Cynthia McKinney: "We Must Resist!"

Excerpt from an address given by former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), who was in Los Angeles on the 2nd of March.

In order to solve the massive problems this country now has, it can no longer be business as usual for a critical mass of us.

Whether it's the thawing tundra in Siberia or the melting glaciers in Greenland, our contribution to global warming is something that must be dealt with.

Whether it's the massive amounts of money we spend on the war machine or the fact that we still don't know what happened on September 11th, the values and priorities of the American people must be reflected in the public policy we pursue. I do not believe that is the case today and there are specific reasons why.

I have long said that the black body politic is comatose: unable to sustain itself after the massive infusion of COINTELPRO-type "clean Negroes" who don't truly provide representation for a body of people in need.

Unfortunately, now, the entire American body politic is in dire straits, too.

I have also said that the prescription for the black body politic is radical surgery. So, too, now, I believe, is the case with the American body politic.

The extreme corruption of our political system by the greedy, unseen hand that comfortably operates in the backrooms of power is turning our heroes into caricatures of themselves.

Why can't we know the truth about 9/11 and this war on terror?

Why can't we immediately repeal the Secret Evidence Law, the Patriot Act, and the Military Tribunals Act?

Why can't we get back that 2.3 trillion dollars Rumsfeld admits is missing and use it to fully fund education and health care and infrastructure?

They're asking poor, devastated university students to return their Hurricane Katrina money, but I don't see anyone going after Blackwater mercenaries, the law enforcement officials who took federal money and then denied Katrina survivors safe passage over public thoroughfares. They're not going after the Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff whose incompetent behavior directly led to the delayed response, causing as-yet unmitigated pain and suffering on the people of New Orleans, and whose continued bumbling results in one of the largest depopulations of an American city in memory.

Why can't we know if there were explosions along the levies, as historically was done before to safeguard certain parts of New Orleans?

The reason we can't get answers to our questions and doubts linger is because our leadership today just isn't what it used to be.

The current state of black America didn't arise only because of Republican policies. Despite the election of thousands of black elected officials since passage of the Voting Rights Act, nearly half of the black men in New York City between the ages of 16 and 64 are unemployed, according to the New York Times. It will take 200 years for black Chicagoans to catch up to the quality of life enjoyed by white Chicagoans, according to a Hull House/Loyola University report. It will take 1,664 years for blacks in this country to achieve a homeownership rate equal to that of whites; racial disparities on infant mortality, family income, unemployment, police stops, imprisonment, and more, have not been eliminated and in some cases are worse today than at the time of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

People of color have less wealth, less net worth, work longer hours with insecure pensions and stagnant wages.

And now all Americans do, too!

We have got to do something different because we can't stand any more of this.

So what are we to do?

Just voting isn't enough. Voting is necessary, but it isn't enough to get the kind of change we must now demand. We have to change the structure within which we cast our vote.

We must have a different kind of leadership than is possible now without the kind of change I'm talking about.

This is revolutionary in its impact.

And so, [it] will be fought even more fiercely than I've already been fought, and all I wanted to do was improve the lot of people of color in the U.S. and around the world; institute the kind of respect for human rights at home and abroad that would change the policies of our government toward the global community, including the American people; and make the U.S. government accountable to the taxpayers for the way it spends their dollars. Now, that's all I wanted to do. And you see what's happened to me!

So, what I have in mind won't be easy. But it will be worth it. And, I believe, it's possible to achieve.

Now, it would be nice if we could count on someone else to do it for us. And we would all join that person and make it happen. But, I reluctantly say that if no one else will do it, then I guess I'll have to do that, too!

Just like the Articles of Impeachment.

Finally, I have complete belief in the young people of our country and their ability to lead the kind of change that I'm talking about.

After all, it was the young people from just a few generations ago who faced attack dogs, water hoses, police beatings, and lynch mobs. They sat in at lunch counters across the country and stood up for our country.

And they won. And I know we all can do it again.

Now, should you ever waiver in your faith, just acknowledge this:

The world's most marginalized and dispossessed are already ahead of us in taking their countries back! Of course, starting in 1959 with Cuba, but then Venezuela, Cote d'Ivoire, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, India, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Haiti, and Nicaragua all have stood up to imperial domination -- and won!

In the meantime, we have to demand more from our representatives. How can you be against war if you finance war? And how can you be against George Bush if you won't impeach him?

The American people are being fed madness as sanity. But, this is not Oz, Wonderland, the Twilight Zone, and it's not 1984!

With every fiber in our being we must resist. Resist like Mario Savio told us to resist: with our entire bodies against the gears and the wheels and the levers of the machine.

We must resist because we claim no partnership in war crimes, genocide, torture, or crimes against humanity. We claim no complicity in crimes against the American people.

We will build a broad-based, rainbow movement for justice and peace. And we will win.

For more information, visit Cynthia McKinney's new website, All Things Cynthia McKinney.

To receive email updates from Cynthia McKinney, click here.

William Blum Knows Why They Hate Us

If you flip over the rock of American foreign policy of the past century, this is what crawls out ...

invasions ... bombings ... overthrowing governments ... suppressing movements for social change ... assassinating political leaders ... perverting elections ... manipulating labor unions ... manufacturing "news" ... death squads ... torture ... biological warfare ... depleted uranium ... drug trafficking ... mercenaries ...

So writes William Blum in Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II.

A quick look at the Table of Contents will tell you more about the scope of American imperial militarism than you would learn in a dozen lifetimes of reading mainstream papers and watching corporate television:

Introduction
1. China - 1945 to 1960s: Was Mao Tse-tung just paranoid?
2. Italy - 1947-1948: Free elections, Hollywood style
3. Greece - 1947 to early 1950s: From cradle of democracy to client state
4. The Philippines - 1940s and 1950s: America's oldest colony
5. Korea - 1945-1953: Was it all that it appeared to be?
6. Albania - 1949-1953: The proper English spy
7. Eastern Europe - 1948-1956: Operation Splinter Factor
8. Germany - 1950s: Everything from juvenile delinquency to terrorism
9. Iran - 1953: Making it safe for the King of Kings
10. Guatemala - 1953-1954: While the world watched
11. Costa Rica - Mid-1950s: Trying to topple an ally - Part 1
12. Syria - 1956-1957: Purchasing a new government
13. Middle East - 1957-1958: The Eisenhower Doctrine claims another backyard for America
14. Indonesia - 1957-1958: War and pornography
15. Western Europe - 1950s and 1960s: Fronts within fronts within fronts
16. British Guiana - 1953-1964: The CIA's international labor mafia
17. Soviet Union - Late 1940s to 1960s: From spy planes to book publishing
18. Italy - 1950s to 1970s: Supporting the Cardinal's orphans and techno-fascism
19. Vietnam - 1950-1973: The Hearts and Minds Circus
20. Cambodia - 1955-1973: Prince Sihanouk walks the high-wire of neutralism
21. Laos - 1957-1973: L'Armée Clandestine
22. Haiti - 1959-1963: The Marines land, again
23. Guatemala - 1960: One good coup deserves another
24. France/Algeria - 1960s: L'état, c'est la CIA
25. Ecuador - 1960-1963: A text book of dirty tricks
26. The Congo - 1960-1964: The assassination of Patrice Lumumba
27. Brazil - 1961-1964: Introducing the marvelous new world of death squads
28. Peru - 1960-1965: Fort Bragg moves to the jungle
29. Dominican Republic - 1960-1966: Saving democracy from communism by getting rid of democracy
30. Cuba - 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution
31. Indonesia - 1965: Liquidating President Sukarno ... and 500,000 others
East Timor - 1975: And 200,000 more
32. Ghana - 1966: Kwame Nkrumah steps out of line
33. Uruguay - 1964-1970: Torture -- as American as apple pie
34. Chile - 1964-1973: A hammer and sickle stamped on your child's forehead
35. Greece - 1964-1974: "Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution," said the President of the United States
36. Bolivia - 1964-1975: Tracking down Che Guevara in the land of coup d'etat
37. Guatemala - 1962 to 1980s: A less publicized "final solution"
38. Costa Rica - 1970-1971: Trying to topple an ally -- Part 2
39. Iraq - 1972-1975: Covert action should not be confused with missionary work
40. Australia - 1973-1975: Another free election bites the dust
41. Angola - 1975 to 1980s: The Great Powers Poker Game
42. Zaire - 1975-1978: Mobutu and the CIA, a marriage made in heaven
43. Jamaica - 1976-1980: Kissinger's ultimatum
44. Seychelles - 1979-1981: Yet another area of great strategic importance
45. Grenada - 1979-1984: Lying -- one of the few growth industries in Washington
46. Morocco - 1983: A video nasty
47. Suriname - 1982-1984: Once again, the Cuban bogeyman
48. Libya - 1981-1989: Ronald Reagan meets his match
49. Nicaragua - 1981-1990: Destabilization in slow motion
50. Panama - 1969-1991: Double-crossing our drug supplier
51. Bulgaria 1990/Albania 1991: Teaching communists what democracy is all about
52. Iraq - 1990-1991: Desert holocaust
53. Afghanistan - 1979-1992: America's Jihad
54. El Salvador - 1980-1994: Human rights, Washington style
55. Haiti - 1986-1994: Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?
56. The American Empire - 1992 to present
Notes
Appendix I: This is How the Money Goes Round
Appendix II: Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-1945
Appendix III: U. S. Government Assassination Plots
Index

Several chapters of the book are available online, as well as some spectacularly-researched and very well-written essays.

Please visit William Blum's Killing Hope website and spend some time reading. There you will learn that they really do "hate us for of our freedoms".

Two freedoms in particular: our freedom to invade and our freedom to destroy.

Bolivia: The 'Blame Game' Rages On

According to the BBC, US behind Bolivia crisis - Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has blamed Washington's brand of capitalism for the recent troubles in Bolivia.

Speaking on his weekly TV programme, he said US open market policies in Latin America had led to "exclusion, misery and destabilisation".

He called President George W Bush's proposal for a regional free trade agreement a "medicine of death".

Bolivia was brought to a virtual standstill by protesters calling for economic and constitutional reforms.

"Look at Bolivia. Fortunately the Bolivians opened the door toward a peaceful path, but they were on the verge of a civil war," said Mr Chavez.
...
The Venezuelan leader, who is an outspoken critic of Mr Bush's foreign policy, was responding to suggestions by some US officials that he was stirring up the Bolivian protests.

US assistant secretary of state Roger Noriega said President Chavez's support for the Bolivian indigenous leader Evo Morales might be partly to blame for the mass protests there.

But a report in the Argentinian newspaper Clarin quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying that Mr Chavez may have played a key part in achieving a solution to Bolivia's crisis.

The report said that a frenetic exchange of phone calls with Caracas encouraged Mr Morales to accept the constitutional outcome.
...
During his programme on Sunday, which lasted more than seven hours, Mr Chavez said Latin American countries were moving towards socialist economic models instead of US-style capitalism.

He said Mr Bush's idea for a hemisphere-wide free trade zone, mooted last week at a meeting of the Organisation of American States in Florida, would lead to more poverty and protests in the region.

"We say no Mr Bush, no sir... I'm sorry for you," he said. "The people of Latin America are saying 'no' to you, Mr Danger, they are saying no to your medicine.

"Capitalism is the road to destabilisation, violence and war between brothers."

You can find much more Winter Patriot coverage of the Boliviam situation; here is a good starting point.

Bolivia: All Clear ... For The Moment

Blockades in Bolivia city removed

The last blockades remaining around Bolivia's main city, La Paz, have been lifted, allowing fuel into the city for the first time in weeks.

The move follows a truce from indigenous Indian protesters ahead of a meeting on Sunday with the new President, Eduardo Rodriguez.

There's more to the article, of course. I think you should read it. But the bottom line, as written by the BBC, looks like this:

Residents of the slum city of El Alto adjoining the capital were the last to end their protests.

They say their main demands for the nationalisation of Bolivia's rich gas reserves and constitutional reform have yet to be met.

And they warn that without progress on these issues, their truce will only be temporary.

Other protest groups - including Indian peasant farmers and miners - have been more conciliatory.

Roadblocks across much of Bolivia were lifted on Friday.

And so long as President Rodriguez calls new elections promptly, most protesters - for now at least - will be satisfied.

Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting:

Bolivia Installs New Leader With Very Long 'To Do' List

LA PAZ, Bolivia, June 10 - Bolivia's new president, Eduardo Rodríguez, began his first day in office on Friday pledging to convene early elections while working with Congress to address the demands of angry citizens for the nationalization of the energy sector and the drafting of a new constitution to give the Indian majority more rights.
...
Mr. Rodríguez, whose appointment was so sudden that he was not presented with the traditional tricolor presidential sash during his swearing in, stressed that new elections must be held, not only for president but for members of Congress. The political class in Bolivia is reviled by the opposition as corrupt and beholden to special interests.
...
"One of my attributions, a capacity I have, is to convene an electoral process that would transform and renew citizen representation so this Congress can become more democratic, more just and more fair," Mr. Rodríguez said near midnight on Thursday, shortly after being sworn in.

He means "attributes", of course, and not "attributions". But I am not going to jump on him for the mistake. Why was I unwilling to cut george bush the same slack when he said "disassemble" rather than "dissemble"? Could it be because bush was [1] lying and [2] speaking his native language?

"He's an honest man, but he has a task you wouldn't wish on your enemies," said Eduardo A. Gamarra, the Bolivian-born head of Latin American studies at Florida International University in Miami. "He's a worker, and his character is more of someone wanting to do things for the long term, while his task here is very short term."
...
"That is a big challenge, to achieve accords with Congress for what would basically be the self-dissolution of the Congress," said Álvaro García, a political analyst in La Paz. The new president will also be under pressure to convene a citizen assembly leading to the drafting of a new constitution and a referendum that would give Bolivia's far-flung regions more autonomy. And he also faces the task of placating Bolivians who want the state to squeeze foreign energy companies, even to the point of expropriating installations.

Mr. Rodríguez stressed that many of the changes Bolivians want most must be fashioned with Congress. Political analysts question whether the lawmakers will cooperate.

"He's a temporary president and a prisoner of the forces of Parliament," Mr. García said. "He does not even have political experience, the capacity to influence Parliament or the enthusiasm of the social movements."

Thus quoth the New York Times. We shall see.

It says here that the Times has run four related articles in the past three months. One of those is still available for free and that's here.

By contrast, your lowly and nearly frozen blogger will continue to keep a close eye on Bolivia. Previous Winter Patriot posts concerning this remarkable series of protests are here and here and here and here and here and here. All free. All still available.

Bolivia Has A New President

New Bolivian president sworn in

Former supreme court head Eduardo Rodriguez has been sworn in as Bolivia's new president, after Congress convened to accept Carlos Mesa's resignation, amid violent street protests that claimed one life.

Rodriguez was sworn in on Thursday by head of Congress Hormando Vaca Diez, who himself declined to assume the country's presidency.

In his inauguration speech, shortly after midnight, Rodriguez made his commitment to a new vote: "One of my functions will be to convene the electoral process to renew the representatives of the people."

He did not set a date for the polls, but the constitution stipulates that under such circumstances, new elections must be held within the next six months.

I've been quoting BBC on Bolivia recently, but considering how heavily I have raided the BBC archives on behalf of Ethiopia, and in view of my reputation for good diplomatic skills, it seemed prudent to look at Bolivia from an AlJazeerian viewpoint, at least for a while.

Bolivia has been in the news previously at Aljazeera:

Bolivian protester shot dead

Bolivian troops have shot and killed a miner after protesters swept into the city to demand the nationalisation of the country's natural gas resources.

Soldiers fired on a bus with miners heading to demonstrations in Sucre on Thursday, Interior Minister Saul Lara told reporters. Two more miners were wounded, Lara added.

The death was the first in nearly four weeks of protests by an impoverished indigenous Indian majority that have triggered the worst turmoil in Carlos Mesa's 19 months in government.

Police also fired tear gas at peasants and students who set off sticks of dynamite and fireworks in the streets to protest against Mesa's possible replacement, Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez.

Look at that! A possible vice-presidential replacement, stymied by fireworks and dynamite! Now there's something you don't see every day!!

Bolivian president offers to quit

Bolivia's Congress is expected to decide who should succeed President Carlos Mesa after he announced he was stepping down amid angry protests demanding nationalisation of the country's gas industry.

"It is my responsibility to say that this is as far as I can go," Mesa said on national television late on Monday, holding back tears.

"For that reason my decision is to offer my resignation from my post as president of the republic," he added, asking protesters to allow Congress to debate his successor.

"The solution to our problems must be based on the interests of all," he said.

Wow! Did you catch that? "The solution to our problems must be based on the interests of all." Good one! I haven't heard anything like that for a long time!

Bolivian protesters clash with police

Bolivian riot police in the capital La Paz have fired tear gas to repel dynamite-throwing protesters demanding nationalisation of the energy sector.

Despite President Carlos Mesa's guarantee of safety for a key session of Congress later on Tuesday, only a quarter of the country's lawmakers ventured into the city's narrow colonial streets and past heavily guarded police barriers.

The main opposition and indigenous leader Evo Morales tried to strike a note of harmony in Congress by saying he "hoped it will be a historical session to unite Bolivia".

But outside, protesters from the indigenous city of El Alto, many of them university students, launched dynamite at police with slingshots. In the rarefied air of the world's highest capital, protesters and office workers scurried to escape clouds of tear gas.

"The World's Highest Capital" takes on extra meaning, as all four or five of my regular readers already know.

And of course the inevitable profile.

Country profile: Bolivia

With a history of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups since its independence from Spain in 1825, Bolivia has been left a legacy of deep-seated poverty, social unrest and corruption along with an underground illegal drug economy.

Bolivia is landlocked between Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Chile in central South America. The west of Bolivia is situated in the Andes mountain range and the majority of the population live in the centre of the country on a highland plateau.

'Crunch Time' In Bolivia

I don't usually do anecdotes. Here's an exception. Some years ago I was introduced to a young woman who had spent a year in Bolivia as an exchange student. Looking to strike up a conversation, I asked her: "What one thing will you always remember about Bolivia?" She said: "Ten grams of cocaine cost five dollars."

Displaying my considerable mathematical skill, I said: "That's fifty cents a gram." She said "Yep." And I said: "So the people, they're ripped all the time?" She said: "No. They can't afford it." I said "They don't have fifty cents?" And she said: "No. Most of them don't have fifty cents. And if they did have fifty cents they would spend it on food."

Welcome to Bolivia, land of cocaine and natural gas; also

one of the least developed countries in South America. Almost two-thirds of its people, many of whom are subsistence farmers, live in poverty.

And yet these indigenous subsistence farmers, perhaps the poorest people in perhaps the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, have somehow found out that their government is "a stooge of the foreign energy companies" and they've decided they've had about enough of it. They want more control of their country's resources, and they have some other issues and concerns too. There's also a history of shady dealings.

In April 2000, Bechtel signed a contract with Hugo Banzer, the former president of Bolivia, to privatize the water supply in Bolivia's 3rd-largest city, Cochabamba. The contract was officially awarded to a Bechtel subsidiary named Aguas del Tunari, which had been formed specifically for that purpose. Shortly thereafter, the company tripled the water rates in that city, an action which resulted in protests and rioting among those who could no longer afford clean water. Martial law was declared, and Bolivian police killed at least 6 people and injured over 170 protesters. Amidst Bolivia's nationwide economic collapse and growing national unrest over the state of the economy, the Bolivian government was forced to withdraw the water contract. In 2001, Bechtel filed suit the Bolivian government for $25 million in lost profits. The continuing legal battle has attracted attention from anti-globalization and anti-capitalist groups.

This year the problem has been legislation setting tax rates on foreign energy firms. They think the foreign energy companies aren't paying enough, and they think they can influence their government's position on the matter.

So they've taken to the streets of their capital, and they've stayed there for weeks, and their protests have sometimes been violent but mostly they have been peaceful, and they've tied up the whole city, and they've virtually locked up the entire landlocked country, and their demands have certainly been noticed, and their President has resigned, and now their Congress is trying to decide whether to hold a snap election, or what they should do, but they can't meet in La Paz because nothing in La Paz is moving.

So today the Congress is going to meet in Sucre to see what ... if ... how ... they can avoid enflaming a dangerous situation ... whether they can avoid a civil war. It may be a good omen that the name of the city where they are about to meet -- Sucre -- is French for "sugar". Perhaps a sweet ending is in the cards for this crisis in Bolivia. But then again you never know.

I have been following this story for quite a while now, and I am continually amazed by the persistence and courage of the Bolivian protesters. But I have never been more amazed than I was when I took a close look at the 'gun' in this photo.



Here is the most recent BBC coverage of the Bolivian situation. Previous posts regarding Bolivia on this blog include this one, which has links to all the others.

This lowly and nearly frozen blogger extends his heartfelt best wishes to the indigenous subsistence farmers of Bolivia, where the cocaine is unaffordable at fifty cents a gram, and some of the rifles are made out of wood.

Bolivia: Dynamite and Tear Gas

Protesters threw dynamite at police in the isolated Bolivian capital of La Paz and the police responded with tear gas, according to the latest report from the BBC.

Offer fails to end Bolivia crisis

Anti-government demonstrators have fought running battles with police in Bolivia's main city, La Paz, despite the president's offer to resign.

Indigenous peasant farmers and labour activists played cat and mouse with the security forces, trading dynamite charges with police firing tear gas.

La Paz is cut off from the rest of the country as protesters demand energy nationalisation and political reforms.
...
[T]he protestors ... have grown more violent and the place now feels like it is a city at war, our correspondent says.

Throughout Tuesday, poor Indian peasant farmers, miners and trades union members clashed with the police.

When they hurled deafening charges of dynamite, riot police responded with tear gas, forcing demonstrators and unlucky civilians to scurry for cover.

The road blockades across Bolivia are strangling the country, with access to many of its neighbours now impossible.

That's just a glimpse; there are more details in the BBC's story, which you can read here.

The AP's current story on Bolivia contains many more details, as you can see from the following excerpts:

Violent Uprising Persists in Bolivia

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Violent street protests choked off Bolivia's crippled capital on Tuesday, as the collapse of President Carlos Mesa's government failed to quell demands by the poor Indian majority for more power from the white elite that has ruled the country for decades.

Riot police firing arcing tear gas canisters sent thousands of demonstrators fleeing down the cobblestoned streets of La Paz's old colonial center.

Miners, who joined protesting Indians, farmers and laborers, responded by blasting dynamite sticks that sent pigeons fluttering. Ambulances sped away with victims and a major public hospital said it receive 12 victims. Most were felled by tear gas and rubber bullets, but the hospital said one miner lost a hand in a dynamite explosion.

A group of helmeted officers dragged miners roughly from the yellow dump trucks they had used to converge on the city, beating some of the protesters as others regrouped amid the biting tear gas.

Further excerpts from the same AP article may interest you:

[President Carlos] Mesa [who offered his resignation yesterday] went on national television late Tuesday to urge lawmakers to quickly call early national elections, saying it was the only solution to the crisis.

"Let's put an end to this craziness," said Mesa. "The only way to avoid further violence is to hold elections right away."

Congress could call new elections if it accepts the resignation. Such a vote would raise the prospect of Bolivia becoming the seventh Latin American country to move to a leftist government suspicious of U.S. intentions in the region.
...
Washington has watched with concern for its free-market agenda, which has failed to ease the grinding poverty that affects 64 percent of Bolivians. Per-capita gross domestic product, at $2,600, is among the lowest in the hemisphere.

The poverty has fueled anger at the U.S.-driven globalization movement. A recent tax increase touched off demands for the nationalization of the oil industry and for a new constitution giving more clout to Indians, who represent more than half the population.
...
The collapse of Mesa's government highlights the growing instability of the Andean region. It follows by just weeks the ouster of Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez in the midst of massive street protests.

In Peru, President Alejandro Toledo, whose popularity ratings have been in the single digits for more than a year, survived an attempt in Congress last month to declare the presidency vacant after a congressional report accused Toledo of helping forge party registration rolls.
...
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez reacted angrily to suggestions by U.S. officials that Chavez was somehow involved in the Bolivian protests, saying: "No, categorically no."

He and other leaders gathered in Florida for a meeting of the Organization of American States said they were ready to "provide all cooperation" to Bolivia but have no plans to intervene.

"The OAS never intervenes in a country. We're going to see how we can help," OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said.

What a tangled web! See this post for more on the embattled OAS and the endangered idea that it "never intervenes in a country".

Your lowly and nearly frozen blogger pleads "guilty" for not having reported very much [or at all] on the very interesting situations in Peru and Ecuador. (Regarding Ecuador, at least we've been reading Greg Palast, here and here). But those who would like more background on the Bolivian situation can find it here, here, here, here and here.

President Resigns After Mass Protests!

Bolivian Carlos President Mesa, who had vowed to remain in office for his full term, resigned Monday night after mostly peaceful demonstrations which we have been following with great interest (and you can see previous posts here, here, here and here).

Here's the latest from the BBC: Bolivia leader quits amid unrest

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa has announced his resignation after mass protests demanding the nationalisation of energy and constitutional reform.

In a televised address late on Monday, Mr Mesa said he was stepping down because "this is as far as I can go".
...
Congress could meet as early as Tuesday to decide whether it will accept Mr Mesa's resignation.
...
Even if it accepts it, he says, that may not be enough to end the current crisis.
...
In an emotional address, he accused the protestors of intransigence and of taking advantage of his promise not to use force against them.

On Sunday the president met Church leaders and politicians to discuss the possibility of a snap election.

Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez, who was at the meeting, said it was "an idea that is gaining momentum as a way out of the problem".

With all due respect to Senor Hormando Vaca Diez, I wonder ... Who owns the voting machines in Bolivia?

OK, cheap joke. They can't all be funny.

There's more on the Bolivian situation from the BBC piece that I've been cherry-picking so please have a look at that. The BBC also has a Q&A page where you can read more about the history and economics behind the current politics. I'll post updates here when I know more... and yeah, I've been waiting a long time to write that headline! ;-)

Irony Overload Alert: Bush, CNN Can Cause Spontaneous Human Imposion!

Major international bodies are usually very difficult to implode. Most of them can only be imploded with industrial levels of irony, and Monday 'president' bush demonstrated once again that he can deliver enough irony to implode virtually anything. CNN gave him a bit of help here and there, as you can see in this article: OAS members balk at U.S. intervention plan begins like this:

Venezuela's foreign minister says plan aimed at his country

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) -- A U.S. proposal to intervene in Western Hemisphere nations to push democracy rankled the leaders of several South American countries debating the issue Monday at the meeting of the Organization of American States.

"There needs to be a dialogue rather than an intervention," said Brazil's foreign minister, Celso Amorim. "Democracy cannot be imposed. It is born from dialogue."

The United States has not established how or where the OAS should intervene,

Forgive me for interrupting in the middle of a sentence, but did we just gloss over an implication that the USA should establish "how or where the OAS should intervene"? Isn't this something that the OAS should establish for itself?. I wasn't supposed to mention that, was I?

but one likely target is Venezuela.

'Target'? Oh, Venezuela is a 'likely target' now ... I see! No wonder Venezuela is worried about an imminent US invasion!

The OAS also is concerned about political instability in Ecuador and Bolivia.

Which is kind of funny, because these are the very same places that the USA is concerned about ... meanwhile the rest of the OAS is concerned about ... Can you guess? Oh no! That was too easy, wasn't it?

The rest of the article includes these high-irony gems:

The Bush administration has accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of using his country's democratic institutions to impose authoritarian rule.

Whereas bush has done nothing of the sort?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who chairs the summit as head of the host delegation, said Sunday the Bush administration has a "renewed interest" in the OAS as a way to promote its global democracy agenda.

I'm sure this administration has a renewed interest, but its global agenda can hardly be described as "democracy"!

The U.S. proposal calls for the OAS to craft a mechanism within its Democratic Charter that permits the group to intervene in nations to foster or strengthen democracy.

In other words, bush just told the OAS: "make yourself into a tool which I can use against you in my drive to rule the world"

The OAS has previously intervened in situations of political turmoil. In 2000, it sent an envoy to Peru following fraudulent elections.

And why were they not in Ohio in 2004? Why not Florida in 2000? Why not Georgia in 2002? I wasn't supposed to mention all this, was I?

The group, founded in 1948 to promote and defend democracy, has historically not been able to resolve crises in the hemisphere.

Perhaps because such crises are often caused by the strongest member of the Organization? I wasn't supposed to mention that either, was I?

Oh well ... We're almost through! Do you think we can get to the end of the article without imploding? Let's see:

In an address to the group Monday, President Bush did not mention the U.S. intervention proposal, but he pushed his vision of extending democracy worldwide.

"Bringing a better life to our people requires choosing between two competing visions," he said. "One ... is founded on representative government, integration into the world markets.

... as if those things could ever occur together ...

"...The other seeks to roll back the democratic progress of the past two decades by playing to fear, pitting neighbor against neighbor and blaming others for their own failures to provide for their people."

Ouch! Ding Ding Ding! All Irony Systems Overloaded!

Ka-Boom! Spontaneous Human Implosion!!

Protect yourselves and your family. Be prepared for flying shards of truth. Spontaneous Human Impolsion can happen anywhere, anytime. And you could be next!!!

BBC: "US Interest In Koran Has Risen"

Our good friends at the BBC never cease to astonish. We've been getting good coverage from Bolivia, among other places, but now we turn to America, home of the endless and all-consuming, absurd and offensive War On Whatever, in which The British Are Complicit, and Would you please have a look at this?

US citizens snap up free Korans

US interest in the Muslim holy book Koran has risen after reports of its mishandling at Guantanamo Bay, a Muslim charity has said in Washington.

The Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it had received over 5,000 requests for free copies over the last two weeks.

One copy was being requested almost every minute, it said.

Fairly encouraging, wouldn't you say? We've been deluged with all this pro-war propaganda for the past three and a half years and people are still saying: "Hey, I wouldn't mind reading a Koran. I wonder what it's about."

Hmmm. What to do? I want you to read the rest of the story but I want you to do it here. Don't click that link yet! Here's the rest of that story:

Reports of the Koran's mishandling led to violent anti-US protests last month.

At least 15 people died in riots in Afghanistan after a magazine reported that US guards had deliberately mishandled the Koran at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

The magazine retracted its report but subsequent inquiries by the Pentagon found several instances of the Koran being mishandled by guards - as well as by detainees.

'Overwhelming'

Following the controversy, CAIR - a Muslim organisation focused on increasing awareness of the Muslim faith in the US - had started a campaign titled "Explore the Koran".

"The response has been overwhelmingly positive," CAIR chief Nihad Awad said.

"It reflects a desire by ordinary Americans to better understand Islam and Muslims."

Among those who asked for a free copy is a police officer who works with the Muslim community, the charity said.

Others include Christian religious leaders "who wish to explain Islam to their congregations" and Americans of all faiths.

CAIR is requesting Muslims all over the world to sponsor free copies for those who wish to improve their knowledge of the book.

The organisation is one of America's largest Muslim civil liberties groups.

What did you think? It sounded faintly positive to me. And I'm a fairly non-violent type. So I like stories about reconciliation between different religions. Especially if the people who are supposed to represent one of those religions is waging war against the people who are supposed to represent the other religion. And most especially if innocent people, people whose only 'crime' was that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, people who are not supposed to represent anyone, are being killed, or tortured, or sold into confinement, or all of the above. That kind of bugs me, as both my regular readers will tell you.

Not to flog a dead horse [more on that later, maybe] but it seemed like a hopeful, peaceful story. Anyone get the opposite impression? Good. Then maybe somebody can tell me:


Why did the BBC run this photo with that story?

Was the mighty Beeb having a spot of war-mongering tea with its crumpets on Monday afternoon?

I don't know. I'm just asking. I find it difficult to imagine that they couldn't come up with a more appropriate image. But then maybe I'm seeing it all wrong.

Maybe a shot of people burning an American flag is the most appropriate possible image for a story that's screaming out for a little peace, love and understanding.

You tell me. What do you think?


We haven't had a song for a while. This one was written by Nick Lowe but it sounded great when Elvis Costello sang it, and that's where I learned it.

"Sounded great? Well of course it did!" I can hear Nick yelling at me as I type. "I produced that record, didn't I?"

Just kidding, Nick! Don't worry, it was a joke! They can't all be funny!

Seriously, though: Maybe more of us should be visiting the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and seeing what's up over there. Maybe some of us should get on the BBC's case over choice of image [unless we think they got it just right!] ... And I hope you'll all join me in three cheers for Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. What a couple of guys! And what a great song!

(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love, And Understanding

As I walk through this wicked world
searching for light in the darkness of insanity
I ask myself: Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside,
There’s one thing I wanna know:
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

And as I walk on through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong, and who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony? Sweet harmony.
’Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry.
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?


So where are the strong? And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony? Sweet harmony.
’Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry.
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

Bolivian Protests Continue

As mentioned here, your lowly and nearly frozen blogger has been keeping a close eye on the news from Bolivia. Here's the latest from the BBC:

Bolivian protesters reject offer

Protests have continued in Bolivia despite promises made by President Carlos Mesa aimed at easing the crisis.

He had announced plans on Thursday for an assembly to rewrite the constitution and for a referendum on more autonomy for resource-rich provinces.

However, neither protest leaders nor the provinces appear to have been placated by President Mesa's proposals.

Mass demonstrations paralysed the city of La Paz for another day, blocking roads and halting public transport.

The past few weeks have seen Bolivia brought to the brink of paralysis by violent protests by left-wing and indigenous groups who are calling for the country's natural gas assets to be nationalised.

They say a law which increases taxes on foreign gas investors does not exert enough control over the country's resources.

They are also fiercely opposed to demands for greater autonomy from energy-rich Bolivian provinces.

There's more here, of course, such as the feature article Why is Bolivia in turmoil? which mentions a few reasons, including:

Bolivia is still the poorest country in South America, with around 30% of the population living on incomes of less than $1 a day.

It is also a very unequal society, with poverty concentrated amongst the 62% of the population of indigenous descent.
...
There is probably no other country in Latin America where natural resources arouse such strong passions.

It is not hard to see why.

Bolivia is landlocked, much of it high up in the Andean mountains, so transport costs are high.

The only products that Bolivia has been able to export successfully are commodities with a very high value per unit weight.

Throughout its history it has been an exporter of silver, then gold, then rubber, then tin, then hydrocarbons, and more recently coca and cocaine.

But Bolivia has remained locked in poverty.

Many Bolivians blame the "saqueo" or plunder of their resources by foreigners, so it is not surprising that a common theme of many recent protest movements has been against foreign companies and in particular their control of water supplies in Cochabamba and El Alto.

See also Thursday's Bolivian city gripped by protests

Bolivia's political capital, La Paz, has been gripped by demonstrations as protesters demand the nationalisation of the country's energy industry.

Mainly indigenous Bolivians blockaded roads into the highland city and threatened to march on Congress.

A planned session of Congress was postponed for a second day due to disagreements among lawmakers.

President Carlos Mesa has accused protest leaders behind weeks of political unrest of planning a coup.
...
The BBC's South America correspondent, Elliott Gotkine, says the demonstrators - who include farmers, teachers and students - are tired of having their demands ignored and now appear to be broadening their offensive.

Major roads into the country's administrative capital were blockaded with stones.

While most demonstrations were peaceful, in some areas of the city a group of around 1,000 people smashed windows, attacked shopkeepers and vandalised cars.

I'll keep an eye on Bolivia for you, as things continue to heat up.

Global Protest

Click on the images for the associated links.


Brazil


Venezuela


Bolivia


Afghanistan



Uzbekistan


England


Scotland


USA

Protesters In La Paz Say They're Staying

Your lowly and nearly frozen blogger has been watching the news from Bolivia fairly closely and thinks you might want to read this article: Bolivians stage huge gas protest

Thousands of protesters have converged on the Bolivian capital La Paz for an angry demonstration over ownership of the country's gas reserves.
...
President Carlos Mesa accused protest leaders of organising a coup.
...
The protests remained peaceful on Monday but there are concerns they may be stepped up on Tuesday, when Congress meets for the first time in weeks to discuss the political agenda.
...
The mainly indigenous protesters are demanding the nationalisation of the Bolivian energy industry, saying a law passed by congress, that increases taxes on foreign gas investors, does not exert enough control over the country's resources.

They are also demanding regional autonomy and changes to the constitution.
...
The president ... is backed by the armed forces, which last week sacked two officers after they claimed to represent a new nationalist movement in the military.

But the protesters said they would stay in La Paz until they had achieved their aims.

What next? Who knows? Interesting times are ahead for Bolivia.

A Stooge of the Foreign Energy Companies

Can you imagine? A Stooge of the Foreign Energy Companies! According to the BBC, this is what some Bolivians think of their president, Carlos Mesa. And it says so right here in this article: Protests fail to stop Bolivia law

In Bolivia a new law is set to be passed increasing tax on foreign energy firms which President Carlos Mesa says go too far.

By refusing to veto the bill before a deadline, Mr Mesa effectively allowed it to become law despite massive street protests in the main city, La Paz.

Considering the taxes unworkable, he believed it would discourage investors.

The protesters want higher taxes or even the nationalisation of Bolivia's oil and natural gas resources.

The article and its headline are somewhat confusing, since it does appear that the Bolivian protestors have made some headway. In fact, the New York Times is now reporting that

President Carlos Mesa's government said today that it would permit passage of a Congressional bill that sharply raises taxes on foreign energy companies, a move officials hoped would defuse mounting protests from groups that want Bolivia to squeeze the big multinationals that have flocked to this poor Andean country.

But the decision by Mr. Mesa, who has repeatedly acceded to demands from protesters during his 19-month term, placates few. Foreign oil companies say the law is financially onerous and would prompt them to cut back on investments. The influential party Movement to Socialism, led by Evo Morales, has promised more protests because the law is too soft on the companies.

Thousands of Indians and miners continued today to march from several communities in the highlands toward this capital, with some of their leaders promising to take over Congress unless an even tougher law were approved.

"We are going to fight against this law," Dionisio Nuñez, a congressman with Movement to Socialism, said outside Congress. "The marches have to continue because in Congress, not all the senators and deputies defend the people. Sometimes they defend the multinationals."

Defending the multinationals is a good way to become known as a stooge of the foreign energy companies. And even though Mesa has given some ground, he's still considered a stooge. The BBC said so as recently as last Saturday, in this article: Bolivians stage huge energy rally:

Thousands of protesters in Bolivia have marched through the main city of La Paz to pressure the president to toughen a controversial new energy bill.
...
President Carlos Mesa refuses to sign the bill into law because he considers the level of taxes unworkable.

The law, already approved by Congress, would raise the taxes paid by foreign energy firms to 50% of their revenues.
...
Trade unions, landless peasant farmers and neighbourhood groups are demanding the nationalisation of Bolivia's energy industry.

Thousands headed to La Paz from the sprawling satellite city of El Alto.

Some waved the rainbow-coloured flag of Aymara nationalism and others carried effigies of Mr Mesa.

Our correspondent says they see him as a stooge of the foreign energy companies working in Bolivia.

And so on. As regular readers of this space will know, I've been away and I've missed quite a bit. I'm just catching up. So if this is news to you, don't worry. You can catch up with me.

There's a bit of background here: Bolivian row over energy tax law

Powerful indigenous groups are pressing for nationalisation of the energy industry.

At this point it seems as if the indigenous Bolivian groups are actually making progress against the foreign energy companies and the stooge who calls himself their president. Good news, or at least it appears to be, and it's the sort of story that's likely to be overlooked. In other words, it's likely to interest a lowly and nearly frozen blogger.

Bolivia! Think of that! One of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, and one where the indigenous people seem to be making headway! How about that?

What do you say, USA? Are you ready to start making some headway, too??