by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog
Stories about corruption and internally government-generated violence concerning most unaligned countries abound in the MSM. These lies fuel hatred. And the public at large start a malicious rumor circuit. Which, in turn is taken over by the MSM, so that their lies are pushing in open doors. The war drums start beating. The populace wants foreign imposed order, they want blood and ‘regime change’. The consensus for war has once more worked. And the blood may flow. Instigated by outside forces, such as the NED (National Endowment for Democracy) and USAID, which train and fund nationals clandestinely in-and outside the country where eventually they have to operate. They are commandeered by Washington and other western powers and act so as to blame the “non-obedient” governments, whose regime must be changed. They constitute part of the Fifth Column.
A Fifth Column is a group of people, who undermine the government of a country in support of the enemy. They can be both covert and open. The term Fifth Column originates from the Spanish Civil War, when in October 1936 nationalist rebel General Mola initiated the coup d’état against the legitimate Republican Government. This marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. General Mola besieged Madrid with four “columns” of troops and claimed he had a “Fifth Column”, hiding inside the city. The term was henceforth used for infiltrated enemies within a legitimate government. Mola, the mastermind behind the coup died in a 1937 plane crash, and General Francisco Franco became Spain’s dictator for the next almost 40 years. He prevailed over the Republican resistance thanks to Hitler’s and Mussolini’s air support.
Now what’s the true story behind the violence-plagued Nicaragua and Venezuela, and the treacherous new Moreno government in Ecuador?
Take Nicaragua – it all started with the Board of Directors of the Nicaragua Social Security Institute (INSS) on 16 April 2018 approving an IMF-imposed social security reform, modified and then supported by President Ortega. The reform maintained social security at its current level, but would increasing employer contributions by 3.5% to pension and health funds, while only slightly increasing worker contributions by 0.75% and shifting 5% of pensioners’ cash transfer into their healthcare fund. These reforms triggered the coup attempt initiated by the business lobby and backed by the Nicaraguan oligarchy.
Student protests were already ongoing in different university cities in connection with university elections. These protests were re-directed against the Ortega government with the help of US-funded NGOs and the Catholic Church, an ally of the wealthy in most of Latin America. Some of the students involved in ‘re-directing’ the protests were brought to the US for training by the Freedom House, a long-time associate of the CIA. USAID announced an additional US$ 1.5 million to build opposition to the Ortega Government. These funds along with financing from the NED will be channeled to NGOs to support anti-government protests. For more details, see also http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/49933.htm .
Summarizing, in the course of the weeks following the coup, violence increased leaving a total of more than 300 dead by early August. Even though Ortega reversed the pension measures, unrests continued, now demanding the resignation of the President and Vice-President, his wife Rosario Murillo Zambrana. Daniel Ortega, a Sandinista and former guerilla leader, was first elected President in 1985. It is clear that the US and the dark forces behind the empire were preparing Fifth Column-type groups to intervene and take advantage of any social upheaval in the country to bring about regime change. What could have and would have been contained, continued as US inspired violent protests eventually aiming at the overthrow of Ortega’s government. That would bring Central America, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua – and Panama – in line with US policies. Will Washington succeed?
On Venezuela – In mid-June 2018, I was privileged to be invited to Caracas as one of several international economists to participate in a Presidential Economic Advisory Commission – to discuss internal and external economic issues. Without going into details of the commission’s deliberations – it is absolutely clear who is behind the food and medicine boycotts (empty supermarket shelves), and the induced internal violence. It is a carbon copy of what the CIA under Kissinger’s command did in Chile in 1973 which led to the murder of the legitimate and democratically elected President Allende and to the Pinochet military coup; except, Venezuela has 19 years of revolutionary experience, and built up some tough resistance.
To understand the context ‘Venezuela’, we may have to look at the country’s history.
Before the fully democratically and internationally observed election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, Venezuela was governed for at least 100 years by dictators and violent despots which were directed by and served only the United States. The country, extremely rich in natural resources, was exploited by the US and Venezuelan oligarchs to the point that the population of one of the richest Latin-American countries remained poor instead of improving its standard of living according to country’s natural riches. The people were literally enslaved by Washington controlled regimes.
A first coup attempt by Comandante Hugo Chavez in 1992 was oppressed by the Government of Carlos Andrés Pérez and Chavez was sent to prison along with his co-golpistas. After two years, he was freed by the Government of Rafael Caldera.
During Peréz’ first term in office (1974-1979) and his predecessors, Venezuela attained a high economic growth based on almost exclusive oil exports. Though, hardly anything of this growth stayed in the country and was distributed to the people. The situation was pretty much the same as it is in today’s Peru which before the 2008 crisis and shortly thereafter had phenomenal growth rates – between 5% and 8% – of which 80% went to 5% of the population oligarchs and foreign investors, and 20% was to be distributed to 95% of the population – and that on a very uneven keel. The result was and is a growing gap between rich and poor, increasing unemployment and delinquency.
Venezuela before Chavez lived practically on a monoculture economy based on petrol. There was no effort towards economic diversification. To the contrary, diversification could eventually help free Venezuela from the despot’s fangs, as the US was the key recipient of Venezuela’s petrol and other riches. Influenced by the 1989 Washington Consensus, Peréz made a drastic turn in his second mandate (1989-1993) towards neoliberal reforms, i.e. privatization of public services, restructuring the little social safety benefits laborers had achieved, and contracting debt by the IMF and the World Bank. He became a model child of neoliberalism, to the detriment of Venezuelans. Resulting protests under Peréz’ successor, Rafael Caldera, became unmanageable. New elections were called and Hugo Chavez won in a first round with more than 56%. Despite an ugly Washington inspired coup attempt (“The Revolution will Not be Televised”, 2003 documentary about the attempted 2002 coup), Hugo Chavez stayed in power until his untimely death 2013. Comandante Chavez and his Government reached spectacular social achievements for his country.
Washington will not let go easily – or at all, to re-conquer Venezuela into the new Monroe Doctrine, i.e. becoming re-integrated into Washington’s backyard. Imagine this oil-rich country, with the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, on the doorsteps of the United Sates’ key refineries in Texas, just about 3 to 4 days away for a tanker from Venezuela, as compared to 40 to 45 days from the Gulf, where the US currently gets about 60% of its petrol imports. An enormous difference in costs and risks, i.e. each shipment has to sail through the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz.
In addition, another socialist revolution as one of Washington’s southern neighbor – in addition to Cuba – is not convenient. Therefore, the US and her secret forces will do everything to bring about regime change, by constant economic aggressions, blockades, sanctions, boycotts of imports and their internal distribution – as well as outrights military threats. The recent assassination attempt of President Maduro falls into the same category.
And let’s not forget, Venezuela’s neighbor Colombia, fully under Washington’s control, has just recently become a NATO country. How absurd, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, stationed in a South American country. But then, NATO is also in Afghanistan, Syria, in the Balkans and wherever US-instigated conflicts need to be fought. Colombian and Venezuela share a border of some 2,200 km of which about 1,500 are difficult to control ‘porous’ jungle, from where clandestine as well as overt military infiltrations are relatively easy. They may also spread to other South American countries. It’s already happening into countries with open doors for US military, like Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Less than 5 years ago, 80% of Latin American populations lived under democratically elected, left-leaning governments. It took South America some 20-25 years to free themselves from the fangs of the Monroe Doctrine. Now in the course of a few years the trend has been reversed, through US intervention with election manipulations – Argentina, Ecuador, Chile – and parliamentary coups – Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay. – Venezuela, together with Bolivia and Cuba, today is Latin America’s last holdout ad hope.
Back to the present – Washington’s goal is “regime change” with the help of a strong Fifth Column, infiltrated in key financial institutions and all the support that comes with it, NED, CIA et al. However, President Maduro has a solid block of 6 million voters behind him, and is embarking with full integrity on a path of “Resistance Economy”. In fact, the recent introduction of the hydrocarbon-backed Petro, and the new just announced Petro-backed Bolivar – are first steps in the right direction; an attempt to de-dollarize Venezuela’s economy. Other measures, like massive efforts to become autonomous in food and industrial goods, à la Russia, rebuild the agricultural sector and industrial parks, are measures to regain economic sovereignty.
On Ecuador – President Rafael Correa has worked with Lenin Moreno, who was his Vice-President and close ally during many years. It is therefore a bit strange that Correa apparently did not know Moreno is a traitor, what he clearly has become soon after taking office. Correa’s internal support was still strong, despite his decline among indigenous people after his (US forced) Amazon petroleum concessions. Though incited by many of the people at large to change the Constitution and run for a third term, he was warned by Washington not to do so, and instead, to promote Moreno as his successor. Correa knows what such warnings mean. He was almost killed in a 2010 Washington inspired police coup, widely thought being linked to his attempt to abandon the US dollar as the Ecuadorian currency and return to the Sucre; and Correa’s memory is still fresh enough to recall the ‘accidental airplane’ death of one of his predecessor’s, President Roldo, who changed the rules for (mostly US) hydrocarbon corporations in 1981.
What lays ahead for Ecuador does not look bright. Several IMF inspired reforms – yes, Ecuador returned to the IMF and World Bank – might reverse social gains achieved under the Correa Regime for the working and indigenous people. Also, a breach on free speech by Moreno is imminent: He announced already a while ago that Julian Assange’s days in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London are counted. If and when Assange has to leave the Embassy, he will likely be arrested by UK police and eventually handed over to the US – where he may expect a very uncertain, but possibly violent future.
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21st Century; TeleSUR; The Vineyard of The Saker Blog; and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.
The Venezuelan based news network Telesur had their Facebook page taken down today.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/TeleSUR-English-Removed-From-Facebook-for-the-Second-Time-20180813-0009.html
FB said only it was for violating “terms of use”, which of course means whatever they want it to mean. Increasingly, that appears to mean any source that contradict the CIA/MSM narative. From the timing it would appear to be over accurate reporting on the CIA attempt to assasinate President Maduro.
The good news is that everyone should get off FB anyways, which is increasingly becoming CensorBook. Telesur still has their website, the english version of which is found at http://www.telesurtv.net/english/. You can stil find useful news sites out there that tell a different view of the story. Now its just that we have to look beyond FB in order to find them.
They knew fine well not to be on spookbook anyhow. I don’t understand all this whining about Facebook because even the dogs on the street knew it was a vast intelligence gathering system. Anyone with a brain shouldn’t be anywhere near Facebook.
More grist for the mill…
https://www.sott.net/article/393526-Big-tech-companies-are-just-contract-mercenaries-for-US-intelligence-agencies
Don’t whine about Facebook et al; turn your back on the data mercenaries.
Flopot, I am totally with you. No Facebook or Twitter for me thank you very much.
Although, I must admit that they provide an effective mean to spreading the message to the “Dumbed up” masses.
My apologies to all the social media users.
” It is therefore a bit strange that Correa apparently did not know Moreno is a traitor, what he clearly has become soon after taking office.”
The empire has a lot of money. Enough to turn a lot of heads. I don’t know what Moreno cost, but lets just imagine a one-time payment of $50 million. That’s petty cash to the CIA. And we learned under Iran-Contra that the traitor Ollie North was going around raising money outside of any budget by hitting up rich people. $50 million would be a lot of money to most people, but to the Empire, its pennies.
Which means almost anyone can change coats overnite as soon as they get word that the money has been deposited into their offshore accounts.
This is something that those who oppose the empire will have to get used to, as the empire has massive resources. One thing to do when power is achieved is to switch to government types that try to limit the power of one person. Because one person can almost always be bought. There are exceptions. But they are rare enough that opposition to the empire should rely on them always being available for leadership positions.
@Anonymous Moneymouse: “One person can always be bought”. In the British New Labour regime only 3 people were bought — Prime Minister Tony B.Liar, Finance Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Minister Jack Straw — but the Parliamentary Whip System whipped the majority of Labour Parliamentarians in line with those 3. Same thing on the Conservative Opposition side; result, massive vote for Britain to join US Coalition of the Killing against Iraq. The only punishment of these criminal / incompetent British Parliamentarians by The People would have been for Local Commitees to De-Select every speaker in Parliament who voted for that injustice against Iraq — vote them all out and replace them by fresh candidates for re-election to Parliament — but it did not happen, even though everyone admitted Iraq had been a disaster. Same with Libya. Same with Syria.
If you buy the Leader you buy the Led. Until people start thinking for themselves and acting for Justice.
Correa is to be blamed:having for so long a “corruptible” vice-president,an authentic “fifth column” of the Greed & Treachery!
I disagree.If the Empire was that wealthy, why are they engaging in theft and plunder of countries around the world?Why would they need to practically force nations at gunpoint, to accept dollars in the first place?I think the Empire is broke and debt-ridden these days, although plenty of people are still living in an old status-quo that no longer exists.
And moving towards government types that limit the power of one person(ie: switching to Parliament-led democracies instead of President-led democracies) is something the West itself has been pushing for, probably because their propaganda is failing and pro-Western candidates in foreign countries can’t win elections openly anymore.So they are moving to muddy the waters and confuse people.Like in Europe where they have all their Parliamentary dramas, the coalitions,splits,negotiations,the deals,compromises,stalemates,etc. all so they can safely ignore the wishes of their people.In contrast in a President-led democracy none of these political games are possible and the people have a much easier time holding one person accountable for his actions instead of a few hundred politicians pointing fingers at each other.
Plus, the nations that have been most successful at resisting the West have been nations that don’t limit the power of one person, Iran,North Korea,Cuba,Venezuela for a few examples.
excerllent article – thanks Peter – interesting and well stated about the new president of Ecuador being the vice president for years before – as if Correa didn’t know the way forward was going to head – after his retirement –
But I wonder if Assange might be treated okay – I sure hope so – if it does happen that he is treated fairly in front of the Senate – and is then given a pardon – or whatever – he will be better off than he is now – he’s getting sicker and sicker in that Embassy –
But today – my guess is that Trump could be a total dictator to Assange – and the worst may indeed happen –
Very decent job laying out the situation in Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua.
Thank you Peter for this clear description.
The Monroe Doctrine is in full swing. Just before Rex Tillerson was fired, he visited certain LatAm, Caribbean and South American countries and in his final speech, he announced clearly that there is no need to change from the Monroe Doctrine and this remains the policy for this part of the Americas. Nicaragua is still not out of the hot water completely and of course the Chinese have started (I don’t know stopped or started or what the current status is) a type of Canal like the Panana Canal through Nicaragua. This may have been the sole reason for the destabilization in Nicaragua. It is so that none of these countries are free from interference and left to their own devices, they will drift to a type of socialism which is very different from what we recognize technically as socialism but is good for the people if there are decent leaders. I have some hope for the new Mexican president but it is somewhat of a forlorn hope.
Abby Martin did some good work on Venezuela in her Empire Files series for TeleSur. For those interested a youtube search will give you this series of videos. And of course in Brazil, Lulu may be re-elected in October, although he is still in jail. https://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/Profiled-Brazils-Main-Presidential-Election-Candidates-20180811-0008.html
Hope springs eternal and I have a little forlorn hope left for Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico and of course Venezuela to shake off the shackles of empire.
The story goes that I had a very special Father in Law who had the habit of keeping pieces of his best work right though school and career. Going through that, I came across an essay that he wrote in school, shortly after the Monroe Doctrine was instituted. This school project was of course many years ago, as he has also passed away now, but I read that essay and to my utter surprise, it was as if it could have been written today. Nothing has changed in respect to the Monroe Doctrine. This Doctrine claimed an isolationist policy but what it accomplished was yet again colonization of the LatAm, Caribbean and South American countries.
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all of those leaders..Ortega, Chavez, Maduro, Corea, Lula, Dilma… are scared weaklings who should not have chosen to lead their countries. otherwise they are middle class people who believe in the bureaucratic state and feed that..not the development of the power of the people. but it is in the power of the people and absolute popular control of the nation, any safety they may hope to have lies.
all of this is nonsense to me. the people would have been better off without these leaders. if the people had risen to a man and woman, rise up now the same way, taken over the power themselves and created forms of social organization they found conducive to their needs they would be far better off
let the empire deal with that..all the people in revolutionary movement..no one or specific leader, one dies or moves on another fills in just like that..relative to the kind of leader the people deem necessary. the bureaucratic, electoral politics things is useless in the peoples interest. leaders are elected who are scared and treasonous..or forced to become treasonous in fear for their lives.
they empire will always be able to subvert and turn around electoral process socialism. they stop these leaders from deepening socialism which is all that can save these leaders..putting the people into full ownership and control of the state/country. in so doing the country is purged of the empire and at least survival can be guaranteed to a greater extent therein
but the people do not need to wait on such leaders, observing how vulnerable they are to the imperial pressure..and by this imperial pressure the entire national social process is subverted. the people ought to realize that only the people in collective movement, unified, taking over the whole country, purging the empire, will do for them what they need to do with their country
Wow, you must come from a family that lives very long lives.
The Monroe Doctrine was instituted in 1823. The name comes from James Monroe, who formulated this while serving as the fifth President of the United States. Perhaps your father-in-law can share some personal stories about what President Monroe was really like.
Yes, I did screw up on dates (grins). That was the first time I became aware of the Monroe Doctrine. Cannot remember the date of the paper any more, but it was an eye opener for me at the time.
The Monroe Doctrine was introduced 47 years after the US declared independence. The Doctrine was ostensibly introduced to prevent European intervention in the Americas, but in reality to ensure that Latin America was under US control. A former European colony was even then making plans for an empire of it’s own.
The methods used to destabilize Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador are precisely the same methods which the US used to destabilize Ukraine and introduce regime change in 2014. Unfortunately for the US, Ukraine has history and tradition behind it, and these two facts will in the end nullify the coup d’etat of 2014.
” It is so that none of these countries are free from interference and left to their own devices, they will drift to a type of socialism which is very different from what we recognize technically as socialism but is good for the people if there are decent leaders. I have some hope for the new Mexican president but it is somewhat of a forlorn hope.”
if they have decent leaders eh! I am not concerned with leaders at all at the head of any structured system. on which the power is located at the top and diffuse downwards. all such are eminently susceptible to imperial corruption and intimidation.
if by decent leaders you mean prepared to die for the reward of rapidly socialization of the country and the diffusion of power right down and in the people..real socialism and power in the people dependent on no leader or minority leadership at the top then fine.
if from the top then rapid socialisation and a general education in which the nation becomes the school that prepares everyone for participation then we have something that the empire wont be able to deal with save by invasion. and if you have 20-30 million people fighting to a man/woman for their nation and independence the empire will have to think long and hard about invasion
and that same solidarity is what would protect all leaders if they got serious. I am not impressed with the likes of the current pink Latin leadership. they are refried beans for the empire. give then their credit..they may some sort of positive difference but they are not prepared to go all the way and make the empire pay a price for any victory over them the empire might achieve
the Maduro leadership in Venezuela in particularly seems stuck in a bureaucratic frame, in a developing schism with its ordinary and working classes
Hmmmmm. Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua – or any Latin American country – has no tradition or history behind it??? Sir, they do have tradition and history. It is Spanish roots. Espana. One of the sad and tragic effects of the independence period was the division between liberals and conservatives among the Criollos (the spaniards born in the colonies, largely the elite class in that colonial territory).
* Both agreed to some extent on independence (more the liberalas than the conservatives who if had the chance could remain with Spain) but disagreed on WHAT kind of nation state. The former wanted to be a Western style state but modeled under the French secular example, and were hated EVERYTHING Hispanic and were ashamed of it (self-hating Spaniards). Past had no part in their future. The latter also wanted to be a Western nation state but were not frenchophiles, were very Spanish, and nationalism was linked to being Spaniard. Saw their new nation as a mini Spain in America. Past was key to future plans.
* Both agreed a reboot of the colonial economy was necessary, and much more capitalist production and development necessary, and was neglected by Spain (due to focus on French Revolutionary wars). The french inspired government model was a mixed bag in the colonies. When independence was achieved, Criollos split. The Liberals were classical liberals economically: open the borders, privatize lands for maximum production to anyone, not just the colonials. Very pro foreign and saw importing their citizens and entrepreneurs as necessary to improve the ruling class and middle class. see it as a replacement program Kalergi style. Conservatives did not want open borders free markets and were very “Hamiltonian” in their program. They wanted development to come from the colonial populations and favored tariffs – economic nationalists. They favored respecting Native American millennial communal lands as the Spaniards had done and no privatizing their ancestral lands. Non speaking immigration was discouraged and strict vetting on any that came. They saw immigration as a threat to their mestizo idiosyncrasy (native Americans who blended one way or another with Spaniards).
Liberals eventually won out and their system was imposed. When time proved thos conservatives of old right, those former conservative arguments were hijacked and appropriated by the new ideological competition – Leftism. If you had a nationalistic instinct, it would be among center – leftist camp you would go. If you were a populist, center-leftist camp is where you would go. Far left, anti populist/totalitarian tried to be competitive using populist arguments for legitimacy but no result other than Cuba. Ruling class of capitalist liberals created a bubble of theeir own, abandoned their free market ideas that got them there, and crony capitalism kicked in. Gamed the system for themselves. Became a club. Nationalism was what the conservatives had argued, glorifying the Spanish language, etc.
In many Latin American nations old conservative positions remain and exist. Nicaragua still has its own Conservative Party. So does Venezuela. The criticize the old Liberal arguments vs Spain and its legacy and critical of anything that is Black Legend related.
It is the left (whichever variant) who assume the old Liberal arguments and agenda toward Spain and anything Spanish, and it is there that it turns off genuine populists and anti Establishment populace. They do so not because they are self-hating Spaniards (majority are the ladinos, those Native Americans who became Spanish culturally and to some degree mixed with them. Some not) but because they are Western haters, hence Spain, being a Western nation, must be hated too, and defacto its Spanish past must be hated and destroyed. If they could, like the old Liberals, they would change the language !!! Old Liberals wanted French but 90% of the population spoke and adhered to Spanish so elitism had to come to grips with reality. For the crazy leftists, a ancient native American language is the ideal replacement.
A Hispanic is a cultural term, not a racial one. That is where Americans go wrong. Hispanics are Western, no different that Anglo descendants are in the USA and Canada. Just they speak Spanish as their first language, and accept that their cultural roots and identity is Spaniard as it was rooted and developed in the colonies. They may not be like Spain in a political model but the mini Spain the Conservatives of old adhered to remains but in a cultural sense. An African American speaking Spanish is Hispanic while an African American that speaks English and based on Anglo cultural roots (sadly, its included is the plantation roots) isn’t – he would be an “American”. Native Americans or ladino-Americans who speak Spanish are Hispanic. But if they spoke English and “Americanized” then they are no longer Hispanic but “Americans”.
Sorry for rambling.
Back in 1980 I worked with Latino woman (Mexican heritage) who didn’t shave her legs. I thought it odd since at that time women who didn’t shave their legs were usually hippy types or lesbians. This woman was definitely neither of those, a married woman who almost exclusively talked about 2 subjects, her husband and her son. She was typical Latino Catholic right wing, the exact opposite of women in the usa who didn’t shave their legs in 1980.
So why didn’t she shave her legs then, was it a Mexican cultural thing? Well, yes and no. I didn’t ask her, it being none of my business, so the mystery remained for several years. I found out the reason from a discussion about Mexican politics and culture.
It was a political and suppremacist expression. Mexican women who did not shave we’re proving the Spanish heritage. Natives of the Americas have less body hair than Europeans, on average. A way a woman can show she comes from European heritage, rather than Indian, is by not shaving her body hair.
Among the far right at that time in Mexico, there was this faction who claimed people of Spanish descent (Hispanic) we’re better than those of Indian descent. Essentially, a Mexican version of american/european white suppremacism.
Something to think about what the right wing jcmr comment above about Hispanics is based upon.
JCMR
Of course Latin American countries have history and tradition behind them. However, the point I made was that the history of Ukraine is older than that of Latin American countries, bearing in mind that Ukraine was part of Russia, the first Russian state being centered in Kiev. This fact alone will in the end bring the bulk of Ukraine back to Russia.
Sometimes leftist governments are their own worst enemies. Maduro continues to try to centralize control of Venezuela even though his policies are an abysmal failure. I’d really hate to see that country fall to the Empire! It has already happened in Argentina where the Fernandez administration resorted to threatening media outlets that reported on the country’s floundering economy. She brought herself down. Economic populism is the answer, not Marxism.
what is economic populism…?
” It has already happened in Argentina where the Fernandez administration resorted to threatening media outlets that reported on the country’s floundering economy. She brought herself down. Economic populism is the answer, not Marxism.”
if by worker populism you mean worker co-ops and forms of popular cooperation in economic activities that brings control to the people..I can agree. whatever brings the majority into control of the economy is good, even violent revolution with which if it occurs I agree.
I am not active and advocating for violent revolution. I dont see how that potential comes under human control. real social revolution is not a color riot sponsored by the empire. the empire controls that but that is not the real thing
for me Maxism is a tool of social analysis that helps me to understand society, to have an idea what social evolution is..to understand capitalist economy. the principle I took away and maintain is to put it best..the next step in social evolution is popular economic control period. that is likely to take some different shapes and forms over the spectrum of human culture. yet the principle of popular control is the way to go, remains unbreakable until it is achieved and takes humanity through to its next further stage.
Marxism is right by establishing that hostile social relations are basic to systems of exploitation. if we get past capitalist the latest and last form of human exploitation, divided and unequal culture, into general forms of socialism social relations would no longer be hostile and generate violence, not require further violence in social change as we go from that point
that means all or almost all forms of parasitism would have been eliminated..capitalism and bureaucracy gone
when you say “not Marxism” its as if there are structure forms of the same waiting for the elimination of capitalism, ready to fit of the world. the ordinary folk would not replaced it by minority control..they would seek forms of organisation to meet their collective need. there is no one form of that that fits the planet. each and every one would be underpinned by the basic principle of popular control and ownership of what the Marxist term the means of production
it is democratic social organisation, disciplined by local and regional conditions
I went to take a look at Nicaragua and really how they pulled out of the destabilization. It is interesting and generally they reduced police action and let it burn out until the people realized what the deal was. Nicaragua was a quiet country for the past 10 years with consistent economic strength being built slowly and consistent poverty reduction.
It seems as if this could form a basis of how these countries can withstand destabilizations.
This is a good conversation with Carlos Fonseca Terán, Vice Secretary for International Relations of Nicaragua’s Sandinista Front for National Liberation
“The best way to be ready for new destabilizaton attempts is to deepen the model of popular participation in decision taking…”
@Ben Sampson – ts pretty close to what you describe as democratic social organisation,
And then the first part of this Lee Camp video which is the interview with Kevin Zeese speaks to the process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS2MMTMsdvM
Here is the first link: http://tortillaconsal.com/tortilla/node/3852
Carlos Fonseca Terán
Telesur page takedown: Facebook becoming ‘US govt’s censorship vehicle’
https://www.rt.com/news/435961-telesur-facebook-ban-us-censorship/
“Speaking to RT, James Petras, Professor Emeritus at Binghamton University and an expert on Latin America said that the US government — which did not recognize the recent re-election of president Nicolás Maduro as legitimate and has placed fresh economic sanctions on the country — is engaged in “an attempt to overthrow the [Venezuelan] government” and that targeting uncooperative media was one way in which they were doing it.
Washington, Petras said, is using social media platforms like Facebook to “isolate” the country and Facebook is willingly trying to “ingratiate” itself with US authorities. “The US is at war now with Iran, Russia, China, the EU and Venezuela and any dissident voices, so as the authoritarian position of the US increases, Facebook and other media are under increasing pressure to abide by the line that comes out of Washington,” Petras said.
He also predicted that more censorship from Facebook was likely in the future and that it would be directly correlated with US warmaking and economic sanctions around the world. “They want to create a global opinion that abides by US policy,” he said.
Telesur’s Head of Web, Tatiana Rojas, told RT that the outlet was one of the only news sources reporting “from a different perspective than US mainstream media” on recent events in Venezuela, including the recent assassination attempt against Maduro.
Rojas said that while she hoped it was a mistake on Facebook’s part, there are reasons to be worried that the platform will become “a place where plurality is not going to be allowed anymore” and where alternative perspectives will not be given space.
Vivanco said that “hysteria” around Russigate had enabled further censorship and that there were now well-founded reasons to indicate that Facebook is “collaborating” deliberately with Washington to target certain kinds of content.
He said that reason why so many people are suspicious of “fake news” today is because there is “a generalized concern among people that they are being lied to about what is really happening in the world” and that this could explain the rise in outlets giving an alternative perspective on world events.
“There appears to be a concerted effort to shut down voices that will challenge the way people are told they should see the world,” he said.”
“The best way to be ready for new destabilizaton attempts is to deepen the model of popular participation in decision taking…”
exactly! my view exactly. these pink latin governments must get deeply inclusive, democratic, as rapidly as possible. what in heavens name are they waiting on! they must invert the pyramid as fast as they can or their situations will collapse from the head down..rot like a fish.. precipitated by imperial machinations
that is why the empire always calls for one man one vote democracy in the ‘developing’ world. the empire is past master of manipulating unequal pyramid social structures. that is the basis of the games the empire plays with the world…establish and maintain pyramid social structures base on representative politics
it is also one reason why the empire allows Marxism to be taught at universities, at lest makes it available to university students if only so they may avail themselves of the subject their own at schools. I used to ask myself that at university..if Marxism is so revolutionary why does the empire not eliminate it’s availability.
by university students are generally upper class people who see themselves as the brains, who cannot disabuse themselves of their class reality and in Marxism they create all manner of bureaucracy in response to what they saw others did..most notably the Bolsheviks.
the New Jewel Movement in Grenada was a case in point..a little country with ‘highly educated’ young men hoisted themselves on disputes over what the religion meant on bureaucratic organization that would be best for their country and ended up killing each other. the empire them used that senseless development as excuse to intervene.
Marxism also lends itself to great bureaucratic developments, maintains parasitic unequal society which the empire loves. it is reason to maintain and develop military police and intelligence agencies. harmless to the empire bureaucratic state capitalist/socialist efforts around the world could/can always be cited as communist enemies and a threat to democracy to justify military budgets etc
Marxism was also a tool of the capitalist empire and it was played expertly..is still played on the world
but Marxism from Marx’s work is not the last word in sociology. we must continue developing the sociology over time relative to human advance over time..or we will be lost, dated, pointless. human advance, new technologies etc always destabilize what has been established creating new social relations that must be understand and responded to, with the new required responses such make essential, by workers, owners, consumers, health and welfare,, effect on the environment etc
but what is critical at all times, unchanging is the need for utter democracy, the development of the individual in truth to the extent that the culture knows truth and converts it into popular education for the development of the people. as far as I see the actual survival of the human species is equal to the most full development of all individuals who in truth can participate in the decision-making process of society.
why is this so..because humanity has evolved in a reality in which survival, human security is an ever expanding and constant challenge. the fact is the challenge is there but we only know so much of life and see it currently in limited ways..limited by our knowledge and the restriction of the availability of that knowledge to just a few people to protect the existing minority social control. and in so doing humans increase the danger of the challenges we face. because truth challenges the utter lack of social existential efficacy by divided exploited society
if humans are to survive indefinitely we must know the universe and be able to meet successfully the constant challenge of survival.. and this to my observation is a massive task, even beyond the capability of the 7-8 billions alive, even if the world was democratic, unafraid of truth and humans were digging to unravel and develop the means we need to go on
by recognizing that the deepening of democracy, the greatest participation of the population in the entire national process is accurate, tight. but Ortega, Maduro, Fernandez, Lula etc., are still farting around in love with bureaucracy and as such they are keeping human human. development. their task successful or not is to go forward as fast as they can creating democracy or socialism. in fact to move in the right way is creating success even if for a moment the movement is stopped in one location.
others will pick up the mantle and move forward. if humanity does not get past the capitalist empire at this time humanity will not survive. the capitalists/Zionists will degrade the world and humanity to existential conditions that will not permit human survival for much longer. human survival actually depends on the success of the effort to transfer ownership of society from the current controlling minority into the hands of the people
Capitalism has failed. more accurately it prevailed at one point but has now completely run out of steam and all positive potential. capitalism cannot continue and if the capitalist class continues to dominate even in the failure of capitalist Brave New World is our fate. and Brave New World will not endure. it is the sure fire process of extinction evolving as we speak. imagine advanced technologies in the Hands of Zionist in total control of the planet.
yes! horrific isn’t it..yet still mostly an imagination. we must not allow it to be realized. the time to stop it is now and the pink Latins are wasting time with their opportunities
the question for all the pinks and bureaucrats-in-waiting is what will meet the needs of the people best at the current moment and set them up for more success as they go?
that is what the New Jewel had to ask in Grenada and respond accurately to what the answer was. and that answer had to be in the very best sense.. organization to meet the current and foreseeable needs of the people and the nation..and the preparation of all the people to meet those needs
that meant a democracy guided by those needs, their own evolutionary social variant that was Grenadian culture.
approached that way, no rule is paramount, written for all time…no bureaucratic form absolute or even needed.
what is absolute…is what is needed and how best to go about it. then organize to that, around that, on that and presto! you find something at once suitable and democratic, that is better than what was overthrown, and fits the people and the culture
that too is Marxist..to use brains to deal with your reality guided by the needs of the people and the resources to hand… and the unbreakable principle of human development as basic purpose of social movements, revolutionary movements and political activity..that humanity gets nowhere positive otherwise..that the consequences of not following such a path is ruinous, is indeed collective suicide
I am done!
have a nice day everyone. its a beautiful day where I am (smileys)