South America

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Thu Nov 17, 2022 3:20 pm

AT THE REQUEST OF FORMER SOUTH AMERICAN PRESIDENTS AND POLITICIANS
TOWARDS A POSSIBLE RELAUNCH OF UNASUR?
15 Nov 2022 , 3:29 pm .

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The possible relaunch of Unasur would imply a necessary debate in which Venezuela will participate (Photo: File)

Seven former Latin American presidents accompanied by former foreign ministers, former ministers, former parliamentarians, current congressmen, intellectuals, directors of international organizations and former ambassadors have sent a letter to 12 presidents of the region to push them to relaunch the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).

However, one of the letters, precisely the one that reached the hands of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro , was the one that had the most notoriety, due to the meaning of the context and the alleged diplomatic isolation against Venezuela in recent years, which has been deteriorating.

Venezuela was, together with Brazil and Argentina, the troika that organized the birth of the integrationist entity in 2008.

The text is signed by seven former presidents: the Chilean Michelle Bachelet; the Ecuadorian Rafael Correa; the Argentine Eduardo Duhalde; the Chilean Ricardo Lagos; the Uruguayan José Mujica; the Brazilian Dilma Rousseff; and the Colombian Ernesto Samper, who, together with more than 50 signatories, urge President Maduro to promote "an effective space for South American consultation", which allows for the "new transformative impulse" of the region to be addressed after the political changes in Chile, Colombia and Brazil, refers RT .

This letter exposes the fundamental points for the change in the international context, for the current crises and those that await the planet, in terms of geopolitical changes. Unasur, they point out, could propose a joint policy as a regional bloc in the face of these new realities.

"The potential of South America can only materialize to the extent that the countries that make it up create a space that allows them to agree, identify common projects and deploy joint initiatives," they point out.

However, the relaunch of the multilateral entity has several flats. The first of these is that Unasur, they say, is not officially extinct, since the "withdrawal" of seven countries from said body, at the discretion of their right-wing executive governments, was carried out without complying with the essential steps for that purpose. .

"In short, Unasur still exists and is the best platform to reconstitute a space for integration in South America," the letter reads. For the signatories, the attempt to replace the bloc with the so-called Forum for the Progress of South America (Prosur) in 2019, "did not go beyond being an improvised and precarious undertaking, with zero operational capacities", and it is currently " an empty set" and "a phantom institution".

Secondly, the "new Unasur" would require substantial changes in its operation, based on the "ideological" determinism of the governments that comprise it, which must articulate and maintain their institutionality despite these divergences. Unasur must relaunch itself by reforming its decision-making architecture, leaving behind the consensus policy to favor the formula of majorities of various types according to the type of discussion.

Secondly, and thirdly, they consider that Unasur will be a space to strengthen the Confederation of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), granting a new type of dynamism to continental integration and institutionality through differentiated but complementary blocks.

CELAC could be constituted "in the privileged space to define a common position for the region" on multilateral issues such as: climate change, energy transition, trade, investment, international financing, human rights, disarmament, peace and security, migration, drug trafficking and crime organized. "Integration is more necessary today than ever" and "a significant effort in this direction would allow a virtuous circle to be nurtured that would strengthen multilateral bodies and contribute to a greater good that is currently in danger: peace," they add.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO CARACAS

This document, which has this group of former Social Democratic presidents at the forefront, could perhaps be understood as a glossary of possibly learned lessons and could be based on reflections that, as they point out, originate from a framework of "lost opportunities". that they prefer not to mention in their eagerness to look ahead.

Both Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro are an inevitable point in this discussion, not only because it is a country geographically integrated into the South American subregion. The role of promoters and founders gives Venezuela special authority to debate the idea of ​​a relaunch.

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The former headquarters of Unasur on the outskirts of Quito, the "Néstor Kirchner" building, was dismantled by Lenín Moreno, who also removed the statue of the remembered president of Argentina (Photo: Agencies)

But the Venezuelan case is much more complex. The oil country, today blocked, was precisely the turning point in international relations on a continental scale, since the alleged isolation of Venezuela orchestrated by the United States greatly disfigured the foreign policy of several countries.

Let us remember that since 2015, with the declaration of Venezuela as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the security of the United States, then through the packages of coercive and unilateral measures of the Trump Administration against Caracas, the relationship between several countries with Venezuela, but also a "common sense" was formed among the right-wing governments to "withdraw" from the entities that have been promoted by the Venezuelan government.

This is how the wave of debacle and changes of government in several countries that were formerly members of the "progressive cycle" generated a turn that not only dragged Unasur, but also Celac.

The authorship of these situations falls on Washington from the exercise of its power to recover its "natural space of influence." Although Venezuela formalized its withdrawal from the Organization of American States (OAS), the Americans raised the ante to promote not only the breakdown of the country's relations. They promoted a systemic breakdown of multilateral relations in many dimensions.

The scope of the rupture of the integration initiatives (Unasur and Celac) and that had Caracas as a critical node, evolved into worse categories, when in 2019 Washington proclaimed Juan Guaidó as "interim president" of Venezuela, placing the countries in a Manichean formula to recognize Guaidó or Maduro; maintain or dispense with diplomatic relations with the only real government in Caracas, or align or misalign with the lane imposed by the State Department.

Caracas is not Rome, but speaking of geopolitics in the subcontinent, it is a place where everything comes together, which is inexorable, since it is impossible to build a new Unasur without it, and its mere presence imposes a new tone on the result.

Venezuela continues to be a target country for Washington, and for the Americans it continues to be an inexorable destination of its policy.

THE OPPORTUNITY NOT TO BE MISSED
The current political picture is clearly favorable for the relaunch of Unasur. However, the underlying political architecture must be resolved. It consists of understanding the opportunity to develop a bloc policy, in the face of the forcefulness of planetary change.

The multicentric shape that the planet is acquiring has found the region extremely divided and with several countries subject to the status of vassals of the United States. Others, on the other hand, have become politically pendular, plunged into an alternation that implies modest progressive advances and brutal neoliberal setbacks.

The serious problem of the social democratic governments, which prefer to establish themselves in "liberal democracy", has been that of interpreting the political time of their countries and of the world, from the narrow margins of their rigged institutions so that nothing really changes, which make it impossible to real political revolution and who may perish in the next presidential elections just around the corner.

In foreign policy, it implies the development of a synergy with no meaning, with little understanding of the new forces of gravity that are disfiguring the world as we know it and which imply a short projection and no strategic vision.

This is a point to reflect on the so-called (and debatable) second Latin American progressive cycle, where its distinctions are open in the face of the so frequently denounced by Gabriel Boric "troika of evil", as John Bolton called Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. The belief in moving deep from restraint and Washington's approval does not appear as a red flag in the letter.

South America will hardly be able to be a truly autonomous block until its governments acquire the category of substantive political change, to the point of being able to advance in their foreign agendas with freedom and the ability to maneuver to think about the region from the needs and aspirations of the region.

Right now that integration blocks in Eurasia and Africa are accelerating, they are several steps ahead compared to South America. The level of progress in these countries is not determined by the ideological affiliations of their governments. If we analyze in depth, the "left and right" discussions have no footing in those regions of the world. Their mutual interest is determined by the understanding and assimilation of their loss of ties and aspirations for their own future, to maintain their relations as they exist today with the Anglo-Western world.

The loss of credibility of the United States, the rejection of the incessant looting, the weariness of interference, the intolerance of wars and the exhaustion of the heavy burden of Atlantic hegemony have accelerated this planetary change, which is and will be very difficult. But these blocs forming on the other side of the world are unified by a sense of urgency. Unite or be overwhelmed. Everything that follows it, like the big projects of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, are really incidental concretions. The underlying question is another.

Does this vision exist for the South American subcontinent? Only Venezuela has those cardinal points and for this reason, for a long time, it has created a long bridge to the Eurasian world, together with Nicaragua and Cuba, in the absence of other less flimsy bridges in closer instances.

The possible relaunch of Unasur would imply a necessary debate in which Venezuela will participate. In May of this year, President Maduro asserted the resurgence of said body as a political commitment, precisely because of the political changes he envisioned in Colombia and Brazil. Now the cards are being dealt.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/ha ... -de-unasur

Google Translator

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Argentina Sees 88 Pct Year-on-Year Inflation in October

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A woman shops at a supermarket, in the city of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, on April 13, 2022. | Photo: Xinhua/Martin Zabala

Published 15 November 2022

Argentina registered 88 percent year-on-year inflation in October, with prices rising 6.3 percent for an accumulated 76.6 percent spike in prices so far this year, the National Statistics and Census Institute (INDEC) said Tuesday.


The goods and services that saw the biggest jump in price, year over year, were "clothing and footwear," with a 121.5 percent increase; "restaurants and hotels," with a 105.2 percent rise; and "food and non-alcoholic beverages," with a 91.6 percent increase, the INDEC said.

"Healthcare" costs rose 78.6 percent, while "transportation" climbed 77.9 percent and "education" 76 percent.

Accumulated annual inflation (since January) saw the price of "clothing and footwear" rise 103.1 percent, followed by "restaurants and hotels" by 84.6 percent, and "food and non-alcoholic beverages" by 80 percent.

Over the past 12 months, prices of goods in Argentina rose 91.8 percent and those of services 78.4 percent.

Argentina's government has said fighting inflation is one of its main economic policy goals.

According to the Central Bank of Argentina's latest market expectations survey, inflation could hit three digits toward the end of the current year to reach 100 percent.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Arg ... -0014.html

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Peru: Congress Processes Corruption Complaint Against Castillo

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Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @almayadeen_es

Published 17 November 2022

The Peruvian president considers that this complaint represents the beginning of a new type of coup d'état.


On Wednesday, Peruvian Parliament's Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations admitted for processing the constitutional complaint that the Prosecutor's Office filed against President Pedro Castillo.

The decision to admit the complaint for "crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling, and collusion" was adopted with thirteen votes in favor and eight votes against.

The complaint entered an evidentiary stage in which the accused can be summoned to exercise his defense before the working group issues a final report. Subsequently, the complaint could go to the Permanent Commission as a prelude to the vote in the plenary session of Congress.

Castillo considers this complaint represents the beginning of a "new type of coup d'état" since the Peruvian Constitution establishes that the president of the republic can only be accused of four specific cases, among which are treason against the country or impeding elections.


The tweet reads, "Defying the legal and constitutional order, the right wing approved the Qualification Report of the Constitutional Complaint 307 against Pedro Castillo. The right wing does not realize that its aggressiveness leads to its self-destruction."

Crimes of corruption or common crimes, however, are not among the constitutional causes to judge the president.

A different perspective is maintained by Attorney General Patricia Benavides who defends the complaint arguing article 30 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Once the process is approved, the complaint will go through a multi-stage process, which could take about three months to reach the plenary session, if it proceeds.

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

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President of Bolivia’s Senate Calls for Justice for Crimes in Santa Cruz
NOVEMBER 16, 2022

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President of the Bolivian Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez. Photo: File.

The strike in Santa Cruz has caused estimated losses in the vicinity of $900 million.

This Monday, November 11, President of the Bolivian Chamber of Senators Andrónico Rodríguez requested that the crimes committed during the strike in Santa Cruz be investigated.

Through his Twitter account, Rodríguez referred to the indefinite strike that was called in Santa Cruz under the pretext that the population and housing census was postponed until 2024.

The Bolivian legislator released audiovisual material and asserted that, with these images, it was evident that the strike – proposed by the right-wing – was not endorsed by the people.

“These images are a clear sign that the famous and great town hall at the feet of Christ is not the scene of horizontal decisions of the people with the people,” he tweeted, “but of impositions promoted by particular and petty interests.”


Furthermore, Rodríguez stated that the strike generated heavy human and economic losses in addition to violating the fundamental rights of the citizens of Santa Cruz.


According to a report by Prensa Latina, the strike caused losses estimated at nearly $900 million during its 25-day duration.

Rodríguez directly blamed Governor Luis Fernando Camacho, who is also known for his participation in the 2019 coup against Evo Morales, for the recent events in Santa Cruz.

“Mr. Luis Fernando Camacho, being a departmental authority, instead of working for his people,” Rodríguez stated, “played with the conscience, work, economy, and health of the people of Santa Cruz.”


Last Saturday, November 12, Bolivian President Luis Arce announced that the population and housing census will be carried out on March 23, 2024. The new redistribution of tax revenues based on the preliminary census results will be made in September of the same year, one month earlier than initially planned.

https://orinocotribune.com/president-of ... anta-cruz/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Nov 25, 2022 2:40 pm

The West and the Majority World - Repression Versus Openness
By: teleSUR/MS

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The majority world (in red) | Photo: Stephen Sefton

Published 24 November 2022 (13 hours 36 minutes ago)

Since its inception, the leaders of the ALBA countries have denounced North American and European imperialism's brutal exploitation and domination and its gangster diplomacy of “Do what we want or else...”.

By Stephen Sefton

In 2004, Comandante Fidel Castro and Comandante Hugo Chávez founded what is now the Bolivarian Alliance of the peoples of our America, ALBA which now includes Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and the Caribbean island nations of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda and Santa Lucía. A year earlier, in 2003, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formally constituted, which now includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Iran. Both organizations share practically the same principles of solidarity, equality among their members and mutual respect for different ideologies. This suggests that, at that same time, in different poles of the majority world, a common decision arose to build a world free of the economic strangulation and neocolonial aggression of the United States and its allies.

Since its inception, the leaders of the ALBA countries have denounced North American and European imperialism's brutal exploitation and domination and its gangster diplomacy of “Do what we want or else...”. In May of this year, President Comandante Daniel Ortega declared at the 21st ALBA-TCP Summit: “They have not stopped practicing the Monroe Doctrine, they have not renounced the Monroe Doctrine. In the name of democracy, they impose a tyrannical, imperialist, terrorist, international policy... imperialism has not changed, the essence of Imperialism is there, a totally criminal essence.”

At that same meeting, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expressed, "Enough is enough of the centuries of plunder, of invasions, of threats, of imperial hegemonism, this is our century! The 21st century... and our path is that of Latin America and the Caribbean, of ALBA, of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, this is our path, the path of equals, the path of respect, the path of inclusion, the path of unitary convocation, that is our path.”

At the same summit, Cuba's President Miguel Díaz Canel also expressed the commitment of the ALBA countries to unity among diversity “In the face of attempts at exclusion and selectivity, it is urgent to strengthen the authentic mechanisms of Latin American and Caribbean to integrate and act in concert. Together we will be able to effectively defend our sovereignty and self-determination without interference or external pressures....We call to unite, not to divide; to contribute, not to subtract; to dialogue, not to confront; to respect, not to impose.”

After decades of increasingly aggressive provocations on the part of the United States and the European Union, in February of this year the Russian Federation finally acted to defend itself. And in his historic speech on September 30, President Vladimir Putin elaborated the vision of a multipolar world, based on the same principles of ALBA and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, genuine cooperation, respect between equals, unity in diversity, a commitment to dialogue and international law. The similarity between the ALBA country leaders' vision and the vision expressed by President Putin in his speech is very striking.

He spoke of the faith of the majority world's peoples in a multipolar world in order to “strengthen their sovereignty and, therefore, to acquire true freedom, historical perspective, the right to independent, creative, authentic development, to a harmonious process." President Putin made clear that it is also about faith in the human capacity to overcome differences, collaborate for the common good and create a world of solidarity. He stated explicitly, "Our values are love for neighbor, mercy and compassion.”

The contrast of these common visions of the ALBA countries, of Russia, China and their allies, with the practice of the West could not be stronger. As President Putin puts it, “Western countries have been saying for centuries that they bring freedom and democracy to other nations. Everything is just the opposite: democracy becomes repression and exploitation; freedom, slavery and violence. The entire unipolar world order is inherently undemocratic and devoid of freedom. It is mendacious and hypocritical to the core.”

The truth of this categorical condemnation of the United States and its allies is self-evident in the colonial history of imperialism from its origins to its evolution over the last century to neo-colonialism. In the United States and Europe, since the introduction of universal suffrage last century enabled the Western elites to pass off their nations as democracies, in practice essentially, in exchange for guaranteeing their populations' socio-economic development, those elites have been able to count on their countries' peoples to collaborate in the looting of the majority world. This ensured that the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America paid the costs of the prosperity and development of Western nations as, one way or another, they continue to do.

However, the scope of geopolitical power and control of majority world resources by Western elites is now more limited. In part, this setback for the West results from the growing cooperation and commercial and financial power of the nations of the Eurasian space. In turn, the increasing economic and diplomatic activity of China, Russia and their allies has promoted the development of their relations with the nations in Africa and in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially with the countries and peoples committed to the defense of their sovereignty.

The desperate response to the relative decline of their global power on the part of the American and European oligarchies takes three main forms. First, in their own countries, the exploitation of the labor force and the repression of dissent are increasing. Secondly, they act with greater aggression of all kinds against Russia and China and their regional allies such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua or Syria, Iran and the Democratic Republic of Korea. And the third form of the Western reaction to their decline is to apply greater intimidation and harassment against countries vulnerable to economic pressure to ensure that they remain obedient.

In North America and Europe, neoliberal policies implemented since the 1980s have normalized repression and economic exploitation. In the United States there is a permanent political offensive against the social security system and investment in public services generally. In Europe, public services are being cut or privatized. In the United States and the European Union there have been huge transfers of wealth to corporate elites both during the financial crisis of 2008-2009 and as part of the financial measures in response to the economic collapse caused by measures addressing Covid-19. At the same time, even the IMF recognizes that labor remuneration in the West has fallen in real terms. Likewise, the terms and conditions of work for people throughout the West are becoming increasingly precarious. Only 10% of the workforce in the United States is organized into unions. In European countries the average is 23% and generally much lower.

It is impossible to summarize concisely all the nuances of this reality. But among the main effects associated with increased domestic economic repression in Western countries and increased aggression overseas, have been censorship on social networks and suppression of information in the media, especially on international events. These practices reinforce the West's extensive and intense psychological warfare against the majority world and facilitate the economic and military aggression and terrorism of the United States and its allies against any nation that tries to defend its sovereignty and independence.

This marks a deep and irreparable collapse of moral and intellectual integrity on the part of Western elites and their peoples, signaling a comprehensive, insidious spiritual defeat. On the other hand, a growing number of the majority world's governments and peoples insist on their sovereign right to manage their international relations at the international so as to open up and promote new possibilities for national, regional and international development. Perhaps the most important expression of this faith in the future is the broad support for the so-called BRICS+ group of countries, originally organized by China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa, from countries around the world, including Iran, Algeria, Turkey, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand and even Nicaragua.

A great many majority world nations clearly agree with the views of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines who observed this year on July 19th in the Plaza de la Revolución in Managua, at the 43rd Anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, “I come from a small country in our hemisphere, but this small country believes and subscribes to large principles: The defense of sovereignty and independence, non-interference and non-intervention in our own affairs; so as to able to lead ourselves and our civilizations onward, and to be able to walk together with all the peoples around the world, in friendship but not in subordination. In that sense, we are friends with everyone and aspire for a Better World.”

https://www.telesurenglish.net/opinion/ ... -0016.html

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President of Peru announces cabinet renewal

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The Peruvian ruler also denounced that from Congress, opposition political groups insist on vacancy requests. | Photo: Presidency Press
Published 25 November 2022

The now ex-premier had requested to repeal Law 31,399, considering that it impedes the right of citizens to direct political participation.

The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, announced Thursday night that he will renew his ministerial cabinet after accepting the resignation presented to him by the prime minister, Aníbal Torres.

The president's decision occurred hours after the board of directors of Congress rejected "outright" the request for a vote of confidence made by Torres, "because it deals with prohibited matters for its approach."

"After this express refusal of confidence, with the expression of flat rejection, and having accepted the resignation of the prime minister, whom I thank for his concern and his work for the country, I will renew the cabinet," Castillo revealed in a message. to the nation.


The now ex-premier had requested to repeal Law 31,399, considering that it is a norm that prevents the right of all citizens to political participation directly and without intermediaries, through the referendum.

Law 31,399 establishes that any referendum that implies a constitutional reform must first be approved by the Legislative branch.

Castillo stressed that the right of citizens to have direct political participation through the referendum has been impeded.



"The right to exercise it again has been arbitrarily taken away from us. We wanted to return this right, but certain congressional groups have decided to reject it," he said.

“Laws such as the return of Fonavi funds or the non-reelection of congressmen would not be a reality today, if the people had not decided in a referendum. This law, arbitrarily, has taken away our right to exercise it again, ”he stressed in his message.

The ruler also denounced that from Congress, opposition political groups insist on vacancy requests (presidential removal), "with false complaints, with denatured suspensions and crude accusations such as treason, which are nothing more than turning their backs on him to the will of the citizens.

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

Google Translator

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Peru: A Thousand Crises and Pedro Castillo’s ‘Resistance’
NOVEMBER 23, 2022

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The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo. File photo.

By Jacqueline Fowks – Nov 18, 2022

The non-stop confrontation between the executive and legislative branches of Peru, which began in 2016 and has been accentuated since the rural teacher Pedro Castillo took office as the president, is growing more and more heated. The powers of the State are busy in their own dispute and, as a consequence, are neglecting the pressing situations experienced by a good part of the population. Unrest over the socioeconomic situation is growing and it is being felt in most regions of the country. During the last few weeks, the victims of a serious oil spill have held new demonstrations in front of the offices of Repsol, the president of the Council of Ministers, and the parliament. At the same time, women from the ollas comunes (community kitchens) marched to the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion to demand their inclusion in the budget for 2023. Added to this situation is the conservative counter-reform in education and social rights imposed by the parliamentary opposition to Castillo. This opposition is advised by the most experienced ex-congresspeople of Fujimorism.

The truth is that Peru was knocked out by the pandemic and has still not managed to get back on its feet. It is, in fact, the country with the highest number of deaths per million inhabitants in the world due to COVID-19. But the crisis does not end there: in 2020, 30% of the population was living below the poverty line, and although it dropped to 25% last year, informal employment rose to 78% in 2021.

Although at the beginning of Castillo’s government, the then Minister of Health Hernando Zevallos proposed the integration of public healthcare services—fragmented and precarious, something that the private health sector takes advantage of to have more clients, he lasted only six months in office. The following appointees at the Ministry of Health in these times have been the product of the quotas of Peru Libre, the party for which Castillo was a candidate and from which he ended up resigning. The next two health ministers used the state to do business, not to solve the problems of healthcare in the state facilities. Castillo, who came to the presidency offering a Constituent Assembly to declare health and education as fundamental rights, has not been able to make any progress in this matter due to the barriers placed by Congress and the mood of rejection towards a new Constitution by the economic and media elite: they consider it a step backwards and a way towards “communism.”

It is evident that, in his 15 months of government, Castillo has been besieged by political opposition, in a process well known in Peru. In the face of persistent attacks, those who lead the country are unable to manage the state apparatus due to the pressures imposed by their opponents in Congress.

Since 2021, Castillo has also faced serious allegations of corruption that have resulted in six public prosecutor investigations for awarding public works contracts that favored family and friends in order to collect bribes, for influence peddling in military promotions, and for concealment and obstruction of justice. The Peruvian president has three lawyers, but some ministers act as a lightning rod every time a new indication of illegality appears in the Lima press. Former Transport Minister Juan Silva and a nephew of Castillo involved in the rigged bidding scheme have been on the run since May, and a sister-in-law of the president was in prison for almost two months while the preliminary investigation was underway to prevent tampering of evidence, somthing that had already happened in case of others under investigation.

In this political tangle, the Peruvian state appears inoperative for the tens of thousands of people affected by the aforementioned oil spills—on the coast of Lima and in indigenous communities of the Amazon—caused by the Spanish oil company Repsol and the state-owned PetroPerú, respectively. The victims are mainly small-scale fishing communities and micro-traders in seaside resorts and restaurants, most of them informal. Workers linked to these sectors have not been able to return to their jobs.

In the Amazon, the most serious spills began in 2014 in a 50-year-old infrastructure: the Norperuvian oil pipeline. Between September and October this year, there were four new spills in indigenous zones in Loreto and Amazonas regions: the crude oil contaminates the water of rivers and lagoons that the people of these regions use for cooking and other household purposes, and prevents fishing that is their source of their food and work.

“It is a constant practice of governments not to keep their word,” said indigenous chief Alfonso López Tejada, president of the Kukama Association for the Development and Conservation of San Pablo de Tipishca. “The state should be the guarantor of people’s rights. We do not want to remove a president, but the state should put in place an intercultural healthcare system for the peoples affected by the spills. We are not beggars; we are living with heavy metals in our organs because the water is contaminated.”

The health of the Kukama-Kukamiria people is in danger since the spill of more than 2,000 barrels of oil in the communities of San Pedro and Cuninico. Small farmers are also affected by the political instability in Peru. In 2021, farmers and specialists had warned about fertilizer shortages that are now being felt acutely due to the war in Ukraine. The government offered to import fertilizers and deliver it at a fair price to farmers. However, three international purchase processes were canceled due to administrative problems and now there is a fourth call.

Castillo’s government has had seven interior ministers in 15 months, as well as dozens of changes in key ministries. Some of these changes in the cabinet were due to pressure from the opposition, but many were also because of his eagerness not to be removed from office due to “permanent moral incapacity” that Congress has threatened to use it multiple times. Castillo placed people in ministries who would assure him votes in Congress. The opposition needs 87 votes to remove him from office, and the first two attempts were unsuccessful.

This political instability affects the functioning of the state. The state has to solve urgent problems, such as the increase in the number of deaths at the hands of hired killers, the extortions by gangs such as the Tren de Aragua, and the rise in disappearances of women. According to the Ombudsperson’s Office, between January and August of this year there were 7,762 reports of missing women, of whom less than 50% were found. The newspaper La República reported that from January to September there were 199 murders at the hands of hired killers in Lima, while in 2021 the total figure was 219.

The Congress has managed to obstruct the government and, at the same time, to carry out a counter-reform on social issues. The parliamentary opposition has retired military officers in its ranks, such as the current president of Congress, José Daniel Williams Zapata, an army general who commanded anti-subversive patrols during the years of violence (1980-2000), and Martha Moyano, a former collaborator of opposition leader Keiko Fujimori. Both are promoters of the idea that terrorism in Peru was only carried out by the Maoist group Shining Path, and that the security forces were peacemakers and saviors of democracy. While 54% of the fatalities during the internal conflict were the responsibility of the terrorist actions of the armed guerrilla group, 37% of the dead and disappeared were the responsibility of security agents, according to the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

At the end of October, Congress approved a regulation for the Ministry of Education to implement a new “history of terrorism” course on “the atrocities of the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) due to the alarming lack of knowledge of young people about their actions.” The bill was proposed by the fujimorista faction in parliament.

The law was approved against the contrary opinion of the National Education Council, which stated that 75% of the victims belonged to the poorest sectors of the population and that this showed a disregard for their lives on the part of the guerrillas and state security agents. Some Peru Libre congresspeople have united with the parliamentary opposition to carry out some of the counter-reforms: laws were approved that denaturalize integral sexual education in schools and enable ultraconservative parents’ associations to change the contents of school books on sexual education or on the history of the armed conflict in the country. The other setback promoted by this faction of Peru Libre is to replace the name of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations with the Ministry of the Family. In the style of the Spanish neo-nazi party Vox and Bolsonaro of Brazil, the allusion to the family and the defenders of the homeland weakens human rights and gender equality in the country.

The Congress is also evaluating a charge of treason against Castillo and his disqualification for five years, due to the answer he gave in January to CNN when asked if he would allow sea access to Bolivia. The president answered that he would consult the people on the matter (in a referendum) and as a consequence a group of conservative lawyers—who in 2021 promoted the idea that there was electoral fraud—filed the complaint. The approach is so weak that even several parliamentarians and political analysts who do not support the president disqualify the complaint for its illegitimacy. Congress requires a simple majority (65 votes) to approve it, but it will also have to evaluate the political costs involved in forcing the charge of treason.

Why in these 16 months of government has Congress not achieved the 87 votes to remove Castillo from office? One reason is that, although weak, the alliance of the president with Peru Libre, founded by the self-styled “Marxist-Leninist” Vladimir Cerrón, still exists. The current Minister of Health Kelly Portalatino is a congresswoman of Peru Libre, and her ministry, as well as that of Housing and Transportation, appears to have become an employment agency for the close associates of the party.

Peru Libre had 37 seats in July 2021, but now has 15 due to an internal split into two groups: the Bloque Magisterial, made up of 10 former teachers, colleagues of Castillo in the teachers’ strike of 2017, and Peru Democrático, headed by six members who also vote in favor of the president. The president also has some votes from Somos Perú, the party to which the minister of labor, one of his most loyal supporters, belongs.

The president, in addition, usually invites independent parliamentarians—those without a party, to travel with him to inaugurate small infrastructure works in order to make them visible to his constituents and to secure their votes in this way. In order to armor himself in the Congress’ war against him, Castillo even appointed some representatives of the extreme right as ministers, but that did not help to reduce Congress’ eagerness to remove him from office and only aggravated his inefficient administration.

https://orinocotribune.com/peru-a-thous ... esistance/

Government of Colombia Gives Ultimatum to FARC Dissidents
NOVEMBER 25, 2022

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Colombian army patrolling the streets in Manizales. Photo: EFE/Luis Eduardo Noriega/File photo.

The Colombian government has given the FARC dissidents an ultimatum to stop their continued acts of violence that is killing people every day.

The internal war of the dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in some regions of the country for the control of drug trafficking routes took the lives of 18 people in the department of Putumayo last Sunday, November 20.

On Tuesday, November 22, President Gustavo Petro visited the municipality of Barrancabermeja (Santander department). In his speech before the leaders of social movements of the region, he referred to the massacre that occurred last Sunday in which at least 18 people were killed. According to the Colombian president, this conflict no longer represents the fight of a guerrilla that seeks power, but a war that is sustained for the control of drug trafficking routes.

“Look at what happened in Putumayo, do you think these are the conflicts of a political guerrilla that wants to seize national power and make a revolution?” said President Petro. “What happened in Putumayo is the conflict between two dissident groups that claim to be from the old FARC, massacring each other in such a gruesome way.”

The president expressed his surprise at how these former guerrilla groups have abandoned their political ideals and have become war merchants, and called upon them to take the path of peace because everything has a limit.

According to Colombian analysts, the position taken by the Petro government is in line with its constitutional status, since it is offering the FARC dissidents as well as other armed groups an opportunity for peace, but if they do not want it, they will have to face the laws of the state.

FARC dissident groups, that have joined the peace talks with the government, had committed to peace, but with their latest acts of violence they seem to care more about their own interests than the establishment of peace in the embattled country.

https://orinocotribune.com/government-o ... issidents/

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They steal assault rifles from the base of the Ecuadorian Navy

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The statement from the Ecuadorian Navy specifies that weapons of this type were used a few weeks ago in a shootout against a police unit in the municipality of Durán, Guayas. | Photo: Radio Pichincha
Published 20 November 2022

The pertinent authorities are conducting investigations to find the whereabouts of the weapons and capture the thieves.

The Ecuadorian Navy made public this Saturday through a statement the theft of 12 Ak-47 type rifles from its facilities at the San Bernardo base in Guayaquil.

The text specifies that these same types of weapons were used a few weeks ago in a shooting against a police unit in the municipality of Durán, Guayas, after which eight people were arrested.

The statement also added that the pertinent authorities are conducting investigations to find the whereabouts of the weapons and capture the thieves.

This theft occurs while the province of Guayas is one of the three that are under the emergency regime due to a series of attacks and violent acts that occurred at the beginning of November.

According to the administration headed by President Guillermo Lasso, the violence is caused by drug gangs' dispute over control of territories, which has led to hundreds of murders both in prisons and on the streets.

However, analysts consider that this situation is also caused by the lack of public investment in social areas and security institutions, in addition to the fact that organized crime has given the South American country a new role in drug routes to the north, where consumers are found.

Official data highlights that until the beginning of November the homicide rate in Ecuador was 20.59 per 100 inhabitants, which places it as the highest in the history of the South American nation.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/roban-fu ... -0025.html
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:10 pm

Peruvian Congress admits vacancy motion against President Castillo

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The motion to vacate or remove President Castillo was approved with 73 votes in favor, 32 against, and 6 abstentions. | Photo: EFE
Posted December 2, 2022 (7 hours 11 minutes ago)

President Pedro Castillo faces his third impeachment request in less than a year and a half of his term.

The plenary session of the Peruvian Congress admitted on Thursday to debate a new vacancy request against President Pedro Castillo.

The vacancy or dismissal motion was approved with 73 votes in favor, 32 against, and 6 abstentions.

After the vote, the head of Congress, the right-wing José Williams, proposed advancing the session in which the motion will be debated and voted on
Williams' proposal to reschedule the vacancy motion debate passed with 58 votes in favor. In principle it was going to take place on December 12, but it was brought forward to the 7th of the same month.


That day, President Castillo or his lawyer, or both, will defend the president before the legislators, who will then proceed to vote on the motion against the head of state.

In order to approve the vacancy request, 87 votes of the legislators are needed, a figure that corresponds to two thirds of the total number of congressmen.

President Pedro Castillo is facing his third impeachment request in less than a year and a half of his term for an alleged "permanent moral incapacity" to continue in office.

The vacancy motion was supported by the benches of Fuerza Popular, Renovación Popular, Avanza País, Somos Perú and Alianza para el Progreso (APP), as well as by non-groups.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-con ... -0003.html

Peruvian president calls for dialogue for governance of Peru

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Castillo said that the country needs to solve the needs of the majority of Peruvians that have been postponed for many years. | Photo: @presidenciaperu
Posted 2 December 2022

Pedro Castillo indicated that the OAS report confirmed that his government has been receiving attacks from right-wing political sectors.

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo called on Thursday the heads of Congress, the Judiciary, political and social leaders to dialogue for the governance of the country.

President Castillo's call is given after learning about the recommendations of the mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) urged the government of the country to dialogue to ensure the governability of the country.

Pedro Castillo indicated that the preliminary report of the OAS High Level Group confirmed that his government has been receiving destabilizing attacks by political and economic sectors that are unaware of the decision of the majority of Peruvians.


Despite the attacks and provocations, the Peruvian head of state affirmed that he will continue to work for the rule of law, the balance of powers, democracy and for a prosperous country that respects the powers of the State.

Castillo said that the country needs to solve the needs of the majority of Peruvians that have been postponed for many years, so everyone is needed.


In a political action against President Castillo, the plenary session of Congress approved on Thursday to debate on December 7 a new vacancy request against the head of state.

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

Looks like Castillo came to office bringing a knife to a gun fight. Given events in Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador he was forewarned. Hope he can pull his chestnuts out of the fire but only way I can see that happening is if he mobilizes his base militantly, if that is still possible.

Google Translator

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Petro Apologizes for Paramilitary Genocides in Colombia

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Colombian President Gustavo Petro (L) hugs a relative of victims of far-right violence, Nov. 30, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @petrogustavo

Published 1 December 2022

The masacres were committed by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which operated when former President Alvaro Uribe was the governor of Antioquia.


On behalf of the Colombian State, President Gustavo Petro apologized to the victims for the massacres committed by paramilitaries in La Granja and El Aro and described them as genocides in which the State took part either by action or omission.

"On behalf of the Colombian State, I ask the victims for forgiveness. The Colombian State recognizes that the people killed were not enemies of anyone. They were humble and hard-working people who were killed for no reason... The State was present at their deaths and was complicit of the murders," he said.

These statements occurred during an event that took place at the Museum of Memory, where Colombians recalled the massacres that occurred in the hamlets of La Granja (1996) and El Aro (1997), in the department of Antioquia.

The Colombian State "killed its own citizens," Petro said, recalling that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ICHR) blamed the Colombian State in 2006 for those killings and required it to investigate the facts to find and prosecute those responsible.

Petro also regretted that public recognition of what happened took more than 16 years to arrive. However, he promised to do everything possible so that the Colombian State compensates the victims of the violence committed by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary militias, which operated when former President Alvaro Uribe was the governor of Antioquia.


The tweet reads, "On behalf of the State, President Gustavo Petro apologized to the victims during the act of acknowledgment of responsibility for the El Aro and La Granja massacres. The State acknowledges that the dead were no one's enemies."

"Our courts were not capable of judging the murderers... We must tell the world that the Colombian State was by action or omission a murderous State... What happened in Colombia was a genocide that must be judged," Petro said.

Maria Victoria Fallon, the director of the Interdisciplinary Group for Human Rights (GIDH), pointed out that the public request for forgiveness is not only a legal commitment but also an ethical duty, especially with regard to those girls and boys who saw their parents die.

"For 16 years we have asked ourselves: What did it cost a president to recognize the responsibility of the State and ask for forgiveness? What did it cost Alvaro Uribe, the president who was notified of the 2006 ICHR sentence, to recognize the responsibility and ask forgiveness from the victims?," she said.

According to investigations, the Aro massacre was perpetrated by some 200 paramilitaries who spent a week torturing and raping men and women who lived in the area.

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

I'd like to hope that Petro is the 'real deal' but the best was to be sure of that is if the capitalists at least try to kill him. History can be a dreary thing...
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Mon Dec 05, 2022 3:33 pm

UNITY OF CONDOMINIUM BOARDS

The Cayapo

1 Dec 2022 , 1:36 pm .

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The radical and daring peoples who think of themselves will come out stronger after the great war for control of the planet that the capitalist forces are waging today (Photo: El Cayapo)

Seeking South American unity with these ruling business elites is like maintaining harmony in any building on this planet, without the Nazi-fascist control of the condominium boards.

A LITTLE LOOK AT THE SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENT

All South American countries are mines. There is not one that is not, there is no independence of countries or economies. They all behave like mines. Even countries like Nicaragua, Cuba or Venezuela are under the same aegis, from Patagonia and the Caribbean, to Mexico, which is the southern annex of the United States. A bleak picture is presented, not at all pleasant, regarding the inability of the elites to make political decisions that contribute to radically changing these material conditions of existence over time.

The situation of each of these mines, which we call countries or nations, for some time perhaps was the same scenario as today: puppet elites looking at the foreign model as their god to which they pay homage, blaming other puppet elites neighbors of the evils that each mine suffers, where each one had their own propaganda and the same story that we are a very rich country but very poorly administered by the governments in power, with its corruption, drug trafficking; their same schools, universities, arts, sports, science and other accessories as franchises, repeating the myth of how beautiful Europe and the United States are, while they deceive us with the hackneyed tale that peoples are lazy, lazy, indecisive, but these lazy, vague and indecisive people fill the ships, trains, trucks, planes, oil pipelines, gas pipelines,

The way in which we are trapped in the world capitalist economy is by playing the obligatory role of a dependent mine, that is, we do not have our own decision, because we are connected to a mode of production that decides what role we play in the world concert, not only in the economy. and finance, but in the field of culture in general.

The politicians, the business elites that were formed and are still being formed on this continent, are elites of European origin and settled here as administrators of the mines, then their descendants ended up staying and conforming as an elite but always hating this territory and its people. and longing to live as great gentlemen abroad.

When the material conditions of existence of colonialism on the continent changed and capitalism was established after the wars of independence, these elites who stayed behind sent their children to train in Europe first and then in the United States as businessmen, athletes, artists, professionals, politicians, academics, scientists, who copied not only knowledge but all prejudices to the letter, reaching the point of wanting to apply theories such as washing or purifying blood, bringing European men to clean the blood of Indians, blacks or mestizos and riveting the story of the inferiority of race behaved in blacks, Indians and mestizos.

After the appearance of the oil trade, the United States was very well positioned, and it was when they directly issued and put into practice the so-called law of the big stick brandished by the North American president Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, with the slogan "America for the Americans": for North Americans, of course. In other words, the United States became the owner of this continent, turning it into its backyard, "everything that exists is mine", no other power (in this case, Europe) can get a hand in it, and it begins to control the resources of these mines that before they had been controlled by Europe.

So, these elites were formed under this circuit, under the tutelage of academic, artistic, sports, political, philosophical and of course business power, imitating Western humanist culture. The entire business-political direction of this continent will be formed in Europe first and then the last 100 years in the United States under the protection of the two great North American parties, Republican or Democratic. All right-wing politicians drink from those waters; the left, with honorable exceptions, almost all of it has been co-opted by the intelligence mechanisms, whether they call themselves Israelis, Americans, English, or other security forces, whether they are from Spain, France, or Germany, and they work furtively, some shamelessly and others without knowing it , because they give them prizes, positions, scholarships,

When Bolívar raised the idea of ​​creating a great nation or a conjunction of nations, of countries, going from California to Patagonia, it was because he understood that a political-legal-business revolution was taking place, that is, the bourgeois revolution in the world. , where the traditional forms of exploitation known as colonial feudalism tended to disappear and the great powers and their corporations would prevail. That the only way to confront that was to become an independent nation, a union of independent nations that would create a balance in the correlation of forces, so that they could not invade us, because he explained very well that the United States was growing and that it was not going to stop in those 13 provinces.

In fact, the United States had already bought France, in 1800, for 15 million dollars, the entire colony of Louisiana, including New Orleans, and not 100 years have passed since then when it became the owner of half of Mexico; He takes California and Florida from the Spanish and takes over Puerto Rico; He bought the Isthmus of Panama from Colombia at gunpoint for $25,000 and annexed Guantánamo in Cuba; From there, invasions, blackmail, submission, abusive contracts and divide and conquer are institutionalized in the new recolonization that capitalist industry imposes on this continent.

From now on, there is no possibility of unifying or creating a common plan between these mines, because each mine works separately and generates elite interests in each mine, who only care about their own plate of food. Argentines, Chileans, Venezuelans, Colombians, Cubans, everyone sticking their heads in their food plate, nobody is interested in the neighbor, but that their food plate is more full than the neighbor's. Why? Because the transnationals, through criminal investments, keep a cigarette stuck in each mine and suck and release crumbs. Those crumbs are the ones that are absorbed by the business, political, artistic, religious, academic, and professional elites; What they want is for the cigarettes that are in the other mines to enter theirs, so that they have more crumbs.

The Chevron case is the best example that we are not economically independent. The difference is that the Venezuelan government has a political intention to break the chains that bind us to the carousel of human capitalism. There are some people, either out of ignorance, fear, hunger or because they simply belong to the puppet suitcase of world capitalism, who throw stones at the decisions of the Venezuelan government, accusing it of wanting to give oil to the transnationals, as if they never in 100 years the oil would have been given away to those corporations, and those presidents who tried to negotiate under other conditions were overthrown by the capitalists. Even Commander Chávez was removed for the same reason.


For all these doomsayers who want everything to go wrong so they can keep their plate of food, we must tell them that this, like the other governments of these mines where we live, has its hands tied, and some even their brains, because the contracts that maintain dependency are not only technological or legal, but are also supported by the firepower of human capitalism. Everyone wants the government not to negotiate with the imperial power, but no one wonders where the state-of-the-art weapons industry is controlled by the Venezuelan nation to combat the armies of the imperial power, where the nuclear bombs, where the hypersonic missiles, where the electromagnetic weapons, where the great and complex propaganda apparatus, where the Internet itself,

Or are the Russians or Chinese snoring because their thyroids are screwed up? No, it is because they are in conditions of military superiority with respect to Europe and the United States, and that allows them to say to the lords of controlled chaos "you can not impose any prices on me unless you are willing to murder your peoples in the name of the money".

The Venezuelan government tries to overcome the conditions of vassalage with dignity and this has led us to suffer everything we already know, because world capitalism does not want to allow us to be independent and to be able to do with the existing resources in the territory what we deem convenient for the population.

Every once in a while a president like Chávez appears, who says "we are going to unify Latin America", and all the scavenger elites attend the call but it is to see what they can suck from the other vassals. The pod becomes demagogic because nobody is interested, everyone wants to be part of it, it is for the photography, so it is convenient for each president, that they see that he is doing international politics, but they do all this so that they give him more silver, to make the job easier for the common enemy. A president of that who is a CIA militant goes and informs the agency or they simply drag contradictions to disrupt such a union, such a call, in this case to screw Chávez, Maduro or Fidel Castro.

That is the role that all these political leaders play; then, unity will never be possible with the existence of these vassal elites, that is the pure truth. That is where the problem comes from overcoming unity as a mere declarative, demagogic fact, which only serves to make the elites bomb inside each of their mine-countries, making the slaves believe that they work tirelessly for us.

The loneliness of each one of the mines is the constant, where the union is an ideological fact that only serves for grandiose speeches and for a gang of female, male and LGBT+ criminals to live at the expense of their peers in each territory-mine in where they work hard to defend the interests of their foreign masters, call them transnationals, corporations or investors. As long as these elites are fighting over the same plate of food, the usual investors will keep us subdued, no longer with the sword and the cross, but with the eternal debt that they force us to carry from generation to generation until the absolute ruin of the future.

The thing is that there really are investors-invaders who, in the name of the crown, the power, the transnational, the corporation or the empire this or that, have been invading and looting for 500 years, murdering everyone who gets in their way. in front of. Regardless of what they destroy or not, their goal will always be loot. This situation generates relations between the invaded and the invaders. The first thing is that elites settle in each territory, initially made up of representatives of the investor-invaders; This elite is made up of mediocre artists, intellectuals, scientists, academics, politicians, soldiers, professionals, cerebral eunuchs in general, who over time feeds on even more castrated Creole descendants, until the origins are lost in time and we end up believing that the internal elites are Creoles and we call them internal or national bourgeoisies, when they really are crumb pickers and repressors of their own peers, without understanding that ideologically (whether they were born in the country or not) territory) are foreigners who defend the interests of the invaders-investors. But not only that, but that ideological belief extends to the slaves that produce surplus value directly, who end up preaching and assuming that we can also be powerful like the masters. without understanding that ideologically (whether they were born in the territory or not) they are foreigners who defend the interests of the invaders-investors. But not only that, but that ideological belief extends to the slaves that produce surplus value directly, who end up preaching and assuming that we can also be powerful like the masters. without understanding that ideologically (whether they were born in the territory or not) they are foreigners who defend the interests of the invaders-investors. But not only that, but that ideological belief extends to the slaves that produce surplus value directly, who end up preaching and assuming that we can also be powerful like the masters.

Since the invaders or bankers or insurers financed the invasion of these lands and Africa and imposed their vision of the world and their culture of crime and looting on us. Since then, unity has become impossible other than the imitation of getting together to see how the different slave elites who govern in the name of their investors-invaders on duty who loot from time to time and from time to time are sold to the highest bidder, it is tell, always, to the people and the territory to see what crumbs they collect after the crime against their own fellow men.

They do not work for everyone, because they have the beliefs or ideologies that their masters have instilled in them. For example, the idea that the workers or the poor are a natural fact that should be used as merchandise to generate wealth without understanding or drooling over the true nature of the exploitation of the entire species, to maintain the current system that, as we know, feeds on everything alive in order to exist and that as long as it tries to produce more with its same tools to increase the plate of food where the owners eat with a large spoon, and with a smaller one their lackeys or Butlers who submit to us will only increase the size of the owners' plate of food, while we fall for the crumbs they leave in each country-mine, giving continuity to what already exists.

It is not with ideology but with truths that we are going to get out of the quagmire into which the capitalists and their mediocre lackeys have plunged us, who are not brutes, on the contrary, they are very intelligent; and like rum, each one has their style in the regions, and they know how far they can go. That is why they never put the big spoon in the owners' plate, but in that of the crumbs of the poor. These elites made up of small-time swindlers who live in all regions of the states and international organizations doing the dirty work for transnationals in all areas from war to the environment, these elites who don't care about being progressive, communists, socialists, progressives, ecology, NGOs, democrats, center-left or right, ultra-radical left or right, artists, academics,

The very clear thing with these dragged elites is that they will never, ever, put themselves at the service of the subjugated species, whatever they say, however they speak, be it in Sanskrit or gibberish, they will always, always, be at the service of the masters of the world, be it in Africa, Asia, America, Oceania, Europe; from the UN or any of its derivations, these bureaucratic officials will be betraying their territories and their people, therefore, let us never think that any unity will be achieved with them, because they always have the sharpened dagger to stick it into those who get out of the script of the habladera of straw in favor of the poor and evicted.

All international organizations are infested with this mediocre misery that wears the guise of intellectual, expert, scientific, wise, learned, hunting for opportunity, fighting like hyenas for the piece of carrion that from time to time the owners throw at them, who at their Sometimes they hate them for bootlicking, and thus they treat them as disposable beings, that from being so vile or servile, sometimes someone wins the lottery of having a drink with an owner and nothing more.

Intellectuals, businessmen, politicians, artists, each with their own language and actions, have been a reinforcement of the humanist culture in these territories where every day the idea of ​​mine is strengthened and there is zero possibility of being the necessary collective we, but rather Ridiculous individualism is promoted but in extreme poverty, imitating every intellectual product that emerges and becomes fashionable in the West. Like imitating monkeys, these puppets and marionettes lend themselves to the play in search of prizes, contests, conferences, scholarships, trips or diplomatic positions, even some fifth-columns disguised as chavistas privately laugh at us and, of course, at Chávez and Maduro because, according to their wisdom,

This absence of a substantial and transcendent perspective has not allowed them and will not allow them to envision the need to be others in another culture, because they are convinced that no other thought is possible, no other way of living than the humanist one, even those who condemn it. from the capitalist mode of production, because they perceive it to be mismanaged by bad men who do not like the poor. They do not understand that if anyone knows of our importance in this world it is the capitalists, because they know that without us as slaves they would not be possible, not only because we produce all the merchandise that makes them rich, but also because we buy it from them.


South America is a continent almost in the hands of controlled chaos. With the exception of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, all other countries are destroyed as states or under siege by transnationals. It is no secret to anyone that Venezuela and its Bolivarian government currently represent an oasis of dignity in the world, it is a country that has a plan and a diplomacy not only for itself but also for other peoples, because it understands that leaving Going forward means leaving the barracks in which we slaves have always been stowed away and starting to look at our neighbors looking for ways to use resources for the collective benefit.

For this we need a team that generates knowledge based on their own needs to increase the diverse food plate in each territory and that helps each dish to be substantial and fair for all the inhabitants. Stop believing in the political businessmen, artists, academics, intellectuals, scientists, generals of each country, who tell us that on the same plate we can eat the crumbs that the invader-investor leaves behind and not continue believing at face value all the stupidity disguised as a cathedral or absolute wisdom emitted by failed economists, administrators, experts in other countries that governments keep hiring to advise their own.

Unity can never start from that principle of ideologically distributing a plate of food, but in being diverse in the different plates of food, where working together means that we strengthen the various plates of food in each territory. When we say food, it means clothing, health, knowledge, entertainment, art, for everyone who needs it and not repowering the old capitalist industrial apparatus that only makes us fatten the old debts with which we have been subjected.

Unity is looking for mechanisms that show us how we are, different from the invaders-investors, that our interests are radically different from the interests of those who have been robbing us for 500 years. That it is not possible to get out of poverty if we do not understand that it is not with help or by repeating the eternal economic plans of economists who study past books that have only served to hide the true reason for the exploitation of our territories.

Unity is that politics be carried out with the peoples of each of these mines, understanding ourselves as participatory protagonists, that common policies be generated that can link the peoples of these mines and from there, consider then the possibility of a common plan where resources become common, concepts become common, philosophy becomes common, the mode of production becomes common, production relations become common among peoples. But first we have to get rid of the elites in each territory. The peoples have to come together based on the collective interest; It is the only way that we can get rid of the dominance of the great transnational capitalism in this continent, there is no other option, the rest is demagogy, it is straw talk, it is spending money from each mine to satisfy the ego of each internal leader of each mine. That is the real truth.

There will never be unity under existing conditions. That letter that they sent to Maduro is pure straw from demagogues, unemployed looking for salaries. Those who sign the letter are sworn enemies of Chávez and Maduro, and therefore of us as a people. None of them came together, in fact, they even went so far as to jerk off Chávez and Maduro, they distanced themselves and they all kept their mouths shut, and when the verguero caught on they left their wigs. Nobody dared to speak well of Maduro in 2016-17-18-19-20-21, and now, how come you love Maduro overnight, what is that, where does all that come from? Ah, from the little trickle that they are going to get, or they think they are going to get, because Maduro is gaining importance at this moment, because he is the only one who can move a vigorous economy on the continent, because none of them can do it,

They are simply defeated from the brain, they have no ability to face. The only one that has the capacity to confront it is the Venezuelan government, which is strong despite the great beating. It is standing still and speaking with its own voice, while these elites do not have a political plan to get out of the quagmire into which human capitalism has plunged them, because their economic measures are the same old recipes or formulas as always, elaborated by techno-bureaucrats to defend finance and the capitalist economy, rehabilitation of banks, companies and other institutions that have never worked, as long as it is not the same as always, sinking us into the greatest poverty. Now they look at Venezuela because they know that the country is going to be strengthened, because Venezuela plays a fundamental strategic role in this continent in all senses: historical, philosophical, economic, political. So, that's why these guys are rushing over here to lick Maduro's boot.

COMMENTS FOR THE BEGINNING

Comment 1. There are some colleagues who are concerned because President Maduro was asked to take charge of the Unasur unit, but there is no need to worry because this suitcase of puppets does not make decisions to write an original letter on their own. This letter is a cut and paste from a political laboratory that seeks to create confusion in the face of the events that are currently occurring. The points of the letter are a dusted copy of the old formulas with which they always ended up closing their businesses in favor of the transnationals, the old and today revamped techno-bureaucrats who have always charged well for their felonies against the peoples of the world, so that the bad intention of the letter is not the work of the mediocre but of the plans of the owners of the puppet house.

Comment 2. We South Americans and Caribbeans must ask ourselves: Unity between whom and for what? Today that the great planetary slit is open, these questions are timely, and only we can give you answers. It is time for us to have our own interests so as not to be confused with the interests of the owners and their puppets, the elites that control the states and institutions that are used for our submission. The case of Haiti is pathetic. From this same continent, officials and governments lend themselves to doing the dirty work of the human capitalist empire that for more than 200 years has been taking revenge for the defeat that the Haitians inflicted on the French, English and Spanish.

Comment 3. "Unity, unity, unity!" is the cry that is shouted with frenzy from all the elitist corners of the South American continent. All united against the wolf that wants to devour us, but there is always a but. It turns out that those who scream unity like frightened chickens are the same ones who, until recently, wanted to immolate on the pyre of the empire who are now being asked to take charge of "unity, unity, unity, take charge, face the wolf, sacrifice yourself for we businessmen, politicians, the wise, who have had the courage to come to request your help".

The radical and daring people who think of themselves will come out stronger after the great war for control of the planet that the capitalist forces are waging today.

https://misionverdad.com/chavismo/la-un ... condominio

Google Translator

**************************

The Volatility of US Hegemony in Latin America – The Pink Tide Surges, 2018-2022 (Part 1)
DECEMBER 3, 2022

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Map of the Western Hemisphere with South America colored in red, an “Uncle Sam” can be seen in a corner pointing at it. Photo: Prensa Latina.

By Roger D. Harris – Dec 1, 2022

Latin America and the Caribbean have again began to take on a becoming pink complexion, all the more so with June’s historic electoral victory in Colombia over the country’s long-dominant US-backed rightwing and a similar reverse in Brazil in October. These electoral rejections of the rightwing followed left victories last year in Peru, Honduras, and Chile. And those, in turn, came after similar routs in Bolivia in 2020, Argentina in 2019, and Mexico in 2018.

This electoral wave, according to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, speaking at the Climate Summit in November, “open[s] a new geopolitical age to Latin America.” This “Pink Tide” challenges US hemispheric hegemony, whose pedigree dates back to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine.

The tidal surge
The metaphor of the “Pink Tide” aptly describes the ebb and flow of the ongoing class conflict between the minions of imperialism and the region’s popular forces. Back in 1977, the region was dominated by the “rule of the generals.” The infamous US Operation Condor supported explicit military dictatorships in all of South America, except for Colombia and Venezuela, and in much of Central America.

Then the tide began to turn with the election of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela in 1998. By 2008, almost the entire region was in the pink with the notable exceptions of Colombia, Mexico, and a few others. A decade later, a conservative backlash left Uruguay, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, and a lonely handful of other states on the progressive side. But that was to change by midyear 2018.

Mexico
The first blush of pink to the current wave dates back to July 1, 2018, with Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s landslide victory in Mexico. Many believe his two previous runs at the presidency were stolen from him. Affectionately known by the acronym AMLO, his broad coalition under the newly formed MORENA party swept national, state, and municipal offices and ended 36 years of neoliberal rule.

Mexico’s list to the left was significant. It is the second largest economy in the region and the thirteenth in the world. Mexico is the second largest US trading partner after Canada and before China.

AMLO has made important foreign policy initiatives independent, in fact defiant, of the US. He conspicuously invited Venezuelan President Maduro as a guest of honor to a major Mexican holiday celebration. When Biden called a “democracy summit” for the hemisphere last June but did not invite Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, AMLO boldly led a boycott, which largely sabotaged the affair. And AMLO has been a strong proponent of regional integration promoting CELAC and other multi-national institutions.

Argentina
A year after AMLO’s ascendency, the rightist Mauricio Macri was replaced by the left Peronist Alberto Fernández on October 27, 2019. The flip from right to left was a repudiation of Macri’s subservience to the IMF and austerity economic policies, which had generated mass opposition.

Bolivia
Two weeks after the election in Argentina, the left suffered a major body blow on November 10, 2019, when a coup overthrew leftist President Evo Morales in Bolivia. The coup was backed by the US with the complicity of the Organization of American States (OAS) under the leadership of Luis Almagro, a sycophant to the Yankees.

Evo, as he is popularly called, was the first indigenous president in the majority indigenous country. He barely escaped the coup violence when a plane supplied by AMLO whisked him to safety in Mexico.

Evo’s vindication came a year later on October 18, 2020, when his fellow Movement to Socialism (MAS) Party member Luis Arce won back the presidency by a landslide. Evo then returned from exile and has since played an international role as a spokesperson on climate change, regional integration, indigenous rights, and other left issues.

Perú
Then seven months later, a person from a Marxist-Leninist party took the presidency in Peru on June 6, 2021. When the rural schoolteacher and strike leader Pedro Castillo emerged as one of the two contenders in the first presidential election round, he was virtually unknown. The international press even struggled to find a photo of the future president.

Castillo won the final election round against the hard right Keiko Fujimori. Castillo’s victory spelled the end of the Lima Group, a coalition of anti-Venezuela countries. Strategically, the Pacific rim of South America, which had previously been entirely populated by rightwing US allies, now had a leftist in its midst.

Nicaragua
The left trend was further consolidated five months after the success in Peru when the ruling Sandinista Party (FSLN) in Nicaragua swept the national elections on November 7, 2021. A year later on November 6, 2022, the Sandinistas were further affirmed with a sweep of the municipal elections.

Nicaragua had been recovering from a violent unsuccessful coup attempt in 2018 involving the Catholic Church and other rightwing elements. Having failed to achieve regime change by helping to instigate and back the coup, the US has since tightened the economic screws on the third poorest state in the hemisphere ratcheting up unilateral coercive measures.

Despite the illegal US sanctions designed to punish its people, the socialist government has done so much with so little. Nicaragua’s 8.3% economic growth during the pandemic is among the highest in the region and indeed the world.

Nicaragua is the safest in the entire region and among the safest internationally. Education and healthcare are free. With the best roads in Central America, the previously neglected and isolated Caribbean coast is now more fully integrated with the rest of the country. And an unsurpassed 30% of the national territory is in autonomous zones for indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples. Contrary to US propaganda, polls show President Daniel Ortega is popular with his constituents.

Venezuela
Then two weeks after the left electoral affirmation in Nicaragua, the same was repeated in Venezuela. The ruling Socialist Party (PSUV) swept the regional and legislative elections on November 21, 2021.

Although the US and a handful of its most sycophantic allies still recognize the Trump-anointed Juan Guaidó as “interim president” of Venezuela, the vast majority of states accept Nicolás Maduro as the lawful president. The hapless Mr. Guaidó has the highest disapproval ratings among potential opposition candidates for the 2024 presidential election. While polls show that if a snap election were called, Maduro would win.

Meanwhile, Biden, under pressure to ease fuel shortages of its own making, is ever so slightly easing Trump’s draconian sanctions. Chevron is resuming limited operations in Venezuela and some of Venezuela’s $20 billion of “kidnapped” assets in foreign banks are being released for humanitarian projects.

Honduras
Just a week after the Venezuela election, the sweetest left triumph was achieved. Xiomara Castro became the first woman elected to the presidency in the history of Honduras on December 1, 2021. Her husband, Manuel Zelaya, had been overthrown in a coup on June 28, 2009, that was orchestrated by US President Barak Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Castro replaced over twelve years of “nacro dictatorship,” a well-deserved opprobrium that is confirmed by the US government itself. Back in 2009, the facts were so clear that even the accomplice Obama had to admit Zelaya was ousted in a “coup,” though he weaseled that wasn’t a “military” coup.

The US then backed a succession of illegitimate presidents, including the most recent past President Juan Orlando Hernández, with generous military, financial, and political support. Even the OAS, which is essentially an arm of the US masquerading as a multi-national body, questioned the validity of his election. Then once Castro won, “JOH” was quickly extradited to the US and thrown into prison for importing vast quantities to cocaine to the US.

Formerly known as the “USS Honduras” for its role as the US surrogate in Central America, the new Castro presidency will be charting a new course for Honduras.

NATO in the Amazon: Petro Plays with Fire



Chile
Less than two weeks after the defeat of the right in Honduras, Gabriel Boric won the Chilean presidency on December 19, 2021, campaigning under the slogan “neoliberalism was born in Chile and here it will die.” He replaced the rightist Sebastián Piñera who, incidentally, was the richest person in Chile.

A former student leader turned politician, the 36-year-old Boric came out of the mass anti-neoliberal protests of 2019 and 2021, which mobilized a significant portion of Chile’s population. Boric had beaten the Communist Party candidate in the progressive Apruebo Dignidad coalition primary and went on the defeat José Antonio Kast in the presidential election.

To call Kast a far rightist would be an understatement. Sometimes leftist rhetoric too loosely accuses opponents of being fascists. In the case of Kast and his politically active brothers, however, the term is perfectly apt. Their father came from Germany and was an actual member of the Nazi Party.

Colombia
What happened next was truly historical. Former leftist guerilla (since moderated toward the center-left) Gustavo Petro and his VP Francia Márquez, an Afro-descendent environmentalist, were the first progressives to ever win in Colombia on June 19th of this year. Their Pacto Histórico coalition had come out of the immense popular protests of 2019 and 2020, which featured indigenous and Afro-descendent participation.

Colombia, formerly known as the “Israel of Latin America,” had long been the leading US regional client state and the largest recipient of US military aid in the hemisphere. This election promises to upset that role and break with the influential rightwing former President Álvaro Uribe and his successors.

Outgoing rightist President Iván Duque also made history as Colombia’s least popular president. He immediately joined the rightist Wilson Center in Washington, changing job titles but not, in effect, employers.

Brazil
Colombia was a huge splash in the region, but what ensued in Brazil was a crashing tidal wave of global proportions.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known colloquially simply as Lula, was first elected in 2003 and left the presidency in 2010 with soaring popularity ratings. He was succeeded by fellow Workers’ Party member Dilma Rousseff, who was reelected in 2014. Two years later, the right-dominated legislature used “lawfare” to oust her from office.

Lula was then a victim of lawfare himself. Although the most popular would-be presidential candidate, he spent April 2018 to November 2019 in prison. This allowed Jair “Trump of the Tropics” Bolsonaro to assume the presidency. Then in a spectacular comeback, Lula beat Bolsonaro in the next presidential contest on October 31, 2022.

Sea change in Latin America and the Caribbean
The progressive electoral victories decisively tip the regional geopolitical balance to the portside. The rank order by size of the largest regional economies is Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Peru – all of which are now on the left side of the ledger. Brazil’s is the eighth largest economy in the world.

Brazil’s inclusion in the BRICS transcontinental alliance foreshadows an emerging international multipolar independence from the west. Originally including Russia, India, China, and South Africa, BRICS+ may expand to include Argentina, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and others.

Lula campaigned on creating a regional currency, the SUR. Maduro, too, has called for a regional currency, which would challenge US dollar dominance.

Lula, Maduro, and their fellow travelers promise to be a spokespersons for the poor at home, for regional integration (reviving UNASUR and reinforcing MERCOSUR), and internationally for multilateralism (addressing climate change and possibly even helping to broker a peace in Ukraine).

To be continued…
Part II addresses the explicitly socialist countries (Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua), the lessons of Haiti, and the emerging role of China.

https://orinocotribune.com/the-volatili ... 22-part-1/

*************

Government of Peru denies alleged coup plans


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The Peruvian government "absolutely" rejected that it is plotting a closure of Congress to avoid a vacancy for President Castillo. | Photo: EFE / Presidency of Peru
Published December 4, 2022

The Peruvian head of state issued a statement to ratify his commitment "to democracy, the rule of law and the Constitution".

The Government of Peru expressed this Saturday its respect for democratic principles and asked the population not to fall into speculation "about the alleged breakdown of the constitutional order."

"The Government is respectful of democratic principles, which is why we call on all good Peruvians not to fall into speculation about an alleged breach of the constitutional order," the Council of Ministers said in a statement posted on its Twitter account. .

"The Executive reiterates its absolute respect for all the powers of the State," added the tweet.

This Saturday, Peruvian opposition sectors spread the rumor of an alleged coup d'état and affirmed that the Government of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo would be planning the closure of Parliament, to avoid an eventual dismissal of the president.


Congressmen from the South American country are scheduled to discuss next Wednesday a third vacancy motion (removal) against Castillo for alleged moral incapacity.

The Peruvian head of state used his Twitter account this Saturday to declare that "at a difficult time for the country, with a crisis due to the fifth wave of the pandemic, I ratify my commitment to democracy, the rule of law and the Constitution" .


"I strongly reject that my government is plotting a closure of Congress to avoid a vacancy," said the president.

Castillo called on Parliament and all institutions "to the broadest unity to work together for a country that needs us together to solve its great problems and for which we have been democratically elected for a period of 5 years."

This Saturday the Minister of Defense, Daniel Barragán, presented his irrevocable resignation to the president for personal reasons, however, the news was used by right-wing sectors to spread the rumor that Castillo would be planning an alleged coup in order to avoid his dismissal.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-gob ... -0004.html

It ain't looking good. Castillo is a good guy but was obviously unprepared for the savage opposition he faces. 'Popular' ain't enough, the capitalists murder popular leaders like swatting flies. Johnny Unitas has a word of advice for President Castillo, "The best defense is a good offence."
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:34 pm

Peru: A Reactionary Coup is Consummated
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on DECEMBER 9, 2022
Gustavo Espinoza Montesinos

Image

This Wednesday was a particularly complicated day in Peru. In a few hours the ultra-right partially achieved its goal: to overthrow the government of Pedro Castillo and open the way to a new scenario in national life, in which it can preserve its privileges and recover its positions of power, in some way questioned by the regime established as of July 28 last year.

After a few hours of tension, Dina Boluarte, the Vice-President of the Republic, was installed as head of State and called for the “unity of all Peruvians”.

This outcome was somewhat unexpected. And it was precipitated because Castillo himself made what could be called a leap into the void. Without coordinating with anyone, without seeking the support of the social and mass organizations, without the support of the Armed Forces or of the political collectives with progressive and advanced positions, he decided to establish an Emergency Government, dissolving the other branches of government.

This surprised the citizens and the popular movement as a whole, and was responded to by the most reactionary sectors of national life.

The Congress of the Republic, which was to discuss today the vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic, for which it could not count on the 87 votes required, saw its task made easier. In the new scenario, 101 congressmen joined the vacancy proposal, with only 6 votes against and 9 abstentions.

There was a possibility that the reaction would pressure Dina Boluarte to resign as Vice President, in which case the power would immediately pass to the President of Congress, former General José Williams Zapata. This pressure did not exist, and in the afternoon, the first woman to be sworn in as President of the Republic was sworn in.

Dina Boluarte has made a call for “national unity”, understood as the sum of all the political forces acting in the Peruvian scenario. We will see what will be the composition of her first Ministerial Cabinet.

For the time being, the Peruvian ultra-right has sung victory. It is aware that it has managed to get rid of a president it detested and wanted to overthrow since the beginning of his administration. However, it has not been able to fully impose itself. Although Dina Boluarte is not a “militant of the left”, she cannot be compared to Jannine Añez, the Bolivian who replaced Evo Morales in La Paz.

It is not foreseeable, however, that she will follow Castillo’s path, nor that she will engage in any popular battle. She will try to “ride the wave” until 2026, trying not to be devoured by the Mafia on the prowl.

From this accumulation of circumstances, some lessons can be deduced. Let’s see:

Castillo represented a Popular, Democratic and Progressive Government. He could not be considered, by the way, neither leftist, revolutionary nor socialist. It was not indispensable for the Left to support him in terms of personal adhesion, but to help him in his administration for the fulfillment of his Unity Program, subscribed by all the forces of the popular movement, which would give him victory in June 2021.

He led a weak, precarious and largely inconsistent government. In truth, he did not manage to govern because from the first day he was harassed by an intense campaign of hatred unleashed against him by the traditional oligarchic nuclei. He never counted on the real collaboration of the left -which he sought very little- and he surrounded himself with a group of very questionable “advisors” who finally became evident for their ineptitude and corruption. By their actions, he was severely compromised.

Randomly, Castillo reacted belatedly to the enemy’s campaign. In doing so, he opted for the path of “direct dealings” between himself and the populations of the interior of the country, ignoring the natural links created by the popular movement itself. Moreover, his “collaborators” acted outside the masses because they did not come from the heart of the people either.

That is why he could not realize the real situation, nor perceive his political isolation. He thought that by relying on people who could “scare” his enemies, he could neutralize them, and that did not happen.

In this way it was confirmed that it is not possible to lead a process of change without forging the unity of the popular movement, without organizing the masses and politicizing them. Nor, turning our backs on their struggles.

The future of the country is at risk. In the interior there will undoubtedly be mobilizations in support of the deposed President. Their fear of them was what induced their reaction not to assume power directly, but to accept Dina Boluarte as a “mediator”, but she has neither a Party nor an organized force to back her up. It is foreseeable that she will have even greater difficulties than Castillo in the perspective.

It is foreseeable that the new administration will register negative changes. The media, which claimed to be on the verge of bankruptcy for not receiving subsidies from the State, will obtain juicy compensations. But both will not change their attitude. They will continue their struggle against the people so that greater difficulties are foreseen in the future.

In terms of foreign policy, this will also be felt. A “cooling” of ties with some sister countries is foreseeable, especially Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, or even Cuba; because the ultra-right will continue its campaign against them.

In other words, the battle of the Peruvians will be harder and more difficult, but it will have to be faced.

Resumen Latinonamericano – Buenos Aires

President Maduro Slams Lima’s Oligarchy for Taking out Castillo

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President Nicolas Maduro spoke about the developments in Peru before a massive crowd at the end of a march to commemorate “Day of Love and Loyalty to Comandante Hugo Chavez”. Today the country honors the late leader of the Bolivarian Revolution on the tenth anniversary of his final address to the Venezuelan people. Below is a transcript of the President’s remarks.

“The Peruvian people elected a teacher to the presidency, Pedro Castillo. And from the first moment of the election they didn’t want to recognize his triumph. In the end, forced by reality, they had to recognize his triumph as president. And once sworn in on July 28, 2021, the conspiracy for a parliamentary coup begins and the attack begins.


The attrition. Vote of no confidence against ministers. Against the heads of the cabinet. A permanent harassment. Until they took him away. Blow by blow. Harassment, in a parliamentary, political and judicial persecution without limit, they took him to the extreme of trying to dissolve the Congress of Peru. All the circumstances we’ve seen. They are the oligarchic elites that wont allow a simple teacher to reach the presidency of Peru and try to govern for the people.

This is the message the extreme right is sending to the popular movements, to the progressive movements. We are not going to let them govern. But from Venezuela we say to the extreme right in Venezuela: You will not return. They will not return.

All of the right-wing has attacked the president, former president Pedro Castillo, and now comes the stage of humiliation. Now they are going to humiliate him.

Imprisonment. They want him sentenced to 30 years in jail. The oligarchy of Lima, accustomed to do whatever it wants. The same oligarchy that persecuted Sucre and disregarded his glories. The same oligarchy that persecuted Bolivar and disregarded his glory. It’s the same oligarchy of Lima that takes out its claw and completes its task. We do not interfere in the internal affairs of any country.

I only make a reflection and I hope that the Peruvian people, within the framework of its Constitution, will sooner rather than later achieve its path of liberation, its path of true democracy, its path of happiness and full realization. Peace for Peru! Democracy for Peru! Equality for Peru! Justice for Peru! We Bolivarians ask from South America with our love.”

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/12/ ... nsummated/

The first section is a good summing up.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Mon Dec 19, 2022 3:24 pm

25 Peruvians Murdered in a Week of Intense Repression

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The sign reads, "Terrorists are the lawmakers and the Lima City's press." | Photo: Twitter/ @mario_campa

Published 19 December 2022

The departments where these deaths occurred were Ayacucho (9), Apurimac (6), Cusco (3), Junin (3), La Libertad (3), and Arequipa (1).


On Sunday, Peru's Health Ministry acknowledged that 25 people have died during the protests against President Dina Boluarte and in favor of an immediate call for general elections.

According to official data, the departments where these deaths occurred were Ayacucho (9), Apurimac (6), Cusco (3), Junin (3), La Libertad (3), and Arequipa (1).

The Health ministry also reported 287 injured people who have already been discharged. They are distributed as follows: Apurimac (56), Ayacucho (45), Lima (37), La Libertad (36), Arequipa (35) , Junin (35), Cusco (16), Puno (15), and Huancavelica (12).

Nevertheless, 69 people remain hospitalized in Ayacucho (20), Junin (17), La Libertad (12), Ucayali (6), Apurimac (5), Lima (4), Arequipa (4), and Huancavelica (1).


The tweet reads, "Are those international artists who criticized the Cuban government's 'repression' in 2021 doing the same today against the repression in Peru? Where are they? The difference is that the military and police did not leave 24 dead in Cuba as they are already in Peru. Culture at the order of the Empire."

Boluarte announced that the Public Ministry and the Military Justice would investigate the death of civilians during the social protests.

On Tuesday, she will appoint new officials to replace the president of the Council of Ministers and the ministers of education and culture, who resigned on Dec. 16 after stating their disagreement with the violent repression of the population.

Peruvians have been staging huge protests since Dec. 7, when Congress appointed Dina Boluarte as president after removing Pedro Castillo, who is currently sentenced to 18 months in preventive prison for rebellion. Mexico will grant political asylum to his family.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/25- ... -0001.html

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The US Egged on the Coup in Peru
DECEMBER 18, 2022

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Police detain an activist calling for the return of deposed president Pedro Castillo. Photo: Juan Zapata.

By Vijay Prashad and José Carlos Llerena Robles — Dec 15, 2022

The US swiftly legitimized last week’s coup against President Pedro Castillo, the culmination of Fujimori-led attempts to destabilize his government.

On 7 December 2022, Pedro Castillo sat in his office on what would be the last day of his presidency of Peru. His lawyers went over spreadsheets that showed Castillo would triumph over a motion in Congress to remove him. This was going to be the third time that Castillo faced a challenge from the Congress, but his lawyers and advisers – including former prime minister Anibal Torres – told him that he held an advantage over the Congress in opinion polls (his approval rating had risen to 31 percent, while that of the Congress was just about 10 percent).

Castillo had been under immense pressure for the past year from an oligarchy that disliked this former teacher. In a surprise move, he announced to the press on 7 December that he was going to “temporarily dissolve the Congress and [establish] an exceptional emergency government.” This measure sealed his fate. Castillo and his family rushed toward the Mexican embassy in Lima but were arrested by the military along Avenida España before they could get there.

Why did Pedro Castillo take the fatal step of trying to dissolve Congress when it was clear to his advisers – such as Luis Alberto Mendieta – that he would prevail in the afternoon vote?

The pressure got to Castillo, despite the evidence. Ever since his election in July 2021, his opponent in the presidential election, Keiko Fujimori, and her associates have tried to block his ascension to the presidency. She worked with men who have close ties with the US government and its intelligence agencies. A member of Fujimori’s team, Fernando Rospigliosi, for instance, had in 2005 tried to involve the US embassy in Lima against Ollanta Humala, who contested in the 2006 Peruvian presidential election. Vladimiro Montesinos, a former CIA asset who is serving time in a prison in Peru, sent messages to Pedro Rejas, a former commander in Peru’s army, to go to the US Embassy and talk with the embassy intelligence officer, to try and influence the 2021 Peruvian presidential election.

Just before the election, the United States sent a former CIA agent, Lisa Kenna, as its ambassador to Lima. She met Peru’s Minister of Defence, Gustavo Bobbio, on 6 December and sent a denunciatory tweet against Castillo’s move to dissolve Congress the next day (on 8 December, the US government – through Ambassador Kenna – recognized Peru’s new government after Castillo’s removal).

A key figure in the pressure campaign appears to have been Mariano Alvarado, operations officer of the Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG), who functions effectively as the US Defence attaché. We are told that officials such as Alvarado, who are in close contact with the Peruvian military generals, gave them the green light to move against Castillo. It is being said that the last phone call that Castillo took before he left the presidential palace came from the US embassy. It is likely he was warned to flee to the embassy of a friendly power, which made him appear weak.

https://orinocotribune.com/the-us-egged ... p-in-peru/

Demonstrators Occupy Airports in Response to Coup in Peru
DECEMBER 13, 2022

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Protesters show their disapproval of the recent coup against Pedro Castillo. Photo: Sputnik.

December 13, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—According to officials appointed by the coup regime, demonstrators calling for the closure of Congress and the release of President Pedro Castillo took over the international airport in Arequipa, Peru. More than two thousand civilians occupied the terminal in Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city, and blocked the highway, demanding the immediate resignation of acting President Dina Boluarte.

As a result, all flights at Alfredo Rodríguez Ballón International Airport were cancelled. The company that manages the airport, Aeropuertos Andinos del Perú, reported the closure of the facilities until further notice. In a statement, the company indicated that all personnel have been evacuated.

In addition, demonstrators occupied a smaller regional airport in Andahuaylas. At an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters above sea level, Andahuaylas is the capital of Andahuaylas Province in the Apurímac Region of the Peruvian Andes.

Orinoco Tribune Editor: There Was a Coup Against Pedro Castillo in Peru


Demonstrations and police repression continued in the north and south of Peru, as demonstrators demanded the release of imprisoned President Pedro Castillo and the closure of Congress, and the formation of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution for Peru—one of Castillo’s campaign promises.

According to sporadic reports, at least four demonstrators have been killed, and dozens have been injured. Protests have been reported across the country with the participation of countless citizens. Videos of great crowds massing both day and night have been shared on social media since the coup that attempted to depose President Castillo.

As demonstrations spread to various cities in the north and south of the Andes, acting President Boluarte, appointed by the coup regime to succeed Castillo, decreed a state of emergency in the regions of Apurímac, Ica, and Arequipa. The decision of Boluarte was announced by the acting minister of the interior appointed by the coup regime, César Cervantes.

Peru: President Castillo Denounces Kidnapping, Calls on Supporters Not to Fall Into Early Elections Trick


Through a statement, Boluarte was quoted as saying: “I have given the instructions for the peaceful recovery of control of internal order without affecting the fundamental rights of citizens.” Meanwhile, acts of police violence have been reported by numerous social media accounts.

“Today is the seventh day of protests in Peru,” wrote Manolo De Santos of the People’s Forum, on social media. “There are now major roadblocks across Peru. The scale of the protests continue to grow despite seven people, mostly underage, being killed by police. The coup government greatly underestimated that people would fight back and defend Castillo.”

Meanwhile, journalist and author Vijay Prashad of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, shared a video of a brutalized young man, bleeding profusely from the head, with the following post: “First killing by the coup regime in Peru. This is in Apurimac, in the Andes. Outrageous. Sound the alarm. Defend the people of Peru against a racist ruling class that is backed fully by Washington.”

https://orinocotribune.com/demonstrator ... p-in-peru/

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Peru: Chronicle of a Coup in Slow Motion
DECEMBER 14, 2022

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A man holds up a sign with the likeness of President Dina Boluarte that reads, "Murderer." For the sixth day in a row, hundreds of people demonstrated through the main streets of Lima to demand the release of former President Castillo and the closure of the Peruvian Congress. Lucas Aguayo Araos/picture alliance via Getty Images.

By Saheli Chowdhury – Dec 14, 2022

The fascist right wing of Peru was finally able to do on Wednesday, December 7 what it had been trying to do for more than a year—depose Pedro Castillo, the elected president of the country. The war of power between the government on one side, and the parliament and the judiciary on the other, that had started the day that the ousted president, Pedro Castillo took office, culminated in a parliamentary coup. In many ways it was expected to happen at any moment, yet it happened quite suddenly and unexpectedly on December 7, 2022.

The events of December 7

That morning, Castillo, in a message to the nation, announced the dissolution of Congress and the formation of a “government of exceptional emergency.” He also announced that new legislative elections will be called as soon as possible, and the new Congress elected, via said elections, would draft a new constitution within a period of no more than nine months. Until that time the country will be governed by the emergency government. Castillo also announced reorganization of the judiciary and the Constitutional Court . A new constitution was one of Castillo’s principal electoral promises.

In his message, Castillo accused the majority of Congress members of responding to “racist and elitist interests,” and of doing nothing except planning “the presidential vacancy, suspension, a constitutional accusation, or resignation at any cost.” “They have created chaos in order to control the government, bypassing the popular will and the constitutional order,” he stated.

On Wednesday itself, Congress was to debate a motion to remove the president from office for “permanent moral incapacity,” an ambiguous tool for removing a president that can mean anything. This was the fourth attempt to remove him from the presidency, and the third one for “incapacity.” After Castillo’s announcement, Congress moved swiftly and approved the motion of vacancy without any discussion, with 101 votes, much higher than the 87 required. Several Congress-members belonging to parties that supported Castillo voted in favor of the vacancy, while seven ministers out of 19 resigned after the president had dissolved Congress.

Subsequently, as if everything was premeditated, Pedro Castillo was arrested and taken to the police headquarters of the Lima Prefecture. The attorney general of Peru, Daniel Soria Luján, filed a criminal complaint before National Prosecutor Patricia Benavides against Castillo “for the alleged commission of the crimes of sedition, abuse of authority, and serious disturbance of public peace.”

Later in the afternoon, Vice President Dina Boluarte was sworn in as the new president by the Congress.

The Armed Forces and the Peruvian National Police did not support Castillo’s move and, through a joint statement called upon “the citizens to remain calm and trust the legally established State institutions.”

The next day, the Supreme Court of Preparatory Investigation ruled a 7-day preliminary detention for Castillo.

Who couped whom?

Peruvian and international media, Castillo’s opponents, and even some of his former associates, including the now de facto President Dina Boluarte, described Castillo’s decision to dissolve the Congress as a “coup d’état,” meanwhile his removal was hailed as “restitution of democracy” by the Organization of American States (OAS). In spite of all this noise, it must be clarified that what Castillo did was legal and constitutional, although poorly planned and badly executed.

Article 134 of the current Constitution of Peru, in force since 1993, bestows on the president of the nation the power to dissolve Congress under certain circumstances. It states:

The President of the Republic has the power to dissolve Congress if it has censured or denied its confidence to two Cabinets. The decree of dissolution shall contain a call for the election of a new Congress. Such elections shall be held within four months of the dissolution of Congress, without any alteration of the existing electoral system.

The constitution does not define any fixed time period during which the acts of censure or the denial of confidence should have taken place, except that they should be in the same presidential term. In Castillo’s 16 months of government, the Congress denied its vote of confidence multiple times, and censured a number of his ministers, forcing the president to remove them from their posts. The first casualty of the putschist Congress was Castillo’s first foreign minister, Héctor Béjar, who was smeared as a terrorist and forced to resign within weeks of his appointment. Soon after, the president was forced to change his entire cabinet. The latest such incident occurred on November 9, when Congress denied confidence to Prime Minister Aníbal Torres’ request for a session on a constitutional reform. Torres resigned on November 25. Betssy Chávez, whom Castillo named as Torres’ replacement, had been censured by Congress while she functioned as labor minister.

This was not all. The majority right-wing Congress, supported by the judiciary and the media, systematically sabotaged Castillo’s administration from day one, making it impossible for him to carry out any of his electoral promises. It constituted a commission to investigate an electoral fraud that never existed—a fraud supposedly committed by Castillo’s presidential campaign although the right controlled, and still controls, the electoral authorities. It tried to oust him thrice for “permanent moral incapacity.” It opened a political trial against him for allegations of corruption, although the president enjoys constitutional immunity from such prosecution. Before the third vacancy motion, the Congress tried to impeach Castillo for “treason against the homeland,” an absurd accusation based on the sympathy he had expressed in an interview for Bolivia’s demand of access to the sea.

The Congress’ unconstitutional attacks did not stop there. It appropriated to itself the power of a constituent assembly, modifying 50 articles of the Constitution, all with the blessing of the judiciary. It curtailed the people’s right to call for a referendum on a constituent assembly through signature collection, and passed a law that gave the Congress the authority to reject a popular call for referendum, thus making almost impossible the realization of any such vote. On December 1, the Constitutional Commission of Congress approved a rule that allows the “temporary suspension” of the president for up to 36 months, by the simple majority of 66 votes only, instead of the 87 required for presidential vacancy. This probably acted as the final straw for Castillo.

In reality, the corrupt, racist and oligarchic right wing of Peru considered the victory of an indigenous trade unionist promising to implement a program of socio-economic justice and national sovereignty as a threat to the powers and privileges they enjoyed for centuries. That is why that oligarchy had launched a fierce smear campaign against Castillo even before he won the election, and once he did win, they refused to recognize the result. The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, correctly pointed out the real reason behind the coup: “The oligarchic elites do not want to allow a simple teacher to win the presidency and try to govern for the people. Through the coup they tried to send a message to the social and popular movements: ‘We will not let you govern.’”

Jeanine Áñez 2.0?

The removal of an elected president and the hasty swearing in of a de facto president is reminiscent of the coup against Evo Morales of Bolivia in 2019, although there are important differences. Pedro Castillo’s government, although democratic and moderately progressive, could not be considered socialist or revolutionary, and his replacement Dina Boluarte, although not a “leftist activist” or “social leader,” is not exactly Jeanine Áñez, the xenophobic fascist ex-senator of Bolivia who was put in Morales’ place by the Bolivian extreme right and high officials of the army. The Peruvian Congress still has two cases opened against Boluarte, for allegations of corruption and conflicts of interest. There existed the possibility that Congress would pressure her to resign as vice president, in which case the presidency of the nation would have passed to the president of Congress, José Williams Zapata, a military general accused of massacre and human rights violations during his career. In fact, Williams was the president of the country for some minutes, before passing over the charge to Boluarte.

Unlike Áñez, Boluarte betrayed her own support base as well as the president with whom she ran in the elections of 2021 and served as the vice president in his government. She publicly accused Castillo of “perpetrating the breakdown of constitutional order with the dissolution of Congress,” thus echoing the right wing. She began her first speech as de facto president with the same accusation, “As we all know, there has been an attempted coup d’état, promoted by Mr. Pedro Castillo, which has not found support in the institutions of democracy and the streets.”

“Aware of the enormous responsibility” that she has to assume, Boluarte called for “the broadest unity of all Peruvians” and requested a “political truce to install a government of unity,” a request she made to a parliament accustomed to removing presidents at will. “It is up to us to talk, to dialogue, to reach an agreement, something so simple but so impracticable in the last months,” she added, without mentioning that it was the Congress itself that made it impracticable.

In the same vein, Boluarte announced that her “first measure will be to confront corruption in all its ugly dimensions.” “I have seen with revulsion how the press and the judiciary have reported shameful acts of theft of the money of all Peruvians,” she continued, thus placing her trust in two institutions totally dominated by the right. She promised to cooperate with the judiciary, the attorney general and the national prosecutor, entities that have been openly hostile to the Castillo administration.

Perhaps the action most reminiscent of Áñez was Boluarte’s show of support and gratitude for the Armed Forces and the National Police, whom she called “fundamental institutions of democracy,” in a country that experienced years of military dictatorships and a dictatorial regime—that of Alberto Fujimori—imposed by the same forces. In fact, Fujimori’s daughter, Keiko Fujimori, who lost the presidential race to Castillo, expressed her support, and that of her party, extreme right Fuerza Popular, for Boluarte. “This is not a time for ideologies, neither right nor left. President Boluarte, we wish you success in forming a government of national unity,” she wrote on social media. The US government and the OAS recognized the new de facto president, like what they did in Bolivia three years ago.

Peru: Castillo Tells Police to Put Down Their Weapons, Blames ‘Usurper’ Boluarte for Intensifying Violence


Western liberal media did not waste time in launching the usual identity propaganda, taking advantage of Boluarte being a woman, and the first woman to be named president of Peru, very similar to what they did in the case of Bolivia. Boluarte herself played the identity politics card, though not the feminist one. She presented herself as a daughter of rural Peru, of humble origin, probably trying to cater to Castillo’s support base. “I am from the interior of the country, I was born and grew up in a small town in Peru, the youngest daughter of a large family who lived in precariousness and grew up in the affection of my parents,” she said towards the end of her speech. “I commit myself to the country to fight so that the nobodies, the excluded, the outsiders, have the opportunity and the access that historically has been denied to them.”

Customary political instability

Pedro Castillo is the latest, though surely not the last, victim of the political instability that has become customary in Peru. In the recent past, the last Peruvian president to complete his term in office was Ollanta Humala (2011-2016). Since then, Peru has had six presidents, only two of whom were elected by popular vote—Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2016, and Pedro Castillo in 2021. Of the six, five were dismissed by the Peruvian Congress over accusations of corruption or institutional breakdown, and it is uncertain how long the latest in the Government Palace, Dina Boluarte, would last, although she insists that she will complete Castillo’s mandate which is to end in July 2026. However, under pressure from protests, she announced that she would request Congress for declaring early elections, in April 2024.

Kuczynski, who came to power in 2016 by winning the presidential election in the second round as a “center-right liberal” with US backing, lost his appeal within months as his role in corruption linked with the infamous Brazilian construction company Odebrecht surfaced. However, his definitive fall came after he had granted a humanitarian pardon to imprisoned dictator Alberto Fujimori in 2017, which led to uprisings all over Peru and the announcement of a vacancy motion by Congress. Before that motion could be debated, videos were leaked showing Fujimori’s son, Kenji Fujimori, bribing parliamentarians to vote against the motion. Kuczynski resigned amidst the ensuing scandal, in March 2018. His successor was his vice president, Martín Vizcarra, whose period in office was marked by constant confrontations with Congress. In September 2019, he dissolved Congress citing Article 134, but could not get the desired support from the new Congress elected in January 2020, which ended up removing him in November that year, for allegations of corruption. Since there was no vice president in line, the presidency of the nation passed to the then president of Congress, Manuel Merino. However, protests erupted against the vacancy of Vizcarra, and after two protesters were killed due to police repression, Merino was forced to resign after only five days in government, on November 15, 2020. In the absence of any line of succession, Congress selected as interim president Congressman Francisco Sagasti, whose party, centrist Partido Morado, had not supported the vacancy motion against Vizcarra. Sagasti managed to remain in that position for the remaining six months of Kuczynski’s original term, and hand over the presidency to the elected president, Pedro Castillo.

Castillo won the 2021 presidential election in the second round as a leftist candidate for the self-styled Marxist-Leninist party Perú Libre, by a small margin against Keiko Fujimori, but the right wing, with full support and participation of the hegemonic media, launched its plans to get rid of him even before he could take office. The Congress, in which his party was a minority, tried to derail his administration from the beginning, and the consequent political instability forced the president to appoint five cabinets and name 80 ministers in less than a year and half of government, which is a record even for Peru.

The story would not be complete without mentioning the curious case of Mercedes Aráoz, who functioned as “acting president” for only one day. Aráoz was Kuczynski’s second vice president, and hence moved to the position of vice president when Vizcarra took office. After Vizcarra had set in motion the procedure to dissolve Congress in September 2019, Aráoz openly condemned it, and agreed to be sworn in by the same Congress on September 30, 2019 as “acting president,” in an attempt to set up a Juan Guaidó-style parallel government, also reminiscent of what happened after Castillo announced the dissolution of Congress. However, that time Vizcarra won the battle against Congress, and Aráoz had to resign from her “post” on October 1, 2019.

In this context, the institutional reorganization and the creation of a new constitution, tasks that President Castillo wanted to carry out before being ousted, become relevant for the establishment of a real balance of power among different branches of the State.

Castillo’s biggest mistake

Pedro Castillo’s biggest mistake was to continue governing under the Constitution of 1993, elaborated during dictator Alberto Fujimori’s regime (1990-2000). Although a new constitution was one of his principal electoral promises, he delayed in calling a constituent assembly election, trying to appease the racist oligarchic right that hates him, so that they would allow him to govern, until the Congress, dominated by the very same right wing, severely limited the power of the people to demand a referendum on constituent assembly.

“The 1993 Constitution continues to govern us. Pedro Castillo is under arrest, and unfortunately, he will suffer the consequences of having continued governing with the 1993 Constitution,” commented Rogelio Rivas Toro, coordinator of RUNASUR in Peru.

Venezuelan journalist Clodovaldo Hernández pointed out the same, as he explained how calling a constituent assembly and drafting a new constitution has been a deciding factor for the continued resistance of the Venezuelan government against all internal and external attacks, coup attempts and invasion attempts coming from the US and the servile domestic right wing:

Had the convening of a National Constituent Assembly not been Chávez’s first decree, if he had resigned himself to governing under the Constitution of 1961, it is very likely that he would have suffered a similar fate as Castillo, facing impossible obstacles to carrying out the reforms expected by the electorate and a perpetual political conflict that would have ended with his expulsion from Miraflores or, in the best case, with a brief five-year term of office.


Modifying the constitutional order allowed the Bolivarian Revolution to armor itself against the typical conspiracies of the recently displaced elites and to respond in critical situations that have been springing up since early days of the Revolution.


It was not an easy task; Chávez faced resistance from all sides, including the lack of a legal framework as he had inherited the right-wing State of the Fourth Republic, very similar to the one that exists in Peru. However, Chávez remained true to the people who supported him, and that was his biggest strength that allowed his administration to successfully complete the constituent process against all odds.

The social movements of Peru, whose votes took Castillo to the presidency, have been demanding for months the calling of a constituent assembly and the dissolution of Congress. Yet, unlike Hugo Chávez, Castillo continuously moved to the center-right, made questionable ministerial appointments including a few from the right wing, resigned from his own party as contradictions and tensions increased, and even invited the OAS to Peru and requested the US “ministry of colonies” to activate its Inter-American Democratic Charter to protect him from Congress’ destabilization attempts.

“We always told President Castillo, he lacked experience to govern, but that can be covered with good advisors, that can be covered by listening to the people,” Rivas Toro stated. “The various organizations that have supported him, we told him repeatedly, ‘President, you have to surround yourself with loyal and consistent people,’” advice that the president seemingly did not take. When he finally did try to do what he should have done over a year ago, his hands were already tied.

What lies ahead

The coup in slow motion in Peru has been consummated, and for the moment the right holds all the powers of the State. Castillo, from prison, has submitted to Mexico a request for political asylum, and Mexican authorities are reviewing the possibilities of getting the deposed president out of harm’s way, like they had done for Evo Morales. Meanwhile, the attorney general of Peru has submitted to the Congressional Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations a constitutional complaint against Castillo for “rebellion, conspiracy, and serious disturbance of public peace,” charges that may keep him incarcerated for at least 20 years. Three of his closest associates – former ministers Betssy Chávez, Willy Huerta and Roberto Sánchez have been named as co-conspirators. Another close associate, former PM Aníbal Torres, who was part of Castillo’s legal defense, is also reportedly under investigation for the same charges and has been forced to go into hiding. Boluarte reigns for the moment, but there is every possibility that the right wing will use her as long as she serves their interests and then will get rid of her.

While the right tries to close the circle around Castillo, protests have erupted throughout the country, calling for resignation of Boluarte, liberation of Castillo, dissolution of Congress and early general elections, in addition to the demand of constituent assembly. The de facto president declared a state of emergency in the departments of Apurimac, Arequipa and Ica where the largest demonstrations are taking place, and at the time of writing, seven protesters have died from violent police repression, but all this has not been able to dampen the protests. While demonstrations continue in front of the Congress building, and there are roadblocks and taking over of airports, and people from communities around the country continue to march to Lima, a number of trade unions and social movements have jointly declared an indefinite national strike. It remains to be seen whether Peruvian authorities can manage to calm the protests the way they did in 2020 through the appointment of Sagasti, or whether the social movements and trade unions can force the authorities to yield to their demands.

The coup in Peru should also be considered in the context of the broader war against the new Pink Tide in the region. The day before Castillo was ousted and detained, the right wing-judiciary-media team in Argentina took out Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from next year’s presidential race, by employing a clear process of lawfare, reminiscent of the lawfare against Brazil’s Lula da Silva in 2018. In the preceding years, Dilma Rousseff and Fernando Lugo were removed from the presidencies of respectively Brazil and Paraguay through parliamentary coups, just like Castillo. There is an ongoing violent coup attempt in Bolivia, where the extreme right based in Santa Cruz is using as excuse something as simple as the postponement of the census. We cannot overlook the constant “soft coup” attempts against the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador either. All the while, the imperialist West led by the United States maintains total economic-financial blockades and global smear campaigns against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Thus, the West and its regional arm, the Latin American right-wing, seem to be applying a hybrid arsenal of weapons against the new Pink Tide, including sophisticated ones like parliamentary coup, lawfare and the “judicial party,” all of which were utilized in Peru.

https://orinocotribune.com/peru-chronic ... ow-motion/

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{b]Peru: Dina Boluarte’s Message to the Nation[/b]
December 12, 2022Dina Boluarte, Peru

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Dina Boluarte took to the airwaves just after midnight to address the nation following a day of widespread protests against the legislative coup which ousted Pedro Castillo on Thursday.

On Sunday, at least two people were killed in brutal police repression in Andahuaylas, Apurimac, and dozens others injured. Videos of police repression of demonstrators in the vicinity of the Congress in Lima have flooded social media. An indefinite strike began at midnight, with protesters vowing to remain mobilized to demand immediate elections, a constituent assembly, the dissolution of the Congress and the release of President Pedro Castillo.

Below is a quick transcription and translation of Boluarte’s televised message to the nation, in which she announced a State of Emergency – denounced as a clear attempt to criminalize protests – and elections in 2024. She made no mention of a constituent assembly.

When I took office, I stated that my government would seek dialogue, understanding, consensus and consensus among all and for all, without exclusions. I also reiterated a profound democratic vocation, a vocation to build governance for all bloods. I also spoke of responsibility as a value that defines the legitimacy of the exercise of power in the rule of law.

I am fully aware that I was elected, as I have already indicated, in the governmental slate that legitimately won the elections of 2021 and I remarked that this was not a blank check, but a commitment with the Peruvian people, with our institutions and with the construction of a future, of a democracy, with economic growth and social justice.


I have assumed the Presidency of the Republic in a situation of political crisis that evidently demands serious constitutional reforms to create our political system, so that the representation that each citizen grants to those elected is not a blank check either, but a creative and prosperous form of participation in the governance of Peru, which is symbolized in the vote of each citizen, of each citizen.

To govern means to represent the interests of all Peruvians, without exception, but particularly of those who have the least. The Peruvian nation will only be integrated and cohesive when we have neither the poor nor the excluded and when we all feel that the State is ours, that it is at our service, that it represents us.

My duty as President of the Republic at this difficult time is to interpret, to read and gather the aspirations, interests and concerns of all, of the great majority of Peruvians.

The collective interest of the nation, the commitment to the homeland, must come before any other consideration. The political system has been in crisis for several years. The representation of citizens’ interests has been questioned and governance has been compromised. And today we are witnessing an escalation in the levels of political confrontation that is not healthy for the country, nor for the economy, nor for the fight against poverty, nor for the daily life of families, of all our homes.

Therefore, and interpreting in the broadest manner the will of the citizens and consequently, with the responsibility that implies the exercise of government action, I have decided to take the initiative to reach an agreement with the Congress of the Republic to bring forward the general elections for the month of April 2024. In the next few days, I will submit to Congress a bill to bring forward the general elections to be agreed upon with the political forces represented in Parliament.

The approval of this Law of advance of Elections implies constitutional reforms. These should be approved by the most expeditious procedure contemplated by the Constitution.

Between now and the date of the early general elections, my Government will also promote the agreement in the Congress of the Republic of a law for the reform of the political system that will allow all Peruvians to have a more efficient, transparent and participatory democratic system of government, free of all corruption and with political parties legitimized by the participation of the citizens.

I invite all the political forces of the country, of the regions and provinces, the authorities, civil society and the Peruvian people to participate in this process, so that a wave of democratic will and national responsibility may guide and orient us to lay the legal, institutional and democratic foundations of a united, free and socially just father.

With the same patriotic sense, I announce the declaration of a state of emergency in the areas of high social conflict. I communicate that I have given instructions to peacefully recover the control of internal order without affecting the fundamental rights of the citizens. I deeply regret the death of our compatriots in Andahuaylas, Apurimac, my homeland. I express my heartfelt condolences to their families.

Jorge Basadre, foreseeing the future of Peru based on its difficult past, told us that the homeland was a problem and a possibility. For decades we have concentrated on the problem. I think that now the avenues are opening to build the lush forests of possibility. And this will only be possible if, as Basadre himself said, we realize the promise of Peruvian life. This is a task that is not incumbent on some and excludes others.

It is a historical demand that commits us all. The time has come to replace the “I” with the “we”, to think of Peru’s interests rather than just legitimate private interests. I call you to this historic task. Let us together build a Peru of all for all.


Transcribed and translated by Kawsachun News

https://kawsachunnews.com/peru-dina-bol ... the-nation

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How many have been killed by Peru’s coup regime?
December 18, 2022Peru

State killings have increased in recent days as protests continue in Peru in the aftermath of the legislative coup against President Pedro Castillo who remains imprisoned.

Deaths of civilians have been confirmed by authorities in Apurímac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, La Libertad and Junín, among other regions. Diana Boluarte decreed a curfew in 15 provinces to crackdown on dissent and ramp up the use of repressive tactics.

Who are they and where did the 20 people die? Here’s a list as of Saturday morning, according to national media.

There are likely additional victims who have not been recorded on this list and the exact causes of death have in many cases been obscured by authorities and the media. In most cases, witnesses and human rights defenders have confirmed that the victims were killed by police. Additionally, La República reports that six other people were killed due to traffic accidents or events related to the protests. Hundreds have also been injured across the country.

DATE REGION NAME AGE
11/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac Beckhan Romario Quispe Garfias 18
11/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac D. A. Q. 15
12/12/22 Chincheros, Apurímac R. P. M. L. 16
12/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac John Erick Enciso Arias 18
12/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac Wilfredo Lizarme Barbosa 18
12/12/22 Arequipa Miguel Arcana 23
14/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac Cristian Alex Rojas Vásquez 19
14/12/22 Virú, La Libertad Carlos Huamán Cabrera 26
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Josué Sañudo Quispe 31
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Clemer Fabrizio Rojas García 32
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Jhon Henry Mendoza Huarancca 32
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho José Luis Aguilar Yucra 20
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Luis Miguel Urbano Sacsara 22
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Edgar Prado Arango 51
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Raúl García Gallo 35
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho C. M. R. A. 15
16/12/22 Pichanaqui, Junín J.W.T.C. 17
16/12/22 Junín Diego Galindo Vizcarra 45
16/12/22 Junín Ronaldo Fernando Barra Leyva 22
17/12/22 Ayacucho – –
By Kawsachun News with information from La República

https://kawsachunnews.com/how-many-have ... oup-regime
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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:06 pm

Colombia’s President Petro: Peru’s Castillo Ousted Because He Is Poor
DECEMBER 19, 2022

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Screenshot of video footage circulated on the internet showing Peruvian military in Ayacucho, Peru firing live ammunition against protesters demanding the dissolution of Congress, the release of Pedro Castillo, and a new constitution. Photo: El Ciudadano.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, stated on a televised interview publicized on Saturday, December 17, that the president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, was the victim of political persecution that culminated in his ousting and subsequent arrest.

Petro asserted that in addition to Castillo’s political persecution, his humble origins were one of many factors that contributed to his removal from office.

“That president, [who was] popularly elected, is from the Sierra (the mountains). He was ousted because he is from the Sierra, because he is poor, among other motives,” said the Colombian president.


Petro acknowledged that, regardless of one’s assessment of Castillo, it is not easy to endure persecution of that level. “Who launched this? The oligarchy, that was their way of cornering the president.”

Parliamentary coup

“What I saw was a president cornered—that was a month, a month and a half ago—and I monitored the case. How did a parliament, very unpopular for many reasons, start going on the offensive to corner the president, to overthrow him? This is what is called a parliamentary coup,” said Gustavo Petro during the interview that circulated on many social media platforms.

He added that the American Human Rights Convention that defended him when he was mayor of Bogotá outlined in Article 23, the “Right to Participate in Government,” that “no one can take away a citizen’s political rights unless by a judge’s sentence,” a right that, according to Petro, was violated when President Castillo was apprehended.

For the Colombian leader, Pedro Castillo should be considered a victim. “He is a popularly elected president has not been condemned by a judge, and yet, his own police escort ends up capturing him and putting him in jail.”

OAS involvement

Petro wondered if “the IACHR [is] acting in accordance with the American Convention, or is it in a political game connected with the OAS?” He pointed out that “if the leftist governments are winning, then the OAS has to change,” adding that a deceptive and easy mechanism to “fix” this is to overthrow left-wing governments legitimately elected by the people.

https://orinocotribune.com/colombias-pr ... e-is-poor/

It's always class war.

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Death toll rises to 24 from repression against protests in Peru

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The Ministry of Health explained that there are also 77 hospitalized, the majority in Ayacucho, with 29 hospitalized. | Photo: EFE
Published December 18, 2022

On Saturday night, the police released 26 peasants who had been arbitrarily detained for 14 hours.

The death toll from the repression applied by Peruvian police and military forces against popular demonstrations, which demand the calling of general elections and a new Constitution, increased to 24, an official source reported this Saturday.

In its most recent balance, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) indicated on its official Twitter account that a total of 24 deaths have been registered during public demonstrations nationwide.

When breaking down the figures, the Minsa indicated that six people have lost their lives in Apurímac, one in Arequipa, three in La Libertad, two in Cusco, three in Junín and nine in Ayacucho.


The health portfolio added that there are 77 hospitalized: Ayacucho (29), Apurímac (5), Lima (6), Arequipa (7), Huancavelica (1), La Libertad (12) and Junín (17).

244 medical discharges were registered: Apurímac (56), Lima (35), Arequipa (30), Huancavelica (12), La Libertad (36), Puno (15), Ayacucho (33), Junín (20) and Cusco (7 ).


Peru is experiencing a period of social protests since last December 7, when Congress appointed Dina Boluarte as president of the country, after dismissing the head of state Pedro Castillo, who is in pretrial detention accused of the alleged crime of rebellion.

Boluarte, who declared a state of national emergency for 30 days, affirmed this Saturday that he will remain in office and demanded that Congress advance the general elections to 2023.


Within this framework, social organizations and personalities, such as former Bolivian President Evo Morales, have called on international organizations, including the UN and the IACHR, to put a stop to the deaths and serious violations of the human rights of the Peruvian people. .

26 detained peasants released
Around midnight on Saturday, the police released 26 peasants who they arbitrarily detained for about 14 hours at the facilities of the Peasant Confederation of Peru (CCP), in Lima, the country's capital, which had been raided earlier.


The teleSUR collaborator in the Andean country, Jaime Herrera, reported on his Twitter account that “after 14 hours of arbitrary detention, the 26 peasants intervened in the Peasant Confederation of Peru were released without charge. He weighed the popular pressure ”.

The demonstrators were received on the outskirts of the CCP by their comrades who had gathered in the place demanding their immediate release.

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

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Dec 23, 2022 3:06 pm

LAWFARE IN LATIN AMERICA: PANORAMA OF THIS 2022
Dec 15, 2022 , 12:34 p.m.

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The increasing use of legal vectors to achieve political-strategic ends in Latin America demonstrates the disturbances that operate in the international system and the denial of a geopolitical rearrangement in process (Photo: zef art / stock.adobe.com)

Regime change tactics in Latin America have changed, since those bloody invasions and coups the Global North has migrated to a spectrum of soft coup methods including lawfare . According to Camila Vollenweider and Silvina Romano, it is "a method of unconventional warfare in which the law is used as a means to achieve a military objective." It is similarly described in " Unrestricted Warfare ", a 1999 book on military strategy.

The researchers add in " Lawfare. The judicialization of politics in Latin America " ​​that, in 2001, the concept began to be handled in areas other than the US Armed Forces, after the publication of an article written by Air Force General, Charles Dunlap of Duke Law School.

They affirm that the United States (through USAID) is one of the main providers of advice for the reform of legal systems in Latin America and the US Department of Justice has strengthened ties with the judicial systems in the region in recent years. in an alleged fight against corruption.

Since the demolition of the State is the object of the neoliberal dogmatists, this method has been functional for them, in such a way that "judicial persecution has been exacerbated against government officials where the State has recovered its leading role in economic and social matters, enlarging the State and revaluing the public", says the investigation. This has happened with former presidents Manuel Zelaya, Fernando Lugo, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK), Rafael Correa, Evo Morales and several of his followers. In addition, it was the instrument to carry out the coup against Dilma Rousseff and to disqualify Lula as a presidential candidate in 2018 when he was leading all the polls and paving the way for Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.

During this 2022, lawfare has enjoyed good health, even though some cases have been closed or are on pause.

RED HOT CASES: PEDRO CASTILLO IN PERU AND CFK IN ARGENTINA

On December 7, another telluric chapter in Peruvian politics worsened after the, until that day, constitutional president tried to stop the third attempt to vacate him, and the fifth for a president in office in the last five years. Elected for the 2021-2026 presidential term and later abandoned by his party, Pedro Castillo issued a decree temporarily dissolving Congress just hours before parliament voted to approve a vacancy motion against him and swear in the vice president. Dina Boluarte.

In addition, the rural teacher and trade unionist said that he would call elections for a Constituent Assembly and that it would be governed by decree law. He also mentioned that a curfew would be imposed from 12 pm that day, before which part of his cabinet and other senior officials resigned and denounced that the president had perpetrated a coup d'état. The Peruvian Police detained him at the same time that the National Prosecutor's Office initiated preliminary actions to investigate him for "rebellion and conspiracy", the same crimes for which Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The threats from the economic elites, and the political elites at their service, against Castillo had a peak moment earlier: on August 9, a "spectacular" search operation and arrest of people linked to the then president was deployed, alluding, "without more evidence with various conjectures" (Sergio Moro dixit ), the existence of an alleged criminal organization whose head would be Castillo. The Prosecutor's Office intervened in the Government Palace facilities, arguing that his sister-in-law Yenifer Paredes was hiding there, accused, also without evidence, of corruption and other charges.

Another maneuver that was "Plan B" in Congress was to approve a rule that allows the president to be "suspended" for temporary disability with 66 votes instead of the 87 necessary for the impeachment based on a figure that refers to health problems. or others that prevent him from temporarily exercising the presidency.

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Just days after the attempted coup and dismissal of Pedro Castillo, protests in various areas of Peru have already left five dead (Photo: Ernesto Benavides / AFP)

In this case, a narrative repeated by the main media has been built while, from the judicial sphere, the Attorney General Patricia Benavidez has declared that she has more than 190 pieces of evidence to support an accusation against Castillo. She accuses him of leading an alleged corrupt network that, from its Executive, awarded fraudulent public works tenders. It is a construction of guilt to those who still have to prove the crime.

Further south, the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kichner (CFK), was sentenced on December 6 by the Federal Oral Court 2 of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) to six years in prison and disqualified for life from hold public office for corruption and fraud.

The former president for two terms, between 2007 and 2015, was found guilty of "fraudulent administration" and of diverting almost $1 billion in government funds through public works contracts during her presidency, but she rejected another charge of running a criminal organization. Meanwhile, she has reiterated that the charges and proceedings against her were politically motivated and has denounced the existence of "a parallel state and judicial mafia" that persecuted her and convicted her of crimes that she did not commit.

" I absolutely demonstrated that according to the Constitution, I did not manage the laws or the budget that was approved by the legislators. They say that I committed a crime by sanctioning laws, but I did not legislate or sanction the laws. And neither did the President of the Republic manages and executes the budget, " CFK said in his defense.

The sentence used a Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) to prove the crime that supposedly favored the businessman Lázaro Báez, which was previously endorsed by Congress. Last September, after the assassination attempt against him, he said that "they want me dead or imprisoned," while denouncing hate speech and aversion expressed in the media by opposition forces.


CASES CLOSED OR ON HOLD: LULA IN BRAZIL AND GLAS IN ECUADOR

In the largest, most populated country and with the largest economy in our region, eighth in the world by GDP, lawfare was incubated early with the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff in 2016.

The main target has been Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was empowered on March 8, 2021 to compete electorally when the Federal Supreme Court (SFT) acquitted him of the false charges brought against him by Judge Sergio Moro and prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol. But this could not erase the image of a corrupt government performance of the ex-union leader in the government; This was installed in broad layers of the population by the huge campaign of lies unleashed by the hegemonic Brazilian and international media.

Due to this campaign, the political coalition that accompanied Lula did not achieve a majority in Congress and the candidate had to go to the second round against Bolsonaro in which he won with a margin of 50.9% to 49.1%. It didn't matter that all 25 cases against him had been dropped; In that March, the Supreme Court judge, Ricardo Lewandowski, ruled, as in the 24 previous cases, that there was a clear prejudice against the then former president.

The prosecution was scandalous because Lula was convicted and imprisoned for 580 days on flimsy "evidence" that he accepted an apartment from a construction company while he was president. Much more scandalous was that the judge who sentenced him, Sergio Moro, and who also tried most of the 25 legal cases against him, became the Justice Minister of the now outgoing Bolsonaro, a shocking confirmation for many Brazilians that the conviction has been a political montage.

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Upon leaving prison, Lula accused the justice system, the police and the Brazilian state of trying to criminalize the left for the 580 days he was imprisoned in Curitiba (southern Brazil) (Photo: Rodolfo Buhrer / Reuters)

Analysts affirm that Moro and Dallagnol are part of the program of the United States Department of State to, under the pretext of fighting corruption, politically liquidate candidates or officials who defend proposals contrary to neoliberalism and favorable to popular causes. Thus, they have served as a transmission belt coupled to the work of disinformation and defamation of the hegemonic media network and digital network structures directed from transnational elites.

The Brazilian far-right is permanently betting on destabilization and even on violence stimulated by Bolsonaro himself, who refused to recognize the result of the second round on October 30. As a result, militants from the extreme right blocked routes throughout the country and demonstrated in front of barracks to demand that the uniformed officers intervene to thwart Lula's return. Brasilia, the capital, has been the scene of serious riots perpetrated by Bolsonaro protesters, who turned areas of that capital into a true "stage of war."

The outgoing president has convinced his supporters that the electoral process was fraudulent and that it is intolerable for a man convicted of corruption to come to power. Even though he has not shown evidence of fraud and that the 25 convictions were annulled by the SFT.

In Ecuador, the accusations against former vice president Jorge Glas (2013-2017), from the same political coalition as former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), focus mainly on the 13.5 million dollars he allegedly received from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht . The accusations have little to no hard evidence, and the legal proceedings are riddled with irregularities such as a lack of appeal, a sentence of six years instead of five, and, of course, his transfer to a maximum security prison where his life he is in much more danger because of the deterioration of his health.

Glas turned himself in to the Ecuadorian justice in October 2017 (the year he was re-elected) to clear his name because, in his own words, "those who are innocent do not have to flee." During the impeachment process, which began that December, he was found guilty of receiving bribes from the Brazilian construction company and sentenced to six years in prison. The irregularities revealed the political motivations and the effort of Lenín Moreno, coordinated with the elites, to purge the government of any opposition to his neoliberal agenda.

On November 28, Glas was released from prison after a release ticket issued hours before by the judge of the Santo Domingo Criminal Unit, Emerson Curipallo. The precautionary measures require that the former vice president appear once a week at the Litoral Penitentiary, located in the city of Guayaquil in the province of Guayas, as well as the prohibition to leave the country.

On November 10, the Appeals Court of the Ecuadorian National Court of Justice (CNJ) had revoked the eight-year prison sentence against him. The court unanimously declared the violation of due process and the defense of the defendants, allowing the former vice president to request the unification of sentences to access pre-release, after having served more than 75% of the major sentence against him. He has two firm sentences of six and eight years in prison, respectively, the first for a case of illicit association and the second for aggravated bribery.

Already earlier, last April, the president of the CNJ, Iván Saquicela, signed the extradition order for Correa, also accused by the current neoliberal government of Guillermo Lasso of receiving bribes during his last presidential campaign. In response, Belgium, where Correa has resided since 2017, granted him political asylum. The former president already had his political rights suspended for 25 years (a few hours before his registration as a candidate for the 2021 elections) and was sentenced for bribery in the so-called Bribes 2012-2016 case. This crime, as well as those of embezzlement, extortion and illicit enrichment are imprescriptible in Ecuador, was also affected along with Glas last November by the seizure of their accounts, movable and immovable property by the Attorney General's Office.

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After imprisoning Jorge Glas, Lenín Moreno illegally removed him and installed actors in the Vice Presidency who did not question the betrayal of the political project of the Citizen Revolution that brought him to power (Photo: Mateo Flores / AFP)

Even when the cases are different in status and degrees of political upheaval, the search for a permanent crisis persists in countries that may be subjects or paths of alternative political projects. The Global North does not necessarily need to seize power in these countries which, via lawfare , it turns into satellites. It is enough for him to generate chaos, destruction and/or levels of fragmentation that do not allow enough power to oppose the looting of his resources.

It is evident that the attacks to retain global unipolarity will continue. Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Libya, Sudan, Yugoslavia... have been dramatic examples of this.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/la ... -este-2022

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Latin America rejects coup in Peru, while U.S. supports unelected regime killing protesters
By Ben Norton (Posted Dec 21, 2022)

Originally published: Multipolarista on December 21, 2022 (more by Multipolarista)

More than a dozen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have condemned the coup in Peru and backed democratically elected President Pedro Castillo.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has staunchly supported the coup regime, which has suspended civil liberties, imprisoned Castillo for 18 months without trial, and unleashed extreme violence on Peruvian protesters, killing dozens and wounding hundreds.



At least 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have publicly expressed support for Peru’s President Castillo, including:

Mexico (the second-most populous country in Latin America)
Colombia (the third-most populous country)
Argentina (the fourth-most populous)
Venezuela (the sixth-most populous)
Bolivia
Nicaragua
Honduras
Cuba
Antigua and Barbuda
Dominica
Grenada
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines​​​
On the other side, Peru’s unelected coup regime has the strong support of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil’s far-right Jair Bolsonaro administration and the right-wing governments in Ecuador, Uruguay, and Costa Rica.

Chile, led by liberal President Gabriel Boric, is the only country with an ostensibly left-of-center government that has joined the U.S. and the region’s right wing in backing the coup in Peru.

Peru’s coup regime also has the support of Washington’s Organization of American States (OAS), which acts as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy.


Peru’s U.S.-backed coup regime imposes brutal authoritarian rule, bringing back elements of Fujimori dictatorship
Since Castillo was overthrown in the December 7 coup, Peru’s unelected de facto leader Dina Boluarte has cracked down harshly, sending the military and police to kill protesters.

State security services have raided the offices of social movements, labor unions, and left-wing political parties and arrested their leaders, targeting the Campesino Confederation of Peru, the Peruvian Socialist Party, and the leftist party Nuevo Perú.

Numerous activists have reported that the coup regime is planting weapons and other materials in order to falsely accuse protesters of “terrorism.”


Peru’s U.S.-backed coup regime has also brought back war criminals who worked in the far-right dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori in the 1990s.

The man appointed chief of Peru’s notorious National Directorate of Intelligence (DINI), Juan Carlos Liendo O’Connor, previously served in the feared National Intelligence Service (SIN) in the Fujimori dictatorship. Liendo O’Connor’s boss was sentenced to 35 years in prison for murdering and disappearing left-wing activists.

Today, Liendo O’Connor, the coup regime’s new intelligence chief, is borrowing the same tactics used by the Fujimorista dictatorship. He demonizes protesters as “terrorists,” thereby justifying the use of violence against them.

US State Department reiterates support for Peru’s violent coup regime
While Peru’s coup regime is killing protesters, suspending civil liberties, and bringing back war criminals from the Fujimori dictatorship, the United States is praising it for supposedly defending “democracy.”

Coup leader Boluarte held a friendly call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on December 16. Her office boasted that he “reiterated the support of the United States.”


The State Department confirmed this call in a readout, stating,

The United States looks forward to working closely with President Boluarte on shared goals and values related to democracy, human rights, security, anti-corruption, and economic prosperity.

Washington did not mention the dozens of protesters who have been killed and hundreds more who have been wounded by Boluarte’s unelected coup regime.

CIA agent turned State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington spoke with the coup leader to “reinforce our partnership and emphasize U.S. support for a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous Peru.”


14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean condemn Peru’s U.S.-backed coup regime
Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia published a joint statement supporting President Castillo, who they recognized was democratically elected by the people of Peru.

“For the world, it is not news that President Castillo Terrones, since the day of his election, was victim of anti-democratic harassment,” they wrote.

The government of Mexico’s left-wing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) even announced a formal “pause” in its diplomatic relations with Peru’s unelected regime.


Colombia’s President Petro denounced the ouster of Castillo as a “parliamentary coup.” He added that the putsch is a warning for all elected left-wing leaders in Latin America.

Petro declared that “the Latin American oligarchy doesn’t want progressivism,” and “what they can’t win at the ballot box, they are trying to topple.”

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the left-wing economic and political bloc that consists of 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, released a similar statement supporting Castillo.

“We reject the political trap created by the right-wing forces of that country against the Constitutional President Pedro Castillo, forcing him to take measures that were later used by his adversaries in parliament to oust him from office,” ALBA wrote.

“We repudiate the repression by the law enforcement agencies against the Peruvian people who are defending a government democratically elected at the polls,” they added.

ALBA members include Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and the Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines​​​.


Honduras also emphasized its “energetic condemnation of the coup d’etat” against Peruvian President Castillo, stating that he represents the “sovereign will of the people.”

“Coups d’etat should not be carried out,” declared the left-wing Honduran government of President Xiomara Castro, who restored democracy in 2021 after 12 years of right-wing coup regimes sponsored by the United States.


Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro made a powerful speech denouncing the coup in Peru, stating:

One sees what the Peruvian people are suffering. They elect a teacher, President Pedro Castillo, and since the first moment of the election, they don’t want to recognize his victory, they ignore the victory.

And at the end they were forced by reality to recognize his victory as president, and once he was sworn in on July 28, 2021, they begin to conspire to launch a parliamentary coup.

And so begins the attack and the wearing away, votes of condemnation against his ministers, permanent harassment.



They led him to the extreme of trying to dissolve the congress of Peru.

And all the circumstances that we have seen are the oligarchic elites who don’t allow a humble teacher to rise to the presidency of Peru and try to govern for the people.

Maduro said this is a message “that the extreme right is sending to the popular and progressive movements: ‘We are not going to let them govern.’”

https://mronline.org/2022/12/21/latin-a ... rotesters/

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Castillo’s Family Arrive in Mexico as Political Refugees
DECEMBER 21, 2022

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Pedro Castillo with his family in Chota, Perú, in June 2021. Photo: Angela Ponce/Getty Images.

This Wednesday, December 21, the Peruvian first lady, Lilia Ulcida Paredes Navarro, and her children arrived in México, having been granted political asylum, and were received by an official from the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

The Peruvian government granted the wife and two minor children of the ousted president of Perú, Pedro Castillo, safe conduct to leave the country as political refugees, in accordance with the provisions of the 1954 Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum.


The Mexican government’s decision led to the expulsion of its ambassador to Perú, Pablo Monroy, and warnings from Peruvian authorities about pending investigations against Paredes for leading an alleged corruption network.

The Mexican government also granted asylum to President Pedro Castillo, who remains detained in Perú under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for crimes of rebellion, conspiracy, abuse of authority, and serious disturbance of public peace. These highly controversial charges were not even applied in the conviction of infamous Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori.


Martín Borrego, director of South American affairs at the Mexican Foreign Ministry, received the family of political refugees on Mexican soil.

The ousting of President Pedro Castillo by the—already dissolved—Congress, on December 7, sparked protests and demonstrations in various regions of Perú, which have so far left more than 25 dead due to police repression of protesters in the streets.


Protesters continue to demand the release of Pedro Castillo and the dissolution of Congress, calling for a Constituent Assembly, early elections, and the resignation of de facto President Dina Boluarte, amongst other demands.

Amidst protests and mobilizations, the plenary session of Congress preliminarily approved on Tuesday an electoral advance of April 2024 as a concession to the protesters.

Relations between México and Perú have become tense in recent days after the declarations of support from the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for President Pedro Castillo. But México is not alone in its evaluation of the current democratic rupture in Perú, being joined by at least 13 more countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard described the Peruvian government’s decision to expel his country’s ambassador to Lima as unfounded and reprehensible.

https://orinocotribune.com/castillos-fa ... -refugees/

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Why Peruvians Are in the Streets for Castillo
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on DECEMBER 21, 2022



The Grayzone speaks to Anahi Durand, the former Minister of Women and Vulnerable People in the government of Peru’s ex-President Pedro Castillo, a schoolteacher and union leader-turned-politician was removed from power by parliament, placed in detention and replaced with an unelected figure.

With Castillo charged with “rebellion and conspiracy,” masses of Peruvians have taken to the streets, facing heavy repression as they protest for his release. In this exclusive interview, Durand details the elite forces behind Castillo’s ouster and slams his treatment.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/12/ ... -castillo/

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Peru: IACHR Delegation Visits Former President Castillo in Jail

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The sign reads, "President Pedro Castillo, Peru stands with you." | Photo: EFE

Published 23 December 2022

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights mission arrived in Peru on Dec. 20 to document the crisis the country is experiencing.

Just a few hours before finishing its visit to Peru, a delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a meeting with the ousted president Pedro Castillo, who remains in pretrial detention for 18 months.

Castillo, who was removed by Congress on Dec. 7 and is accused of rebellion, had requested an urgent interview with IACHR officials on Wednesday night.

The IACHR Secretary Tania Reneaum and other officials met with Castillo this Thursday morning.

“We accompanied the IACHR technical team on a visit to the Barbadillo prison where former President Castillo is being held,” the Ombudsman's office tweeted.


The tweet reads, "After the removal and imprisonment of former President Pedro Castillo, a series of protests against Congress began in various regions of Peru. The protesters demand the closure of Congress and early elections."

“We met with the ex-president and his defense team and verified that the prison conditions are in line with those set forth in the Criminal Enforcement Code,” it added.

Castillo's defense attorney Wilfredo Robles, however, said that the former president was not alerted by prison authorities about the IACHR visit and denounced that Castillo is incommunicado and does not have access to telephones, television news, or newspapers.

The IACHR mission arrived in Peru on Dec. 20 to document the political crisis the country is experiencing as a result of Castillo's dismissal. The Army and the Police have strongly repressed the protests, leaving 27 citizens dead and dozens of injured and detained.

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

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Here Comes the Peruanazo: Peru Rises Up Against Right-Wing Coup of Castillo
DECEMBER 22, 2022

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Demonstrators clash with police during a protest after the government announced a nationwide state of emergency following a week of protests sparked by the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru December 15, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda

They come down from the hills and mountains, their saddlebags full of hope, but angry after so many years—centuries, in fact—of mistreatment.

by Carlos Aznárez – Dec 21, 2022

On the way to the city, Peruvians encounter other Peruvians, and these others are just as angry as they are, since they have once again been hoodwinked by those in power. They know that their side is the right side. They voted for a teacher, to try to change what was going so wrong in Peru, and suddenly, they realized that the usual actors were not going to allow them to get their hopes up.

They awoke one day to the news that their president had finally decided to take a step so demanded by the people that put him in office: dissolve that rotten Congress. However, the joy was short-lived, as the president was imprisoned and the traitorous vice-president took the opportunity to usurp the position. It is at this moment that tens of thousands decided to get moving—for dignity, for those who gave their lives at different stages, and because everything has its limit and when the threshold is reached, outbreak is unstoppable, and becomes a “Peruanazo.”

The people of the capital and all the regions are writing a new page in their history of rebellion against authoritarianism and betrayal. This national uprising against the right-wing parliamentary coup engineered by Fujimorismo, with the complicity of the Lima bourgeoisie and the high command of the police and the Armed Forces, has demonstrated the decadence of the political class and the repudiated the “democracy” that acts as a hostage of the empire.

Although Pedro Castillo was almost unable to govern due to the constant harassment of the right, in addition to his own weaknesses, it is clear that by belatedly dissolving Congress, he provided the key to the connection with an old popular claim. His arrest and the permanent attempt to humiliate him clearly demonstrate the class hatred that the Peruvian elite feels for the majority of peasants and workers.

Let us recall that even before winning the second round of the presidential elections, the right wing had Castillo in their sights. They accused him of everything, from being a terrorist to being corrupt; they attempted to smear both his and his family’s past and present with lies. They forced him to change the course of what he had promised to carry out with his campaign commitments to the poor, working, and peasant people.

Nothing was enough for the furious far-right Keiko Fujimori, friends of hers, businesspersons close to her (these were the most corrupt), soldiers with a criminal past, police officers, and paramilitaries at the service of drug-dealing networks. They always asked for more and more, so as not to let Castillo rule.

Behind this palace coup, in which the usurper Dina Boluarte is a typical puppet, are the interests of the US empire, eager to appropriate even more of Peru’s natural wealth. They, with their lobbying embassy, are the original culprits for the ever-widening differences between those who earn millions and the poor. They are insatiable, and they need to control the situation in their favor, repress, assassinate, and militarize the country, as they currently have done, and take over its institutions through their front agents.

However, as has happened on other occasions, the men and women of a spirited and rebellious Peru will have the last word: they demand the closure of Congress, the reinstatement of Castillo, and the formation of a Constituent Assembly where those who never participate in politics—the nobodies, those who with their hands and their sacrifices build the country—can have a voice.

The temperature is rising yet again, where the barricade closes the street but opens the way forward, and the Peruanazo forces everyone to put themselves in their rightful place. Only the people will save the people.

https://orinocotribune.com/here-comes-t ... -castillo/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Sun Dec 25, 2022 5:47 pm

Factors Behind the Support for Castillo That Lima Refuses to Understand
DECEMBER 23, 2022

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Montage showing Peruvian congressmembers celebrating after ousting President Pedro Castillo (left) and people in the streets protesting against the removal of the democratically elected president (right). Photo: Wayka.

By Francesca Emanuele – Dec 20, 2022

Neither the unfulfilled promises, the indications of corruption, nor the coup attempt could make Castillo’s supporters turn their backs on him. Despite the former president no longer representing hope for change, he still symbolizes—perhaps today more than ever—the structural discrimination in Peru.

In Lima, the political, economic, and intellectual elites are intrigued, still searching for an explanation for the large number of Peruvian men and women protesting in demand of freedom for Pedro Castillo. They are even more puzzled by the smaller group demanding the reinstatement of the ousted president.

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A protester holds a placard demanding freedom for Pedro Castillo. Photo: Juan Zapata.

It is understandable that the ruling classes are disoriented. They have been disconnected from the rest of the country for decades. They are comfortably living in a very visible apartheid Lima, reproducing dynamics that accentuate their inclination to dehumanize the working class and indigenous people of Peru. It is quite evident that they are spectators incapable of interpreting the national reality.

Misrepresentation and insults

Theories such as subversive affiliation, mercenarism, and lack of intellectual capacity have been used by the elites to describe the support for Castillo. “There are people who do not have the correct information,” said the host of Cuarto Poder, one of the Sunday programs that had broadcast the false allegations of electoral fraud last year. The supporters are “terrorists” and “vandals,” claimed various congress-members who promoted unconstitutional laws with the sole aim of reducing the number of votes required to remove the president from office. “They are financed by Congressman Guillermo Bermejo,” suggested the minister of defense, who has deployed the army and redoubled state violence against the protesters. All of the wounded protesters including the 25 compatriots killed by the police belong to the poor, indigenous, or peasant population.

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Peruvian protesters hold a placard calling the Congress “coup perpetrator” and “rat nest.”

Many of those who support Castillo today lack the pedigree or university degrees of the Sunday program host, the minister, and the anti-democratic congressmembers. However, unlike them, the protesters do understand with scholar-like sophistication that their support for the former president is linked to their personal experience of discrimination and, above all, to their future. To forget that Castillo’s tragic fate is linked to the various forms of racism of which they have been victims would be to deny their own history of oppression. To allow the symbol of “rural teacher elected president” to be crushed would prevent other Peruvians of humble and provincial origin from attempting such a journey. Fear of receiving the same treatment would fuel the absence of politicians of humble and provincial origin. And without them, the goal of breaking Lima’s centralism and the conditions of exclusion that are characteristics of modern Peru would be out of reach.

The prospects of a gray future add to an intense feeling of empathy for the former president. During his short presidency, Castillo was subjected to various forms of racial stigma, triggering a “mirror effect” in his supporters. He was called donkey, “shitty Cholo [indigenous person],” and his wife was shamed for her dress and her way of speaking.

Powerful instruments of persecution

The millions of Peruvians who voted for Castillo naturally saw themselves in him, especially when the opposition repeated the hackneyed tactic of linking him to the ghost of the armed ultra-left movement Shining Path. The popular classes have been cruelly demonized for decades with this fallacious argument. For this very reason, conservative parliamentarians repeated ad nauseam that Castillo was a “communist,” alleging that he was a member of a terrorist organization. It mattered little that the president had distanced himself from a progressive government plan quite early in his presidency, making it clear that he was not even a social democrat. The opposition, in its endless efforts to depose him, organized dozens of protests with titles such as “The Final Battle” or “Terrorism Never Again;” titles that evoked a civil war, an “us against them” rhetoric that reverberated among the marginalized classes. In this chronicle, they were the “them,” the enemy.

The Peruvian justice system played a key role in the campaign against former President Castillo through lawfare, that is, the judicialization of politics. It acted with unusual speed in an uncharacteristic departure from its usual slowness. The behavior of the Attorney General’s Office was particularly reckless. Although it based its actions on legal arguments, its decisions showed evident political overtones. National Prosecutor Patricia Benavides submitted an accusation against Castillo to Congress, setting the first precedent in Peruvian history in which the national prosecutor filed a constitutional complaint against a sitting president. According to Benavides, Castillo was the leader of a “criminal organization” dedicated to manipulating public works contracts and receiving bribes in exchange for appointments in different ministries and in the high command of the National Police. This is what she told all of Peru, in an unusual televised press conference, during which she openly tried to push for the vacancy of the president.

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National Prosecutor of Peru Patricia Benavides (center) with other members of the Peruvian judiciary, advocating for ousting President Pedro Castillo.

Perhaps the hardest thing to digest for Castillo’s voters was the ridicule that characterized the judicial proceedings. The police, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, raided the home of Castillo’s sister, without taking into consideration the presence of her elderly mother, who was recuperating from an appendicitis operation. After the traumatic event, she had to be hospitalized. The Government Palace was also raided in an unprecedented occurrence, surpassing the gravity of actions even during administrations that stole tens of millions of dollars from the Peruvian people, such as that of former President Alan García. But perhaps the most shocking act of cruelty was the case that presented Castillo’s daughter as a criminal, demanding two and a half years of preventive detention for her. The images of the young woman imprisoned—without a sentence—appeared all over the media, sending an unequivocal message of humiliation.

Every week, news that degraded more and more the legitimacy of the president would appear. The news ranged from the symbolic, such as an officer disrespecting him by snatching a sword during a military ceremony, to offenses that directly affected his presidential functions. The Congress pioneered an initiative to hinder the president from exercising the fundamental task of representing the State abroad, voting to prevent him from attending the inauguration of Gustavo Petro in Colombia. However, this became a habit: permission for two other trips were soon after rejected. The last congressional veto caused the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to cancel the Pacific Alliance summit in protest. Everything pointed to the fact that the congressional opposition was willing to alter the balance of powers or pass illegal laws to subordinate the presidency, until the opposition finally succeeded in overthrowing him. And when it triumphed, its members, full of jubilation, immortalized with group selfies the moment for which they had worked so deviously for 17 months.

Resistance and conviction

In the eyes of Castillo’s supporters, this victorious celebration, the constant insults, the obstruction of presidential functions, and the abusive ways of applying legal procedures show that Peru is stuck in an oligarchic past. There is a ruling class that objects to the possibility of representation of the impoverished classes in the highest spheres of power. Even if they reach those places of power, they will still be treated as inferior beings.

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Protesters and police clash in the streets of Lima, Peru.

Today the Peruvian justice system and Congress continue to enable this feeling of contempt by using their legal tools arbitrarily. For them, Castillo sought to “disrupt democracy” by announcing a coup against Congress, but the supposedly democratic institutions violated legal norms in order to sanction him. The Congress stripped him of his immunity in a hurried process, without the right to defense. The judiciary keeps him imprisoned under charges that are inapplicable to his attempted “coup.” One of those charges is rebellion, for which not even the former dictator Alberto Fujimori, who consummated his dictatorship with tanks in the streets, was tried.

Reviewing recent history is enough to understand why tens of thousands of Peruvians, despite the illusions they once placed in Castillo having been extinguished, are still by his side. The feelings of racist injustice that oblige them to identify with Castillo’s passage through the presidency—and his current illegal imprisonment—add to a feeling of orphanhood brought about by structures of political representation from which they are excluded. They look around and only find institutions controlled by authorities who despise them and who today are willing to kill them to maintain the status quo. The inability of the elites to understand this reality only corroborates the legitimacy of the protesters’ demands. Perhaps it is too much to ask that the architects of this tragedy stop misunderstanding the people.



Francesca Emanuele holds a degree in Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid, and a master’s degree in Public and Social Policy from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. She is currently a research and teaching assistant at the American University in Washington, DC, where she is a doctoral student in Anthropology. Her articles on political analysis have appeared in national and international media. In recent years she was Telesur’s correspondent in the United States, and previously worked as a researcher at Cooperativa Indaga based in Madrid. Since her childhood and adolescence, spent in the city of Ica, Peru, her interest continues to focus on major issues of social justice.

(Wayka)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

https://orinocotribune.com/factors-behi ... nderstand/

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Protest in Lima on Friday. Photo: Twitter @JuanZapata108

How many have been killed by Peru’s coup regime?
December 18, 2022Peru
State killings have increased in recent days as protests continue in Peru in the aftermath of the legislative coup against President Pedro Castillo who remains imprisoned.

Deaths of civilians have been confirmed by authorities in Apurímac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, La Libertad and Junín, among other regions. Diana Boluarte decreed a curfew in 15 provinces to crackdown on dissent and ramp up the use of repressive tactics.

Who are they and where did the 20 people die? Here’s a list as of Saturday morning, according to national media.

There are likely additional victims who have not been recorded on this list and the exact causes of death have in many cases been obscured by authorities and the media. In most cases, witnesses and human rights defenders have confirmed that the victims were killed by police. Additionally, La República reports that six other people were killed due to traffic accidents or events related to the protests. Hundreds have also been injured across the country.

DATE REGION NAME AGE
11/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac Beckhan Romario Quispe Garfias 18
11/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac D. A. Q. 15
12/12/22 Chincheros, Apurímac R. P. M. L. 16
12/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac John Erick Enciso Arias 18
12/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac Wilfredo Lizarme Barbosa 18
12/12/22 Arequipa Miguel Arcana 23
14/12/22 Andahuaylas, Apurímac Cristian Alex Rojas Vásquez 19
14/12/22 Virú, La Libertad Carlos Huamán Cabrera 26
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Josué Sañudo Quispe 31
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Clemer Fabrizio Rojas García 32
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Jhon Henry Mendoza Huarancca 32
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho José Luis Aguilar Yucra 20
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Luis Miguel Urbano Sacsara 22
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Edgar Prado Arango 51
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho Raúl García Gallo 35
15/12/22 Huamanga, Ayacucho C. M. R. A. 15
16/12/22 Pichanaqui, Junín J.W.T.C. 17
16/12/22 Junín Diego Galindo Vizcarra 45
16/12/22 Junín Ronaldo Fernando Barra Leyva 22
17/12/22 Ayacucho – –
By Kawsachun News with information from La República

https://kawsachunnews.com/how-many-have ... oup-regime

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One of the deleted tweets of expelled Cuban coup plotter Magdiel Jorge Castro.

Bolivia Expels Cuban Coup Plotter
December 23, 2022Bolivia, Cuba

Bolivia’s immigration authorities have announced that they will be expelling Magdiel Jorge Castro, a Cuban national who has links with the far-right leader Fernando Camacho, and who has been living in Santa Cruz, from where he has coordinated propaganda efforts against Cuba.

The counter-revolutionary Cuban entered Bolivia illegally in 2019, but then managed to obtain a visa. Since then, he has lived in the city of Santa Cruz where he was given a job by the far-right governor of the region, Fernando Camacho, in the departmental health service (SEDES).

From Santa Cruz, Magdiel Jorge Castro has led propaganda efforts against the Cuban revolution on social media, he has evened attacked the President of Bolivia, calling Luis Arce a ‘dictator’ in a recent tweet that he has since deleted. He is also a known associate of Yunior Garcia, who led violent protests against the Cuban revolution last year.

On December 20th he was filmed inside the building of the Civic Committee of Santa Cruz, a fascist group that recently organized riots aimed at overthrowing the elected government of Luis Arce. During those recent mobilizations, far-right protesters carried out arson attacks against the building of the indigenous campesino federation (FSUTC) and vandalized the union hall of the Santa Cruz workers federation.

For more news and analysis, check out our podcast Latin America Review: https://linktr.ee/latinamericareview

https://kawsachunnews.com/bolivia-expel ... up-plotter

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Chile: State of Catastrophe Due to Forest Fire in Viña Del Mar

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According to the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, the fire spread "aggressively and rapidly." Dec. 23, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@Luis57804484

Published 23 December 2022

Two people have been confirmed dead, 135 houses burned, and 110 hectares destroyed, according to authorities.

Given the large forest fire that has been raging since yesterday in the coastal town of Viña del Mar, in the Valparaíso region, the Chilean government decreed on Friday the constitutional emergency state of catastrophe due to public calamity.

The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, told the press that the state of catastrophe implies the appointment of "a head of National Defense who will have the power to limit constitutional rights, possibly the right of assembly and movement, but who will also have the power to take control, to requisition all the necessary goods to be able to respond to the emergency."

According to Monsalve, the fire with three active outbreaks, all of them forestry in nature, has left two people dead, 135 houses burned and 110 hectares destroyed. The official also reported that so far, there are 30 people injured as a result of the fire in Viña del Mar.

"There was a very quick response to the start of this fire, but despite this, due to the location of this fire, the weather conditions, the wind and the presence of combustible material, it spread very aggressively and quickly," Monsalve said.


Update on the state of the infrastructure due to forest fires in the Valparaíso region:
Roads: routes 68 and Las Palmas (60-CH) enabled
Water: stable supply in and around affected areas
Cistern trucks support the provision of water to emergency work


Regarding the response to the catastrophe, the Undersecretary of the Interior said that the State had identified the urgency of working in three areas: security, coordination of public services and direct firefighting.

Five shelters have been set up for evacuees, each with a capacity for 100 people, said Monsalve, who added that only two of them are hosting 70 people, so there are no plans to open new capacities.

Once the damage assessment is completed, the Ministry of the Interior will respond quickly and then the Ministry of Housing will intervene to rebuild the sectors, Monsalve said.


Local media have reported that the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, the Minister of Social Development, Giorgio Jackson, and the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, will remain in Valparaíso to coordinate aid to the population.

"From the Government, we will continue coordinating all the necessary support that has allowed us to be with the families affected by the fire, accompany them, and address their problems. You know that we are and will continue to be with you," said President Gabriel Boric via Twitter.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chi ... -0011.html
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:44 pm

Peruvian Dictatorship Shows True Colours: Alderpeople Dismissed, National Strike Called for January 4
DECEMBER 29, 2022

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Protesters camping in Lima with a big banner in the back resembling the Peruvian flag with a caption that reads: "dissolution of Congress, early elections, new constitution." Photo: Telemundo.

Caracas, December 28, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—This Monday, December 26, the de facto government of Perú, led by Dina Boluarte, annulled the appointment of 312 district sub-alderpeople across 23 regions of the country, in a move that seems to advance the erasure of any traces of opposition to Boluarte’s controversial rule. These sub-alderpeople had been appointed by President Pedro Castillo, in accordance with local legislation, during his mandate by popular election.

The de facto ministry of the interior justified their decision on the basis that “these officials, instead of responding to the guidelines established regarding the functions of district sub-alderpeople, instead of representing and defending the state as the law indicates, had various degrees of participation in the popular demonstrations,” the repression of which has resulted in almost 30 deaths in less than three weeks.


“After receiving intelligence information on the actions of these district sub-alderpeople appointed by former President Castillo,” the ministry added, “as organizers, instigators or participants in the violent protests, the situation of these officials was evaluated and their services were dispensed with.”

The 312 dismissed officials comprise of 46 from the town of Ayacucho, 34 from San Martín, 33 from Junín, 31 from Puno, 19 from Cajamarca, and over 150 more. The de facto ruler, Dina Boluarte, accused the leftist parties and their elected and appointed officials last week of being “behind the vandalism,” as she termed the popular uprising, the repression of which she enabled with the declaration of a state of emergency for 30 days.

Controversial imprisonment

This Wednesday, December 28, a Peruvian court heard the arguments of the defense of President Pedro Castillo, in an attempt to appeal the decision of Judge Juan Carlos Checkley Soria, who imposed 18 months of preventive detention upon President Castillo as a precautionary measure. During the investigation of the alleged crimes of rebellion and conspiracy, the defense requested a restricted appearance order be applied.

Protestors have continued to repudiate any success of the political persecution of the Peruvian parliament, that, even before Castillo took office, had been carrying out all kinds of political tricks against the now ousted head of state, including the arrest of President Castillo, which protestors denounce as illegal. The repression to dissolve the protests has already left 28 dead and hundreds more injured and detained since the coup d’état was consummated.

President Castillo insisted that his deposition and subsequent imprisonment “is political revenge,” during his hearing, that could be followed live on social media platforms and on television. “The one who has risen up in arms is this government against the people,” he stated. “The one who has committed the crime of conspiracy is congress.”

Castillo and his defense—as well as many legal experts in Perú—pointed out that he did not commit rebellion; he did not rise up in arms, nor did he ask anyone to do so. They stated that it was his announcement of the dissolution of congress—following Peruvian Constitutional Article 134—and his calling for parliamentary elections for a new assembly with constituent powers—the basis of which were the campaign promises with which he came to power less than two years ago, and which have been consistently rejected by the current congress—that led to the coup against him.


National Strike called for January 4th

Almost in parallel, this Tuesday, December 27, leaders of the 13 provinces of the department of Puno, in southeastern Perú, agreed to resume an indefinite national strike on January 4, demanding the closure of congress and calling for a constituent assembly.

According to Radio Pachamama, the popular leaders also decided to prepare a march to Lima, the capital of the South American country. The strike itself will involve the total closure of roads, as well as mass marches and mobilizations. In addition to the closure of congress and the formation of the new constituent assembly, the protesters demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte, freedom for President Pedro Castillo, and early elections for 2023.



Orinoco Tribune Special by staff

https://orinocotribune.com/peruvian-dic ... january-4/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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