerals (Canada) both showed great interest in having a direct stake in Bolivian lithium, but were unable to reach an agreement with the government, as any lithium development had to be done with the national mining company (COMIBOL). ) and with YLB as joint partners. Hence the famous tweet by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla: "We will hit whoever we want! Deal with it."

The incident occurred when a user of the social network responded by referring to the overthrow of Evo Morales and assumed that the event occurred so that Elon Musk could benefit from Bolivian lithium.

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Elon Musk's tweet that was later deleted and described by the corporate press as "an act of sarcasm" (Photo: File)

Ganfeng Lithium recently announced plans to buy the Argentine company Lithea Inc., which has assets in salt lakes west of the city of Salta, in northern Argentina. Lithea's first production phase is expected to reach an annual capacity of 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate.

The Zijin Mining company, one of the largest copper and gold producers in China, acquired for 770 million dollars the entirety of the Canadian company Neo Lithium Corp., focused on the exploitation of lithium in Tres Quebradas, Argentine province of Catamarca, as well as Both companies indicated it in a statement in mid-October 2021.

According to Bloomberg , Argentina has the world's largest portfolio of lithium projects with an estimated 19 million metric tons of resources yet to be exploited, over which Chinese and US companies have been locked in bidding wars.

Argentina's government, with record debt levels of $370 billion, equal to six times its total debt to the IMF, desperately needs the money. Like the other corners of the "lithium triangle" it wants to ensure that its populations benefit from the growing fever. This is part of a broader trend of rising resource nationalism in the region that has global mining companies and their investors extremely concerned.

In April of this year, Mexico, with the ninth largest reserves on the planet, nationalized the lithium industry, although since then it has not expropriated any mining project. There is talk of creating an association of lithium-producing countries that would function similarly to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), whose creation in 1960 wrested much of the control over world oil prices from the so-called "Seven Sisters." American and European multinational oil companies.

Argentina has been signing cooperation agreements with both Bolivia and Chile. The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has also proposed a summit to "collect experiences" with these countries that could set the price of lithium in international markets in the future. The issue of property is differential, its exploitation in Chile is in private hands while in Bolivia it is state-owned and in Argentina the provinces have sovereignty over the resources of their territory. Another backbone issue is environmental damage and the intensive water consumption that lithium production entails.

The fact that the United States uses a spokeswoman from its military establishment to announce its position in the face of China's progress on the issue of resources such as lithium is not fortuitous. Especially since these countries aim for greater influence and control over this rapidly expanding market, as well as over mining, the source of numerous socio-environmental conflicts.

TOWARDS A "METAL NATO"?

Richardson attended the Concordia Summit of the Americas 2022, held in Miami, accompanied by the Colombian ambassador to the United States, Juan Carlos Pinzón, and the Venezuelan fugitive from justice and fake ambassador , Carlos Vecchio, declared about China and Russia:

" I think they are playing chess. Russia is also prevalent in this region and I think they are playing checkers. I think they are there to undermine the United States, they are there to undermine democracies and everyone is serious. Whether they are playing chess or checkers, they are there to undermine democracy. And honestly, with all the disinformation and Russia Today in Spanish, Sputnik Mundo, more than 30 million followers of Russia were on social media (sic). I mean this is very worrying..."

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Laura Richardson -here together with the fugitive from Venezuelan justice Carlos Vecchio- seeks, through threats, to stop greater influence and control of Latin American countries over the raw materials market (Photo: File)

Last June, Washington quietly signed a "mineral security partnership" ( MSP ) with the EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom ( a participant in the 2019 coup in Bolivia) to "guarantee that critical minerals are produced, processed and recycled in a manner that supports the ability of countries to derive the full benefit of the economic development of their geological endowments."

The State Department initiative, dubbed a "metal NATO" by Reuters itself , is described as a coalition of countries that are committed to "responsible critical mineral supply chains to support economic prosperity and climate goals."

Control over the common goods of nature, or natural resources, is key to global capitalism and the West knows that the world order will never be the same, which is why voices like Richardson's are trumpets of the same self-convened war that will not cease.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/la ... -del-litio

Google Translator
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Jul 29, 2022 4:18 pm

Panama: The structural causes of the social explosion
July 29, 2022 Olmedo Beluche

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March on July 12, which brought together various unions in protest against the high cost of fuel, food and medicines.

In the last 20 years, Panama has shown macroeconomic figures that the neoliberals love, in particular a sustained growth of the GDP based on private accumulation as a result of the reversion of the canal to Panamanian sovereignty.

But the numbers that make neoliberals happy hide the reality that this country, before the pandemia (2018), was already considered by the World Bank as one of the most unequal in Latin America and the world. According to the ECLAC, as of 2018, twenty percent of the population was below the poverty line, and 10% below the extreme poverty line. All this spurred on by a precariousness of employment that has been going on for 40 years, in which informality exceeded forty percent.

All of which got worse in 2020, due to the economic effects of the pandemia. Private sector wage earners, as of 2019, were 873,750 people, of whom only 30% kept their jobs in the midst of the pandemia; 37% were fired; and 33% (284 thousand) went into a legal limbo called “suspended contracts”. A high percentage of which were reactivated, to be immediately laid off in 2021.

Under these circumstances we can understand the degree of discontent of the Panamanian population with the inflation of the fuel, food and medicines’ prices.

Despite the fact that in Panama inflation does not reach extraordinary figures (like in Venezuela or Argentina), and in June 2022 it reached 5.2% compared to the previous year, this increase in prices drives families to despair given the job and salary insecurity.

The Chamber of Commerce demands that the government contain public spending, along layoffs and austerity. The government of Laurentino Cortizo, without admitting the high degree of corruption that corrodes it, has accepted part of the business sector argument and has decided to contain spending with a 10% reduction in the state payroll, which could mean the dismissal of up to 27,000 employees, which would add to the already serious employment crisis.

On the contrary, popular organizations, such as Polo Ciudadano, and the most advanced unions, have pointed out that the central problem of the public administration and the lack of resources necessary to cover social spending lies in the high tax evasion to which is added the policy of exonerations that are made to the main areas of the economy. The problem is not subsidies to the poor but subsidies to the rich.

The economist Juan Jované has estimated that tax evasion in Panama, in the decade from 2009 to 2019, totals about 46 billion dollars. This process of unpunished evasion has been growing from an average of 3,000 million dollars per year to reach 6 billion in 2019, where it is estimated to remain.

Add to this the policy of tax exemptions and you see a paradise for big business and hell for the working classes. What’s more, the reduction in fuels that is being demanded will become a subsidy for the monopolies that control their importation and distribution, without any control over excessive profits.

The historical task is: the construction of a popular and anti-neoliberal alternative political project. That is why the underlying debate is between two national projects:

1.on the one hand, what is proposed by business associations and traditional parties, who only talk about corruption without modifying the social and economic structure of the country, but to impose an austerity that the working class will pay for;

2.on the other hand, what the popular movement proposes are measures that solve the underlying structural problem, starting with a progressive tax reform in which those who earn the most pay more taxes and that tax evasion is ended and penalized, to begin with. Changing the economic model requires changing the oligarchic and corrupt political regime through a new Constituent Assembly.

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2022/ ... explosion/

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Dialogue Table in Panama Reaches Consensus on Fuel Price

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The parties involved in the talks are moving on to other topics of discussion, such as the reduction of medicine prices, included in the social organizations' demands. Jul. 27, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@TReporta

Published 27 July 2022

The parties agreed to apply for the fuel benefit nationwide and to all types of agricultural machinery.

A consensus has been reached between the government and social organizations on freezing the price per gallon of fuel at 3.25 dollars.

General Secretary of the Association of Teachers of the Republic of Panama (ASOPROF) Fernando Abrego said that every achievement reached the single dialogue table reflects the struggle in the streets for a better Panama.

According to the General Secretary, an agreement has been concluded on the fuel benefit to be applied nationwide and to all agricultural machinery, excluding the Executive's cars.

The social organizations also demanded that the Authority verify prices, subsidies, and storage conditions for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition.


At this time, the single dialogue table culminates with item 2 on the agenda, on the reduction and access to fuel, to move on to point three on the reduction and supply of medicines in CSSPanama and MINSAPma.




The Government will allocate about 200 million dollars in subsidies to offset the negative repercussions of soaring fuel prices in the international market, as per official information.

An initial negotiation between the Executive and the National Alliance for the Rights of the Organized People (ANADEPO) agreed upon the figure of 3.25 dollars per gallon a week earlier. Subsequently, after consultation with the bases, the group rejected this figure.

Now the parties involved in the talks are moving on to other issues for discussion, such as reducing medicine prices or allocating 6 percent of GDP to education. These are among the crucial points on the list of demands presented by social organizations.


Amid protests against the high cost of living, unemployment, and lack of attention to indigenous communities, among other issues, social organizations agreed to dialogue with the Government of Laurentino Cortizo in an attempt to halt the protests.

The United Peoples for Life Alliance, the Native Peoples Alliance and the National Alliance for the Rights of the Organized People (ANADEPO), with the Catholic Church of Panama as a mediator are discussing the people's demands with the Executive in a single dialogue table in the central province of Panama Coclé.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Dia ... -0017.html

Having the RC mediate might not be a good idea. How much loot has the Vatican stashed there?

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Ecuador: Dialogue Resumes Between Indigenous Movement and Gov.

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The targeting of subsidies marks the resumption of the dialogue between CONAIE and the Government. Jul. 27, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@VTVcanal8

Published 27 July 2022 (14 hours 54 minutes ago)

The dialogue is part of the agreements adopted for lifting the national strike that paralyzed the country last June.

The dialogue between the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the Government resumes this Wednesday, focusing on targeting subsidies.

This is the first of 10 roundtables and was inaugurated on July 13. The technical teams of the indigenous organizations and the Government only met twice. July 15 was the last one, and since then, the parties have taken a separate work week.

Recognizing there are achievements concerning the initial state of debts and asphyxiating crisis that unleashed the social protests, together with other neoliberal measures, CONAIE said that it is not enough since the big banks only accept to restructure or refinance credit operations.

"We will continue working so that the private banks fulfill their part to get thousands of Ecuadorian families out of the credit crisis," CONAIE said.


In Ecuador, 7 out of 10 households cannot cover the cost of the basic basket; today, the price control table began, seeking to agree on a mechanism that protects Ecuadorian families from the market's speculative phenomena and the market's power.

The follow-up of the agreements reached at the roundtable will be the responsibility of an observation team made up of delegates from CONAIE, the Council of Indigenous Evangelical Peoples and Organizations of Ecuador (FEINE), and the National Confederation of Peasant, Indigenous and Black Organizations (FENOCIN), representing the indigenous movement.

A term of 90 days is established for the dialogue to address the ten issues presented by the indigenous movements, to which the Executive has agreed. However, the Minister of Transportation and Public Works, Dario Herrera, said that for targeting subsidies, the "...necessary time" will be taken.

Ecuador experienced a three-week strike in June, during which the indigenous movement brought the country to a standstill amid intense state repression.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecu ... -0019.html

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Peruvian President in eye of another political storm

The Prosecutor’s office has opened a new investigation against President Pedro Castillo. At the same time, the far-right opposition has announced the presentation of a bill seeking reduction of votes necessary for presidential vacancy

July 28, 2022 by Peoples Dispatch

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The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office has opened a new investigation against President Pedro Castillo for the alleged crime against the administration of justice for personal concealment. Photo: Pedro Castillo/Twitter

Just one year since his swearing in, President Pedro Castillo is once again under public scrutiny. On July 21, the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office opened a new investigation against President Pedro Castillo for the alleged crime against the administration of justice for personal concealment. The investigation came a day after the former Interior Minister Mariano González accused the head of state of obstructing graft investigations of close allies.

González, who unexpectedly resigned on July 19 after serving in the position for two weeks, accused president Castillo of “interfering and obstructing justice”, fundamentally after the formation of a special police unit to track down and arrest allies of the president who are under criminal investigation. Presidential allies under investigation include a former transportation minister, a former presidential adviser, a nephew and Castillo’s sister-in-law.

On July 21, a Parliamentary Oversight Commission was also installed in light of the former minister’s accusations. González, who was summoned to testify before the commission, said that he resigned because the president questioned some of his decisions, without ordering him to reverse them, however, he said that he intended otherwise. He didn’t present evidence and insisted that Castillo should be impeached by the Congress.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Aníbal Torres, who also appeared before the commission along with the new Interior Minister Willy Huerta, ratified that González was reproached for non-compliance with the emergency declaration in Lima, Callao and Trujillo, a responsibility which was entrusted to him; the lack of actions during his administration; and the fact that he manifested the non-existence of citizen insecurity.

Huerta, for his part, assured that the police team created by González, which he considered virtually dissolved due to his dismissal, would be strengthened with greater logistical resources and with attention to other requirements of the Prosecutor’s Office.

Nevertheless, the far-right opposition, taking advantage of the new allegations, has called for the vacancy of the Peruvian head of state.

Legislator Jorge Montoya of the Popular Renewal party, once again attacking the president, announced the presentation of a third presidential vacancy motion before the new Board of Directors of Congress. He said that “the legislators who vote against (the vacancy) will mean that they are in collusion with this corrupt government.”

At the same time, the parliamentary bench of the Avanza País party announced that it would present a bill with the proposal of reducing the votes necessary for the presidential vacancy from 87 to 78 and thereby bring Castillo’s impeachment closer, which has failed twice before due to lack of sufficient votes.

The political struggle for Castillo, who completes one year in office today, July 28, seems endless. Since his inauguration, his government has been constantly attacked by the country’s far-right forces, which never accepted his electoral victory.

The right-wing oligarchy that controls private and public agencies in the country have been running smear campaigns in mainstream media against Castillo and his ministers. The far-right opposition-controlled Congress, taking advantage of these campaigns, has been regularly presenting impeachment motions against Castillo and his cabinet ministers. The country’s so-called independent judiciary has been supporting their baseless accusations unconstitutionally.

In the past year, Castillo has had five investigations opened against him, accusing him of allegedly having committed various crimes. He has also faced and survived two vacancy motions. He has been forced to reshuffle his cabinet three times, and has changed over two dozen ministers over disputes and disagreements with the Congress. During these months, the congress has impeached at least three ministers and has presented a motion of censure against over a dozen ministers.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/28/ ... cal-storm/

Castillo's only chance is to call out the masses and that ain't no guarantee.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Mon Aug 01, 2022 3:56 pm

Petro Aspires to Resume Peace Process with ELN in Cuba

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The president-elect of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said Friday that he aspires to resume peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Cuba. Jul. 30, 2022. | Photo: Twitter: @petrogustavo

Published 30 July 2022

The leader of Pacto Histórico emphasised that it will be up to the Cuban government to decide "if it wants to remain as host".

The president-elect of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said Friday that he aspires to resume peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Cuba after having had contact with the island's diplomatic staff in the country.

In this regard, Petro assured that he had met with the Cuban ambassador in Colombia, Javier Caamaño, and meanwhile, he pointed out that it will be the Antillean government who "will say if it wants to remain as host".

In this sense, the leader of Pacto Histórico expressed that "there is already a place that was used by Colombia in the Santos government in Havana, Cuba did not do so well because they turned it into an excuse for a diplomatic offensive against that country".


Similarly, the president-elect pointed out that the role of guarantor assumed at the time by the Norwegian government could be opened up to other nations that have expressed their interest in supporting the peace negotiations.

Accordingly, Petro stressed that "Spain has expressed its willingness to help the Colombian peace process, and now the Republic of Chile, and undoubtedly all of Latin America".

On this basis, he specified that "achieving success in substantially reducing violence in Colombia, which is increasingly complex today, is also an American success, in the sense that our violence is no longer exclusively national".

According to the Colombian leader, this is largely due to the fact that "drug trafficking has also become multinational, more powerful than before, with more capacity for destabilisation than before, with more geographical areas of control than before, with more deaths than before on both sides than before".

The peace negotiations held in 2016 in Havana crystallised with the signing between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces - People's Army (FARC) of the Agreement for the Definitive Termination of the Conflict.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Pet ... -0006.html

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Peruvian President will denounce a television program for false accusations

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Castillo "categorically" rejected the "false accusations" issued by the Panorama program, which indicated that he would have received 30 thousand soles. | Photo: Presidency
Published August 1, 2022 (5 hours 38 minutes ago)

"Exercising my right as a citizen and as President of the Republic, I will proceed to denounce the aforementioned journalistic production that spreads false news," said the president.

The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, declared this Sunday that he will file a complaint for false accusations against the local television program Panorama, which accused the president of receiving a "reward" of 30,000 soles (about 7,630 dollars).

The ruler wrote this Sunday night on his Twitter account: "I strongly reject the false accusations issued by the Panorama program, stating that he would have received a 'reward' of 30 thousand soles."

"In honor of journalistic truth, I demand a serious investigation to clarify this falsehood," said the Peruvian head of state.


He added that, "exercising my right as a citizen and as President of the Republic, I will proceed to denounce the indicated journalistic production that spreads false news, whose sole purpose is to deceive and manipulate the citizenry."


The Panorama program reported this Sunday that the former presidential secretary, Bruno Pacheco, who is in custody charged with alleged corruption, declared before the Public Ministry that President Castillo received illicit money at the Government Palace.

According to the story, Pacheco indicated that, in exchange for the appointment of Hugo Chávez Arévalo as head of Petroperú, he received 15,000 soles (about 3,815 dollars) as a bribe, while Castillo would have received 30,000 soles (7,630 dollars).

The Panorama program also reported that the former presidential secretary, who surrendered to justice last week, confessed that the president, since last October, received money in a briefcase from the former Minister of Transport and Communications, Juan Silva, as a result of bribes for works from his portfolio.

“Pacheco is in the first person and says that he himself attended Silva and that he himself coordinated his admission and that Silva gave that quota to Pedro Castillo. The records say that, in effect, Silva entered a working meeting with the president on October 18, 2021, and met with the president for five hours, ”said the Sunday.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-pre ... -0002.html

Google Translator

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Chile’s lithium provides profit to the billionaires but exhausts the land and the people
July 30, 2022 Vijay Prashad and Taroa Zúñiga Silva

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The Atacama salt flat in northern Chile, which stretches 1,200 square miles, is the largest source of lithium in the world. We are standing on a bluff, looking over la gran fosa, the great pit that sits at the southern end of the flat, which is shielded from public view. It is where the major Chilean corporations have set up shop to extract lithium and export it—largely unprocessed—into the global market. “Do you know whose son-in-law is the lithium king of Chile?” asks Loreto, who took us to the salt flat to view these white sands from a vantage point. His response is not so shocking; it is Julio Ponce Lerou, who is the largest stakeholder in the lithium mining company Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) and the former son-in-law of the late military dictator Augusto Pinochet (who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990).

SQM and Albemarle, the two major Chilean mining companies, dominate the Atacama salt flat. It is impossible to get a permit to visit the southern end of the flats, where the large corporations have set up their operations. The companies extract the lithium by pumping brine from beneath the salt flat and then letting it evaporate for months before carrying out the extraction. “SQM steals our water to extract lithium,” said the former president of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Atacameño, Ana Ramos, in 2018, according to Deutsche Welle. The concentrate left behind after evaporation is turned into lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are then exported, and form key raw materials used in the production of lithium-ion batteries. About a third of the world’s lithium comes from Chile. According to Goldman Sachs, “lithium is the new gasoline.”

What necessity does

Ownership over the salt flat is contested among the state, Chile’s Indigenous communities, and private entities. But, as one member of the Lickanantay community—the Indigenous people who call the Atacama salt flat their home—told us, most of the owners of the land do not live in the area any longer. Juan, who raises horses and whose family were herders, tells us that people “live off the rents from the land. They do not care what happens to the area.” However, Juan knows that these rents are minuscule. “What they pay us as they mine our land is practically a tip,” he says. “It is nothing compared to what they earn. But it is still a lot of money.” For most Lickanantay people, Juan says, “lithium is not an issue because although it is known to damage the environment, it is providing [us with] money.” “Necessity drives people to do a lot of things,” he adds.

The negative environmental impacts of mining lithium have been widely studied by scientists and observed by tourist guides in Chile. Angelo, a guide, tells us that he worries about the water supplies getting polluted due to mining activities and the impact it has on the Atacama Desert animals, including the pink flamingos. “Every once in a while, we see a dead pink flamingo,” he says. Cristina Inés Dorador, who participated in writing Chile’s new proposed constitution, is a scientist with a PhD in natural sciences who has published about the decline of the pink flamingo population in the salt flat. However, Dorador has also said that new technologies could be used to prevent the widespread negative environmental impact. Ingrid Garcés Millas, who has a PhD in earth sciences from the University of Zaragoza and is a researcher at the University of Antofagasta, pointed out that the currently used of lithium extraction has led to the deterioration of the “ways of life of [the] Andean peoples” in an article for Le Monde Diplomatique. An example she provided was that while the underground water supply is used by the lithium industry, the “communities are supplied [with water] by cistern trucks.”

According to a report by MiningWatch Canada and the Environmental Justice Atlas, “to produce one ton of lithium in the salt flats in Atacama (Chile), 2,000 tons of water are evaporated, causing significant harm to both the availability of water and the quality of underground fresh water reserves.”

Meanwhile, there is no pressing debate in the Atacama region over the extraction of lithium. Most people seem to have accepted that lithium mining is here to stay. Among the activists, there are disagreements over how to approach the question of lithium. More radical activists believe that lithium should not be extracted, while others debate about who should benefit from the wealth generated by the mining of lithium. Still others, such as Angelo and Loreto, believe that Chile’s willingness to export the unprocessed lithium denies the country the possibility of exploring the benefits that might come from processing the metal within the country.

Natural commons

Before the presidential election in Chile in November 2021, we went to see Giorgio Jackson, now one of the closest advisers to Chile’s President Gabriel Boric. He told us then that Chile’s new government would look at the possibility of the nationalization of key resources, such as copper and lithium. This no longer seems to be on the government’s agenda, despite the expectation that the high prices for copper and lithium would pay for the much-needed pension reforms and the modernization of the country’s infrastructure.

The idea of nationalization was floated around the constitutional convention but did not find its way into the text of the proposed constitution, which will be put to vote on September 4. Instead, the proposed constitution builds on Article 19 of the 1980 constitution, which provides for “the right to live in an environment free from contamination.” The new constitution is expected to lay out the natural commons under which the state “has a special duty of custody, in order to ensure the rights of nature and the interest of present and future generations.”

In the waning days of the government of former President Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s Mining Ministry awarded two companies—BYD Chile SpA and Servicios y Operaciones Mineras del Norte S.A.—extraction rights for 80,000 tons of lithium each for 20 years. An appeals court in Copiapó heard a petition from the governor of Copiapó, Miguel Vargas, and from various Indigenous communities. In January 2022, the court suspended the deal; that suspension was upheld in June by the Supreme Court. This does not imply that Chile will roll back the exploitation of lithium by the major corporations, but it does suggest that a new appetite is developing against the widespread exploitation of natural resources in the country.

Until 2016, Chile produced 37 percent of the global market share of lithium, making the country the world’s largest producer of the metal. When Chile’s government increased royalty rates on the miners, several of them curtailed production and some increased their stake in Argentina (SQM, for instance, entered a joint venture with Lithium Americas Corporation to work on a project in Argentina). Chile is behind Australia in terms of lithium production in the world market presently, falling from 37 percent in 2016 to 29 percent in 2019 (with an expectation that Chile’s share will fall further to 17 percent by 2030).

Juan’s observation that “necessity drives people to do a lot of things” captures the mood among the Atacameños. The needs of the people of the region seem to only come after the needs of the large corporations. Relatives of the old dictators accumulate wealth off of the land, while the owners of the land—out of necessity—sell their land for a propina, a tip.

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2022/ ... he-people/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:10 pm

Peruvian President describes the raid on the Government Palace as illegal

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Pedro Castillo denounced the conspiracy against him after learning of the arrest warrant against his sister-in-law and putative daughter Yenifer Paredes. | Photo: @DiarioUnoPeru
Published 10 August 2022

President Castillo Pedro Castillo assured that a sector of Congress, the Prosecutor's Office and part of the press are colluding to remove him.

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo described the raid on the Government Palace on Tuesday as illegal by a team from the Prosecutor's Office and police officers who were seeking to arrest his sister-in-law Yenifer Paredes for her alleged participation in a network of corruption and money laundering.

In a message to the Peruvian people, Pedro Castillo indicated that the raid on the government headquarters was illegal and assured that a sector of Congress, the Prosecutor's Office and part of the press are colluding to remove him.

"Those who today seek to break the constitutional and democratic order are the same ones who denounced a non-existent electoral fraud to ignore my election," added the Peruvian head of state.


Castillo denounced the conspiracy against him after learning of the arrest warrant against Yenifer Paredes, who is being investigated for allegedly offering a sanitation project in Cajamarca, the president's home region.


The search was carried out at the request of the prosecutor's office that requested the procedure in the "residential area of ​​the government palace," the Court of Justice said in a statement.

After almost four hours of searching, the agents left the presidential residence without finding Paredes.

Hours before the operation, the Police reported that José Medina, mayor of Anguía, a town in the province of Chota, linked to President Pedro Castillo, was arrested.

As part of the procedure requested by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the business brothers Hugo and Angie Espino were also arrested, allegedly linked to the same corruption network led by Yenifer Paredes.

President Castillo's sister-in-law, Yenifer Paredes, had already been summoned to testify before the Public Ministry and to appear before a control commission of the Peruvian Congress, in mid-July.


The prosecutor's office has opened five investigations against President Castillo himself for alleged corruption, another unprecedented situation against a president in the exercise of his functions.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/presiden ... -0001.html.

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Panamanian unions mobilize for breaches of agreements

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The social demonstrations in July in Panama have been considered the most intense in decades. | Photo: EFE
Published August 10, 2022 (6 hours 59 minutes ago)

The Alianza Pueblo Unidos por la Vida denounced that the business sector is reluctant to put into practice what was agreed at the dialogue table.

Panamanian social and union organizations will mobilize this Wednesday in various regions of the country to demand that the Government comply with the agreements reached at the dialogue table.

Representatives of the unions that make up the Alianza Pueblo Unidos por la Vida, indicated that the points on the freezing of the 72 products of the basic basket and the price of fuel at 3.25 dollars are being breached by businessmen and the Government.

From the Authentic Federation of Workers they indicated that businessmen have increased prices in supermarkets and denounced that the Government has not guaranteed compliance with that agreement.


Regarding the issue of fuel, they commented that many citizens have denounced that some gas stations do not want to take advantage of the new agreed fuel price, so they ask the government to implement the measure.

The United People for Life Alliance denounced that the business sector is reluctant to put into practice what was agreed at the dialogue table, pointing out that after the signing of the agreements, they were opened to free competition and demand.


The social groups, the Single Union of Workers and the Like (Suntracs) and the Veraguenses Association of Educators (AEVE) are calling for protests considering that the Government has breached the agreements reached at the single dialogue table in Penonomé.

And the Association of Teachers of Panama (Asoprof) announced that they will hold protests in each educational center and in the afternoon they will concentrate on the National Assembly.

The United People for Life Alliance is awaiting the resumption of the single dialogue table this Thursday, August 11, 2022 in Penonomé, with the issue of the Social Security Fund and the topic of corruption.

At the beginning of last July, the Panamanian public education teachers' union began a strike against the cost of living. These demonstrations were progressively joined by unions, other unions, indigenous organizations and civil society, making them the most intense in decades.


Initiated on July 21 in the province of Coclé, with the Catholic Church as a facilitator, the parties in conflict agreed on eight prioritized issues to put an end to the protests and mobilizations against the high cost of living.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/panama-g ... -0004.html

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Argentine justice condemns three ex-soldiers of the dictatorship

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The three former soldiers were investigated for illegal deprivation of liberty and homicides committed against 37 people, of whom eight were murdered. | Photo: www.eldestapeweb.com
Published 11 August 2022

The three ex-military members of the dictatorship were investigated for the murders of eight people committed between March and July 1976.

The Argentine justice sentenced former lieutenants Martín Eduardo Sánchez Zinny, Emilio Pedro Morello and Horacio Linari to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed during the last dictatorship in the South American country.

During the trial in the Federal Oral Court Number 2 of the city of Buenos Aires, illegal deprivation of liberty, torture and homicides committed between March and July 1976 against 37 people were investigated, of which eight were murdered or remain missing.

The convicted soldiers belonged to the Mercedes Infantry Regiment 6 (RIM 6).


The victims of the repressors were militants of the Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT), the Guevarista Youth and the Socialist Workers Party (PST).

Among the victims of the former soldiers was the teacher and militant Rocío Ángela Martínez Borbolla, mother of the journalists Bárbara and Camilo García.

Bárbara and Camilo García were crucial to the case because they were eyewitnesses to the kidnapping of their mother when they were minors.

The members of the left-wing organizations were the target of repressive actions by the military in order to dismantle the dissemination organs of the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP).

Both the prosecution and the complainants had asked the court to sentence the three former soldiers to life imprisonment, considering them co-authors criminally responsible for the crimes of aggravated homicide by treachery.


Relatives of the victims and complainants had held a vigil outside the courthouse that was accompanied by human rights organizations, political and social organizations while awaiting the court's ruling.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/argentin ... -0004.html

Pedro Castillo affirmed that he will not give up power in Peru

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The Peruvian president said that since the beginning of his Government, he has sought to maintain a dialogue with the Parliament controlled by the opposition. | Photo: @PedroCastilloTe
Published August 11, 2022 (8 hours 20 minutes ago)

The Peruvian president announced that in the face of Congress' refusal, from now on he will work hand in hand with the people and their social organizations.

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo affirmed on Wednesday that he will remain in the highest position in the country, despite pressure from Congress against him and investigations by the Prosecutor's Office for alleged acts of corruption.

“I am not going to disassociate myself from this people who have demanded justice for centuries,” said Pedro Castillo before leaders of the Central Única Nacional de Rondas Campesinas, traditional community security organizations, who visited him at the Government Palace and gave him their support in front of to opposing attempts.

The Peruvian president said that since the beginning of his Government, he has sought to maintain a dialogue with the Parliament controlled by the opposition and denounced that the legislative body has another agenda.


Given this situation, Castillo announced that from now on he will work hand in hand with the people and their organizations and social movements.

Regarding the legal proceedings against his sister-in-law Yenifer Paredes, which led to the raid on the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, Castillo assured that, although some sectors have "seriously hit" his family, they are not going to break it and his administration will continue working for a country "with equalities".

Pedro Castillo indicated that the actions against his sister-in-law "are part of the struggle, it is part of political life in Peru."

Castillo added that the presentation before the Justice of Paredes in compliance with a detention order for ten days, "strengthens" him.


The Peruvian president described as a media show the accusations and procedures of the Peruvian Prosecutor's Office against his sister-in-law and denounced that everything is part of the actions that seek to remove him from power.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-ped ... -0001.html

Peruvian ambassadors to the UN and OAS resign

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The ambassadors resign two days after the appointment of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Mackay as Foreign Minister of Peru | Photo: @CancilleriaPeru
Published August 11, 2022 (7 hours 19 minutes ago)

The resignations appear when Peru is about to host the next OAS General Assembly.

Peru's ambassadors to the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS) announced this Wednesday that they had resigned from their positions since August 7 due to discrepancies with the new policy and representation of their Foreign Ministry.

At first, Manuel Rodríguez Cuadros (UN) and Harold Forsyth (OAS) did not publicly express the reasons for their resignation, but the press leaked Rodríguez Cuadros' letter of resignation to President Castillo and Forsyth argued through his Twitter account .

"I have disagreements with some recent decisions, especially considering the holding of the next OAS General Assembly in Lima, a commitment that we Peruvians obtained by acclamation in November 2021," Forsyth wrote.


Subsequently, Rodríguez Cuadros tacitly confirmed his decision on the 7th on the same social network, without further explanation.

The former ambassador Rodríguez and former Foreign Minister between 2001 and 2006, had been a defender of the ratification of the Escazú treaty, rejected in July by the Congress of his country.


“There are already 29 environmental rights defenders murdered in the Amazon. This fact undermines the values ​​of any democratic society. The protection of defenders is a priority of Peru's diplomacy in the United Nations. It is essential to ratify the Escazú Agreement”, Rodríguez had said.

A short time ago, he also questioned the commercial and tourist decision to increase the load of daily visitors to Machu Picchu, calling it a violation of international provisions and being against the conservationist spirit.

The resignations coincided with the investiture of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Mackay as Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing César Landa, in a wave of changes imposed by Pedro Castillo in his cabinet.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/renuncia ... -0003.html

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"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:22 pm

Peruvian President denies the existence of evidence against him

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The Peruvian president said that those who accuse him without evidence are the ones who betray the country. | Photo: @presidenciaperu
Published August 12, 2022 (5 hours 35 minutes ago)

Pedro Castillo pointed out that despite the opposition's attacks and smear campaign, his government will continue to work for Peru.

The Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, again rejected the accusations of corruption against him on Thursday and denounced that opposition sectors linked to the right want to build evidence to incriminate him in order to provoke his resignation from office.

Castillo pointed out that despite the attacks and smear campaign by the opposition, his government will continue to work for the well-being of Peru.

“Those who accuse us are the ones who betray the country. They accuse us of so many things, without proof. They have not liked that we work with the people, with the teacher, the peasant”, affirmed the Peruvian head of state.


Pedro Castillo asserted that a sector of the opposition will continue "inventing and creating constitutional accusations" against him, but insisted that they will not "distract" him.


The Peruvian president offered these statements after the decision of the attorney general, Patricia Benavides, to open a new preliminary investigation for alleged acts of corruption was known.

This would be the sixth investigation by the Public Ministry against Castillo, despite the fact that the Constitution only allows accusing the acting president of treason against the fatherland and for preventing elections.


For Castillo, the investigations, which also affect his family, are part of a coup operation, presumably orchestrated by those who already tried to take power from him when he won at the polls in June 2021 through accusations of non-existent electoral fraud.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-ped ... -0005.html

Peruvian prosecutor opens sixth investigation against Pedro Castillo

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Castillo alludes to a conspiracy against him between Benavides, Congress and a sector of the Peruvian press. | Photo: @presidenciaperu
Published 12 August 2022

This is the third investigation opened by prosecutor Benavides against President Castillo in less than a month.

The Peruvian Prosecutor's Office announced on Thursday the start of a new preliminary investigation against President Pedro Castillo for alleged crime against public tranquility, in the form of criminal organization.

"The object of the investigation refers to the works awarded in the provinces of Chota-Cajamarca and Cajatambo-Lima," the Public Ministry published on its Twitter account.

Along with Castillo, the housing minister, Geiner Alvarado, and the mayor of Anguía, José Nenil Medina Guerrero, previously detained in Lima and identified as one of the president's political operators, are under investigation, according to local media.


The attorney general, Patricia Benavides, had declared a few hours earlier that her office was not involved in any political plan against the president.

Castillo denounced that while Congress presented a report to disqualify him, the Public Ministry put on a notorious show to raid his residence. "The collusion is evident," he assured, with the aim of destabilizing the democratic order in the nation.

However, the prosecutor emphasized the idea of ​​"prosecuting crime, whoever falls and regardless of whoever weighs it," after Castillo's words.


The public and mutual accusations include questioning Benavides for the decision to replace the supreme prosecutor Bersabeth Revilla, who was investigating Judge Emma Benavides, her sister, for alleged involvement in the release of drug traffickers between 2012 and 2015 in exchange for bribes.

Patricia Benavides is also credited with being linked to the dismissal of the former prosecutor of the nation, Pablo Sánchez, general coordinator of the case of the "white collars of the port", people dedicated to deciding the promotions of judges and prosecutors in the justice system, since lower the sentences of criminals.

This is the sixth investigation that the Prosecutor's Office has opened against Castillo in just over a year in the presidency and the third since Benavides took office at the beginning of last July.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/fiscalia ... -0006.html

"Lawfare": file under plausible deniability of imperialism.

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THE TESTIMONY OF AN ARGENTINE SPY THREATENS THE NARRATIVE OF THE AMIA ATTACK
Gareth Porter

12 Aug 2022 , 1:50 pm .

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A bomb exploded at the AMIA headquarters in Buenos Aires at 9:53 am on July 18, 1994 (Photo: Reuters)

We bring up this investigative work by the American historian and journalist Gareth Porter, regarding the kidnapping and theft of the B747 cargo plane of the Venezuelan airline Emtrasur at the Ezeiza International Airport, Argentina, together with the retention of the 19 crew members of the ship from on June 6, 2022. The main motive of the Argentine justice to manufacture the case is that of "terrorism", due to alleged "information" received by the Paraguayan government and the Department of Justice and the FBI.

The pilot of the plane is Iranian, as are four other crew members of the aircraft; it previously belonged to Mahan Air, an airline of the Islamic Republic subject to US "sanctions". In this way, a narrative has been built in which the AMIA cause resurfaces by retruce, since the suspicion has been fabricated that the Emtrasur crew members could belong to a terrorist scheme, a version initially cheered , within the River Plate country, by politicians from the macrista party Together for Change and the DAIA (Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations), refloating the unfounded fears of the unfortunate 1994 attack and its judicial consequences to install the anti-Iranian discourse in the public arena.

Porter, in this article, not only denies the version that Iran or some Iranian actor had something to do with the terrorist act in the center of Buenos Aires, but also highlights the American-Israeli influence in the case and exposes with names, actions and dates to the possible material and intellectual authors of the event, as well as the agents who covered up the details. All embedded in the security and intelligence services of the Argentine State and in the judiciary . The relationship between the AMIA case and the Emtrasur case, then, derives more rigorously in the ecosystem for theft and interference represented by the Argentine powers in charge of the current process.

For this reason, it is worth revisiting this research.

The bomb that exploded in the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) of the Jewish community in downtown Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994 was one of the worst terrorist attacks in the Western Hemisphere prior to September 11, 2001, killing 85 and wounding 300.

For more than a quarter of a century, the Israeli and US governments have blamed Iran for the carnage, citing Tehran's role as the world's largest promoter of terrorism as primary evidence.

This narrative remains part of the propaganda offensive against Iran, and has been exploited by the Donald Trump administration to justify an economic strangulation campaign aimed at either destabilizing the Islamic Republic or achieving regime change.

Shortly after the attack, the United States and Israel put strong pressure on the Argentine government to involve Iran. At the time, however, embassy officials in Buenos Aires were well aware that no concrete evidence existed to support such a conclusion.

In an August 1994 cable to the State Department, US Ambassador James Cheek boasted of the "stable campaign" the embassy was waging that "kept Iran where it belongs." In a startling comment to this writer in 2007, Cheek conceded: "There was never any real evidence to my knowledge" of Iranian responsibility.

Bill Brencick, the head of the embassy's political section from 1994 to 1997, also acknowledged in a 2007 interview that US innuendos about Iranian responsibility were based solely on a "wall of assumptions" that lacked "any concrete evidence that connect those presuppositions in the case.

Brencick recalled that he and other officials recognized "enough about a Jewish community [in Buenos Aires] and a history of anti-Semitism that local anti-Semites had to be considered suspect." But this line of investigation was never conducted at an official level, probably because it contradicted the interests of the US national security state, determined to blame Iran for the attack.

However, a dramatic situation threatened to upend the official US-Israeli narrative about the AMIA attack. In 2014, the public learned that a former Federal Police spy had infiltrated the Jewish community in Buenos Aires and revealed to two investigative journalists that he had been ordered to deliver plans of the AMIA building to his superior officer.

The spy was convinced that the plans of the building were used by those truly responsible for the attack. His shocking revelation sparked a series of articles in the Argentine press.

The account by the former infiltrator offered the first clear sign that anti-Semitic veterans of Argentina's dirty war and their allies in the police and intelligence service orchestrated the explosion.

But the Argentine legal system - still heavily influenced by the intelligence agency that conditioned the official investigation to blame Iran, and a prosecutor whose career had been based on that premise - stubbornly refused to investigate the ex-policeman's version.

INFILTRATION, TORTURE, ANTI-SEMITIC CONSPIRACIES

Former police infiltrator José Alberto Pérez believed that the plans of the AMIA building that he provided to the Federal Police were the ones used by those who planned the attack. He learned from his police counterterrorism training course that such plans could be valuable tools for planning these types of operations.

Pérez was also convinced that the bomb was detonated inside the building, rather than out front, and that it had been placed inside the AMIA headquarters through a gap between it and a neighboring building. Experts from the National Gendarmerie reached the same conclusion, and leaked it to Clarín , Argentina's largest tabloid, just two days after the attack.

Pérez also provided crucial evidence indicating that those who had employed him to spy on Jewish community leaders were motivated by the same anti-Semitic beliefs that led the military dictatorship to single out Jews for cruel treatment during the Dirty War in the 1990s. 70: his superior in the case, whom he only knew as "Laura", had given him the order to find out everything he could in the Jewish community about the so-called "Plan Andinia".

According to the alleged plan, Jewish immigrants and foreign Zionists secretly plotted to take control over the vast region of Patagonia in the south of the country and create a Jewish state called "Andinia".

The myth of the "Plan Andinia" stemmed from the rise of anti-Semitism as a major social force in Argentina during the 1930s and became an essential element of the anti-Semitic right-wing narrative during the height of the military's domination of society and politics. Argentina of the 60s, going through the "dirty war" against the left in the 70s.

At least 12 percent of those who were subjected to interrogation, torture and murder during the dirty war were Jews, according to an investigation by the Barcelona-based Solidarity Commission with the Relatives of the Disappeared , although they represent 1 percent of the population. Almost all of them were questioned about the "Plan Andinia."

The seasoned journalist Jacobo Timerman, the son of Jewish parents and whose newspaper offered critical coverage of the military regime's dirty war, was among those detained in the secret prisons of the junta.

In his memoirs, Timerman recalled how he was insistently demanded to reveal what he knew about "Plan Andinia" during extended interrogations and torture sessions. His interrogator refused to accept his answer that this was all pure fiction.

Meanwhile Israel, which maintained strong political and military ties with the junta throughout the dirty war, also remained silent on the detention of Jewish journalists throughout the war.

"IOSI" GOES TO THE PRESS
For his part, José Alberto Pérez, ruined by the guilt of having made the AMIA terrorist attack possible, became an integral part of the Jewish community, studying Hebrew for three years, marrying a Jewish woman who was the secretary of an official from the Israeli embassy and even assuming the Jewish version of his name, José. In the Jewish community he was known as "Iosi" Pérez.

As he fell into despair, Iosi contacted investigative journalists Miriam Lewin and Horacio Lutzy for help. Both journalists had tried, for three years, to obtain foreign support that would grant the former spy asylum outside the country, without success.

Meanwhile, Iosi had secretly recorded a video with the prominent journalist Gabriel Levinas, where he recounted his work penetrating the Jewish community and the unusual request for the plans. Levinas posted a video online in early July 2014, just before the release of the second edition of his own book on the AMIA bombing, which now incorporated Iosi's story.


The release of that video prompted Lewin and Lutzky to arrange for Iosi to join Argentina's Protected Witness Program. The two journalists also urged prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had spent a decade accusing Iran of the attacks, to meet with Iosi in person.

But according to Lewin, Nisman would only agree to talk to Iosi by phone. The prosecutor insisted on bringing three of his employees to interview Iosi in person, he recalled in an interview with The Grayzone , then signed a statement about that July 2014 meeting as if he had been present, and "showed no interest in cross-examining him." new". According to Lewin, Iosi entered the Protected Witness Program on the same day as the interview.

"Laura", the senior officer on the case, who by that time had retired, was relieved of the security ministry's usual confidentiality demands on Iosi's work. But she rejected her testimony, according to Lewin, claiming that her reports were considered "poor." Her allegations contrasted sharply with the very reports prosecutors obtained that clearly showed that her findings had been rated "excellent" year after year.

Lewin told The Grayzone that she was sure Iosi may have been able to offer "strong information about the local connection to the bombing," but none of the four prosecutors who inherited the AMIA cold case after Nisman's death they were willing to continue following the clues he offered.

Lewin noted that several high-level Federal Police officers who may have been involved in the decisions to infiltrate the Jewish community and request the plans for the AMIA headquarters remained active in 2015. This fact helps explain why. the case was allowed to die, despite Iosi's explosive revelations.

THE SIDE COVERS THE BACK OF THE BOARD

Another essential factor in the corruption of the AMIA investigation was the role played by the state intelligence agency, known as SIDE, in influencing the main investigator, Judge José Galeano. Not only was there a special unit within the SIDE tasked with overseeing the Galeano investigation, but another agency unit operated directly within Galeano's own office, as journalist Sergio Kiernan reported .

The SIDE proceeded to exploit their power to distract from the logical suspects within the junta, closing ranks to protect their own people.

As Sergio Moreno and Laura Termine reported for the newspaper La Prensa on November 28, 1994, the SIDE unit that handled the AMIA investigation was famous for its hatred of Jews. The group was made up of dirty war veterans known as the "Grupo Cabildo," its name inspired by an anti-Semitic magazine published in the early 1980s that had republished a pamphlet detailing the "Plan Andinia" conspiracy.

The head of the Cabildo Group unsuccessfully sued Moreno and Termine for labeling their unit anti-Semitic. Following complaints from Jewish community leaders about the group's role in the AMIA investigation, he was removed from the case; but not before diverting the public's attention away from the leaders of the dirty war and towards the alleged Iranian conspiracy.

SIDE's public relations strategy hinged on the theory that the AMIA bombing came from a suicide car bomb, thus raising suspicions about Iran and its ally, Hezbollah.

Intelligence services alleged that a white commercial van had been used in the attack. Its engine was allegedly found inside the rubble on April 25, a week after the explosion.

The engine's serial number was traced back to Carlos Alberto Telleldin, a Shiite owner of a shady salvage yard operation that rebuilt damaged cars for sale. Telleldín was accused of being an accomplice in the terrorist plot and imprisoned on other charges.

But the official files of the AMIA case revealed that Telleldín had been targeted before the attack. This surprising fact was detected by a "private investigator" hired by Memoria Activa, the organization of the victims of the AMIA.

According to a detailed analysis of the official evidence by Alberto L. Zuppi, a request was issued by the Federal Police to tap Telleldín's phone on April 25, at least five days before the alleged discovery of the engine that led the investigators. to blame Telleldín.

In the weeks following the attack, more evidence emerged pointing to Telleldín's role as a scapegoat.

In September 1994, five Lebanese nationals were arrested trying to cross from Argentina to Paraguay. Through a series of leaks, the SIDE planted stories in the media suggesting that the suspects were associated with a terrorist network.

The following month, a part-time SIDE agent and former head of a prison camp infamous for torturing suspects during the dirty war, Captain Héctor Pedro Verguez, began visiting Telleldín in prison.

In four meetings between September 1994 and January 1995, Vergez offered the jailed suspect $1 million and his freedom if he identified two of the Lebanese who were arrested in Paraguay for buying the van from him, thereby making it possible to charge them. of the attack. But Telleldín refused to lie, and the SIDE plan was derailed.

It was not long, however, before the SIDE and Galeano began their new plan to implicate two policemen from the province of Buenos Aires as those responsible for the attack, sponsored by Iran.

USING BRIBERY, MOSSAD INFORMATION AND MEK SOURCES TO BLAME IRAN

In July 1996, Juan José Galeano visited Carlos Telleldín in person in prison and offered him $400,000 to frame the two police officers. The scandalous scene was recorded in a video that was shown on Argentine television in 1997.

The SIDE was actively involved in the cover-up of the operation, with the agency's director, Hugo Anzorreguy, approving a direct payment to Telleldín's wife.

The case against the two provincial police officers was dismissed in 2004, but Galeano and Anzorreguy went unpunished for another 15 years. It was not until 2019 that they were sentenced to prison time for their role in the affair, underlining the culture of impunity that surrounded the SIDE.

When the Galeano case collapsed, Alberto Nisman attempted a new narrative, this time blaming Iran for the attack. For this, he depended on information provided by the Mossad to Jaime Stiuso, a SIDE official in charge of counterintelligence tasks.

Nisman's indictment of seven Iranian officials in 2006 for the terror plot rested entirely on accusations by high-level members of the Israeli- and Saudi-funded exile cult Muahedin-E-Khalq (the MEK).

Not only were members of the MEK in a position to offer reliable information about an alleged high-level Iranian plot because they had been actively involved in a terrorist campaign against the Islamic government by collaborating with then-President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, selecting targets in Iran .

Nisman's reliance on such unscrupulous sources demonstrated his apparent determination to jump to predetermined conclusions about Iran's guilt. It was hardly a surprise, at the time, that Nisman ignored Iosi's revealing testimony.

Nisman's other main source, Jaime Stiuso of SIDE, was a notorious manipulator who had spent years gathering recordings of Argentine politicians. In 2014, the intelligence chief was building a case against President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for allegedly conspiring with Iran to suppress the country's official allegation of Iranian responsibility. Few observers believed that the accusation could be sustained after reviewing it in detail.

In January 2015, Nisman was found dead in his apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. Although Kirchner's opponents were convinced that the prosecutor's death was the result of a government-sponsored plot, a recent documentary detailing the various investigations into his death, Nisman: The Prosecutor, the President, and the Spy , concluded that committed suicide

At the time of his death, Nisman was directly collaborating in a disinformation campaign that allowed SIDE to cover up the shadow figures of Argentina's violently anti-Semitic past, and to bury his likely role in the AMIA bombing.

Iosi's testimony should have ended the secrecy of the case, but Nisman, the SIDE, and the Federal Police conspired to suppress a serious investigation.

A quarter of a century after the attack, the impunity of the real AMIA terrorists continues.

https://misionverdad.com/traducciones/e ... do-la-amia

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Thu Aug 18, 2022 2:23 pm

Argentine labor unions will mobilize against speculation

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The conveners of the mobilization marched under the slogan First the Homeland, to condemn the effects of speculation. | Photo: EFE
Published 17 August 2022

Social and worker organizations will also mobilize to denounce the sectors that seek to destabilize the country's government.

Union, social and popular organizations of Argentina will mobilize this Wednesday in the country's capital to the Congress headquarters to denounce the speculation and the inflationary process promoted by groups opposed to the Government of Alberto Fernández.

The General Confederation of Workers (CGT) in the company of the Confederation of Workers of Argentina (CTA) and the social movements closest to the Government called for the mobilization from Avenida de Mayo and 9 de Julio until reaching the Congress headquarters.


The conveners of the mobilization marched under the slogan First the Homeland, to condemn the effects of speculation on the purchasing power and life of citizens.


In addition to marching against the price setters, the protesters will also mobilize to denounce the sectors that seek to destabilize the Government by promoting a devaluation that would generate millions of poor people and the country is not in a position to support it.

According to the communiqués of the organizers of the mobilization, they will advocate for salary improvements to face the high costs of basic products.


The Trade Union Front for the National Model and the Federal Current indicated that they will denounce those who harm the Government with market blows and wage earners with excessive increases.


Last week, the National Institute of Statistics and Census reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Argentina increased 7.4 percent in July compared to the previous month and 71 points year-on-year.

According to said organization, during the first seven months of 2022 the IPC accumulated a rise of 46.2 percent and the reported data indicates the existence of the highest inflation since 2002.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/argentin ... -0005.html

Peruvian President holds meetings with social movements

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The miners support Castillo and demand the formalization of their artisan work. | Photo: @PedroCastilloTe
Published 17 August 2022

President Castillo denies any charges of corruption against him and asks for the support of social organizations against attacks against him.

The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, met on Tuesday at the Government Palace with thousands of mining workers and union representatives from the Port of Callao to attend to their emergencies and gather popular support against the vacancy process being processed by Congress in its against.

Representatives of the National Confederation of Small Mining and Artisanal Mining of Peru (Confemin Peru) presented demands to the president for the legalization of their activity and the new regulations required by the artisanal practice.

President Castillo's response was to recognize that "there are decrees and regulations that are harmful to our fellow workers and must be corrected." For this, he pointed out, they will set up a technical table with the aim of dealing with such matters.


“We have the political will to address their neglected needs. The formalization of mining is very good for the country, the mining entrepreneur, the worker and their families”, said Castillo from the Courtyard of Honor of the Palace.

Some 300 leaders from different social bases of Callao also arrived there, including representatives of health unions, youth movements of artisanal fishing and neighborhood associations.


Before them, he announced that in less than 10 days they will hold a Decentralized Council of Ministers in that region to discuss the most pressing issues.

Both groups reaffirmed their support for the president for his permanence in power, despite opposition attempts to charge him with alleged corruption.

“More than a year has passed and there is no proof of anything, but stories continue to be created against me and the government. I confirm that I have not taken a single sun from the country,” insisted Castillo.

For its part, the Congress of Peru agreed to “invite” the President of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres, before the plenary session, so that he renders accounts “on his statements in which he invoked social organizations to take violent actions,” referring to the call to massive march to Lima, the capital, in defense of the president and the constitutional order.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/presiden ... -0007.html

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Boric, the promise to re-found Carabineros and the support that ended up being carte blanche for police violence
Originally published: Pressenza on August 16, 2022 by Ximena Soza (more by Pressenza) (Posted Aug 17, 2022)

The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, during his campaign promised to reform the country’s uniformed police. This promise was well received by the citizenry, as a response to the discrediting of the institution, not only the historical one, due to its role during the military dictatorship, but also the recent one, derived from the multiple cases of corruption and embezzlement in which it was involved, along with its performance during the social outburst in 2019 that left dead, maimed and seriously injured. The performance of Carabineros de Chile, continues to be questioned as from 2019 until today, there continue to be allegations of violations of Human Rights and international protocols for medical assistance to people in adverse situations. During the demonstrations that are still taking place, they persecute both demonstrators, including minors, and health volunteers who assist victims of repression during the days of protest.

During the afternoon of Friday 12 August, a dozen health brigades that work voluntarily in the “ground zero” of Santiago and its surroundings gathered at a press point to denounce the police persecution of which they are victims on a weekly basis. The brigadistas denounced that they are constantly gassed with pepper spray and tear gas, doused with water from the water cannon, sometimes with chemicals, beaten, persecuted and even arrested, just for the fact of providing health care. The statements opened with the words: “We, the Health Brigades present here, are gathered to denounce and repudiate the acts of violence and persecution of which we have been and continue to be victims on the part of the repressive forces of the Chilean state. From the beginning of the outbreak and in virtue of the serious violations of human rights that began to become evident, we voluntarily convened ourselves and with precarious resources we began to serve demonstrators and passers-by who were attacked and injured in various ways”.

The Dignity Brigade, one of the brigades present, indicated: “During these almost three years we have assisted demonstrators who have suffered from burns from the chemicals of the water cannon to the physical and psychological ravages of eye trauma. We have been part of the rescue of Antony, a young man who was thrown into the Mapocho River by carabineros, and the care of Denisse Cortez, who for a long time was obstructed by the police, as well as Francisca Sandoval, the murdered journalist, before her transfer to hospital”. The emblematic cases that this brigade mentions, cases of life or death, as well as cases that are unfortunately daily occurrences, are a demonstration that health teams are agents of protection for people who use their legitimate right to protest, mitigating for them the ravages left by the brutal repression perpetrated by Carabineros de Chile.

The Dignity Brigade, which is the only one with a permanent health point, has previously denounced the invasion of their place of care, the arrival of police surrounding the place and even an intentionality fire in March 2020 (Pressenza, 2020), when while providing care to three patients, the police threw tear gas bombs directly into the tent that housed them causing the fire to start and spread. The Resistance Brigade referred to the Geneva Treaty, which specifies that medical facilities cannot be attacked with any weapons, including but not limited to chemicals or explosives, nor can they suffer destruction of their property, and that access to healthcare cannot be restricted.

Brigade Rescue B denounced: “Today, once again, the crude repression is present–today we are being prosecuted and punished for holding a helmet with a cross and a shield”, referring to the uniform they wear, which with the red cross shows that they provide emergency medical care. Despite the aforementioned international protocol that guarantees the protection of those who provide assistance to victims of violence, this brigade’s reflection is accurate. One may ask, what are the police after when they persecute the health brigades? They are after those who guarantee, within their means, the integrity of the demonstrators, interposing themselves between the violence that the state perpetuates through its institutions and the target of this violence.

After the change of government, repression has increased again, with the level of trauma and injuries to demonstrators and attacks on health teams increasing week by week. The Newen Mapuche Brigade agrees: “the harassment and aggressions suffered are on the increase”. During the government of Sebastián Piñera, several representatives of Boric’s government, including members of the current cabinet, publicly expressed their solidarity with the Health Brigades while they were in the opposition. Today in their new positions they have supported the police forces and have made no mention of the human rights violations that continue to be carried out in Plaza Dignidad and other places.

The support that Boric and his cabinet have given to the police has legitimised their actions and allowed the institution to continue with its usual procedures. Without going any further, today, after the brigadistas’ press point was over, the police were seen throwing water and gas at them, pushing and hitting them, so that several of them had to be attended to by other health volunteers, who reported a large number of traumas caused by blows from the carabineros. According to the aforementioned Geneva Treaty, governments have an obligation to prosecute those who violate international treaties.

The brigades concluded by demanding that all these issues be given real attention by the different competent institutions, that the right to social protest, life, and the integrity of demonstrators and volunteers be respected, also indicating that their commitment will not be intimidated, stressing:

As long as there is someone fighting in the streets, we will continue as health brigades to offer our committed and supportive attention.

https://mronline.org/2022/08/17/boric-t ... -violence/
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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Sat Aug 27, 2022 2:04 pm

Sister-in-law of Peruvian president faces possible jail sentence

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The case known as "The cashier and the sister-in-law" or "Anguía case" is promoted by the Public Ministry. | Photo: Peru Congress
Published 25 August 2022

Judge Johnny Gómez Balboa, who will be in charge of the final hearing, specified that a "reasonable period" will be taken.

The Third Preparatory Investigation Court of the Judicial Power of Peru will issue this Friday its ruling on the request of the National Prosecutor's Office to impose 36 months in prison on Yenifer Paredes, sister-in-law of President Pedro Castillo, and the mayor of Anguía, José Nenil Medina .

Judge Johnny Gómez Balboa, who will be in charge of the final hearing, specified that a "reasonable time" will be taken in order to process the extensive request after receiving the arguments of the prosecutor Jorge García Juárez and the defense team of lawyers.

According to the prosecutor of the Special Team against Corruption of Power, both Paredes and Medina are responsible for the crimes of criminal organization, money laundering and aggravated collusion.


In this sense, the official from the Public Ministry specified that the alleged crimes are of a serious nature, for which the sanctions each exceed four years of imprisonment.

For his part, the mayor of Anguía emphasized that “I do not have a police record, much less a criminal record, we have carried out successful management in my district. I am always going to submit to all the investigations that the Public Ministry can carry out.”


Similarly, Medina described his arrest as arbitrary, as well as the fact that he went from being a witness to being investigated while stressing that "I am not a cashier, much less anyone's operator."

The case known as "The cashier and the sister-in-law" or "Anguía case" is promoted by the Public Ministry, and maintains as a basis that the leader of the criminal organization is President Castillo y Paredes as the main "lobbyist".

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/audienci ... -0008.html

Argentine President affirms that Cristina did not commit any crime

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Alberto Fernández lamented the state of his country's judicial system and called the process against the vice president legal nonsense. | Photo: Telam
Published 25 August 2022

President Alberto Fernández recalled that he denounced the case against the vice president from the beginning because it is legally untenable.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández assured on Wednesday that Vice President Cristina Fernández did not commit any crime, after the Prosecutor's Office will request a 12-year prison sentence against him for alleged irregularities during his term.

In a television interview, the Argentine president affirmed that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner did not commit any of the crimes attributed to her.

During the interview, Alberto Fernández lamented the state of his country's judicial system and called the process against the vice president legal nonsense.


Alberto Fernández pointed out that the case against CFK lacks evidence and is based on the premise that she, as president, could not not have known what was happening, she pointed out.

“In this case, Cristina Fernández has nothing to do with it, I have no doubt. Who is going to want to be president in Argentina if she is going to have to take responsibility for everything that happens under her government? ", She added.


Alberto Fernández recalled that he denounced the case against the vice president from the beginning because it is legally untenable.

The Argentine president accused the country's major media of promoting media condemnation and disseminating the possibility of a pardon, when the deputy president herself is against this procedure.

We are not united by the search for impunity, but for justice. This fact has already been tried and dismissed in Santa Cruz, commented the head of state.


The Argentine vice president is accused of alleged illicit association and fraudulent administration of public funds, due to alleged irregularities in the concession of 51 public works during her term and that of her husband, the late Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), in the province of Santa Cross.

Earlier this week, the Argentine prosecutor, Diego Luciani, in addition to the request for 12 years in prison, requested that Cristina Fernández be permanently disqualified from holding public office.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/presiden ... -0003.html

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Peronists Are Mobilized in Support of VP Fernandez-Kirchner

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Citizens express their support for Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner outside her residence, Buenos Aires, Aug. 25, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @alefilippini

Published 26 August 2022

“We are going to be in the streets... We are going to defend democracy and the popular will," said Senator Mariano Recalde.

On Thursday, the Justicialist Party (PJ) held an open town hall meeting in Buenos Aires to express its support for Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner, for whom prosecutor Diego Luciani requested 12 years in prison in a case of alleged corruption.

“We are going to continue to mobilize, we are going to be in the streets... We are going to defend democracy and the popular will," said Senator Mariano Recalde, the president of the Buenos Aires Justicialist Party.

"Despite the difficult moment we are experiencing, we are happy at this meeting because this shows our unity. Cristina unites us not only because of the 12 happy years we have lived but also because she is our future. We are united because what is at stake is Peronism."

"They have declared war on us and today we are starting to work to win it at the polls," Recalde stressed.


The tweet reads, "Gentlemen, it backfired on you. You woke up the lion you wanted to continue to put to sleep for your own benefit. Now, more than ever, Cristina for the presidency in 2023."

Meanwhile, the Lower House was the scene of a political spectacle organized by the right-wing opposition parties, which are aligned with the neoliberal project that former President Mauricio Macri promoted between 2015 and 2019.

The "Together for Change" coalition filed an impeachment request to remove Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez, whom they accuse of threatening the judiciary and prosecutor Diego Luciani.

"We believe that the President is trying to intimidate, threaten, and violate the work of a branch that should be independent," the head of the conservative caucus Cristian Ritondo said, announcing the filing of criminal charges against Fernandez for "instigation to suicide."

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Per ... -0007.html
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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:20 pm

Foreign Minister of Argentina Exposes US Role Behind Political Persecution of Cristina Fernández
AUGUST 27, 2022

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Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in her Senate office, presenting her statement on the latest lawfare against her. Photo: cfkargentina.com.

On Friday, August 26, Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Santiago Cafiero stated that the judicial persecution against Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) is directed from the United States (US), with the support of some other countries in the region such as Brazil.

“One more ignorant than the other. But there is something for everyone to see: the judicial persecution of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is driven by ideological interests that originate outside Argentina. Let us take care of our democracy. Everybody with Cristina,” the Argentine minister wrote on Twitter.

Cafiero added images of some posts by US Senator Ted Cruz and Eduardo Bolsonaro, politician and son of the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, that reveal the US role behind the lawfare against the Argentine leader.


Recently Ted Cruz accused CFK of “convulsing Argentine institutions and undermining US interests in this country and the region.”

Cruz’s Twitter posts also include a letter that he sent directly to the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, asking him for sanctions not only against Fernández but also against her entire family, for alleged acts of corruption.

Eduardo Bolsonaro shared Cruz’s statements on Twitter and expressed his support for him.

March in support of CFK to be held on October 17
The ruling coalition of Argentina, Frente de Todos, announced that it will hold a massive march on October 17 to show its support for CFK and against judicial persecution.

“We are going to march in support of Cristina because we are against political persecution,” said Frente de Todos Deputy Tanya Bertoldi.

On Monday, August 22, two attorneys sentenced the Argentine vice president to 12 years of imprisonment and political disqualification for life, for her alleged participation in corruption in a case dubbed “Causa Vialidad.”

The trial is for alleged corruption in public works of road construction in the province of Santa Cruz between 2003 and 2015.

After the announcement of the sentence, Fernández made a public statement through her social media accounts, in which she denounced the lawfare against her and criticized the court for having denied her the right to expand her statement in the indictment.

She denounced a wide-ranging political and media campaign against her, in addition to the judicial persecution.

She also exposed the irregularities in the trial and the bogus evidence presented against her.

https://orinocotribune.com/foreign-mini ... fernandez/

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Marches To Take Place in Support of Cristina Fernandez

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This Saturday, marches will take place in different parts of Argentina and the world in support of Cristina Fernandez. Aug. 27, 2022. | Photo: @OscaeParrilli

The expressions of solidarity with the Argentine Vice-President include a vigil in front of her house in the Recoleta neighborhood and mobilizations throughout the country and abroad.

This Saturday, led by different expressions of the Frente de Todos (FDT) party, there will be meetings and mobilizations in different squares of Argentina and other countries of the world, in support of Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, for whom the prosecutor of the Vialidad case requested last Monday 12 years of imprisonment and disqualification to hold public office.

These are mobilizations in support of the former president and condemnation of the judicial persecution and Lawfare of which she is a victim, in addition to the vigil held since Monday in front of Fernandez de Kirchner's home, in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, by members of the FDT and representatives of other social sectors.

Under the slogans "Cristina is defended by the people" and "if they come for her, they come for your rights", in Buenos Aires, the call of the Frente de Todos porteño (Front of All) is expected to gather at 3:00 p.m. local time at Parque Lezama, in the neighborhood of San Telmo.


In this sense, the call was defined in a multitudinous "open meeting" of the Justicialist Party of the City which met last Thursday at its headquarters in San José Street, headed by the national senator and president of the party, Mariano Recalde, and the president of the party congress, Víctor Santa María.

Meanwhile, in Parque Chacabuco, the Buenos Aires judge Juan María Ramos Padilla and the Peronist leader Jorge Rachid, will call for the "democratization of Justice", an "independent Justice" and the "resignation of all the members" of the Supreme Court.

To which will be added a meeting of the Comuna 15 in their defense, with the slogan "Against the media and judicial firing squad", as a premise.


These demonstrations in support of Cristina will be extended to many other regions of the province of Buenos Aires: in La Plata, they will gather in Plaza Belgrano; in Vicente López, the FDT will meet in Plaza Alem; in San Martín, the meeting will take place in Plaza Central; in Tres de Febrero it will take place in Plaza de la Unidad Nacional; in Avellaneda, in Plaza Alsina; and in Monte Grande, in Plaza Mitre; among other multiple calls.

Meanwhile, in the rest of Argentina and under the slogans "Basta de lawfare" and "El Cristinazo", there will be marches of support in the provinces of La Pampa, Misiones, La Rioja, San Luis, Tierra del Fuego, Neuquén, Catamarca, San Salvador de Jujuy, and Formosa, among others.

The demonstrations in support of the vice-president will also be expressed by FDT activists in other countries, such as Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Brazil and Australia.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Mar ... -0001.html

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They denounce aggression against supporters of the Approval in Chile

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In the images you can see the way in which men with carriages and whips, who expressed their Rejection, attack cyclists. | Photo: Video Capture
Published 29 August 2022

This weekend, thousands of people took to the streets of different cities in Chile to make their option visible in the plebiscite to which the new Constitution will be submitted.

Chileans who participated this Sunday in the closing of the campaign for the Approval of the new national Constitution, which will be submitted to a plebiscite on September 4, denounced that they were attacked by supporters of the option of Rejection of the Magna Carta.

Users of social networks uploaded videos recorded in the center of Santiago, the Chilean capital, where groups of both options coincided.

In the images you can see the way in which men with carriages and whips, who expressed their Rejection, attack cyclists, in addition to throwing stones at them. Even a horseman of a cart runs over several people who were demonstrating for the Approval.


This weekend, thousands of people took to the streets of different cities in Chile to make their option visible in the plebiscite to which the new Constitution will be submitted, which arose as a result of the social protests three years ago.


If the Approval option wins, the new Magna Carta will replace the Constitution put into effect in 1980 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

Reject act of sexual connotation
The Approval campaign and government officials also rejected a representation of sexual connotation that took place last Saturday at a rally for that option, held in the city of Valparaíso.


The Government of President Gabriel Boric announced legal action against those responsible for its realization in a family-child context.


The act was organized by an independent production company, however, local authorities participated in it, who declared that they were unaware that this intervention was contemplated.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/chile-de ... -0004.html

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Chilean Women Urge Approval of New Constitution

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On September 4, Chileans will have to vote for the approval or rejection of the proposal for a new constitution. Aug. 27, 2022. | Photo: REUTERS/Pablo Sanhueza

Published 27 August 2022

Feminist organizations are in full agreement that the new Magna Carta dignifies women's rights.

Women from the communes of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile participated this Saturday in a massive act to support the project of the new Constitution, which will be submitted to a plebiscite on September 4.

The event took place at the Caupolicán Theater, located in downtown Santiago, and was called "Caupolicanazo Feminista por la Nueva Constitución" (Feminist Caupolicanazo for the New Constitution) and was organized by at least 37 social organizations.

The spokesperson for the meeting, Cynthia Shuffer, declared that the new Constitution advances substantive transformations for women in Chile, among which she mentioned parity, political participation, autonomy over their bodies, a life free of violence, the right to decide, to have a comprehensive sexual education and to decent housing, and the recognition of the work of caregiving.


Shuffer recalled that in this plebiscite "women and dissidents make up more than half of the people" who will vote, hence the importance of the vote on September 4.

For her part, Rosa Yáñez, activist of the Movement for the Emancipation of Chilean Women, said that for the first time in the history of Chile, a Magna Carta that includes issues of interest to women will be voted on.

In the opinion of Xiomara Molina, of the Permanent Assembly for the Legalization of Abortion, the new constitutional text "has to do with the construction of a society collectively with principles such as solidarity, equality and social justice".

In addition, Molina stressed the role of women in the vote and their possibility of influencing the outcome of the plebiscite. In this respect, she recalled that in "2020, 7 and a half million people voted; almost 4 million of us were women".

On September 4, Chileans will have to vote for the approval or rejection of the proposal for a new constitution to replace the one in force since the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chi ... -0004.html
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